\r\n \r\n That might be good for a fast, but vitamins are co-enzymes. They don\'t work by themselves. Co-enzymes cause enzymes to react to nutrients. Enzymes either break down or combine such cells/nutrients. So taking vitamins without food is useless.\r\n

\r\n __________________
\r\n .
\n- Jim
\n
\n �Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.� Sir Winston Churchill\r\n

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\r\n \r\n The scary thing is I think you\'re serious...
\n
\nNO NO NO, it is a HORRIBLE idea.
\n
\nThose diet drinks are loaded with GMOs, toxic tap water, refined sugar, harmful man-made chemicals, and probably artificial sweeteners. The average vitamin/mineral supplement is actually harmful for your health because it uses synthetic, isolated chemicals, and derives those chemicals from things like petroleum, tar, and even sewage sludge.
\n
\nFor example, cyanocobalamin is the most common form of vitamin b12 in supplements; the cobalamin comes from refined sewage and it\'s stabilized by cyanide. If you want to get any nutrients out of it your body first has to neutralize the cyanide, then pilfer all of the rest of the nutrients necessary to make vitamin b12 work from other areas in the body.
\n
\nIf you want to lose weight so badly, do a juice fast. Colon cleanses + colonics can also make you lose from 5 to 15 pounds, on average, of stored fecal matter and are very beneficial for health. But please learn about all of the harmful effects of most "foods". What the average person eats shouldn\'t even be called "food" at all, that\'s one reason people are getting so many degenerative diseases today.\r\n

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\r\n \r\n You\'ve got to be kidding?
\na sure pathway to an early chronic disease and death.\r\n

\r\n __________________
\r\n \r\n

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\r\n \r\n There would be nothing wrong with fasting for a few days.
\n
\nYou would still need your daily nutrients, including vitamins, minerals (all 60), amino acids, and fatty acids, and you won\'t find any of these in the proper form or optimal amount in centrum A-Z.
\n
\nYou were right though... it was a brain fart idea..\r\n

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\r\n \r\n
\nGee, thanks for the support A simple "No" would have sufficed lol.
\n
\nBut fasting for a few days while taking these two things in tandum would be better than fasting for a few days without taking them right?
\n
\n
\nI guess I want to know just how "healthy" these supposed "health" supplements are for you.\r\n

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\r\n \r\n Cutting simple carbs, adding fat and walking would be superior, and not leave you hungry or cranky.\r\n

\r\n __________________
\r\n I\'d rather meander for the prevention than race for the cure. \r\n

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\r\n \r\n Didnt a wife of a famous rockstar try to live like this,taking pills and supplements without eating real food, and eventually she died??? i think but im not sure...\r\n

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\r\n \r\n I think the key to that is the "pills" probably weren\'t health supplements..
\n
\nMany rock stars and famous people live in "drug" diets. Cocaine and marijuana help people lose weight a lot (well for marijuana you need to avoid the munchies) However, obviously these are not a good way to go because of course it causes problems and can lead to an untimely demise.\r\n

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\r\n \r\n I know from experience that marijuana makes you lose weight and when you are a heavy user the moment you get the munchies is the moment you roll another joint and so you do not eat, you just constantly smoke...Soooo unhealthy...
\n
\nBut its weird i remember i could be really hungry at times and if id roll another joint and smoke it the hunger feeling would go away for some time, and eventually after 3-4-5 joints you would get up all messed up and starwing and eat whatever you can eat at that moment, no cooking or preparing just take-open-eat,quick and then, roll again...im so glad that period of my life is over\r\n

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\r\n \r\n
\nI used to use marijuana daily, but it was at most 2 joints (one in the morning, one in the evening)
\n
\nNever got to the whole "keep rolling rolling rolling, keep those doobies rolling"... I think part of the reason is I never learned how to roll lol, I always had to use a pipe. I couldn\'t roll at all, which actually was probably a good thing as I probably would have used a lot more if I had been able to roll.
\n
\nBut yes, I miss it some days, but most I don\'t. My life was really empty at that point anyway, and now I have it pretty good, so no reason to go and dive back into a hole if you know what I mean.\r\n

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\r\n \r\n Well, see, that is my big question. You eat a balanced diet. The balanced diet includes X amount of these vitamins and minerals, and proteins... So, if you got this same amount through vitamins and supplements, isn\'t it the same thing minus the calories?
\n
\nTHAT is my big question.\r\n

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\r\n \r\n Living foods has phytonutrients that has only relatively recently been discovered. Its the phytonutrients that really keep you healthy. Of course you need minerals and vitamins too but its the phytonutrients that are also essential.. meaning you must eat them to be healthy. You will find next to none in a can of ensure. Only real vegetables and herbs can provide them. Ensure will have soy phytonutrients that are not all that healthy to take on a daily basis unless you have a health issue that requires them.
\n
\nA can on ensure is dead and if you drink it long enough you will be dead. And for a fast, you will not detox one dam thing drinking that stuff. It will not open the pathways of detoxification.\r\n

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\r\n \r\n
\nProvided grains are not considered a food group and dairy is either limited or eliminated, then yes.\r\n

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\r\n \r\n To some extent grains are needed though right? Although I was reading somewhere that Gluten is not really your friend..
\n
\nI wish I could find the article on that right now... I\'ll probably be able to dig it up at some point...
\n
\nA gluten free diet would be ideal for just about anyone.. But man... I like to have a sandwich now and then, and of course I love burritos, and pretty much any kind of wrap...\r\n

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\r\n \r\n
\nI love grain too, but it\'s junk food. High glycemic, loaded with calories and scant on nutrients. To top it off, grain has \'anti-nutrients\' like phytic acid in it.
\n
\n
\nYou cannot know the chuckle I get from the \'mineral water\' crowd that then turns around and consumes grain. \r\n

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\r\n \r\n I bet... .... However, do the same people talk about deep colon cleanses as well? If not... Sort of cancels each other out....\r\n

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\r\n \r\n There are gluten free choices of breads, biscuits, waffles (frozen) and even tortillas/burritoes!
\n
\nOften made of mixtures that include corn, quiona, rice, etc. Unfortunately my family member is also allergic to CORN. So, we try to limit this as much as possible.
\n
\nWe are fans of fajitas *hol-grain fajitas mix* and use any of these tortillas:https://www.google.com/#q=gluten+fre...w=1333&bih=610
\n
\nWe mix with grass fed beef or ground bison. Red/green peppers from the garden and sometimes I make my own Sangria.
\n
\nYou can even fry the tortillas in a bit of olive oil with salt until crisp and they make a great chip. Add your own salsa...
\n
\nI even make my own Mexican rice. All without gmos, corn and FLOUR/Gluten.
\n
\nYou can too!! \r\n

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\r\n \r\n
\nBy soaking you can get rid of the phytic acid, but there\'s only one way to get rid of the calories, and by limiting timing/portion can you avoid the insulin spike. \r\n

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\r\n \r\n I don\'t believe I have been soaking properly -' + '- I know I haven\'t been reserving 10% of the soaking liquid -
\n
\nHere’s how it works:
\n
\n Soak brown rice in dechlorinated water for 24 hours at room temperature without changing the water. Reserve 10% of the soaking liquid (should keep for a long time in the fridge). Discard the rest of the soaking liquid; cook the rice in fresh water. UPDATE: I reduce the amount of water added at this point. For example, if I have 1 cup rice and 2 cups water to soak, I pour off the water (reserving some) and add about 1 1/2 or 1 3/4 cup fresh water. You could be really precise and measure what you pour off, then add the same amount fresh to make up for what the rice has already absorbed. This makes a big difference in cooking nice rice! Don’t forget the rule of rice cooking – no peeking under the lid once you reduce to a simmer!
\n The next time you make brown rice, use the same procedure as above, but add the soaking liquid you reserved from the last batch to the rest of the soaking water.
\n Repeat the cycle. After three times, 96% or more of the phytic acid should be degraded at 24 hours.
\n Neutralizing and reducing that percentage of phytic acid is unheard of with other methods and grains. Even sourdough only decreases phytates by 64%. The modified fermentation acidifies the water and continues to keep the pH stable and even lowers it, whereas soaking in slightly acidic water ends up moving closer to a neutral (7) pH as time passes.
\n
\nhttps://www.kitchenstewardship.com/20...-fermentation/\r\n

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\r\n \r\n Hmmm... Very interesting.. I usually don\'t eat brown rice, I tend to not eat rice at all. (Well I do love my rice and beans then and again and of course Chinese food)
\n
\nSpeaking of Chinese food... LOL... Let\'s open that can of worms.. How healthy is their rice, chicken balls and sweet and sour sauce!!! \r\n

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\r\n \r\n Think corn syrup and GMO high PUFA canola oil. Unfortunately most Chinese food is as bad as the burger drive through. \r\n

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\r\n \r\n
\nSome cases worse..
\n
\nI have a Chinese friend who made real "Chinese Food" and it\'s NOTHING like what I have come to know and love..
\n
\nAlthough the lemon chicken was really nice. The rest was kind of.. Simple I guess.. But then I went in with years worth of misconceptions, so of course I was going to feel let down lol...\r\n

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\r\n \r\n
\nGood info! \r\n

\r\n __________________
\r\n \r\n

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\r\n \r\n \r\n

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\r\n \r\n Isn\'t that something? Ethnic cooking we have come to know in the USA, isn\'t always authentic. Or even tasty.
\n
\n I experienced "real" Italian cooking by my motherinlaw and it is NOTHING close to what I was led to believe by USA standards, imo.
\n
\nMost of the "Italian" restaurants I have eaten at, I have come away disappointed. Just not like mamas. Her lasagne was heaven - I will miss that Gruestili (sp?) fried little puffs of airy pastry smothered in powdered sugar-' + '-biscotti...even the peas in tomato sauce was just wonderful.
\n
\nEven Mexican cooking-' + '-I have a brotherinlaw who was born in Mexico, that makes tacos and pica de gallo that is FABULOUS. I will miss that, too.\r\n

\r\n __________________
\r\n \r\n

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\r\n \r\n I learned a lot about \'authentic\' cuisine from a first generation American who grew up in an Italian neighborhood.
\n
\n........as he told me, "...........so when I ate at a friends house, his parents were every bit as Italian as mine, but the food wasn\'t the same, so now tell me, what is authentic?"\r\n

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\r\n \r\n Well, "authentic" I guess means something that is real..
\n
\nI suppose we shouldn\'t complain about "authentic" food not being "authentic" because after two or three generations of something else being done to it, it would be considered "authentic"?
\n
\nAnyway, yes, real Italian pizza, I love it... Thin crispy crust, just the right amount of cheese, fresh vegetables... love it
\n
\nDid you know that Spaghetti was originally from china? \r\n

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\r\n \r\n IMO, overly processed isn\'t too authentic. Overly spiced. Salted to the max. Thin, watery sauces that resemble orange goo. MICROWAVED - ug. (Many restaurants push the salty in order to sell their crap wine)
\n
\nGramma F made her own noodles. I heard of this, but never saw it in action, until marrying into the family. The sauce was smashed tomatoes, olive oil - that she purchased by the gallon! ( in our family, we only used CORN oil) Her sauce had actual tomato in there! She used a garlic press! Yep, first time ever seeing one of those. ( My mom used garlic flakes from a jar). Many of the spices were actually grown and picked fresh, which I thought was different. I thought everyone had the same spice rack with the same 10 year old jars of stuff, used maybe around Thanksgiving...once.
\n
\nNo frozen anything - ever. Every shred of veggie/meat/fish was used. She never had a stick of margarine in her kitchen - or a tub of it. She had butter.
\n(I only knew of margarine-oleo). Butter was something reserved for parents use only in my family, melted for breaded perch from Jacks (a local carryout) during Lent - while the kids had grilled cheese (velveeta) and canned tomato soup.
\n
\nEtc. I have been to many restaurants that claim to be "Italian" cuisine - northern/southern whatever. Now I can tell if the pasta is fresh or rubbery microwaved stale globs of flour. The garlic isn\'t overwhelming. The spices are just right and the dish isn\'t swimming in a sea of orange "sauce." Well, maybe if it is the vodka one...
\n
\nShe used just a small amount of beef/chicken for the meatballs. The gnocchi, I helped her with and was amazed at how easy they were to prepare *I stopped buying the dry ones in the air sealed package.
\n
\nMaybe it was just she had the time to prepare the meals for her family this way and with her mom living down the street she had some help? I don\'t know. I don\'t believe I even had authentic American cuisine. Unless Swanson Frozen chicken TV dinners falls under that?
\n
\nThe entire Italian neighborhood made their own wine, sausage *this one was gross - - cookies, cakes, etc.
\n
\nMy grandmother had showed me a few of the dishes HER mother prepared in Germany. It just seemed to take sooo long -' + '- the only one I come away remembering-and I still prepare, is a crepe like breakfast pancake.
\n
\nI suppose "authentic" means original recipes - with ACTUAL fresh ingredients. Cooked per instructions. You just cannot microwave pasta and expect it not to be a rubbery dried out mess. I have tried.\r\n

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\r\n \r\n Good point there.. One thing I did get angry about was Pizza Hut\'s "Authentic Italian" dishes.. They are frozen meals they stick in an oven and come out all dried up, and then they do a lame attempt of rehydrating it with what is again a frozen sauce.. The outcome is you have dry, flaky, pasta which has the consistency of freaking rubber, and it is tasteless...
\n
\nI don\'t know if it\'s only the one chain that does it or not, but I wound up just walking out and not even paying the bill, which is fine because I didn\'t eat the dish.. (How did I know it was tasteless you ask? I didn\'t even try it.. The guy next to me was complaining about it as well. They even offered to give me my meal for free.. Real generous of you, seeing as how I wasn\'t going to eat it in the first place.... Sheesh....)\r\n

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\r\n \r\n
\r\n
\r\nThis goes for most fast food. It\'s a shame. When dominos came out with their "new pizza crust" last year (or so), I found that it simply had more "spices" on it to mask the cardboard flavored dough. I think that\'s the most simple answer. Spice it up with and mask any low quality tastes. People are, as a result, becoming intense flavor addicts, which is a reason why I think that many people don\'t like broccoli. This is just my opinion of course, but is something I thought of. The larger the distribution chain, the more shortcuts they make to make profits high.
\r\n
\r\nRegarding other posts here - because of my own budget, it seems that it would be impossible for me to avoid GMO in foods and a lot of the bad things mentioned in this thread. We, as a family of 4, haven\'t quite figured out how to stretch a budget to include nothing but healthy, whole (and locally grown/bred) food.\r\n

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\r\n \r\n My point was I could eat food at ten different restaurants in Sicily, and their meatballs will all be different.
\n
\nSo, which one was \'authentic\'? \r\n

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\r\n \r\n Well, if it was in Italy, then they would all be "authentic" LOL...
\n
\nAlthough you need to wonder about the slop the other restaurants serve if they put "authentic" in front of their menu items...
\n
\nIE: If you are in Italy, why wouldn\'t it be "authentic" Canneloni\'s or whatever?? \r\n

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\r\n \r\n Exactly! But all different at the same time.\r\n

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\r\n \r\n
\nOh boy... Looks like it\'s time to pull out the dictionary... Let\'s finally see what "authentic" is LOL
\n
\nau�then�tic
\n
\n   [aw-then-tik] Show IPA
\nadjective 1. not false or copied; genuine; real: an authentic antique.
\n
\n2. having the origin supported by unquestionable evidence; authenticated; verified: an authentic document of the Middle Ages; an authentic work of the old master.
\n
\n3. entitled to acceptance or belief because of agreement with known facts or experience; reliable; trustworthy: an authentic report on poverty in Africa.
\n
\n4. Law . executed with all due formalities: an authentic deed.
\n
\n5. Music . a. (of a church mode) having a range extending from the final to the octave above. Compare plagal.
\n
\nb. (of a cadence) consisting of a dominant harmony followed by a tonic.
\n
\n
\n
\nEXPAND
\n
\nOk... So we are going to ignore everything and focus on number two.. Since it is FROM and MADE in Italy it is "authentic" awww damn...
\n
\nThat means you can\'t have "authentic" Italian cuisine, unless it comes FROM ITALY :P\r\n

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