What is a  healthy diet, and what is  its role in therapy?  Let's investigate first a typical unhealthy diet like that of sailors who discovered America. Long sea voyages lacking fresh food, led in the past to a vitamin C deficiency and a deadly scurvy. The discovery of vitamins and essential minerals, revealed that  they are an important ingredient of  a healthy diet.

Agriculture

For the last 8000 years or so we were an  agricultural society, and until  recently  agricultural products were our main source of food.  We might therefore regard it as a balanced diet.  Most societies  did not travel, and generally lived  close to the sea,  from which they got  essential minerals like iodine, and magnesium. Voyagers like sailors had to satisfy themselves with an unbalanced diet lacking some essential ingredients. 

Digestion is a process whereby ingested  food is converted into material  suitable for uptake by the body. Our food is generally polymerized, and in order to be taken up it has to be split  up into single molecules, know as de-polymerization, which requires time, and may take several hours. 

Industry

Industrialization  introduced  a new kind of food. Either it is purified, like white sugar, or synthesized, like vitamin-C. It  is easier to digest than farm products, and gets into the body faster. However our body is unqualified for a rapid food digestion, which is evident from the glucose tolerance test,  applied to  evaluate  the response of the body to glucose ingestion.                                                      
WOB maintains an optimal blood glucose level, and controls it tightly. After drinking a large amount of sweetened water, glucose enters swiftly into the vascular system and its blood level rises rapidly which endangers the organism. WOB  swiftly  removes  glucose from the blood until it regains its  optimal level. Most of the sugar is polymerized into glycogen, and if sugar intake  is too excessive, it is excreted also into the urine.  Glucose excess is dangerous, like in diabetes mellitus , where it induces glucose toxicity.

An impaired glucose tolerance, like in diabetes mellitus,   shows that WOB does not react swiftly enough, and blood glucose level rises . On the other the hand if one eats bread, (polymerized sugar) digestion takes longer, and blood glucose level barely rises.

Alcohol

You may experience it yourself when drinking  a glass of vodka. Like glucose, alcohol enters swiftly into the blood and its level rises. If you feel dizzy, WOB signals your mind that alcohol blood level is too high and  endangers your brain.  On the other  hand, if you drink the vodka after a heavy meal, you will feel less dizzy, since it is taken up slowly and its blood level barely  rises.

Salt

In the past salt was rare and expensive, and hardly anybody could afford it. Food contained little salt. Like glucose, salt is digested fast  and its blood concentration rises above its optimal level, which endangers processes in the body. Not only salt, but all ingested  minerals, e.g., calcium and sodium, are  tightly controlled. Any deviation from optimal level is harmful

Iodine

Iodine deficiency is the single most common cause of preventable mental retardation and brain damage in the world. Globally, 2.2 billion people (38% of the world's population) live in areas with iodine deficiency.  Obviously iodine ought to be added to their diet, and in some areas it is mixed with salt. Like glucose iodine is taken up  swiftly, and should therefore be given in different  form. It might be mixed with oil, however Nature has the best answer, sea-weeds. Our blood contains many minerals and trace elements that exist in the ocean and are absorbed directly by sea-weeds, and so is iodine. Their concentration in  sea-weeds is similar to that in our body. Sea-weeds are not tasty,  yet ought to be taken seriously as a natural food supplement.

Also fruit and vegetables maintain an optimal concentration of sugar, vitamins, and minerals, and  when  ingested,  their blood level will be optimal

Each element has an optimal blood concentration level  which is controlled by WOB. Any excess or deficiently  may  be harmful.  A balanced diet  ought   to consist of slowly digestible food, with  a low  (optimal) concentration of minerals and  other supplements.

Mega-doses of vitamins and minerals ought to be avoided since WOB is incapable of handling such excessive quantities. Their high blood level is harmful

Gut flora

Microbes are everywhere, and inhabit our skin and intestine, where they are called gut flora. The newborn baby receives its microbial flora at birth from its mother. As we grow up  our personal microbial community evolves, and ultimately attains homeostasis. One might regard it as an eco-system, or better, an organism with its own WOB, a Gut-WOB

After attaining homeostasis Gut-WOB  maintains itself and resists any change.  The gut  wall is a dynamic barrier, which curbs  bacteria with special antibiotics, called defensins. A specialized sense organ  in the gut samples gut bacteria, and learns to recognize them (immunity).

Here are some of the medically important functions of  gut flora:

- Digests food stuffs which the gut fails to digests, like cellulose.
- Produces vitamins.
- Enriches mineral content of food.
- Detoxifies and binds some poisons. It may even bind radioactive molecules, e.g. cesium
- Resists foreign bacteria, including pathogens, and antibiotic resistant strains.

Since Gut-WOB joins you  in your meals, and contributes to your health  you ought to take care of its needs .  Gut-WOB prefers raw or partially cooked food. It favors carbohydrates, and less proteins (meat). Cooking destroys some  ingredients which Gut-WOB needs. Many alternative  healers specialize in such diets.

Additional reading:

Antibiotic resistance and the intestinal flora
WOB and microbial resistance
Sense organ of the immune system
How to diminish microbial resistance to antibiotics

Ann Wigmore

Discovered the benefits of wheat grass and the so called  'living food', a diet of raw sprouts, raw fermented  fruits and vegetables. Her signature drink is called rejuvelac. It is made from sprouted wheat grass seeds fermented in water. Rejuvelac is said to replenish healthy intestinal flora; and is vital to proper digestion. Ann Wigmore believed that deficiency and toxemia are the causes of all disease, and that diet serves to cleanse the body and it will heal itself. This outlook is opposed here, since it perpetuates the false notion that our body is helpless and full of toxins (corrupt,), while the opposite is true.

Macrobiotic diet

'Macro' is the Greek word for 'great' and 'BIOS' means  life. Macrobiotic diet enables  one  to live  in harmony with nature, which is interpreted here as a life in harmony with  Gut-WOB. The modern practice of macrobiotics was started in the 1920s by a Japanese educator named George Ohsawa.

The Seven Essential Components are found in these Food Categories:

Carbohydrates - whole grains, beans, vegetables, seeds, fruits;
Proteins - beans, bean products, fish, seeds, nuts, meat, eggs, dairy;
Fats and oils - cooking oils, nut butters, nuts, seeds, butter, animal foods;
Minerals - salts, sea vegetables, vegetables, fish, meat;
Vitamins - vegetables, fruits, sea vegetables;
Enzymes - fermented foods, raw vegetables and fruits;
Water - spring water, vegetables, fruits;

Yogurt and Kefir

The Russian biologist Elie Metchnikoff,, who formulated the basic theory on which immunology is founded discovered also the benefit of yogurt to our health. He was impressed by the longevity of Bulgarian people who are known for their high consumption of cultured foods, and concluded that yogurt may prolong  our life.  Metchnikoff devoted the last decade of his life to the study of lactic acid-producing bacteria as a means of increasing human longevity. He named the primary yogurt-culturing bacteria Lactobacillus bulgaricus, in honor of the Bulgarians.

Kefir is a  cultured-milk beverage, which is believed to have originated in the northern Caucasus mountains, many centuries ago. Kefir and other similar beverages are known as probiotics (Pro = for, BIOS = life) = "Life-promoting" as opposed to Antibiotic  "Against-life".  Probiotics are believed to stabilize the gut flora. A healthy Gut-WOB  does not benefit from probiotics. It dislikes foreigners, and  will not incorporate them into its eco-system . However, following  an antibiotic treatment, which disrupts  Gut-WOB, probiotics may hasten the restoration of a new gut flora.

Food hygiene

Natural food contains also the soil in which it grows, which is generally regarded as unhealthy. Yet  soil harbors  some Gut-WOB relatives, which may contribute to our health..  Actually Soil-WOB  nurtures agriculture. It consists of pathogenic bacteria, and harmless organisms that grow on dead organic matter, called saprophytes. Some saprophytes are related to pathogenic bacteria, like tuberculosis bacillus (M. tuberculosis), with which they have many antigens in common. This may benefit several agricultural  societies in the third world, which seem to be immune to tuberculosis. Their immunity is attributed to saprophytes which they ingest in their soiled food.

Although ingestion of soiled food is risky,  it is an important experience   which reveals new  opportunities to  resist pathogens.  It may also avert allergy. It seems that  urban children living in strict  hygienic conditions tend to be more allergic than rural children. Recently parents have been advised to make frequent visits to the countryside, let their kids embrace  cattle, and even kiss it.

Organic food

Industrialization poses a new threat  to our health, like chemical fertilizers, antibiotics, and gene manipulated food.  We rush to protect ourselves with organic food which may not be so wise. Since industrialization cannot be reversed, we might as well train our WOB to live with these poisons in harmony.  Chemical and gene manipulated food is an experience which should not be avoided.

Vitamins

Vitamins are organic molecules in our food, needed by our body in trace amounts for metabolic processes.  When missing,  the organism is ill. Officially there are about 13 vitamins. In reality there are many more. Most vitamins are unknown. In  order to be labeled as a vitamin, the deficiency of an essential (organic) molecule has to cause  a well defined disease, like Scorbut, in vitamin C deficiency, or Beri-Beri in  vitamin B1 (thiamin) deficiency.  However there are many deficiencies of essential molecules that cause non specific symptoms, like weakness, and malaise, and will not be labeled as vitamins.

Suppose that you discovered a trace organic molecule which cures weakness, it would hardly be taken seriously since correcting a non specific symptom. At best it would be called a factor, or food additive. We ought to realize that our body requires many essential organic molecules, and only a few are called vitamins. Yet medicine spreads the false notion that a multivitamin pill covers all our needs for essential organic molecules. 

One gets the impression that a vitamin C pill carries all the benefits of a lemon. In reality a lemon contains many  essential molecules, which are ignored. The term vitamin is a misnomer since it does not include many essential organic molecules. A healthy diet ought to include fresh and raw fruit and vegetables. Some essential molecules are in meat and fish, which ought to be consumed as well. Such a balanced diet covers all our needs for essential molecules so that pills are unnecessary.

Diet and allergy

Diet might benefit autoimmune disease, e.g., Systemic lupus and  arthritis. There is no diet that can cure rheumatoid arthritis, but many people have had their symptoms relieved by dietary changes.  Many of these special diets originated from the observation that rheumatoid arthritis  is not found in agricultural societies that eat a more primitive diet (soil?).

Celiac disease  illustrates the importance of a proper diet. This hereditary disorder is caused by sensitivity to gluten, and requires therefore a gluten free diet. Despite its effectiveness one wonders whether it might be possible to relieve the patient from his sensitivity, at let him  enjoy any food.  Medicine finds it unlikely  and is satisfied with the diet. Why should we comply  with its verdict? Why not advise the celiac patient to explore new ways to be rid of his sensitivity and become a Celiac-Yogi ?