6 Key Nutritional Actions That I Took!

“Have you been diagnosed with cancer, heart or autoimmune disease??If you have, it’s time to take control of your health and wellbeing,?slow down your struggles and accelerate your recovery.

Introduction

This is the 7th article in my series which describes how a routine blood test changed the course of my life when I was diagnosed with an aggressive prostate cancer, heart disease and autoimmune condition, all within 12 months. Article 6 is called “Exercise Is Key Driver In Reducing Risks From Chronic Disease” and the links to the previous five articles are set out at the end of this article.?

I’m not an expert on nutrition but out of necessity, I’ve increased my knowledge greatly over the last 3 years and I’m going to share not only what I’ve learnt but also what has worked for me. Special thanks go to a wide range of experts including Mark Hyman, Aseem Malhotra, Michael Kendrick, Robert Lustig, David Unwin, Zoe Harcombe and especially Ivor Cummins, who have greatly influenced my thinking.

Nutrition

I’m often asked which is more important exercise or nutrition and my answer today is the same as when I wrote my book The eXercise Factor; it depends! This is not a cop out because it depends on your current exercise, nutrition and knowledge. Let me explain.

Before my cancer, heart disease and autoimmune disease diagnoses, I thought my exercise was excellent, my nutrition was good and my knowledge very good. With the benefit of hindsight and much better knowledge, there was a lot I didn’t know about nutrition that I know now and so, for me, exercise continues to be very important but nutrition is now critical, because you can’t “out-run” a bad diet. Your position may be different but, I suspect many of you reading this article are in a similar boat.

What Should You Do?

I’ve learnt from experience that healthy, sustainable nutrition is a key driver on the road to a long, high quality life, free from disease, or like me, if you have one or more chronic diseases already, it’s the critical driver on the road to recovery and hopefully a longer, higher quality life. Here’s 6 Key Nutritional Actions I took in my recovery from cancer, heart disease and my autoimmune condition:

1. I stopped eating processed food containing low quality, refined carbs; all the things I loved like bread, pizza, biscuits, sweets, etc. I now allow myself an occasional treat!
2. I stopped eating food with added sugar including fruit juice, honey and syrup and high glycemic fruit with lots of sugar. [e.g. bananas]
3. I stopped eating all refined vegetable oils and trans fats which are pro inflammatory and toxic to coronary arteries. I’m very strict about this!
4. I now eat Real Food including good fats and protein which are nutrient dense. I also eat high quality, low glycemic carbs including plenty of fibrous vegetables. I only eat and cook with healthy oils such as olive oil and coconut oil.
5. I eat no more than 3 meals a day, usually 2 and with very little snacking.?
6. I stay hydrated during the day and follow the pee test! The clearer it is the more hydrated and the darker it is the more dehydrated.

For most of my life, I thought I could eat anything given how active I was. I’m pretty sure a few doctors told me that, over the years! In hindsight my diet until recently was full of starchy carbs and sugar, which I'm sure contributed to my 3 chronic diseases.?A few months ago, my cardiologist told me that my active lifestyle [7/10] over the years has probably kept me alive. I’m hoping my new much better one [9/10] focusing on exercise, nutrition and stress management will keep me alive, a lot longer.

Links To First 5 Articles In Series

Article 1?- General article with 10 key takeaways from chronic disease.

Article 2?- My cancer story with 10 key takeaways.

Article 3?- My heart disease story with 10 key takeaways.

Article 4?- My autoimmune disease story with 10 key takeaways.

Article 5 - 4 key drivers of an active, healthy, sustainable lifestyle

Comments/Questions

I’d love to hear what you think of this article. Please leave your comments below and let us know if you have any questions. Please feel free to email me at [email protected].

PS Please forward this article to anyone you know who might be interested!