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Although increased cholesterol levels occur on diets high in saturated fat, there is no direct causal indication that eating more unsaturated fats can by itself decrease blood cholesterol levels. Basically, the typical American diet contains too much fat from all sources.
However, optional fats you eat might well be vegetable oils. Select cold-pressed, pressure extracted oils if possible. They have more color and are generally more expensive. They also contain more of the food value of the original food.
Butter contains a larger percentage of unsaturated fat than most margarines, including many of those made from special oils.
Fresh, unroasted, unsalted nuts are good sources of oils in your diet.
Increased use of unsaturated fats definitely increases your need for vitamin E. If you use a lot, consider a supplement.
All oils should be stored in the refrigerator when not in use. Try to buy from a store in which they are kept refrigerated.
Fats and oils:
If you are really interested in top performance from your body, don't eat any food containing hydrogenated fat or processed with fats or oils containing preservatives. This may seem like a stringent rule, however, a few deep breaths within two blocks of any food oil processing plants will convince you of the necessity of it. The odor of rancid fat pervades the air. It can overpower your body like it overpowers your nose. Unsalted butter, which must be frozen to preserve its freshness both before and after it is sold, is to be preferred to the salted variety, which can become rancid without becoming inedible and is, therefore, often eaten after long storage either with or without refrigeration. If you are determined to eat margarine, avoid any containing cottonseed oil, as this plant is heavily pesticide treated during cropping and pesticides tend to concentrate fats. Soft margarines, which are only partially hydrogenated, and health food types, which contain fewer preservatives and are as perishable as real butter, are to be preferred.
Oils should be cold-pressed, even if they are more expensive. In keeping with their high perishability, all foods containing fats and oils--and this actually includes whole grain products as well as fats and salad oils--need to be refrigerated. The chemical process which eventually shows u as rancidity occurs every time the fat is exposed to either heat or air.
A minimum of 2 T unheated oil per day is recommended to provide Vitamin F (unsaturated fatty acids). Polyunsaturated oils such as sesame, safflower and soy oil are better for this than monounsaturated oils such as olive. Coconut oil is a saturated fat and therefore undesirable in foods containing vegetable fat.
Vegetables:
Most bodies can use considerably more vegetables than they get. Two salads a day, plus one or two servings of cooked vegetables are not an unreasonable amount unless your doctor indicates otherwise. Most vegetables are potent sources of vitamins.
People who cannot eat vegetables for some reason can use delicious raw vegetable juices. These are a concentrated form of vegetable goodness, lacking cellulose (fiber) and therefore, much easier to digest. They are useful for the very young and for older folks and are sometimes eveyr prescribed theoretically by M.D.'s. Juices from the cabbage family can sometimes cause gas pains, though fresh cabbage juice has been prescribed for decades as a soothing agent for stomach ulcers, often with surprisingly successful results.
Dr. N. Walker has written a number of paperbacks on the therapeutic use of vegetable and fruit juices
Water and other beverages:
If you are giving up a coffee habit, you are likely to be reducing your liquid intake at a time when your body is involved in rapid de-toxification (both through dietary change and through work) and desperately needs to have that intake maintained or even increased somewhat. Learn to pay attention to being thirsty and to provide that body with the simplest and most efficient answer to the problem--a drink of water--whenever it needs it. You should probably be drinking at least 6 C (that's 4-6 glasses) of water per day, more if the weather is hot or you are getting less sleep or more activity than you are accustomed to. We recommend bottled water from a reliable supplier because it tastes better and is not full of the chemicals, detergent, etc., which can be found in city water supplies.
However, unless under a doctor's supervision, do not use distilled (de-mineralized) water, as this apparently can leach vital minerals out of the body system as it is metabolized.
Other beverages:
Milk, of course, fruit juices where carbohydrates are not a consideration, the following non-medicinal herb teas: mints, chamomile, rose hips, lemon grass, lemon verbena, kaffir or red bush (very similar in appearance to black teas), yerba buena, alfalfa, linden ? flower, papaya--can be used at any time.
Caffeinated products, (coffee, Chinese teas, colas, and yerba mate) in limited amounts; not only do they physically stress the system, and over-stimulate the pancreas, they are often used to attempt to energize decaying mass, i.e. "for a lift". One of the things you can learn is to do this without mechanical aids, so don't cling to old habits where you can avoid it. Remember that a highly functional well-tuned body does not need to receive the kind of chemical whiplash that coffee (or for that matter, sugar, cigarettes or alcohol) gives to the body; in fact, it experiences them for what they are, systemic poisons, and is better off without them until you learn how to de-toxify them as you ingest them.
Carbonated beverages, processed drinks, kool-aid, etc. Give them up. Drink water. Your body pays heavily for your tongues desire for stimulation; the high sugar content causes the blood sugar reaction discussed elsewhere, and they are full of artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives, which that body was not designed to eat, store, or eliminate.
Medicinal herb teas--not within 2 hours before work periods.
Salt:
You are probably eating at least ten times the salt your body needs, more if you eat much processed food. If you must use salt, we recommend that it be left out completely from the cooking and added at table as a vegetized salt such as Spike, an herb/salt blend, or sesame salt. However, if you are willing to do without it for a few weeks, you will find yourself beginning to taste food again (which means you will start paying more attention to good food and good cooking). You will get plenty of natural salts in your food, particularly if you are a meat eater.
When you use salt, use iodized salt.
Herbs, spices and condiments:
Herbs, which are less concentrated than spices, are to be preferred, however, any fresh or dried herb or spice can be used in reasonable amounts.
Condiments as purchased are usually full of sugar and preservatives. This includes bottled dressings of all kinds. Recipes and included elsewhere for some which are good-tasting and not bad for your body, but the remarks in salt about learning to taste food again alsoo apply here.
Vinegar: use a naturally fermented fruit or wine vinegar.
Soy sauce; virtually all American and many Chinese brands contain very heavy amount of salt, and sometimes preservatives, so we recommend one such as tamari or lima soy which can be obtained from health food stores of macrobiotic suppliers.
Recommended supplements:
Very satisfactory results have been obtained with the following program:
A high potency multiple vitamin and mineral capsule (not tablet) such as Plus formula 74* taken twice daily (with meals--vitamin caps are so small that they are not usually digested if taken without food)
1000 mg. Vitamin C, preferablly from non-synthetic sources
400 IU vitamin E
15 mg. Iodine from kelp
In addition, the use of a "stress supplement" or high potency B vitamin complex supplement by women throughout the month seems to improve their ability to continue work during menstruation.
Lecithin, while not a vitamin, has proved beneficial when used daily in amounts of 1 T or more.
We suggest that you check with your doctor to see whether he advises against the use of any of the above because of any specific medical condition which you may have.
*Product name used as example only, does not constitute product endorsement. Any type formulated with the vitamins minerals and co-factors used in this formula would be acceptable.
Smoking, smog and vitamin C:
Your body's attempt to detoxify the nicotine, etc., in a single cigarette, uses up more than 25 milligrams of vitamin C, or about the amount found in an orange or a small glass of orange juice. If you are a regular smoker, be sure you consider this in deciding what your supplement needs might be.
There is growing evidence that smog may have a similar effect, for example, living in the L.A. area has been called "the equivalent of smoking a pack-and-a-half a day."
In addition, women who use birth control pills apparently tend to have very low concentrations of vitamin C in their blood, according to recent tests. Other medications have similar effects on nutrient levels and vitamin needs.