Health

Health – Aging and the Brain

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Several studies have shown a link between the number of infections throughout a person’s life and later development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.

As we age, our immune systems become less efficient in combating infections. This is mainly due to poor nutrition and can be corrected simply by improvements in diet.

Nutrients That Prevent Alzheimer’s

Resveratrol, one of the active components of grapes, has been shown to reduce the accumulation of a substance called amyloid beta in the brain, and to suppress inflammation of the brain by inhibiting microglial activation—which is the mechanism for amyloid production. (Ono, K., et. al., J Neurosci 2004; 75: 742-750; Bi, X.L., et. al., Int Immunopharmacology 2005; 5: 185-193.)

Amyloid is the brain “crud” that accumulates in the brains of people who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. Another beneficial plant flavonoid is called baicalein, an extract of a plant called skullcap, which has been shown to protect brain cells from damage by toxins and excitotoxicity (the process of nerve damage through continuous stimulation), as well as safeguarding the brain during strokes. Skullcap powerfully protects against free radical creation and lipid peroxidation in the brain, and reduces microglia-induced brain inflammation and immunoexcitotoxicity (excitotoxicity triggered by the body’s immune response). (Uchida, K., et. al., J Biol Chem 1999; 2234-2342; Kobuchi, H., et. al., Am J Physiol 1999; 277: C403-411.) A number of plant flavonoids also chelate iron, which means they bind the iron atoms, preventing the formation of free radicals, and thus protecting the brain. Flavonoids with this property include:

  • Curcumin
  • Green and white tea flavonoids
  • Quercetin
  • Hesperidin
  • Luteolin
  • Baicalein

This is important property because free iron in specific locations in the aging brain is associated with neurodegenerative diseases, especially Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, and plays a major role in stroke damage. These flavonoids do not interfere with normal iron functions. Luteolin, found in high concentrations in celery and parsley not only reduces microglial activation, it also switches microglia to a protective state, a mechanism that is impaired with Alzheimer’s disease and possibly chronic brain damage associated with multiple brain injuries in sports (chronic traumatic encephalopathy). (Blaylock, R. and Maroon, J., Sur Neurol Int 2011.)

Another study found that both apigenin (another flavonoid) and luteolin protect the brain by reducing microglial activation. (Resai-Zadeh, K., et. al., J Neuroinflammation 2008; 5: 41.) In addition, there is strong evidence that activation of microglia in the aging brain is playing a central role in a number of neurological disorders, including strokes, brain infections, vaccine damage, brain trauma, and neurodegenerative diseases. (Dilger, R.N., et. al., J Leukoc Biol 2008; 84; 932-939.)

As we age, the microglia in the brain become progressively more activated. In people with Alzheimer’s dementia, there is widespread, intense microglial activation. A number of flavonoids control brain inflammation by suppressing microglial activation; these include curcumin, quercetin, fisetin, EGCG, and resveratrol.

Excitotoxicity and Magnesium Levels

As we grow older the brain becomes progressively more inflamed. With age-related memory loss and Alzheimer’s dementia, the degree of inflammation increases dramatically.

Brain inflammation is caused by microglial activation; these immune cells are also the source of glutamate and other excitotoxins. Magnesium, which is abundant in fruits, vegetables, and nuts, suppresses excitotoxicity and inflammation.

Meanwhile, because of their high level of phosphoric acid, soft drinks deplete magnesium and play a major role in the widespread magnesium deficiency seen in the Western world.

Many prescription medications and birth control pills on the market also severely deplete magnesium.

Studies conducted by Dr. Mark Mattson and his co-workers have shown that physical exercise stimulates brain cells to release higher levels of growth factors (neurotrophins), which protect the brain from damage, heal existing injuries, prevent depression, and promote better memory and learning capacity. (Boyle, P.A., et. al., Arch Gen Psychiatry 2010; 67: 304-310.)

Mattson has also studied the effect of caloric restriction on brain protection, and demonstrated that reducing one’s intake of calories significantly reduces brain aging and stimulates the release of neurotrophic brain growth factors.

Caloric restriction also increases antioxidant enzyme levels and reduces excitotoxicity. (Mattson, M.P. and Ann, N.Y., Acad Sci 2008; 1144: 97-112.)

Of course, many people find it difficult to reduce their caloric intake enough to obtain these beneficial effects. However, new studies have shown that fasting just one day a week has the same beneficial effect; adding resveratrol to the diet has also been shown to be effective.

Recent studies have shown that daily physical exercise also increases a person’s thinking ability and reduces the risk of early onset dementia. (Wang, L., et. al., Arch Inter Med 2006; 166: 115-1120.)

Moderate exercise—such as brisk walking, using light weights or exercise machines—is sufficient for the elderly. Engagement in social events, reading, learning new topics, and participating in church functions are also important.

If we exercise regularly, fast once a week, and engage in regular intellectual activities, the benefits for brain health will be significant. Adding good nutrition—including eating a variety of flavonoids—will tremendously magnify those health benefits.

Source: Blaylock Wellness Report, November 2011.

Health – That Pesky Wart

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Not too long ago several people asked for suggestions in getting rid of warts naturally. After a little research, this is what I found.

The wart is classified as a viral skin infection that remains solely within the skin. Because it takes repeated contact with the wart to spread, it is usually not contagious unless you continually rub your wart onto another person’s skin. Some people have more than one wart on their body because of the repeated contact with their own skin. Most warts are harmless, but they are just plain ugly.

Is there a way to get rid of the unsightly, pesky wart naturally? Many people have tried different things that have worked for them. Here are a few comments and suggestions I found while researching for natural ways to annihilate it.

“The simplest and probably most effective natural way to get rid of warts that I know of is to apply vitamin E directly to the thing and keep applying it once or twice a day until it falls off or disappears. Many people have found it most convenient to saturate the gauze portion of an adhesive bandage, apply it over the wart and change daily. It may take anywhere from one week to several months to achieve results.

“Curiously, I have never come across a single word in the medical literature about applying vitamin E to warts. But many readers have sent in letters to Prevention, describing what often seems to be astonishing success, and when others try it, they too write in about amazing results. So the therapy is kept alive—a true folk remedy.

“Robert Rodale, editor of Prevention, told me that as a young boy he developed some ugly-looking warts on his arm, and his father, J. I. Rodale, took him to a doctor. The doctor, apparently a wise old bird, looked at the warts and told young Robert that if they did not go away within two weeks, he was going to have to burn them off. To the child’s mind the idea of having his skin burned was a horrifying prospect. Two weeks later, all the warts had vanished.

“I should add, though, that the action of vitamin E on warts seems to be rather more than a placebo effect, as a number of readers report that warts on their pet dogs went away after application of the vitamin.

“An interesting remedy involving the application of banana skins was described in the journal Plastic Reconstructive Surgery (December 1981). In this report, an Israeli doctor found the inner side of a banana skin to be ‘a painless, non-inflammatory local treatment’ in curing warts, especially plantar warts. ‘A piece of fresh banana skin is applied once daily to the affected area [by surgical tape], after washing,’ she writes. ‘After one week of treatment, the wart becomes softer and the pain diminishes. … After two weeks of treatment shrinkage of the wart becomes obvious.’ After six weeks, the warts ‘completely disappear’ and a two-year follow-up revealed no recurrence whatsoever.

“Plantar warts on the feet have been reported to die of heat prostration following daily 15-minute baths of the affected foot in water heated to 118° to 120° F (just about as hot as you can tolerate). Trim the callus off the growth first, and keep up the baths for two weeks. The virus that causes plantar warts, it seems, is sensitive to heat, and when the temperature reaches 120° F, its goose is cooked.” Mark Bricklin, Executive Editor Prevention Magazine, The Practical Encyclopedia of Natural Healing, New, Revised Edition, by Rodale Press, Emmaus, Pennsylvania, p. 517, 518.

Then he continues with the following folk remedies for warts:

“An old Indian method, which a woman from Ontario, Canada, told us ‘really works,’ is to ‘go out and pick a dandelion two or three times a day and put the milk from the cut end on the wart.’ The woman said that she got rid of her warts ‘in no time after they grew back again after having them burned off.’

“This anecdote brings up an important point. Many people probably imagine that having warts burned off or surgically removed by a doctor is the swiftest and most reliable method to rid yourself of warts.

“Not true. The fact is, as any honest dermatologist will tell you, warts that are ‘destroyed’ have an amazing propensity to return over and over again, no matter how many times they are treated, often spreading or growing in the process. This does not seem to happen with vitamin E or other natural methods.

“Another reader took the advice of the mystic, Edgar Cayce, who suggested putting warm castor oil on gauze and applying it three times a day for half an hour. The reader reported that Cayce’s method got rid of 14 warts on both hands in two months.

“Cod-liver oil, rubbed often on a wart, is yet another remedy reported to us.

“If this doesn’t work, you may be interested in knowing about a combination herbal-abrasive technique described to us by Dr. Karl-Heinz A. Rosler, of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. Dr. Rosler, who holds a Ph.D. in pharmacognosy, and is therefore highly knowledgeable about herbs, said that as a youth he suffered acute embarrassment from warts on his hands. He tried an emery nail file and worked on the warts until they almost bled, but had to stop because they became so inflamed.

“The warts stayed with him for many years. Then, he was told by a neighbor that the juice of the aloe plant, famed as an anti-inflammatory agent, could be useful in getting rid of warts. What the neighbor had done was to deliberately burn his warts with a match and then apply juice from the aloe leaf, so the inflammation would disappear along with the wart.

“Dr. Rosler said that by coincidence, at about this time, a Ph.D. wrote a paper saying there is nothing beneficial in the aloe plant. Nevertheless, Dr. Rosler told us, ‘I decided to try a little folk medicine on myself. I again filed the warts back and applied the juice from a fresh aloe plant, and this did keep down the inflammation, to such an extent that the next day I was able to continue filing—and I filed the warts flat, applying the aloe juice each day. I soon had all of the warts filed down to nothing, and they never reappeared.’ ” Ibid., 518, 519.

In The Merck Manual of Medical Information, Second Home Edition, published by Pocket Books, New York, London, Toronto, Sydney, 1229, the following information is given:

“In general, warts can be removed with chemicals, cut off, frozen off, or burned off with a laser or electrical current.

“Typical chemicals used for removal include salicylic acid, formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, trichloroacetic acid, cantharidin, and podophyllin. Flat warts are often treated with peeling agents such as retinoic or salicylic acid. 5-Fluorouracil cream or solution may also be used. Some chemicals can be applied by the person, whereas others must be applied by a doctor. Most of these chemicals can burn normal skin, so when they are applied at home, it is essential to follow directions carefully. Chemicals usually require multiple applications over several weeks to months. The wart is scraped to remove dead tissue before each treatment.

“Freezing [cryotherapy] is safe and does not usually require any numbing of the area but may be too painful for children to tolerate. Warts may be frozen with various commercial freezing probes or with liquid nitrogen sprayed on or applied with a cotton swab. Cryotherapy is often used for plantar warts and warts under the fingernails. Multiple treatments at monthly intervals are often required, especially for large warts.”

We have looked at some natural ways and some chemical ways to destroy the pesky wart. When it comes right down to it, you will need to make the final decision of what is best for you.

Health – Studies of Diabetes

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There are many studies coming forth to help people understand the cause of Type II diabetes. I would like to share a few of these which are truly interesting studies. The following excerpts are from Agatha M. Thrash, M.D., FACP and Calvin L. Thrash, M.D., MPH, Diabetes & The Hypoglycemic Syndrome, Facts, Findings and Natural Treatments, New Lifestyle Books, Seale, AL 36875, 1999, 50–58.

Several Studies of Interest

Pima Indians

A group of Pima Indians with impaired glucose tolerance was studied. Pimas are noted for their high incidence of obesity and NIDDM (Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus). Researchers found increased insulin levels and a normal pancreatic response to the presence of high levels of sugar in the blood. This indicated that insulin resistance rather than a failure to produce insulin was operative in this group. Insulin resistance means the pancreas is producing an ample quantity of insulin, possibly even a surplus quantity, but the body cells are ignoring it. … Factors known to reduce the number of insulin receptors are overeating, use of alcohol and sugar, being overweight, eating too great a variety of food at one meal, eating highly refined or concentrated foods in large quantities, eating between meals, late night meals, and the use of meat, milk, eggs and cheese. Inactivity and certain drugs may also reduce insulin receptors. These drugs include oral contraceptives, hormones such as growth hormones, cortisone types of drugs and estrogen.

When the Pimas were living in their natural habitat, diabetes was unknown among them. But when they were sent to reservations and began to adapt to the white man’s lifestyle and food, 60–70 percent of the adults became overweight and 50 percent became diabetic. … Insulin resistance was worsened by obesity. In other words, the higher the blood level of glucose, the more damage will be done to organs and tissues, whether or not there is a family history of diabetes.

This is important information for non-diabetics. No person should feel at liberty to over-indulge in sugar, as it will endanger body cells. (Emphasis added.)

Of Very Special Interest

The following studies are of special interest because for the first time researchers are looking at the possibility that excess sugar itself may be toxic to the pancreas and have an important role in causing diabetes. All people who have a family history of diabetes need to take special note of this possibility. Sugar should be regarded with great suspicion and handled like the highly concentrated substance it is being discovered to be. Also, this is the first time we have seen in print the suggestion that “even minor elevations of plasma glucose levels may affect insulin response.” These “minor elevations” averaged only 97 mg. well in the “normal” range by most laboratory reckoning.

These things should be remembered the next time you are thinking about eating your usual dessert of ice cream and cake, because those sweets may be affecting you in more ways than you realize. Sugary sweets do more damage to our bodies than causing cavities and adding extra weight.

It is also interesting to note what happens when “hyperalimentation” is recommended as a treatment for people who are starving to death. Hyperalimentation is the method of feeding a high glucose (sugar) solution to people who must be artificially fed. In many cases, insulin has to be given to these patients also, because they begin to have pancreatic failure from the high levels of sugar they are ingesting. In some instances, susceptible people who have had hyperalimentation may develop diabetes.

Yemini Jews

The ancestral home of these people was the Yemen, where the most common work was that of herding. Their lifestyle included maintaining a simple diet, keeping a regular schedule of life activities and eating almost no refined sugars. There were no cases of diabetes among them. Because of the conflicts between the Arabs and the Jews, the Yemenis had to leave their homeland and move to Israel. In order to adapt to a different society they had to make certain significant changes in their lifestyle. The main changes were an increase in sugar consumption and a decrease in exercise, both of which led to heavier body weights. After 20 years of living in their new environment with these changes, one out of every five Yemenites over the age of 30 is diabetic.

Tests done with laboratory animals put on the “western diet” for two months revealed that animals began to develop diabetes. In another group of laboratory animals, fed the no-sugar diet of the Yemenites, no diabetes was found and the animals maintained normal health.

Noru

Another investigation was made on an island in the Pacific called Noru. Since World War II, the people have become quite wealthy due to the sale of phosphates, which are abundant on their island. There is one car and one motorbike for every four individuals. They no longer grow any food of their own, but instead import nearly all-western foods. The average daily food intake is 6,100 calories. In the United States the average caloric intake is 2,500. On Noru, 40 percent of the people have become diabetic.

Eskimos

Dr. Otto Schaefer, a specialist in internal medicine, who lived and worked as a physician in the Arctic for 20 years, also did a study. During the time he spent in his field-work he observed drastic changes in the disease patterns of the Eskimos.

In 1959, the Eskimos were ingesting 26 pounds of sugar per person each year. This is a small amount in comparison with the average American’s consumption of 130 pounds each year. The Eskimo’s 26 pounds of sugar represented 18 percent of their total carbohydrate intake. Of their carbohydrates, 82 percent came from unrefined cereals, flours and starch foods.

In 1967, only eight years later, the Eskimos were taking in 104.2 pounds of sugar per person each year. This represented 44 percent of their total carbohydrate intake. Carbohydrates from unrefined foods had dropped to 55 percent. Dr. Schaefer commented, “The dietary changes seen in the Eskimos parallel those seen in the western diet over the past 100 years, but they occurred in the Eskimos in eight years.”

These changes were due to several factors. The Alcan Highway had opened up and brought more traffic into the Eskimo territory. Other influences were the many air bases built over Alaska and Canada, which brought the western lifestyle, including an appetite for sweets, to the Eskimos. Dr. Schaefer remarked, “Eskimos seem to have an insatiable desire for candies, sweet cakes and sweet drinks; the mothers often put nipples on pop bottles and the babies suck on them throughout the day.”

Dr. Schaefer now found problems among the Eskimos that had not been seen prior to these dietary changes. He noticed the following:

  1. Dental decay. This had been nearly unknown among the Eskimos. Photos showed older Eskimos with beautiful, white teeth, and younger Eskimos with missing teeth and blackened stubs which needed to be pulled. Even children needed to have their baby teeth removed. When their permanent teeth came in, these too were decayed and many times had to be extracted.
  2. Growth acceleration. The Eskimos were getting heavier and taller. In the past, growth acceleration had been noted among other people after they migrated to the United States or other western countries from so-called, “developing nations.” Experts claimed that the reason for this increase in weight and height was the introduction of more protein into the diet. But the Eskimos’ natural diet has one of the highest percentages of protein consumption in the world. They lived mostly on fat and meat such as seal blubber, fish and polar bear meat, because their native climate inside the Arctic Circle is not warm enough to grow many vegetables. The only change in their diet was the sudden large intake of refined carbohydrates.

Not only were they getting heavier and taller, but they were going through puberty earlier. Forty years ago, the average Eskimo girl would go through puberty at 18 or 19 years of age. The age of puberty had dropped to 11 years and has continued to drop further with each decade. Dr. Schaefer believed the sugar explosion affected the entire endocrine system including the thyroid, growth hormone, and the gonadal hormones of men and women, which caused earlier maturation. He also noted that early menarche was due to a diet of store-bought foods, particularly manufactured foods with a high-content of refined sugar and fat, as opposed to the original native diet. …

  1. Diabetes. In 1971, there were three times as many cases in Alaska and Greenland than there were in 1961. Now there are more diabetics in one certain group of Eskimos than there were in all the Eskimos of Canada just a few years ago. Diabetic complications such as heart disease, atherosclerosis, appendicitis, tonsillitis, circulatory disease, cataracts and kidney failure are now being seen. These complications usually lag 10 to 20 years after diagnosis.
  2. Gallbladder disease. This was a surprise to Dr. Schaefer because it had been assumed that fats played a large role in this problem. It was believed the Eskimos had a genetic ability to handle fat better than Westerners. Prior to 1950, gall bladder disease was unknown among the Eskimos, although 60 percent of their calories came from fat. This percentage is higher than the 40 to 45 percent of calories from fat that is eaten in the standard diet in the lower 48 states. Now the most common operation done in hospitals provided for Eskimos is for removal of the gallbladder due to disease and stones! This is recognized to be due to adding sugar to an already high-fat diet.
  3. Obesity and high cholesterol. Dr. Schaefer also noticed several other conditions that began to emerge. Elevated blood fat and obesity were suddenly seen, especially among the urbanized, inactive Eskimos.

These studies clearly point to a link between the western lifestyle and diabetes. With this information in mind, we need to carefully consider our own lifestyles and habits, and honestly ask ourselves if we are willing to make the changes that will lead to an improved quality of life.

Health – Natural Foods

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“Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food.”

Hippocrates

What are natural foods? They are foods that are natural, such as apples, potatoes, corn, almonds, etc. They have no added artificial flavorings, colors, or preservatives; and they are foods that are not refined, such as white flour or corn oil.

DIET IS THE MAJOR CAUSE OF DISEASE

Our refined food is now killing us on the installment plan. … Because Americans like to eat; they eat too much; and they eat the wrong kinds of foods such as meat, milk, eggs, sugar, oil, refined and processed foods.

You are what you eat. Natural food, unadulterated, just as it comes from the Creator, is the food that gives energy, health and life. Refined food on the other hand, brings fatigue, sickness and death. Yet man has tried to improve (is that possible?) upon the natural food God has given us.

HARMFUL FOODS THAT DESTROY YOUR HEALTH – ALL KINDS OF MEAT

Man’s body was not designed to eat meat.

Let’s look at some simple physiological aspects of meat eating. A carnivore’s teeth are long, sharp, and pointed for ripping and tearing flesh. Man has molars for crushing and grinding. A carnivore’s jaw moves up and down only, for tearing and biting. Man’s moves up and down and from side to side for grinding. A carnivore’s tongue is rough; man’s is smooth. A carnivore’s saliva is acid and geared to the digestion of animal protein. Man’s saliva is alkaline for the digestion of starch. A carnivore’s intestines are three times the length of its trunk, designed for rapid expulsion of food stuff, which would otherwise quickly rot. Man’s intestines are twelve times the length of his trunk and designed to keep food in them until all nutrients are extracted. The liver and kidneys of a carnivore are capable of eliminating large amounts of uric acid whereas man’s liver and kidneys have the capacity to eliminate only a small amount of uric acid. A carnivore’s urine is acid. Man’s is alkaline. Consider the elephant. How much dead flesh does he eat? none, and an elephant can live for over a hundred years because he is a vegetarian; whereas, carnivorous animals, such as a cat or dog, live anywhere from 10 to 15 years. What are the strongest animals in the world? Those used for centuries because of their endurance and strength: elephants, water buffalo, camels, mules, and horses; and they all have this one thing in common— they are vegetarians. A lion, which eats flesh exclusively, has very little endurance, for he sleeps approximately 20 hours a day.

HIGH MEAT DIET (WHICH IS ALSO HIGH IN FAT) IS MAJOR CAUSE OF HEART ATTACKS, STROKES, AND CANCER

“Meat is an incomplete source of nutrition. As a consequence, reliance on a meat-based diet actually becomes a liability to human health. But meat is not only a liability for what it does not contain; it is also a liability for what it does contain, excess protein, fat, cholesterol, and blood, besides worms, microbes, and cancer viruses.” John A. Scharffenberg, Problems With Meat, Woodbridge Press Pub. Co., Santa Barbara, California, 1979, 101.

IF I DON’T EAT MEAT, WHERE WILL I GET MY PROTEIN?

Protein is the most complex of all food elements, and its assimilation and utilization are the most complicated. The hardest food for the body to break down is protein. When protein food is eaten, it takes more energy for it to go through the process of digestion than any other food. Protein is not built in the body by eating protein. Protein is built from the amino acids in food. It must first be digested and split into its component amino acids. The body can then use these amino acids to construct the protein it needs.

There are twenty-three different amino acids that have been discovered. Fifteen of these can be produced by the body; and eight must be derived from the foods we eat. That is why these eight are called essential. There are no “essential” amino acids in flesh that the animal did not derive from plants, and that humans cannot also get from the plants they eat. If you eat fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains on a regular basis, you are receiving all the amino acids necessary for your body to build the protein it needs.

The Hunza people and half a billion Hindus eat very little protein and they have no protein deficiencies. Studies show that excess protein in the diet is harmful, contributing to kidney disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, heart disease, cancer, etc.

When you eat grains and vegetables, you obtain food first hand; but when you eat meat, you get your grains and vegetables second hand. The only effect meat eating has on health is that it deteriorates it.

REFINED OILS

Oils are harmful to the body. Most plant foods contain very little fat; however, modern food technology has made it possible to chemically remove these natural fats and process them into oil. Twelve ears of corn are processed to make one tablespoon of corn oil. During the processing, all the good fiber, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, etc., are removed from the corn, leaving nothing but oil, which is 100 percent fat.

All refined fats are a burden to the body; they thicken the blood, slowing down circulation which affects the heart and blood vessels. These oils contribute to overweight, diabetes, and gallstone formation.

REFINED GRAINS

Refined grains are harmful to the body. Grains are made in such a way that the vitamins and minerals are carried almost entirely on the outer layer. Milling removes this layer, leaving a white, easily ground central kernel, which is almost devoid of vitamins and minerals. The central portion has the starch and the protein, but both of these are more difficult to metabolize without the accompanying minerals and vitamins.

Natural grains such as whole wheat, barley, corn, millet, oats, rice and rye are what we need for proper nourishment. But when these are milled they are almost worthless.

THE NATURAL WAY IS THE HEALTHY WAY

Natural foods encourage life, promote strength and endurance and help restore lost health. Unnatural foods cause sickness and decay. You will find the natural foods close to nature, in the gardens and orchards. You will find unnatural foods on the grocery shelf, preserved and packaged in a bag, box or can.

It isn’t any sacrifice at all to eat natural foods; it’s just another step toward an unblemished skin, a new spring in your step, a new light in the eye. It’s a step toward a strong heart and untainted breath. It’s just another step toward untroubled sleep and new vigor each morning. It’s another step toward an unclouded mind and clear decisions. It’s just another step toward the abundant health you’ve always wanted.

Jerry Hoover, N.D, Natural Medicine, KNI Printers, Inc., California, 1993, 45–71. Contact: DrJerryLeeHooverND@yahoo.com

Health – Chia, the Inca Superfood

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Chia seed is an ancient super food that is currently experiencing popularity. It is a member of the sage family (Salvia Hispanica). The little black and white seeds were once a staple of the Incan, Mayan and Aztec cultures, along with the Native Americans. Chia is actually the Mayan word for strength. The seeds were used by these ancient cultures as mega energy food, especially for their running messengers, who would carry a small pouch of it with them. It has been called Indian Running Food and gives an incredibly sustaining surge of energy.

This super food nutritional content is very similar to flax, but without the estrogen and phytoestrogen element. In Mexico, they say that one tablespoon of chia seeds can sustain a person for 24 hours. It also tastes great and is ready to eat really quickly—besides which it has an off-the-scale nutritional profile.

Why eat chia?

Chia seeds are said to have:

  • 2 times the protein of any other seed or grain
  • 5 times the calcium of milk, plus boron which is a trace mineral that helps transfer calcium into your bones
  • 2 times the amount of potassium as bananas
  • 3 times the reported antioxidant strength of blueberries
  • 3 times more iron than spinach and copious amounts of omega 3 and omega 6, which are essential fatty acids

They are a complete source of protein, providing all the essential amino acids in an easily digestible form. They are also a fabulous source of soluble fiber. Like flax, chia is highly hydrophilic—the seeds absorb water and create a mucilaginous gel. They can hold 9 to 12 times their weight in water and they absorb it rapidly—in under 10 minutes. The seeds can easily be stored dry for 4 to 5 years without deterioration in flavor, odor or nutritional value. You can substitute chia in any recipe that calls for flax.

The taste of chia is very mild and pleasant. That means it can easily be combined with other foods without changing the taste dramatically. People add it to their sauces, bread batters, puddings, smoothies and more. The flavor is retained, plus more nutrition is added.

Chia has been called a dieter’s dream food because when added to foods, it bulks them up, displacing calories and fat without diluting the flavor. Thus, someone can eat a typical serving, yet only consume about half the calories they might have eaten, because the food has been bulked up with chia.

The benefits of eating chia:

  • Provides energy
  • Boosts strength
  • Bolsters endurance
  • Levels blood sugar
  • Induces weight loss
  • Aids intestinal regularity

Chia slows the impact of sugars on the system, if eaten together. Chia gel creates a physical barrier between carbohydrates and the digestive enzymes that break them down, which slows the conversion of carbohydrates into sugar. That means the energy from the food is released steadily, resulting in more endurance. This is clearly of great benefit to diabetics in particular. It also means that it can be combined with super-sweet tastes like apple juice and will not spike blood sugar.

Due to the exceptional water-absorption quality of chia, it can help you prolong hydration and retain electrolytes, especially during exertion.

Whole, water-soaked chia seeds are easily digested and absorbed. Their tiny seeds break down quickly. They feel light in the body, yet energizing. Their nutrients can be quickly assimilated into the body.

The seeds bulk up, then work like an incredible digestive broom, sweeping through the intestinal tract, helping to dislodge and eliminate old accumulated waste in the intestines. When they are added to the diet many people find their stools also become more regular.

Chia is a complete protein with all 10 essential amino acids. It is loaded with antioxidants, contains vitamins, minerals and has lots of omega 3, 6 and 9. Read about the advantages of adding this great food to your diet.

Chia is a very reasonably priced, concentrated food. … One third of a cup makes over two cups of gel. …

Chia can be used in so many kinds of recipes—savory, sweet—it works with anything. You might want to try them in salad dressings, biscuit mixtures, smoothies, crackers, ice creams, juices and so on.

Chia seed protein contains no gluten. This makes it ideal for anyone with gluten sensitivity or simply wanting to find a replacement for gluten-containing grains like wheat, barley, rye and oats.

Conditions helped

Chia is reported to be beneficial for a vast range of issues, for example:

  • weight loss/balance
  • thyroid conditions
  • hypoglycemia
  • diabetes
  • irritable bowel syndrome
  • celiac disease
  • acid reflux
  • lowering cholesterol

In the traditional cultures that consumed chia, like the Aztecs, it was also regarded as a medicine and was used in a myriad of ways—from cleaning the eyes to helping to heal topical wounds; relieving joint pain; used as poultices, to mention a few. One woman uses chia therapeutically to manage her acid reflux. Because of the highly absorbent properties, she can swallow a tablespoon of dry seeds with just a little water and they go into her stomach and absorb the excess acid. She makes sure to drink a glass of water a few minutes later, as the seeds are so hydrophilic that if they do not find enough to absorb in the stomach, they will draw from the tissues instead. By allowing the seeds to first absorb the acid, then drinking some more water, the woman was able to very simply, effectively and economically handle her condition.

Chia aids rapid development of tissue, due to its incredible nutrient profile and easy assimilation. It can be very beneficial for those healing from injuries, people like bodybuilders who are always re-forming tissues and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

They can be added dry and ground with linseed or other seeds, but the most common way to eat chia is to first soak the seeds. The nutrients then are easily absorbed. They can very rapidly absorb a large amount of liquid—between 9 to 12 times their volume, in under 10 minutes.

The Basic Gel

To make a basic chia gel, simply add one third cup of seeds to 2 cups of water. Stir the mixture well, to avoid clumping, and then leave it in your fridge, in a sealed jar. This will yield around one pint of chia gel. You can begin to eat the gel almost immediately if you like. Just 10 minutes is enough time for the gel to be formed. More of the nutrients will be easily accessible after a few hours however, so many people like to make up a batch like this and leave it in the fridge. It will stay good for about three weeks. Then you can just reach into the fridge and take out some of the ready-made gel whenever you need it. You might add it to smoothies, mix it with salad dressings, puddings or granola, or simply take it by the spoonful.

As mentioned above, chia will absorb anything—it doesn’t have to soak in water. We like soaking it in things like apple or grape juice for example. That way, the intense sweetness of the juice is also offset by the chia and it tastes great. You can also blend soft fruits—for example bananas and persimmons, then stir the chia into that mixture. Again, the longer the seeds are left to soak, the more their nutrients will be readily available to you, yet you could easily eat a meal like this in 10 minutes or less after preparing it.

You can also sprinkle the dry seeds onto salads or add them to granola mixes. You may also want to experiment with grinding them first in a coffee grinder, to make a chia flour that you can add to smoothies or soups.

Back to Eden Newsletter, Autumn 2011, No. 46.

Kaye Sehm lives with her husband in Albury, NSW Australia. She loves sharing our wonderful health message by running seminars and cooking schools promoting the way to health. She also presents classes on the many simple home remedies God has given us. Contact her by email at: backtoeden@aapt.net.au.

Health – Cheese

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Very few things are sacrosanct in this day, and cheese must now be classed among those things that have lost their halo. Cheese has been used for at least 4,000 years, and has been widely acclaimed as a healthful food. Some have claimed unusual hardiness and advanced old age for cheese users. Only recently has it been learned that cheese is not the wonder food that many had thought. There may be real dangers in its use.

All dairy products have become more suspect recently, from the association of the saturated fat of milk with the elevation of the blood cholesterol, to the transmission of many animal diseases to man through dairy products. Most of the diseases transmitted from animals are of a minor nature, resembling colds, flu, streptococcal sore throat, and other infections, but some diseases are life-threatening.

A battle is still going on with brucellosis, a disease contracted from milk which threatens the quality of life for many years, giving a chronic low grade fever and below par performance to the afflicted person. Between 1883 and 1947, there were 59 epidemics caused by cheese, with 117 deaths in the United States alone.

Now, cheese is under special attack, not because of infectious diseases which it shares with all dairy products, but because of its basic chemistry. Cheese is made by the action of waste products from molds and bacteria on milk. Most foods contaminated with molds and bacteria produce such an unpleasant flavor that few people care to eat them. Generally, an unpleasant flavor in food heralds danger, and apparently this principle holds true for cheese, since most children naturally reject their first taste of cheese and must be taught to accept it.

Changes which occur in cheese during the fermenting and “ripening” process include the production of a toxic alkaloid called roquefortine (as in Roquefort dressing), a neurotoxin which can cause mice to have convulsive seizures. All blue cheeses probably contain roquefortine. The alkaloid is produced by the mold Penicillium roqueforti. The alkaloids are all toxic and include such widely differing poisons as coniine, one of the major volatile alkaloids found in the poison hemlock plant from which Socrates met his Waterloo; to caffeine, the major alkaloid in coffee, tea, colas, and chocolate.

Another class of toxic substances includes the toxic amines. Any fermented food or beverage may contain toxic amines. They can produce changes in the nervous system which bring on headaches, palpitations, high blood pressure, migraines, and other known disorders which occur at a cellular level.

Several toxic and nontoxic amines are produced during the fermentation of milk, tyramine being among them, the amine causing migraine headaches. The only cheeses containing tyramine in insignificant amounts are creamed cheese, ricotta cheese, and cottage cheese. Some other foods containing tyramine are chocolate, herring, yeast, broad beans, chicken livers, ripened sausages (bologna, summer sausages, salami, pepperoni, etc.), meat extracts, and alcoholic beverages. If a human follows his natural taste he will avoid anything that has the faintest taint of spoilage about it.

Milk, produced by glands that are actually modified sweat glands, is naturally high in salt. Cheese shares in this high salt content. A high salt intake increases one’s likelihood of having high blood pressure.

The rennet for the curdling process in cheese making is commonly obtained from the stomachs of calves. A combination of rennin and pepsin is sometimes used, or plant enzymes derived from fungus. Pepsin is obtained principally from fresh hog stomachs. Many processed cheeses have preservatives, emulsifying agents, and other chemicals added to them, that can have a harmful effect on the body. The putrefactive process through which milk goes to produce cheese reduces the vitamin content. Cheese is almost completely devoid of water soluble vitamins. Losses of both vitamins and minerals occur with the loss of whey.

Undesirable chemicals are produced by cheesemaking that involve all three major constituents of cheese: fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. The fat in cheese is hydrolyzed to irritating fatty acids, butyric, caproic, caprylic and longer carbon-chain fatty acids. The carbohydrate of milk, mainly lactose is converted to lactic acid by putrefaction. The protein is fermented to peptides, amines, indoles, skatole, and ammonia, several of these being implicated in the production of cancer. The possibility of production of nitrosamine, one of the most powerful cancer producing agents known, is particularly disturbing. Both the nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract are irritated by certain of these substances, causing the individual to be irritable and cranky.

Of course, cheese also presents the usual drawbacks of milk such as allergies, lactose intolerance, food sensitivities, and high calorie content. Cheese contains a goodly quantity of the amino acid tryptophane, which causes after-meal drowsiness and inability to concentrate.

Certain imported cheeses have been discovered as culprits in outbreaks of food-borne gastroenteritis in the United States. As many as 120 disease-producing germs have been isolated per gram of cheese; that would be 600 germs in a teaspoon of cheese! We can say from the foregoing, that some foods generally thought to be wholesome are actually injurious to the health.

Other foods that develop a specific flavor through the activity of bacteria include sauerkraut, vinegar, pickles, butter, buttermilk, and cultured milk. The holes in Swiss cheese come from the action of gas forming bacilli, similar to those which form gas in the bowel.

Dr. Agatha Thrash, with her late husband Calvin Thrash, established Uchee Pines Lifestyle Center, Alabama. Her counsels are based entirely on Biologic Living.

Health – The Function of the Frontal Lobe

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MTV-Problems with Violence

There is a concern that many teenagers are moving from more typical television options to MTV (music television) and its imitators. This type of music programming constantly stimulates the visual senses through its provocative, fleeting images of rapidly changing scenes. Not only do the images rapidly change (even multiple images per second on occasion) but the ear is stimulated as well. This eye-ear combination seems calculated to induce an even more profound shutdown of the analytical processes.

One study that uniquely demonstrates this was done in a maximum-security mental hospital with 222 patients. During a period of about a year, patients were exposed to seven months of MTV followed by five months without it (normal TV options remained available). The results showed that aggressive behavior decreased by up to 52 percent.

The standard, modern, rapid-paced television has a well-proven negative influence on the frontal lobe. However, we see here indications that the effects of MTV are even worse.

Television and Sex

Television also effectively increases sexual activity in teens and younger children. Studies show it significantly decreases the age of first sexual intercourse. The more television watched, the lower the age for that first sexual encounter. Not only do studies show it, but the children themselves report that television encourages them to take part in sexual activity too soon.

Television Is Addictive

Most people do not realize that television is addictive. They find themselves gravitating toward the set without thinking about it, and some leave it on all day. In 1976, the Detroit Free Press conducted a survey to help determine why their newspaper circulation was decreasing. The survey results showed that most people received their news and information from television. This is unfortunate because, as we have seen, in some respects it is the poorest source of information. We can learn so much more from reading newspapers, newsmagazines, or online computer news services than by watching one-sided news clips pass before our eyes in rapid succession. Also, we may miss a point, but we cannot go back and take another look. Reading is by far a better way to review the news, learn new things, and involve our frontal lobe.

The Detroit Free Press did not stop with their survey. They went on to offer $500 to any family who would give up television for one month. The paper extended the invitation to 120 families. A total of 93 of them could not be enticed to part with their television for even thirty days. However, 27 families accepted their offer. To make sure they could not cheat, the newspaper company installed electronic devices that would interfere with any television used on their premises.

The results of the one-month trial were amazing. Family members manifested actual withdrawal symptoms. Insomnia and headaches were common. One man, noted for being a kind husband, lost his cool during the first week, became irritated, and began beating his wife. However, throughout the month, attitudes changed. At the end of the month, to almost everyone’s surprise, all 27 families said that it had been a good experience. Most of the families put their extra time to good use by getting things done around the house. One of the most rewarding findings was that the families were able to relate to each other in ways they had not done for years. They found things they could do together; their minds were more creative, and they were actually enjoying life more than when they had television.

Would they go back to television now that they earned their $500? They were generally convinced that they would do much better if they kept television viewing to a minimum. The study helped to illustrate television’s addictive allure and demonstrated that in many respects TV viewing works against us rather than for us. This study actually provides a glimpse into another danger of TV viewing: the influence of parents is greatly diminished when TV becomes the main companion to children in a home. This lack of parental involvement in the lives of children directly relates back to another frontal lobe robber: alcohol and tobacco use. Researchers from Louisiana State University Medical Centre in New Orleans, Lousiana, demonstrated this when they studied over 2,000 fifth and sixth graders for three to four years. Children who reported that their parents spent more time with them and had more communication with them were less likely to use alcohol and tobacco. They were also less likely to choose friends who used these substances. Unfortunately, research shows what we all would expect: with more television viewing, the amount of time spent in active conversation with family members significantly decreases. If television viewing is depriving us of active time spent together as a family, parents may likely reap an extremely bitter harvest.

Television Robs Spiritual Qualities

Television viewing, because of the time it takes, can keep us away from other meaningful activities and pursuits, including spending time with God. When we look at an average person’s weekly activities before and after the arrival of television, we see that the amount of time in church or in reading spiritual material such as the Bible has noticeably decreased. The reason for this probably has to do with more than TV subtly stealing away our time. Remember, television depresses activity in the frontal lobe, which is the seat of spirituality, morality, and the will. We would expect a corresponding decrease in such intangible frontal lobe qualities as spirituality and faith in God.

However, if we consider television from just the standpoint of time: it often captivates the few hours of discretionary time that we have in our day. Before television, the three most profound influences on American values were the family, the church, and the school. If the amount of time we spend in an activity directly corresponds to its power to shape our values, then in the 1950s television superseded the church. In the 1960s TV superseded the family; and by the 1970s it superseded the school. Currently, United States children spend approximately 20 percent of their waking hours watching television. The average American child, by the time he graduates from high school, has spent more time in front of the television set than he spent in 13 years in the classroom.

Many believe that these thousands of hours of random exposure to television programs have profoundly affected our nation [the United States]. They blame TV as one of the prime reasons for a decline in our nation’s moral values. Some critics would like to use legislation to fix the problem, but we should not and cannot legislate what people do in their homes. Families should set their own rules. But how can a family be motivated to set rules without being adequately informed of the injurious effects of television? Somehow, accurate information should go out to every family in America so that informed decisions can be made. If simple, healthy, and enjoyable TV-less family activities became the foundation of the home life, I believe there will be generally few regrets about abandoning the former life in which the TV set held full control.

If any are still wavering as to whether television should be emphasized less in their homes, let me summarize 17 deleterious effects of TV watching.

  • Produces a hypnotic effect, by passing the frontal lobe filtering
  • Reduces interest in reading and learning
  • Weakens brain power
  • Encourages poor lifestyle habits
  • Encourages obesity
  • Increases daydreaming
  • Weakens creativity
  • May reduce our powers of discrimination
  • Trains in non-reaction
  • Influences viewers to regard violence lightly
  • It makes children more irritable
  • Increases aggressiveness
  • Accelerates sexual activity
  • Addictive
  • Reduces time available for productive achievement
  • Steals time from family interaction
  • Adversely affects spiritual pursuits

These harmful effects collectively build a strong case for personal action—today. After all, the very moral conscience of you and your family—residing in your frontal lobes—may be hanging in the balances.

Summary List of Seven Actions to Take for Enhancing the Function of the Frontal Lobe

  • Protect the frontal lobe from mechanical injury: boxing, football, and motorcycle riding are examples of high-risk activities.
  • Prevent diseases that may damage the frontal lobe; e.g., controlling risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes, current tobacco use, heart disease, and alcohol.
  • Improve the quality of your brain’s blood supply
  • By breathing clean, fresh, well-oxygenated air
  • By taking deep breaths of fresh air you may be able to boost oxygen saturation sufficiently to improve frontal lobe function
  • Provide good nutrition. A total vegetarian diet that is free from all stimulating agents appears to be the best diet to improve the abilities of our front brains.
  • Get adequate sunshine as it increases serotonin production in the daytime. This, in turn, can help prevent depression and fatigue.
  • Challenge your frontal lobes by exercising the thinking power of your brain. Serious reading, the study of nature, asking questions about the vast world surrounding you, and other wholesome uses of your mental capacities tend to produce a salutary frontal lobe.
  • Control what you see and hear. Exposing your mind to great inspirational material will enlarge the mind and strengthen the intellect. Since spirituality, morality, and the will are centered in the frontal lobe of the brain, the inspirational material chosen should ideally appeal to your spiritual and moral being. The study of the word of God fills this requirement like no other can.

Conclusion

God has provided each one of us with the power to freely choose how we will live. And He usually does not interfere, even when we make bad choices. Truly, there is much truth in the adage that every person is the architect of his own fortune.

In view of this tremendous power that you have been given to shape your own future, won’t you take some time today to again seriously look at your lifestyle? I challenge you to reflect on your current health habits and ask yourself what you can do to take advantage of what you have learned. Try to identify some concrete steps that you can take within the next week to help protect and enhance your frontal lobe—and of course with it, your entire body. A healthful lifestyle makes sense. Do not merely follow your old ways of doing things just because they are comfortable, or “because everyone else is doing it.” In the words of Scripture, “Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:2.

Dr. Neil Nedley, M.D., Proof Positive, Nedley Publishing Co., Ardmore, Oklahoma, May 1999, excerpt from chapter, “The Frontal Lobe.”

Health – Music and the Frontal Lobe

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Few people understand the powerful influence that music has on the frontal lobe. Music enters the brain through its emotional regions.

Depending on the type of music, it can either influence the brain beneficially or detrimentally. Music therapists tell us that certain types of music, such as rock with its syncopated rhythm, bypass the frontal lobe and thus escape our ability to reason and make judgments about it. Evidence suggests that it, like television, can produce a hypnotic effect. For many years some have argued that rock music was ruining America’s youth. Recently a neurobiologist and a physicist teamed up to put this generalization to a test. They designed a study to evaluate the neurological reaction of mice to different musical rhythms. For eight weeks they exposed each of three groups of mice to different music settings. One group heard rock-like disharmonic drum beats playing softly in their environment; a second group heard classical music, while the third heard no music whatsoever. All the mice went through a standard maze test (with food at the end of the maze). On the first day, all three groups performed equally well. They groped about the maze in search of food. By the end of eight weeks, however, it was noted that the second and third groups had learned the direct path to the food. The “rock group,” however, was still groping for it, taking much longer to find the food than the other two groups.

Next there was a three week break in their maze training without music followed by maze re-tests to see how much knowledge they had retained of the maze’s course, and to see if the effect of the rock beat had worn off. Again the rock group performed poorly. They continued to have difficulty remembering how to get to their food, while the other two groups still found it quickly. The rock group seemed almost to be starting from scratch. They groped around and seemed disoriented. Both the control group and the harmonic group, on the other hand, could run the maze considerably faster, proving that their learning had stuck.

To determine why the poor performers were having so much trouble, the researchers examined their brains, looking for changes in the hippocampus, a region in the temporal lobe near the brain stem, which is usually associated with alertness, memory, and learning. They found evidence of abnormal branching and sprouting of the nerve cells, and also disruptions in the normal amounts of messenger RNA [ribonucleic acid], a chemical crucial to memory storage.

The researchers concluded that the culprit causing the memory and learning problems was the music’s rhythm, not its harmonic or melodic structure. The theory is that certain musical rhythms help to synchronize natural biological rhythms, thus enhancing body functions, while other rhythms tend to clash with, or disrupt, those internal rhythms. This is not surprising since all of our body systems function in rhythm. The study’s authors postulate that if these natural rhythms are disrupted by some kind of disharmony, detrimental effects can result, including permanent learning difficulties. This could help explain why rock music listeners are more prone to use drugs and engage in extramarital sex, and why heavy metal listeners are much more likely to consider suicide. Not only did the disharmonic rock-like music cause damage to the temporal lobes, it also caused atrophy of the frontal lobe. This atrophy would be expected to affect moral worth, learning, and reasoning power.

Harmonious types of hymns and symphonies, on the other hand, can produce a very beneficial frontal lobe response. This is the kind of musical environment in which our children should be raised—music that can produce a positive rather than a negative effect. Classical music has been demonstrated to help college students learn spatial relationships in geometry. A study showed that listening to Mozart piano sonatas significantly increased spatial temporal reasoning. Interestingly, Mozart began composing music at the age of four.

In a follow-up of the Mozart study, children three to five years of age who received eight months of group singing and keyboard lessons scored significantly higher on the “object assembly” task (arranging pieces of a puzzle to form a meaningful whole, requiring frontal lobe function) when compared to children in the same pre-school who did not receive music lessons. Another study showed that musicians who possess perfect pitch were soundly exposed to music before the age of seven.

The impact of music on shaping the character (and hence the frontal lobe) was recognized at least 23 centuries ago. Aristotle, the Greek philosopher of the fourth century B.C., recognized that music can either be beneficial or detrimental to our character, depending on the kind of music we expose ourselves to. He wrote, “Music directly represents the passions or states of the soul—gentleness, anger, courage, temperance, and their opposites and other qualities; hence, when one listens to music that imitates a certain passion he becomes imbued with the same passion; and if over a long time he habitually listens to the kind of music that rouses ignoble [degraded or vulgar] passions his whole character will be shaped to an ignoble form. In short, if one listens to the wrong kind of music he will become the wrong kind of person; but, conversely, if he listens to the right kind of music he will tend to become the right kind of person.” Aristotle unwittingly referred to the frontal lobe, where we now know the seat of our character resides.

Dr. Neil Nedley, M.D., Proof Positive, Nedley Publishing Co., Ardmore, Oklahoma, May 1999, excerpt from chapter, “The Frontal Lobe.”

Health – The Body’s Defenses

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The word “health-a-holic” is becoming very familiar to me. I am not sure if I conjured up such a word or if it has been around for awhile, but it certainly describes my insatiable appetite for health literature. The more I study, the more I am realizing how we are so “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14), and it is a good thing to understand our body’s functions if we are to take care of it. The following excerpts are taken from the book, Healing the Gerson Way, Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases, by Charlotte Gerson with Beata Bishop (Copyright 2010 by Gerson Health Media, 316 Mid Valley Center #230, Carmel, California 93923, pages 21 through 27).

The body, left to its own devices and given the right conditions, functions in order to survive and remain in the state of homeostasis (i.e., a state of dynamic equilibrium). In this state, the human organism maintains stability while adjusting to changing conditions. As soon as this stability becomes endangered, several built-in defense systems spring into action.

The Immune System

All through nature, millions of living organisms prey on others. This also applies to the human body, as it is daily exposed to attacks by germs, viruses and parasites that carry disease. Its main protector is the immune system, which has in recent times gained some recognition among the general public, mainly through advertisements offering preparations “to strengthen the immune system.” Irrespective of whether or not these work, people buy them without knowing anything about the immune system—what it consists of or where it is located—yet the subject deserves attention.

The immune system is not a single organ or a single gland; its parts are located all over the body. Several organs (e.g., the liver, the brain and the pancreas) are so important that they have their own immune mechanism—the reticuloendothelial system, which gives them extra protection.

There is also the lymphatic system, which transports excess fluid from body tissues into the bloodstream. The lymph itself is a straw-colored liquid containing cells that fight infection. The system consists of some 700 nodes in a normal person, distributed all over the body. Unlike the blood stream, circulated through the pumping action of the heart, the lymph is moved around the body by muscular action.

However, the main basic component of the system is located in the bone marrow, where the white blood corpuscles are formed. When they are released, they are not complete. Some wander to the thymus gland, where they are completed, and released as T lymphocytes; others drift to the spleen and lymphoid tissue and mature into B lymphocytes. All of them ingest germs, viruses, malignant cells or toxic substances, killing or otherwise neutralizing them.

As all other parts of the organism, the immune system is made up of cells that need to be nourished. They require a full complement of minerals, enzymes and vitamins in their natural form, which is easily assimilated. Pills and drugs cannot cover that need; sometimes they are not absorbed at all. Here, as in the rest of the body, the need is for fresh, living, organic substances to nourish and maintain this essential life-preserving system.

The Enzyme System

Enzymes are often poorly understood by the lay person. According to one authoritative definition, they are “complex proteins that are capable of inducing chemical changes in other substances without being changed themselves.” Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: F. A. Davis Company, 1993). Everything that happens in the body—from taking a breath in order to supply oxygen to the blood, to digesting food and then to combining digested foods with oxygen in order to produce energy—hundreds of such processes require enzyme activity.

The body must build its own enzymes since it cannot utilize the ones found even in raw foods or animal products. In order to produce the hundreds needed, the organ systems require specific minerals as catalysts. (Catalysts are substances that speed up a reaction without themselves being altered.)

Researchers Dixon and Webb, Malcolm Dixon and Edwin C. Webb, Enzymes (New York, New York: Academic Press, Inc., 1964), performed a detailed study as to how the body builds enzymes. They found that, in most of the enzymes they studied, the body needed potassium as a catalyst, while sodium acted as an enzyme inhibitor (i.e., a blocking substance). Since enzymes are destroyed at temperatures above 140° F (60° C), the body receives no enzymes from cooked or processed foods. If it doesn’t receive fresh living nutrients … serious difficulties will arise. This is particularly true for patients already facing major health problems such as poor digestion, poor appetite, constipation, diarrhea and painful gas. The pancreatic enzymes are not doing their job of attacking tumor tissue and the oxidizing enzymes are not producing adequate energy, to name just a few deficiencies.

The reason why enzymes, especially pancreatic ones, are able to attack and destroy tumor tissue while digesting foods is because they recognize tumor cells as “foreign,” needing to be eliminated. However, the basic function of these same enzymes is to digest proteins. Since the average diet is high in animal proteins, most of the pancreatic enzymes are used for digestion and little—if any—is available to destroy tumor tissue, allowing the latter to grow and spread.

Clearly, inadequate enzyme activity is one of the major problems with which sick people, especially cancer patients, must contend. The answer lies in providing them with toxin-free, fresh organic food … Moreover, supplying extra doses of digestive and pancreatic enzymes is an integral part of the Gerson protocol, alongside fresh juices with their high oxygen content.

The Hormone System

Hormones are substances found in certain glands that are released directly into the blood stream and are therefore called endocrine (i.e., ductless) glands.

The thyroid deserves special attention, as it is an important part of the immune system. Among its many other functions, it regulates body temperature, including fever. If and when the organism is invaded by germs or viruses, the immune system responds by producing excess heat, namely fever. We must remember that most germs and viruses, and even tumor tissues, do not tolerate elevated temperatures, which healthy cells can easily bear. Hence, the well-functioning thyroid helps to restore health if it is supplied with iodine, which it needs in order to manufacture its vitally important hormone—thyroxin.

These days, iodine is unfortunately in short supply. Chlorine in the water supply is able to remove it from the thyroid. Fluoride, a dangerous toxin, is even more powerful in blocking this important element. In addition, as a consequence of commercial farming methods, the soil contains too little iodine, thus producing iodine-deficient plant foods. In recognition of this, the governments of many countries have made it compulsory to add iodine to ordinary table salt on the grounds that, as the public already used a great deal of salt, everybody was likely to consume some iodine with it. High salt consumption, on the other hand, is now known to be unhealthy and is, in fact, officially discouraged, resulting in a serious shortfall of iodine even in people on a good diet. (See “Excessive Sodium is One of the Greatest Health Threats in Foods,” World Health Organization (WHO) report from October 2006 meeting in Paris, part of the implementation of the WHO’s Global Strategy on Diets, Physical Activity and Health.)

Other enzyme inhibitors include food additives such as preservatives, emulsifiers, coloring agents, artificial flavors and many other so-called food cosmetics, plus pesticides and other agricultural poisons in our food supply—the hormone system, an important part of the body’s defenses, is itself under severe attack.

The Mineral Balance

In order to function well and keep its defenses strong, the body needs a large number—some 52 or so—minerals. On the Gerson Therapy, this requirement is amply fulfilled by the generous supply of fresh organic juices made from produce grown on rich soil. However, Dr. Gerson also recognized that two minerals, sodium and potassium were mainly involved in creating mineral imbalance in the body.

The human body has become a “potassium animal,” needing some 90% potassium versus 10% sodium in its diet—the approximate percentage found in natural, fresh, organic vegetarian foods. Yet, these days, the average modern diet is far removed from these proportions; instead, it is overloaded with sodium, which the body must excrete. Excess sodium is an enzyme inhibitor. … It has also been shown to stimulate tumor growth and produce edema, as the body ties it up with water to reduce its toxicity. (See M. Gerson, A Cancer Therapy: Results of Fifty Cases and The Cure of Advanced Cancer by Diet Therapy: A summary of Thirty Years of Clinical Experimentation, 6th ed., San Diego, California: Gerson Institute, 1999, p. 210).

To remedy this situation, Dr. Gerson introduced large amounts of potassium to the patient’s diet. … This resulted in an immediate reduction of edema, ascites and pain. He also noticed that adding any other minerals, such as magnesium, calcium or iron, disturbed the patient’s mineral balance and caused damage. His main warning was against adding calcium to the diet. He discovered—with his close friend, top biochemist Rudolf Keller (Ibid., p. 64), that calcium belonged to the sodium group of minerals and stimulated tumor growth. Even in cases of severe bone destruction by tumor tissue, or in osteoporosis, the Gerson treatment—with its high level of well-balanced minerals—is capable of achieving bone restoration. In light of all this, it is easy to see why mineral balance is an important component of the body’s defenses.

God has provided us with a beautiful body temple and has supplied all of the wonderful fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes to uphold and nourish it. Will you think twice before eating something that will damage your body temple, a gift from God?

Health – Casein, Small Ingredient, But Big Trouble!

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It is becoming more and more necessary to carefully read the ingredients label on your packaged foods. If you are vegan, then you need to keep an eye out for the word casein. It is crucial to review and to learn about any new developments with ingredients.

The book, The China Study, by T. Colin Campbell, PhD., [1 Edition BenBella Books, Dallas, Texas, December 11, 2004] contains fascinating information on health and diet. If you have not read it, I would highly suggest you get a copy and read it from cover to cover.

Dr. Campbell explains the apparent link between the occurrence of cancer (and other diseases) and the consumption of animal protein. The following is an excerpt from page six of his book:

“It was important to understand not only whether but also how protein might promote cancer. …

“What we found was shocking. Low-protein diets inhibited the initiation of cancer by aflatoxin, regardless of how much of this carcinogen was administered to these animals. After cancer initiation was completed, low-protein diets also dramatically blocked subsequent cancer growth, In other words, the cancer-producing effects of this highly carcinogenic chemical were rendered insignificant by a low-protein diet. In fact, dietary protein proved to be so powerful in its effect that we could turn on and turn off cancer growth simply by changing the level consumed.

“Furthermore, the amounts of protein being fed were those that we humans routinely consume. We didn’t use extraordinary levels, as is so often the case in carcinogen studies.

“But that’s not all. We found that not all proteins had this effect. What protein consistently and strongly promoted cancer? Casein, which makes up 87 percent of cow’s milk protein, promoted all stages of the cancer process. What type of protein did not promote cancer, even at high levels of intake? The safe proteins were from plants, including wheat and soy.”

Casein is thick, coarse and often used to form the strongest glue known to man.

“Protein-based glues are durable and water-resistant. One type is casein glue, or milk glue, which can permanently bond porous materials like wood and paper. Casein glue has been used since antiquity; the Ancient Egyptians used it as an adhesive and paint medium.” Clare Edwards. Ms Edwards has been providing Internet content since 1998. She has written and translated for a variety of markets: everything from technical articles to short fiction and essays on alternative spirituality. She holds a certificate of higher education in electronics and audio arts from Middlesex University.

A recipe to make this super strong “casein glue” can be found at: www.ehow.com/how_8452451_make-super-strong-permanent-glue.html.

Casein is also a strong mucus-forming substance that can cause respiratory problems. There is 300 percent more casein in cow’s milk than in human milk. Due to this high amount of casein in the diet, the human respiratory system can become clogged and irritated. See www.livestrong.com/article/257495-casein-protein-dangers.

You can also find casein in some of the powdered soymilks. Fast foods often contain casein—and in seemingly unlikely places like French fries. The buns—and all baked goods whether from a fast-food restaurant or not for that matter—usually contain casein.

Foods that say “non-dairy” or appear to be non-dairy can actually contain casein, according to FAAN. This includes non-dairy whipped toppings. It also includes soy cheese, which is marketed as an alternative to dairy cheese, according to Mike Adams, editor of naturalnews.com. It might also be beneficial to get into the habit of reading the labels and watch out for artificial butter flavor and margarine.

Processed foods often contain casein. It will not always be labeled as such. Look out for milk solids, lactose, sodium lactylate, and any other ingredient that starts with “lact.” Even the vinegar flavoring in potato chips contains casein. There is also the risk of cross-contamination when products are made on equipment that has been used for another product that contains a milk ingredient. Watch the brands of the soy cheese and many of the milk powders, including coconut, that you choose because many of them also contain casein.

Many people are not concerned with the so-called little things, but it is often the little things with their hidden dangers that can lead to large health problems, so we need to exercise wisdom. We are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14) and Paul said, “ Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” I Corinthians 3:16, 17.