Today we’re stripping away the many layers of diet advice that are loading down the webpages and inboxes and instead we’ll be taking a broader view of the bottom-line, brass tack rules of disease prevention using diet.

You’ll find that not only are some of the most common diseases running rampant through society today easily avoided using the rules below, but many can also be cured as well; even if they are chronic, long-standing problems.

What a lot of articles have done in the past is to give a “top 10” list of what you should do or not do in order to cure or improve certain conditions and diseases. But really, the specific, detailed rules don’t all apply to every person since not only are we all different, but we are constantly changing.

Certain cultures are at higher risk for diseases than others, people over 60 age face different challenges than people younger than 20, and so on. But there are 4 key diet “laws” that, when followed, will basically work for everyone- no matter what the conditions.

They’re pretty general, and each can be adjusted to suit your specific situation, but the overriding theme is that the closer you stick to the rules and don’t “cheat,” the healthier you will be and the more resistant to disease your whole body will be.

Rule Number 1: Dump processed food

This sounds simple enough, but to practice it is actually really difficult, especially if your family is addicted to not only the food but also the convenience and cheap price tags of processed and modified foods. The more a food is tinkered with, the less nutritious it becomes. It also becomes a very dangerous source of inflammation, which causes widespread havoc and almost every disease known to man.

Inflammation can come from too much of one chemical or not enough of another. It typically is a reaction to long-term consumption of preservatives and chemicals created in a lab that extend shelf life of food.

The closer you get to the way fruits, vegetables, and other foods are in nature, the less chance of “processed food pollution” you have to worry about.

That said, it is also best to steer clear of genetically modified foods as well since the long-term effects of many of those modifications have not been studied very well yet.

Going 100% Paleo or macrobiotic is a huge leap to make if you are used to cupboards full of white sugar, white bread, and boxed foods. Wean these things out one at a time until you find that the majority of your meals are raw and 100% un-tinkered with.

Rule Number Two: Don’t eat empty foods

When you fill your plate with bleached, processed white rice or other nutritionally anemic food, you are adding in calories that are unnecessary and in part, violating rule number 1 anyway.

However, there are natural vegetables and fruits that really just take up space on your plate and don’t contribute to your well-being, or that of your pocket book.

An example is leafy greens…not all lettuce is created equally. Iceberg lettuce, which is cheap and easy to find, is pretty much devoid of a number of vitamins you’d find in other economical lettuce varieties like romaine. And salad shouldn’t necessarily be a year-round staple. There is a reason the price goes up in the winter months for this food. Switch out to something else that is actually in season, like different types of squash, for example.

Another reason you don’t want the foods you eat to be empty calories is that while supplements can do a good job of picking up the slack with respect to nutrients, they also can shock your system because of a high dose delivered all at once. It is always better to “eat” your vitamins via food sources throughout the day. This makes them more easily absorbed and doesn’t stress out your system with a day’s worth of vitamin in one sitting.

Rule Number Three: Change it up- regularly

As I touched on above, it’s great to have a favorite vegetable, especially if that vegetable is giving you something your body needs. But staying ‘true’ to that vegetable to the exclusion of other foods is making a mistake. Your body is always changing and aging. Your environment is changing as well. Experiencing different sources of stress throughout the year is part of the human condition.

What this means is not only do you want to be choosing foods that have the highest nutritive content, but you also don’t want to be tied to one type of food year round. Eating with the seasons adds variety, which keeps healthy eating interesting, and also offers a great way to add the extra nutrients your body might be missing out on otherwise.

Change up what you’re eating so that you don’t get sick of one dish, your body and taste buds experience the whole bounty of what nature has to offer, and so the strengths of all food types can be better balanced within your diet.

Rule Number Four: Keep a diary

Logging the true story of what you’re eating and how you feel is going to be a really effective way of identifying critical health issues.

Finding foods that ramp up inflammation in your body, for example, is one key way to reverse diabetes and eliminate arthritis. With IBS and Acid Reflux, a diary is the best way to find those foods and/or seasonings that are offensive. Then, you can eliminate one food or food group at a time until you feel better.

Our IBS program has more detailed diet-plans plus a 100% original food diary system…

Suffering Acid Reflux? Check out our simple Acid Reflux solution that works in 5 minutes…

Once you’ve identified the trends of not only what you are eating that help/hinder, you can also target HOW you’re preparing the foods and WHEN you are eating to further drill down and create diet-based healing strategies that last.

I’m sure there are going to be some out there that will automatically go straight to, “Oh that will never work for me because…” and fill in the blank. We always get those responses. Some are valid, some are just making excuses.

However, the rules above for diet and healing can be followed pretty much no matter what your situation is. Some people have to be more creative than others with their food selections, that is for certain. But the rules still apply and can be followed to lead you to a healthier lifestyle that is free of disease.

For examples of health problems that can be managed using only diet changes, check out:

Three-step approach to eliminate type 2 diabetes for good…

Cure arthritis in 21 days using this step-by-step approach…

Drop your cholesterol down to normal levels using this proven plan…

But first, let us know what you think. Please leave your comments below.