We are born with miraculously integrated bodies and minds. Our lungs draw in vital oxygen, essential for producing energy. Our hearts ceaselessly pump blood through vast networks of vessels to all of our tissues and organs. Raw materials are transformed into fuel by our digestive systems. Our muscles and bones propel us through the world, allowing us first to stand, then walk, then play and work.

Each day our brains take in a barrage of new information, filtering it, selectively storing it, and adapting their way of working accordingly. At the end of each day, we recharge and reset our systems by sleeping. All of us come equipped with a self-contained set of tools that, properly used, may allow us to live 100 years, or maybe even longer.

Beginning early in our lives, though, our genes, our environment, our culture, and our own free will conspire to test this marvelous organism—sometimes to the breaking point. There are people who maintain their health and live long, fruitful lives, sustaining minimal wear and tear. But others—perhaps most of us—push our bodies to the limit. Instead of eating the way our bodies were designed to eat, we indulge in foods filled with sugars and other refined carbohydrates, trans fats, and unhealthy food additives. Instead of walking to nearby destinations, we drive our cars. We sit most of the day. Some of us smoke. Some of us drink too much. Many of us allow negative feelings and stress to rule our thoughts. Not many of us get adequate sleep. The wrong choices trap us in a lifestyle that actually endangers our lives.

The effects of these poor choices compromise every system that keeps us well, and the damage is not pretty. After years of a diet high in refined carbohydrates, arteries become narrow and clogged with plaque, raising the risk of cardiovascular disease and heart attack. We find ourselves on the unhealthy path to metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, and cancer. Eating too much of the wrong foods and getting too little exercise allows fat to build up around our organs and beneath our skin. Smoking fills our lungs with toxins, damaging our health in myriad ways. Not getting enough sleep worsens our memories and disrupts an important hormone cycle that prevents us from overeating. And too much stress compromises our body's natural immune system, the very tool that would help us combat much of the other damage.

Return to the Path of Good Health

Fortunately, we have the ability to choose.

That’s where our series of HealthJournals on Wellness come in. Our Wellness series will show you how to completely change your lifestyle to a healthy and sustainable one that will restore your vitality and reverse chronic medical conditions. It will provide you with innumerable health benefits. It will lessen dangerous abdominal fat, lower chronic inflammation, and reduce the threat of other chronic diseases. Your risk of getting heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and autoimmune diseases will be greatly reduced. You will be likely to live longer, too. What’s more, your systems and organs will be provided with all the nutrients they require, so that your hunger will be satisfied, and your body brought into homeostatic balance.

This wellness information is based on real science that refutes current mainstream medical notions of what we should be eating. In this series, we explain the most natural way to eat—so that fat melts away and the body’s hormonal systems rebalance themselves. In doing so, we turn popular notions of a “healthy diet” on their head. Moreover, we give you all the leading science on other aspects of wellness in your life—including how to break your bad habits, the benefits of sleep, how to de-stress, and the real benefits of exercising.

It’s rarely too late to make changes that can reverse damage to your abused organs and tissues. Even people who are sensitive to carbohydrates, and therefore genetically predisposed to putting on weight, can get back on the path to good health. By eating the right foods, exercising, modifying your negative habits, quitting smoking, sleeping well, and celebrating life, you can reverse many chronic conditions—and increase your enjoyment of life immeasurably.

We hope that you will continue to explore the miracle that is your body, knowing that the good choices you are making will enable you to enjoy a life full of activity and fulfillment. You have the power to keep your body and mind healthy, strong, and alive. You can live longer and live better.

To life!

Wellness and Nutrition – Prevent and Reverse Chronic Diseases with the Right Diet

In the series of HealthJournals on Wellness and Nutrition, learn which foods work to burn fat, which work to keep fat on you—and why. Learn about nutrition, including the macronutrients and micronutrients that your body does and doesn’t need. Learn to make the necessary changes to your diet while we provide you with the necessary tools to be successful with your new way of eating. Finally, learn about intermittent fasting and how it can help with weight loss and the reversal of chronic diseases.

You might think of protein only in the context of meats, like beef and chicken. But protein is an incredibly complex nutrient that is critical to the proper functioning of your body and is vital for growth and development at every stage of life.

Proteins are the building blocks of life. Every cell in your body requires protein as its central building material. Proteins form the basis of many different substances and they fulfill numerous needs in your body. As antibodies, proteins play a crucial role within the immune system by contributing to the destruction of foreign bodies that cause infection and disease. As enzymes, proteins are responsible for thousands of chemical reactions within cells and for the formation of new molecules. As hormones, proteins transmit signals to start and stop various biological processes. In the form of lipoproteins, proteins shuttle fats, vitamins, minerals, and other substances (such as medicines) to be used and stored within cells and throughout the body. By joining together in the forms of sheets and tubes, proteins are also the building materials that compose tissues and give structure to bones, teeth, skin, organs, and muscles.

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. There are 20 different amino acids, which can combine in diverse ways and in varying proportions. In fact, the 20 amino acids can be conjoined and reordered in so many variations that hundreds of thousands of different protein types can result. Each protein type has a sequence that is unique in the number, type, order, and shape of amino acids in its chain.

There are two categories of amino acids. Essential amino acids are those that the body cannot produce. These 9 amino acids must be derived from your diet. The 11 nonessential amino acids are naturally synthesized in the body—but they are still essential to your health and well-being.

Numerous food sources can provide the amino acids that are deconstructed and then reconstructed into protein within the body. Animal-derived foods, such as meat and dairy, are rich sources of complete proteins. These proteins are called “complete” because their amino-acid chains are fully composed and can be easily absorbed during digestion. Most plant proteins, such as those in beans and legumes, are less complete in their amino acid makeup. Vegetarians need to take care to include all of the essential amino acids in their diet by eating a variety of plant protein sources each day.

Protein in foods derived from animals is easily digested and supplies amino acids in the proper proportions for human use. For this reason, it’s called high-quality or complete protein. Whenever possible, choose organic poultry raised without antibiotics; grass-fed beef, which is high in healthy omega-3s; and wild-caught fish, which is also higher in omega-3s than farmed fish.

Although it’s from a plant, soy protein is considered to be high quality. Researchers have found that it can meet most protein needs as efficiently as animal protein. Soy protein is used in a variety of foods, including salad dressings, soups, imitation meats, soy cheese, and more. If you choose soy as a protein source, tempeh and tofu are your best choices as they are the least processed. Soy can be found in many processed foods in the form of soybean oil, which is very high in omega-6 fatty acids.

Plant proteins are considered to be incomplete because they are more difficult to digest and contain fewer amino acids. However, by combining complementary plant proteins over the course of a day, vegans can acquire all the essential amino acids they need. They do not need to combine their protein sources at a single meal.

Many factors play into your daily protein requirements: body weight, level of physical activity, age, gender, rate of growth, other nutrients consumed, genetic makeup, and existing conditions. Remember that the entire protein package is important when deciding on which foods should supply your daily allowance. If you choose to eat meat and fish, eat grass-fed beef, organic chicken, and wild-caught fish as much as possible. These foods are rich in omega-3s and are not routinely dosed with antibiotics or growth hormones.

Most Americans eat plenty of protein—too much, in fact, especially from animal sources. When it comes to protein, some is good, but more is not better. In fact, there seems to be a “protein ceiling”; that is, the body can’t benefit from consumption beyond a certain amount per day. Research shows the ceiling to be at about 2.3 grams per kilogram or 1 gram of protein per pound. This however, is the very upper limit of the amount of protein you should eat in a day and isn’t recommended. As a starting point in determining your own requirement, please see the image below for a general guideline on your daily allowance of protein.

Different foods contain different amounts of protein, but a good trick is to use the palm of your hand as a guide. For women, a piece of meat the size of your palm equals about 4 ounces of protein. For men, it equals about 5 ounces. Every ounce of meat has about 7 g of protein. One palm-sized portion of meat, therefore, has from 28-35g of protein. It’s easy to see how protein portions can add up in a hurry, and that most people, especially omnivores, get more than enough.

What if you don’t eat meat or fish? It’s quite possible to eat a vegetarian or vegan diet and still have adequate protein intake. Protein intake in well-balanced vegetarian and vegan diets is only slightly lower than in meat diets and can meet daily requirements for any person, including athletes and bodybuilders. As you’ve seen, protein portions can add up quickly, and studies have confirmed that vegetarian and vegan diets provide sufficient protein intake as long as a variety of plant sources are consumed.

Here are some examples of protein sources for those on vegetarian and vegan diets. Eat a variety of these foods to ensure adequate protein intake:

Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian

Diet excludes meat, fish, and poultry, but allows dairy products and eggs.

Ovo Vegetarian

Diet excludes meat, poultry, seafood, and dairy products, but permits eggs.

Vegan

Diet excludes meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy products—and all foods that contain these products.

Pescetarian

Diet excludes all meat and animal flesh with the exception of fish.

Second only to water as the most plentiful substance in your body, protein is central to critical functions throughout your life. Protein is a miraculous multitasker, and numerous activities of the brain and body depend on it fundamentally. It is a veritable Swiss Army knife of a nutrient that, once ingested, unlocks its modest packaging to serve a variety of critical functions and capabilities.