I would drink chlorinated water only if the alternative was no water at all.

Step 2 — Look into using food supplements to build up your body. After these many years on a deficient diet, your body needs the help it can get as soon as possible. I don't push any certain kinds; there are many good ones on the market.   Be careful of those high in protein and lactose or sucrose. Start consuming flax every day, either in a drink mix, bread, pancakes or in a bar form.  Buy food supplements from a person or store that can help guide you on what is best for you. An article in the November 7,1992, issue of Lancet J proved that taking supplements can cut the incidence of being sick by 50% in the first year.

Ground Stabilized Fortified Flax is so loaded with beneficial nutrients that most other supplements are lacking, you virtually must include it in your diet. Flax is the best way to get those nutrients most lacking in most Americans' diets — Omega-3, the lignans, soluble fiber, insoluble fiber and other unidentified nutrients.   You can find Stabilized Fortified Flax at your nearby health food store or they can order it for you. If you can't buy bread with flax in it, have your local bakery contact Natural Ovens of Manitowoc, WI, and we'll help them learn how to use flax in their breads.

Step 3—Consume at least five servings of different fruits every day. Fruit contains sugar that satisfies the sweet tooth, and lots of vitamins and hundreds of beneficial compounds we know little about.

Step 4 — Consume at least five large servings of vegetables a day. Eat some raw and some cooked. Be sure to eat lots of dark green and yellow vegetables. They are your best source of beta-carotene — the best anti-oxidant and cancer fighter found so far, plus hundreds of cancer fighting compounds.

Step 5 — Increase your use of grain-based foods—breads, cereals, pasta, potatoes and beans — to 10 servings a day, if you can. You can't get fat from whole grains, because you'll feel full before you eat too much. The body has a difficult time converting complex carbohydrates into fat, so go ahead and fill up on complex carbohydrates.

Step 6 — Cut back on protein foods. High-protein diets deplete the body of calcium. You really only need 50 grams of protein a day- the equivalent of three ounces of meat, poultry or fish. Use meat as a flavoring, not as the center of the plate. You'll be glad you did. Use the recipes in the appendix.

Step 7 — Cut back on fats. First, eliminate hydrogenated fats, such as shortening and margarine. Remember that a recent article in a British Medical Journal, Lancet, showed that 2 1/2 pats of margarine could double your chance of having a heart attack. Therefore, don't eat any food that contains any "partially hydrogenated vegetable oils." Extra virgin olive oil is best, because it has proven its safety in the last 2000 years, so cut down on polyunsaturated oils like corn, safflower and sunflower. There's a definite connection between consuming high levels of polyunsaturated fat and the increased rate of death from cancer in the U.S. As Americans have been switching from animal fats to polyunsaturated fats, the cancer death rate has been going up as fast as the heart death rate has been going down.

Unless you're vegetarian, don't eliminate meats entirely, because they add a lot of flavor to foods like soups, pasta and stir-fried dishes. Keeping three ounces per day of meat in your diet usually won't hurt your health and will keep your meals more interesting.

When you need a fat in your cooking, I recommend olive or canola oil. No health risks are connected with these two oils, even at substantial levels in the diet. Remember, they do contain three times as many calories per gram as complex carbohydrates, so they can increase your weight.

Test out the recipes that appeal to you from the appendix of this book. Try them all. Use them regularly. In a few weeks, you'll feel better than you felt in years. With that reward, you're likely to stick with healthful eating.

Step 8 — Cut down or eliminate artificial stimulants in your life, such as caffeine, nicotine and other wet or dry drugs, and violent movies. By doing the first seven steps, you'll probably feel so good that you'll be cutting down on artificial stimulants anyway. You lose self-respect when you know you have to rely on a white stick, brown liquid, white powder or gory scenes to feel excited.

Step 9 — Exercise. Exercise can take many forms, but be sure you get a good sweat-up three times a week. Walking, swimming, running, etc., are good. For us, we find Fitness Master cross-country ski machines are best because they are fun to do with Glen Miller Big Band Music playing in the background. The machines exercise the upper body as well as the leg muscles. Whatever you do, enjoy it and do it regularly.

Step 10 — Make peace with your Creator. Life will be more satisfying and more complete if you help others rather than just living for yourself.