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stimulation is used when it will not help you achieve something of value, it is an uncomplementary stress. I consider coffee drinking an uncomplementary stress. I view it as a form of credit, similar to shopping with a credit card. You get energy now that you don’t actually have, but you pay for it later—when the “bill,” or fatigue, hits. (Simply drinking more coffee to put off the inevitable is like paying off one credit card with another: It will catch up with you sooner or later.) You’ll most likely pay a high interest rate as well, needing more time to recover than if that energy had not been borrowed in the first place. This is the beginning of a vicious circle. In the next chapter, I provide strategies to recalibrate the body, and in doing so, get maximum energy simply from eating natural food.
     
    At a Glance
     
    • Stress is the root cause of most ailments, both minor and major, in the North American population.
    • About 40 percent of the average North American’s total stress can be attributed to diet.
    • Excessive stress can have a negative psychological effect and can be responsible for specific food cravings and mental clutter.
    • Improved diet is the number one way to reduce overall stress.
    • Complementary stress can build physical strength and improve motivation.
    • Once diet is improved, production stress can be embraced, and productivity will therefore be enhanced.
     
     

two
     
    understanding the thrive diet
     
    The Thrive Diet is basic, and its parameters are simple. As you’ve just learned, uncomplementary stress is the biggest threat to our well-being. Unfortunately, its avoidance is near impossible in Western society. However, we do have the ability to take our health into our own hands and by doing so live a high-energy, sickness-free, rewarding life.
     
    The word health is thrown around quite freely these days. However, the word really does embrace all that we physiologically and psychologically can aspire to. If we all had a high level of health, we would all be at our ideal body weight, none of us would have food cravings, we would all sleep soundly, we wouldn’t rely on stimulating foods to give us energy, and we would always be able to think clearly and rationally. Yet, few of us are in this situation. One of the reasons is because we often treat the symptoms of each ailment as it crops up, while ignoring its cause.
     
    Simply put, the Thrive Diet is about getting to the root of the matter. Symptom-treating programs have risen in popularity over the past several years because of the speed at which results can be seen, and treating symptoms has become the excepted approach for many. While it’s true that short-term results can be achieved by dealing merely with the symptoms, long-term sustainable satisfaction is rarely if ever achieved. The Thrive Diet will likely not produce noticeable result as quickly as some symptom-treating methods. However, the Thrive Diet is a platform for long-term success. It is a healthy, well-balanced diet, with a focus on long-term sustainability. Those who eat a healthier diet are healthier: They are close to their ideal body weight, they have more energy and more motivation, and, quite simply, they get more out of life.
     
    The Thrive Diet treats the root cause of the problem.
     
     
    Results that you can expect from the Thrive Diet include:
    • improved ability to burn body fat as energy,
    • better sleep quality, therefore less needed,
    • elimination of junk-food cravings,
    • reduced body fat,
    • less joint inflammation,
    • improved mental clarity,
    • eliminated need to rely on stimulants for energy,
    • improved ability to build lean muscle tissue,
    • quick recovery from exercise,
    • reduced cholesterol level,
    • stronger bones,
    • better skin quality.
     
     
     
    high net-gain nutrition is the key
     
     
    The first and most general guideline of the Thrive Diet is to make high net-gain foods a cornerstone of