E n g L i s h jenni Currie Santamaria

Sickness and Health
RULES FOR HEALTHFUL EATING
I. PRE-READING
A.
Background information
This excerpt is from the book, 
Digestive Wellness
,
 
by Elizabeth Lipski. She 
believes that many people in America are overfed and undernourished because 
they eat more than they need to, and they eat highly processed, poor-quality, 
nutrient-poor foods. She recommends a digestion-enhancing and health 
supportive diet that relies on natural home-cooked, whole-food meals.
B.
Words to know before you read
Match the words to their definitions.
_____ 1.
vibrancy 
a. overweight; in a way that is unhealthy
_____ 2.
ensure 
b. having or showing great life, activity, 
and energy
_____ 3.
sustaining 
c. to supply with water
_____ 4.
obesity 
d. agricultural products such as fruits and 
vegetables
_____ 5.
rejuvenate 
e. providing what is needed for something 
or someone to exist
_____ 6.
produce 
f. to make sure, certain, or safe
_____ 7.
hydrate 
g. to defend yourself against someone or 
something
_____ 8.
fend (off) 
h. to give new strength or energy
_____ 9.
pesticide 
i. grown without the use of chemicals
_____ 10.
organic 
j. eating a small amount of food between 
meals
_____ 11.
snacking 
k. chemical used to kill insects that 
damage plants

---

146
|
Better Reading English
C.
Reading strategy
Quickly read each of the following healthy rules. Then answer the question.
What is the main idea of each rule?
________________________ ________________________
________________________ ________________________
________________________ ________________________
________________________ ________________________
________________________ ________________________
________________________ ________________________
II. READ
Read the text. Mark the words you don’t know, but don’t stop reading to look 
them up.
Rules to Eat, Cook, and Live By
Here are 12 rules to help simplify healthful eating. You can tackle them all at 
once or implement one at a time. Make your home a sanctuary of good eating.
1. The Life in Foods Gives Us Life
Fresh foods have the greatest enzyme activity. Enzymes are to the body 
what spark plugs are to the engine of a car. If we eat foods with little 
enzyme activity, they don’t “spark” our body to work correctly. Eating 
foods that have natural vibrancy gives vibrant energy to our own bodies. So 
if it won’t rot or spoil, don’t eat it!
2. Plan Ahead and Carry Food with You
Planning ahead and carrying your own food are great tools for healthful 
eating. Planning helps you create balanced meals and saves shopping 
time. Carrying snacks for yourself and your kids helps keep your moods 
and blood sugar levels even. It also saves you money and time, and you 
can ensure that the snacks are healthful.
3. Eat Small, Frequent Meals
Snacking is a great strategy for boosting and sustaining energy. Snacking 
keeps blood sugar levels even and facilitates digestion. Make snacking, 
especially in the midafternoon, a regular part of your life. You’ll ind that 
your energy level will stay more constant throughout the day and your 
mood will be more consistently pleasurable!
4. Eat When You Are Hungry and Stop When You Are Satisfied
Emotional overeating is one of the reasons for obesity in this country. We 
regularly turn to food when we want love and support. Don’t eat if you 
aren’t hungry, but also don’t wait until you are overhungry because that’s 
when we lose control and eat the sweetest, fastest foods in sight.
5. Relax While Eating
Many times we don’t even stop what we’re doing long enough to sit down 
when we eat. Remember that eating is a time for rejuvenation of body and 

---

Sickness and Health
|
147
spirit and a time to connect with yourself and with those you are eating 
with. Family meals are important. Turn the television off and have a family 
dinner almost every night.
6. Eat Local Foods in Season
Local produce is the freshest and has the highest level of nutrients. Put 
farm stands, community support agriculture (CSA) markets, and farmer’s 
markets into your food-shopping routine. The food quality, freshness, and 
enzymes are most abundant in local foods eaten in season. Eating foods in 
season also reduces the amount of pesticide and herbicide we consume.
* (Foods in Season are foods that are grown in particular season.)
7. Choose Organically Grown Foods Whenever Possible
Organic foods generally have higher nutrient levels because farmers who 
use organic methods add more nutrients to the soil, knowing that healthy 
plants can better fend off pests and that the nutrients end up in the crops.
8. Eat as Many Fruits and Vegetables as Possible
The available research on the positive beneits of eating fruits and 
vegetables is overwhelming. They are chock-full of vitamins, minerals, iber, 
and phytochemicals (plant-produced substances) that protect us from heart 
disease, cancer, degenerative diseases, and other common health 
problems. We know this, yet only about 23 percent of us eat at least ive 
servings of fruits and vegetables daily. And what’s known is that more is 
even better. Shoot for 8 to 10 and make most of them vegetables!
9. Eat High-Quality Protein and High-EPA/DHA Seafood, Organically and 
Sustainably Produced
If you choose to eat animal protein, such as poultry, beef, lamb, pork bison, 
goat, dairy products, eggs, and/or seafood, try to make sure that it is of the 
best quality possible.
10. Eat More High-Fiber Foods
The richest food sources of iber are also the four food groups that make 
up the bulk of a healthful eating plan: whole grains, legumes (all beans 
except string beans), vegetables, and fruits. Eating whole-grain products is 
an excellent way to increase your iber intake.
11. Drink Lots of Clean Water
Our bodies are 70 percent water. If we don’t adequately hydrate our cells, 
they cannot function properly. Moreover, the water we drink and consume 
in food is an essential carrier, bringing in nutrients and taking away wastes. 
Drinking plenty of clean, pure water every day is one of the most promising 
routes to digestive wellness.
1 2. Respect Your Own Biochemical Uniqueness
The foods that are best for any person are those that agree with that 
person’s body and unique biochemistry. You will probably need to 
experiment with your own diet and your family’s diet to ind out what works 
best for all of you speciically and over the long term. A proper diet ought 
to make us feel energetic and keep our immune system strong. Our bodies 
run best on real foods; a natural-foods diet is the ultimate direction in 
eating for all of us, no matter exactly how we shape it.
Source: 
Digestive Wellness
, by Elizabeth Lipski, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012

---

148
|
Better Reading English
III. COMPREHENSION CHECK
Mark the sentences T (True) or F (False).
_____ 1.
Fresh foods have the greatest enzyme activity.
_____ 2.
Snacking helps keeps blood sugar levels even.
_____ 3.
You should always eat when you’re not hungry.
_____ 4.
Family meals are important.
_____ 5.
Produce that is shipped from other parts of the country has the 
highest level of nutrients.
_____ 6.
The freshest foods are the foods in season.
_____ 7.
Organic foods generally have higher nutrients.
_____ 8.
People should eat small amounts of fruits and vegetables.
_____ 9.
Fruits and vegetables have substances that can protect us from 
diseases.
_____ 10.
Legumes, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are high in iber.
_____ 11.
Our cells don’t need much water to function properly.
_____ 12.
All people should eat the same diet of natural foods.
IV. VOCABULARY BUILDING
A.
Classify words
Find these words in the text, and decide if they are being used as nouns, verbs, 
or adjectives. Write them in the correct places in the chart.
tackle
implement
ultimate
sanctuary
facilitates
local
abundant
organic
regular
chock-full
unique

---

Sickness and Health
|
149