What Are the Best Foods for a Human to Eat?

Here I am quoting from a Question and Answer column printed in a respected old magazine.

Question: "When eating fruit should one also eat the seeds (or some of them) so as to derive the maximum benefit from the complete fruit?"

Here is the reply:

What are the best foods for a human to eat? "I say to eat what instinctively tastes good to you. If seeds are distasteful, then by all means leave them alone. If they are not tasty, nature meant them to be discarded. Animals in the wild eat instinctively. They have not been educated into any foolish practices. We have been told that some seeds are high in certain nutrients so we must be sure to eat these seeds no matter how bad they taste. Apple seeds and pear seeds are poisonous. Apple seeds contain prussic acid and benzaldehyde. Peach and apricot seeds are also poisonous. Papaya seeds are too hot and spicy to be wholesome. Let's stick to those foods that are not toxic or we may find ourselves paralyzed or six feet under."

I must take exception to the counsel given by this advisor .... but I do want to make it clear that what I say here is only my opinion, based upon years of experience and the study of all phases of nutrition. This idea of eating only what tastes good and what you like is as ridiculous as ridiculous can be. Most children and young people would restrict their diet to hamburgers. French fries, ice cream, candy and pop .... and most likely I would have been among them 60 years ago.

He says, "If they are not tasty, nature meant them to be discarded." Now what right does he have to speak for Mother Nature? How can he be so brazen? To eat only what tastes good would mean avoiding some of the most nutritious foods on earth!

Admitted, animals in the wild eat instinctively but we are talking about man and man lost his what-to-eat instinct hundreds, if not thousands of years ago. Today, without some learning and guidance, no frail human being could make it on his own.

Then he tells us that apple and pear seeds are poisonous. That blooper was exploded the day that J. I. Rodale wrote it. Personally, I always considered Rodale to be one of the greatest natural health authorities in the world but he sure was wrong about apple and pear seeds. When you eat apples or pears or bananas, the logical thing to do is to eat the seeds along with them. Rodale made the mistake of cutting open the apples and eating the seeds by themselves. They made him very sick. which is what I would have expected. I have opposed the fragmentation of food from the beginning and that was the very essence of fragmentation.

When the writer claims that apple and pear seeds contain prussic acid and benzaldehyde, I presume that statement is meant to frighten us into a state of shock so we'll never ever dare eat a seed again. Well, to me it is sheer nonsense. If you want to check your biochemistry text book, it will also tell you about all the horrible chemicals you consume every day when you eat your coconut, lettuce leaf, celery and such. To me these scare tactics are downright childish, if not stupid.

At the end he tells us to stick to those foods that are not toxic or we may find ourselves paralyzed or six feet under. Well, I have news for him! Unless he starts consuming some of these nuts and seeds to help balance his diet, he will surely find himself in the same predicament he foresees for those of us who do not agree with him.

In my lifetime I have known families where the practice was to permit the children to choose such foods as they liked .... and I saw the results. In one case the individual became a close friend of mine and I saw her lose her teeth, become prematurely grey and then she died in her fifties. In another case the person was related to me through marriage and again the end result was disaster .... and very early in life, too. I am certain that I could think of at least a dozen instances where similar circumstances prevailed and while not all of them ended in total disaster, each case involved various illnesses, including cancer at an early age, interwoven with trouble after trouble.

Strange to relate, it was mostly women who were involved in the cases that I can recollect. They were beautiful creatures and dearly loved by their families and friends, which is part of the reason why they were 'overindulged'.

Believe me, if you are seeking health and long life, it may be necessary for you to consume many foods that you do not like or would prefer to leave alone and I must confess I am no exception to the rule. If I could choose my food without giving any thought to my health and well-being, I would be eating such things as hamburgs, hotdogs, fried fish, white bread with lots of butter, fried eggs. a wide variety of cheeses including cottage cheese, coffee with cream, pie and ice cream for dessert, and then a cigarette to finish off my meal.

This topic is far too serious for jest but to say that you should eat only what you like or enjoy is the statement of someone who is either an idiot or someone just trying to be funny. But I see nothing funny in such nonsense, especially when it affects the health and welfare of so many people.

I spend my life studying the nutritional value of individual vegetables and whether they taste good, bad, bitter, sour or pleasant, I eat them for their health-giving qualities. It appears that one of my main objects in life is to teach people that life is not one good time after another and one has to take the bitter with the sweet. Would you eat a raw beet of your own volition? I know I certainly wouldn't. However, because of their great nutritional value, I eat part of a large beet or a whole small one daily.

There is a new scientific theory being promulgated in California which claims that Vitamin B17, which is found in practically all seeds but especially in apricot kernels, is deficient in the bodies of most human beings. It is claimed that this deficiency is a prime cause of cancer. Now before you start laughing yourself to death over what sounds ridiculous, listen a little longer. For years people have been eating apricots, peaches, cherries, plums, watermelons and grapes but consuming only the part they like — the succulent, soft, flavorful part — and chucking out the seeds, the skin and other parts that displease their finnicky taste buds. Now the body is kicking back with a vengeance and it is sick unto death. As the theory goes, the body is suffering from a serious deficiency of Vitamin B17 which is abundant in these kernels and seeds that we cast aside.

To all who would listen, I have been saying to eat no refined or fragmented food. If you eat watermelon, then also eat the seeds. They are crunchy, delicious and, best of all, nourishing. When I eat grapes, I eat the skin, seeds and all. When I eat cherries, I wash the seeds and put them into my nut basket and crack them at our daily nut break. I do the same with apricots, prunes and plums.

Most peach pits are too hard to crack unless you have access to a sledge hammer and anvil, so I pass them by. I've tried to eat mango pits, papaya seeds and avocado pits but it is practically impossible, so I reluctantly pass them by, too.

Back 60 or more years ago, I remember that some of my friends and relatives had some very strange and unusual eating habits. This one lady in particular used to eat an apple in the most unusual way. She would wash it, peel the skin off, remove the core that contained the pericarp or seed cavity, and then eat the small succulent morsels that were left.

Well, one day this lady sickened and died. I missed her because she had been a close friend of the family and a good natured lady. She died at a comparatively early age, being less than 50 years old when she passed away.

However, the strangest part of all this is that in my mind's eye I saw a veritable mountain of apple peels, pericarps and seeds heaped up beside her coffin. Even as a young boy I could see the role that these wastes played in sickness and death. I could almost see the nutrients contained in those wastes.

I wish I could convey to you my fervor for the deficiency theory. That is why I strive to have you follow a life style that will prevent you from falling into the trap of deficiency disease and I claim that only a varied raw food diet can accomplish this goal.

Raw juices enter the picture when you are older or when you are already afflicted with an illness. Deficiencies of various kinds have already occurred and must be corrected. Well, nothing on earth can correct deficiency conditions as quickly and as safely as will fresh raw juices.

Every now and then I come upon a perfectionist who will stand up boldly and say, "Fruit and vegetable juices are not proper food and are not good food, because they have been fragmented. Nature meant us to eat the whole carrot, not just the juice. Nature meant us to ingest the whole apple, not just the juice."

With this theory I am in complete agreement. Anyone who maintains that carrot juice is better than carrots or that apple juice is better than apples is certainly a stranger to the truth. I frankly admit that juices are only second best but when you are unable to eat much raw food, due to illness or old age, fresh raw juices are excellent food.

Of course, if you desire vaccines, shots and vitamin supplements, there are drugs that can supply you with virtually every element and mineral in existence. But why not do it nature's way? Only nature knows the shortest and most direct route to good health!

Source: http://www.healthguidance.org/authors/726/Adam-Brookover