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OPTIMIZED NUTRITION PLAN

Table Of Contents

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As reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association(JAMA), August 7, 1981
"A moderately conditioned person can easily sweat off 500 gms. in a sauna, consuming nearly 300 kcal - the equivalent of running 2 - 3 miles. A heat-conditioned person can easily sweat off 600 - 800 kcal with no adverse effects. While the weight of the water loss can be regained by rehydration with water, the calories consumed will not be." Since an infrared sauna helps generate two to three times the sweat produced in a hot-air sauna, the implications for increased caloric consumption are quite impressive.

In Guyton's Textbook of Medical Physiology, we find that producing one gram of sweat requires 0.586 kcal.

Burns 600 or more calories in just one 30-minute session!

Calories a 150-pound person normally burns up in 30-minutes of exercise:

SPORT CALORIES
Marathon Running 593
Vigorous Racquet Ball 510
Swimming (crawl stroke) 300
Jogging 300
Tennis (fast game) 265
Cycling (10 mph) 225
Golfing (without a cart) 150
Walking (3.5 mph) 150
Bowling 120

The JAMA citation referred to above goes on to state that,
"Many of us who run do so to place a demand on our cardiovascular system, not to build big leg muscles. Regular use of a sauna may impart a similar stress on the cardiovascular system, and its regular use may be as effective, as a means of cardiovascular conditioning and burning of calories, as regular exercise."

As a confirmation of the validity of this form of cardiovascular conditioning, extensive research by NASA in the early 1980's led to the conclusion that, infrared stimulation of cardiovascular function would be the ideal way to maintain cardiovascular conditioning in American astronauts during long space flights.

A Soft Heat R infrared sauna can therefore, play a pivotal role in both weight control and cardiovascular conditioning. This would be most valuable for those who don't exercise and those who can't exercise yet want an effective weight control and fitness maintenance program. This also allows for more variety in any ongoing training program.

Some weight loss authorities believe that our bodies use fat to dilute toxins. As an infrared sauna is an unsurpassed expeller of toxins, it is also a great way to get rid of any fat our bodies are using to dilute toxins we are storing.

Achieve Independent Health With Your Optimized Nutrition Plan: Getting Started

I have broken my nutrition plan down into three phases: Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. Success comes in steps, and this program has been designed to allow you to make your journey to optimal health in a step-by-step manner.

Almost everyone should begin at the "Beginner" level. The exceptions are those who are already implementing the advice found there, and those with serious diseases or other conditions that may want to - or have been advised to - take the more extensive measure of implementing the advice found in several or all of the stages to promote healing and health.

While making every change within phase is ultimately recommended to help you reach your optimal health, to determine which areas you may want to put the most initial focus on, you should assess your "Four Factors" -- insulin, weight, blood pressure, cholesterol -- as defined below. You should also periodically update your knowledge of your four factors to determine the progress you are making.

Each of the steps in these three phases has been placed there based on my clinical experience: while most people will benefit from taking the plan stage by stage, if you are just beginning but there are steps in the Intermediate or Advanced plan that you are eager (or have been advised) to implement now, by all means do so. Likewise, if you have achieved many, but not all, of the steps in the Beginner plan and would like to move on to some steps in the Intermediate plan while continuing to work on the unfinished ones in the Beginner, go for it.

If some changes present more challenge than others, just keep working at them. Remember, health is the greatest commodity you can ever have, so every step you succeed at taking throughout these three phases, whether it feels large or small, is a great leap forward in this most important journey. If you get discouraged at any point, keep this in mind: It is your one and only body and mind, and, more than anything else, it is worth it.

One more important point before your proceed, though:

Listen to Your Body!

If any food or supplement that is recommended by me, or anyone else, makes you nauseous or sick in any way, listen to your body and stop it immediately! Your body will always provide you with a better indication of what is good for you. Most people notice a remarkable improvement in the way they feel in anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. If you are not doing better, this may be your body's clue that you will need a knowledgeable health care professional that understands insulin and fat biochemistry who can help fine-tune your individual program.

THE FIRST STEP TO HEALTH: ASSESS YOUR "FOUR FACTORS"

There are four time-tested, clinically proven gauges of health that you can use to determine your own level of health. They are:
Insulin levels
Weight
Blood pressure
Cholesterol levels

These four factors are your signs on the highway to optimal wellness. You can use these proven health indicators to monitor your success on the beginner's nutrition plan. Additionally, you can use these indicators to figure out when to move to the intermediate level of this nutritional plan. You'll feel comfortable, confident and psychologically ready to move on to the next level, and your indicators of health will be in their optimal ranges

Factor #1: Your Insulin Level
So what's the deal with insulin levels? Well, you need insulin to live, but you probably have far too much insulin floating around in your body. Most adults have about one gallon of blood in their bodies and are quite surprised to learn that in that gallon, there is only one teaspoon of sugar! You only need one teaspoon of sugar at all times -- if that. If your blood sugar level were to rise to one tablespoon of sugar you would quickly go into a hyperglycemic coma and die.

You body works very hard to prevent this by producing insulin to keep your blood sugar at the appropriate level. This reaction keeps you from dying when you eat sugar. Unfortunately, it turns out that high levels of insulin are quite toxic for your body. Anytime you eat grains and sugars, you are increasing your insulin levels. If you have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, or are overweight, it is highly likely that you are eating far too many grains. When I reference diabetes I am referring to the most common type, type 2 diabetes, which typically occurs in adulthood and is associated with increased weight. Type 1 diabetes is actually a problem with not enough insulin, as the pancreas loses the ability to manufacture it.

FBS: The Fasting Blood Sugar Test

To find out your insulin levels, you need to get tested by your doctor. The test you need to ask for is a fasting blood sugar test, which can also be called an FBS, glucose test or blood sugar levels test. It consists of a small withdrawal of blood after a fasting period of six hours.

Facts about FBS:. This test is profoundly useful. It's one of the least expensive tests in traditional medicine, yet it is one of the most powerful ones. A normal fasting blood sugar should be around 87 mg/dL.

However, it is my contention that this is far too late in the process. A blood sugar over 100 can usually predict future diabetes that is even 10 or more years down the road.

Look for levels below 90. I think it is safe to say your fasting blood sugar should be below 90. Once you achieve this, you can consider advancing to the intermediate level nutrition plan. Fortunately, a fasting blood sugar is a very inexpensive test!

Another helpful test would be to actually measure your fasting insulin level. You can safely ignore the reference ranges from the lab as they are based on "normals" of a population that has highly-disturbed insulin levels.

I do these tests regularly in my office. Your fasting insulin level should be 5 or below -- the lower the better. A fasting insulin level above 10 suggests profound insulin disturbances; the higher the number, the worse off you are. It's unusual to have levels above 20 in someone who is not already diabetic.

When you get tested, if your insulin level is below 5, you can use this as an indication that it might be safe to progress to the intermediate level nutrition plan.

Once you normalize your weight and exercise, you can reintroduce grains into your diet at a lower level to optimize your health.

Factor #2: Your Ideal Weight
This second factor is something we struggle with more and more; millions and millions of people are overweight in the U.S. and the percentage just keeps going up. To read about the epidemic of obesity in America and around the world, please type any relevant keyword into my search engine and click "search."

You'll find lots of information to help you understand this truly troubling problem.

One effective and simple method to figure out if you have a weight problem is as follows: With a tape measure, comfortably measure the distance around the smallest area below the rib cage and above the umbilicus (belly button). Waist circumference, perhaps surprisingly, is the best simple anthropometric measure of total body fat, is better than BMI (body mass index), and is also the best simple indicator of intra-abdominal fat mass. So if you measure your waist, men would be classified as obese if their waste size was above 40 and women if it were above 37.

BMI is a good tool, however, to find out what your ideal weight should be. The National Institutes of Health has a good BMI calculator.

Your ideal weight is important for this nutrition plan. This is not only because I am committed to helping your body heal and become healthier, but also because extra body weight and obesity can have major negative psychological effects that impair your ability to be optimally healthy. If you are not at your ideal weight -- overweight or underweight -- you should start with the Beginning nutrition plan and stay there until you have achieved your ideal body weight; then I advise you move into the Intermediate plan, to further optimize your body to fight disease and live a longer, more energetic life.<.p>

Factor #3: Your Ideal Blood Pressure -- 120/80

Your blood pressure ideally should be about 120/80 without medication. If you are on medication you will be delighted to know that this nutrition plan tends to normalize elevated blood pressures in the vast majority of people.

Although elevated insulin levels are one of the most potent contributors to elevated blood pressure, it's also common for stress, tension or anxiety to contribute to this problem. After you begin my nutrition plan and follow it for several months, if you don't see an improvement in your blood pressure you need to seek out a health care professional who is well-versed in using stress-relief methods, such as my personal favorite: EFT.

In my clinical experience, over 95 percent of patients with elevated cholesterol or triglyceride levels respond to a reduced carbohydrate and insulin level correction approach. This is especially true for triglycerides. In over 20 years of practicing medicine I have never seen an elevated triglyceride level fail to drop in response to a low carbohydrate program.

Factor #4: Your Ideal Cholesterol Level

Most people are seriously confused about their cholesterol levels. This is because too much emphasis is placed on the importance of the total cholesterol. A far more important predictor of cardiovascular risk is actually the ratio of good cholesterol(HDL) to total cholesterol.

I use the percentage of HDL and obtain this number by simply dividing the HDL by the total cholesterol (HDL/Total Cholesterol). Ideally this number should be above 24%. Levels below 10 are very dangerous and usually indicate an imminent cardiovascular problem. Ideally this level should be 30 or higher. It rarely gets above 50, but to the best of my knowledge, the higher the number the better. Normally this is not true for a lab value, but because this is a ratio, I believe we can make this assumption.

It is important to note that some clinicians actually obtain this ratio by dividing the total cholesterol by the HDL (Total Cholesterol/HDL). In this case, the numbers should be lower. The cut-off point for a poor ratio would be any number greater than 4 with greater than 10 having serious problems. This number rarely drops below 2.

It's important to note that there are a small subset of individuals born with a genetic condition called familiar hypercholsterolemia about one in 500 people) in which their cholesterols are typically around 350 or higher. While this program will help to moderate their cholesterol levels, they usually do not normalize with a low insulin program such as this. Learn more about hypercholesterolemia. If you're using your HDL percentage to figure out when to transition to the intermediate nutrition plan, you must use caution and consult a trained natural health care clinician if your cholesterol is above 350.

You can also use the triglyceride to HDL ratio (Triglyceride/HDL) as another indicator of insulin disturbance. This ratio should be below 2. The higher this number is the worse your insulin control may be.

There does not appear to be a similar genetic condition for triglycerides so you could use the Triglyceride/HDL ratio below 2 as one indication that you are ready to move on to the adaptation phase.

Achieve Independent Health With My Nutrition Plan

Welcome to the condensed version of my nutrition plan. For my entire dietary program, which also includes over 150 brand-new recipes, read about my new book, Dr. Mercola's TOTAL HEALTH Cookbook & Program (I have guaranteed the book for life or your money back because it WILL improve your health and weight!)

My program comes from decades of experience -- decades spent learning from extensive research, conferring with my professional colleagues, and most of all, successfully treating many thousands of patients. Whether you are struggling with weight issues, facing some disease or condition, or you consider yourself reasonably healthy, I am certain that if you adhere to the recommendations summarized below and presented in full in my new book linked above, they will help you achieve the happy and healthy life you so richly deserve.

So what makes this nutrition program different from all the other diets you've tried? It's based on fact. There are no miracle cures here, just tools to help you understand your body and achieve optimum health.

Many of the world's leading dietary experts adopted one-size-fits-all dietary solutions that they believe can be universally applied.

While there are indeed certain universal truths, such as the danger of sugar and toxins, if one adopts this principle, my experience has taught me that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work.

Fact: One person's food may be someone else's poison.

Many diets will reverse one condition in one person but have no effect, or even worsen the condition, in another person due to differences in metabolic biochemistry. Just as we all differ tremendously with respect to our outward physical appearance, we are also unique on an internal (biochemical and physiological)level -- we all process foods and utilize nutrients differently. When you adopt a diet based on your specific "metabolic type," you will resolve most health disorders and achieve optimum health.

When your health problems are addressed in a symptom-oriented or piecemeal fashion, you will often experience temporary relief.

However, your problems never really go away. They frequently shift to other parts of your body or recur in a short period of time. In contrast, when you address your metabolic type -- the unique biochemical needs that are based on your specific genetics -- your health problems will be treated at the causative foundational level, and you will have a permanent solution for regaining your health.

For more on metabolic typing including learning your type, and for the full detail on my entire dietary and health program versus the condensed version here, I urge you to check out my new book, Dr. Mercola's TOTAL HEALTH Cookbook & Program now.

Fact: You won't be hungry.

You need not worry about being hungry on this plan. When you address your specific nutritional requirements you will not have any hunger pains. When you finally balance your diet needs, your food cravings will disappear, and you will wake up each day with more than enough energy. If this isn't happening, then this is your giant clue that you are not giving your body something it needs, and you will have to modify your program.

Fact: You can do it! With my three-level approach, I've made this program manageable.

The main difference in these levels is a progressively more rigid adoption of healthy eating principles. These are most often counter-cultural recommendations, but they are designed to bring you to optimal levels of wellness and health. All three levels have the same requirements for carbohydrates, proteins, and high-quality fats. Normalizing your insulin level will be a major key to improving your health and is essential for success in all three levels. One of the major differences will be the type of proteins that are allowed in each phase. Higher-quality proteins are gradually implemented as one chooses progressively healthier levels.

Important: When you change levels, you need to apply any restrictions from your previous level, as they are not repeated in the higher levels.

As you progress through the various levels, each one becomes more difficult, yet more freeing. Soon you will be enjoying a level of health you never dreamed possible!

Achieve Independent Health With Your Optimized Nutrition Plan: Getting Started

One more important point before your proceed, though:
Listen to Your Body!

The First Step to Health: Assess Your "Four Factors"

There are four time-tested, clinically proven gauges of health that you can use to determine your own level of health. They are:

Insulin levels
So what makes this nutrition program different from all the other diets you've tried? It's based on fact. There are no miracle cures here, just tools to help you understand your body and achieve optimum health.

Many of the world's leading dietary experts adopted one-size-fits-all dietary solutions that they believe can be universally applied. While there are indeed certain universal truths, such as the danger of sugar and toxins, if one adopts this principle, my experience has taught me that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work.

Fact: One person's food may be someone else's poison.
Many diets will reverse one condition in one person but have no effect, or even worsen the condition, in another person due to differences in metabolic biochemistry. Just as we all differ tremendously with respect to our outward physical appearance, we are also unique on an internal (biochemical and physiological) level -- we all process foods and utilize nutrients differently.

When you adopt a diet based on your specific "metabolic type," you will resolve most health disorders and achieve optimum health.

When your health problems are addressed in a symptom-oriented or piecemeal fashion, you will often experience temporary relief.

However, your problems never really go away. They frequently shift to other parts of your body or recur in a short period of time. In contrast, when you address your metabolic type -- the unique biochemical needs that are based on your specific genetics -- your health problems will be treated at the causative foundational level, and you will have a permanent solution for regaining your health.

For more on metabolic typing including learning your type, and for the full detail on my entire dietary and health program versus the condensed version here, I urge you to check out my new book, Dr. Mercola's TOTAL HEALTH Cookbook & Program now.

Fact: You won't be hungry.
You need not worry about being hungry on this plan. When you address your specific nutritional requirements you will not have any hunger pains. When you finally balance your diet needs, your food cravings will disappear, and you will wake up each day with more than enough energy. If this isn't happening, then this is your giant clue that you are not giving your body something it needs, and you will have to modify your program.

Fact: You can do it! With my three-level approach, I've made this program manageable.
The main difference in these levels is a progressively more rigid adoption of healthy eating principles. These are most often counter-cultural recommendations, but they are designed to bring you to optimal levels of wellness and health. All three levels have the same requirements for carbohydrates, proteins, and high-quality fats. Normalizing your insulin level will be a major key to improving your health and is essential for success in all three levels. One of the major differences will be the type of proteins that are allowed in each phase. Higher-quality proteins are gradually implemented as one chooses progressively healthier levels.

Important: When you change levels, you need to apply any restrictions from your previous level, as they are not repeated in the higher levels.

As you progress through the various levels, each one becomes more difficult, yet more freeing. Soon you will be enjoying a level of health you never dreamed possible!

Weight

Blood pressure

Cholesterol levels
These four factors are your signs on the highway to optimal wellness. You can use these proven health indicators to monitor your success on the beginner's nutrition plan. Additionally, you can use these indicators to figure out when to move to the intermediate level of this nutritional plan. You'll feel comfortable, confident and psychologically ready to move on to the next level, and your indicators of health will be in their optimal ranges

Factor #1: Your Insulin Level
So what's the deal with insulin levels? Well, you need insulin to live, but you probably have far too much insulin floating around in your body. Most adults have about one gallon of blood in their bodies and are quite surprised to learn that in that gallon, there is only one teaspoon of sugar! You only need one teaspoon of sugar at all times -- if that. If your blood sugar level were to rise to one tablespoon of sugar you would quickly go into a hyperglycemic coma and die.

FBS: The Fasting Blood Sugar Test
To find out your insulin levels, you need to get tested by your doctor. The test you need to ask for is a fasting blood sugar test, which can also be called an FBS, glucose test or blood sugar levels test. It consists of a small withdrawal of blood after a fasting period of six hours.

Facts about FBS:

This test is profoundly useful. It's one of the least expensive tests in traditional medicine, yet it is one of the most powerful ones. A normal fasting blood sugar should be around 87 mg/dL.

Watch out for abnormal levels. When the blood sugar rises above 100 mg/dL I become very concerned with respect to the possibility of diabetes. This suggests insulin resistance and inability to control blood sugar levels. Diabetes is not usually diagnosed until the blood sugar rises above 126 mg/dL. However, it is my contention that this is far too late in the process. A blood sugar over 100 can usually predict future diabetes that is even 10 or more years down the road.

FBS can tell you about your insulin levels. A high fasting blood sugar is a strong indication that your insulin levels are too high. High blood sugar levels can attach to the proteins in your body and rapidly accelerate the aging process.

Look for levels below 90. I think it is safe to say your fasting blood sugar should be below 90. Once you achieve this, you can consider advancing to the intermediate level nutrition plan. Fortunately, a fasting blood sugar is a very inexpensive test!

Another helpful test would be to actually measure your fasting insulin level. You can safely ignore the reference ranges from the lab as they are based on "normals" of a population that has highly-disturbed insulin levels.

I do these tests regularly in my office. Your fasting insulin level should be 5 or below -- the lower the better. A fasting insulin level above 10 suggests profound insulin disturbances; the higher the number, the worse off you are. It's unusual to have levels above 20 in someone who is not already diabetic.

When you get tested, if your insulin level is below 5, you can use this as an indication that it might be safe to progress to the intermediate level nutrition plan. founders of Auricast, Inc. formed their vision by following emergence of these trends.Once you normalize your weight and exercise, you can reintroduce grains into your diet at a lower level to optimize your health.

Factor #2: Your Ideal Weight

This second factor is something we struggle with more and more; millions and millions of people are overweight in the U.S. and the percentage just keeps going up. To read about the epidemic of obesity in America and around the world, please type any relevant keyword into my search engine and click "search." You'll find lots of information to help you understand this ruly troubling problem.

One effective and simple method to figure out if you have a weight problem is as follows: With a tape measure, comfortably measure the distance around the smallest area below the rib cage and above the umbilicus (belly button). Waist circumference, perhaps surprisingly, is the best simple anthropometric measure of total body fat, is better than BMI (body mass index), and is also the best simple indicator of intra-abdominal fat mass.

So if you measure your waist, men would be classified as obese if their waste size was above 40 and women if it were above 37.

BMI is a good tool, however, to find out what your ideal weight should be. The National Institutes of Health has a good BMI calculator.
Your ideal weight is important for this nutrition plan. This is not only because I am committed to helping your body heal and become healthier, but also because extra body weight and obesity can have major negative psychological effects that impair your ability to be optimally healthy. If you are not at your ideal weight -- overweight or underweight -- you should start with the Beginning nutrition plan and stay there until you have achieved your ideal body weight; then I advise you move into the Intermediate plan, to further optimize your body to fight disease and live a longer, more energetic life.

Factor #3: Your Ideal Blood Pressure -- 120/80

Your blood pressure ideally should be about 120/80 without medication. If you are on medication you will be delighted to know that this nutrition plan tends to normalize elevated blood pressures in the vast majority of people.

Although elevated insulin levels are one of the most potent contributors to elevated blood pressure, it's also common for stress, tension or anxiety to contribute to this problem. After you begin my nutrition plan and follow it for several months, if you don't see an improvement in your blood pressure you need to seek out a health care professional who is well-versed in using stress-relief methods, such as my personal favorite: EFT.

In my clinical experience, over 95 percent of patients with elevated cholesterol or triglyceride levels respond to a reduced carbohydrate and insulin level correction approach. This is especially true for triglycerides. In over 20 years of practicing medicine I have never seen an elevated triglyceride level fail to drop in response to a low carbohydrate program.

Factor #4: Your Ideal Cholesterol Level

Most people are seriously confused about their cholesterol levels. This is because too much emphasis is placed on the importance of the total cholesterol. A far more important predictor of cardiovascular risk is actually the ratio of good cholesterol (HDL) to total cholesterol.

I use the percentage of HDL and obtain this number by simply dividing the HDL by the total cholesterol (HDL/Total Cholesterol).

Ideally this number should be above 24%. Levels below 10 are very dangerous and usually indicate an imminent cardiovascular problem. Ideally this level should be 30 or higher. It rarely gets above 50, but to the best of my knowledge, the higher the number the better. Normally this is not true for a lab value, but because this is a ratio, I believe we can make this assumption.

It is important to note that some clinicians actually obtain this ratio by dividing the total cholesterol by the HDL (Total Cholesterol/HDL). In this case, the numbers should be lower.

The cut-off point for a poor ratio would be any number greater than 4 with greater than 10 having serious problems. This number rarely drops below 2.< It's important to note that there are a small subset of individuals born with a genetic condition called familiar hypercholsterolemia (about one in 500 people) in which their cholesterols are typically around 350 or higher. While this program will help to moderate their cholesterol levels, they usually do not normalize with a low insulin program such as this. Learn more about hypercholesterolemia.

If you're using your HDL percentage to figure out when to transition to the intermediate nutrition plan, you must use caution and consult a trained natural health care clinician if your cholesterol is above 350.

You can also use the triglyceride to HDL ratio (Triglyceride/HDL) as another indicator of insulin disturbance. This ratio should be below 2. The higher this number is the worse your insulin control may be.

There does not appear to be a similar genetic condition for triglycerides so you could use the Triglyceride/HDL ratio below 2 as one indication that you are ready to move on to the adaptation phase.