The Science

The Science of Diet
A sound diet enables our bodies to become self-correcting, self-balancing, and to achieve greater vitality. In fact, when nourished properly, up to 98% of us possess the genetic potential to live without disease from birth until death.

Sadly, today’s common eating patterns fill us with foods that taste good and satiate us, but which lack essential nutrition and which also place heavy burdens upon the twelve systems of the body. We satisfy our basic need for flavor and satiation; however, as inadequate food choices leave the GI tract and enter the blood stream, nutrient receptors, which monitor the flow of nutrients, detect the absence of essential nutrients. They send a message to the brain that nutrients are lacking, and the brain subsequently reactivates the hunger drive. This eating pattern is a non-sustainable approach to health that keeps us coming back to consume more and more of the very foods that lead to obesity and disease.

The only solution to this problem is to master a dietary pattern which allows us to fill up on foods that taste good, that provide enjoyment, and that also supply us with all vital nutritional needs—within a stay-slim caloric budget. So what changes do we need to make to enjoy our full vitality potentials?

What Do Americans Eat Today?
USDA food-trend statistics show the following shifts in eating trends occurred between 1909 and today: Meat intake doubled; cheese intake increased seven times; soda intake increased five times; sugar intake increased from five pounds to 125 pounds per person per year; salad and cooking oil intake increased 13 times; intake of fresh garden produce decreased from 70 to seven percent; grain intake fell 100 lbs per year per person; and the average caloric intake shifted from 2,220 calories per day to 2680. What does the average American eat today?

Whole vegetables, fruits, and grains: Only 5% to 7% of today’s calories are derived from fresh, whole, and unprocessed fruits, berries, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. In the early 1900s we consumed up to 70% of our calories from these wholesome God-given plant-based sources.

Refined Oils: Today 30% of the U.S. caloric budget is spent on cooking and salad oils. Exceeding 4% caloric intake from these oils disrupts a critical balance between the essential omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. This common imbalance is one of the greatest known contributors to heart disease and cancer today.

Processed Foods: During the refining of grains, the nutrient-rich bran and germ are stripped from the grain, and only starch (sugar) is left. As a nation we now consume 51% of our calories from refined and processed oils, grains, and sugar. And, we’ve gone away from healthful methods of preparing our whole grains.

Animal Products: A staggering 42% of today’s calories come from animal-based foods. These include dairy products, beef, chicken, pork, fowl, eggs, and fish.

A Cornell University study examined the turning-on and turning-off points for cancer relative to the consumption of animal protein. They discovered that if animal protein is limited to just 5% of the caloric intake, cancer does not turn on; between 6% and 11% it does turn on for some animal subjects and not for others; and, at only 12% it turns on for all animal subjects. They noted a straight-line correlation between the findings of this study and the China Study, the largest human population study ever conducted. The research from these two notable studies clearly indicates that the human body can safely use a certain amount of animal-based protein without becoming ill; however, as we exceed true protein needs with animal-based proteins, the degenerative processes turn on.

Research indicates that consuming 5% caloric intake from animal-based protein is safe. We also know that good health is easily sustained without consuming any meat. How do we hold animal protein intake to 5%? Most animal-based foods contain 35 to 60 percent protein. This means that if you consume less than 10 to 15 percent of your total caloric intake from animal-based food sources, you would consume about 5% animal protein in your diet. As intake from animal-based food sources exceeds these sparing limits, you enter a “Russian Roulette” range that is known to turn on the disease processes for some people but not for others. As caloric intake of animal-based food reaches just 24%, statistical research indicates that the disease process turns on for everyone.

U.S. Eating Pattern Summary: Today’s U.S. eating pattern includes only five to seven percent caloric intake from whole plant-based sources, 51 percent from processed and refined foods, and 42 percent from animal-based foods. The downward shifts in eating trends that occurred between 1909 and today have led to 4000+ diet-induced diseases—or in other words, preventable diseases.

What Today’s Healthy People Eat
The cancer rate of rural populations of China and Taiwan is only 1/17th that of the U.S. cancer rate, and less than 1% of their population suffers from osteoporosis. In general they suffer less than 1/10th as much as we do from all degenerative diseases. So what do they eat? Less than 260 calories per person per day are consumed from animal-based foods compared to 1100 calories pe person per day in the U.S.; and, at least 2000 calories per person are consumed from fresh, whole, plant-based sources, as opposed to just 188 calories per person per day in the U.S. They eat whole vegetables, fruits, and grains abundantly and all else sparingly—an amazingly simple success model!

According to National Geographic, Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; and Loma Linda, California—where historically the inhabitant’s diets have always been abundant in whole plant-based foods—are home to the most centenarians (people who live over 100 years old) per capita in the world. However, a new trend shows that the youth of Okinawa, who have adopted more Westernized dietary habits, now have the highest rate of obesity among youth in Japan. Similarly, LDS (Mormons) enjoyed greater longevity than other Americans up through the 1970s. Long-living Mormons who died in the 1970s were born in the 1800s, long before unhealthful disease-inducing food shifts occurred. However, more recent data demonstrates that as the LDS population has followed U.S. eating trends, they have become the most obese of all religious populations.

Every population that succumbs to western eating trends experiences high rates of obesity, disability, and diet-induced diseases. Decreased intake of whole plant-based calories (whole fruits, grains, and vegetables) and increased intake of sugar, refined grains, entirely man-made concoctions, oils, and animal-based foods lead directly to obesity, decreased life spans, and increased rates of disease.

The Magic Balance
Centenarians in Japan enjoy eating large volumes of food yet they do not become obese. A typical meal for a centenarian in Japan includes a hearty miso soup that is filled with seaweed, potatoes, carrots, onions, and a little fish. Because such meals are calorie-lean and nutrient-rich, those consuming them enjoy an eating pattern that fills them up without filling them out and without causing diet-induced diseases. Such meals are also perfect examples of how to include animal-based foods sparingly or in a manner that does not compromise health or induce disease.

In the preceding example the fish merely compliments the meal without exceeding safe limits, and therefore causes no undue burdens to the body. Consuming the fish in such a manner even contributes to certain essential metabolic nutritional requirements and to better health. How can we learn to eat like centenarians? The following foods are listed in the order of foods that provide the most nutrients per calorie consumed:

1. Leafy green vegetables (eat freely): romaine lettuce, red and green leaf lettuce, kale, bok choy, collards, spinach, Swiss chard, parsley, turnip greens, watercress, and sprouted seeds and grains—they become leafy greens
2. Solid green vegetables (eat freely): artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, celery, kohlrabi, okra, snow peas, string beans, zucchini, etc.
3. Non-green, non-starchy vegetables (eat freely): beets, peppers, cauliflower, eggplant, raw carrots, mushrooms, onions, radishes, red peppers, tomatoes, etc.
4. Fresh fruits and berries (eat freely): all varieties, in their season
5. Legumes (eat freely): all beans, lentils, and peas
6. Starchy vegetables (eat freely): cooked carrots, corn, chestnuts, parsnips, potatoes, pumpkins, and squashes
7. Whole grains (as needed): amaranth, barley, brown or wild rice, buckwheat, millet, oats, spelt, wheat, quinoa
8. Raw nuts and seeds (1 to 2 ounces): almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, filberts, pecans, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, walnuts, etc.
9. Animal products (limit to 10 to 15 percent caloric intake): fish, wild meats and fowl, red meat, milk, cheese, yogurt, kefir, eggs, etc.
10. Refined grains (eliminate): white flour and other processed grain products
11. Refined oils (eliminate or limit to 1 Tbsp/day)
12. Refined sugars (eliminate): corn syrup, karo syrup, white sugar, etc.

Leafy green vegetables possess the most nutrients per calorie consumed, and refined sugars possess the least. Daniel’s Challenge encourages and teaches how to combine the most nutrient-dense foods into recipes that provide great flavor and satisfaction. Learning to do so, as do today’s longest living people, establishes a pattern of eating that supports the longevity potential and innate ability of participants to live without disease. Moreover, as participants master this pattern of eating, they can eat until they are naturally satisfied—without packing on pounds. As you master this pattern of eating, you will no sooner need to count calories, points, or portions of food you eat, than you need to count the breaths you take to maintain an adequate oxygen supply. Rather, you will come to fully discover the eating pattern ordained for man by God, which most naturally supports the healthiest populations in the world. Enjoy the following downloadable guide to help you master seven daily eating practices that will align your dietary choices with the habits of the world's healthiest people.

Click here to enjoy the Weekly Menu and Shopping Planner, and begin to enjoy the benefits of a spiritually- and scientifically-based diet today!

To Your Health!
Jim and Colleen Simmons