Foresight Whole Food Diet - Leaflet

Contents :

WHOLE FOODS by Belinda Barnes & Louise Templeton B.D.A. (revised 2003)
VITAMINS AND MINERALS (Dietary Sources)
APPENDIX :- How to Sprout Seeds for Salads

WHOLE FOODS
by Belinda Barnes & Louise Templeton B.D.A. (revised 2003)

Introduction
In 1984, when this leaflet was first written, we were endeavouring to bring you the best possible advice on diet and Foresight drew very heavily on advice given by several sources: the Health and Welfare Institute of Canada (who produced much research on diet in Pregnancy) by the Soil Association, the McCarrison Society and the Henry Doubleday Research Association, all of whom were organisations concerned with the provision of organically grown whole food and nutrition education in this country. We were lucky enough to have the help of Louise Templeton, dietician, from the Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital in writing this leaflet with me.

Since the days that Louise and I sat down to write the original leaflet, there have been huge changes for the better. In the major supermarkets, organic foods of all types are readily available. Whole grain cereals, by companies such as Dove Farm, Whole Earth and Nature's Path are easily available and also organic, as are some of the supermarkets' own brand range. The same companies, also Shipton Mill, and doubtless others, are now putting whole-wheat organic bread on the shelves.

The downside of the 21st century is that GM products may be creeping in, with all the unknown health risks they may carry. However, the Soil Association is standing firm, so anything bearing their logo is guaranteed GM Free.

Research done by a number of eminent workers in the field of nutrition and foetal development has served to convince us of the vital role played by adequate food in promoting health in pregnancy. We recommend the following books to those wishing to study the background work (the Foresight library has lending copies for Foresight members):

Planning for a Healthy Baby by Belinda Barnes & Suzanne Gail Bradley
Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Dr Weston Price
Nutrition and Health by Sir Robert MacCarrison
Nutrition Against Disease by Dr Roger Williams
Diet and Disease by Cheraskin, Ringsdorf and Clark
What We Eat Today by Prof. Michael Crawford
Vitamins in Endocrine Metabolism by Isobel Jennings (now out of print)

Foresight also publishes a series of booklets on specific nutrients, toxic metals and other hazards, see the Foresight Literature Summaries.

More topically the NACNE Report has criticised the level of animal fat, sugar and other refined carbohydrates in the UK diet. In stressing the importance of whole grains, vegetables and fruit, NACNE goes a long way towards the type of diet we would recommend for pregnancy to provide the vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids needed for a successful pregnancy.

In fact all authoritative writers on diet in recent years have stressed that far too much sugar has been consumed in the Western World. Much is used in combination with nutrient-depleted refined flour which would otherwise have little flavour.

NOTE:- The refining process to convert wholewheat flour to white flour significantly reduces the amounts of nutrients present, as shown in the following table:

TABLE 1 Henry Schroeder, Battleborough,Vermont Nutrient Amount present in white flour as a percentage (wholewheat flour = 100%) Thiamine 23% Riboflavin 20% Nicotinamide 19% Pyridoxine 29% Pantothenate 50% Folic acid 33% Vitamin E 14% Chromium 13% Manganese 9% Iron 19% Cobalt 13% Copper 10-30% Zinc 17% Molybdenum 50% Magnesium 17%

According to Dr Elizabeth Lodge Rees of California the incidence of diabetes in the USA has risen steadily in ratio with the amount of sugar purchased in the States. White sugar is particularly damaging as vitamins of the B-complex and trace minerals such as zinc, manganese, chromium, selenium and cobalt are all removed by the refining process. As these substances are necessary for the body to effect the metabolism of sugar, the sugar squanders these nutrients from the body's reserves.

Many authoritative writers, such as the late Professor Carl Pfeiffer of New Jersey, Dr David Horrobin of Montreal, and Dr Donald Oberleas of Kentucky, the late Isobel Jennings of Cambridge, Lucille Hurley of California, and Bert Vallee of Harvard University have drawn attention to the connection between lack of these nutrients and mental illness, compromised fertility, retarded mental and poor physical development in the human population and also reproductive disasters of all types including physical malformations in experimental animals.

The work of the late Dr. Ben Feingold of California stressed the dangers to small children of food additives such as artificial flavours, colourings and preservatives. Working with hyperactive children over many years, Dr Feingold believed that many of these chemicals were at least a contributory cause of hyperactivity and learning difficulties in children. In other words that they caused temporary or permanent brain malfunction. Research which followed found that with all but 15% of children studied there were other additional causes such as food allergies, heavy metal contamination or specific deficiencies. However, the Hyperactive Children's Support Group in this country has found that many thousands of these children have been considerably helped by a wholefood diet, free from chemical additives. Prof. Soothill, of Great Ormond St. Hospital for Sick Children, published a paper outlining the improvement in the incidence of childhood migraine and in hyperactivity following dietary manipulation. It would seem to follow that these additives can affect the brain of a school-age child, their effect on the brain of an unborn baby may be even more devastating.

Some Foresight Clinicians have found that many people who are sensitive to wheat, and who exhibit a variety of symptoms after eating wheat can nevertheless tolerate organically grown wheat. Dr. Jean Munro, who is experienced in the allergy field, has found about 2 out of 3 patients can eat the organically produced product.

Wheat is such a widely used product and is grown in such bulk, that when grown inorganically it is subjected to treatment of the seed wheat with mercury, hormones to increase the seed-head, insecticides and fungicides, hormone treatment to reduce the length of the stem, etc, and all these chemicals may produce adverse reactions in sensitive people, and one can presume, in the foetus. However, organically grown wheat flour with the Soil Association label, is to be found in most supermarkets.

To help parents sort their way through the Supermarket jungle, Foresight has prepared a little booklet "Find Out" giving the number and name of each additive and the effect it can have on the body. We have emphasised that those deemed unsuitable for small children should also be avoided by the pregnant and nursing mother - and that means preconceptually too by those who may become pregnant or unknowingly be already pregnant.

Golden Rules

BREAD AND CEREALS

For those who are not sensitive to wheat, organic whole-wheat bread containing 100% of the grain is a good energy food. Organically grown whole-wheat flour is available with the Soil Association Label. This guarantees that it is produced without the use of artificial fertilisers, insecticide or fungicide sprays. Whole-wheat bread, scones, cakes, biscuits etc can be made with this flour.

100% organic whole-grain breakfast cereals are available. Dove's Farm, Whole Earth, Nature's Path, and some own brands are now widely available in the Supermarkets, and hopefully more organic whole-grain cereals will appear, watch the spaces!

There are museli/fruit/seed and nut bars for snacks. A high fibre porridge can be made from oatflakes, oatmeal, millet, pot barley, polenta (corn) or brown rice flakes.

There are varieties of organic whole-grain hard bread on the market, and different types of organic whole-wheat biscuit can be bought, especially HRH's Duchy Originals! Sweet biscuits can be made at home using raw sugar, honey or molasses and organic whole-wheat flour - also flapjacks with oatflakes or oatmeal.

Rice, corn, potato, soya, sago and buckwheat flour can be used in a variety of ways for cakes, bread, biscuits and pancakes for those who are sensitive to wheat, and recipes can be found in the "Foresight Wholefood Cookbook" by Norman and Ruth Jervis, "Cook Yourself a Favour" by Gibson & Templeton and in "Wheatless Cooking" by Linnette Coffey.

Dove's Farm makes an excellent gluten-free mixed flour. Pastry can be made with fine-ground whole-wheat flour, also fine-ground barley and rye flours.

Jams and marmalades made without artificial flavouring and colouring and sweetened with unrefined sugar, honey, apple juice etc, are now available - or can be made at home.

To Be Avoided:- White flour and all white flour products such as bread, buns, cakes, scones, biscuits, pasta, white rice and other refined grains, puddings, packet cake and pudding mixes (which also contain sugar and artificial additives) sweets, sweetener, coloured carbonated drinks (some of these contain up to the equivalent of 9 teaspoonfuls of sugar per tin). Most bought jams and jellies which contain a lot of white sugar and artificial colourings and flavourings. For further information on the effects of food additives read the Foresight publication, Find Out. In particular, avoid drinks containing Aspartamine, and artificial sweeteners.

FRUIT, VEGETABLES AND VEGETABLE OILS

Dr Weston Price throughout his book, "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration" stressed the advisability of eating fresh raw fruit and vegetables whenever possible. All fruit, fresh, dried or stewed, with or without honey, molasses or a small amount of unrefined sugar is good food. Raw fruit and vegetables can also be chopped or grated for salads. Home bottled fruit should be bottled in water only. It is best to stew fruit in a glass dish or enamel saucepan as the acidity in the juice can leach metal from metal saucepans. Home pressed juices such as blackcurrant, citrus etc are useful to use instead of squash. All juices should be diluted. Many different organic juices are now available, sugar and colouring free.

All fresh vegetables can be safely eaten raw except potatoes and unsprouted pulses. Organically grown vegetables are now available in many greengrocers and supermarkets. A list of local organic growers can be obtained from your Foresight Branch Secretary. The Soil Association organises Box Schemes in many districts. It is a good idea to eat raw salad every day. Salads can contain: whole, chopped or grated lettuce, endive, chicory, white or red cabbage, cress, cauliflower, radish, tomato, cucumber, celery, spring and main crop onions, carrots, button mushrooms, Chinese leaves, watercress, Savoy cabbage, beetroots, small peas, sweet peppers, sprouting seeds and pulses (alfalfa, mung beans and many others are now available in your local health store). Salads can be garnished with nuts, whole or ground, many different herbs, sunflower and sesame seeds, pine kernels, raisins and other dried fruits, dates and grated or chopped fruits of every type.

Dressings can be made of different organic oils and herbs, cider vinegar and lemon juice. Home made mayonnaise, yoghurt, soured cream or Tofu soya bean curd can be used as dressing. Contrasting flavours such as orange in coleslaw can be very nice. Vegetable oils which are available cold pressed (ie. a useful source of Vitamin E and free from the anti-oxidants BHT and BHA) can be used for salad dressings as well as for frying.

When cooking, shallow frying is preferable to deep-fat frying as lower cooking temperatures can be used and less oil is needed. Cooking temperatures should be kept below the point where the oil smokes, a factor which affects the structure of the oil. This change in structure can produce substances that have been found to be carcinogenic. Oil should be used once and then thrown away.

Where cooking vegetables is necessary, methods should be aimed at preserving vitamins and minerals. Potatoes should be baked or steamed in their skins. Vegetables taste better and retain more nutrients scrubbed rather than peeled or scraped. It is possible to buy a stainless steel vegetable steamer that fits into a saucepan and even a triple-decker steamer. This way vegetables can be steamed clear of the water and will retain the most nutrients. Without a steamer, vegetables should be cooked quickly in a little water, and this water should be used for stocks, soups or gravy as it will contain much of the minerals from the vegetables. Vegetables should always be washed quickly and cooked straight away. If they are left soaking in a bowl of water a lot of the nutrients are washed away.

Vegetable juices, carrot, beetroot, celery, tomato etc can be made in a blender. It is also possible to make juices from green leaf vegetables - such as lettuce and cress but these are less attractive visually unless mixed with some more colourful juice such as beetroot. Many vegetable juices are now available bottled and are delicious.

In place of sweets, pieces of carrot, celery, all dried fruits, sunflower seeds, and of course raw fruit can be used for the whole family. Freshly sprouted seeds contain the highest concentrations of vitamins, especially Vitamin C - click here for information on how to sprout your own seeds.

To Be Avoided:- Potatoes which have green patches; this indicates a concentration of Solanin which is poisonous. Tinned vegetables which are generally high in salt and may contain sugar and artificial colouring, and which are a poor source of Vitamin C.

NB:- Unless a potato is diseased it should not be peeled as the vitamin content lies just underneath the skin. Vegetables fried in reheated oil, waterlogged, overcooked, kept warm or reheated will have lost much of the vitamin content, as will vegetables cooked in large amounts of water which is then thrown away. Rhubarb, apple and all acid fruits leach aluminium from the pan so are best cooked in enamel pans or glass casseroles in the oven. Fruit tinned in heavy syrup has extra sugar and, in some cases, artificial colouring.

MEAT

Fresh lean meat, liver, heart, kidney, sweetbreads, tongues, all poultry and game, and fish, especially roe and shellfish are nutritious foods. Meat should be bought as fresh as possible. Organic, free-range poultry is now available from many shops and farms. Venison, rabbit, game birds, pigeon and all seafoods are especially good foods as usually the animals have been in their natural environment and not intensively farmed. Mutton, lamb and offal from sheep is usually less intensively farmed than beef, pork and poultry.

Meat is best roasted, grilled or stewed with stock and vegetables. The stock will then contain much of the goodness in the form of nutrients and flavouring from the meat, and can be eaten as meat soup, or gravy and not thrown away. Some butchers will make sausages free from preservatives and other additives on request. Bone broth made from simmering joint bones, poultry carcasses etc is a useful source of minerals. This can be used to make any form of soup.

Since Foresight was formed a great many more farmers have decided to adopt organic methods, and as a result free-range poultry and eggs are much more widely available. Supermarkets now stock organic produce. Where the organic produce tends to be higher in cost, this is because of smaller scale production, more attention paid to better quality feedstuffs and the avoidance of using hormones and poly-phosphates.

The cooked organically-raised chicken is particularly good value compared with its battery-produced counterpart, as the free-range bird has less shrinkage, more flavour and better texture.

To Be Avoided:- Meat fried in reheated fat, meat kept warm for long periods, twice cooked meat. Tinned meats which contain sodium nitrate (E250 and E251). Commercial pates, bacon, sausages, packet ham etc which contain preservatives and sometimes the flavour-enhancer monosodium glutamate (621), Commercial sauces for meat may contain monosodium glutamate (621) sugar and colourings. All meat from animals fed extra hormones and antibiotics. (ie. all non-organic meat!)

(NB:- Non-organic beef has added oestrogens which are female hormones. Hormones are used to artificially accelerate growth of the animal. Poly-phosphates to are used enable water to be held in suspension in the muscles of the meat giving a pseudo increased plumpness to the carcass. Whether these are harmful or not has been much debated and much of the controversy has been reproduced in the vegetarian book, "Why You Don't Need Meat" by Peter Cox, Thorsons 1986. I think the arguments are certainly forceful on why we don't need intensively produced meat!)

DAIRY PRODUCTS AND EGGS

Fresh whole milk, butter, cheese, cream and yoghurt is good food for those who are not sensitive to bovine products. Unpasteurised goat's milk from healthy TT accredited herds is again available in some supermarkets. This is a useful source of B complex vitamins (including B2 which is otherwise destroyed by pasteurisation, as is the amino acid lysine) and contains digestive enzymes which can improve the digestibility of milk for some people. All milk should be stored, covered, in a refrigerator to prevent bacterial contamination.

Skimmed or semi-skimmed milk is available which has had the fat wholly or partially removed. Although the calcium content remains the same, there will be a loss of the fat-soluble vitamins A and D, of which milk is usually an important source. Skimmed and semi-skimmed milks should not be used for children under twelve years of age - if fat intake is a concern, avoid fatty meats, fried meats, fried foods and hidden sources of fat in cakes, biscuits and ice cream. Cheese and butter are good foods except those containing preservatives and artificial colourings (check labels). Goat's milk and cheese, and goat's and sheep's yoghurt are widely available and these may be very useful where people are sensitive to cow's milk. Delicious milk shakes can be made with goat's milk and honey. ("The Land of Milk and Honey" was, of course, the land of goat's milk and honey!) Fresh ice cream can be made with fresh cream, eggs and honey and if wished, flavoured with fruit puree. Home-made cream cheese can be made using herbs. Goat's milk is however a poor source of folic acid so if you are using goat's milk exclusively be sure to include a daily source of folate in the form of leafy green veg. (see other sources in Vitamin List at the end of this leaflet.)

Supermarkets are providing free range eggs, so obtaining these should no longer be a problem, and duck, goose and guinea fowl eggs add variety, as do gull and quail eggs in season.

Milk can be used in cooking in sweet or savoury sauces and in soup. Also:

• Sago Pudding
• Tapioca Pudding
• Cornflour Pudding
• Whole, flaked or ground brown rice pudding
• Whole or cracked millet pudding Semolina
• Junket
• Milk Jelly with Fresh Fruit Puree
• Fruit Soufflee Fruit fools with Fresh Fruit Puree
• Egg Custard

For those with milk allergy rice milk is available which may be a useful alternative. It is important to include alternative sources of protein, calcium and vitamins A and D. Green vegetables, dolomite tablets and fish liver oils should be used daily.

To Be Avoided:- Tinned evaporated milk. Dried milks, as the drying process destroys nutrients such as vitamin B2, Arachidonic acid and Lysine. Yoghurts and flavoured milk drinks if they contain artificial flavourings, colourings and preservatives.

GENERAL COMMENTS

Since 1978 when Foresight was formed, the dietary advice outlined here has been confirmed as beneficial both by scientific research and by the happy experience of Foresight members.

The increasing trend towards organic agriculture in the last few years has brought foods free from hazards of contamination or deficiency to a much wider public. At the same time many people are starting to grow their own vegetables and fruit organically, and surplus may be available for swapping or selling locally. Many fruit trees are very ornamental as well as functional and people enjoy having one or more in their garden. (It is necessary to choose a self-fertilising variety if there is only room for one, - or share a plan with neighbour!). Town dwellers can have highly successful roof gardens or balconies where cultivation can take place in tubs, troughs and even plastic bags. For the beginner in organic gardening Lawrence Hills excellent little book "Organic Gardening" can be obtained from The Henry Doubleday Research Association, Ryton-in-Dunsmore, Coventry, Warwickshire. It is well worth joining the H.D.R.A.

The importance of trace elements from food sources is becoming clearer with each decade, as research in these areas becomes more sophisticated. It is possible that food factors associated with nutrient absorption are yet to be discovered. Basing the diet on fresh whole foods grown on healthy soil appears to be the most sensible way to ensure optimum nutritional status.

For many people however, convenience foods are still a part of the diet, and many of these foods have been stored for some time before they reach the consumer. Similarly, custom dictates that food such as meat is cooked and milk is pasteurised. The result of this practice is nutrient loss. Therefore it is not surprising that dietary deficiencies can occur. Add to this the fact that much food is raised on poor soil lacking in essential trace minerals, after years in which crops have been raised with the use of artificial fertilisers, and it is easy to see that average food sources may not be ideal!

Many prospective parents suffer from mild allergic conditions, intestinal parasites or candida albicans (yeast overgrowth in the gut). Some may have absorption that has been impaired by over-consumption of wheat and cow's milk. Those who have been eating many white flour and sugar products may have very poor levels of trace minerals. Copper and lead from drinking water and dust may also have reduced levels of trace minerals.

Add to this the individual's increased need for extra high levels of specific nutrients in times of stress and at specific times of life such as infancy, teething, adolescence, pregnancy, lactation and old age, the quality of the food sources in terms of nutrient content and freedom from artificial additives, becomes a vital factor in the maintenance of health. Foetal integrity and maternal nutrition is closely linked. This has been borne out by animal experiments, by epidemiological studies and by the experience of many Foresight couples.

Foresight's nutritional advisors have helped to formulate the well-balanced supplements of vitamins and trace minerals, which, taken in conjunction with the diet as described, has proved very helpful. We are aware that many people feel that a "good diet supplies all the vitamins and minerals necessary", but from the beginning we have favoured the "belt and braces" approach and have seen nothing to contradict this view down the years. In fact in 2003 I think we have the experience behind us to be able to say beyond doubt that the supplements do contribute to the health of our babies.

I do not feel qualified to give a run down of all the ethical considerations of every packet on the shelves. However, on a personal level, I am trying to take on board the morality (as well as the nutritional value, the compatibility with the environment, and so on!) of what goes into my basket.

As they begin to make this easier for us by more explicit labelling, I am sure, good-hearted, label-reading crowd that we are, we will be doing our best to be ethical as well as toxin-free and cheerfully well-nourished!

VITAMINS AND MINERALS - Dietary Sources

Herewith a list of foods which contain the essential vitamins and minerals. This must just be regarded as the gleanings of an avid reader from the works of those who know what they are talking about! Hopefully, it will whet the appetite and lead you to your own reading - and further useful knowledge of what Professor Roger Williams so rightly calls 'the wonderful world within you'.

APPENDIX:- How to Sprout Seeds for Salads

You will need four jars, (clean glass) e.g. 1lb coffee size, sweet jars or 1.5lb Kilner jars. Remove the lids and replace by a layer of muslin or gauze secured by a rubber or elastic.

Put the seeds to 1/5th of the volume of the jar. Cover with water overnight. Cover with muslin and secure with band. It may not be necessary to remove this until you take out sprouts to eat. In the morning drain through the muslin. Rinse in cold water and drain again removing as much moisture as possible to permit the air to circulate during the day.

Rinse and drain in a similar fashion twice a day.

Once the sprouts are at least as long as the beans or the seeds from which they come, they are ready to eat. They may be eaten whole and raw without further washing.

It takes two to three days for each crop to grow to this stage, after which they are edible for several days more if rinsing and draining is continued. Thus with four jars it is possible to have one each of several different seeds ready to eat at any time. As one jar comes ready another should be started to maintain a continuous supply.