Part 14 (1/2)
The ability to energize the SOEFs enables us to reverse the aging process to some degree. This occurs because the body becomes more organized in its functioning. Aging is the progressive disruption of the functioning of the living organism. Aging is an increase in entropy or level of disorganization. Energizing the SOEFs reverses the entropic process of aging. As a physician I see this reversal of aging all the time in clients who have come to me to improve their level of health. Those who change their eating habits and lifestyles toward more harmonious and SOEF-energizing ones seem to get younger.
These natural laws are no mystery. They are described in many spiritually based healing systems such as Ayurveda and the Essene ”Tree of Life” tradition. When natural law is followed, people have a tendency to feel more flexible and energetic, mentally clear, and to experience improvement in all their overall bodily functioning. To clarify this point, there was a study reported at the American Geriatric a.s.sociation convention in 1979 involving 47 partic.i.p.ants whose average age was 52.5 years. It found that people who had been meditating more than seven years were approximately twelve years younger physiologically than those of the same chronological age who were not meditating. Meditating is a very powerful way to increase the energy of the SOEFs.
A simple physical experiment with a gla.s.s of brown sugar in water can help to metaphorically ill.u.s.trate how energy and order are complementary. If the water in the gla.s.s is not stirred, the brown sugar lies in a lump on the bottom. When the water is stirred, which adds energy to the system, a vortex swirl of water is formed which is a.n.a.logous to adding energy to the SOEFs. Into this vortex the brown sugar is also swept and takes a well-defined physical shape corresponding to a well-organized body function. However, when we take the spoon out, the vortex swirl of water immediately starts to become diffuse because energy is no longer being added to the system. Corresponding to this fall in energy, the brown sugar loses the clarity of its form. This is similar to what happens when we live in ways that deplete the SOEFs, with the result that we create by our lifestyles a disorganization in the body and mind.
Although this new nutritional way of thinking, like the old M & M theory, has not been conclusively proven by rigorous scientific standards and may not be until the necessary scientific instrumentation is developed, the SOEF model provides a useful way to understand the processes of health, disease, and aging. It gives us a new and more complete way to experience and think about how we take in our nutrition from nature.
The Choice of Vegetarianism.
IN MAKING THE CHOICE TO BECOME A VEGETARIAN, many subtle personal resistances and cultural and religious doubts often arise. There is also a great deal of pseudo-scientific rumor and fear that has been created in the public mind about vegetarianism. This section is specifically designed to address those questions. Contrary to current mainstream thinking, vegetarianism cannot be conveniently labelled and discounted as a health food or New Age fad. It is part of a spiritual and cultural tradition that goes back thousands of years.
The Judaic-Christian tradition and many of the oldest religions and spiritual paths of the world have strong histories of vegetarianism: Hinduism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, the Yoga tradition, Pythagoreans, and the Essenes are but a few. Currently, it appears that the Judaic-Christian tradition does not support vegetarianism, but there is ample evidence that in the original purity and simplicity of the Judaic-Christian tradition, there is strong support for vegetarianism. The point of this section is to help people let go of what they perceive as religious traditions that do not support vegetarianism so they can feel comfortable in their particular tradition and with their vegetarianism. Once given this information, people are in a position to make a more educated choice.
Preview of Chapter 13.
IN THIS CHAPTER WE WILL EXPLORE some basic guidelines for a healthy diet. The most healthy gift of life, according to the scientific evidence, is food in its organic, whole, natural form just as G.o.d has given us, and the healing power of the sun, water, and earth from which we draw sustenance. In short, if it is not broken, don't try to fix it. Are we ready to accept G.o.d's gifts as they are presented to us?
I. Criteria for judging dietary recommendations II. General guidelines to healthy eating A. Eat natural foods B. Eat whole foods C. Eat organic foods D. Eat primarily fresh, live foods E. Eat a high-complex-carbohydrate, low-protein, and low-fat diet III. Sunlight and health.
IV. Breathe, bathe, and work the earth.
V. Quality of thoughts affects nutrition.
General Guidelines for a Healthy Diet.
A CONSCIOUS EATING APPROACH TO A HEALTHY DIET includes going beyond our personal biochemistry to understanding diet as a way of consciously relating to the world. I call this the harmony of wholeness. It is understanding diet from the perspective of its impact on the top-soil, water supplies, air, animal population, human population, and its effect on peace in the world. Unfortunately, it now must also include the new art of learning how to live in a polluted, radioactive environment and in a society that is estranged from nature. The more artfully we can adapt ourselves, despite the nonsupportive culture we live in, the more we will be able to enhance our communion with the Divine. The fruits of our efforts will be increased harmony with our own evolution and the world.
The general diet that best fits with the harmony of conscious eating is vegetarian. A vegetarian diet allows us to follow all the general health guidelines that I will be discussing in this chapter, especially suggestions one through five. This recommendation does not contradict the concept of individualizing one's diet because within the realm of vegetarianism it is completely possible to individualize a diet that accounts for const.i.tutional type, acid-base balance, heating or cooling, yin or yang balance, the seasonal changes, work, meditation, prayer and other spiritual needs, digestive power, state of health, and all other factors a.s.sociated with developing an individualized diet. Although there will always be exceptions to this suggestion of vegetarianism, just remember that I am asking you to explore the question with me from many different aspects.
In presenting the dietary recommendations contained in this book, I subjected information to three basic criteria. The first is: Does it fit with economically and politically unbiased research conducted to date? For this research I look to such organizations as the International Society for Research on Nutrition and Diseases of Civilization (ISRNDC). Founded by Albert Schweitzer, M.D., the ISRNDC is comprised of several hundred top researchers, physicians, natural healers, and scientists from more than seventy-five countries. The organization is not supported by any industry, profession, or vested economic interests.
I also have looked to the doc.u.mented experience of authoritative teachers and natural healers of great integrity, such as Paavo Airola, Ph.D., Dr. Bircher-Benner, Dr. Max Gerson, and Dr. Edmond Bordeaux Szekely In the case of Dr. Szekely, over a thirty-year period at Rancho La Puerta, Mexico, he had greater than a 90% recovery rate with more than 123,000 patients with all types of health problems, including cancer, using an essentially 80-100% live-food, vegetarian diet. If people were very ill they would be put on a 100% live-food diet and then go back to a maintenance 80% live-food diet.
The second criterion for considering dietary recommendations is: Are my health recommendations in accordance with the historical evidence of thousands of years of actual practice in various cultural settings?
For example, nowadays vegetarianism is considered by some a novel and extreme way of eating; but vegetarianism is not a new idea nor is it farfetched. Vegetarianism is recommended in the ancient Persian Zend Avesta of Zoroaster, which predates the Bible by thousands of years. The Essenes, who were reported by several historians to have had an average life span of 120 years, followed vegetarianism and the principles espoused in this book. My general recommendations are also consistent with what I believe to be the diet recommended by the Greek spiritual teacher and mathematician, Pythagoras.
Studies of some of the healthiest cultures in the world, such as the Hunzas, Vilcabamban Indians, Mayans, and various other groups with a high number of centenarians, found that they all followed diets similar to the vegetarian diet which I suggest you explore in your process of conscious eating. Of course, not all these cultures ate exactly the same diet. For example, in South America, the primary grain is corn. In Hunzaland, the primary grain is wheat, et cetera. Most were completely vegetarian, although some, such as the Hunzas, ate a trace of flesh food on a monthly basis or for celebrations.
The third criterion for considering dietary recommendations is: Do my recommendations fit with my own personal and clinical experience as a physician working with clients since the early 1970s? Consistently, I have observed that the basic vegetarian pattern of diet and lifestyle recommended in this book has worked to bring health, joy, and spiritual inspiration for thousands of clients I have seen since 1973.
The points I make for a general program of good health and conscious eating are essentially those made by the International Society for Research on Nutrition and the Diseases of Civilization. The following is a list of these suggestions.
1. Eat natural foods.
THESE ARE FOODS GROWN UNDER NATURAL CONDITIONS on organic and fertile soil. These foods are consumed in unprocessed form in their natural state. Food is not natural if it is grown in depleted, chemically treated soil. These unnatural products of unnatural soil are sprayed with herbicides or pesticides. They often are picked prematurely and processed by heat or irradiation. This unnatural produce is sometimes genetically altered so that it can withstand long s.h.i.+pping distances and still look good cosmetically Commercial methods of growing foods have significantly altered the natural growing process. Commercially grown foods may sometimes look better than organically grown products, but the quality and nutritive value of these synthetically grown fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, and legumes have been greatly reduced. The nutritive value of organically grown foods is usually significantly superior to those foods grown commercially in the same local soil. One major study at Rutgers University found that organic produce had an average of 83% more nutrients in it. Of course, even the nutritive value of organic foods will vary from soil to soil. Because of this, I recommend eating a variety of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes, and grains so that one is a.s.sured of getting the full spectrum of nutrients. In other words, rotate and vary plant intake, and if possible, buy foods from a variety of organic sources.
The entire world food supply depends on the quality of the soil. According to Topsoil and Civilization, every great nation has risen and fallen according to the quality of its topsoil. The sustenance of all animal life comes primarily from the vegetable life that is grown on this soil. The health of humanity depends on the health of the soil. Nutrition begins with the top-soil.
This crucial understanding has not been significantly appreciated by the commercial food producers or by most dietetic schools. We can no longer speak about a beet or a carrot as if they had a static nutritional content. The nutritional content of a food can vary tremendously, depending on the quality of the soil and the growing methods.
There are several other major problems with commercial growing. The use of synthetic fertilizers in the short term might produce what appears to be abundant growth and large-sized produce, but in the course of this process commercial growers add chemicals that upset the soil's ecological balance and thus the natural harmony between the plants and the soil. The plants become overstimulated and hurried in their growth when forced to mature too rapidly. The natural rhythm of their metabolism is disrupted so that they fail to fully transform their starches and acids into their normal plant sugars. They also fail to absorb valuable minerals. This problem is compounded by the common commercial practice of picking the fruits and vegetables before they are ripe so they can be s.h.i.+pped with minimal loss of produce. Because of this, most commercial fruits and vegetables are not ripe when they reach our kitchen tables. Not only does the produce have less taste, but some of the produce tends to be acid- rather than alkaline-producing in the body. These foods usually are deficient in nutrients, and their resistance to disease is decreased. When humans eat these less vital plants, we also become less vital and more p.r.o.ne to disease.
Not only does synthetic, commercially grown produce give less nutritive value, but it requires the use of pesticides and herbicides to eliminate insects and fungal growth on these less resistant plants. Many of these herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides are also very poisonous to humans. These poisons seep into the interior flesh of the plant from both the surface and through the roots. No matter how much plants are washed, they still contain these poisons because they have been absorbed on a systemic, cellular level. These human-made poisons also kill the normal soil bacteria and the earthworms that help form the humus which is so important for the plant's optimal growth. Unfortunately, even when some of the more toxic sprays are banned in this country, they are used in other countries whose produce we import, so that they come back to us in a roundabout way. In my own organic garden, I did not even spray with organic pesticides. I let the insects take their share and there was always plenty left for my family.
Unless we pay attention to our harmony with the topsoil, we humans, who are created out of the dust of earth, will return much sooner to personally re-fertilize it. The overall quality of our nutrition begins with the topsoil and continues through the normal development and harvesting of the plant. When these factors are considered, a healthy diet is more likely to be created, with its corresponding health dividends for us.
The best way to ensure maximal nutrition is to either grow your own organic produce or buy only organic produce to supply your needs. A nice way to buy organic produce is to locate a farmers' market where organic produce is sold. These markets can be found in many cities as well as the country. Introduce yourself directly to the farmers and find out about their farming methods. By doing this, your food and the person who grows it are no longer anonymous. In this way you become part of the food cycle.
Health and longevity exist in a direct relations.h.i.+p to the degree of naturalness of the foods you eat. Dr. Airola points out in Are You Confused? that nutritional researchers such as Dr. Weston A. Price, Vilhjamur Steffansson, Dr. McCarrison, and Arnold DeVries all studied the dietary habits of many ”primitive” cultures and found that when their diets were comprised of natural, unprocessed, locally grown foods, the people had ”no disease or tooth decay.” When these same cultures began to use denatured, processed foods such as white flour and white sugar, canned foods, and insufficient amounts of uncooked foods, these researchers found that the ”primitive” populations began to suffer from dental decay and the degenerative diseases of modern civilization.
Arnold DeVries studied the historical records of the North and South American Indians; Eskimos; Asian, African, and Australian aboriginals; and New Zealand Maoris. He found that all of them enjoyed excellent health, fertility, no tooth decay, fast and relatively painless childbirth, and minimal degenerative disease at comparable ages to those in our culture. As soon as processed foods of any sort were introduced into their culture, general health began to decline, childbirth became painful, and tooth decay became prevalent.
2. Eat whole foods.
WHOLE FOODS ARE THOSE that have not been fragmented or adulterated in any way. Whole foods contain all their original nutrients. They have been neither refined nor enriched. Every time a chemical or nutrient is added or subtracted from a food, the natural balance is disrupted. As described earlier, the yin/yang balance of the food and the proper synergy of all five elements are disrupted. After thousands of years of eating natural and whole foods, our bodies have become biologically programmed to utilize them in their natural state. When the composition of the foods is altered with additives, preservatives, dyes, microwaves, irradiation, or even cooking, the body is only partially able to readjust. The eventual result is an early onset of chronic degenerative diseases, as suggested by the cultural studies and the evidence all around us.