We need to apply Principles for Healthy Eating much more than we realise. Most people who have a quality vehicle, and many wise people who have any kind of vehicle, take care how they treat it. Advice can be found everywhere about the best engine oils the best grease for bearings, the best petrol, to prevent wear and keep your car running at its optimum performance. We all tend to forget that we inhabit something far more complex and vital to our wellbeing than any vehicle will ever be. We think the body should carry on, no matter what we do with it, and we have come to expect that it will start to wear out rapidly as we get older. We would never think of throwing today's flour or sugar into our car engine instead of oil, or petrol, yet we shovel them into our bodies, and the bodies of our children, even though they are not among the items our bodies were designed to process. Western diets as they are today might well have been engineered by humans for the specific purpose of wrecking their systems and bringing on old age and degenerative diseases as quickly as possible. I MUST REFER YOU with highest recommendations to DogtorJ, the website of John B. Symes, D.V.M. - where 26 years of veterinary experience and over 5 years of intensive research into what ails us and our animals, and what to do about it, make for a gripping and enlightening read. As the starting point of your research into living healthy, be sure to read up on this site and learn the truth about pasta, wheat, soy and corn. A major factor in disease is an underlying acid condition of the body - that is, the Body pH is lower (more acid) than neutral. Acidity is enemy number one to healthy living. The chief causes of acidity are eating too much acid-forming food (The 80/20 Food Theory), eating foods our bodies were not designed to digest (Allergies and Disease), and eating foods at the same meal which do not digest well together (Principles of Food Combining). All of these principles have been researched and tested. See the links below for a brief outline of each. Valuable research has also been done to demonstrate that our blood group may predispose us to deal with some foods more efficiently than others, and many people have found relief from their symptoms by adhering to the diet that suits their blood group (Eat Right 4 Your Type Peter D'Adamo). Underlying all of this is our bodies' need for Minerals, Vitamins and Enzymes to function correctly. Minerals need to be assimilable by our cells - and the plants we rely on to give us the organic minerals we need are no longer getting minerals from our depleted soils. To top that off, as you will learn from DogtorJ, we have done some pretty savage things to the foods that were created to be our staff of life, resulting in foods that break our health down rather than building it up. It is vital for anyone with a health problem to understand that the first steps to wellness are dietary. We need to correct the imbalance that is opening the door for illness and disease to walk into our bodies. We need to realise that when our pH drops too low, it furnishes the exact condidions needed for viruses, bacteria and fungi to colonise us and survive. If we take responsibility for our own health and wellbeing, we shall be surprised how much can be achieved without drugs or cosmetic surgery to keep our bodies in shape outside and inside. We don't need to succumb to the "well I guess I'm getting older.." excuse mentality. For those trying to give up smoking the same holds true - in fact adhering to a mainly alkaline diet makes quitting smoking a much easier job. See the comments on the Acid/Alkaline Table below. We also have a free download book "How to Stop Smoking Forever", available on our Health News Free Downoads Library page. DogtorJ by John B. Symes, D.V.M. Body pH Allergies in Human and Pets The 80/20 Food Theory Principles of Food Combining Table: Alkaline-Acid Effects of Some Common Foods Diet and Candida Albicans For everyone suffering from Candida Albicans or Yeast Overgrowth, diet is a crucial part of any control regime and the principles set out below are worth noting. To read more about Candida and dietary management, and my own story, please click HERE. Note: The above information is offered not as a prescription or in place of proper medical care, but as a report on research findings which may be of interest. In cases of sickness, the attention and care of a nutritionally aware health professional are essential.