"The Great American Detox Diet"

A book worth reading is The Great American Detox Diet, by Alex Jamieson, a certified holistic health counselor and personal chef. She is also the fiancé (or maybe by now, wife) of Morgan Spurlock who is the director and star of the film documentary, ‘Super Size Me’. Morgan had agreed , that once his 30-day McDonalds experiment was over, he would let Alex put him on a diet to repair the damage Morgan did to his body in a month of gorging on nothing but McDonalds foods. The book describes this "detox diet".

Here are some quotes from the book:

"In January 2005, the highly respected journal, The Lancet, released the results of a 15-year study that monitored more than 3,000 people who ate fast food only twice a week. Over this period, the subjects not only gained weight, but many of them also developed serious conditions, like insulin resistance, which is a precursor to diabetes."-p. ix

"......the researchers concluded that those who eat fast food two or more times a week are, on the average, 10 pounds heaver than those who do not."-p. 17

"Morgan"s Detox Diet:

No!

Sugar

Refined carbohydrates (white bread, white sugar, white rice)

Coffee

Caffeine

Alcohol

Dairy, Meat



Yes!

10 to 14 glasses of filtered water a day

Whole grains: brown rice, millet, quinoa, oats

Nuts and seeds

Phytochemical rich -foods: blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, watermelon, peaches, plums, sea veggies, cabbage, tomatoes

Soy products

Beans and legumes

Acidophilus to replenish good bacteria in the intestines

Focus on organic fresh foods

*liver supportive herbs and greens: chicory, escarole, dandelion greens, watercress, endive, arugula, radicchio, broccoli rabe, dandelion root, licorice root, gingerroot"-p. 22-23


"Natural sweeteners are preferable to refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup................Transitioning to sweeteners such as agave nectar, brown rice syrup, and date sugar can ease the daily stress that our sweet diets have on our bodies.....Not only do natural sweeteners cause less of a spike in blood sugar levels, but they also still contain key nutrients that help the body with sugar metabolism".-p. 79

"Agave nectar is a natural liquid derived from the agave cactus......Agave absorbs slowly into the body, decreasing the highs and lows associated with sucrose intake..........Agave nectar is useful for baking and cooking; replace one cup of sugar with 3/4 cup of agave nectar. Reduce recipe liquids by 1/3 and oven temperature by 25 degrees F."-p. 79

"I choose to avoid using [peanut oil, canola oil, corn oil] and use mainly extra-virgin olive oil, coconut oil, and sesame oil when I cook."-p. 109

"The best way to ensure that your body is getting the kinds of carbs it needs to run smoothly and stay "clean" is to keep eating whole grains, beans, vegetables, and fruits that give you the extra dose of fiber needed to clean out your system. The natural foods with the highest amounts of fiber are lentils; black, kidney, and lima beans; chick peas; potatoes with the skin; peas; non-instant oatmeal; pears and apples with the skin; Brussels sprouts; and peaches."-p. 117

"Multigrain' means that the bread or cereal is made from more that one grain (like oats, rye, or wheat), but it doesn’t mean the grains are whole grains."-p. 117