Mary-Ann
Shearer, author of best selling Natural Way series, chats to SHOWCOOK about her approach to healthy living.
"Natural nutrition, regular exercise, adequate sunshine and
sufficient rest are the key" says Mary-Ann.
The
Natural Way lifestyle is based on a handful of extremely simple principles
which, when harmonised, result in optimum levels of physical, mental and
emotional health. In other words, through sound daily living habits such as
natural nutrition, regular exercise, adequate sunshine and sufficient rest, it
is possible to prevent illness, achieve the perfect weight for your build and
enjoy unimagined levels of vitality.
Diet
plays a tremendous role
in maintaining or destroying our health. Don’t try to pretend that stress and
pollution are the root cause (these never result in dental decay, obesity or
blocked arteries), for diet, and diet alone, is to blame. In addition to eating
badly, we also live incorrectly by ignoring our need for sufficient exercise,
fresh air and sunshine.
So
incorrect dietary
and living habits combined, result in many common health problems such
as fatigue, eczema, cellulite, excess weight, tonsillitis, insomnia,
dark circles under the eyes, pre-menstrual tension, frequent colds and
flu, and a host of more serious diseases such as diabetes, heart disease
and cancer, to name but a few.
Modern
living has a lot to
answer for! We tend to pack far too much into each day, and most of our food
choices are determined by how much time we have available to prepare and eat our
meals rather than by their nutritional quality. We cope with life in the fast
lane by trying to survive on fast food; giving little thought to the toll this
takes on our health.
Many
of us are also
confused by the host of conflicting theories on health and weight loss that
bombard us on an almost daily basis. In a sincere effort to improve the quality
of our meals, we may turn to the traditional dietary principles. However, we
soon find that we revert back to our old eating habits simply because these
traditional principles are too difficult and too time consuming to
implement
Let’s
take a good look at
our eating habits. A typical breakfast might consist of tea or coffee with milk,
sweetener or sugar; a bowl of cereal with milk and sugar, or a muffin (we think
blueberry and bran is the really healthy choice!), or a slice of toast with egg.
Come mid-morning we might opt for some more tea or coffee with a doughnut or
chocolate, or even a canned cold drink and a toasted sandwich.
Lunch
might be a burger on the run, and for supper we might pull a pizza out of the
freezer. If we’re organized we might cook a ‘proper’ evening meal and put
some steak or chicken with chips and vegetables on the table. This will
inevitably be followed by more tea or coffee, and some days there might even be
some dessert. Sounds reasonably healthy?
No!
This is a good
example of a disease-forming diet as it makes the following common
dietary mistakes:
Ø
It is a predominantly acid-forming diet
Ø It is a diet too high in animal fats and proteins
Ø
It is a highly processed diet that contains many harmful additives
So
what is an acid-forming diet and
why is it so unhealthy? Certain foods (for example all animal products and, to a
lesser degree, all grains) have an acidic reaction on the blood. In other words,
meat, chicken, fish, eggs, milk, cheese, yoghurt, wheat, rice, maize and barley,
are all acid forming or leave an acidic ash in the bloodstream.
The
blood, however, is slightly alkaline (7,35 – 7,45 on the pH scale) and to
maintain the correct alkalinity in our blood for perfect health, energy and
homeostasis (balance), we need a 75 per cent alkaline-forming diet. The
acid-forming component of our daily intake should be reduced to a maximum of 25
per cent.
We
also need to reduce our intake of animal fats and proteins. All current
independent research shows that if you eat a plant-based diet you are less
likely to suffer from a host of serious disorders including heart disease,
diabetes, cancer, arthritis, gout, arteriosclerosis and osteoporosis.
Protein
is needed mainly for
growth and repair, but the average adult in western society consumes far too
much animal protein. As mentioned earlier, all animal products are highly acid
forming. The body needs to neutralise the acidity in some way and does so by
creating a buffer. The main ingredient of this buffer system is the mineral
calcium. How does the body obtain the calcium it needs? Why, it leaches it
from the teeth and bones, resulting in dental decay and osteoporosis. The danger
in this society then, is not that we don’t get enough protein, but ensuring
that we don’t get too much.
Our
diet is also highly
processed, laden with artificial additives, colourants and flavourants, which
not only drain our energy, but also have an adverse effect on our central
nervous system, our immune system and our hormonal system.
We
tend to think that
correcting our diet is far too complicated and expensive and that fast food is
easy food. But in the long run we (and our families) pay the price and suffer
from low energy levels, fluctuating weight and general ill health. What we need
is the knowledge to make better choices
How
do we overcome
the problems associated with the modern fast-food diet? Simply by
returning to a more natural way of living and eating. As I have already
mentioned, we need to ensure that our diet is at least 75 per cent
alkaline forming, and that we reduce the amount of animal protein, fat
and processed foods we consume.
The
way to achieve your aim is to follow five basic steps:
Ø
Eat at least one fruit meal per day
Ø
Snack only on fresh or dried fruit or raw vegetables
Ø
Do not eat protein more than once a day
Ø
Eat at least one fruit meal per day
Ø
Start all cooked meals with something raw
Ø
Do not eat a concentrated protein with a concentrated starch
Mary-Ann
is also the author of the best selling Natural Way series of books on healthy
living and her new book, due for release in July 2003, is “Perfect Weight
– The Natural Way”
If
you require any more information please take a look at our website
www.mary-anns.com
or
read Mary-Ann Shearer’s books “The Natural Way”, “Healthy Kids”,
“Perfect
Weight” and her two recipe books “The Natural Way Recipe books 1 & 2”