MEDICINE ON YOUR PLATE Oi’Ola (“Make health.”) – Chef Peter  Chapter 21 Mana Diet is Medicine on your plate You are cordially invited to enhance your health with the Mana weight loss diet!! Lose 30 pounds in two months! I began my training as a classical French Chef in the 1960’s in my native Germany, and I practiced my profession in luxury hotels in London, Switzerland, Hong Kong, and Singapore. My travel eventually led to the “source of the world’s rainbows.” That we know is Hawaii. In Hawaii I learned of the “Mana” of pre-western Hawaii dietary practices, where the Kanaka enjoyed excellent health and longevity. This philosophy is the foundation for my Hawaii Mana Diet. Participants usually notice a legitimate loss of weight as their bodies move to their natural sizes. There is also a complete supporting web site at: www.ManaDiet.com. From time to time during my traveling days, I would find myself overweight and would engage in a crash program by using a diet consisting of acid fruits and vegetables. I would eat foods such as apples and sour grapes (not sweet grapes), and avoid potatoes and starches. This would cause me to drop weight rapidly and cleanse my body, and I felt an energy boost. As well, my outlook on life would brighten. Eventually, given my work, I had to consume meat and cooked starches (to be sure they were prepared correctly), and, over time, I would regain my old weight. I remember thinking I would love to go back to my regular vegetarian diet, as much as possible. When I was living in Hawaii and teaching culinary arts at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, I started to study Hawaiian history. While at the university library, I came across Captain Cook’s log book. I was intrigued by Cook’s impression of the Hawaiians. Cook was impressed by the vitality of the Hawaiians, as well as their slimness, long life expectancies, lack of knowledge of grains such as wheat, rye, and rice, and absence of cooking pots. I am always struck by the good-natured dispositions and intelligence of today’s Hawaiians. Their unfortunate low life-expectancies direct contrast the longevity and health associated with the old style of living in harmony with nature, as observed by Captain Cook. Modern-day Hawaiians, on the other hand, struggle with obesity, lack of pep, and serious nutritional deficiencies which lead to disease. In particularly, diabetes is becoming an epidemic in Hawaii.  I started to do extensive research and found that, aside from political and religious considerations, the old Hawaiians generally avoided starches and sugar, and ate very little cooked food. They had no knowledge of grains.  Walking along Waikiki Beach, I noticed most American and European tourists suffer the same afflictions as the modern-day Hawaiians, and even Japanese tourists are starting to become overweight. Comparing this observation with pictures of slim people from the sixties and earlier was eye opening. Slimness was the case in the sixties even though restaurants served fatty prime rib with French fries and real mayonnaise, no diet mayonnaise. I decided to try the old Hawaiian diet to see how it would affect me. I was not as concerned with losing weight as I was with feeling better. However, I was happy to find I lost 15 pounds the first month, and I wasn't even trying. When my friends saw me after one month, they were shocked and asked me what crash/fad diet, or what pill or shake I was taking. All I could say was that I simply tried to follow the old Hawaiian diet as much as possible, and even though most of the vegetables of the old days are not easily available today, I replaced them with what is growing in Hawaii today. At my friends' urging, I wrote down the recipes I developed for my diet, which I called the “Mana Diet.” I chose “Mana” because it is the Hawaiian name for spiritual and physical power.