Food Freedom! My Guide to Unlocking Incredible Health by Breaking All the Rules.

I used to be completely overwhelmed by conflicting health advice. Every doctor, every health guru, seems to have a different list of "good foods" and "bad foods." One tells you to avoid anything that grows below the ground. Then another might say to avoid things that grow above it. If you listen to all of them, what are you even left with?

I’ve come to realize that this approach is fundamentally flawed. In my experience, there are very few truly "bad" foods. The real question isn't what we're eating, but whether we actually know how to eat it. I believe we can eat almost everything, as long as we eat it the right way.

The Blame Game: Is It Really the Potato's Fault?

Let's talk about the potato. So many people tell me they avoid potatoes, yams, and other root vegetables because they’re “unhealthy” or cause gas. But I have a question for you: If you eat a piece of potato and it passes through your mouth as a potato, enters your stomach as a potato, and comes out the other end still looking like a potato... is that the potato's fault? Or is it our fault for not knowing how to eat and digest it properly?

I had a lightbulb moment when I thought about this. I've seen it with other foods, too—a mustard seed or a pulse showing up whole where it shouldn't. It's so easy to blame the food, to label it "bad" and banish it from our plates. But I believe we're just shifting the blame. If we follow the right principles for eating, every one of these foods can be digested perfectly.

The Ever-Shrinking Plate of "Allowed" Foods

Once you start down the path of avoiding foods, the list just keeps growing. I've seen it happen time and time again.

They say don't eat sweets, you'll get Diabetes. So you push the sweets aside.
They say don't eat salt, your BP will skyrocket. So you banish the salt shaker.
They say tamarind will give you knee pain. Out it goes.
They say eggplant causes skin disease. Avoid it.
They say tomatoes cause kidney stones. Avoid them, too.
They say oily foods and coconut are bad. No more of that.

Before you know it, your diet is so restricted that there’s almost nothing left to eat. You end up starving yourself in the name of health! I firmly believe this is the wrong way to think about nourishment. We can and should eat all the foods that people normally eat, without restriction.

My Philosophy: The Cure Is Often in the "Forbidden" Food

Here is the core of my philosophy, which might surprise you: whatever food they say should be avoided for a certain disease, I believe that very same food, when eaten correctly, can act as the medicine for that disease.

When a food is not digested properly, its nutrients reach the body in a "bad" or corrupted form, causing problems. The common advice is to just avoid that food entirely. But I think this makes the problem worse! If you avoid it, the part of your body that needs those specific nutrients gets nothing at all.

Here are a few examples of what I mean:

• For Diabetics: I believe that eating sweets is the only way to truly cure Diabetes. However, I’m not talking about white sugar, which I consider a poison because of the sulphur used to process it. Instead, I advocate for natural sweets like palm sugar, jaggery, and honey.

• For High BP: Powdered table salt can be a problem. But crystal salt or rock salt, eaten to the extent your tongue craves it, can actually help normalize blood pressure.

• For Gas Troubles: People say potatoes cause gas. I say undigested potatoes cause gas. If you eat a potato the right way, chewing it into a complete paste, it can actually help cure your gas problems.

• For Skin Disease: I’m convinced that eggplant (brinjal) can cure skin diseases. It contains the essential salts and minerals the skin needs. The problem only arises when improperly digested eggplant sends "bad" nutrients to the skin. Chew it well, digest it properly, and it becomes medicine.

It's Not What You Eat, It's How You Eat

Ultimately, this is what matters most. Haven't you seen people who eat hotel food and non-vegetarian meals three times a day and seem perfectly healthy? And on the other hand, haven't you seen people who eat only curd rice or "clean" natural foods yet still suffer from major diseases like cancer or kidney failure?

Just think about it. The food available to us varies from country to country, region to region. A universal list of "bad" foods makes no sense.

From my point of view, you can maintain your health by eating almost any food, as long as you eat it properly. Focus on the how. Chew your food, pay attention to your meal, and give your body the chance to do its job. When you do that, food becomes your greatest ally on the path to health.