Animal products - Animal products should be avoided for several reasons. First of all when you c consume animal products you consume what that particular animal has consumed. If it was fed with grains that have been chemically sprayed you also are eating those chemicals. Then there are the injections, growth hormones, antibiotics, steroids, etc. If the product is in the form of meat, then you have just added stress to the digestive process, stressing the liver, gall bladder, pancreas. Meat is one of the hardest foods to digest. It can sit in the stomach for 5-7 days and ferment, causing flu like symptoms, gas, bloating, and even more stress.

Caffeine, including colas, chocolate, coffee, some teas, OTC meds. A good substitute for coffee is Raja’s Cup, an antioxidant herbal tea. Caffeine of course is a stimulant. Stimulating the liver can cause stress to the liver. If you are in the habit of drinking caffeinated beverages you need to eliminate them slowly as they are addicting. If you stop too suddenly you can have withdrawal symptoms such as headaches, nausea, irritability, and weak shakes.

Tap water - drink distilled water only. No filtered water. Your tap water may contain more than you bargained for, including chlorine, fluoride, inorganic chemicals and compounds that the liver is not able to process. In order to reduce the stress from the liver you need to give it the purest form of water possible which is distilled water. Even the shower you take every day has toxins in it which are absorbed through the skin and inhaled through the lungs. If you can possibly purchase a water filter you would be doing yourself a great favor.

Junk foods - Junk foods are our favorite foods but the name fits, Junk is junk, meaning worthless. Our body does not get a good source of nutrition from junk foods and most often they are full of all the things we need to stay away from, fats, sugars, empty calories, chemicals, additives, etc. Our poor livers don’t need this added stress .

White flour unless it is organic and unbleached - Bleached white flour has been chemically processed. Lots of vitamins and minerals are lost during the process., about 78%. When we consume this chemically altered product our bodies need extra vitamins and minerals in order to process it and utilize it. Isn’t this the opposite of what we want? We want to eat foods that will nourish the body, not make it work harder.

Hydrogenated oils - Hydrogenated (they are refined) oils are another product that is hard for the liver to process. A better choice would be flaxseed oil or virgin olive oil.

Dairy products (animal) - Dairy foods are extremely hard to digest and again you are eating whatever the animal ate.

Fruit juices - Fruit juices are high in concentrated sugar. Sugar is a shock to the liver, stresses the digestive process, stresses the pancreas, and it feeds the virus.

Artificial sweeteners (use liquid stevia instead) - The first word gives you the first clue, artificial. These sweeteners are extremely hard for the liver to process. Your poor liver doesn’t even recognize what this substance is.

Processed foods - we all know processed foods contain un-natural substances, preservatives, fillers, and chemically treated substances. Common sense tells us this is not healthy for us.

Remember our goal, to take as much stress and strain off the liver as we can.

Changing your diet is probably one of the hardest things to achieve. Not only are we cursed with this virus but we have probably unknowingly addicted ourselves to the wrong foods. I say addicted because most of us tend to eat when we feel depressed, down, bad, tired, angry, or when we have insomnia. Before I was diagnosed with Hep C I had been experiencing symptoms for 6 years. I know that many times when I felt just plain rotten I would eat something thinking that it would make me feel better. The majority of the time we tend to eat for all of the wrong reasons but mainly we are reaching out for something to make us feel better. Little did we know that we were only making ourselves feel worse. But the habit was started and now we are going to break it. Any one who is serious about taking care of themselves has got to know it starts right here, with the diet. So let’s do it...

Start with one step at a time. NEVER try to change your eating habits overnight. You will throw your body into shock! This means that your body has become accustomed to receiving any type of food at any time and to bring this to a sudden halt will cause havoc, not only physically but mentally. Caffeine and sugar are the main culprits, giving us that “high” feeling and quick energy. If you were to completely stop feeding your body sugar and caffeine your body would most likely have withdrawal symptoms, as I mentioned before, causing you to have the shakes, nausea, a wonderful PMS feeling, being grouchy, irritable, etc. I don’t know about you but where I live that’s grounds for divorce. So you start with changing a few foods at a time, a little at a time. Take one day and write down everything you eat. You would probably be surprised to see you just consumed half of the Hershey factory.

Foods you CAN eat!

Whole wheat bread

Whole grain cereals

Cheerios !

Malt O Meal

Oatmeal

Cream of Wheat

Brown rice

Vegetables

Beans, all kinds

Refried beans

Lots of vegetable juices

Fresh fruit in moderation (1-2 pieces per day)

Better Than Milk - a soy product

Soy-Sation Chedder Cheese by Lisanatti.

It’s certified organic soybeans, and yes, it does taste like cheese and it even melts. Miracles never cease!

Corn tortillas - love those tacos

Organic flour tortillas made with unbleached white or whole wheat flour

Salsa - if it doesn’t bother you, go for it

Canned tuna

Pasta

Spices and herbs

Herbal teas

Organic unbleached flour (white) in moderation

Organic Virgin Olive Oil

Flaxseed Oil

Homemade Vegetable Soup

Baked chips

Nayonaise instead of mayonnaise

Mustard

Pickles in moderation (who eats a lot of them anyway?)

Okay, those are some of the foods you can eat. Now let’s get a little creative here and slap a few of those together.

Here are just a few dishes you can make using healthy foods.

Spaghetti - with or without a meat substitute

Macaroni and CHEESE - use the Soy-Sation or a tofu cheese

Tacos - using a meat substitute and lots of seasoning

Toastados

Enchiladas

Hamburgers - there are lots of meat substitutes at the health food store. I use one called Gimme Lean. There are also recipes for grain burgers that are pretty good.

Hot dogs - tofu hot dogs - I am not fond of these but can tolerate them with chili beans.

Chili Beans

Tuna Salad

Chicken Salad - made from canned chicken

Puddings - sweetened with liquid Stevia, using Better Than Milk

Cake - in moderation using unbleached flours. Eat desserts in moderation

Distilled water with a little lemon or lime juice and liquid stevia makes a great drink and NO CALORIES

Whole wheat waffles or pancakes - top with a fruit puree sweetened with liquid stevia

Ultimate Meal- this is a great healthy drink. I add a banana and 1/2 cup unsweetened apple juice.

Pizza! - whole wheat crust and vegetarian and CHEESE

Homemade yogurt with or without fruit- sweeten it with liquid stevia.

Baked potatoes topped with cheese, or a vegetable or both.

These are only a few ideas. I have plenty more in my cookbook. If you are interested in the cookbook you can order it by calling 1-800-216-5195.

So you see, there are more foods to eat than you thought. You can take almost any recipe and convert it into a healthy dish simply by using healthy foods.

Now here are a few tips for you regarding your eating habits.

Eat 4 small meals per day. Never eat a large meal at one time.

Do not eat for 5 hours before bedtime.

Try new foods, you may just like them by accident.

Drink lots of distilled water throughout the day and pop a Vitamin C ever so often.

Take an Enzymatic Digestant (1 or 2) with each meal.

Eat slowly and eat alone if and whenever possible and not in front of the TV.

Prepare your foods ahead of time whenever possible so they are ready when you are. I prepare soups, beans, chili beans, etc and freeze them in microwave containers, then just pop'em in.

Salt - if you do not have a problem with retaining fluids and you do not have high blood pressure then a little added salt is fine. You can tell if you are retaining fluids by pressing on your shin bone. Press and hold for 5 seconds, if it’s indented after releasing pressure you are retaining fluids and should reduce your salt intake.

Chew, chew, chew, chew, chew. The digestive process starts in the mouth. The chewing actions begins the release of digestive juices. Chew, chew, chew, chew.

Are you finished chewing? Great...

Do not eat and then go lay down. If you feel tired you probably ate too much or the wrong foods. (Or you could have Hepatitis C)

Do not eat when you are angry, frustrated, or bored. Instead go take a walk and talk to yourself. This is a great way to relieve your stress and stress out the neighbors.