Saturday 29 March 2014

In Case of Digestive Problems... Allergies...

In cases of digestive problems the following guidelines should be kept judiciously...
  1. do not mix fruits and vegetables... and combine other foods intelligently.
  2. eat yeast bread that is at least 2 days old... better still use no leaven at all... or at least eat it in the form of Zweiback.
  3. do not use baking soda or powder in cooking and baking.
  4. eat foods in as natural a state as possible...
    • no refined sugar... and minimize raw sugar use,
    • minimize the use of healthy oils, and
    • no white flours or white rice.
  5. eat simply.... simplify dishes and do not crowd into meals more than 2, 3 or 4 dishes.
  6. masticate your food well.
  7. do not drink liquids with your food... drink water 30 mins. before or 2 hrs. after.
  8. do not eat food that is too hot or too cold.
  9. regularity in meal times.
  10. no eating between meals, that is... no snacking!
  11. two meals are better than three.
  12. the last meal should be at least several hours before bed.
  13. eat meals five to six or more hours apart.

There should not be a great variety at any one meal, for this encourages overeating, and causes indigestion.
It is not well to eat fruit and vegetables at the same meal. If the digestion is feeble, the use of both will often cause distress, and inability to put forth mental effort. It is better to have the fruit at one meal, and the vegetables at another.
(1905) M.H. 299, 300 (CD 112).

If we would preserve the best health, we should avoid eating vegetables and fruit at the same meal. If the stomach is feeble, there will be distress, the brain will be confused, and unable to put forth mental effort. Have fruit at one meal and vegetables at the next.
Y.I., May 31, 1894 (CD 395).

Disturbance is created by improper combinations of food; fermentation sets in; the blood is contaminated and the brain confused.
The habit of overeating, or of eating too many kinds of food at one meal, frequently causes dyspepsia. Serious injury is thus done to the delicate digestive organs. In vain the stomach protests, and appeals to the brain to reason from cause to effect. The excessive amount of food eaten, or the improper combination, does its injurious work. In vain do disagreeable premonitions give warning. Suffering is the consequence. Disease takes the place of health.
(1902) 7T 257 (CD 110).

Knowledge in regard to proper food combinations is of great worth, and is to be received as wisdom from God.
Letter 213, 1902 (CD 109).

Bread which is two or three days old is more healthful than new bread.
Letter 142, 1900 (CD 317).

Bread should be light and sweet. Not the least taint of sourness should be tolerated. The loaves should be small, and so thoroughly baked that, as far as possible, the yeast germs shall be destroyed. When hot, or new, raised bread of any kind is difficult of digestion. It should never appear on the table. This rule does not, however, apply to unleavened bread. Fresh rolls made of wheaten meal, without yeast or leaven, and baked in a well-heated oven, are both wholesome and palatable.
(1905) M.H. 300-302 (CD 316-317).

Zwieback, or twice-baked bread, is one of the most easily digested and most palatable of foods. Let ordinary raised bread be cut in slices and dried in a warm oven till the last trace of moisture disappears. Then let it be browned slightly all the way through. In a dry place this bread can be kept much longer than ordinary bread, and if reheated before using, it will be as fresh as when new.
(1905) M.H. 300-302 (CD 317).

The use of soda or baking powder in breadmaking is harmful and unnecessary. Soda causes inflammation of the stomach and often poisons the entire system. Many housewives think that they cannot make good bread without soda, but this is an error. If they would take the trouble to learn better methods, their bread would be more wholesome, and, to a natural taste, it would be more palatable.
(1905) M.H. 300-302 (CD 316).

Hot biscuit raised with soda or baking powder should never appear upon our tables. Such compounds are unfit to enter the stomach. Hot raised bread of any kind is difficult of digestion.
R. & H., May 8, 1883 (CD 319).

Grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables constitute the diet chosen for us by our Creator. These foods, prepared in as simple and natural a manner as possible, are the most healthful and nourishing. They impart a strength, a power of endurance, and a vigor of intellect, that are not afforded by a more complex and stimulating diet.
(1905) M. H. 295, 296 (CD 81).

Grains and fruits prepared free from grease, and in as natural a condition as possible, should be the food for the tables of all who claim to be preparing for translation to heaven.
(1869) 2T 352 (CD 63).


Fruits, grains, and vegetables, prepared in a simple way, free from spice and grease of all kinds, make, with milk and cream, the most healthful diet.
[C.T.B.H. 47] (1890) C.H. 115 (CD 314).

Some fall into the error that because they discard meat, they have no need to supply its place with the best fruits and vegetables, prepared in their most natural state, free from grease and spices.
(1870) 2T 486, 487 (CD 399).

Sugar is not good for the stomach. It causes fermentation, and this clouds the brain and brings peevishness into the disposition.
MS 93, 1901 (CD 327).

The grease cooked in the food renders it difficult of digestion.
[C.T.B.H. 46, 47] (1890) C.H. 114 (CD 354).

Do not have too great a variety at a meal; three or four dishes are a plenty. At the next meal you can have a change. The cook should tax her inventive powers to vary the dishes she prepares for the table, and the stomach should not be compelled to take the same kinds of food meal after meal.
R. & H., July 29, 1884 (CD 109).

It would be much better to eat only two or three different kinds of food at a meal than to load the stomach with many varieties.
Letter 73a, 1896 (CD 110).

There should not be many kinds at any one meal, but all meals should not be composed of the same kinds of food without variation. Food should be prepared with simplicity, yet with a nicety which will invite the appetite.
(1868) 2T 63 (CD 110).

Many are made sick by the indulgence of their appetite. . . . So many varieties are introduced into the stomach that fermentation is the result. This condition brings on acute disease, and death frequently follows.
MS 86, 1897 (CD 110).

The variety of food at one meal causes unpleasantness, and destroys the good which each article, if taken alone, would do the system. This practice causes constant suffering, and often death.
Letter 54, 1896 (CD 110).

In order to secure healthy digestion, food should be eaten slowly. Those who wish to avoid dyspepsia, and those who realize their obligation to keep all their powers in a condition which will enable them to render the best service to God, will do well to remember this. If your time to eat is limited, do not bolt your food, but eat less, and masticate slowly. The benefit derived from food does not depend so much on the quantity eaten as on its thorough digestion; nor the gratification of taste so much on the amount of food swallowed as on the length of time it remains in the mouth. Those who are excited, anxious, or in a hurry, would do well not to eat until they have found rest or relief; for the vital powers, already severely taxed, cannot supply the necessary digestive fluids.
[C.T.B.H. 51, 52] (1890) C.H. 120  (CD 107).

Food should be eaten slowly, and should be thoroughly masticated. This is necessary, in order that the saliva may be properly mixed with the food, and the digestive fluids be called into action.
(1905) M.H. 305 (CD 107).

Many make a mistake in drinking cold water with their meals. Food should not be washed down. Taken with meals, water diminishes the flow of saliva; and the colder the water, the greater the injury to the stomach. Ice water or ice lemonade, taken with meals, will arrest digestion until the system has imparted sufficient warmth to the stomach to enable it to take up its work again. Masticate slowly, and allow the saliva to mingle with the food.
The more liquid there is taken into the stomach with the meals, the more difficult it is for the food to digest; for the liquid must first be absorbed.
[C.T.B.H. 51] (1890) C.H. 119, 120 (CD 106).

After the regular meal is eaten, the stomach should be allowed to rest for five hours. Not a particle of food should be introduced into the stomach till the next meal. In this interval the stomach will perform its work, and will then be in a condition to receive more food.
In no case should the meals be irregular. If dinner is eaten an hour or two before the usual time, the stomach is unprepared for the new burden; for it has not yet disposed of the food eaten at the previous meal, and has not vital force for new work. Thus the system is overtaxed.
Neither should the meals be delayed one or two hours, to suit circumstances, or in order that a certain amount of work may be accomplished. The stomach calls for food at the time it is accustomed to receive it. If that time is delayed, the vitality of the system decreases, and finally reaches so low an ebb that the appetite is entirely gone. If food is then taken, the stomach is unable to properly care for it. The food cannot be converted into good blood.
If all would eat at regular periods, not tasting anything between meals, they would be ready for their meals, and would find a pleasure in eating that would repay them for their effort.
MS 1, 1876 (CD 179)

Regularity in eating should be carefully observed. Nothing should be eaten between meals, no confectionery, nuts, fruits, or food of any kind. Irregularities in eating destroy the healthful tone of the digestive organs, to the detriment of health and cheerfulness.
(1905) M.H. 384 (CD 180).

Children are generally untaught in regard to the importance of when, how, and what they should eat. They are permitted to indulge their tastes freely, to eat at all hours, to help themselves to fruit when it tempts their eyes, and this, with the pie, cake, bread and butter, and sweetmeats eaten almost constantly, makes them gormands and dyspeptics. The digestive organs, like a mill which is continually kept running, become enfeebled, vital force is called from the brain to aid the stomach in its overwork, and thus the mental powers are weakened. The unnatural stimulation and wear of the vital forces make them nervous, impatient of restraint, self-willed, and irritable.
Health Reformer, May, 1877 (CD 181).

When traveling, some are almost constantly nibbling, if there is anything within their reach. This is a most pernicious practice. Animals that do not have reason, and that know nothing of mental taxation, may do this without injury, but they are no criterion for rational beings, who have mental powers that should be used for God and humanity.
R. & H., July 29, 1884 (CD 182).

Gluttonous feasts, and food taken into the stomach at untimely seasons, leave an influence upon every fiber of the system.
Health Reformer, June, 1878 (CD 182).

Regularity in eating is very important for health of body and serenity of mind. Never should a morsel of food pass the lips between meals.
[C.T.B.H. 50] (1890) C.H. 118 (CD 181).

For persons of sedentary habits, late suppers are particularly harmful. With them the disturbance created is often the beginning of disease that ends in death. In many cases the faintness that leads to a desire for food is felt because the digestive organs have been too severely taxed during the day. After disposing of one meal, the digestive organs need rest. At least five or six hours should intervene between the meals; and most persons who give the plan a trial, will find that two meals a day are better than three.
(1905) M.H. 304 (CD 173-4).

A second meal should never be eaten until the stomach has had time to rest from the labor of digesting the preceding meal. If a third meal be eaten at all, it should be light, and several hours before going to bed.
(1865) H. to L., ch. 1, pp. 55-57 (CD 174).

The stomach, when we lie down to rest, should have its work all done, that it may enjoy rest, as well as other portions of the body. The work of digestion should not be carried on through any period of the sleeping hours.
(1865) H. to L., ch. 1, pp. 55-57 (CD 174).

...eat less frequently and less liberally, and be satisfied with plain, simple food, eating twice, or, at most, three times a day. The stomach must have its regular periods for labor and rest; hence eating irregularly and between meals, is a most pernicious violation of the laws of health.
(1865) H. to L., ch. 1, pp. 55-57 (CD 174).

The stomach must have careful attention. It must not be kept in continual operation. Give this misused and much-abused organ some peace and quiet and rest. After the stomach has done its work for one meal, do not crowd more work upon it before it has had a chance to rest and before a sufficient supply of gastric juice is provided by nature to care for more food. Five hours at least should elapse between each meal, and always bear in mind that if you would give it a trial, you would find that two meals are better than three.
Letter 73a, 1896 (CD 173).

Saturday 22 March 2014

Immune System, Weak (cure for)

Increase

  • Antioxidants
    • Provitamin A (ex. carrot)
    • Vitamin C (ex. broccoli, red pepper (Night-shade family))
    • Vitamin E (ex. sunflower seeds)
    • Flavonoids
  • Proteins
  • Trace Elements
    • Zinc (pumpkin seeds)
    • Selenium
    • Copper
    • Etc.
    • Sources: sesame seeds, blackstrap molasses (Refined product), wheat germ (Refined product)
  • Garlic
  • Alfalfa (sprouts)
  • Tomato (Night-shade family)
  • Citrus fruits (Non local)
  • Kiwi (Non local)
  • Acerola (Non local)
  • Oils (Refined product)
  • Propolis (Supplement + Animal product)
  • Royal Jelly (Supplement + Animal product)
  • Yogurt (Animal product)

Decrease

  • Alcoholic beverages
  • White sugar
  • Shellfish
  • Total fat
  • Coffee

Sunday 9 March 2014

Two Important Messages Concerning Health...

   To many in different places the Lord will give intelligence in regard to health foods. He can spread a table in the wilderness. Health foods should be prepared by our churches who are trying to practice the principles of health reform. But as surely as they should do this, some would say that they were infringing on their rights. But who gave them the wisdom to prepare these foods?--The God of heaven. That same God will give wisdom to His people in the different countries to use the productions of these countries in preparing health foods. In simple, inexpensive ways, our people are to experiment with the fruits and grains and roots in the countries in which they live. In the different countries inexpensive health foods are to be manufactured for the benefit of the poor and for the benefit of the families of our own people.
 Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 271.

Two important principles are contained in this quote which must be a part of any true health message:
  1. Health is available to all people, both rich and poor.
  2. Use local products/produce.

Saturday 22 February 2014

Back to Nature...

And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
Genesis 2:8

There is a profound truth here expressed. Our modern life has become very unnatural and it is killing us. We need to step back from our modern way of doing things... of what we eat, and how we work, and how we take care of ourselves. We need to evaluate what we put into our bodies and what comes into contact with our bodies and see if we might not be able to do things in a more natural way, as God intended. Otherwise, science is saying, we are headed for truly painful times.

The Healthiest Food in the World

Grains and fruits prepared free from grease, and in as natural a condition as possible, should be the food for the tables of all who claim to be preparing for translation to heaven.
Ellen G White, Councils on Diet and Foods, p. 63.

Science is starting to scream out that this is so very true and a truth so needed in this world. If you want true health... eat as close to the garden as possible! 

Health... the Study of a Lifetime!

To keep the body in a healthy condition, in order that all parts of the living machinery may act harmoniously, should be a study of our life.
Ellen G White, Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, p. 53.


Some Simple Detox Treatments

1) Lemon treatment: This treatment is conducted over a two-week period. The first day one drinks the juice of one lemon diluted in water one-half hour before breakfast. On consequent days one lemon is added up to seven. From that point the order is reversed back down to one lemon on the last day.

Note: it is important to include the peel (if pesticide-free) because many of the aromatic terpenes, which have great medicinal value, are concentrated in it. The most abundant of these is d-limonene with its proven detoxifying effects.

Warning: the use of more than one lemon a day on a continued basis should be avoided in the case of gastroduodenal ulcers, chronic constipation, or anemia.

2) Grapefruit treatment: This may be done with the whole fruit or the juice. This treatment begins by eating a grapefruit on an empty stomach (whole fruit or juice), two the next day, and so forth up to five. When five a day has been reached, reduce the dose by one each day down to one.
For the next five days continue eating one grapefruit a day until completing the two-week course of the treatment.

Note: it is advantageous to eat the whole grapefruit including the white layer just beneath the peel and between the sections with its pectin-rich fiber.

Warning: certain phytochemicals of the flavonoid group found in grapefruit, particularly naringine, act to inhibit the activity of enzymes responsible for metabolizing certain medications. Two known types of drugs that interact with grapefruit are calcium channel blocking agents, (nifedipine and similar drugs) used in cases of coronary heart disease and hypertension, and cyclosporine, an immunsuppressant used in organ transplant cases, particularly of the kidney.

3) Grapefruit juice treatment: A glass of grapefruit juice on an empty stomach each morning. The best results are obtained by following this regime for a month, resting one or two days a week.

4) Lifetime treatment: Juice from one freshly squeezed lemon in one quart of warm water drunk on an empty stomach one half-hour before breakfast.

Wednesday 15 January 2014

Recommendations for One Battling Cancer

   First, put your trust in God. He loves and cares for you and knows what you are going through. Tell him of your fears and worries. Lay every care on him and trust that he will see you through. You are free to ignore this advice if you which but I strongly suggest you do not.
   Remember that there is a war going on inside your body, your bodies defenses against the cancer. You should do everything you can to make the battlefield, your body, as inhospitable to the enemy as possible. Cancer, like disease in general, thrives in an acidic environment therefore you want to promote an alkaline environment as much as possible. Fruits and vegetables are alkaline promoting in general so eat a lot of them. Grains and legumes are slightly acidic so eat less of them. Meats, eggs, and dairy products, very acidic, so eat very little, preferably none at all!!
   Since your body is a battlefield realize that that means there is a lot of destruction going on with a lot of ensuing toxins/waste. Do not hinder your waste elimination systems, the bowels, kidneys, and sweat glands. Drink plenty of water (1 o.z per 2 pounds of body weight per day) to help with elimination through the sweat glands and kidneys. Eat plenty of fiber in its natural state, i.e. whole grains with their fiber intact, to keep the bowel moving and clean. Go to the toilet when your body says it needs to. Holding feces in the bowel may lead to the reabsorption of toxins contained in the feces. Also the longer the bowel walls are exposed to toxins the greater the risk of developing bowel cancer. Eating at regular times helps to maintain regularity and thus minimizes likelihood of constipation and the ensuing risks of toxin reabsorption and exposure. Ideally you should have one bowel movement per meal. Fast once a week to give your body that extra time and energy (since it won't be digesting food) to eliminate waste/toxins.
   Keep you army, your immune system at its peak. Do this by supplying it with the best nutrition. Give it lots of fruits and vegetables which are full of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals, which are needed to keep your immune system strong but also many of which are cancer fighters themselves. Avoid refined sugars which paralyze your immune system. Avoid processed "white" foods which have had much of their vitamins and minerals removed making them empty calories that steal your much needed vitamins and minerals from other foods. Get plenty of rest, sleeping earlier rather than latter. Much of your bodies regenerating occurs early in the night. Trust in God. There is nothing like stress to weaken the immune system so give that stress to God. Take contrast showers to increase the number of white blood cells in the body. A contrast shower consists of 30 secs of hot followed by 10 secs of cold and repeating this alternation three times. Take one day off from work a week. Exercise. Juice which supplies your body with nutrients in an easily absorbable form.
   Minimize the toxic load on your body, and thus the needless expending of your energy in eliminating it, by avoiding the intake of external toxins as much as possible and the needless creation of them internally. Use as much organic food as possible. Get as much outdoor fresh air as possible... outdoor country air if you can. |Eat at regular times, separating meals by 5-6 hrs, don't drink during meals, less than 20 mins before one or less than 2 hrs after, and don't snack between meals. Digestion is semiautomatic meaning your body remembers when you eat regularly. It will prepare the necessary digestive juices for the meal before hand so that when a meal comes around, food is digested optimally leading to fewer toxic waste products. Meals generally take about 4-5 hours to leave the stomach. Snacking puts food into a stomach who's contents have not fully digested. The added snack food causes the stomach to restart the digestion process and a lengthened digestion beyond the normal 4-5 hrs means fermentation takes place and with it the formation of toxins.
Eat more raw food. Raw food has its enzymes intact thus reducing the energy requirements for digesting. 

So in summary:
1) eat more fruits and vegetables
2) eat organic foods as much as possible
3) eliminate animal foods or at least reduce their consumption
4) eat at regular times, with 5-6 hrs between meals
5) don't snack between meals
6) don't drink during meals, less then 20 mins before or less than 2 hrs after
7) get plenty of sleep, earlier rather than latter
8) get plenty of fresh air
9) trust God
10) contrast shower
11) drink plenty of water
12) eat whole foods, avoid processed foods and refined sugars
13) don't hold off on going to the bathroom; have regular bowel movements, ideally one per meal
14) exercise
15) fast once a week
16) eat more raw
17) juice

Sunday 12 January 2014

Sweet Pea Hummus

Sweet Pea Hummus

3 c. fresh or frozen sweet peas, thawed
6 cloves garlic
2 tsp sea salt
2 tblsp cumin
1/2 c. lemon juice
1/4 c. olive oil
1 large avocado

Blend together until smooth.

Saturday 11 January 2014

Basic Whole Wheat Bread

Basic Whole Wheat Bread

1 c. warm water
1 tsp sea salt
1 tblsp blackstrap molasses
1 tblsp olive oil
1 tblsp yeast
2-3 c. whole wheat flour

Note: I usually double this recipe for a loaf of bread

Instructions:
Assuming yeast is active, mix all ingredients except flour. Mix in 2 c. flour. Add in more flour, while mixing, if needed,  until dough balls up in the center of the bowl. Flour surface and hands and knead bread for approx. 15 mins. Place in a warm bread pan and place in a warm place until dough doubles in size. Bake for 30 mins. at 350 F.



Tuesday 7 January 2014

Oil: Organic or Not?


When choosing an oil, always, if possible, choose organic. In plants, as in animals, many toxins, such as PCBs, are stored in the fat. Thus, it is safest when using a concentrated plant fat, such as olive oil, to use only those which are organic otherwise you not only get the fat but also, potentially, a source of concentrated toxins.

Monday 6 January 2014

Simple Salsa Raw Wrap

Simple Salsa

4 c.    diced tomato
1/2 c. diced red or white onion
2 jalapeno peppers, seeds removed, diced
2 tsp. salt


A delicious meal (well, part of one) idea... a cabbage and Simple Salsa!

Take a cabbage leaf...


add some Simple Salsa...


roll it up and enjoy!


So delicious!! Try it! You will like it!

Saturday 4 January 2014

Today... Rest!

Today is the Sabbath. That means 'rest' in Hebrew. And in this world of ever increasing stress, ever increasing demand for higher productivity; ever increasing demand for greater speed, we need that... rest... more than ever. But we need not only rest but peace too. True peace can only come from our Creator; from getting to know him. So, turn off and tune out. Disengage yourself from the world for a moment.
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath [rest] of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work [...]:  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Exodus 20:9-11
Get out in nature and unwind. Take a good long look at the beauties of this world and forget the rush of life for 24 hours. Get to know the Creator through his creation. Spend time with family and friends building up those relationships too. You will not only feel rested but you will be blessed too!

Friday 3 January 2014

Avocado Tree

One of the avocado trees I am growing. The other side of health, gardening!


Thursday 2 January 2014

Another New Year, Once Again...

Another new year has come once again and with it those new year resolutions that we always find so hard to keep. Perhaps one of those resolutions, that you have made this year, has to do with health... If so, then, I would like to help you to reach your goal(s). Daily we are bombarded with new health fads vying for our attention and hard earned cash and with the multitude of information out there, how do we sort through it all? In the days to come I shall share with you the principles that I have learned which will not only help you to sift through this abundance of information but will also give you the health and happiness you seek. So to our future journey together... and a Happy New Year!

James