Extra info on food consumption

Main pointers/information

Main nutrients needed to be consumed daily
calcium: 1g/day; main sources are dairy, calcium-fortified tofu and seaweeds (eg kombu, nori, arame), aswell as legumes/vegetables (eg kale, broccoli, cabbage, beans, spinach,...), certain fruits (eg orange juice), ...
 * fibres: 30-40 grams; main sources are grains (rice, quinoa, amaranth, wheat, barley, ...), certain vegetables (eg celery, cabbage, fennel, sweet potato, konnyaku), certain products as popcorn, ...
 * protein: 50-150 grams; main sources are legumes, soy, tempeh, milk, nuts (eg walnuts, almonds, hazel, sesamenuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds), soy derivates (eg tofu, seitan, soy-milk, yoghurt, ...). Note that the total carbohydrates (which are the proteins, sugars, fats, ... combined) are to be 250 grams/daily. To calculate your optimum minimum daily requirements you can multiply your recommended body weight by 0,36
 * sugars: less than 30% of carbohydrate intake; good sources are fruits (eg figs, papaya, orange, raisins, currants, banana, ...)
 * flavonoids: tofu, tempeh, soy, legumes, nuts, ...
 * fats: 50-90grams; main sources are almonds, wal nuts, avocado and healthy cooking oils
 * in addition, certain other substances as potassium, salt, water, ... also need to be included

Salt/potassium intake
When setting up your food system, it is best that the foods/meals are to chosen so that the balance between the intake of natrium (seasalt) and potassium are aligned prefectly. In extreme cases, when salt/potassium is not kept in mind (and salt is removed), things as potassium depletion may occur. This reduces reduces the fluid levels from a person in the lungs, and shows up as generalized weakness and a slower than normal heart rate. In practice, the ratio to maintain is 2 parts potassium to 1 part salt. See the following site for more information on this. Potassium is involved with the functioning of the brain, and the heart. At present, due to our regular supermarket eating-style, we have the tendency of getting a wrong balance between them (usually too much natrium is consumed). This can happen trough excessive sweating trough exercice, laxatives or the wrong food which contains too much natrium and too little potassium (thus most supermarket-foods, “kitchen salt”, ...). In addition, having the amounts just right (some 5-7mg of salt is to be taken daily; and potassium intake is to be aligned with this) will allow you to be fitter, more active, ...

Intake of solids and fluids
In order to be fully active and in best shape during the day, the amount of solids (eg grains, grain-products, ...) and fluids (eg water, tea, ...) needs to be taken in in comparitive amounts (for the digestion process to work optimally, and to reduce load on your heart as waters, ... need to be secreted from your blood, stressing the body and heart).

Vitamins and minerals needed to be consumed daily: When the top-sources from the 3 books mentioned in your system, enough vitamins, minerals and folate is consumed daily (also as not much of these substances are needed anyway; eg 0,3 mg of vit C versus 1-1,5 mg of calcium). Top sources are:

Vitamins
for folate: orange juice, spinach, legumes, soy for vitamin A: yellow and orange fruit/vegetables, green leafy vegetables, liver, dairy products needed for: good vision, growth, skin, resistance; max amounts are 3 milligram in pure-retinol form; recommended is 0,8 mg for vitamin B1 (thiamine): yeast, wheat, whole grains, liver needed for: energy absorption from food, good performance of heart and kidneysystem; recommended amount: 1,1mg for vitamin B2 (riboflavine): yeast, whole grains, leafy vegetables, milk and eggs needed for: energy absorption from food, skin; recommended amount : 1,1 mg for vitamin B3 (niacine): meat, poultry, fish, enriched grain products, peanuts, potatoes, dairy and eggs needed for: energy absorption from food; recommended: 13 mg vitamin B5 (pantothene acid): lean meat, whole grains, legumes, vegetables, fruit needed for: energy absorption from food; recommended amount: 5 mg for vitamin B6 (pyrodoxine): fish, poultry, skin meat, bananas, dried prumes, whole grains, avocados needed for: resistance, protein buildup/break-up, nerve system; recommended: 1,5mg and maximum amount 25 mg for vitamin B8 or H (biotine): grain and grain products, yeast, liver and legumes needed for: energy absorption from food (recommended and max amounts not known) for vitamin B11 (folic acid): leafy vegetables, dried peas, beans, lentils needed for: production of red blood cells recommended amount: 300 microgram; max amount: 1 mg for vitamin B12 (cobalamine): meat mollusks and crustaceans, dairy products needed for: creation of red bloodcells, nerve system recommended amount: 2,8 mg for vitamin C (ascorbine acid): citrus fruit, berries, vegetables, potatoes, peppers needed for: healing process, resistance, uptake of iron from food recommended: 70 mg; maximum amount: 2 gram for vitamin D (cholecalciferol) : mostly sunshine (add extra food sources when living in a dark/northern country !), seafood, fish, dairy, mushrooms, ... needed for: uptake of calcium, strong bones and teeth recommended amounts: 2,5 microgram, max amount: 50 microgram for vitamin E (tocoferol): nuts, green leafy vegetables, wheat germ and other grains, healthy vegetable oils needed for: cell protection recommended amount: 9,3 mg; max: 250 milligram for vitamin K (fylochinon): green leafy vegetables, fruit, dairy products and grain products needed for: blood coagulation, strong bones recommended amount: 90 microgram

Minerals
sodium, choline, magnesium, iron, potassium, copper, molybdenum, selenium, vanadium, boron, chromium, cobalt, copper, manganese, iodine, phosphorus, zinc and need to be taken in in the right amounts

Modified pood pyramid
Next to this text, my simplified (modified) food pyramid is placed to get a first impression on setting up your food production system. It is based on the Food guidance pyramid, yet modified with shojin ryori principles/okinawa diet.

Main foods generally used for daily consumption
(modified with Okinawa-style eating and also based on the Superfoods-approach): Below are the main foods and food-groups to be consumed daily. Both the simplified Superfood-approach (thank you Steven Pratt!) aswell as the more rigorous/complex Okinawa-approach is noted. Note that consumption of a certain food (eg walnuts, tofu, ...) may fulfill your requirements for a number of nutrients (eg fats + protein, ...) and they thus not need to be included two times (aldough they may be mentioned in 2 food groups and you may though this was need to fulfill your requirements for each food group)

vegetables
5-7 servings of: 115grams = 575-805grams of cooked or raw vegetables OR 225 grams of raw leafy vegetables = 1125-1575 grams (according to Superfoods) 7-13 servings of : 1 cup of leafy vegetables = 7-13 cups OR ½ cup chopped or raw vegetables = OR ¾ cup of vegetable juice =  5 ¼ to 9 ¾ cup(according to Okinawa-diet book)

fruit
3-5 servings of : 115 grams of chopped/canned fruit = 345-575 grams OR 120 ml of fruit juice = 360-600 ml OR 1 whole fruit = 3-5 fruits OR 2 teaspoons of raisins or 3 dried prumes (according to Superfoods) 2-4 servings of : ½ cup of canned/cooked fruits = 1-2 cups OR ¾ cup of fruit juice = 1 ½ to 3 cups OR 1 whole fruit = 2-4 fruits (according to Okinawa-diet book)

calcium-foods
2-3 servings of 115grams of skimmed cottage cheese or quark = 230-345 grams OR 235 ml of skimmed yoghurt or milk = 470-705 ml (according to Superfoods) 2-4 servings of: 42 grams of reduced-fat cheese = 84-186 grams OR 1 cup of fat-free milk = 2-4 cups OR 1 cup of yoghurt = 2-4 cups OR 1/3 cup of prepared seaweed = 2/3-4/3 cups OR 84 grams of calcium-fortified tofu = 168 to 336 grams OR ½ cup of watercress = 1-2 cups (according to okinawa-diet book)

vegetable protein or flavonoid foods
3-6 servings of : 85 grams of tofu or tempeh = 255 grams OR 1 egg or 2 egg whites = 3 eggs or 6 egg whites OR 115 grams of legumes = 345-690 grams (according to Superfoods) 2-4 servings of: 1 tablespoon flaxseed = 2-4 tablespoons OR 2 tablespoons soy nuts = 4-8 tablespoons OR 1 teaspoon of miso paste = 2-4 teaspoons OR ¼ cup chopped onions = ½ to 1 cup OR ½ cup of cooked beans or legumes = 1-2 cups OR ¾ cup miso soup = 1 ½ to 3 cups OR 1 tablespoon of arrowroot powder = 2-4 tablespoons OR 84 grams tofu = 168-336 grams OR 3/4 cup cranberry juice = 1 ½ to 3 cups OR ¼ cup soybean sprouts = ½ to 1 cup (according to Okinawa-diet)

!ALWAYS OPTIONAL! animal-based protein: 0-3 servings of 85 grams of lean meat, poultry or fish = 0-255 grams (according to Superfoods) 0-7 servings of 1 egg = (according to Okinawa-diet book)

grains
5-7 servings of: 115 grams cooked grains or noodles = 575-805grams OR 1 leaf of bread = 5-7 leaves of bread (according to Superfoods) 7-13 servings of: ½ cup of cooked cereal, rice or pasta = 3 ½ to 6 ½ cups OR 1 slice of bread = 7-13 leaves of bread OR ½ bagel = 3 ½ to 6 ½ bagels

nuts and seeds
5 servings of 22 grams (depending on nuts used) = 110 grams OR 1 ½ tablespoons peanutbutter = 7 ½ tablespoons (according to Superfoods) for the Okinawa-diet, no minimum portions are indiquated; see the flavonoid foods/omega 3 foods to get an impression of how much the nut/seeds portions are with this diet

fish
2/7-4/7 servings of 85 grams = 0-255 grams (according to Superfoods) 0-7 servings of: 56 to 84 grams of poultry or lean meat = 392-588 grams (!OPTIONAL!, according to Okinawa-diet book)

fats and omega-3 foods
1 to 2 servings of: 30 grams of almonds = 30-60 almonds OR 15 half walnuts = 7 ½ -15 walnuts OR 1 tablespoon oil = 1-2 tablespoons oil OR 3/8 avocado = 3/8-6/8 avocado (according to superfoods) 1-3 servings of: 1 tablespoon of flaxseed = 1-3 tablespoons OR 2 tablespoons walnuts = 2-6 tablespoons OR 84 grams of cooked fish = 84-252 grams OR 84 grams tofu = 84-252 grams OR 1 teaspoon of (canola or flaxseed) oil = 1-3 teaspoons (according to Okinawa-diet book)

beverages
atleast 2l of beverage daily (mostly water, tea, aldough juices may be included herein aswell). This is according to Superfood according to the Okinawa diet, one should drink untill your urine is completely clear (no longer yellow or dark yellow-brown) Again tea is recommended as a primary source, next to water.

Keep in mind with both suggestions that 3-5 liter is probably a maximum and that 10l of water daily could be deadly.

Replacing your foods
Having known little other than the supermarket-way of eating, we are so influenced that we would be inspired to make (with the domestic food system) certain food-products (as jam, waffles, cookies, ...) ourselves. However, everybody that reads the books mentioned herein will become aware that none of these products are ever healthy (no matter how you make them). Following is a list of produce generally thought to be healthy by most, but which are best never made and are best replaced by completely other products:

Guidelines for dumpster diving
Trough the basic nutrient info noted above, we can now give some guidelines on what kind of foods you may take when dumpster-diving so to keep your eating reasonably healthy. 2 approaches are discussed: inmediate consumption of the foods and dumpster-diving combined with vermicomposting (thus to compost and not consume directly). In the second case, guidelines are quite simple: only consume the healthiest foods from each food group required (marked above; thus foods that contain eg calcium, vegetables, fruit, grain, ... Refer to page 32 to 37 of “the Superfoods-book” for this; you may also use the Okinawa-food pyramid herefore (p74-75) ). Use all other foods (including even reasonably healthy things as ice cream, milk, muffins, fatty cheese, meats, ...) for compostation. The most healthy foods are discussed at page 79-82 of “the Okinawa program”.

For the inmediate consumption of the food, we will however have to take more or less what's available, but we will try to shift trough the foods and select the best ones here aswell. Thus, for example, we will prefer whole milk over ice cream, pancakes over biscuits and cookies, ... We will read the packaging of each product and make sure that in total, our calorie-count stays below or precisely at our daily requirements (generally around 2000 calories). Again, the pages noted above of the 2 books may be used and page 99-100 of the “Okinawa-program” may be used aswell to determine what foods to prefer when shifting trough the available produce. We will again also make sure that the whole of our “catch” is made up from products from each food-group marked above. In practice, this thus means that we will eg take calcium-products as yoghurt, kale, kefir, ... or aswell as grain products as crackers, bread or rice, fruits as apples, oranges, ... .

Decreasing your portion sizes
I have found that decreasing your portion sizes increases your lung capacity (as your stomach adjusts to smaller protions and physically reduces in sizes, giving more space to your lungs to enlarge). This decrease in portion sizes can thus give you more energy and (may) increase your physical performance.

In practice, decreasing your portion sizes can be done by making use of more nutrient-dense products. Nutrient-denser products (eg seaweeds, eggwhites, orange juice, ...) can be found at a table on page 49 of “The Anti-Aging Plan” and this book and page may thus be used to alter your meals.

Also useful are coca leaves, which are a natural appetite reducer.

Tips

 * You may want to use oil-less cooking (using cooking machinery as food steamers, microwave, ...), and rely on alternatives (eg almonds, walnuts) to replace your requirements in fats.
 * Meal times such be followed correctly
 * Fruitarianism may also be followed but usually does not allow much food to be stored (as most is fruit)
 * The amount of water to be consumed is around 2l for a 2000kcal diet (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water#For_drinking
 * The gandhi diet also seems easy to follow (goat milk is best altered to soy milk and butter/ghee by soy butter, ... however).
 * Also useful is the Biosphere 2 diet; this consists of
 * 375g grams of banana
 * 12 grams of lemon (fruit)
 * 58 grams of tomato (fruit)
 * 25 grams of peanuts (fat)
 * 175 grams of grains (grains)
 * 100 grams of beans (starchy veg)
 * 225 grams of beets (starchy veg)
 * 125 grams of cabbage (leafy veg)
 * 48 grams of carrots (starchy veg)
 * 188 grams of chards (starchy veg)
 * 56 grams of eggplant
 * 63 grams of lettuce (leafy veg)
 * 2 red peppers (fruit)
 * 300 grams of sweet potato (starchy veg)
 * 100 grams of goat milk (calcium/protein food)

A quick reminder of the Gandhi diet (modified); this consists per day of
 * 1 litre of goat's milk (calcium/protein food)
 * 150 gm cereals (grains)
 * 75 gm leafy vegetables (leafy veg)
 * 125 gm other vegetables (mostly starchy veg)
 * 25 gm salad (leafy veg)
 * 40 gm ghee or butter (calcium/protein/fat)
 * and 40-50 gm jaggery or sugar. [2] (considerable to grains; adds calories/energy; this at a less healthy but economically cheaper way; which was one of the key points in the gandhi diet btw. Note that these sugars are taken up inmediatelly by the body (unlike eg grains) so if you do not spend them by exercice during the day they may be converted to belly fat). The ghandi diet may be intresting for very active individuals and those wishing to not integrate several times of eating into their schedule (with being a fruitarian much more meals need to be included). The jaggery/suger from the ghandi diet may be made with the home food production system trough the use of sugar cane or honey.

A quick reminder of how to use fruitarianism: for people wanting to get a quick, easy approach (without cooking) without fear of gaining weight. In stead of cooking, eat fruit all day (70-80% of your diet), and take a half cup of rice at noon. Some tofu or extra nuts may be added once and a while (see the Fruitarian Guidebook).