The food hourglass questions some old eating habits. Not from the point of view of losing weight, but rather from the point of view of what is healthy for a human body. The hourglass shows which nutrients are needed for a person to grow old in a healthy way. The food hourglass is not a diet but rather a new way of life. It is preventive healthcare by adjusting ingrained habits (e.g. consuming soft drinks and chips in the evening in front of the TV) in the diet. The food hourglass is an alternative to the more well-known food triangle. The top half of the hourglass shows the nutrients that should be avoided. The bottom half shows which nutrients are best replaced. This is with the aim of preventing chronic diseases and aging diseases. A pleasant side effect is weight loss. The healthy bottom half of the food hourglass consists of the following building blocks:

Building block 1: Drink

Soft drinks, milk, yogurt or non-freshly squeezed fruit juices are replaced in the hourglass by water, green tea (three to six cups per day), ginger tea, white tea (prevents wrinkle formation), red wine, freshly squeezed fruit juice, plant-based milk and even coffee. Soft drinks contain approximately nine lumps of sugar, while store-bought fruit juices contain as many as eleven lumps of sugar and phosphates. The unhealthy aspartane can be found in the light products. Soft drinks give an insulin boost in the blood, which over time can cause diabetes, among other things.The kidneys filter one hundred and eighty liters of fluid in one day. Kidney function declines by ten percent every ten years from the age of thirty onwards due to not drinking enough water, eating protein-rich food and taking medicines. A person needs about two liters of fluid per day. Drinking two glasses of water half an hour before breakfast is the best way to start the day! It is better not to drink while eating, otherwise the gastric juices will be too diluted. After the meal it is ideal to have a cup of tea.Free radicals (atoms or molecules with an unused binding capacity) provide a signal function to the cells, causing them to defend themselves against unhealthy free radicals and become stronger. This is due to a natural antioxidant effect in the body. The intake of antioxidants is currently strongly promoted. These substances then attack the free radicals instead of the body cells, causing the cells to become lazier. The flavonoids, a plant substance found in green tea, for example, are slightly toxic, which means they challenge the cells so that they are ready for a real attack. In this way, green tea prevents cancer and is also good for brain function.An excess of alcohol is harmful, but consuming one drink per day for women or two for men stimulates the defense mechanisms of the cells, keeping them alert. Coffee has pros and cons. A maximum of three bags per day is allowed. Milk and yogurt are not natural food sources for humans. They are difficult to digest. It can promote Parkinson’s and cancer and is bad for the bones. We get the necessary calcium supply from vegetables.

Building block 2: Vegetables, fruit, oatmeal porridge, legumes and mushrooms

Giving up bread, potatoes, pasta and rice may be the hardest habit to break. They cause blood sugar spikes. An objective value to measure this is the glycemic index. Foods with a value higher than fifty such as glucose, white bread, white rice and fries should be avoided. Vegetables, tofu and nuts have a low glycemic index. White bread contains no nutrients. If you really can’t do without bread, whole wheat bread is the best alternative.

• Oatmeal prepared with plant-based milk is the solution. When flavored with (dried) fruit, black chocolate or nuts, it is a delicious, healthy breakfast.
• Vegetables contain a low dose of toxic substances, which keeps the cells active and is therefore anti-cancer. They ensure that waste products do not accumulate in the cells, which is equivalent to aging. This is, for example, the case with macular degeneration (partial blindness). Vegetables are the basis of the food hourglass, with broccoli in the first place. It is best to consume three hundred grams of vegetables every day: half raw and half prepared. Homemade vegetable juices are bursting with healthy nutrients! If rice or pasta is on the menu, it should be the whole wheat version. These carbohydrates can be replaced with legumes, mushrooms, extra vegetables, tofu (in moderation in older people) or eggs.
• Legumes (peas, beans, lentils, soy) stabilize blood sugar levels. They contain healthy vegetable proteins and a substance that reduces protein production.
• Quorn is a good meat substitute that is made up of proteins from a fungus.
• Fruit is healthy, but it cannot dethrone vegetables. Fruit ensures that the skin and blood vessels retain their elasticity for longer. Unprotected exposure to the sun also plays a role in this. Due to the flavonoids, fruit reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s and protects against cancer. Blue and red fruit are the highlights.

Building block 3: Fish, poultry, eggs, cheese, tofu and quorn

Eating too much (red) meat causes the sulfur-containing amino acids to acidify the blood. The body will remove calcium carbonate from the skeleton to combat this acidification, which increases the risk of osteoporosis. The meat or eggs of animals that cannot graze or forage freely contain much more of the pro-inflammatory omega 6 fatty acid instead of the healthy omega 3. Organic meat and organic products are a necessary condition in the food hourglass. To add zinc, iron, vitamin B12, creatine and carmasine to the diet, it is sufficient to eat somepoultry occasionally . An egg may be consumed several times a week. Preferably a soft-boiled or fried egg. Cholesterol only becomes a problem when it becomes sticky due to too much sugar and can become stuck in the bloodstream.

Building block 4: Black chocolate, nuts, soy porridge and soy yogurt

Eating sweets is like an addiction that creates a pseudo-hunger. With a radical stop, withdrawal is over after ten days. All this sweetness can best be replaced with healthy snacks such as black chocolate (at least seventy percent cocoa) or nuts. Black chocolate is, more than green tea, a source of flavonoids. It lowers blood pressure, increases concentration and improves insulin sensitivity.Fiber (e.g. linseed oil or nuts) is added to soy porridge or yoghurt to ensure that the sugars present are absorbed more slowly. These fibers keep the intestinal flora healthy, which is a basis for everyone’s health. A balanced diet requires one to three teaspoons of water-soluble fiber (vegetables and fruit) and one to three non-water-soluble fiber (grain products) daily. Nuts, especially walnuts, are rich in alpha-linolenic acid (omega 3). A handful of walnuts a day reduces the risk of a heart attack and is good for the brain.

Building block 5: Sugar substitutes, healthy oils and flavor enhancers

If sugar is really needed in a dish, it can be replaced with stevia or agave nectar. The ratio of omega 3 and omega 6 is important for healthy oils . Corn and sunflower oil are bad. Olive oil, linseed oil and walnut oil are good. Spreading butter or margarine is unhealthy and actually an unnecessary Western habit.

Flavor enhancers

Sodium chloride (table salt) is less serious than expected. It is important that there is a balance between the intake of table salt and potassium. A Western diet often contains too little potassium. This can be found in vegetables, fruit and black chocolate. We need three to four grams of potassium every day.A nutrient is anti-cancer when it slows down cell division, regulates the growth cycle of the cells (preventing proliferation) and is anti-inflammatory. Turmeric or turmeric contains these three properties. The herb is also good against age-related diseases. The ideal daily dose is a teaspoon of olive oil with turmeric and black pepper. Parsley strongly inhibits cell growth, even when ingested in normal amounts. Garlic and onions are slightly toxic, which means they activate the body’s natural defense mechanism. The optimal effect of garlic can be obtained by eating it raw (e.g. in some oil on a salad).

Building block 6: nutritional supplements versus medication

On the one hand, healthy food contains fewer nutrients than before, so the food does not provide all the nutrients. On the other hand, some nutritional supplements are too one-sided, which prevents differentiated absorption of, for example, different vitamins E. In addition, most forms of medication do not cure, but only remove the symptoms and often cause many side effects that are sometimes only noticeable in the long term (twenty to thirty years). Medication disrupts the natural systems in the body.

By taking a good multivitamin complex in addition to the above deficiencies, the body is sufficiently supplied with all vitamins and minerals.

Other health tips:

• Every person must continue to exercise in a body-friendly manner: walking, cycling or swimming for half an hour three to four times a week.
• The nutritional hourglass is a form of calorie restriction. Vegetables contain many nutrients but few calories. Life is prolonged by not eating excessively. During the day, for example, a snack such as an apple with black chocolate or a banana with oatmeal can be eaten at 10:30 am and at 3 pm. It is ideal that no meal is consumed in the evening or a very light meal.
• Eat consciously and not out of habit in front of TV or while reading!
• Make sure you have healthy emergency food with you for when you’re on the road (on the train, at work, etc.).
• All forms of stress should be avoided by, for example, good abdominal breathing, meditation or yoga.