Pillar 1:

Purpose

Creating purpose is the first step toward achieving any goal. Without strong purpose there can be no priority, and soon the goal is lost to other pursuits.

Purpose is especially important when it comes to your health because we live in a world that is normalizing disease, teaching you that disease is inevitable and to be expected as the years pass by. This rhetoric is false, but to rise above the nonsense and stand against it requires that you have a powerful reason to do so. That reason must be tied to deep reflection into how you want to experience your life at every level. Do you want to experience your life fatigued, in pain, chronically sick? Or do you want to experience your life free from disease, with unlimited energy, and the mobility to do whatever you please without pain or discomfort?

Working through this question at every level, from how you want to experience travel to how you want to experience doing the dishes, will create in you the deep desire to pursue your health as the foundation of success in every endeavor you choose in this life.

Pillar 2:

Nourishment

The second pillar of The 4 Jars Diet delves into the specifics of nourishment, emphasizing a balanced approach to food.

The 4 Jars Diet recognizes that the human body operates on the principles of chemistry. By adhering to the three laws – getting the right things in, keeping the wrong things out, and achieving the correct balance – individuals can promote energetic and complete reactions within their bodies.

The food groups, visualized by four metaphorical jars, are:

• Dark Leafy Greens (Jar 1): Rich in essential vitamins and minerals, dark leafy greens form the foundation of a nutrient-dense diet. They contribute to overall health, providing antioxidants and supporting vital bodily functions.
• Fibrous Vegetables (Jar 2): A source of dietary fiber, fibrous vegetables aid digestion, promote a feeling of fullness, and contribute to stable blood sugar levels. They serve as nature’s roto-rooter, keeping your gut clean and effective. These include a variety of vegetables that offer a spectrum of nutrients.
• Unprocessed Carbohydrates (Jar 3): This category includes fruits, nuts and legumes, whole grains, root vegetables, natural sugars, and dairy. These nutritious carbohydrates provide a wide variety of essential nutrient building blocks, and the necessary catalyst to break down whole proteins efficiently.
• Unprocessed Proteins (Jar 4): High-quality, unprocessed proteins are vital for muscle health, immune function, and overall cellular repair. Sources include lean meats, fish, eggs, and a few plant alternatives.

The 4 Jars fulfill the first law of chemistry, getting the right things in. Keeping the wrong things out is achieved by commitment to avoiding ultra-processed foods at all costs. These highly refined and often nutritionally void products are packed with harmful additives and can disrupt the delicate chemistry of the body, leading to imbalances and health issues.

A key principle of The 4 Jars Diet is the understanding that human nutrient needs are consistent across individuals. The focus is on recognizing and embracing our shared human characteristics, dialing into the universal human body chemistry that governs your optimal health.

Pillar 3:

Psychological Alignment

Public schools stopped teaching personal nutrition in the 1970s. From that time until now, most nutrition “education” has come from Big Food and Pharma marketing, industry funded bloggers, doctors and nutritionists employed by the industry, and government policy designed for political expediency, not personal health.

That adds up to a lifetime of health misinformation, and no small amount of confusion and diametrically opposed diet advice. Take “plant-based” and keto as a case in point; could there exist more opposite approaches to food and health?

Success in regaining your body’s strength, energy, and vitality, then, must include removing inaccurate beliefs and replacing them with a correct understanding of how your body works, and how to work with it effectively. Think of this as your “mental white board,” erasing what does not serve your body and writing in what does.

This is not as simple as waking up and deciding to believe something new. However, it is not difficult, either. It just requires simple, specific actions taken at the right time.

Pillar 4:

Emotional Wisdom

I have often said that no one ever fails because of the food, people fail because of emotional connections to food. “Comfort foods” and emotional eating stem from powerful cravings conditioned over a lifetime and can seem insurmountable at times. Indeed, this is the number one reason people give up on efforts to improve eating and regain health.

Rewiring your emotional ties to harmful foods, like rewriting psychological beliefs, is not hard. It just requires your simple, directed action implemented at the right time.