In the 
interim the whole meal rots and ferments and turns to acid. The very 
instant that fruit comes into contact with food in the stomach and di­
gestive juices the entire mass of food begins to spoil. Whatever protein is 
in the stomach putrefies, whatever carbohydrate is there ferments. The 
whole thing turns to acid, and we run for medication because of the 
discomfort. This is something that is easily verifiable. Perhaps you have 
already experienced it. THE PRINCIPLE OF CORRECT FRUIT CONSUMPTION • SI Perhaps after a meal you have had a piece of fruit or a glass of juice, 
and you noticed a sharp pain in your stomach, or indigestion or heart­
burn. The reason for that discomfort was that you ate fruit that would 
have gone straight through the stomach into the intestines, but was pre­
vented by the other food from doing so. Medical evidence for this process 
is not to be found, because the effects of diet on the body have not yet 
been sufficiently studied by the medical profession, and its practitioners 
are the first to admit this. However, Dr. Herbert M. Shelton, the au­
thority on food combining, stresses that the potential value of fruit can be 
realized only if it is consumed on an empty stomach. If you have con­
sumed fruit improperly consistently and not felt sick, that does not mean 
you have not violated a dietary law. It only shows the tremendous adapt­
ability of our bodies. You can avoid paying income taxes and appear to 
get away with it. That doesn't mean you haven't broken the law. Ul­
timately the IRS will catch up with you. Prolonged abuse of the correct-
consumption-of-fruit principle will ultimately take its toll. Many people eat melon incorrectly and then blame the discomfort on 
the melon. They say, "You know, I can't eat melon. Every time I eat 
melon, I burp it up all night." Well, what happened? They ate a piece of 
melon after a sandwich or some other food, and instead of passing swiftly 
into the intestines, it was stopped by the other food. It then fermented in 
the stomach and the victim burped it up all night. The melon was 
blamed, whereas, if the melon were eaten first and about twenty minutes 
were allowed to elapse, the melon would have left the stomach intact, 
and the other food eaten would then enter the stomach, and no problems 
would result. This is a very simple tool you are being given, and most people have 
never even heard of this. Physiologically fruit passes through the system 
rapidly and does not use the huge amounts of energy demanded by other 
foods. This is why I say, without any hesitation whatsoever, that FRUIT IS 
THE MOST IMPORTANT FOOD THAT YOU CAN POSSIBLY EAT! This goes 
for ALL fruit, even the acid fruits such as oranges, pineapples, and grape­
fruit. These are only classified botanically as acid fruits. Once inside the 
body all fruit becomes alkaline if it is consumed correctly. In point of 
fact, fruit as well as vegetables have the unique ability to neutralize the 
acids that build in our systems. Improper food combinations, an insuffi­
cient quantity of high-water-content food, the by-products of many con­
centrated foods, food additives, polluted air and water, stress—all these 
and more cause the system to toxify and acidify. A toxic acid system can 
be recognized by bloating, excess weight, cellulite, graying hair, balding, 
nervous outbursts, dark circles under the eyes, and premature lines in the 
face. Ulcers are a direct result of corrosive acid in the system. Fruit, if 
52 - FIT FOR LIFE properly eaten, has the marvelous rejuvenating capability to counteract 
the acids in the system. When you have totally mastered the principle of 
correct fruit consumption, you have tuned in to one of nature's secrets of 
beauty, longevity, health, energy, happiness, and normal weight. Fruit, more than any other food, most perfectly supplies the body with 
what it needs to experience the highest level of health possible. Aside 
from its high water content for cleansing, the fact that it leaves no toxic 
residue in the system and that it demands hardly any energy for digestion 
makes it the most perfectly balanced food for supplying the prerequisites 
of life for your body. The five essentials of life that must come from the 
foods you eat are glucose for fuel (from carbohydrates), amino acids, 
minerals, fatty acids, and vitamins. The number-one, most important 
priority of any food is its fuel value. Without fuel the body cannot exist. Fuel value should always be the foremost factor in determining the worth 
of any food. The ideal percentage of each of the five essentials in food as 
required by the human body is as follows: 
glucose—90% 
amino acids—4%-5% 
minerals—3%-4% 
fatty acids— 1+% 
vitamins—under 1% 
The above represents what the ideal composition of food, in terms of 
the body's needs, would be. There is only one food on the planet that fills 
that bill perfectly. It's fruit! This would support Dr. Alan Walker's find­
ings that human beings were strict frugivores for millions of years. Before 
we, as a race, were led astray by external influences, like all other ani­
mals in nature we instinctively ate what most efficiently supplied us with 
the prerequisites of life. In our case this was FRUIT. There are two important considerations crucial to mastering the correct 
consumption of fruit. The first concerns what type of fruit or fruit juice to 
consume. There is only one type: FRESH! This cannot be over­
emphasized. There is no benefit whatsoever in eating fruit that has been 
processed or altered in any way by heat. There is, however, considerable 
detriment. The body is capable of utilizing fruit only in its natural state. Baked apples, any canned fruit, cooked applesauce, and fruit pies are all 
harmful in that they supply no cleansing and no nutrients, and they are 
toxic and acidic in the body, possibly damaging the sensitive linings of 
the inner organs. They force the body to use its precious energy to neu­
tralize their acidity and get it out of the body. The fact is that fruit has a 
delicate nature. Cooking destroys its potential value. THE PRINCIPLE OF CORRECT FRUIT CONSUMPTION • 53 There is no question that the philosophies of macrobiotics (which dis­
courages fruit eating) and Natural Hygiene are not in agreement on this 
point. Over the past ten years in my private practice I have had occasion 
to counsel dozens of macrobiotic enthusiasts. They came to me because 
they were feeling unwell after prolonged adherence to the theories of 
macrobiotics. After several weeks on a hygienic diet, all of them experi­
enced improvement in their well-being. Their marked improvement 
came so easily, I believe, because they had the good groundwork laid by 
macrobiotics, which is head and shoulders above the average American 
diet but at a disadvantage in its misinterpretation of the benefits of fruit, 
requiring that no fruit be eaten raw. That is a misconception. All fruit 
consumed must be fresh and uncooked, or the many benefits described 
here are lost. The same holds true for fruit juice. It must be fresh. If it 
has been pasteurized, as is the case with orange juice made from concen­
trate, it is pure acid before you even drink it. Drinking a liquid that is 
pure acid hampers rather than aids the quest for weight loss. You may ask, "Why drink juice at all, wouldn't the whole food be 
better?" Actually, yes. A whole food is always more acceptable than one 
that has been fragmented. However, people do like to drink something. Rather than habit-forming and toxic drinks such as coffee, tea, alcohol, 
sodas, and milk, it would be wiser to drink fruit or vegetable juices. A 
good point to remember is not to gulp juice down. Because it is frag­
mented, you should take but a mouthful at a time and let it mix with 
your saliva before swallowing it. Fruit is packed, brimming over, with the vital forces of life. Correctly 
utilized, it can be put to the immediate service of your body. The cleans­
ing and weight loss it occasions and the energy it saves are unequaled by 
any other food. To destroy all its beneficial effects by consuming it at the 
wrong time or in the wrong state is nothing short of a crime against your 
body! Could you enjoy the Mona Lisa if mud were smeared all over it? Could you appreciate the recording of a Mozart sonata if there were a 
deep scratch in the record? Could you delight in the scent of a rose if 
garbage were dumped on it? You cheat yourself of the many positive 
benefits of fruit if you allow it to spoil in your digestive tract. The second consideration pertains to the amount of time that should 
elapse between eating foods other than fruit and then eating fruit. As long 
as your stomach is empty, you can eat all the fruit you wish over as long 
a period as you wish, so long as twenty to thirty minutes elapse before 
eating anything else. This will allow the time necessary for the fruit or 
juice to leave your stomach. Juice and some fruits take less time, but 
twenty to thirty minutes is a good standard to use to be sure. Bananas, 
dates, and dried fruit need about forty-five minutes to one hour. Once 
54 • FIT FOR LIFE you have eaten anything other than fruit, you must wait at least three 
hours. If any flesh food is eaten, at least four hours. These times pertain 
only to foods that were eaten in accordance with proper food combining. If you should eat a meal that is not properly combined, the food will 
probably be in your stomach for at least eight hours. You should there­
fore not consume any fruit or fruit juice during that time. HOW LONG TO WAIT AFTER EATING OTHER 
FOOD BEFORE YOU CAN AGAIN EAT FRUIT 
FOOD 
Salad or raw vegetables 
Properly combined meal, without flesh 
Properly combined meal, with flesh 
Any improperly combined meal TIME TO WAIT 
2 hours 
3 hours 
4 hours 
8 hours 
Fruit plays an extremely important role in FIT FOR LIFE. We're not 
going to tell you anything outlandish, like the enzymes in certain fruits 
burn fat so that you feel you have permission to overeat anything you 
want and then burn it away with irrational quantities of fruit. That would 
be not only irresponsible but also a physiological absurdity. One of the 
foremost roles that fruit plays in FIT FOR LIFE is that of resting the di­
gestive tract, thereby freeing up energy to be utilized in cleansing, repair, 
and weight loss. Obviously, proper food combining and the correct consumption of 
fruit deal extensively with not only what you eat but also when. If someone were to ask you what you thought was the worst time of day 
to eat, I wonder what you would say. Probably "Right before going to 
sleep," as so many other people think. Even though eating right before 
going to sleep is a horrible habit, it's second to the most counterproduc­
tive and destructive time of day to eat. And that time is in the morning 
when you awake. WHAT? I can hear your shrieks of disbelief from here. "But what about all those admonitions about having a hearty breakfast for 
energy?" What about them? Do you know what the all-American coffee 
break is in this country? People eat a big, hearty breakfast "for energy," 
and the body is so tired from the work of digesting it that "pick-me-ups" 
are the only way people can make it through to lunch without falling 
asleep! I know what a tremendous blow this is to one of the most condi­
tioned and deep-rooted belief systems. THE PRINCIPLE OF CORRECT FRUIT CONSUMPTION • 55 Just for a moment try to forget everything you thought was true about 
breakfast. Try to forget for a moment all the advice of the nutritionists, 
dietitians, doctors, and other experts. Just for a moment rely only on your 
own common sense for an answer as to whether breakfast has a positive or 
negative influence on your weight. Remember, ENERGY IS THE ESSENCE OF LIFE. When you wake up in 
the morning, you are rested and at the height of your energy level for the 
day, provided that your system did not spend the night contending with a 
"midnight snack" or miscombined meal. On what are you going to ex­
pend that morning burst of energy? A "hearty breakfast"? You know that 
digestion uses an enormous amount of energy. A hearty breakfast, which 
is usually a slap in the face of the principles of proper food combining, 
cannot bring you energy! IT USES IT! How else could the food be digested 
if energy were not being expended? Most traditional breakfasts of toast 
and eggs, or cereal with milk, or meat and potatoes are ill-combined, 
forcing the body to work for hours spending its energy. Food spends ap­
proximately three hours or more in the stomach alone if properly com­
bined. Energy can't even start to be built until food is absorbed from the 
intestines. Strictly from the standpoint of energy, does it make sense to 
have breakfast when you wake up in the morning? If breakfast is skipped, 
not only will you not pass out from lack of food (your body is actually still 
using the food eaten the day before), but you will be far more alert and 
energetic. The word breakfast is actually a distortion of the words break and fast. Originally the word breakfast was used to indicate the meal used to break 
a fast. A fast is the abstention from food for an extended length of time, 
not one night's sleep. An integral part of FIT FOR LIFE is this: FROM THE TIME YOU WAKE 
UP IN THE MORNING UNTIL AT LEAST NOON, CONSUME NOTHING BUT 
FRESH FRUIT AND FRUIT juiCE. F,at or drink as much as you desire; put 
no limitations on how much you want. If you desire it, have it; but listen 
to your body—don't overeat! If you have nothing but fruit and fruit juice, 
you will be able to create, not burn up, a huge chunk of your available 
energy for the day. Fruit demands practically no energy to be digested, 
because it does not digest in the stomach. It needs no further digestion if 
well chewed. The intestines are where all nutrients are absorbed. Because fruit finds 
its way into the intestines within minutes instead of hours, its nutrients 
are immediately absorbed and utilized by the body. By eating fruit you 
make your entire day more productive and more energetic, because you 
have conserved rather than squandered your energy. You will be amazed 
at what an incredibly dramatic effect this will have on your entire life 
5b • FIT FOR LIFE once you adjust to ONLY FRUIT AND FRUIT JUICES UNTIL NOON. After 
experiencing the wonderful benefits, you will wonder why you ever ate a 
heavy meal first thing in the morning. A heavy breakfast means a heavy 
day. A light breakfast means a light, vibrant day. You can eat as much 
fruit as you want during the morning, right up until about twenty to 
thirty minutes before you eat something else. Once you have eaten an­
other food, three hours should elapse—at least—before anything else is 
eaten. Once again, listen to your body. When your stomach is empty, 
you can have more fruit. Literally thousands of people from my seminars have stopped eating 
heavy foods in the morning and have just fruit and fruit juice. They have 
made incredible turnarounds. Many of them come to me and say, "Lis­
ten, you know when I first heard this, I was a big breakfast eater, but I 
was willing to at least try what you said and then go back to eating break­
fast." They didn't, they couldn't go back to heavier breakfasts. If you want 
to know what it feels like to swallow an anvil, all you have to do is eat 
exclusively fruit and fruit juice in the morning for about ten days, and 
then try to go back to having a heavier meal in the morning. You simply 
won't do it. Yes, perhaps you will on occasion, and that is certainly 
okay. Because occasionally is one thing. Every day is something entirely 
different. The consumption of exclusively fruit and fruit juice in the morning is 
at the very heart of FIT FOR LIFE. Interestingly, many people have told 
me that although they don't adhere to the program exactly all the time, 
the one thing they do most consistently is adhere to the exclusive con­
sumption of fruit and fruit juice before noon, because with that alone 
they still reap enormous benefits. It is without question the major con­
tributing factor to the success of FIT FOR LIFE. If you are going to start 
with only one principle, this should be it. FRUIT EXCLUSIVELY IN THE 
MORNING. Some people think that a lot of fruit and fruit juice is fattening. The 
only time fruit can cause any negative manifestations at all is when it is 
altered by heat or incorrectly combined, meaning consumed with or im­
mediately following any other food, WHEN EATEN ON AN EMPTY STOM­
ACH, FRESH FRUIT CAN HAVE ONLY A POSITIVE EFFECT; IT 
ACCELERATES WEIGHT LOSS. When we tell people they can freely eat 
more fruit than usual and make this a habit in their lives, some of them 
initially express concern over the amount of calories they are taking in. Calories are enemies only if they are consumed in foods that are highly 
processed or ill-combined. High-quality calories, those found in high-
water-content food, are not going to add to your weight problem. They 
will furnish the energy to do away with it. THE PRINCIPLE OF CORRECT FRUIT CONSUMPTION • 57 I have always found calorie-counting to be such a bore. It is a depress­
ing way to determine what to eat. I implore people to forget about calo­
ries and think of high-quality food. Calorie-counting is a very antiquated 
and ineffective means of trying to regulate one's weight. It looks viable in 
theory, so does the theory that the sun orbits the earth. Calorie-counting 
is an unrealistic gauge by which to measure one's progress. That is why 
so many calorie-counters do not find the results they are looking for, even 
though they diligently count their calories. I remember once going into a very nice restaurant in Palm Springs for 
breakfast. This establishment prided itself on the fact that everything on 
the menu had the number of calories indicated next to it. Here is why 
calorie-counting is practically worthless: I worked out two possible break­
fasts from the menu. Both had three items. One was 220 calories, the 
other 190. Well, if I were operating under the delusion that a calorie is a 
calorie is a calorie, and I should eat fewer at a meal whenever possible, I 
would have opted for the breakfast of 190 calories. But understanding the 
principles of Natural Hygiene as 1 did, I unhesitatingly had the 220-
calorie breakfast. Lucky for me. You see, thinking that a calorie in a food 
that has been denatured, devitalized, and otherwise processed to death is 
just like a calorie in a fresh, unadulterated food is folly of the highest 
order. All cars are cars too. Would you rather have a broken-down old 
jalopy with no brakes that barely runs or a shiny new Rolls-Royce? Both 
are cars, but one can endanger your life while the other can serve it. So it 
is with calories. One kind can add weight to your body, another kind can 
supply the energy to help you lose weight. When dealing with calories, 
it is a classic instance of quality being of far greater importance than 
quantity. The 190-calorie breakfast was a bowl of oatmeal, one piece of wheat 
toast, and cream cheese. The 220-calorie breakfast was a glass of fresh-
squeezed orange juice, a slice of fresh melon in season, and a bowl of 
fresh strawberries. Now that you have a clear understanding of the ex­
treme importance of eating foods high in water content, properly com­
bined, I'm sure you can see why I opted for the 220-calorie meal. The 
190-calorie breakfast was three items devoid of water. It was a protein 
(cream cheese) and two carbohydrates (toast and oatmeal). It would have 
sat rotting in my stomach for some six to eight hours, robbing me of my 
precious energy, supplying no nutrition, and leaving a thick layer of toxic 
waste to clog my system. It would have done absolutely nothing to assist 
in my desire to lose weight. It would have added weight. The 220-calorie 
breakfast was all high water content. No putrefaction or fermentation and 
the resulting distress to my system. It passed through my stomach in less 
than half an hour and was actually supplying me with real energy within 
58 • FIT FOR L1FF. an hour. My system was helped, not prevented from cleansing itself of 
waste, because my elimination cycle was not thwarted. Anyone who would think that this program is successful because it 
supplies fewer calories than a "regular" diet has missed the point of it 
entirely. Merely lowering calorie intake will not achieve the loss of 
weight desired if the calories consumed are from foods that are de­
natured, ill-combined, toxic, and clogging. That is why this program has 
been so successful for so many people, many of whom used to count 
calories religiously. It is a life-style change having nothing to do with 
calorie-counting. The reasoning behind eating exclusively fruit in the morning is tied 
closely to the efficient functioning of your body cycles. This is a perfect 
time to look at these cycles again and see exactly why. Since in weight 
loss we are interested in not blocking the elimination cycle, let's empha­
size that cycle by looking at it first. • CYCLE i—ELIMINATION (4 A.M.-NOON): You have already learned 
that digestion of conventional food takes more energy than any other 
body process. You have also learned that fruit demands the least amount 
of energy for its digestion. So it is most beneficial for FRUIT OR FRUIT 
JUICE TO BE THE ONLY FOODS CONSUMED DURING THE ELIMINATION 
CYCLE, if you consume anything at all. Anything else halts the elimina­
tion process, and the by-products of foods that should have been elimi­
nated are now added to your toxic load and to the unwanted pounds in 
your body. That is why the success of this program (and your success in 
losing weight) depends on the exclusive consumption of fruit and fruit 
juice before noon. Successful and comfortable weight loss is dependent 
on the efficiency of the elimination cycle. By sabotaging this cycle you 
sabotage your success, HAVING ONLY FRUIT AND FRUDT JUICE EX­
CLUSIVELY BEFORE NOON IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT FACET 
OF THIS SYSTEM. (Even if you continue to drink coffee or take supple­
ments, don't do it during the elimination cycle. Do it after noon. This is 
essential.) • CYCLE ii—APPROPRIATION (NOON-8 P.M.): After twelve o'clock we 
enter the daily eating period. If you are hungry, this is the time to eat, 
but there are some important rules to observe here. Remember that diges­
tion takes more energy than anything else you do. You want to eat a meal 
that will not deplete your energy supply, even though it will demand 
some digestive energy. (See the Energy Ladder on page 120.) That means 
adhering to the principle of proper food combining so that a minimum of 
digestive energy is depleted to break down that meal. THE PRINCIPLE OF CORRECT FRUIT CONSUMPTION • 59 • CYCLE in—ASSIMILATION (8 P.M.-4 A.M.): You have taken in the 
food. Now it is time to give your body a chance to extract, absorb, and 
utilize the nutrients in that food. No absorption can take place until the 
food has entered the intestines. A properly combined meal will be out of 
the stomach in approximately three hours and ready to be absorbed and 
assimilated. An improperly combined meal can remain in the stomach 
anywhere from eight to twelve hours or longer. Eat early enough so that 
food has left your stomach before you retire. A full night's rest (beginning 
well before midnight as often as possible) will permit your body to com­
plete the assimilation cycle before it again enters the elimination phase 
around 4 A.M. 
Having been introduced to these tools and given the steps to bring 
about the success you are seeking, before going on it is imperative that 
you have a very clear understanding of. . . 60 • FIT FOR LIFE ^ 
CHAPTER 
The Theory of 
Detoxification 
w e have been stressing throughout 
this book the extreme importance of eliminating toxic waste from the 
system to achieve successful, permanent weight loss. To facilitate that 
process we have developed a life-style that is not only effective, but also 
easy and comfortable. The detoxification of your system is the most important goal of FIT 
FOR LIFE. Understand that the detoxification of your body is occasionally 
not the most pleasant phase of creating the environment for weight loss, 
although it is a necessary one. We don't want to lead you to believe that 
we have some miracle formula that will effortlessly transform you into a 
happy, healthy, slim individual overnight just by reading this book. You 
must do your part too. From experience over the last several years I can 
tell you that approximately 10 percent of the people who make use of this 
information feel some degree of initial discomfort. There are certain 
potential discomforts, but they can definitely be minimized. If detoxifica­
tion is too rapid, it can cause great discomfort. That is why over nine 
years have been spent experimenting and perfecting a life-style that can 
and does reduce this possible discomfort to the minimum. It must be kept in mind that the building up of the toxic waste in your 
• 61 • body may have taken twenty, thirty, forty, fifty years, or more, so its 
elimination is not something that is accomplished overnight. I cannot 
possibly overemphasize how exceedingly important it is for this detox­
ification to be accomplished. It is absolutely essential for the system to be 
cleansed so that energy can be freed up to be used in reducing weight. As 
long as there is toxic waste in the system, much of your available energy 
will be used to eliminate it. The success of any weight-loss program de­
pends on the system being cleansed. Detoxification is cleansing and it is 
imperative! It's the key to the whole thing! The possible discomforts depend on how toxic your system is. People 
who are particularly toxic or have taken drugs (prescription or not) on any 
regular basis are more apt to experience some temporary discomfort than 
those who are less toxic. The elimination of toxic waste can be uncom­
fortable. But better to have minor discomforts now than to have it all 
come crashing down on you, totally incapacitating you, at a later date. The important thing is for a person's diet to be such that cleansing takes 
place, but not at breakneck speed. It can be regulated so that the individ­
ual experiences the least amount of discomfort possible. This is precisely 
what the suggested menus later in the book succeed in doing. Be aware 
that these are not just menus. A tremendous amount of time, effort, 
study, and experimentation has gone into perfecting just the right blend 
of variables to assure that detoxification is as smooth and comfortable as 
possible. The FIT FOR LIFE program is, in fact, a detoxification program. What are these possible discomforts? The most frequent one is an ini­
tial bloating of the system. When you start to apply the principle of eating 
more fruit on an empty stomach, its cleansing ability will stir up accumu­
lated toxic waste, creating gas and bloat. Generally this bloating passes 
within forty-eight hours. It rarely lasts longer than seventy-two hours. If 
this bloating should cause you to add two or three pounds during the first 
few days, it is nor something to get alarmed about. The body is adjusting 
itself for the task ahead. You may experience headaches or body aches. You may feel suddenly tired or anxious. You may experience loose, 
runny stools that many people tend to equate with diarrhea. This is not 
something to become alarmed about or make you run out of the house 
for Kaopectate. Believe it or not, this loosening of the stools has a positive 
effect, not a negative one. The cleansing aspect of fruit washes impacted 
fecal matter from the intestinal walls and flushes it out of the system in 
the form of loose stools. This leaves you feeling light and renewed. It 
may be uncomfortable, but it serves a very beneficial purpose. It is imper­
ative that you do not do anything to stop this (or any other) elimination 
process. Your body is ridding itself of toxic waste. Have no concerns 
about dehydrating. There is no temperature or signs of sickness involved 
62 • FJT FOR LIFE with this elimination. With the amount of high-water-content fruit and 
vegetables you will be eating, there will be no possibility of that happen­
ing. To stop the elimination would mean keeping this waste in your 
system and insuring a weight problem. Loose stools rarely last more than 
two days. You may also experience some nausea as the toxins in your 
system are stirred up. Perhaps you will have a copious discharge of mucus from your nasal 
passages, THIS IS NOT A "COLD"! Your body is merely spewing out the 
excess toxins that have been built up and stored in the mucous mem­
branes. One of the classic ways in which the human body eliminates 
toxicity is by means of what is called a cold. When the mucous mem­
branes of your body become overladen with more mucus than the body 
can tolerate, and this mucus is not being eliminated as rapidly as it 
should, the defense mechanisms of the body take over to force it out 
through the throat and nose. If you took a glass and continuously poured 
water into it, it would eventually overflow. It is the same with your body. If there is more mucus in your body than it can accommodate, it will 
overflow. Digestive disorders ranging from gas and flatulence to more serious 
chronic pains and colitis are a serious problem in this country. One of 
the major benefits from eating the way we teach in this book is that those 
problems will begin to be eradicated. Proper food combining and the 
correct consumption of fruit will be the major contributing factors to 
relieving these ills. On occasion the introduction of fruit, properly eaten, 
will cause some gas and flatulence. You may be eating fruit absolutely 
correctly (on an empty stomach in the morning) and still develop this gas 
and flatulence. The main reason this happens is that there is an accumu­
lation of food debris and body wastes that have built up over the years and 
permeated the lining of the stomach and intestines. Fruit has the ten­
dency to stir up and flush out this toxic matter. In the process, what is 
stirred up causes gas and flatulence. Most people never experience this 
situation, but I know a few who were particularly toxic and experienced it 
to a degree for two or three weeks. It all depends on how high or low the 
level of toxicity is in your body. In either case, even though it is uncom­
fortable and annoying, it is positive in that the cause of the problem is 
being eliminated. Keep in mind that any time you alter your eating habits, your body has 
to adjust to that change and in so doing can initially leave you feeling out 
of sorts. The thing to do is VIEW ANY TEMPORARY DISCOMFORT AS THE 
CLEANSING PROCESS TAKING PLACE AND HEALTH RETURNING. You are 
witnessing health in action. The body is powerful and wants to "get on 
with it" now that it has the chance. This can happen in many different 
THE THEORY OF DETOXIFICATION • 63 forms. The body's reaction to having a sudden increase of energy at its 
disposal is to try to eliminate everything of a toxic nature as soon as 
possible while the energy is available. Once the system "realizes" that this 
energy will be available on a regular basis, it starts to regulate the elim­
ination, and the temporary discomfort disappears. IT IS IMPORTANT TO 
REMEMBER THAT FEWER THAN 10 PERCENT OF THE PEOPLE WHO 
FOLLOW FIT FOR LIFE EXPERIENCE ANY DISCOMFORT. Should you be 
one of those, please do not make the mistake of forsaking your new way 
of eating and returning to the old. This would throw your system into 
terrible turmoil. Have faith in the wisdom, intelligence, and wonderful 
recuperative abilities of your body, and be grateful that it has the integrity 
and capability to conduct a cleansing. Should any discomfort linger for 
more than a few days, to ease your mind and to be on the safe side, 
discuss it with your doctor or health adviser. The total elimination of all toxicity from your body can take months or 
years, but within days you will be losing weight and feeling enormously 
more energetic and vibrant. The ongoing elimination usually continues 
without any outward manifestation or discomforts. Excess weight will be 
shed, energy will increase, everything will become progressively better. The biggest mistake you can make is to feel a little uncomfortable, say, 
"The heck with it," and return to your old eating habits. The discomfort 
you feel is an indication of how much you need to detoxify. It is a critical 
point and should not be thwarted. One thing is sure: Your body wants to 
cleanse out anything that is not helping to perpetuate your health. When 
it starts to come out, let it! You are far better off to have it outside your 
body than in your body. It is worth noting again that NOT EVERYONE 
FEELS DISCOMFORT. MOST PEOPLE HAVE NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER. We just feel it is our responsibility to prepare you for the possibilities. If 
you are one of the many who don't experience discomfort, great! If not, 
the life-style presented on the following pages will keep discomfort at a 
minimum. You can be absolutely certain that evidence supporting this plan of 
eating is abundant. For example, as mentioned earlier the number-one 
and number-two killer diseases in the United States are heart disease and 
cancer, respectively. Some four thousand people in the United States die 
every day from these two diseases! The very latest information coming 
from the scientific community is that an increase of fruit and vegetables 
in one's diet can decrease the incidence of both these killers. In Sep­
tember 1982 doctors at the National Cancer Institute said, "Changing the 
way we eat could offer some protection against cancer. The first guideline 
is to reduce fat. The second is to increase the amount of fruit and vegeta­
bles. The National Cancer Institute has now made diet its number-one 
64 ' FIT FOR LIFE area of research in cancer prevention." Also in September 1983 the 
American Cancer Society stated its belief that a "greater use of fruit and 
vegetables can significantly reduce a person's risk of developing cancer." As indicated in the previous chapter, Dr. Castelli of Harvard feels that 
heart disease risk could be cut by the consumption of fruit. 1 am certain that fruit and vegetables can help lower the incidence of 
these problems, because these foods are so instrumental in detoxifying 
one's body. And the extent to which this detoxification assists in weight 
loss is tremendous. By making use of these tools you are going to lose weight and keep that 
weight off. The only factors preventing you from making these simple 
changes are habits you may have. It's habit to eat a heavy meal in the 
morning. It's habit to mix proteins and carbohydrates. It's habit to eat 
fruit after meals. It is very important that we have some new habits. There's an old saying that if you don't get rid of some of your old habits, 
you're going to wind up where you're headed. And some of you don't 
want to wind up where you're headed now. The easiest way for you to get 
rid of old habits is to simply crowd them out with new and better ones. This is exactly what we are providing here—a group of improved hab­
its that you can use as much as you want or as little as you want. You 
don't have to do it so much that you feel as if you're under pressure. Take 
your time, enjoy yourself. This isn't something that you have to make 
into an ordeal. And it is not a diet. This is not a program to which you 
have to adhere to the letter. What we have provided you with is simply a 
way for you to respect the body's biological limitations and cycles. Con­
sidering what the experts are saying—that we need to eat more fruit and 
vegetables—we have provided you with a convenient way of doing just 
that. There is a fun way for you to experience the vibrant, good-looking 
body that you instinctively know should be yours. This system is open for you to try at any pace you choose. It has been 
presented in such a way as to cause no problem if you make use of the 
information as little or as much as you desire. Some of you are going to 
be highly motivated, stick to the program exclusively, and experience the 
results you are looking for more rapidly than others. What we would like 
you to understand is that this is a lifelong program. This isn't two or four 
weeks' worth. This is information that is designed to stay with you, that 
you will incorporate into your life-style forever so you can start to experi­
ence the well-being that you deserve and that is your birthright. You know life's gift to you is your body. Your thanks in return is to 
take the best care of it you can. Give it a chance to function at its highest 
level, unimpeded by toxic waste and weight. Your body wants to shine. It 
does not want to be overweight. It wants to have the shape that you know 
THE THEORY OF DETOXIFICATION • 65 it can have. All you have to do is facilitate its natural processes, and you 
can start to experience the joys of a body you will be proud of. Enjoy 
yourself as you watch the emergence of the slender body you know has 
been locked inside you all this time. I think you can see from what you have read in the principles so far 
that what is offered is not some hit-and-run scheme for quick, temporary 
results. These are principles to be incorporated into your life-style. Rather 
than a part-time diet scheme, you now have a full-time plan for life! You 
may be wondering, "Can it be this simple? All I have to do is eat high-
water-content foods, properly combine food, and eat fruit correctly? Will 
that do it?" YES! Yes, it will! The simply marvelous aspect of this is that it 
is just that simple, FIT FOR LIFE doesn't lock you into anything. You 
know the principles; you merely adhere to them as best you can. There's 
no "blowing it." You can't blow it. Just do the best you can when you 
can. As long as you do something good, you will reap the rewards. You 
have the rest of your life, so don't put undo pressure on yourself. If the 
principles make sense to you and you're willing to try them, that's all it 
will take. You have been given tools to use when you wish. You're in 
control. Like master woodcarvers who can go anywhere in the world and 
practice their trade, as long as they have their tools with them, YOU CAN 
USE THE TOOLS OF FIT FOR LIFE WHEREVER YOU ARE, WHATEVER 
YOU ARE DOING, AND WHATEVER YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES. The days of 
throwing your life into turmoil are over. No more locking up your re­
frigerator, taking diet pills, counting calories, or existing on measly por­
tions. This is it! Liberation! You can eat, and eat well, and you can enjoy your food. You can 
avoid putting yourself through another one of those self-depriving, self-
defeating two- or four-week ordeals that bring you nothing but frustration 
and temporary results. You now have a realistic, lifelong approach that 
you can live with—literally! Now that we have completed the principles, there are two areas of food 
consumption that demand attention because of their extreme influence 
on successful weight control and energy enhancement. The first of these 
is . . . 66 ' FIT FOR LIFE CHAPTER 
Protein 
m^m__ J-robably f/ie most frequently asked 
question in the area of diet, health, and weight loss is "Where do you get 
your protein?" The fear of dying in this country doesn't begin to compare 
with people's fear of not getting enough protein. The problem, however, 
is not how to get enough, it's how not to get too much. Having too much 
protein in one's body is easily as dangerous as not having enough. In the words of Mike Benton of the American College of Health Sci­
ence, "Perhaps never have so many been so confused over a subject 
about which they know so little." I know what an exceedingly confusing topic this is. Everyone seems to 
have a different opinion as to how much protein should or should not be 
eaten and why. What always frustrated me was listening to a "board-
certified authority" discuss in a most convincing manner what I should 
know about protein. Then I would hear another equally authoritative 
"expert" speak as convincingly as the first but say the exact opposite! That, 1 think, is the position that most people are in. The experts are 
arguing up and back, burying the listener under an avalanche of facts, 
figures, statistics, and proof. The public winds up feeling like the ball in a 
tennis match. One thing in all of this is undeniably true: People are 
confused! • 67 • Right about now you may very well be asking, "What makes you any 
different from all those who have added to the confusion?" Good ques­
tion. It's certainly the one I would have asked. Perhaps nothing. But my 
intention is not to persuade you to accept what / know to be true, nor is it 
to totally reeducate you right here and now. To give you a clear under­
standing of the protein issue, it is going to take more than what I am 
about to relate. It is going to take some study and experimentation on 
your part. My intention is to get you to feel confident that you can make 
an intelligent decision for yourself, without having to depend on the ex­
perts who are arguing with one another. You already have the tools nec­
essary to do so. And you know what those tools are: common sense, 
logic, and instinct. I will be appealing to your inherent ability to "know" 
the right thing to do. You will have ample opportunity to exercise those 
tools by the end of this chapter. There is a voluminous amount of information showing a relationship 
between the consumption of concentrated protein foods and heart dis­
ease, high blood pressure, cancer, arthritis, osteoporosis, gout, ulcers, 
and a host of other maladies, documented by T. C. Fry, Victoras 
Kulvinskas, Blanche Leonardo, Barbara Parham, John A. Scharffenberg, 
Orville Schell, and Herbert M. Shelton, among others. This discussion 
will, however, confine itself to the effects on one's weight and energy 
level. Protein is the most complex of all food elements, and its assimilation 
and utilization are the most complicated. The easiest food for the body to 
break down is fruit; the other end of the scale, the hardest, is protein. When protein food is eaten, more energy is necessary for it to go through 
its process of digestion than for any other food. The average time for food 
(other than fruit) to pass through the entire gastrointestinal tract is be­
tween twenty-five and thirty hours. When flesh food is eaten, that time is 
more than doubled. Therefore, logically, the more protein one eats, the 
less energy will be available for other necessary functions, such as the 
elimination of toxic waste. The entire protein issue has been blown so far out of proportion that it 
is doubtful that people will ever feel at ease with it. The bottom line is 
that we simply don't need as much as we have been led to believe.' First 
of all, the human body recycles 70 percent of its proteinaceous waste. That's 70 percent! Second, the human body loses only about twenty-
three grams of protein a day. That's eight tenths of an ounce. It is lost 
'Arthur C. Guyton. Guidance Textbook of Medical Physiology. Philadelphia: Saunders Publishing 
Co., 1981. T. C. Frv. "Lesson #8, Proteins in the Diet." In The Life Science Health System. Austin, Texas: 
Life Science, 198?. 68 • FIT FOR LIFE through the feces, urine, hair, sloughed-off skin, and perspiration. To 
replenish eight tenths of an ounce you would need to eat about a pound 
and a half of protein a month. Most people eat far in excess of that, 
eating protein at every meal. The RDA protein requirement is fifty-six 
grams daily (less than two ounces! ), and that is with their built-in safety 
margin of nearly doubling the actual need! Consuming more than the 
body requires places a heavy burden on the system as it tries to rid itself of 
this excess. It is a dreadful waste of your precious energy that is so dearly 
needed in the quest for weight loss. An eight-ounce glass can hold only 
eight ounces of liquid. If you pour sixteen ounces into the glass, every­
thing over eight ounces will go to waste. So it is with your body. Once 
the daily requirements are met, eight tenths of an ounce, that's it. An­
other problem is that the excess protein not only robs you of your energy, 
but also must be stored in your body as toxic waste, adding weight until 
the organism can muster sufficient energy to get rid of it. But the next 
day there is another surplus to deal with, so the situation is worsened. Actually protein is not any more or less important than any of the 
other constituents of food. We have been led to believe that one is more 
important, but that simply is not accurate. They all play a crucial role in 
making a food a food. Given a choice, which would you choose to give 
up if you had to choose one: your heart or your brain? It's the same with 
food. The constituents of foods that compose a typical meal are always 
the same. There are vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fatty acids, amino 
acids, and many more constituents that have yet to be isolated and 
named. They are all important! They are all used together synergistically. To single one out as more important than another is to fail to understand 
the biological and physiological needs of the organism. No debate on protein would be complete without discussing meat-eat­
ing, because in this country meat is generally thought to be the most 
ideal source of protein. One of the major reasons is that animal protein 
much more closely resembles that of the human body than plant protein. It's an excellent argument for eating one's neighbor, actually, but even 
the heartiest meat-eater would find that idea repugnant. One of the groups of animals that are eaten for protein is cattle, some 
thirty-three million a year. That's a lot of meat. For strength! That's 
usually the first reason given for the necessity of eating meat. "We need 
to keep up our strength." Well, let's just take a look at that. What would 
you say is the strongest animal on the planet? Most people would say an 
elephant. I would agree. As a matter of fact, if you had to think of the 
strongest animals in the world, the ones used for centuries for their supe­
rior strength and endurance, what would they be? Elephants, oxen, 
horses, mules, camels, water buffalo. What do they eat? Leafy matter, 
PROTEIN • 69 grass, and fruit. Have you ever seen a silverback gorilla? The silverback 
gorilla physiologically resembles the human being. It is incredibly strong. Even though one is three times the size of a man, it has thirty times a 
man's strength! A silverback could toss a two-hundred-pound man across 
the street like a Frisbee. And what does the silverback eat? Fruit and 
other vegetation!2 What does that indicate to you about the necessity to 
eat meat for strength? Forget for the time being all the input and opinions 
you've heard. What do you think? What about the steer meat being eaten 
for its near-perfect protein? What did the steer eat to build that protein? Meat? No! Grain and grass! Interesting, isn't it? How can that be? On 
one side we have all the scientific data showing the benefits of eating 
meat, and on the other we have our common sense finding that point of 
view hard to swallow. This brings us to the most misunderstood area of the entire question of 
meat-eating. The people who know the situation for what it is find this to 
be the most ironic aspect of this subject: Protein is not built in the body 
by eating protein. Yes, you read it correctly. Protein is built from the 
amino acids in food. The only extent to which protein is built from 
protein food is how well the amino acids in that food are utilized. The 
idea that you can eat a piece of steer or pig or chicken and that it will 
become protein in your body is absurd. Animal protein is just that: ani­
mal protein, not human protein. Amino acids must be understood if you 
wish to understand the protein issue. The body cannot use or assimilate protein in its original state as eaten. The protein must first be digested and split into its component amino 
acids. The body can then use these amino acids to construct the protein 
it needs. The ultimate value of a food's protein, then, lies in its amino 
acid composition. It is the amino acids that are the essential components. All nutritive material is formed in the plant kingdom; animals have the 
power to appropriate but never to form or create protein's source, the 
eight essential amino acids. Plants can synthesize amino acids from air, 
earth, and water, but animals, including humans, are dependent on 
plant protein—either directly, by eating the plant, or indirectly, by eating 
an animal that has eaten the plant. There are no "essential" amino acids 
in flesh that the animal did not derive from plants, and that humans 
cannot also derive from plants. That is why all the animals of strength 
have all the protein they need. They build it from the abundance of 
2Two recognized authorities on the habits of gorillas are John Aspinal, who runs a world-famous 
refuge in England, and Adricn De Schryver. Both have indicated that in their natural habitat gorillas 
are voracious fruit-eaters. In fact, when fruit is plentiful, they forgo the eating of any other food until 
the fruit is depleted. Mr. Aspinal was the subject of a program entitled "Passion to Protect," which 
P.B.S. aired on August 19, 1984. Mr. De Schryver was the subject of a program entitled "The Man 
Who Lives with Gorillas," aired by P.B.S. on August 23, 1984. 70 • FIT FOR LIFE amino acids that they consume eating plant life. This is also why, except 
in emergencies, carnivorous animals generally don't eat other carnivorous 
animals. They instinctively eat animals that have eaten plant life. There are twenty-three different amino acids. All are essential, or they 
wouldn't exist. As it happens, fifteen can be produced by the body and 
eight must be derived from the foods we eat. Only these eight are called 
essential. If you eat any fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, or sprouts on a 
regular basis, you are receiving all the amino acids necessary for your 
body to build the protein it needs, just like the other mammals who seem 
to manage without eating meat. The fact is you couldn't have a protein 
deficiency unless you worked hard at having one. Do you know anyone 
with a protein deficiency? I don't either. Now, don't let the amino acid issue confuse you. All that talk about 
having to eat all the essential amino acids at one meal or at least in one 
day is pure balderdash. There is no question but that this is the most 
controversial subject in this book. I know that the belief that the need for 
the "eight essentials" at every meal has been nutritional gospel for years, 
but there is strong evidence mounting that this is not the case. Well-
meaning books like Diet for a Small Planet, while convincing people to 
consume less meat, have succeeded in raising undue anxieties about sat­
isfying the body's amino acid requirements. I personally have had to allay 
the fears of hundreds of people who have come to me wondering about 
protein deficiencies now that they had cut back on their meat and dairy 
intake. Trying to apply the complicated formulas in that book, they were 
finding themselves confused about their protein intake. I have also per­
sonally verified through the numbers of people I have counseled that the 
theories requiring all the amino acids at every meal result in unnecessary 
weight problems. People end up eating far too much concentrated food! (NOTE: In the words of Frances Moore Lapp6, the author of Diet for a 
Small Planet, "I went overboard on the precision angle. I was trying to 
please all the doctors and nutritionists, to be sure the book was beyond 
scientific reproach. I think I made people too self-conscious about com­
bining proteins ... be relaxed with it, most of us don't have to worry 
about protein anyway. ")5 
Common sense makes me ask why humans would be die only animal 
species to have such a complicated time of it obtaining the necessary 
components of protein. No animal in nature needs to combine different 
foods to get all the essentials. It is my contention that the reason it is so 
complicated for humans is because humans are the only animals with the 
'Quoted in The Vegetarian Child by Joy Gross. Secaucus, New Jersey: Lyle Stuart, Inc. 1983: 
55-56. PROTEIN • 71 ability to reason, and we have made it far more complicated for ourselves 
than it actually is. Merely because something has been believed for a very long time does 
not make it true. For example, in 1914 Robert Barany won a Nobel prize 
in physiology and medicine for his theory that relates to the workings of 
the inner ear and the body's balance mechanisms. In December 1983 a 
test aboard the Space Shuttle showed his theory to be false. Even though 
it was being taught in colleges throughout the world, in one fell swoop it 
was disproven. The fact that it was taught for nearly three quarters of a 
century did not make it true. Now the textbooks must be revised. I have 
powerful sources to back me up on the issue of protein, but remember, it 
took only one test to destroy a seventy-year-old belief that a simple inner 
ear test could evaluate a person's equilibrium—a test routinely used by 
otolaryngologists (ear, nose, and throat specialists) for decades. The infor­
mation stated here will make obsolete the present theories governing 
amino acids and how we get them. Time will prove this to be true.4 
You will recall the discussion earlier of the infinite wisdom of your 
body. It knows full well how to insure itself adequate protein production. How could it be otherwise? The body has a most remarkable mechanism 
to guarantee that something as crucial as protein is manufactured reg­
ularly and with great proficiency. That is the amino acid pool. From the digestion of foods in the diet and from the recycling of pro-
teinaceous wastes, the body has all the different amino acids circulating 
in the blood and lymph systems. When the body needs amino acids, they 
are appropriated from the blood or lymph. This continuous circulating 
available supply of amino acids is known as the amino acid pool. The 
amino acid pool is like a bank that is open twenty-four hours. The liver 
and cells are continually making deposits and withdrawals of amino 
acids, depending upon the concentration of amino acids in the blood. When the number of amino acids is high, the liver absorbs and stores 
them until needed. As the amino acid level in the blood falls due to 
withdrawals by the cells, the liver deposits some of the stored amino acids 
back into circulation. The cells also have the capacity to store amino acids. If the amino acid 
content of the blood falls, or if some other cells require specific amino 
acids, the cells are able to release their stored amino acids into circula­
tion. Since most of the body's cells synthesize more protein than is neces­
sary to support the life of the cell, the cells can reconvert their proteins 
into amino acids and make deposits into the amino acid pool. This pool 
••Arthur C. Guyton. Physiology of the Body. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders, 1964. T. C. Fry. The 
Life Science Health System. Austin, Texas: College of Life Science, 1983. Victoras Kulvinskas. Sun'ival into the 21st Century. Welhcrsfield, Connecticut: Omangod Press, 1975. 72 • FIT FOR LIFE of amino acids is critical to understanding why complete proteins are not 
necessary in the diet. I know it sounds a bit involved, but relax, that's about as technical as I 
will ever get in this book. The amino acid pool exists, and understanding 
it will free you from the onerous protein myth. The existence of the amino acid pool is by no means a new discovery. Much of the information about diet today is based on outmoded data that 
have not been updated. New knowledge has completely reversed the old 
theory, which was based on studies between 1929 and 1950 that used 
purified amino acids. We eat foods—not purified amino acids. My stud­
ies and many others since 19505 have shown that it is not necessary to eat 
complete proteins at every meal or even every day. A study conducted by 
E. S. Nasset, detailed in World Review of Nutrition and Dietetics, re­
ported that "the body can make up any of the amino acids missing in a 
particular meal from its own pool of reserves, as long as a variety of foods 
are included in the diet." Presenting strong evidence for the amino-acid-pool theory are the 
books on physiology by Arthur C. Guyton. His books are the standard 
physiological texts in colleges in this country. As early as 1964, in his 
Physiology of the Body, he discussed the amino acid pool and the body's 
ability to recycle proteinaceous waste. T. C. Fry, the dean of the American College of Health Science, is 
another authority on this matter. His Life Science Health System course 
teaches the amino-acid-pool theory. This information has been available 
for over twenty years and is now coming to light. The main reason this 
information is being questioned is because it does not fit into the mold of 
what has traditionally been taught. It seems that new information is usu­
ally rejected before it is accepted. There will always be new information 
filtering down from the enormous body of knowledge that I refer to as the 
great unknown. To scrutinize it is fine. To condemn it without investiga­
tion is folly. In addition to scientific verification, this information can be 
verified simply by putting it into practice. People who eat this way over 
long periods of time or even lifetimes have NO protein problems. The 
Hunzas, Vilcabambans, Asians, and half a billion Hindus eat very little 
protein food in comparison with Western populations, yet have no pro­
tein deficiencies. And not surprisingly, no weight problems! There are eight amino acids that the body must appropriate from out-
5C. Paul Bianchi and Russel Hilf. Protein Metabolism and Biological Function. New Brunswick, 
New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1970. Henry Brown, M.D. Protein Nutrition. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas Publishers, 1974. H. N. Munro et al. Mammalian Protein Metabolism. New York: Academic Press, 1970: 4. PROTEIN • 73 side sources, and although all fruit and vegetables contain most of the 
eight, there are many fruits and vegetables that contain all the amino 
acids not produced by the body: carrots, bananas, brussels sprouts, cab­
bage, cauliflower, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, kale, okra, peas, potatoes, 
summer squash, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes. Also all nuts, sunflower 
and sesame seeds, peanuts, and beans contain all eight as well. You might be interested to know that the utilizablc amino acid content 
found in plant life is far in excess of that to be found in flesh foods. I 
know it must sound like I'm going to try to make a vegetarian of every­
one. Actually that's not my intent, although, in the words of Albert Ein­
stein, "It is my view that the vegetarian manner of living, by its purely 
physical effect on the human temperament, would most beneficially in­
fluence the lot of mankind." As you've probably guessed, I'm a vege­
tarian. I learned a long time ago that it's a lot easier to sneak up on 
plants. But I do not want to force vegetarianism on anyone not interested 
in it. You can still eat some meat and maintain health. I know some 
vegetarians who think just because they don't eat meat, they have carte 
blanche to eat anything else they desire. They subsequently are far un-
healthier than some rational meat-eaters I know. The question should be: Are human beings designed and intended to 
eat meat? What all the available evidence points to is that there is no 
nutritional, physiological, or psychological justification for meat-eating 
by humans. Whoa! Okay, pick yourself up off the floor and I'll explain. First let's look at the nutritional aspects of flesh food. As indicated 
earlier, the number-one prerequisite of a food is most certainly its fuel 
value, fuel as it relates to energy for the body's use. Flesh foods supply no 
fuel, no energy. Fuel is built from carbohydrates. Meat has virtually no 
carbohydrates. In other words, NO FUEL VALUE. Fats may supply energy, 
but they must undergo a longer and less efficient digestive process, and 
fats may be converted into fuel only when THE BODY'S CARBOHYDRATE 
RESERVES ARE DEPLETED. It should be understood that fat in the body 
does not all come from the fat that is eaten in the diet. When an excess 
of carbohydrates is eaten, it is converted by the body into fat and stored. In this way the body can store and use fat without having a large amount 
of fat in the diet. The fat deposits could be viewed as a type of carbohy­
drate bank, where deposits and withdrawals are made as necessary. So 
utilizable fat is ultimately dependent upon carbohydrate intake. Another consideration is fiber. Every area of health care is stressing the 
importance of fiber in the diet. Among other things, fiber helps to avoid 
constipation and hemorrhoids. Meat has virtually no fiber content. Now let's look at the availability of amino acids in flesh food. An 
amino acid chain can contain anywhere from fifty-one to two hundred 
74 • FIT FOR LIFE thousand amino acids. When flesh protein is ingested, the chain has to 
be broken down and reassembled into human protein. Amino acids are 
somewhat delicate. The heat of cooking coagulates or destroys many of 
the amino acids so that they are not available for body use.6 These un­
usable amino acids become toxic, adding to one's weight, increasing the 
chores of the body, and depleting energy. Meat would have to be eaten 
raw, the way carnivorous and omnivorous animals eat it, for any poten­
tial usage of amino acids. Except for the latest sushi rage, which has its 
own drawbacks,' people are not exactly eating their meat raw. Meat is 
also very high in saturated fat. Not the kind to be used for energy—the 
kind that causes heart attacks! So nutritionally, notwithstanding all the 
propaganda to the contrary, meat has very little, if anything, going for it. Now let's look at the physiological aspects of meat-eating. A carnivore's 
teeth are long, sharp, and pointed—all of them! We have molars for 
crushing and grinding. A carnivore's jaw moves up and down only, for 
tearing and biting. Ours move from side to side for grinding. A car­
nivore's saliva is acid and geared to the digestion of animal protein; it 
lacks ptyalin, a chemical that digests starches. Our saliva is alkaline and 
contains ptyalin for the digestion of starch. A carnivore's stomach is a 
simple round sack that secretes ten times more hydrochloric acid than 
that of a noncarnivore. Our stomachs are oblong in shape, complicated 
in structure, and convoluted with a duodenum. A carnivore's intestines 
are three times the length of its trunk, designed for rapid expulsion of 
foodstuff, which quickly rots. Our intestines are twelve times the length 
of our trunks and designed to keep food in them until all nutrients are 
extracted. The liver of a carnivore is capable of eliminating ten to fifteen 
times more uric acid than the liver of a noncarnivore. Our livers have the 
capacity to eliminate only a small amount of uric acid. Uric acid is an 
extremely dangerous toxic substance that can wreak havoc in your body. All meat consumption releases large quantities of uric acid into the sys­
tem. Unlike carnivores and most omnivores, humans do not have the 
enzyme uricase to break down uric acid. A carnivore does not sweat 
6A. Okitani, ct al. "Heat Induced Changes in Free Amino Acids on Manufactured Heated Pulps and 
Pastes from Tomatoes." The foumal of Food Science 48 (1983): 1366-1367. E. ). Bigwood. Protein and Amino Acid Functions. New York: Pergamon Press, 1972. C. E. Bodwell, Ph.D. Evaluation of Proteins for Humans. Westport, Connecticut: The Air Publish­
ing Co., 1977. T. C. Fry. "Lesson #8, Proteins in the Diet." In The Life Science Health System. Austin, Texas: 
Life Science, 1983. 7Sushi is'always ill-combined—meat and rice, a protein and a starch—and raw fish is often blamed 
for the rise of intestinal worms in humans. In addition, raw fish is a storehouse for industrial pollut­
ants from the water. PROTEIN • 75 through the skin and has no pores. We do sweat through the skin and 
have pores. A carnivore's urine is acid. Ours is alkaline. A carnivore's 
tongue is rough. Ours is smooth. Our hands are perfectly designed for 
plucking fruit from a tree, not for tearing the guts out of the carcass of a 
dead animal as are a carnivore's claws. There is not one anatomical faculty the human being has that would 
indicate that it is equipped for tearing, ripping, and rending flesh for 
consumption. Lastly, we as humans are not even psychologically equipped to eat 
meat. Have you ever strolled through a lush wooded area, filling your 
lungs with good air while listening to the birds sing? Perhaps it was after a 
rain, and everything was fresh and clean.
Fit_For_Life.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        In the 
interim the whole meal rots and ferments and turns to acid. The very 
instant that fruit comes into contact with food in the stomach and di­
gestive juices the entire mass of food begins to spoil. Whatever protein is 
in the stomach putrefies, whatever carbohydrate is there ferments. The 
whole thing turns to acid, and we run for medication because of the 
discomfort. This is something that is easily verifiable. Perhaps you have 
already experienced it. THE PRINCIPLE OF CORRECT FRUIT CONSUMPTION • SI Perhaps after a meal you have had a piece of fruit or a glass of juice, 
and you noticed a sharp pain in your stomach, or indigestion or heart­
burn. The reason for that discomfort was that you ate fruit that would 
have gone straight through the stomach into the intestines, but was pre­
vented by the other food from doing so. Medical evidence for this process 
is not to be found, because the effects of diet on the body have not yet 
been sufficiently studied by the medical profession, and its practitioners 
are the first to admit this. However, Dr. Herbert M. Shelton, the au­
thority on food combining, stresses that the potential value of fruit can be 
realized only if it is consumed on an empty stomach. If you have con­
sumed fruit improperly consistently and not felt sick, that does not mean 
you have not violated a dietary law. It only shows the tremendous adapt­
ability of our bodies. You can avoid paying income taxes and appear to 
get away with it. That doesn't mean you haven't broken the law. Ul­
timately the IRS will catch up with you. Prolonged abuse of the correct-
consumption-of-fruit principle will ultimately take its toll. Many people eat melon incorrectly and then blame the discomfort on 
the melon. They say, "You know, I can't eat melon. Every time I eat 
melon, I burp it up all night. " Well, what happened. They ate a piece of 
melon after a sandwich or some other food, and instead of passing swiftly 
into the intestines, it was stopped by the other food. It then fermented in 
the stomach and the victim burped it up all night. The melon was 
blamed, whereas, if the melon were eaten first and about twenty minutes 
were allowed to elapse, the melon would have left the stomach intact, 
and the other food eaten would then enter the stomach, and no problems 
would result. This is a very simple tool you are being given, and most people have 
never even heard of this. Physiologically fruit passes through the system 
rapidly and does not use the huge amounts of energy demanded by other 
foods. This is why I say, without any hesitation whatsoever, that FRUIT IS 
THE MOST IMPORTANT FOOD THAT YOU CAN POSSIBLY EAT. This goes 
for ALL fruit, even the acid fruits such as oranges, pineapples, and grape­
fruit. These are only classified botanically as acid fruits. Once inside the 
body all fruit becomes alkaline if it is consumed correctly. In point of 
fact, fruit as well as vegetables have the unique ability to neutralize the 
acids that build in our systems. Improper food combinations, an insuffi­
cient quantity of high-water-content food, the by-products of many con­
centrated foods, food additives, polluted air and water, stress—all these 
and more cause the system to toxify and acidify. A toxic acid system can 
be recognized by bloating, excess weight, cellulite, graying hair, balding, 
nervous outbursts, dark circles under the eyes, and premature lines in the 
face. Ulcers are a direct result of corrosive acid in the system. Fruit, if 
52 - FIT FOR LIFE properly eaten, has the marvelous rejuvenating capability to counteract 
the acids in the system. When you have totally mastered the principle of 
correct fruit consumption, you have tuned in to one of nature's secrets of 
beauty, longevity, health, energy, happiness, and normal weight. Fruit, more than any other food, most perfectly supplies the body with 
what it needs to experience the highest level of health possible. Aside 
from its high water content for cleansing, the fact that it leaves no toxic 
residue in the system and that it demands hardly any energy for digestion 
makes it the most perfectly balanced food for supplying the prerequisites 
of life for your body. The five essentials of life that must come from the 
foods you eat are glucose for fuel (from carbohydrates), amino acids, 
minerals, fatty acids, and vitamins. The number-one, most important 
priority of any food is its fuel value. Without fuel the body cannot exist. Fuel value should always be the foremost factor in determining the worth 
of any food. The ideal percentage of each of the five essentials in food as 
required by the human body is as follows: 
glucose—90% 
amino acids—4%-5% 
minerals—3%-4% 
fatty acids— 1+% 
vitamins—under 1% 
The above represents what the ideal composition of food, in terms of 
the body's needs, would be. There is only one food on the planet that fills 
that bill perfectly. It's fruit. This would support Dr. Alan Walker's find­
ings that human beings were strict frugivores for millions of years. Before 
we, as a race, were led astray by external influences, like all other ani­
mals in nature we instinctively ate what most efficiently supplied us with 
the prerequisites of life. In our case this was FRUIT. There are two important considerations crucial to mastering the correct 
consumption of fruit. The first concerns what type of fruit or fruit juice to 
consume. There is only one type: FRESH. This cannot be over­
emphasized. There is no benefit whatsoever in eating fruit that has been 
processed or altered in any way by heat. There is, however, considerable 
detriment. The body is capable of utilizing fruit only in its natural state. Baked apples, any canned fruit, cooked applesauce, and fruit pies are all 
harmful in that they supply no cleansing and no nutrients, and they are 
toxic and acidic in the body, possibly damaging the sensitive linings of 
the inner organs. They force the body to use its precious energy to neu­
tralize their acidity and get it out of the body. The fact is that fruit has a 
delicate nature. Cooking destroys its potential value. THE PRINCIPLE OF CORRECT FRUIT CONSUMPTION • 53 There is no question that the philosophies of macrobiotics (which dis­
courages fruit eating) and Natural Hygiene are not in agreement on this 
point. Over the past ten years in my private practice I have had occasion 
to counsel dozens of macrobiotic enthusiasts. They came to me because 
they were feeling unwell after prolonged adherence to the theories of 
macrobiotics. After several weeks on a hygienic diet, all of them experi­
enced improvement in their well-being. Their marked improvement 
came so easily, I believe, because they had the good groundwork laid by 
macrobiotics, which is head and shoulders above the average American 
diet but at a disadvantage in its misinterpretation of the benefits of fruit, 
requiring that no fruit be eaten raw. That is a misconception. All fruit 
consumed must be fresh and uncooked, or the many benefits described 
here are lost. The same holds true for fruit juice. It must be fresh. If it 
has been pasteurized, as is the case with orange juice made from concen­
trate, it is pure acid before you even drink it. Drinking a liquid that is 
pure acid hampers rather than aids the quest for weight loss. You may ask, "Why drink juice at all, wouldn't the whole food be 
better. " Actually, yes. A whole food is always more acceptable than one 
that has been fragmented. However, people do like to drink something. Rather than habit-forming and toxic drinks such as coffee, tea, alcohol, 
sodas, and milk, it would be wiser to drink fruit or vegetable juices. A 
good point to remember is not to gulp juice down. Because it is frag­
mented, you should take but a mouthful at a time and let it mix with 
your saliva before swallowing it. Fruit is packed, brimming over, with the vital forces of life. Correctly 
utilized, it can be put to the immediate service of your body. The cleans­
ing and weight loss it occasions and the energy it saves are unequaled by 
any other food. To destroy all its beneficial effects by consuming it at the 
wrong time or in the wrong state is nothing short of a crime against your 
body. Could you enjoy the Mona Lisa if mud were smeared all over it. Could you appreciate the recording of a Mozart sonata if there were a 
deep scratch in the record. Could you delight in the scent of a rose if 
garbage were dumped on it. You cheat yourself of the many positive 
benefits of fruit if you allow it to spoil in your digestive tract. The second consideration pertains to the amount of time that should 
elapse between eating foods other than fruit and then eating fruit. As long 
as your stomach is empty, you can eat all the fruit you wish over as long 
a period as you wish, so long as twenty to thirty minutes elapse before 
eating anything else. This will allow the time necessary for the fruit or 
juice to leave your stomach. Juice and some fruits take less time, but 
twenty to thirty minutes is a good standard to use to be sure. Bananas, 
dates, and dried fruit need about forty-five minutes to one hour. Once 
54 • FIT FOR LIFE you have eaten anything other than fruit, you must wait at least three 
hours. If any flesh food is eaten, at least four hours. These times pertain 
only to foods that were eaten in accordance with proper food combining. If you should eat a meal that is not properly combined, the food will 
probably be in your stomach for at least eight hours. You should there­
fore not consume any fruit or fruit juice during that time. HOW LONG TO WAIT AFTER EATING OTHER 
FOOD BEFORE YOU CAN AGAIN EAT FRUIT 
FOOD 
Salad or raw vegetables 
Properly combined meal, without flesh 
Properly combined meal, with flesh 
Any improperly combined meal TIME TO WAIT 
2 hours 
3 hours 
4 hours 
8 hours 
Fruit plays an extremely important role in FIT FOR LIFE. We're not 
going to tell you anything outlandish, like the enzymes in certain fruits 
burn fat so that you feel you have permission to overeat anything you 
want and then burn it away with irrational quantities of fruit. That would 
be not only irresponsible but also a physiological absurdity. One of the 
foremost roles that fruit plays in FIT FOR LIFE is that of resting the di­
gestive tract, thereby freeing up energy to be utilized in cleansing, repair, 
and weight loss. Obviously, proper food combining and the correct consumption of 
fruit deal extensively with not only what you eat but also when. If someone were to ask you what you thought was the worst time of day 
to eat, I wonder what you would say. Probably "Right before going to 
sleep," as so many other people think. Even though eating right before 
going to sleep is a horrible habit, it's second to the most counterproduc­
tive and destructive time of day to eat. And that time is in the morning 
when you awake. WHAT. I can hear your shrieks of disbelief from here. "But what about all those admonitions about having a hearty breakfast for 
energy. " What about them. Do you know what the all-American coffee 
break is in this country. People eat a big, hearty breakfast "for energy," 
and the body is so tired from the work of digesting it that "pick-me-ups" 
are the only way people can make it through to lunch without falling 
asleep. I know what a tremendous blow this is to one of the most condi­
tioned and deep-rooted belief systems. THE PRINCIPLE OF CORRECT FRUIT CONSUMPTION • 55 Just for a moment try to forget everything you thought was true about 
breakfast. Try to forget for a moment all the advice of the nutritionists, 
dietitians, doctors, and other experts. Just for a moment rely only on your 
own common sense for an answer as to whether breakfast has a positive or 
negative influence on your weight. Remember, ENERGY IS THE ESSENCE OF LIFE. When you wake up in 
the morning, you are rested and at the height of your energy level for the 
day, provided that your system did not spend the night contending with a 
"midnight snack" or miscombined meal. On what are you going to ex­
pend that morning burst of energy. A "hearty breakfast". You know that 
digestion uses an enormous amount of energy. A hearty breakfast, which 
is usually a slap in the face of the principles of proper food combining, 
cannot bring you energy. IT USES IT. How else could the food be digested 
if energy were not being expended. Most traditional breakfasts of toast 
and eggs, or cereal with milk, or meat and potatoes are ill-combined, 
forcing the body to work for hours spending its energy. Food spends ap­
proximately three hours or more in the stomach alone if properly com­
bined. Energy can't even start to be built until food is absorbed from the 
intestines. Strictly from the standpoint of energy, does it make sense to 
have breakfast when you wake up in the morning. If breakfast is skipped, 
not only will you not pass out from lack of food (your body is actually still 
using the food eaten the day before), but you will be far more alert and 
energetic. The word breakfast is actually a distortion of the words break and fast. Originally the word breakfast was used to indicate the meal used to break 
a fast. A fast is the abstention from food for an extended length of time, 
not one night's sleep. An integral part of FIT FOR LIFE is this: FROM THE TIME YOU WAKE 
UP IN THE MORNING UNTIL AT LEAST NOON, CONSUME NOTHING BUT 
FRESH FRUIT AND FRUIT juiCE. F,at or drink as much as you desire; put 
no limitations on how much you want. If you desire it, have it; but listen 
to your body—don't overeat. If you have nothing but fruit and fruit juice, 
you will be able to create, not burn up, a huge chunk of your available 
energy for the day. Fruit demands practically no energy to be digested, 
because it does not digest in the stomach. It needs no further digestion if 
well chewed. The intestines are where all nutrients are absorbed. Because fruit finds 
its way into the intestines within minutes instead of hours, its nutrients 
are immediately absorbed and utilized by the body. By eating fruit you 
make your entire day more productive and more energetic, because you 
have conserved rather than squandered your energy. You will be amazed 
at what an incredibly dramatic effect this will have on your entire life 
5b • FIT FOR LIFE once you adjust to ONLY FRUIT AND FRUIT JUICES UNTIL NOON. After 
experiencing the wonderful benefits, you will wonder why you ever ate a 
heavy meal first thing in the morning. A heavy breakfast means a heavy 
day. A light breakfast means a light, vibrant day. You can eat as much 
fruit as you want during the morning, right up until about twenty to 
thirty minutes before you eat something else. Once you have eaten an­
other food, three hours should elapse—at least—before anything else is 
eaten. Once again, listen to your body. When your stomach is empty, 
you can have more fruit. Literally thousands of people from my seminars have stopped eating 
heavy foods in the morning and have just fruit and fruit juice. They have 
made incredible turnarounds. Many of them come to me and say, "Lis­
ten, you know when I first heard this, I was a big breakfast eater, but I 
was willing to at least try what you said and then go back to eating break­
fast. " They didn't, they couldn't go back to heavier breakfasts. If you want 
to know what it feels like to swallow an anvil, all you have to do is eat 
exclusively fruit and fruit juice in the morning for about ten days, and 
then try to go back to having a heavier meal in the morning. You simply 
won't do it. Yes, perhaps you will on occasion, and that is certainly 
okay. Because occasionally is one thing. Every day is something entirely 
different. The consumption of exclusively fruit and fruit juice in the morning is 
at the very heart of FIT FOR LIFE. Interestingly, many people have told 
me that although they don't adhere to the program exactly all the time, 
the one thing they do most consistently is adhere to the exclusive con­
sumption of fruit and fruit juice before noon, because with that alone 
they still reap enormous benefits. It is without question the major con­
tributing factor to the success of FIT FOR LIFE. If you are going to start 
with only one principle, this should be it. FRUIT EXCLUSIVELY IN THE 
MORNING. Some people think that a lot of fruit and fruit juice is fattening. The 
only time fruit can cause any negative manifestations at all is when it is 
altered by heat or incorrectly combined, meaning consumed with or im­
mediately following any other food, WHEN EATEN ON AN EMPTY STOM­
ACH, FRESH FRUIT CAN HAVE ONLY A POSITIVE EFFECT; IT 
ACCELERATES WEIGHT LOSS. When we tell people they can freely eat 
more fruit than usual and make this a habit in their lives, some of them 
initially express concern over the amount of calories they are taking in. Calories are enemies only if they are consumed in foods that are highly 
processed or ill-combined. High-quality calories, those found in high-
water-content food, are not going to add to your weight problem. They 
will furnish the energy to do away with it. THE PRINCIPLE OF CORRECT FRUIT CONSUMPTION • 57 I have always found calorie-counting to be such a bore. It is a depress­
ing way to determine what to eat. I implore people to forget about calo­
ries and think of high-quality food. Calorie-counting is a very antiquated 
and ineffective means of trying to regulate one's weight. It looks viable in 
theory, so does the theory that the sun orbits the earth. Calorie-counting 
is an unrealistic gauge by which to measure one's progress. That is why 
so many calorie-counters do not find the results they are looking for, even 
though they diligently count their calories. I remember once going into a very nice restaurant in Palm Springs for 
breakfast. This establishment prided itself on the fact that everything on 
the menu had the number of calories indicated next to it. Here is why 
calorie-counting is practically worthless: I worked out two possible break­
fasts from the menu. Both had three items. One was 220 calories, the 
other 190. Well, if I were operating under the delusion that a calorie is a 
calorie is a calorie, and I should eat fewer at a meal whenever possible, I 
would have opted for the breakfast of 190 calories. But understanding the 
principles of Natural Hygiene as 1 did, I unhesitatingly had the 220-
calorie breakfast. Lucky for me. You see, thinking that a calorie in a food 
that has been denatured, devitalized, and otherwise processed to death is 
just like a calorie in a fresh, unadulterated food is folly of the highest 
order. All cars are cars too. Would you rather have a broken-down old 
jalopy with no brakes that barely runs or a shiny new Rolls-Royce. Both 
are cars, but one can endanger your life while the other can serve it. So it 
is with calories. One kind can add weight to your body, another kind can 
supply the energy to help you lose weight. When dealing with calories, 
it is a classic instance of quality being of far greater importance than 
quantity. The 190-calorie breakfast was a bowl of oatmeal, one piece of wheat 
toast, and cream cheese. The 220-calorie breakfast was a glass of fresh-
squeezed orange juice, a slice of fresh melon in season, and a bowl of 
fresh strawberries. Now that you have a clear understanding of the ex­
treme importance of eating foods high in water content, properly com­
bined, I'm sure you can see why I opted for the 220-calorie meal. The 
190-calorie breakfast was three items devoid of water. It was a protein 
(cream cheese) and two carbohydrates (toast and oatmeal). It would have 
sat rotting in my stomach for some six to eight hours, robbing me of my 
precious energy, supplying no nutrition, and leaving a thick layer of toxic 
waste to clog my system. It would have done absolutely nothing to assist 
in my desire to lose weight. It would have added weight. The 220-calorie 
breakfast was all high water content. No putrefaction or fermentation and 
the resulting distress to my system. It passed through my stomach in less 
than half an hour and was actually supplying me with real energy within 
58 • FIT FOR L1FF. an hour. My system was helped, not prevented from cleansing itself of 
waste, because my elimination cycle was not thwarted. Anyone who would think that this program is successful because it 
supplies fewer calories than a "regular" diet has missed the point of it 
entirely. Merely lowering calorie intake will not achieve the loss of 
weight desired if the calories consumed are from foods that are de­
natured, ill-combined, toxic, and clogging. That is why this program has 
been so successful for so many people, many of whom used to count 
calories religiously. It is a life-style change having nothing to do with 
calorie-counting. The reasoning behind eating exclusively fruit in the morning is tied 
closely to the efficient functioning of your body cycles. This is a perfect 
time to look at these cycles again and see exactly why. Since in weight 
loss we are interested in not blocking the elimination cycle, let's empha­
size that cycle by looking at it first. • CYCLE i—ELIMINATION (4 A. M. -NOON): You have already learned 
that digestion of conventional food takes more energy than any other 
body process. You have also learned that fruit demands the least amount 
of energy for its digestion. So it is most beneficial for FRUIT OR FRUIT 
JUICE TO BE THE ONLY FOODS CONSUMED DURING THE ELIMINATION 
CYCLE, if you consume anything at all. Anything else halts the elimina­
tion process, and the by-products of foods that should have been elimi­
nated are now added to your toxic load and to the unwanted pounds in 
your body. That is why the success of this program (and your success in 
losing weight) depends on the exclusive consumption of fruit and fruit 
juice before noon. Successful and comfortable weight loss is dependent 
on the efficiency of the elimination cycle. By sabotaging this cycle you 
sabotage your success, HAVING ONLY FRUIT AND FRUDT JUICE EX­
CLUSIVELY BEFORE NOON IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT FACET 
OF THIS SYSTEM. (Even if you continue to drink coffee or take supple­
ments, don't do it during the elimination cycle. Do it after noon. This is 
essential. ) • CYCLE ii—APPROPRIATION (NOON-8 P.
The entire mass of food begins to spoil and turn to acid, causing discomfort.
According to the text, what happens to the food in the stomach as soon as it comes into contact with digestive juices?
The ideal composition is 90% glucose, 4-5% amino acids, 3-4% minerals, <1% fatty acids, and <1% vitamins.
What is the ideal composition of the five essential food groups, according to the text?
At least 3 hours after eating other foods.
What is the recommended time frame for eating fruit after a non-fruit meal?
Fresh, uncooked, and on an empty stomach.
What is the recommended way to consume fruit, according to the author?
The author believes that protein is not as important as other food groups, and that the body can recycle and utilize amino acids from plant-based sources.
What is the author's stance on the importance of protein in the diet?