Leslie Kenton aging eat for youth

Eating fresh foods rich in `life force' with a low-calorie-high-raw way of eating your taste-buds, sense of smell and aesthetic awareness of food become dramatically heightened so that the appreciation of all that you eat can be greater than ever before.

From being someone who used to love fresh cream and rich sauces I've become infinitely more appreciative of the fine flavors implicit in ageless aging cuisine. And I love it. Not only because I look younger, feel better all round and have infinitely more energy than before, but because the experience of eating itself has become so much more delightful. Most of us eat far too much and we dull our senses and our appreciation of food in the process. Even the most subtle of Beethoven's late quartets begins to dull the senses when you have too much of it. So can too much food even if it is the very best. Ageless aging cuisine revives them.

make way for a new lifestyle

Eating for ageless aging leads most people to a totally new way of living. You become more alert and more active. You will probably sleep less yet far better than before. This is because your whole system will be far clearer of toxicity than before and you will need less time for tissue repair and restoration than you do on a normal diet. You will also probably find that you are better able to deal with stress than ever. The low-calorie-high-raw way of eating provides you with high levels of potassium and rapidly restores the sodium-potassium balance in most people. This leads to increased resistance to fatigue and a greater feeling of calm stability day in day out. It may also set you slightly apart from your gravy-eating, hard-drinking friends and may even have them feeling slightly suspicious of you in the beginning. But it has been my experience that as soon as they find you are not trying to sell them anything - that you have a live and let live attitude to whatever they do - they show a similar respect for your new lifestyle. In fact, the people who have been the most resistant to what you are doing and the most opinionated are very often the ones who are first to become intrigued about what an ageless aging lifestyle might offer them. And they are usually the ones with the energy and interest to carry it out.

one main meal

Not only do most of us eat too much we also eat too often. And while growing children thrive on three hearty meals a day, most adults do far better on one - preferably eaten at midday but taken in the evening instead if you can't manage it then. Two light meals or wholesome snacks a day to go with your main meal create a way of eating which doesn't tax your body's enzymic systems and keeps you feeling light and clear headed while nourishing you well. There are several good books with recipes which fit nicely into the low-calorie-high-raw way of eating. One of my favorites is a real treasure-house from the Bircher Benner clinic itself written by his daughter Ruth Bircher. It is called Eating Your Way to Health. It contains hundreds of recipes for main dishes, salads, sweets, breakfasts and suppers which are delightful and simple to prepare. Another I like is the A Good Cook...Ten Talents by Frank J Hurd & Rosalie Hurd, a Seventh Day Adventist cook book. Raw Energy, which my daughter Susannah and I wrote, also has a large selection of recipes, and so does my own Lean Revolution which sets out `under nutrition without malnutrition' as a total lifestyle. After a few months of ageless aging eating you will find you no longer have to count calories, and if you have been an on-off-on again slimmer you are also probably going to feel really satisfied for the first time in years since eating wholesome real foods brings a real sense of fullness to the body and banishes forever `slimmers hunger'. You will know from internal signals how much is enough and when you have stepped over the bounds.

Your main meal, like all your meals, should begin with something raw in order to avoid digestive leucocytosis and the immune challenge which it brings. This can be a piece of fruit or a raw salad or some crudités. Follow it with whatever you have chosen for a main dish - perhaps a casserole of pulses or vegetables or a small piece of fish or game, or even a rich and festive large salad made from a myriad of vegetables and sprouted grains and seeds topped with chopped hard-boiled eggs. This can be accompanied by a baked potato or some brown rice or cous cous or bulgar wheat. There are also some wonderful home made peasant soups based on fresh vegetables, grains and legumes, which are a meal in themselves and are great taken with a beautiful salad. I make them using Low Salt Marigold Swiss Vegetable Bouillon Powder as a stock (it is a delicious vegetable product which contains no additives and can be used for seasoning salad dressings, sauces, casseroles and soups). If your main dish has been cooked then have a side salad with it. If not then you might have some mixed vegetables lightly steamed or wok-fried in a small amount of butter or olive oil. There are also some wonderful low-calorie sweets. One of my favorites is `Apple Bread Pudding' (in Lean Revolution). Or you can serve some fresh fruit. The varieties of what you can prepare for a main meal are just about endless. Here are a few suggestions for main-meal menus for a week:

Day 1

RAW DISHES: melon; cauliflower and tomatoes mixed with red peppers and lettuce salad topped with yogurt-herb dressing. COOKED DISHES: Chinese steamed fish; wok-fried beans and peas; brown rice.

Day 2

RAW DISHES: lamb's lettuce, celeriac and wild-herb salad topped with chopped egg dressing; fresh pears and plumped raisins.

COOKED DISHES: cream of oatmeal soup with cashews; steamed baby carrots and basil; young peas with mint.

Day 3

RAW DISHES: mushrooms, watercress and chicory salad topped with Italian herb dressing; `Apple Bread Pudding'.

Day 4

RAW DISHES: `Sunburst' platter of avocado, beetroot, cos lettuce, mushrooms, tomatoes, celery and peppers served with raw humus dressing.

COOKED DISHES: carrot and coriander soup; or venison burgers; Scottish oatcakes; strawberry whip dessert.

Day 5

RAW DISHES: `Jungle Slaw' salad made from cabbage, tender green beans, carrots, spring onions, red or yellow pepper and raw unsalted peanuts served with citrus dressing.

Day 6

RAW DISHES: gazpacho; pineapple salad stuffed with orange, mango, papaya and strawberries and topped with coconut. COOKED DISHES: vegetable tart.

Day 7

RAW DISHES: `Sandstone Loaf' made from carrots, lemon juice, almonds, pumpkin seeds, tahini and herbs; apple and ginger salad; home made blackberry sorbet.

small meals

The two small meals of the day can consist of fresh fruit, some natural yogurt, a slice or two of wholegrain bread spread with some low-calorie herb cheese or - best of all - fruit muesli. If you have never tasted real muesli (and it bears no resemblance to the flaky sweet stuff you can buy on the shelves of supermarkets) you have a real treat ahead of you. Fruit muesli was the invention of Swiss physician Max Bircher-Benner who devised it as the perfect light meal. It is a delicious and easy-to-digest completely uncooked dish which can contain all of the essential vitamins and minerals, and which is an excellent source of high-quality complete proteins and essential fatty acids. It can provide you with sustaining energy but will never lie heavily in your stomach. And it can be made low in calories.

Real muesli (often called Birchermuesli after its inventor) is not a grain-based but a fruit-based dish with only a very small quantity of top-quality fresh wholegrain flakes in it. It is usually made with apples and oats but there are so many varieties which you can make, calling on whatever fresh or dried fruits and whatever kinds of grains, nuts and seeds you have available, that you could quite literally eat it twice a day all the year round and never get tired of it. Children absolutely adore Birchermuesli both as a complete breakfast and as a sweet after a main meal. A small bowl of muesli in the morning will keep you going all the way to lunch with none of the `eleven's slump' that has many people reaching for a cup of coffee, and a pastry or a chocolate bar. It is also an excellent food to eat in the evening since it is so easy to digest that it never interferes with sleep. I do a lot of traveling and for many years I dreaded having to stay in hotels because the food available in so many hotel dining-rooms is so poor. I have got into the habit of carrying with me a small `muesli bag' with a hand grater in it plus some grain flakes and minced nuts and a small bowl so I can make my own breakfast or supper whenever I want and not be forced to eat what I don't want just because there is nothing else. Here is the basic recipe:

birchermuesli

I level tablespoon rolled oats soaked in 4 tablespoons water
I heaped tablespoon raisins or sultanas
I tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons natural unsweetened yogurt
I large apple
½ banana
I teaspoon raw honey (if desired)
I tablespoon minced hazelnuts and almonds or other mixed seeds and nuts
I pinch cinnamon (if desired)

Soak the rolled oats and raisins in water, preferably overnight. This begins to break down the starch present in the grains and turn it into natural sugar so it is easily assimilated. If you have no time to soak the grains then simply mix with the water (you will need slightly less water in this case) and carry on immediately.

Wash the apple(s) and remove core and stem but don't peel. Then, using a stainless-steel hand grater or a food processor, grate the apple into the mixture and, stirring, add lemon juice to protect it from discoloring.

Cut the banana into small cubes, add to the mixture with the honey (if desired) and mix with yogurt. Sprinkle the top with the minced nuts and a little cinnamon if you like.

Instead of rolled oats you can use other cereal flakes such as wheat, rice, barley, millet or buckwheat. These are available from wholefood shops. I find I don't usually add honey to my muesli because it is so beautifully sweet already, thanks to the soaked grains and fruit. You can substitute a good unsulfured black molasses for the honey (it is rich in minerals). You can also make muesli with soft fruit such as strawberries or raspberries, loganberries, red and black currants, blackberries or blueberries as well as with apricots, cherries, peaches, plums or greengages. Or you can mix your fruits together. Also you can make the muesli from dried fruit which has been soaked for twelve hours or overnight in spring water. But make sure you get sun-dried not sulfur dried fruits to which no glucose has been added (it is commonly added to figs for instance) or you can end up with a gastrointestinal upset.

seasoning and spices

Salt is unnecessary when you begin to prepare foods with all of the wonderful culinary herbs that are available: And the list of seductive possibilities seems almost endless: caraway, fennel, dill, chervil, parsley, lovage - the Umberiferae; summer savory, marjoram, the mints, rosemary, and thyme-the labiates, which have a strong aroma and are particularly useful for seasoning; the Liliaceae such as garlic, onions, chives and leeks; and three of my favorites, basil and tarragon and horseradish. Herbs have a special role to play in any ageless aging regime. They contain pharmacologically active substances such as volatile oils, tannins, bitter factors, secretins, balsams, resins, mucilages, glycosides and organic vegetable acids each of which can contribute to overall health in a different way. The tannins, for instance, which occur in many common kitchen herbs, are astringent and have an anti-inflammatory action on the digestive system. They help inhibit fermentation and decomposition. The secretins stimulate the secretion of pancreatic enzymes - particularly important for the complete breakdown of proteins in foods to make them available for bodily use. Organic acids have an antibiotic action and are helpful in the digestion of fats and the bitter factors, which are found in good quantity in rosemary, marjoram and fennel. They also act as a tonic to the smooth muscles of the gut and boost secretion of digestive enzymes. Use herbs lavishly in your meals and you will find you can create the most remarkable combinations of subtle flavors and aromas.

drink yourself younger

Coffee, although not completely forbidden on any serious program of ageless aging, is not something to drink daily. The occasional cup after dinner is not likely to do much harm. More than that and you are really undermining your potential for age-retardation not only because it contains mutagenic and carcinogenic compounds which cause oxy-stress and free radical damage but also because regular coffee tends to make cadmium (one of the heavy metals) build up in your system and can interfere with proper pancreatic functioning. It also leeches calcium from the bones. Tea is OK in moderation - no more than a cup or two a day - but there are other drinks which are not only good for you, they can be highly enjoyable as well.

Alcohol is another substance you want to go easy on. Not only is it very high in calories yet practically worthless in terms of the nutrients it supplies, it also causes your liver to produce one of the most potent cross-linkers known - acetaldehyde. A glass or two of wine can be easily accommodated within the low-calorie limits. More than that as a daily intake is likely to seriously undermine your effort. And make sure it is good wine. The run of the mill vin de table is full of toxic substances which your cells can do without.

You'll find some delicious mixtures of herbs in ready-made tea bags if you comb through a few delicatessens and healthfood stores. Some of my favorites have names like Cinnamon, Rose, Almond Sunset, Creamy French Vanilla, and Red Zinger. They are great to drink for pleasure and refreshment the way most people drink coffee and ordinary tea. But there are others which are quite wonderful simply because they affect the body in specific ways. Lemon verbena, for instance, is a refreshing sedative, chamomile soothes the digestive tract, and both horsetail and solidago (goldenrod) are excellent natural diuretics.

The teas I like best just before bed are orange blossom, which you make by boiling a few blossoms for 2-3 minutes in two cups of water, red bergamot and lemon peel, all of which are natural sedatives. This last tea comes from an Italian tradition. You make it by peeling the outer yellow skin off a lemon (which has been washed well) with a potato peeler. Pour boiling water over this and let steep for 5 minutes. Then strain and drink.

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