Last week we learned about health researcher Jason Shon Bennett, who made dramatic improvements to his health by changing his diet and is now helping other people to do the same.
Jason, the health and wellness expert for Kiwi natural health firm Lifestream, says if you want to feel better, have more energy, reduce your chances of getting sick and improve your odds of living longer, the first thing you should do is look at what you eat.
He eats a plant-based diet, steering clear of animal products, gluten, sugar and salt. He says a nutritious diet, along with lifestyle changes, can make a huge different to your health.
Here are his top tips for improving your wellbeing.
Eat less
As far as Jason’s concerned, the single biggest problem we have is simply eating too much food. “The human body’s not designed to eat so much so regularly, hence all the deadly diseases that are linked in with diabetes.”
Eat fresh
It’s important to pay close attention to what goes into your mouth, after all, you are what you eat. If you want a healthy, energetic, long life, then base your diet on superfoods such as broccoli, apples, spinach, almonds, jumbo rolled oats and spirulina.If you want to feel sick and tired, and get old before your time, eat a diet high in refined carbohydrates (white bread, biscuits, pastries), processed animal products (sausages, ham, bacon, fried chicken, cheese), takeaways (chips, pizza, hamburgers) and sugar-rich foods (ice-cream, lollies, fizzy drinks, energy drinks).
Sleep soundly
Get eight hours sleep at least five times a week. “Kiwi women suffer from a chronic shortage of sleep, leading to higher risk of almost all diseases,” says Jason. “Without sleep your immune system is severely compromised.”
See the sun
Make a habit of walking for an hour in the sunshine every day. “We get sustenance from sunlight on our skin and walking is the best exercise there is – the world’s healthiest centenarians who are without disease walk daily.”
Live and let diet
When Ngaire Cooper’s kids asked her why she’d drastically changed her eating habits, she replied, “Because I want to be around to cuddle my grandchildren.”
Ngaire – mum to Ronan (11), Seren (9) and Cailin (6) – has struggled with her weight since she was a child, and worried that carrying excess kilos would increase her risk of disease and cut her life short. In the past she’s tried every diet going but she’s never managed to stick to them and maintain any weight-loss. But thanks to guidelines provided by Jason Shon Bennett, since oay of last year she’s shed 26kg.
Ngaire (45) has cut out of her diet most meat, dairy products, gluten, sugar and all processed foods. “It’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle,” she says. “It’s about trying to be healthy. I still have another 27kg to lose to get to my goal weight of 70kg, but I’m confident I can do it and keep it off. It’s actually been easier than I thought it would be.”
Ngaire, who works for an IT company, says giving up gluten and dairy products was the hardest part of overhauling her diet. “Toast is my food drug of choice so not eating that has been difficult. But most of the time I just haven’t wanted to eat things that aren’t good for me. I don’t have the cravings any more.”
Ngaire still eats chicken once a week but otherwise her diet is vegan. She has homemade muesli for breakfast, salad for lunch and dinner is a dish like roast vegetables, chickpea curry, adzuki bean and mashed potato pie or nachos made with red lentils. She eats lots of veges, and a treat for her is sultanas and nuts.
Ngaire says as well as changing what she eats, she’s also had to alter her attitude towards food – “emotional eating is a big thing for women,” she says – and eating to be healthy has helped her to do that. She’s delighted that she’s been able to lose the weight and although it’s harder to measure the health benefits, she’s sure what she’s eating is making a difference.
“I wasn’t unwell before but I knew I was at risk of things like diabetes. Now I feel much better. Niggly little things like psoriasis on my feet have cleared up and I’ve got much more energy. I know eating this way is a lot more restrictive than a lot of other things but it’s working for me.”
Jason’s top tip
Eat lots of grapefruit. They’re high in fibre, vitamin C and antioxidants, protect against breast cancer and contain naringenin, a substance Jason says burns fat better than almost any other plant food.
