Diet and Health: Implications for reducing chronic disease risk

Although my focus on this site is fasting, it is just as important to understand what is optimal for health when you are not fasting. I look at it this way: Fasting is the cleansing period when you give the body a chance to eliminate or consume those materials it needs the least resulting in a slightly healthier cell and system state. It's like giving your body a chance to rid itself of unwanted or detrimental substances so that it can operate a little more efficiently and in a state that is more aligned with normal function. So on the days that I am eating, I want to be putting food in my system that continues to support that healthy state. 

After a period of fasting, I always find, especially if I have a particularly difficult fasting day, that I don't want to go through that kind of experience again so think a little more carefully of what I am putting in my system. Do I want to eat that cheese cake knowing that it is not the best fuel for my system or should I focus on the veg and fruit more knowing that the result should be more beneficial.

Now this is the tricky part and the part that I have spend much of my life experimenting with to figure out what is the right food selection. So this article is our introduction to food. I thought I would start with what the national researchers have determined is the right way to eat and then over time overlay other research that may provide new insights into what makes better sense for the body. This is a very tricky proposition though. As humans we generally do not have immediate response to foods unless: 1) we have an allergy, 2) they are very chemically reactive such as coffee, 3) we over consume a particular food resulting in an overdose type of reaction. In other words, almost any food taken in small amounts will not have an immediate detrimental or beneficial affect on the body.