Читать книгу Arthritis: Over 60 Recipes and a Self-Treatment Plan to Transform Your Life - Marguerite O.B.E. Patten - Страница 18

Food is the essential link between your body and the rest of the living world. For optimum health, there is no substitute for a diet based on leafy vegetables, root vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, grains and various forms of meat. Eat food in a form as close to its natural state as possible: fresh, raw or lightly cooked, unsalted and without artificial flavours, colours and preservatives. That way, you will be giving your body the nutrients it requires.

Plants contain natural compounds that have healing properties. Ginger, for example, is not only a good source of B-vitamins, magnesium and zinc, but also contains a substance that helps control nausea. Chilli peppers contain a substance that fights pain. (More examples are found here.) So to get the most from your diet, include a wide range of foods from plants, and vary what you eat.

A balanced diet contains a healthy combination of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. It may surprise you to know that international experts recommend a diet containing about 50 per cent carbohydrate, 30 per cent fat and 20 per cent protein. The healthiest carbohydrates come from grains, root vegetables and fruits. Sources of protein should be as low-fat as possible. Red meat (muscle) and full-fat milk products are high in saturated fats, which should be limited to no more than 10 per cent of the total calories consumed. Organ meats such as liver and kidney are relatively low in saturated fats, as are tofu and other plant-protein products.

It is widely believed that fats are bad for us, and that all fats should form a minimal part of a healthy diet. This is not true. Our bodies need fat, and deficiencies in certain fats lead to illness. Fats are a compact source of stored energy. They also aid the absorption of vitamins A, D and E from the gut, and form important parts of cell membranes, hormones and messenger molecules in the body. For good health, enjoy oils obtained from plants, and oily fish. These provide healing substances that people suffering from arthritis need to help fight pain. More is said about this when the omega-3 fatty acids, like those found in fish oil, are discussed. (See here and here.)

If you are a vegetarian, ensure you eat at least one meal a day that combines grain and one or more pulses; for example, rice and beans. All the amino acids (protein building blocks) needed by the human body are found in plants, but not in the combination required by the human body. The amino acids we must obtain from our diet are called essential amino acids, and must be supplied in the same meal. More in-depth information can be found here.

Vegetarians may not benefit from this diet as much as people who eat meat because they will not benefit from the healing properties of liver.