In 1987, Harvey and Marilyn Diamond came out with their book Fit for Life. It was highly controversial as it introduced new theories on healthy eating norms. Their dietary principles included eating fruits only in the morning, not to be combined with any other solid food; eating predominantly “live” and “high water content” food; and if eating protein, avoid combining it with complex carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes, rice. They also claim that water dilutes stomach digestive juices and should never be drunk at meals. They recommend drinking wine instead, towards the end of the meal. They claim that dairy products are considered highly allergenic and should seldom be eaten as they contribute little nutritional value. The authors also claim that if one eats the wrong combination of foods, it causes fermentation in the stomach and the destruction of valuable enzymes and nutrients. Several aspects of the diet have been disputed by both nutritionists and physicians alike. The American Dietetic Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians declared it as a fad diet.
The book, however, attracted hordes of followers all over the globe, including the Philippines.
Everybody’s palangga, Maurice Arcache, turned me into an avid follower of the Fit For Life Diet when he invited me to have lunch at his house. He served me the most delicious vegetarian cuisine concocted by his cook, following Maurice’s instructions. They got the recipe from the book. It was such a long time ago, but I remember vividly that we put the veggies, like alfalfa sprouts, tofu, cubed carrots, beans, etc., inside a taco shell and I truly loved every bite of that taco. I didn’t become a strict vegetarian, but I started to follow the principles of the book and noticed that I felt lighter and had no digestive problems when I combined the foods according to the Fit for Life principles.
The most important principle that I followed faithfully was eating fruit for breakfast, alone on an empty stomach and I never ate it as a dessert after a heavy meal. Gone was the bloated feeling that I would have when I ate fruit after a heavy meal and this was explained comprehensively in the book (please read on).
One late afternoon, during the early Nineties, some friends and I joined Maurice Arcache in his daily afternoon exercise, which is brisk walking around the village. Maurice was full of vim, vigor and vitality and we could hardly keep up with his pace. He explained that ever since he changed his way of eating, combining his food strictly, as the book suggested, he felt lighter and more energetic. Just last week, I received an email from a health buff friend about a certain Dr. George Mak who healed his terminally ill cancer patients using an unorthodox way. Many of his patients recovered.
Dr. George Mak believes in the natural healing of the body against illnesses, like using solar energy. One of his strategies to heal cancer — his success rate is 80% — is eating fruits the right way. “Cancer patients should not die. The cure for cancer is already found — in the way we eat fruits. Whether you want to believe it or not, it is the right way.”
Dr. Mak shows us the healthy way to eat fruits: “We all think eating fruits means just buying fruits, cutting it, and popping it into our mouths. It is not as easy as you think. It is important to know when to eat fruits. We should not eat fruits after a meal! Fruits should be eaten on an empty stomach. If you eat fruits on an empty stomach, it will play a major role in detoxifying your system, supplying you with a great deal of energy for weight loss and other life activities.”
Why is it important to eat fruits alone?
Dr. Mak explains, “Let’s say you eat two slices of bread and a slice of fruit. The slice of fruit is ready to go straight through the stomach into the intestines, but it is prevented from doing so due to the bread taken before the fruit. In the meantime, the whole meal of bread and fruit rots and ferments, and turns to acid. The minute the fruit comes into contact with the food in the stomach and digestive juices, the entire mass of food begins to spoil. So, please eat your fruits on an empty stomach or before your meals!”
He adds, “You hear people complaining that every time they eat watermelon, they burp; when they eat durian, they get bloated; and they feel like running to the toilet when they eat bananas, etc. Actually, all this will not happen if you eat the fruit on an empty stomach. The fruit mixes with the putrefying of other foods and produces gas, hence the bloated feeling! “
According to Dr. Herbert Shelton who did research on fruits, all fruits — including lemon, oranges, and other citrus fruits — are alkaline in our bodies when not mixed with solids.
If you have mastered the correct way of eating fruits, you’ve discovered the secrets to beauty, longevity, health, energy, and normal weight.
Here are the benefits of some fruits:
• Apple — although it has a low vitamin C content, it has flavonoids and antioxidants which enhance the activity of vitamin C, thereby helping to lower the risk of colon cancer, heart attack, and stroke.
• Strawberry — a protective fruit because it has the highest total antioxidant power among major fruits and protects the body from cancer-causing, blood vessel-clogging free radicals.
• Watermelon — it’s the coolest thirst quencher. Composed of 92% water, it is also packed with a giant dose of gluthathione, which helps boost our immune system. It is a key source of lycopene, the cancer-fighting oxidant. It also contains vitamin C and potassium.
• Guava and papaya — top sources of vitamin C. They are the clear winners for their high vitamin C content. Guava is also rich in fiber, which helps prevent constipation. Papaya is rich in carotene, which is good for the eyes.
Here are more tips to fruitful living:
1. Drink only fresh fruit juices, not from cans, packs or bottles.
Don’t drink fruit juice that has been heated up. The nutrients and vitamins are destroyed when you cook or heat a fruit.
2. Eating a whole fruit is better than drinking the juice. You can go on a three-day fruit fast to detoxify or cleanse the body, under a doctor’s supervision, eating only fresh fruits or fresh fruit juices.
You will be tickled pink when your friends tell you how radiant you look!
— Source: FIT FOR LIFE, DR. GEORGE MAK