| Today there is much confusion about diet plans and diets. Dr. Page’s food plan is not a diet but a food plan as the name implies. It was created at the famous Page Clinic in Florida, blood chemistry panels were taken every three to four days on all patients. He based his food plan from the early research of Drs. Weston Price and Francis Pottenger, who showed the relationship of quality of the foods you ate affected your health, both physical and emotional. Dr. Page called it a food plan because he found certain foods to upset the body chemistry. It made no difference what your genetic disposition was the same foods upset the body chemistry. Certain genetic dispositions were able to handle those foods better than others, but after thousands of blood chemistry panels his food plan proved true by normalizing the patient’s blood chemistry without any other intervention.
Many of today’s popular diets are based on Dr. Page’s work. Dr. Page emphasized removing absolutely all refined carbohydrates (such as sugar and processed flour) and pasteurized cow’s milk from the diet. On the food list sheet attached, notice the percentage of carbohydrates is indicated. Dr. Page felt that it was not only important to eat quality proteins and fats, but quality carbohydrates as well. This food plan is designed to assist your body in its ability to create and maintain “balanced body chemistry.” The Phase 1 food plan is designed for one to two weeks; the Phase 2 food plan is a maintenance plan. Both can be not only extremely helpful but in many cases essential in controlling blood sugar and hormone imbalances while balancing many other types of biochemistry problems. The longer you are on this food plan and the more closely you follow it, the easier it will be to stick to it. This will result in your feeling and looking so much better than you did on your old way of eating. As you become healthier, your cravings for those foods that are not the best choices for you will diminish. Old habits are hard to break, so take your time to change your dietary habits so you don’t slip into your old way of eating. If this happens call for the appointment as soon as possible to determine what’s upsetting your biochemistry. Nutritional supplements may be needed to assist you to get back on track by reducing cravings, etc. Foods to Eat and Not EatProteins: Eat small amounts of proteins frequently. It is best if you have some protein at each meal. It need not be a large amount at any one time. In fact, it is best if you eat smaller amounts (< 3-4 ounces of meat, fish, foul, or eggs at a time). Most animal and vegetable sources of protein are beneficial. Choose a variety of meat products and try to find the healthiest options available, i.e. free range and organic, whenever possible. There is concern about pork because of its similarity to humans and an inability of pigs to sweat that result in an accumulation of toxins that is independent of their diet. Eggs for most people are an excellent and high quality source of protein. Eat the whole egg, the lecithin in the yolk is essential to lower blood fat and improve liver and brain function. With any protein, the way in which you prepare it is critical. The closer to raw or rare the better. Avoid frying. Grilled, broiled, steamed, soft boiled, or poached is best. There should be some consideration to having no animal protein either for breakfast or dinner to allow the body its precious enzyme resources to focus on clean-up rather than digestion. This is when thoroughly chewing your food can make a major different. Vegetables: Eat more, more, more! While almost everybody can eat more vegetables, it is an especially important for you. Eat a variety vegetables as outlined in the chart you received, although make the green leafy type your preference. This includes spinach, chard, beet greens, kale, broccoli, mustard greens, etc. Sorry, chocolate is not a vegetable. As above, the quality of your produce (fresh and organic preferred), and the method of preparation is important. Raw is preferred with lightly steamed or sautéed as your second choice for the all vegetables. Get your children to have vegetables with a dip if necessary. The goodness in the vegetable outweighs most of the negatives of the dip. Sauté only in butter or virgin olive oil. Use lettuces with a rich green color, sprouts and raw nuts for salads. Iceberg lettuce is one of the least nutritious types. Don’t make salads your only choice for vegetables. Substitute nuts for croutons. While vegetable juice does sound healthy, the act of chewing is important. Chewing activates the part of your brain that controls your appetite and prepares your GI tract for digestion by tagging the food for proper enzyme response. Wheat grass and the “green food” products should also be mentioned. For many people who are depleted in nutrients, these seem to provide a lift. But large amounts of green foods can be irritating to your colon and should be used sparingly as well. Remember that man is not designed to be a grass eater. Trying to outsmart the maker with “super foods” may not only be ignorant but arrogant as well. Fruits: In addition to the advantages with chewing your food, there is an even more important reason not to drink fruit juice. Fruit juice is loaded with the simple sugar, fructose, which is shunted into forming triglycerides and ultimately stored as fat. Without the fiber in the fruit, juice sends a rapid burst of fructose into the blood stream. When you do eat fruit, only eat one type of fruit at a time on an empty stomach; second, avoid sweet fruits (like very ripe bananas and the tropical fruits on the food Phase 2 list); and third, eat only fresh and organic when possible. Carbohydrates: This is a very tricky area. Most people classify carbohydrates as either complex or simple/processed. Unfortunately, for most patients suffering with imbalance problems almost any carbohydrate is a no-no. It is a physiological fact that the more carbohydrates you eat the more you will want. Craving carbohydrates is a symptom of an imbalance; use this craving to monitor your progress. Overall, eat vegetables as your carbohydrate choice and limit grains (even the whole grains can be trouble). When you do eat whole grains, only have in moderation and only at dinner. If you start the day with carbohydrates, you are more likely to crave them throughout the day, and then you’ll eat more and it’s down hill from there. Absolutely stay away from breads (100% rye only bread is the least of the evils), muffins, cookies, candies, crackers, pastas, white rice and most baked goods. Grains: There has been a tremendous amount of debate regarding grains. Whole unprocessed grains can be rich sources of vitamins and minerals, but with soil depletion and the special strains of grain that modern agriculture has developed, it isn’t clear what nutrients remain. When scholars study disease patterns and the decline of various civilizations, many of the degenerative diseases developed when cultivation of grains became part of their culture. Allergic reactions, chemicals naturally found in certain grains, lack of the appropriate enzymes, and the carbohydrate content of grains make them a source of trouble for many individuals. My opinion at this time is to minimize grains such as wheat and barley. Unprocessed rye, rolled oats, and brown rice can be considered on occasion to give you more variety. Some of the Danish and German brown breads like pumpernickel seem to be nutritious. Sweeteners: Use only a small amount of raw Tupelo honey or Stevia as sweetener. Absolutely NO Nutra-Sweet, corn syrup, or table sugar. Sugar substitutes can have adverse effects on memory, do a web search. Although Dr. Page did not allow raw cane sugar, it does provide the nutrients to aid in its metabolism. If you cheat, be smart. Use only raw cane sugar (called Succanat or Sugar In The Raw® in the brown bags) in small amounts and only with a meal. Fats: You may be surprised that most Americans are actually deficient in fat – specifically fats called essential fatty acids. So please use olive oil (cold pressed, extra virgin), walnut oil, flaxseed and grape seed oils. These are all actually beneficial. Cook only with raw butter, lard, sesame oil or olive oil. Avoid all hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats – margarine, crackers, chips, fried foods, etc. They are poisons. Because peanut butter, even if raw and without the typical hydrogenation, is actually 28% carbohydrate, use peanuts and peanut butter sparingly. Eat as many avocados and raw nuts as you wish. If you think eating fat will make you fat, think again. When you eat fat, a chemical signal is sent to your brain to slow down the movement of food out of your stomach. As a result, you feel full. It is not surprising that recent research is showing that those who eat “fat-free” products tend to actually consume more calories than those who eat foods that have not had their fat content reduced. In addition, fats are used not only for energy, but also for building the membrane around every single cell in your body. Fats also play a role in the formation of hormones, which of course make you feel and function well. It is far worse to be hormone depleted from a low fat diet than it is to over eat fat. The sickest patients I see are the ones who have been on a fat-free diet for a long period of time. Like carbohydrates, choose your fats wisely – this program is not suggesting fried or processed foods. Milk Products: Forget pasteurized cow milk products (milk, certain cheese, sour cream, half & half, ice cream, cottage cheese and yogurt). If you only knew all the potential problems from pasteurized milk, you’d swear it off forever. Dr. Page believed that milk was actually as detrimental to your health as sugar is for most people. Avoiding dairy will make it much easier for you to attain your optimal level of health and hormonal balance. Raw butter, however, is an excellent source of essential nutrients and vitamins. Raw goat’s and sheep milk products are better alternatives because their genetic code and fat content is apparently more like humans. I’d still be cautious with these, however. There has been a lot of hype about using soymilk and rice milk to replace dairy. While they sound like healthy alternatives, what they really are is highly processed foods that are primarily simple carbohydrates. You are better off doing without these as well. Of course Vitamite®, Mocha Mix®, and the other dairy substitutes are highly-processed nutrient-depleted products that honestly should not be considered a food. Liquids: Water is best; minimum 8 glasses a day, and herbal tea. Avoid all soda. No coffee until you are fully recovered, and then only in moderation if you have the metabolism for it. Fruit juices are forbidden because of their high fructose content and dumping of sugar into the blood stream. An occasional small glass of vegetable juice with a meal is probable okay, BUT I hope you’ll be convinced you how much better water really is… The most important life-giving substance in the body is water. The daily routine of the body depends on a turnover of about 40,000 glasses of water a day. In the process, your body loses at a minimum of 6 glasses a day, even if you don’t do anything. With movement, exercise, and sugar intake (that’s right) etc. you can require up to over 15 glasses of water a day. Consider this – the concentration of water in your brain has been estimated to be 85% and the water content of your tissues like your liver, kidney, muscle, heart, intestines, etc are 75% water. The concentration of water outside of the cells is about 94%. That means that water wants to move from the outside of the cell (where it is dilute) into the cell (where it is more concentrated) to balance things out. The urge water has to move is called hydroelectric power. That’s the same electrical power generated at hydroelectric dams (like Hoover Dam). The energy made in your body is in part hydroelectric. I just know you wouldn’t mind a little boost in energy. If you enjoy wine or beer and still insist, there are some guidelines. First, drink only with meals. Red wine has less sugar and more of the beneficial polyphenols than white wines. Most of the good foreign beer is actually brewed and contains far more nutrients than the pasteurized chemicals called beer made by the large commercial breweries in the United States. Trader Joe’s usually has a good selection. Less is better. Occasional rather than regular. Because coffee and alcohol force you to lose water, you’ll have to drink more water to compensate. Eat smaller amounts more frequently reduces the stress on your digestion system and increase your energy level. Eating small meals conserves energy. Give your energy generator a chance to keep up with digestion by not overwhelming it when you eat a large meal. Avoid overwhelming your body with too much to do at one time. If you don’t digest your food – indigestion, yeast overgrowth, gas, inflammation, food reactions, etc can result. Another reason for eating smaller meals is prevent the ups and downs of your blood sugar level so you end up craving less sugar. As mentioned earlier, you can overwhelm your digestive capacity. You can also overwhelm your body’s ability to handle sugar in the blood. Since the body will not (or should not) allow the blood sugar level to get too high, insulin and other hormones are secreted to lower the blood sugar. Often times, the insulin response is too strong and within a short period of time insulin has driven the blood sugar level down. As a result of the now low blood sugar, you get a powerful craving for sugar or other carbohydrates. You then usually overeat, and the cycle of up and down, yo-yo blood sugar results. Eating a small meal again will virtually stop this cycle. Eating smaller meals also has advantages for your immune response to ingested food. It turns out that a small amount of food enters the blood without first going through the normal digestive pathway through the liver. As a result, this food is seen by the body not as nourishment but as a threat and you will stimulate an immune reaction. Normally, a small immune reaction is not even noticed, but if a large amount of food (or if a food is eaten over and over again), the immune reaction can cause symptoms. Over time, disease develops. By eating smaller amount, the size of the reaction that occurs is small and inconsequential. A large meal, and thus a large assault of the immune system, could cause many symptoms of an activated immune system including fatigue, joint aches, flu-like symptoms, headaches, etc. This reaction was called the Metabolic Rejectivity Syndrome by the late nutritional pioneer, Arthur L. Kaslow, M.D. Through thousands of his patient’s food diaries, he compiled a list of high risk foods that is much the same as Dr. Page’s. Dairy and wheat products were at the top of his list. I realize that eating five smaller meals is not always practical. After all, you do have a life. One concern with eating your meals too far apart, is you may tend to get too hungry and overeat when you do get a chance to eat. A small (healthy) snack between the main meals of the day is like an ounce of prevention. If you’re an individual who says “once I start eating, I can’t stop,” then you will most likely require additional help with nutritional supplementation, at least initially. Supplements: In reviewing the many diets used all over the world, there are pros and cons to each. For example, the vegetarian diet tends to minimize tissue degeneration but may not support tissue rejuvenation due to a lack of complete protein and fats found primarily in animal products. The major concern I have had with the Page program is that most people do not eat enough vegetables and therefore do not get adequate amounts of minerals. Since the fats and proteins tend to promote acid production in the body, it is very important to get enough alkalizing minerals to buffer the acid load. For this reason, minerals that are specific to your needs should be taken to get you healthy… Final Note: When in doubt, don’t eat it. If it isn’t on the list, wait and ask the doctor or nutritionist. The diet plan is designed to help you to optimal health just as it has for tens of thousands of Dr. Page’s patients, many of whom are in their later years without signs of degenerative diseases such as heart disease, arthritis, cancer, osteoporosis, etc. The Page food plan is not intended to make you suffer or sacrifice, in fact quite the opposite. As you attain balanced body chemistry, you will be delighted with the physical and emotional improvements you experience from the food your body was designed to run on optimally. And what you eat or drink at the occasional party or evening out is not going to be significantly harmful to your nutritional balance in the long run, so enjoy it. Lastly, as with all things that are beneficial to your health, it’s hard to start, but the longer you use this food plan, the greater the benefits that you will realize from it.
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VEGETABLES
3% or less carbs
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VEGETABLES
6% or less carbs
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VEGETABLES
7 – 9% carbs
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MISCELLANEOUS
In Limited Amounts
BEVERAGES
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VEGETABLES
3% or less carbs
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VEGETABLES
6% or less carbs
VEGETABLES
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VEGETABLES
12 – 21% carbs On Limited Basis (Only 2-3 X / wk)
FRUITS
Limited Quantity On
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MISCELLANEOUS
BEVERAGES
DESSERT
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Used by Permission © 1998-99 International Foundation for Nutrition and Health, All Rights Reserved
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