Rada Jones - The Nutritarian Diet

This book is dedicated to all people suffering with serious medical issues who were never informed that they could recover their health with nutritional excellence. The lack of information has denied them their inalienable rights.

What should we call a diet designed to slow aging and maximize human lifespan? Which portfolio of foods best protects against cancer and dementia in later life? Despite all the confusion, is there one diet style that accurately and comprehensively addresses every nutritional feature that promotes longevity, that can be used as the gold standard of healthy eating for the modern world?

If so, such a diet cannot be judged on popularity. It cannot be judged by critics looking for mass appeal or making judgments based on limited knowledge, or bad science, or food preferences. It can only be judged accurately by knowledgeable individuals who have no preconceived dietary biases or food preferences. These individuals use impartial scientific thinking to review the supportive science to see whether the preponderance of evidence supports the conclusions.

After decades of rigor and scientific study, it is possible to conclude that the Nutritarian diet is that pinnacle of excellence in the nutritional world.

I coined the term Nutritarian to label and identify this nutrient-rich diet style and to set it apart from other diets. By paying attention not just to vitamins and minerals, but also to the thousands of other phytonutrientsthat is, the beneficial chemicals found in plantsthat are essential for maximizing immune function, such a diet style can have profound effects on extending healthspan (meaning the number of years we can expect to be healthy) and lifespan.

Thousands of people around the world now call themselves Nutritarians because they eat a nutrient-dense, plant-rich diet for better health and a better life. Simply put, a Nutritarian is a person who strives for more micronutrientsall the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants essential for healthper calorie in their diet. Nutritarians seek to consume a broad array of micronutrients via their food choices because they understand that food has powerful disease-protecting and therapeutic effects.

The foods with the highest micronutrients per calorie are vegetables, and for optimal health and to combat disease, it is necessary to consume an adequate amount and variety of vegetables.

Nutritarians optimize their health potential by making food choices based on nutritional quality. This evaluation of the nutritional quality of what one eats should also include foods with documented effectiveness to improve immunity. A Nutritarian diet includes a full array of those foods with the most evidence for fighting cancer and prepares those foods in a manner that ensures and enhances the beneficial activity of their nutrients. While some foods may not have an elevated micronutrient density per calorie, they may still contain particularly effective phytonutrients that scientific studies have demonstrated to prevent cancer. Cooked mushrooms are a perfect example of a food that does not have high levels of vitamins and minerals compared with other foods; however, their unique compounds are powerfully protective against cancer, making them an integral part of a Nutritarian diet. As you can begin to see, this approach is all about understanding which foods best help support our bodies and minds and bringing those foods to our plates every single day.

Many people argue that there are various best diets depending on genetics and unique individuality. In other words, they believe that each individual has a different ideal diet that is based on specific genetic makeup. But does this accurately express the consensus of modern nutritional science compared with my argument that a Nutritarian diet is the most powerful life-extending diet style for the human species? This book examines with compassion, understanding, and insight all of the latest scientific research and dietary theories available to readers. It will help those interested in nutritional science, health, and longevity to clarify their thoughts about nutrition and be able to articulate the most critical and important elements to modify their own choices. In addition, this book provides readers with sound knowledge so they can help guide others who struggle with conflicting information, misinformation, and myths that make up much of the public debate about food and diet.

I have dedicated my life to investigating these issues, so I can be clear in stating that all the evidence points conclusively to the Nutritarian diet as being the single most powerful approach to sustain excellent health and a long life. That was the purpose of its design. Yet, this is not to say that minor adjustments should not be made for people with varying genetics, medical conditions, and food intolerances. These modifications, however, can be moderate and not impair the effectiveness of this dietary model as long as the adjustments to accommodate individual differences are consistent with the basic principles of the science regarding human longevity explained throughout this book.

For example, whether you are a vegan (you dont eat animal products) or for some biological reason you thrive better with some animal products in your diet, both approaches are governed by the same underlying biological and nutritional elements that shape a persons health destiny. The more the basic principle of eating a dietary portfolio with micronutrient excellence can be adhered to, while adjusting the food choices to fit individual constraints, the more predictable the slowing of the aging process and the protection against cancer.

It is only through an understanding of all the critical concepts of human nutrition that one can become enabled and empowered to most effectively make healthy food choices every day. This book is a guide to help you do just that.

YOU ARE THE CURE

I have been part of the medical community as a family physician for more than thirty years, and I can tell you that drugs and doctors cannot grant you excellent health or protection against disease and suffering. Almost every doctor knows this. The most effective health care is proper self-care. Reading this book, practicing the Nutritarian plan, and mastering its techniques will provide you with the best possible self-care: nutritional excellence.

The nutritional excellence Im describing here can prevent and even reverse most medical problems within three to six months. This is a bold claim, but the facts, supported by scientific research and literature, show that most medical problems and medical tragedies we face in the modern world are the result of nutritional folly. Our standard American diet (SAD) has produced a sickly nationone in which the majority of people are taking prescription drugs by the time they reach the age of 50. Your body is made of the foods you eat, and when you eat the SAD, you get the diseases that most other Americans get.

• Almost 40 percent of Americans die of heart attacks and strokes.
  You dont have to be one of them.
• Twenty-eight million Americans suffer from the crippling pain of osteoarthritis.
  You dont have to be one of them.
• Thirty-five million Americans suffer from chronic headaches.
  You dont have to be one of them.
• More than one hundred million Americans have diabetes or prediabetes.
  You dont have to be one of them.
• One-third of people older than 85 develop dementia.
  You dont have to be one of them.
• Thirty-eight percent of Americans are diagnosed with cancer.
  You dont have to be one of them.

You simply do not have to be sick.

We consider it normal to lose youthful vigor in our early 40s, carry 30 to 40 extra pounds, live with chronic illness in our late 40s and 50s, and live our last decades dependent on others. But all this should not be considered normal. These expectations are the result of a lifelong pattern of unhealthy living and misguided information. We should look forward to enjoying an active life well into our 90s. This seems like an outrageous expectation because most people spend a lifetime consuming an unhealthy diet. They dont make the connection that we are what we eat and ill health in the later years of our lives is the result of earlier poor choices.