Nutrition Essentials for Feeling Good
Slow-release carbohydrates
Food as Fuel
If you want to be naturally high, you must begin with the best possible raw materials to feed both your body and mind. Many people in North America fail this basic first step because our Standard American Diet (SAD for short!) is anything but nourishing. Ironically, we are overfed and undernourished. With a diet consisting of processed food that is nearly devoid of nutrient value, high in chemicals, salt, and, above all, sugar, it's amazing that our bodies can eke out the basic minimum requirements. Often, they don't. We need a steady supply of high-quality fuel (food) for our engines (bodies and brains) in order to function on all cylinders.
In our practices we have seen depressed, low-energy, foggy-brained adults who were not, as they had been erroneously told, in need of Prozac, but simply needed a consistent supply of "real food" to get their brains and bodies going. Haven't there been times when you found yourself feeling tired, irritable, and unable to think straight, and overwhelmed with all that you had to do when you realize that you'd skipped a meal? Within minutes of eating a carrot, or a piece of cheese, everything changes – the world becomes a better place, and those tasks are no longer insurmountable. The problem was simply low blood sugar: your poor brain was running on empty! Suffice it to say, you need to maintain your blood-sugar level as a basic step to feeling consistently high.
The next step is to choose the highest-quality food possible to help keep your neurotransmitters in balance.
There is scientific proof that if you follow the principles of optimum nutrition, you can:
- Improve your mood.
- Increase your mental and physical stamina.
- Enhance your concentration, memory, and overall mental ability.
- Reduce your stress level.
Running on Carbohydrates
The main fuel for all body cells, including brain cells, is glucose, or blood sugar. Most carbohydrates – bread, cereals, fruits, and vegetables – break down into this simple sugar during digestion. Despite its weight of only 3 pounds, the brain is the most sugar-hungry organ of the body, consuming up to 50 percent of ingested glucose. This does not mean that you should eat more sugar to enhance your brain power! Quite the opposite. The quick-release sugars – found in white flour, candy, cookies, and fruit juices – will lead only to the "sugar blues."
We measure how quickly a specific food is turned into glucose by means of the Glycemic Index (GI). To determine the GI of a particular food, a measured portion is fed to participants, whose blood is analyzed over the course of several hours. The higher the GI of the food, the faster the resultant rise in blood sugar will be after eating it. As your blood sugar goes higher, more insulin is secreted to cope with the sugar. Insulin removes sugar and stores it as fat and glycogen. High-glycemic foods, such as doughnuts and candy, cause insulin to spike rapidly and excessively. This causes your blood-glucose levels to drop, making you feel weak, lightheaded, and even cranky.
The top brain-fuel foods, however, are "slow-release" carbohydrates – those that gradually and consistently release their energy-giving glucose into the bloodstream, allowing for more stable blood-glucose levels. Some low GI "good guys" include complex carbohydrates, such as whole, unrefined grains, found in whole-grain bread and whole-wheat pasta. Some fruits, like apples and pears, have a low GI, while others, such as raisins and bananas, have much higher GIs. Almost all vegetables are slow-releasing. While this index can be very useful in helping us avoid high-glycemic villains, it's important to factor in a food's nutritional component along with its GI. While carrots, raisins, and bananas are relatively high on the GI, we certainly don't recommend that you avoid these nutritious and delicious foods. Certainly, no one ever got too fat from eating these foods. So defer to your common sense and use the GI as a guide, not your bible!
Another way to slow the release of carbohydrates is to combine them with protein. For example, pair a salmon steak with brown basmati rice, chicken with boiled new potatoes, or, if you're vegetarian, tofu with whole-wheat pasta. The Power of Protein
You can influence how you feel simply by consuming the ideal quantity of protein. Made up of amino acids, protein is the building block of all bodily components, from hair and muscles to enzymes and hormones, as well as the source of neurotransmitters. The quality of a protein is determined by its balance of amino acids. Higher-quality protein is better absorbed and more efficiently utilized, so you will need less of it to be optimally nourished.
Our bodies require twenty-three different amino acids for proper function, nine of them "essential" – lysine, tryptophane, methionine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, histidine, threonine, and phenylalanine. Because our bodies cannot make them, they must be derived from our diet. We are able to manufacture the remaining amino acids, though at the cost of diverting precious materials and energy. So it's still better to ingest as large a variety of amino acids as possible, even the so-called nonessential ones.
Meat, fish, chicken, poultry, cheese, milk, and eggs are considered complete proteins, since they contain the essential amino acids and in sufficient amounts. Plants can be sources of protein, too, but the only complete one is soy. You can, however, combine plant-based proteins that are missing one or two amino acids, to create a complete protein; for example, whole grains, nuts, or seeds with a serving of beans, or rice and beans.
The quality of a protein source can be measured according to its net protein usability (NPU) – or the balance of its amino acids. The table below shows some examples of high-quality protein choices, either alone or in combination. It also shows what portion size you need to consume to get about an ounce of protein per serving. A man needs to eat the equivalent of three to four of the indicated servings, while a woman needs to eat two to three.
A typical allotment of protein for a man might therefore include an egg for breakfast, a 7-ounce salmon steak for lunch, and a serving of beans with dinner.
For a vegetarian, a typical day might include a small container of yogurt and a heaping tablespoon of seeds on an oat-based cereal for breakfast, and a 9.5-ounce serving of tofu, and vegetable stir-fry, served with either a cup of quinoa or a serving of beans with rice as part of dinner.
Vegetarians need to eat "seed" foods – that is, foods that would grow if you planted them. These include seeds, nuts, beans, lentils, peas, corn, or the germ of grains such as wheat or oat. "Flower" foods, such as broccoli or cauliflower, are also relatively rich in protein. Lentils or beans plus brown rice provide an excellent source of complete protein.
Caution: Too much protein intake encourages fat storage and can also lead to ketosis, in which muscle tissue is broken down to produce glucose for the brain. This is the principle behind the Atkins Diet which, carried beyond his suggested initial two weeks, can be unsafe. Excessive protein can also contribute to osteoporosis, kidney disease, and heart disease.
Packed with Protein; The Top 24| Food | Percentage of Calories as Protein | How Much for 2-4 Ounces of Protein | Protein Quality (NPU) |
| Grains/Legumes | |||
| Quinoa | 16 | 3 1/2 oz/l cup dry weight | Excellent |
| Tofu | 40 | 10 oz/l packet | Reasonable |
| Corn | 4 | 1 lb 2 oz/3 cups cooked weight | Reasonable |
| Brown rice | 5 | 14 oz/3 cups cooked weight | Excellent |
| Chickpeas | 22 | 4 oz/0.66 cup cooked weight | Reasonable |
| Lentils | 28 | 3 oz/1 cup cooked weight | Reasonable |
| Fish/Meat | |||
| Tuna,canned | 61 | 3 oz/1 small can | Excellent |
| Cod | 60 | 1 1/4 oz/1 very small piece | Excellent |
| Salmon | 50 | 3 1/2 oz/1 very small piec | Excellent |
| Sardines | 49 | 3 1/2 oz/1 grilled | Excellent |
| Chicken | 63 | 2 1/2 oz/1 small roasted breast | Excellent |
| Nuts/Seeds | |||
| Sunflower seeds | 15 | 6 1/2 oz/1 cup | Reasonable |
| Pumpkin seeds | 21 | 2 1/2 oz/0.5 cup | Reasonable |
| Cashew nuts | 12 | 4 oz/1 cup | Reasonable |
| Almonds | 13 | 4 oz/1 cup | Reasonable |
| Eggs/Dairy | |||
| Eggs | 34 | 4 oz/2 medium | Excellent |
| Yogurt, natural | 22 | 1 lb/3 small containers | Excellent |
| Cottage cheese | 49 | 4 1/2 oz/1 small container | Excellent |
| Vegetables | |||
| Peas, frozen | 26 | 9 oz/2 cups | Reasonable |
| Other beans | 20 | 7 oz/2 cups | Reasonable |
| Broccoli | 50 | 1/2 oz/0.5 cup | Reasonable |
| Spinach | 49 | 1 1/2 oz/0.66 cup | Reasonable |
| Combinations | |||
| Lentils and rice | 18 | 4 1/2 oz/small cup dry weight | Excellent |
| Beans and rice | 15 | 4 1/2oz/small cup dry weight | Excellent |
lpha and Omega: The Essential Fats for the Brain
Now that you understand the value of essential amino acids derived from protein, let's take a look at essential fatty acids, which are mainly derived from oils, seeds, and fish. Fatty acids are the molecular components of fats and oils. They come in several categories: saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated. We're going to focus on the healthy polyunsaturated fatty acids from which vital omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are derived.
Most people aren't aware that certain fats are vital to health. The essential fatty acids produce hormones called eicosanoids, which are necessary for many chemical processes within the body. They stimulate the immune system, fight inflammation, and support the activity of neurotransmitters, including serotonin. In fact, fats comprise 60 percent of the brain, and the essential fats make a big difference in brain cell communication, powerfully affecting mind and mood.
The popularity of very low- to non-fat diets in recent years has actually contributed to a whole host of problems, from premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and infertility to depression and anxiety, and even to premature aging. About 30 percent of the calories in your diet should come from beneficial fat. While the bad fats can be incorporated into the brain, they are not functional and can actually numb your thinking processes and worsen your mood; therefore, it's important to avoid saturated and hydrogenated fats in the forms of meat, dairy products, and junk foods.
For optimal brain function, you need the polyunsaturated oils, the omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids (EFAs), in a ratio of 1:1 and 1:2, respectively. The typical modern diet, though, is usually far too high in omega-6 oils (more like 1:20 to 1:30). The omega-6 oils are found in meats, milk, vegetable oils, seeds (sesame, hemp, sunflower, and pumpkin), and nuts, so getting enough is less of a problem in the average diet. Most of us have to work to ensure our intake of omega-3s, found in flaxseeds and in fish, especially fatty cold-water fish such as mackerel, tuna, and salmon.
For an adequate omega-3 supply, you should have a serving of fatty fish three times a week or 1,000 mg of EPA and DHA (combined) daily. If you are a strict vegetarian, you should take a teaspoon of flaxseed oil daily or a heaping tablespoon of seeds every day – half flaxseeds, and half sesame, sunflower, hemp, and pumpkin-seed mix, ground up in a coffee grinder to release the nutrients within. To ensure freshness, keep them in a tightly sealed glass jar in the refrigerator. Sprinkle the mixture over cereal or add it to a shake.
You can also buy organic cold-pressed seed oil blends that provide both omega-3 and omega-6 fats, and use in salad dressings or on just-cooked vegetables instead of butter. Don't use these polyunsaturated oils for frying, as this will denature them.
Phospholipids: The Insulation Experts
Another family of "intelligent" fat in your brain, the phospholipids phosphatidyl choline and phosphatidyl serine, forms the insulating layer, or myelin sheath, that covers all nerve cells. They also enhance your mood and mental performance, protecting against age-related memory decline and Alzheimer's disease.
Although the body can make them, getting extra phospholipids from food is highly beneficial. Egg yolk is the richest source of phospholipids in the average diet. But since egg phobia set in, amid fears that dietary cholesterol was a major cause of heart disease, the average intake of phospholipids dropped dramatically. (The American Heart Association now states that you can eat up to seven eggs a week.) Significantly, cases of Alzheimer's disease have sky-rocketed.
Lecithin is an excellent source of phospholipids and is widely available in health food stores as either granules or capsules. The easiest and cheapest way is to add lecithin to your diet is to sprinkle a tablespoon of lecithin granules or a heaping teaspoon of high-PC lecithin on your cereal or add it to your protein drink in the morning. Or you can take four lecithin capsules providing 1,200 mg each. By the way, lecithin doesn't make you fat. In fact, quite the opposite occurs: it helps your body to metabolize fat.
Which Diet Is Best?
In the past ten years, Americans have reduced their fat intake and increased their carbohydrate intake. Dr. Barry Sears, author of Mastering the Zone, believes that this dietary shift to carbohydrates has contributed to the rise in health problems, including weight gain, arthritis, heart disease, and cancer. He recommends that people reduce their carbohydrate intake while increasing their fat and protein intake, in a 40 percent to 30 percent to 30 percent ratio of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, respectively. While good in many respects, there are concerns about protein intakes as high as 30 percent of calories. This is because high-protein diets are strongly linked to an increased risk of osteoporosis.
We recommend a more tempered balance – 50 percent complex carbohydrates, 30 percent "good" fat, and 20 percent good-quality protein. This means reducing your intake of refined carbohydrates and sugar, and instead choosing whole, complex carbohydrates from fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and cereals. We also recommend increasing omega-3 fats from fish and seeds, while reducing saturated fats from butter, fatty meat, margarine, processed foods containing hydrogenated fats, and deep-fried foods. While eggs are a good source of protein, they tend to be very high in saturated fats. Range-fed organic eggs, especially from chickens that are fed a high omega-3 fat diet, eaten boiled or poached, are an excellent source of protein and 'good' fats. Unpasteurized dairy products from a certified dairy that uses no antibiotics or hormones are also a good source of protein, provided you are not allergic to dairy. These whole, unadulterated foods are much healthier for you than intensively reared animal products, and less likely to cause allergic reactions.
If you'd like more information about how to put the 'Natural High Basics' into practice, please read the Optimum Nutrition Bible by Patrick Holford (see Resources). This book explains in detail how to revamp your diet to achieve the optimal amounts of fat, protein, and carbohydrate, plus all essential vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients.
Water, Water...
Two-thirds of your body, and almost half of your brain, is made up of water, making it vital for optimal brain and body function. With age, your water content decreases, so drinking enough water can slow the aging process. The ideal intake is around eight 8-ounce glasses a day, and more if you live in a hot climate or exercise heavily.
Fruits and vegetables contain around 90 percent water, in a form that is easy for the body to use. (They are also, of course, a great source of vitamins, minerals, and fiber.) In sufficient quantities, they can provide nearly a quart of water, leaving just an extra quart or so to be taken as water or diluted juices, and herbal or fruit teas. We don't recommend alcohol, caffeinated tea, or coffee as sources of fluid intake, since they are diuretics, and flush out water, together with other valuable nutrients.
One way to increase your water intake is to keep a bottle of filtered or spring water on your desk at work. Fill it up in the morning and drink it all by the time you go home.
Mopping Up with Antioxidants
Oxygen is the ultimate "essential" – a few minutes without it and you're dead. We need to breathe it, of course, and "burning" food with oxygen gives our bodies energy.
The trouble is, whenever we make energy, we also make toxic by-products called free radicals – a whole bucketful of them a year. And many of us produce far more than this. One puff of a cigarette, for example, lets loose a trillion free radical molecules in the smoker. Exhaust fumes, pollution, fried and browned food, and exposure to the sun can be equally disastrous. Free radicals are the major cause of the aging process. They attack brain cells and are largely responsible for the decline in their number as we age.
How can you keep free radicals at bay? Increase your intake of antioxidants, a family of nutrients with the power to mop them up, and so reverse the aging process. Top antioxidants include prunes, raisins, blueberries, and blackberries. Kale, spinach, strawberries, raspberries, plums, broccoli, and alfalfa sprouts are close seconds.
Make sure your daily supplement program contains significant quantities of antioxidants, especially if you are older, live in a polluted city, or have any other unavoidable exposure. A comprehensive antioxidant supplement, together with a good multivitamin and mineral tablet, is the best way to go. Each works in its own way, and they work together synergistically. Most high-quality supplement companies produce combination formulas with the following nutrients: vitamin A, beta-carotene, vitamin E, vitamin C, zinc, selenium, glutathione, and cysteine, plus plant-based antioxidants such as anthocyanidins from a source such as bilberry or Pycnogenol. Essential Cofactors: Vitamins and Minerals
Vitamins and minerals can work real wonders in the brain, where they act as cofactors, or chemical helpers, in the production of neurotransmitters. B vitamins, for instance, can protect you from depression, anxiety, stress, confusion, fatigue, mental dullness, and emotional fragility and can even boost IQ. The minerals magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), and chromium (Cr), plus antioxidant nutrients, especially vitamin C, are also vital for brain power and health.
These vital vitamins and minerals are found mostly in whole and "live" food, the fresher the better, and organically grown whenever possible. Whole foods grow in the ground or on trees – they are natural and have undergone little or no processing. They include beans, lentils, seeds, nuts, whole grains such as brown rice, whole-wheat bread or pasta, as well as fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, meat, and eggs. Seeds are especially rich in minerals such as calcium, magnesium, zinc, and iron, as well as in fiber.
The fresh stuff isn't the whole story, though. To achieve optimum health and nutrition, you need to "eat right and take a multivitamin," as a recent headline in the New England Journal of Medicine editorial put it: "The evidence suggests that people who take such supplements and their children are healthier." A good, high-strength multivitamin plus 1-3 grams of vitamin C a day is your insurance policy for a natural high.
Unconvinced of their power? Consider this research. Ninety students were assigned to one of three groups: one received a multivitamin and mineral supplement; the second, an identical-looking placebo; and the third, nothing. After seven months, the IQ of those taking the supplements had increased by a staggering nine points! A five-point increase would get half the learning disabled children out of special schools and back to normal schooling.
Natural High Basics
- Make sure most of your diet is made up of whole foods and fresh foods.
- Eat three servings a day of top-quality protein foods – fish, poultry, lean meat (free range), egg, soy, or combinations of beans, lentils, and grains.
- Avoid hydrogenated fats and reduce your intake of saturated fats from meat, dairy produce, and junk food.
- Combine protein with carbohydrates.
- Choose low-GI carbohydrates such as whole grains, vegetables, and most fruits, and avoid sugar and refined foods.
- Eat fish three times a week, or take fish-oil supplements.
- Use cold-pressed seed oils on salad dressings.
- Have a heaping tablespoon of ground seeds every day.
- Drink at least a quart of water, if not two, a day, either pure or in diluted juices and herbal or fruit teas.
- Minimize your intake of tea, coffee, and alcohol.
- Eat lots of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables – at least five servings a day.
- Take these supplements:
- A high-potency multivitamin and mineral formula.
- 1-3 g of vitamin C.
- An antioxidant formula.
- Essential fatty acids.
A good multivitamin and mineral should provide, at least, the following:
Vitamin A: 20,000 IU total (606 mcg)
[10,000 IU (3,030 mcg) from retinol;
10,000 IU (18 mg) from beta-carotene]
Vitamin D: 100 IU (5mcg)
Vitamin E: 100 IU (67 mg)
Vitamin C: 200 mg
Vitamin B1 (thiamine): 25 mg
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin): 25 mg
Vitamin B3 (niacin/niacinamide): 50 mg
Vitamin B6: 50 mg
Folic acid: 266 mcg
Vitamin B12: 10 mcg
Biotin: 50 mcg
Pantothenic acid: 50 mg
Coenzyme Q: 20 mg
Calcium: 333 mg
Magnesium: 200 mg
Iron: 10 mg
Zinc (citrate): 10 mg
Iodine: 30 mcg
Copper: 50 mcg
Manganese: 5 mg
Chromium: 100 mcg
Selenium: 100 mcg
Molybdenum: 30 mcg
Thank you Family Education (http://life.familyeducation.com/nutrition/mental-health/35982.html?page=1&detoured=1)
