Today’s Wednesday…since Sunday I’ve been doing my best to up the percentage of raw food in my diet.  It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time but it’s only since I weaned my daughter that I felt I could make such an important change.  The move to a healthier diet usually brings on a detox reaction wherby stored toxins (exogenous and endogenous) are forced out of the body.  Since breast milk is an excellent detox route, I thought it best to wait a little.  So now, here I am.

The big question, of course, is why?  Why go raw?  Doesn’t it seem a little extreme?  The reason is simple:  I want to feel better.  I eat well, and have done for years.  But I suffer from fatigue and persistent runny noses, repeated outbreaks of herpes - on my nose to make it even better - and cellulite.  Now, none of these puts me in danger of a fast trip to the morgue.  But neither are they indicators of robust good health.  My body is communicating to me that something is out of order and if I’m not prepared to listen to my own body’s messages, then who is? I started to notice a few months ago that my “healthy” morning porridge (oats, flax seed, apple and maple syrup) left me feeling like I wanted to crawl back into bed about 15 minutes after eating it.  I also noticed that the lovely plates of pasta dished up by my Italian partner - a food I ate rarely before meeting him - had the same effect.  Fifteen minutes after lunch, I wanted to curl up in siesta land until further notice.  Sleeping and resting is normal and good, but persistent fatigue even when you get enough rest is not normal.  And I have so much that I want to do, so many things I want to accomplish, so many hopes and dreams and so much darn motivation that being hindered by fatigue was becoming terribly frustrating.  The inability to fulfill your dreams leads to a profound sense of internal agitation.  That feeling that something is just wrong.

So why raw?  Well, I know that eating animal flesh is out of the question for me.  And I’m about as healthy a vegetarian as is possible.  So what’s the logical step?  Supplementation?  Unnatural, expensive and devoid of Life Force.  So, for me, raw foods seem the most sensible next step.  I mean, it is patently obvious that no other mammal eats cooked food.  Or rather, the only other ones that do - domestic pets - end up suffering the same chronic illnesses as their cooked food masters.  My mother gave our cat daily insulin shots when she developed diabetes after a lifetime of obesity, so I know of what I speak.  Raw food just feels right.  Crunchy, colourful, tasty, zingy, energetic fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouts, and even raw eggs and milk products, all conserve their vital energy, their Life Force, and then share it with the one eating them.  I look at a plate of cooked veggies and for all their deliciousness, you can tell that they’ve lost something.  Why raw?  It just feels right.

Is it extreme?  No, I don’t think so.  There are far fewer rules of Raw than in the average fad diet or detox plan.  Take, for example, the blood group diet.  You find out you’re Type O and suddenly you’re striking huge numbers of foodstuffs off your list. Or the Atkins diet, which looks simple but you try eating close to 0 carbs…it’s not an easy diet.  Nor is the GI diet, which  requires a detailed knowledge of the glycemic index of all the foods you consume, a simple diet to follow.  As a nutritionist, I know that it’s very, very hard to follow a whole list of do’s, don’ts, sometimes maybe dependings…With raw food you basically eat what you want, as long as it’s raw.  There are lots of raw vegans out there, but there are equally many who eat raw meat and other animal products.  Kind of like bears, you know?  Also, I would not think of converting my daughter to a raw diet until I am fully conversant with the scope and functioning of the scheme.  Of course, she instictively enjoys raw foods like carrots, broccoli, tomato, parmesan (yep, real Parmesano Reggiano is made with raw milk) and sprouts.  So as I incorporate new recipes into my diet, so will she.  But no, I’m not a kook and I don’t experment on the bodies of others…my own physical sheath is my living laboratory.

So it’s been three days…I’m not aiming for 100% right away…or maybe even ever.  But I am eating more than 50% raw already and I feel a difference.  Also, I’m sticking to my New Year’s Resolution to give up English tea, so that helps.  But I already wake up with more energy, move a little faster, a little more lightly on my feet.  I feel the wonderful, gentle energy of the raw foods that I eat nourishing my pranic body and think:  raws feels better, raw feels right.

stuffed dates

Above is my first raw invention:  dates stuffed with hemp seed, goji berries, almonds and stone ground tahini.

Two articles caught my eye today: firstly, the BBC reports on a Spanish study concerning the addition of nuts to the diets of overweight people deemed to have “metabolic syndrome”. The researchers found that the addition of nuts to the so-called Mediterranean diet resulted in a reduction of waist girth, blood cholesterol levels and blood pressure. Almonds are a particularly beneficial food and have been shown to reduce appetite if eaten before a meal. This is thought to be due to their oleic acid content, but could be due to their high-quality protein and carbohydrate content. Almonds are also considered to be “pre-biotic”, in that they nourish and support the growth of beneficial bacteria in the large intestine.

A second article concerning fats was published in today’s Independent. Titled “Low-fat diets: Not fit for purpose“, the author discusses the lack of evidence behind the promotion of a low-fat diet, and charts the rise in obesity against the lowering of fat consumption. I think it’s really unfortunate that the author chose not to distinguish between types of polyunsaturated fats: those in the know understand that there is an optimum ratio of omega-3:omega-6 polyunsaturated fats in the diet and that the problem is that we are eating waaay too much omega-6’s. We should have about equivalent intakes of both types (that’s a 1:1 ratio). I do think it useful that he highlights the benefits of saturated fats in the diet: indeed lauric acid, as found abundantly in butter and coconut oil, is highly beneficial for the human organism. Yay butter! Boo margarine!

My personal experience bears testimony to this current research: I grew up in a household where tiny rations of butter were scraped onto bread, and margarine was routinely used in baking. As for oil, a drop of sunflower or canola oil was used to fry onions, but there was certainly no sign of olive oil, oily fish or flax seed oil. My brother and sister and I all suffered terrible hay fever. My sister has struggled with ezcema all her life and my brother developed asthma in his late teens. When I converted the vegetarianism at the age of 14, I had no concept whatsoever or eating well. I basically gave up meat, then moved out of my mother’s house and survived on whatever my meagre restaurant skivvy’s salary could provide me. Basically, bread, ramen noodles, margarine, peanut butter, and probably some healthier stuff like fruit in between the beer-drinking sessions. Needless to say, I also developed ezcema, had terribly itchy and dry skin, fine, sparse hair and incredibly dry eyes, especially when my hay fever kicked in around May. As I ‘grew up’ I improved my diet and paid great attention to eating well and getting fit. But, it was not until I read Udo Erasmus’ book “Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill” that I realised how I’d been punishing my body. I began taking flax seed oil and eating plenty of avocadoes, butter, and occasionally oily fish (yes, in contrary to my veggeir principles). I don’t think that I need to tell you that I no longer have bad skin or hair.

so, if you’re still not getting a regular dose of omega-3’s (and I mean daily), then what the heck are you waiting for?

Karma yoga is one of the four pillars of Yoga:  it is the yoga of action as described by Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita.  It supposes righteous adherence to duty (dharma) whilst remaining detached from the fruits of the labour.

Since becoming a mother 21 months ago, my Hatha yoga practice has suffered grave insults.  Rarely do I practice asanas more than twice a week and frequent are the weeks when I don’t practise at all.  However, since the beginning, I have retained in my head the concept that I am actually practising Karma yoga in the raising of my child.  In the week in which Karen Matthews was convicted of kidnapping her own daughter in order to secure reward money, it emerged that she was deemed to be unable  “…to successfully place the children’s needs above her own”.  This inability is the manifestation of a juvenile mindset; unable to delay gratification, unable to empathise.  Children are born egotists - they have no concept of a parent’s desire to sleep late, or skip dinner, or not go out for a walk on a rainy day.  Children…want…now.  And our role, as parents, is to both satisfy their needs whilst teaching them slowly to recognise that their needs and desires don’t always coincide with everybody else’s.

And so, parenting, I practice Karma Yoga.  When my daughter needs me, I give.  Love, hugs, food, attention, play, education.  Whether I achieve the objective of detachment from the results of my labour, I do not yet know.  Perhaps, perhaps not.  I suppose it’s natural that in teaching her to speak I hope to create an articulate, polite, well-spoken human being, and that in teaching her to eat I hope to develop a balanced palate, open to new flavours and textures, alive to the possibilities of healthy food and not numbed by doses of salt and sugar.  How to detach from the outcome then?  I know that it will create less anxiety at mealtimes if I detach from the desire to raise a healthy eater and instead focus on the action itself:  the feeding, the nourishing.  But, man, it’s difficult for me that she’s already choosing bread and jam over porridge and flax seeds, or pasta with tomato sauce over vegetable and barley soup.  Yes, the options should not even be available, but her rejection of lovingly prepared foods means that she goes hungry, and so I fail on both counts:  neither do I feed nor do I nourish.  And we all go to bed hungry:  she physically and I spiritually.

And so I practice daily the yoga of devotion and action.  My karma yoga as a parent stretches my limits in a way that other things have not.  I believe that parenting actually makes us better people.  I love the quote “adults don’t make children, children make adults”.  The ancient yogis had firm respect for the phases of life:  they far from believed that all of us are made to sit alone on a mountaintop in meditation until we reach Enlightenment.  In fact, one yogi in a city makes more positive change in the everyday world than do ten yogis in retreats.  And of course, the later phases of life, the renouncement, the time for contemplation, come after the family is grown and the career realised.

And so, I try not to stress about missing my hatha practice.  For today, too, I will detach from the fruits of my labour and love an cherish my daughter without thinking of her eventual adulthood and whatever surprises it may hold.  Om shanti peace.

I have lost count of the number of times I’ve advised single guy friends to take up yoga.  Not only for the obvious physical and mental benefits, but for the social opportunities yoga classes offer.  Anyone who’s ever been to a yoga class can attest that the ratio of men to women is not typically representative of society.  In other words, yoga classes are full of women.  Indeed, NAMASTA reports that fully 77% of US yoga practitioners are women.

So I have to say:  guys, what’s up with you?  I know so many women who are yearning for a better, healthier life and being held back by their partners.  I found it extremely instructive working with older British women through my post with Age Concern.  Given that women outlive men in almost all industrialised nations, I found myself working with many widows.  Although they missed their deceased husbands, what they did not miss was mealtimes.  Or rather, meal preparation.  They had lived through marriages of 40, 50 years and been confined to plates pleasing to the palates of their menfolk.  In their newfound independence, many opted for lighter, healthier foods ceasing altogether the preparation of roasts and fry-ups.  And this is not something confined to the older generation:  a good friend of mine has recently ended a 7-year relationship and what she is most excited about is amplifying her daily menu.  No more nursery food (chips, beans, pies) and hello again to chard, sweet potatoes and vegetables other than tomatoes.

I went to a yoga class whilst on a recent jaunt in Madrid.  10 attendees, all women.  The teacher is a friend of a friend, in a long term relationship with a child.  I innocently asked if her partner practises yoga as well.  To guffaws, I was told that no, indeed not.  In fact, he likes to sneak bits of meat to the kid - something his spouse abhors - and enjoys a sniff of cocaine on a night out.  You know, I wondered why she spent so much time on the 3rd chakra (Manipura), the seat of personal power.  I mean, if your own partner can’t bring himself to stop taking drugs or at least not give meat to the kid, then you’d have to feel yourself up against a big, immovable wall.  I would also cultivate my personal power.

Which brings me to the core of this post.  I am lucky enough to have someone to love, who loves me.  He is wonderful.  But he smokes, he starts the day with sugary black coffee, he eats white bread with jam, he thinks that buying organic vegetables is a waste of money, etc etc.  I’ve gotten him as far as recycling and he’s added superoods like gojis and seaweed to his existing vegetarian diet (he does eat pretty well compared to many) but you know, I still feel like my travels on my own path are slowed by the continuing presence of nasties in the cupboards.  I don’t know if I was happier when I was purer, but I know that striving to be the best I can brings me mental calm.  And of course, it would be easier in two.

So, guys, what are you waiting for?  Why are you so hooked on beer, doobs and cigarettes? Why is is that you’d rather tear a ligament once a month playing 5-a-side football than get down on a yoga mat and actually care for your body?  I can’t help thinking that the tyranny of the andro-centric society condemns us all to shorter, unhealthier lives.

I got my hands on 250g of SALDAC-brand powdered Maca (€14) at the Eco Altea market. It’s a whitish-grey powder with a slightly sharp taste. There’s something about it that reminds you of it’s cousin, the radish. Purported to have all sorts of health benefits - Incan superfood, prime ingredient in a raw-vegan diet - maca has been scientifically proven to improve sperm count and motility in human men. (1).

A couple of days ago, I finally got my hands on two products I’ve wanted to try for some time:  coconut oil and stevia.  Coconut oil (cold pressed, virgin) contains mostly saturated medium-chain fatty acids, predominantly lauric acid.  It is solid at room temperature, opaque and white.  It has no taste or odour.  Like ghee (clarified butter), it can withstand very high temperatures and is thus very useful in cooking.  The reason it is more stable at high temperatures is because of its saturated fats.  I bought a brand called Cocosa.  I used it this evening to make a curry and I must say, I was very impressed!  I cooked the spices at a high temperature without any sign of burning and the resulting flavour was fantastic!  The jar I bought cost about €10 for 500gm, so it’s not cheap.  But, it is useful if you need to cook at high temperatures.  Of course, you can make your own ghee from unsalted butter, but butter has a less favourable fatty acid profile than coconut;  it contains 12-15% medium-chain fatty acids, while coconut contains about 45%.

These fatty acids (medium chain) also have antimicrobial, antitumor and immune-system-supporting properties, especially 12-carbon lauric acid, a medium-chain fatty acid not found in other animal fats. Highly protective lauric acid should be called a conditionally essential fatty acid because it is made only by the mammary gland and not in the liver like other saturated fats.⁶⁵ We must obtain it from one of two dietary sources—small amounts in butterfat or large amounts in coconut oil. (http://www.greenpasture.org/products/butter_oil/properties)

Stevia is a plant native to Central and South America. It is known for it’s sweetening properties.  I was surprised to find it on the shelf as it is supposedly banned for use in food in the EU due to concerns about the possibly carcinogenic metabolic by-products of its breakdown.  I bought a small bottle of 20% concentrate, with alcohol and water.  I tasted some straight and found that it does taste sweet - not sugary though - and that the concentrated product does have a funny aniseed-y aftertaste.  I put two or three drops in my coffee and must say that it did sweeten it, but not in a sugary way.  I dunno.  I love honey, not sugar.  I am not sure if stevia can replace the complex and subtle sweetening of a good honey, but it’s handy to have on hand.

Overall, it’s nice to come across an ever-increasing range of healthy products here on the Costa Blanca.

The BBC has an interesting story about a woman diagnosed with ovarian cancer after presenting with thickened palms as her only noticeable symptom. This quote struck me as relevant to MLD therapists and our clients:

…recent research had given doctors more to go on when trying to pick out ovarian cancer.

A paper published in July concluded that the disease was not actually the silent killer that was commonly believed and the key is to look more seriously at women who have persistent bloating.

This symptom was associated with a five times higher risk of ovarian cancer whereas bloating that came and went was not linked with the disease.

The BBC today ran a story concerning the use of paracetamol in babies under one year old and the later probability of developing asthma. It appears that frequency of use elevates significantly the risk of later developing this alarming respiratory condition.

This is perfectly in keeping with the Naturopathic theory of suppression, which holds that suppressing the body’s natural defenses - in this case fever - leads to dis-ease moving deeper into the system, only to be expressed in a more severe form later on. So, if the baby develops a fever it means that there is something wrong. Maybe an allergy, maybe a reaction of a vaccination, maybe just sore teeth. But by dampening down the fever with paracetamol, the baby’s body is rendered unable to rid itself of the offending matter, be it bacterial, viral, environmental or otherwise. Therefore the body becomes loaded with this material, and when it is strong enough to mount another elimination reaction - most likely a fever - it will probably again be suppressed by paracetamol.

Over the years, the child’s body is weakened by repeated, frustrated healing crises with the result that more severe symptoms begin to appear. Disease in the allopathic view is nothing more than a collection of symptoms, often without specific cause (strange, I know, but that’s how they think). So a child with repeated shortness of breath and or allergic-type reactions in the nose and mouth is said to have allergic-type asthma. Or perhaps over-reactive airways. But the root cause of the problem - whatever caused the fevers in the first place - is never examined. And so the child is set up for life to suffer the indignities of being ‘asthmatic’ and using bronchio-dilating inhalers, forking money over to Big Pharma and being out of touch with their own body’s calls for help. Ta-da.

Here’s another article detailing the many benefits of regular consumption of flax seeds. This article comes from the perspective of mental health, so of interest to anyone suffering from depression, malaise, inability to concentrate, difficulties sleeping or lack of emotional balance. The original artricle is here: http://www.naturalnews.com/017048.html, but I shall copy it below, in case it gets moved:

What can transform someone from being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and chronic fatigue syndrome to a state of total mental and physical wellbeing? As James Boschman discovered, omega-3 fatty acids can work those wonders and more. Within three weeks of incorporating flax seed — the highest known vegetable source of omega-3s — into his diet, he was sleeping normally and, in his words, “not crazy anymore,” as the omega-3 fatty acids leveled out the wild fluctuations in his brain.

After experiencing flaxseed’s amazing abilities for himself, Boschman spent the next 15 years researching omega-3 fatty acids and eventually began the flaxseed packaging and distribution company Randolph & James Flax Mills Ltd. During his Winter 2005 lecture on essential nutrition, he brought this unique and delicious flaxseed and his wealth of knowledge to share at the First Annual Arizona Choices Exposition in Tucson, Ariz., and all those attending the lecture learned what a little dietary flaxseed could do for this modern mental illness epidemic.

Omega-3 deficiency is a major cause of mental illness in North America, according to Boschman. Food manufacturers don’t use ingredients high in omega-3 fatty acids because they grow rancid quickly. Since money ranks ahead of good nutrition, they use hydrogenated oils, which have a long shelf life but also create trans fats in the foods as a byproduct of the hydrogenation process. Research links trans fats to cancer, heart disease and a number of other chronic diseases, making them the “number one killer in North America today,” says Boschman.

As a result of our processed-food-rich diets, we’re consuming large amounts of omega-6 fatty acids and little or zero omega-3 fatty acids, which is a recipe for feeling “stressed out,” as too many people often are. Stress, caused by events like someone cutting in front of you in traffic, turns on the production of adrenaline from omega-6 fatty acids, according to Boschman. Think of it as an “on button.” The problem is that we need omega-3 fatty acids to turn off the stress response, which is precisely why there are so many high-strung people in our omega-3-deficient society. They simply lack the “off button” required to stop their bodies’ responses to everyday stressors.

However, omega-3 deficiency is linked to much more than angry drivers yelling out their windows. Boschman believes that the lack of the essential fatty acid in pregnant women might be a cause of both postpartum depression and the development of symptoms popularly diagnosed as ADHD, Tourette’s syndrome and even mental retardation in the delivered child. During pregnancy, almost all of a woman’s omega-3 reserves are used to form the brain of the developing fetus. If she doesn’t increase her intake of the essential fatty acid accordingly, postpartum depression can occur. Additionally, if her body lacks enough omega-3 to form the fetus’ brain sufficiently, and the child is not given proper omega-3 through diet or supplements during the first two years of life, then Boschman believes one of three brain disorders will occur, depending on the severity of the deficiency:

* ADHD (relatively less deficient)
* Tourette’s syndrome
* Mental retardation (severely deficient)

In this sense, these three brain disorders are part of the same continuum, all with the same root and the same necessary preventative measure.

However, all flaxseed is not created equal, says Boschman. The higher the latitude where the crop is grown, the higher the seeds’ omega-3 content. Randolph & James Flax Mills Ltd. packages and distributes organic flaxseed grown north of the fifty-third parallel, which is then milled and packaged one bag at a time so less peroxidation occurs. This way, you eat flaxseed that smells and tastes fresh. Randolph & James is also the only manufacturer that tests for E. coli and other biological contaminants, according to Boschman. These safety measures guarantee you high-quality, delicious and safe flaxseed every time.

Boschman ended his lecture by opening up a new bag of Randolph & James Flax Mills Ltd. flaxseed for his lecture attendees to sample. What a flavor! You could actually taste its fresh and wholesome nature. Randolph & James Flax Mills Ltd. doesn’t have a website, but you can order many of their products online through other companies. Just type the company’s name in any search engine.

Go home to rachel-rose.net

Working as a masseur in a hotel, I meet a lot of different people.  For a brief moment we enter each other’s lives.  Some are talkers, most are quiet.  My hands do the talking and I take everything in because like it or not we who work in natural health are constantly diagnosing -looking at the skin, the eyes, the hair, the nails, smelling, feeling, sensing.  It becomes second nature.  Sometimes you get in wrong but mostly you get the vibe.

This weekend I saw a couple of people twice.  When someone presents with a big, recent scar on their body it’s only professional to inquire as to its origin.  “A year and a half ago, colon cancer.  What a scare, all better now.” Whew, I think.  “So you’re looking after yourself, eating plenty of fiber?”

As I work I  get that cigarette smell you detect on smokers even if they’re washed and haven’t had a fag in hours.  There’s a staleness in the skin and breath.  You just know.  And sure enough  I saw the gentleman, fag in hand, upon my return to work today.

It makes me wonder, what makes us do it? I am a reformed smoker, and we are always the worst.  But we are this way because we know that once you really want to quit it’s not so hard. I reckon that most smokers smoke because they like it and are addicted, and that’s all there is to it.  It’s subtracting something pleasurable to eliminate cigarettes from your life(style).  But surely if you’ve had cancer, undergone the horrible treatments of surgery and radiation and/or chemotherapy, that would be incentive enough to stop smoking?  I mean, how clear a message do you need?

I remember the day (night) that I decided to stop taking drugs.  I started experimenting in my mid-teens and moved with a crowd where drug-taking was considered both normal and substantially risk-free.  I carried on with peaks and troughs until New Year’s Eve 1998-1999.  I had been clubbing like crazy in London for over 18 months, sleeping little imbibing lots. Weekends turned to weekdays…it was messy at times.  And then one night the whole world went brown.  I was at a house party, I got paranoid, it was NYE so getting home was impossible, I was trapped, high, unhappy.  At first light I started walking. I got home about 4 hours later (think Queen’s Park to Clapham Junction).  I put on the electric fire, dragged my eiderdown into the living room and drank tea and rang friends in Canada.  It was not a great day.  But you know what?  I stopped taking drugs.  I stopped drinking and I stopped smoking.  Like that.

So if that’s enough to stop me killing myself slowly with chemicals, surely cancer is enough to stop an educated, intelligent mature man from smoking himself to the oncology clinic?  Or is it?