Making Peace with Cravings

Cravings are an issue that comes up with any dietary change. This is the result of a combination of pure habit and some primordial physiology. Participants in Dr. Terry Shintani’s 10-Day Program say that their cravings are much easier to control after following the Peace diet program for several days. He explained why this happens so that people can have a better way of handling their cravings. 

Dr. Terry Shintani started a vegetarian diet when he was 26 years old, and used to take his dates to a steak house. He used to start off with a small salad with a lot of thousand-island dressing on it.  Then would order a 12 oz prime rib, well done, with baked potato and dinner rolls.  He slather the potato in butter and sprinkle it with salt, and he would eat several rolls, also well-buttered. The interesting thing is that even after eating all that, he still craved ice cream.  Modern science can't really explain why a person who has had that many calories would still crave more food.

Part of understanding of Macrobiotics is appreciating the ever-changing balance between yin and yang, the two major energies in the physical manifestation of the world. Yang is the male, firm and contractive energy of things.  Yin is the female, soft and expansive energy of things.  Yin attracts yang and yang attracts yin.

Food has these characteristics as well. Salt, meat, and baked goods are foods that are very yang in nature. Fruits, sweets, dairy and alcohol are yin in nature.  So when one eats a lot of food that is yang in nature, craving yin is a natural result despite getting enough calories. From this perspective, eating lots of meat and salt causes craving of sweets and alcohol.  So it is obvious that eating a steak will induce the desire for dessert and a drink.  In the Peace Diet, the extremes of "yin" and "yang" foods are eliminated, and a balance in the food is more easily achieved. Meat, animal products, salt, and baked goods are limited as well as sugar, dairy and alcohol. The result of these is an easy balance formed and cravings to eat more food are diminished.

Peace Diet and Weight Control

The Peace Diet program by Dr. TerryShintani emphasizes five additional aspects of food that will help in losing weight.

1. Whole Plant-Based Food. Peace Diet encourages people to eat whole plant-based foods. These are the foods that are naturally high in fiber, low in fat, high in water content, and high in vitamin, mineral, and micronutrient content. Foods that are not whole and are highly refined foods such as sugar, white flour, and oils, do not fill up the stomach and make people hungry, they are devoid of the nutrients that can help optimize health. Flour products such as pastries are laden with fat and sugar will contribute to weight gain very quickly.  Avoiding animal products is also helpful in contributing to weight control.  Most animal products tend to be quite high in fat.

2. Minimum Fat. A major factor in the Peace Diet is its low fat content.  Fundamentally, fat is an important factor that causes people to be fat.  Whole, unprocessed food tends to be low in fat. For example, potatoes are very low in fat at less than 2%.  Their SMI value is around 5.9, so it takes 5.9 pounds of potatoes to provide 2500 calories. Potato chips by contrast are nearly 60% fat and it takes just 1 pound of potato chips to provide 2500 calories.

3.  Minimum Processed Carbohydrate. Processed carbohydrates contribute to elevated insulin levels. Insulin is a hormone that helps to control blood sugar, but it also contributes to weight gain, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Following this diet will lead to avoiding foods that will contribute to "metabolic syndrome." Peace Diet will also help in choosing good carbohydrate foods that help to reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer and stroke.

4. Maximum Fiber. Fiber tends to hold water and does so without calories.  In other words, it provides satisfaction without adding weight. Fiber also helps to prevent heart disease, stomach cancer, colon cancer and constipation. 

5.  Maximum Micronutrients. Whole foods also contain a wide variety of micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals. Though it can never be completely understand how the body utilizes all the micronutrients found in whole foods, it is known that the body is designed to use the micronutrients found in natural foods.

Whole Grains as Part of the Peace Diet Program

In Dr. Terry Shintani’s book “the Peace Diet”, whole grains plays an important and is part of the Peace Diet program. It is because whole grain is loaded with protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals. Not only that, they are affordable and easy to cook with. It can be used in soups, salads, side dishes, and main dishes.

It is mentioned in the book that the key in maximizing the nutrients and minerals from whole grains is to make to use whole grains and not refined grains. Refined grains such as those found in white flour and white rice cause grains to be stripped of fiber and nutrients. Using whole grains is also beneficial to the point that it helps in reducing the risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancer.

People all over the world should be aware that whole grains provide both soluble and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber helps to lower blood cholesterol, while insoluble fiber on the other hand prevents constipation and can help protect against certain cancers. Whole grains are also beneficial by creating a feeling of fullness, which can help people that are in diet to eat less. Whole grains can also be a part of breakfast such as breakfast cereals, and oatmeal or whole grain cereals are a good way to start the day. It’s the milk and/or sugar added that make breakfast less healthy. Another good thing about whole grains is their flexibility. The overall taste can vary effortlessly by adding other types of grains to brown rice. Then add in some vegetables and top off with some sauces or gravies. All choices can be both nutritious and delicious. The variations are endless, depending on your imagination and taste. Always keep grains as close to their natural state as much as possible. Here is a tip in storing whole grains; remember to store all grains in a cool, dry place to retain longest shelf life which can be months.

There are hundreds of different grains. And Dr. Terry Shintani showed lists on his Peace Diet book, common varieties that are easily find in your supermarket or health food store. Often people avoid cooking with whole grains because they're not sure how to prepare them, but the book shows charts and easy recipes that demonstrates that it's fairly easy. 

Local Hawaiians Lose Weight After Reading Dr. Terry Shintani’s Peace Diet Book

After Dr. Terry Shintani published “Peace Diet” a lot of local Hawaiians became engrossed and most of them commenced to turn the pages and read it, altogether losing weight. Franklin says “I have lost 90 pounds since I started Dr. Shintani’s program (after 5 months). The program really works and the book too! Another participant, Dan was fascinated: I’m off my insulin now and I lost 50 pounds in 6 months. The best part of it is that I can travel now that I don’t have to take my shots. The book is amazing and so the diet plan!

After his nutrition degree from Harvard University and both his law and medical degrees from Hawaii University, Dr. Terry Shintani went back to his homeland Hawaii.  Having in mind that local Hawaiian should retrace their track to their old native eating habit for both spiritual as well as health reasons, Dr. Shintani formulated several programs, one of which is the latest Peace Diet, to help people live a healthy life.

Dr. Shintani explained the reason he wrote this book: You are the reason this book was written.  It is my hope that it will inform and inspire you to choose the path to health, success, happiness and peace, and that through you, others will be informed and inspired. In doing so, I hope to contribute to the movement promoting world health and world peace, one person, one spirit at a time.”

The 368 page book includes all the necessary facts that each dieter should know and understand in order to attain optimum health. The book also explains the following topics: lose weight while eating more food; control blood sugar while eating more carbohydrates; control cholesterol without medicines; make you blood act like aspirin to combat pain and learn how to eat for outer energy and inner peace.

“I find Dr. Shintani’s work to be very impressive and certainly founded on excellent scientific principles. He actually takes people who are overweight and takes people who have diabetes for example and he reverses it. He makes people better. The proof is pudding.” – said Dr. T. Colin Campbell, Professor Emeritus, Cornell University and writer of the “China Study” and “Whole”.
Get a copy of Peace Diet Book today on Lulu.com or Amazon.com. For more information about Peace Diet and great works of Dr. Shintani visit his websites: peacediet.org or drshintani.com.

About Dr. Terry Shintani:

Terry Shintani MD, JD, MPH, KCSJ is a radio show host, lecturer, author, professor, attorney, nutritionist, and physician. He is designated officially the Hawaii’s “Living Treasure” as well as knighted formally by St. John’s Orthodox Order of Jerusalem. He now serves as Professor as well as Associate Chairperson of University of Hawaii School of Medicine’s Department of Complementary and Alternative Medicine and as the Chief Executive Officer of the International Holistic Therapy Association.

Dr. Terry Shintani’s Contribution to the World

Dr. Terry Shintani is a medical doctor that has obtained a degree of Nutrition from Harvard University. He has devoted his career in serving Hawaiian community which has a high rate of obesity. His mission was to "conquer Hawaii's health problems, one meal at a time." In 1992 he received a National Award - the United States Secretary of Health and Human Service’s Award for Excellence, recognizing his promotion of health and welfare in the Hawaiian community.

What was truly inspiring about the health program conducted by Dr. Terry Shintani is that it was conducted without external funding. He said that when he knocked on doors for help with the project, he was trying to create a budget to see how much funding we needed.  Instead, so many people offered help, free rental space, food and everything they needed, and they did not have to raise additional funds.  When the project won a national award, and he presented it at the NIH, he had to declare the funding sources to disclose any potential conflict of interest.  And there is a gasp in the audience when Dr. Shintani declared that it was an unfunded project.”

Also Dr. Terry Shintani was also designated as a “Living Treasure” in 2006 in Hawaii because of his community service in various fields such as medicine, law, traditional arts, and cultural preservation. "It is a real humbling experience," Dr. Shintani said when designated as a Living Treasure of Hawaii. He said that most of these people who are this year's honorees have spent many more years in their careers than him. And he have spent his career serving the community and to uplift Hawaii's status as a healthy place.

Dr. Shintani made the program not just for the Hawaiian community but he strived harder to reach out to the world. He also said on his “Peace Diet” book that the people all around the globe is the reason this book was written.  It is in his hope that it will inform and inspire people to choose the path to health, success, happiness and peace. Dr. Shintani also hope to contribute to the movement promoting world health and world peace, one person, one spirit at a time.