Eating Recommendations
With the possible exception of sex, eating is the most powerful act you perform in your daily life. Yet in our society (assuming that you are not e.g. a kosher Jew or a macrobiotic) most of us tend to trivialize this act – indeed, to feel ashamed of it (just as society has taught us to be ashamed of sex). Every bite you take either clogs your body or gives it lightness. Take no bite for its sweetness or pleasant flavor. Every bit you take in must be weighed, and every word you speak must be measured.
Foods (except for salads) should not be mixed together. Foods should be treated with respect, as if they had an integrity of their own. It’s not wise to use a lot of condiments such as soy sauce, catsup, Worcestershire, or wine; although they can be used sparingly. Butter on top of things is okay. Foods shouldn’t be boiled and boiled (such as tomato sauce) – evaporated is better. Herbs are fine, but not lots of them mixed up. One or at most two herbs per dish. Sesame can be sprinkled over things, but not enough so you can really feel it. Just a hint – that’s the secret – just a hint. Garlic has good healing properties, but just a hint. Not lots of salt on things. Bread is okay (except for people with a lot of mucus), but it should be kept simple: water, yeast, salt, flour – period, not a lot of additives. Fresh-squeezed juices are excellent. Sugar is like salt – okay in small quantities. Same with soy sauce and black and chile pepper. All of these things are okay in small quantities to add an accent and heighten the taste of foods, not to swamp them.
Mayonnaise should be made fresh each time, with lemon juice (not vinegar). In fact, lemon juice should be used in preference to vinegar in all cases, except when lemons are unobtainable. Honey is better than sugar in all cases where substitution is possible; but price, convenience, or flavor may determine sugar use instead. It’s best to use little salt; try using herbs instead. Herbs should be an accent, not a strong flavor. Use more of them in preference to soy sauce, bouillon, etc. Use melted butter over things in preference to heavy white sauces. Food should be light: heavy, doughy things like pasta casseroles, doughnuts, warm bread, starch puddings, peanut butter, even potatoes, make people sluggish and dull. Even bread should be a once or twice a week thing, not a feature at every meal. Chicken and fish should be used in preference to red meats, and even those very sparingly.
People who have high blood pressure (or diabetes) who are forbidden to eat salt (or sugar) and who miss these things in their diets can do a little trick which is based on the same principle as homeopathic medicine: take one part salt (or sugar) and ten parts flour and mix them together well. Repeat this procedure five or six times, until you have a mixture that is less than one part per million salt. Then, just use this as you would use normal table salt: put it in a shaker and use as much of the mixture as you would use normal salt. You’ll find, to your surprise, that this makes your food taste as salty as usual, but doesn’t raise your blood pressure. Diabetics can do the same thing by dissolving sugar in water, and use this super-diluted solution to sweeten drinks, etc. The “trick” to making this work is that the mixing should be done mindfully, thinking about the taste of the salt (or sugar) as you mix. You can put a little bit of salt or sugar in your mouth as you do this, to help you mentally capture the right taste as you mix. There should be nothing hurried about the mixing – in fact, it is best to only do one dilution at a time (per day), because while you don’t need total concentration on what you’re doing, you can’t let your mind be wandering all over the place either. You have to give the taste of salt (or sugar) as much attention while you mix as you give to your sense of touch when you’re having sex. How long you mix and how many dilutions you make, is up to you. Use your own intuition. When you get tired, or feel like that’s good enough, then stop. The end product won’t taste like salt if you eat it straight, but it should make foods you sprinkle it on taste salty enough for your taste (and it should work for other people too). If it doesn’t, then you didn’t take enough time in your mixing. Throw that batch out and do it again, but this time with more patience.
It’s best to eat lots of salads. Lots of things can be mixed together in salads because raw vegetables, even after being picked and cut up into salad, are still alive and lively and enjoy the company of other vegetables. But things that are being cooked basically want to be left alone, and to throw a lot of condiments or other ingredients into them at such a time is disrespectful. No dressing is needed on salads, but if you prefer one it is best to use olive oil and fresh lemon juice stored in separate decanters and poured over the salad at the table. Sprouts of all sorts are an excellent food, not only from a nutritional point of view, but because their light fiber energy has all the vibrancy, impetuosity, and joie de vivre of youth (compared to the more experienced and mellow energy of e.g. a broccoli).
Eat slowly, chewing well. Don’t drink during meals (half an hour before a meal and two hours afterwards). It is better to eat small quantities of food like snacks during the day rather than three big, heavy meals (but time and schedule constraints may prohibit this).
You should fast at least once a week, preferably on the same day each week. Rest that day and try to get off by yourself in nature. Whenever you get too upset, a fast is called for. When you feel out of kilter you should stop eating. Three- and seven-day fasts are good several times per year. Truly, Thanksgiving should be celebrated by fasting rather than by gorging until stuffed and bloated; that would make people truly thankful.
(Copyright © 2011 by Bob Makransky. All rights reserved).
