Melvin Page, a dentist, developed the Page Fundamental Diet in the 1940s. He reasoned that nutrition was the key contributing factor to both your dental health and the overall health of your body. Through research and practice, he formulated a diet plan to "balance the body chemistry" and treat medical conditions, such as blood sugar imbalances and heart disease. The diet emphasizes avoiding sugar, food additives and milk products. Work with your doctor and nutritionist to determine if this diet is a good choice to improve your health.
Phase 1
Phase 1 of the Page Fundamental Diet treats symptoms of blood sugar imbalance, heart disease and other medical conditions. Phase 1 consists of vegetables, eggs, poultry, fish and meat. Vegetable choices must have less than 9 percent carbohydrate content. Examples of acceptable vegetable choices include broccoli, eggplant, acorn squash, kale, tomatoes, artichokes and celery. You are also allowed a limited set of miscellaneous food items which consist of raw butter, caviar, raw cottage cheese, oil or cider vinegar dressing, jerky, raw kefir, raw milk, raw nuts other than peanuts, and vegetable or olive oil. Typically, you remain in this phase until the markers or indicators of health set forth by your doctor improve.
Phase 2
Phase 2 is the maintenance phase. During Phase 2, you continue to eat the vegetables, eggs, poultry, fish and meat allowed in the first phase along with the miscellaneous items. You can now include vegetables with carbohydrate content up to 24 percent. Examples of the additional vegetables allowed during this phase include potatoes, lima beans, lentils and peas. However, you should not eat vegetables with a carbohydrate content over 12 percent more than two or three times as week. You can also eat a limited amount of fruit as snacks only. Examples of allowed fruits are grapes, apples, pears and papaya. Phase 2 introduces one allowed dessert of plain gelatin.
How to Eat on the Diet
The Page Fundamental Diet does not rely on calorie counting. Instead, you eat as much food as you require from the list of approved foods for each phase. The diet requires that you eat protein at each meal. The diet is not a "high-protein" diet as the goal is to encourage you to spread your protein content across the day as opposed to concentrations at one or two meals. Further, you should eat small meals to optimize potential diet results. The number of meals per day can range from three to five. Another key component of the diet is to eat foods as close to their raw state as possible. Avoid fried meats instead boil, poach, bake or grill meats. Restricted foods include sugar, sugar substitutes, white flour and processed grains.
Fluid Intake
The diet plan calls for a special regimen for drinking fluids. The diet recommends you drink a minimum of 1 gallon of water a day for both phases. You can also substitute herbal decaffeinated tea, beef or chicken bouillon and beef tea for the water. The guidelines for fluids include drinking them an hour before or at least two hours after a meal. Also, limit drinks to no more than 4 oz. with your meal. Phase 2 allows three glasses of red wine or beer a week.
References
- Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation: Melvin E. Page, DDS (1894-1983)
- "Mastering Nutrition With Blood Chemistry: Quick Reference Manual"; International Foundation for Nutrition; 2001
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