When attempting to make change, the rule is to add positives first – meaning, start adding good habits first, then later work on getting rid of destructive habits.

In the meantime, you can certainly start eliminating the bad stuff from your life, from your cupboards, from the choices you’re making each and every day at each and every meal.  The first rule:  out of sight, out of mind.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind
So, one of our first concepts you must embrace is “out of sight, out of mind.”  If it’s in the the house or on your plate, you’ll eat it, right?  Then remove it from your world – get it off your radar.  This means that potato chips, soda pop, candy, bread, ice cream, or whatever you’ll eat if it’s in the house – get rid of it, NOW!

Just go through your cupboards and refrigerator with a trash can or trash bag at hand, and toss out all the following disease foods.  These are also foods that may contain one of the following as an ingredient:

1.  Artificial sweeteners:  Aspartame (i.e. Nutrasweet) and Sucralose (i.e. Splenda), Saccharin (i.e. Equal)– neurotoxins that cause brain tumors and increased cravings for sweets leading to insulin resistance, diabetes, heart disease and obesity (yes, contrary to popular belief, “diet” or “sugar-free” foods make you fat).

2.  Hydrogenated oils, partially hydrogenated oils – cause heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity.

3.  Fried foods (this includes chips) – cause heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity.

4.  MSG (monosodium glutamate – i.e. hydrolyzed yeast extract, hydolized protein, etc.) – MSG is a neuroexcitotoxin which hyperstimulates brain cells, causing them to burn out and die, leading to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

5.  Soda pop (Diet and/or Regular) – leads to insulin resistance, diabetes, heart disease and obesity; also, the phosphoric acid leads to calcium depletion, which leads to osteoporosis.  Click here to read what happens to your body when you drink soda.

6.  Wheat flour foods (breads, pasta, cakes, cookies, crackers, etc.) – grains cause insulin resistance, diabetes, heart disease and obesity.  Gliadin, one of the two main protein components of gluten, is very pro-inflammatory.

7.  Cured meats (bacon, sausages, and lunch meats – anything with nitrates, nitrites) – nitrates and nitrites cause cancer (especially leukemia in children).

8.  Pasteurized and homogenized milk and milk products (butter, ice cream, yogurt, etc.) – cause heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity. Butter and heavy cream from organic pasture-fed cows is the exception.

9.  Sugar – leads to insulin resistance, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and obesity.  We must look at refined sugar as the poison it truly is.

9.  High fructose corn syrup (found in many foods – too many to list; see “HFCS” article library at www.drkratka.com) – leads to insulin resistance, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and obesity.

10.  Artificial Food Colorings – red, blue, and yellow dyes are used widely in many foods.  Like MSG, they are neuroexcitotoxins and a contributory factor in attention-deficit disorder and hyperactivity.

FINAL NOTE:  MICROWAVE OVENS ARE FOR WARMING PLATES ONLY:  Stop microwaving your food, any food.  A great illustration of the nutrient-depleting effect that microwaving has on food (as well as the differences in water) is to take three identical small potted plants and feed one purified water, the second tap water, and the third plant water that has been microwaved (and cooled).  Watch what happens over a few weeks. Great lesson for children.