Why People – Especially Kids – Are Not Getting Enough Minerals (and What to Do About It)

by Donna Gates for BodyEcology.com

You care about your kids and give them fruits and vegetables, but did you know many of today’s foods are mineral deficient? Here’s how to boost your health and that of future generations with foods rich in precious vitamins and minerals.

Once upon a time, people grew and harvested fruits and vegetables that they used to make healthy, whole food meals. Those fruits and vegetables were full of vital nutrients from the land and nourished the bodies of those who ate them, helping them to grow healthy and strong.

Today we’re told to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables as part of a healthy diet, but even if you are eating them, something is most likely missing.

Our produce no longer has all the nutrients we need.

In fact, the USDA has reported that there is a 25-80% decline in the mineral content of the foods we eat.¹

Whether a result of over-farming, pesticides, genetically altered seeds, decreased soil quality, or fertilizers, one thing is for certain: Americans young and old are mineral deficient because our food supply no longer gives us the nutrients we need.

Dangerous Mineral Deficiency

Taking in significant amounts of minerals is an overlooked and underemphasized reason why so many of us are not really healthy today. It greatly contributes to early and needless aging. Active in every single function of your (and your child’s) body, minerals are absolutely essential to good health.

Consider the Japanese, who many years ago consumed a diet very rich in minerals. Their diets consisted of sea vegetables at every meal. They enjoyed good health exemplified by their dark, shiny hair, few wrinkles, calm and focused demeanors, and long lives.

Gradually, though, the influence of the West has taken over.

Many modern Japanese have abandoned their traditional ways of eating in favor of processed foods, caffeine and sugar. These mineral-depleting foods cause gray hair, wrinkles and other signs of premature aging. The Japanese are now just as concerned as we are about their children’s health. We are all seeing a generation of young children and teens who are intellectually very bright, but are unable to sit still and focus. Read on and I’ll explain why.

Tying the dots of research together will show you that mineral deficiencies play a major role in these changes and this has long been a factor in the declining health of adults and children the world over.

The major reasons we are now lacking minerals are:

• Decreased amount of minerals in our food supply
• Consumption of mineral depleting processed foods
• Eating too much sugar
• Relying on caffeine for energy
• High stress lifestyles
• Lack of quality sleep

The Many Health Benefits of Minerals

It is so important that it must be stated again: minerals are active in every single function of your body.

Here are just a few of the almost endless examples of the health benefits of minerals:

• Magnesium helps convert blood sugar to energy, and is the ‘anti-stress’ mineral.
• Calcium is the most abundant mineral in your body; it initiates DNA synthesis, maintains bone health and strong teeth.
• Potassium maintains acid/alkaline balance in your blood.
• Zinc promotes proper nerve, immune and digestive health and boosts immunity.
• Phosphorous helps maintain heart regularity, provides energy and aids in metabolism of fats and starches.

When you are mineral deficient, your whole body suffers.

But nowhere in your body suffers more from mineral deficiency than your adrenals.

Your adrenals are walnut sized glands that sit on top of your kidneys. The workhorses of your body, healthy adrenals ensure that you have lots of energy, help you sleep soundly, and regulate your brain, heart, liver, digestive, endocrine, and nervous systems. We age because our hormone levels decline each decade, and minerals are a vital nutrient for the organs in our body that produce our hormones.

Your adrenals are also an integral part of your body’s response to stress. To be healthy our adrenals need feeding. And what they like to eat are minerals, B Vitamins and plenty of Vitamin C.

Unfortunately, one of the major ways we “stress out” our adrenals is by not feeding them with the minerals they need to function. When our adrenals are mineral deficient, we may suffer from insomnia, have an acidic, achy stomach and have trouble digesting food. Our hormones will be out of balance, we feel sluggish and tired, gain weight, feel depressed and have difficulty concentrating.

So feeding your adrenals with minerals is important for everyone, especially children and teens who are not only growing but who will become the future parents of the world. Create healthy children and teens, help them create a healthy new generation of babies someday and we can turn around the health crisis on the planet.

Minerals are so important that it’s critical to nourish your own adrenals even before you have children AND extra amounts of minerals should be taken by a mother-to-be when she is creating a new life inside her womb!

Research has shown that when a pregnant woman experiences stress during her pregnancy her fetus experiences stress too. Stress has a negative effect on the mother’s adrenals, but it also affects her baby’s newly-forming adrenal cells.

One research study shows that when babies experience stress in the womb the cells of their adrenals are expanded and become weak. The study showed that these children were highly intelligent but could not handle stressful situations.  They had trouble focusing and sitting calmly in school. They had trouble going to sleep at night.  (Sound familiar?) This certainly helps explain behavioral and learning problems after birth. Research also indicates that children whose mothers experienced stress during pregnancy may be at greater risk for mental illness later in life.² (This may explain the climbing rate of teen depression today and depression among those of African American decent.)

Clearly our current epidemics of mental health problems and developmental disorders like autism and ADD can be traced back to poor nutrition, environmental toxins and stressful lifestyles. Fortunately, Body Ecology has a number of wonderful solutions to offer the world at this time.

From conception, our children are not receiving the valuable minerals they need to grow healthy and strong. For those of us who are well past childhood, the fatigue, stress, chronic diseases, and deterioration of our bodies indicate that mineral deficiency is taking its toll.

But if we can’t depend on our food supply to nourish us with the minerals we need, what are we to do?

Simple Antidote to Mineral Deficiency

I created the Body Ecology system of health and healing as a mineral-rich antidote to our modern world.

By following the Body Ecology diet, you can replenish your body with the minerals it needs, not only to function properly, but also to attain vibrant health! Whether you are a parent yet or not, a diet rich in minerals will prepare you to pass on a legacy of health to our most precious resources: the next generation of children.

Here are 6 easy tips for you to reclaim your health and get missing minerals for you and your kids:

1. Choose organic foods. When you dine on organic foods, you are eating foods that more flavorful but are free of toxic pesticides AND have more vitamins and minerals. Organic farmers have strict rules for keeping the soil mineral rich, like the soil that kept our ancestors healthy and safe from mineral deficiency.
2. Have a mineral-rich green drink every day. VITALITY SUPER GREEN should be your morning MUST!!!  It’s made from whole-food green powder that has fermented grasses, algae, green vegetables, enzymes and probiotics that pack a powerful mineral punch. Read about one mom who sends her kids to school with their very own mineral-rich green drink!
3. Include fermented foods and drinks. In fact, you won’t be able to really correct a mineral deficiency long term without the use of fermented foods, like cultured vegetables and fermented drinks, like Young Coconut Kefir or ready-made Coco-Biotic.
   

   Need more minerals? Then try this energy-boosting whole food. Vitality SuperGreen is a delicious way to boost your mineral intake while you get powerful probiotics and healthy fiber to restore the health of your digestive system at the same time. Try Vitality SuperGreen for a boost of energy in your day!

   Yes,  they are an excellent source of much needed vitamins and minerals. But perhaps even more importantly, the microflora in these probiotic foods,enhance digestion of all foods you eat. Remember it is not just WHAT you eat but HOW IT IS DIGESTED that is important. Yes, you will need to consume, drink and devour mineral-rich foods but you want to digest them as well.

   When it comes to minerals, probiotic-rich foods pack a powerful nutritional punch!

4. Eat your sea vegetables. Sea vegetables, or seaweed, are some of nature’s most nutritious foods. Introduced to the American health food stores by the macrobiotic movement, sea vegetables have been a staple in Asian cultures for thousands of years. Sea veggies improve thyroid function, naturally detoxify your body, and are important foods to help you overcome mineral deficiencies. We suggest you find a way to eat them at least once a day. The traditional Japanese diet includes them in every meal. (Japanese women are the longest lived group in the world.)
   
5. Eliminate processed sugars from your diet and use natural sugar substitutes instead. Every time you eat sugar, it causes your blood to become too acid. To make your blood more alkaline again, minerals are pulled from your bones and teeth where they are stored until needed.

   Sugar interferes with your body’s absorption of calcium and magnesium and may cause chromium and copper deficiencies. But if you still need the sweet taste that sugar provides, try Body Ecology’s all natural sugar substitute, Lakanto, for baking delicious recipes without the dangers of sugar.

6. Stress less and sleep more. This goes for parents and kids alike. Stressed parents and kids have weaker immune systems and have trouble sleeping.³

   Institute early bed times and stick with it. Find fun ways to handle stress. You’ll pass these positive habits on to your children and nourish your adrenals at the same time. Read Sleeping Trouble? Discover Why Winter is the Ideal Time to Learn How to Sleep Right to learn more about the minerals and sleep connection.

Essential Minerals

As our modern world puts more stress on our bodies, our minds and our environment, it becomes even more important to take charge of our health and the health of our kids.

Minerals are essential to your well-being, but the Standard American Diet does not provide you with all the nutrients you and your children need. By following the Body Ecology system of health and healing you can replenish your body’s storehouse of minerals and improve your health, as well as the health of generations to come.

Sources:

1 Jack, Alex, “Fruit Basket Upset: The Disappearing Nutrients in America’s Orchards,” CommunicationAgents.com.
http://www.communicationagents.com/emma_holister/2004/12/12/the_disappearing_nutrients_in_americas.htm

2 Dingfelder, Sadie, “Programmed for psychopathology?” APA.org.
http://www.apa.org/monitor/feb04/programmed.html

3 Caffeine, Nutrition.com.sg.
http://www.nutrition.com.sg/atd/atdcaffeine.asp

4 Children Under Stress Develop More Fevers, MedicalNewsToday.com, 9 Mar 2007. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/64586.php

Did you know…electrolytes are minerals in your blood and other body fluids that carry a tiny electric charge. They help maintain the balance of fluids throughout your body and guide the flow of nutrients into cells and the movement of waste out of cells. They also help regulate hormones, enzymes, amino acids and the immune system.

Electrolytes can be lost through sweat, extended periods of strenuous exercise, restrictive diets, dehydration, by using certain drugs and heart, liver and kidney disorders.

Diets high in acid-forming foods, such as bread, sugar, butter, eggs, meat and more, create electrolyte deficiencies. This causes bile to become too acidic, so foods aren’t digested efficiently and mucoid plaque develops. Toxicity can also develop and your body can lose its ability to heal itself.*

ElectroLife includes essential electrolytes that are chelated to a protein molecule. This encourages superior absorption. ElectroLife (unlike other mineral supplements) contains organic sodium. Organic sodium, in sharp contrast to sodium chloride (table salt), helps the body achieve and maintain electrolyte balance. ElectroLife is recommended for those wanting to boost their electrolytes.*

Ingredients: Calcium Citrate, Calcium Succinate, Celery Juice Dehydrate, Di Potassium Phosphate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Goat Whey, Kelp Leaf, L-Glutamine, L-Histidine, L-Cysteine, Magnesium Citrate, Magnesium Succinate, Manganese Citrate, Potassium Citrate, Potassium Malate, Potassium Alpha Ketoglutarate, Potassium Glutamate, Potassium Aspartate, Red Beet Root Juice Power, Vitamin D3, Vitamin B6, Zinc L-Monomethionine

Other Ingredients: Methyl cellulose (capsule), silicone dioxide and magnesium stearate (vegetarian) as flow agents.

Sizes Available: 120 Vegetable Capsules

• Number of Servings: 60
• Serving Size: 2 Capsules
• Form: Vegetable Capsule
• Active Ingredients per Capsule: 695 mg

Suggested Intake: 2 capsules with meals or as directed by your health care professional.

Special Comments: ElectroLife, the electrolyte supplement made with organic sodium, is especially recommended for those who have sugar and/or yeast sensitivities.

May also be used as a salt substitute while Cleansing. Severely depleted individuals may increase the suggested intake for a time as needed. Can be used on a regular basis as needed. For example, when lifestyle becomes stressful and diet is less than optimal.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure ore prevent any disease.

“No level of trans fats is safe,” so says the United States Institute of Medicine. The recent requirement for all food labels to list trans fat content has manufacturers scrambling to find replacements for hydrogenated vegetable oils-the sole source of artificial trans fats in our diet. Hydrogenated vegetable oils, including margarine and shortening, are found in most every packaged food item on grocery shelves and used extensively in the food service industry.

Hydrogenated vegetable oils are popular in food processing because they are firm, resist oxidization, retard spoilage-all necessary for packaged, prepared foods. Liquid vegetable oils are unsuitable because they oxidize easily, readily develop off flavors, and lack the firmness needed for baking.

In an effort to find a replacement for hydrogenated oils, food chemists have been busy fractionating fats and oils, creating new fats, and recombining them in various ways to create relatively hard fats that are trans fat-free and contain as little saturated fat as possible. Agricultural scientists are also experimenting with genetically modified plants to find a solution. Some of these manufactured oils are now being incorporated into our foods.

A far simpler and healthier solution is to go back to the fats we used before we had hydrogenated oils-traditional fats that have been used successfully for generations. Some food manufacturers are doing that. One such fat that is gaining wider use is palm oil. Compared to other fats, palm oil is far superior in nutrient content and cooking properties. Palm oil is highly resistant to oxidation and rancidity, and can withstand the high temperatures used in cooking, baking, and deep frying.

Palm oil comes from the fruit of the oil palm (Elaeis guineensis). The oil palm originated in tropical Africa but is now also cultivated in Southeast Asia and South America. Palm oil has been a part of the human diet for at least 5,000 years. In the wild, animals regularly feast upon the fruit for its nutrient-rich oil.

Palm fruit is about the size of a small plum and grows in large bunches. Each bunch may contain 1,000 individual fruits. The oil palm produces fruit continuously year round, with a new bunch ripening about every month. So the fruit is always in season.

Palm fruit is rich in vitamins, antioxidants, and other phytonutrients. Crude or virgin palm oil is called “red” palm oil because of its characteristic dark red color. The color is from the high content of beta-carotene and lycopene, the same nutrients that give tomatoes and carrots their red and orange colors. Red palm oil contains the highest natural source of provitamin A carotenes (beta-carotene and alpha-carotene). It contains 15 times more provitamin A carotenes than carrots and 300 times more than tomatoes. Our bodies can convert provitamin A carotenes into vitamin A. Because red palm oil is a rich source of carotenes, as well as many other nutrients, it is being used by governments throughout the world to fight malnutrition and vitamin A deficiency.

Palm oil is also one of the richest natural sources of vitamin E and the best source of a (powerful) form of vitamin E known as tocotrienol. There are two major forms of vitamin E-tocopherol and tocotrienol. Each type has four subtypes, which are distinguished from one another by the prefix alpha, beta, gamma, or delta. Tocopherols are the most common form of vitamin E. Alpha-tocopherol is the form of vitamin E which we hear about most and the one used in dietary supplements and fortified foods. When people talk about vitamin E they are usually referring to alpha-tocopherol. For many years it was believed that alpha-tocopherol was the most biologically active form of vitamin E and, therefore, the most important. Most fruits and vegetables contain some mixture of all four tocopherols.

The more potent tocotrienols are not nearly as abundant. Some grains like wheat and rice contain small amounts. By far the richest source of tocotrienols is from palm oil. Palm tocotrienols display up to 60 times more antioxidant activity than regular vitamin E, making them super-antioxidants, capable of affecting health far beyond the ability of ordinary vitamin E or even most other antioxidants. Recent medical studies have demonstrated the power of tocotrienols in blocking the formation of arterial plaque, regulating blood pressure, lowering cholesterol, fighting cancer, preventing neurological disorders, accelerating healing, and preventing free-radical damage that promotes premature aging. For these reasons, palm tocotrienols are now considered the premier form of vitamin E. They are even appearing in vitamin supplements.

You can, of course, get this vitamin directly from red palm oil. Red palm oil is not only loaded with tocopherols and tocotrienols, but it comes with a variety of nutrients such as vitamin K, CoQ10, squalene, flavonoids, phytosterols, beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, lycopene, and some 20 other carotenes. One tablespoon of red palm oil supplies the adult daily requirement for vitamins A and E in a synergistic mixture with other nutrients. The antioxidant content is extremely high so the oil provides protection from destructive free-radical activity that occurs in our bodies every day. When you eat palm oil it is like taking a natural vitamin supplement. In terms of nutrient content, no other dietary oil comes close.

While red palm oil is recognized as an excellent source of antioxidants and other nutrients, some people have questioned its use because of its high saturated fat content. Most of the criticism comes from those who believe the saturated fat in the palm oil will adversely affect cholesterol levels. However, research shows that, if anything, palm oil has a beneficial effect on blood cholesterol.

Studies show that when red palm oil replaces other vegetable oils in the diet there is little change in total cholesterol. However, the cholesterol ratio often improves significantly. The cholesterol ratio is a far better indicator of heart disease risk than total cholesterol. Even if total cholesterol increases, if the cholesterol ratio decreases, then the risk of heart disease decreases.

In addition to lowering the cholesterol ratio, red palm oil also reduces a particularly insidious form of LDL cholesterol known as lipoprotein(a) or Lp(a). Lp(a) is similar in structure to LDL but contains a adhesive protein that enhances its ability to stick to artery walls. Lp(a) has been identified as a separate and distinct risk factor for heart disease. In fact, it is associated with ten times the risk of ordinary LDL cholesterol. Judging from cholesterol values, red palm oil appears to protect against heart disease.

Palm oil supplements rich in tocotrienols and other antioxidants have been shown to reverse blockages in the arteries of heart disease patients and reduce platelet aggregation (excessive blood clotting), thereby reducing the risk of a stroke or heart attack.

The high antioxidant content of red palm oil makes it a powerful natural weapon against cancer. Research at the University of Louisiana, University of Wisconsin, University of Reading (UK), and University of Western Ontario (Canada), show that red palm oil is effective in preventing cancer and reducing tumor growth. The antioxidants in the oil not only block free radicals that promote cancer, but stimulate apoptosis or cell death in diseased cells. Much of red palm oil’s anticancer effects have been attributed to the tocotrienols. Researchers consider tocotrienols to be among the most potent natural anticancer agents known.

Free radicals have been identified as the primary cause or a contributing factor in at least 60 common health problems ranging from heart disease and cancer to arthritis and osteoporosis. Antioxidants quench the destructive action of free radicals. Because of its high antioxidant content, red palm oil has the potential to help prevent and even reverse many of these conditions. Therefore, palm oil may be of great benefit in helping to curb the onset and progression of many common health problems.

Palm oil not only protects your health but make an excellent cooking oil. Its high saturated fat and antioxidant content makes it extremely stable and highly resistant to heat. It has a high smoke point of 437 degrees F, making it suitable for all types of cooking. Because it’s packed with health-giving nutrients, it enhances the nutrient content of foods. One of the great things about cooking with red palm oil is that when heated, it does not lose these valuable nutrients. Even fried foods, which many consider unhealthy, are made more nutritious.

Red palm oil is available at most good health food stores and from online dealers. Red palm oil has a high melting point so when you see it in the store it will be mostly solid. Its appearance may look orange-red. When melted it turns a darker red. You can use red palm oil in all of your cooking at home. In recipes that call for vegetable oil, margarine, shortening, or some other fat, you can substitute in red palm oil. The main difference you will notice is that the dark red color of the oil may give your foods a yellowish or orange color, depending on how much oil you use. This can actually enhance the appearance of your foods.

Because red palm oil is rich in carotenes, the oil has a distinct flavor. A good quality red palm oil will have a mild, savory taste that will enhance the flavor of your foods, just as butter enhances the flavor of foods. In Brazil, Africa, and other places that regularly use red palm oil in cooking, the flavor of the oil is essential for many of their traditional dishes.

When red palm oil is refined and processed, many of the carotenes are lost but most of the tocotrienols and other nutrients remain, so even refined palm oil contains more nutrients than any other vegetable oil. Refined palm oil is sometimes referred to as “white” palm oil because it is white when solid. When liquid, it takes on a light yellow color. Unlike red palm oil, white palm oil does not impart any additional flavor or color into foods. For this reason, it is more popular with restaurants and food producers.

As hydrogenated vegetable oils are being removed, palm oil is becoming more popular in the food processing industry. When you look at ingredient labels and see “palm oil” listed, you know you are getting a healthy trans fat-free oil packed with nutrients.

Used with permission by Bruce Fife, N.D.

What is the healthiest beverage you can drink? Fruit juice? Milk? Sports drinks? Herbal tea? It may come as a surprise to you, but one of the healthiest beverages is coconut water. Most people respond to this statement with, “what the heck is coconut water?”

You’ve been to the grocery store, picked up a coconut, and shaken it, right? The sloshing sound you hear inside is coconut water. Contrary to popular belief, this liquid is not coconut milk. Coconut milk is made by crushing and squeezing the liquid from coconut meat. What you get is a thick, creamy, white fluid that looks much like dairy milk. Coconut water, on the other hand, looks pretty much like ordinary water, although it may be slightly opaque. The two are completely different in taste, texture, nutrient content, and health benefits. Coconut water is sometimes referred to as coconut juice and is consumed just like any other fruit juice.

Coconut water has a slightly sweet, somewhat nutty taste. Surprisingly, it doesn’t taste like coconut. It has a flavor all its own. Coconut water has long been the most popular beverage consumed in the tropics where it is considered not only a refreshing drink but a health tonic. Coconut water is a superfood filled with minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, amino acids, enzymes, and growth factors. It is low in fat and has only a fifth of the sugar found in most fresh fruit juices.

Its unique combination of nutrients gives it incredible health-promoting properties. Coconut water has a normalizing effect and gives the body a boost of energy so that it can overcome a number of health-related conditions. It is effective in relieving dehydration, fatigue, constipation, and other digestive disturbances, kidney and bladder disorders, and vision problems such as glaucoma and cataract. It is reported to turn back time, so to speak, by reversing or slowing down the aging process. Coconut water also has an alkalizing effect on the body, helping to counteract or balance the effects of acidifying foods which are so common in our diets. Research shows that coconut water can improve blood circulation, lower elevated blood pressure, and reduce risk of heart attacks and strokes. Studies have been so impressive that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States has approved coconut water to carry the claim that it “may reduce the risk of high blood pressure and stroke.”

One of the most remarkable characteristics of coconut water is its chemical profile and mineral content. The primary minerals or electrolytes in coconut water are essentially the same as those found in human blood. For this reason, doctors have used it as an intravenous fluid for rehydration, pumping it directly into the patient’s bloodstream. Numerous studies dating back over 60 years document the successful use of intravenous coconut water in the treatment of malnutrition and dehydration.

Since coconut water has a pleasant taste, it has also found use as an effective oral rehydration beverage. Doctors have found it to be highly useful in fighting dehydrating diseases such as cholera, dysentery, and influenza, where it has saved the lives of thousands of children in underdeveloped parts of the world.

Coconut water’s similarity to body fluids and its usefulness as an intravenous and oral rehydration fluid has spurred interest in the sports community. With properties which are in many ways superior to commercial sports drinks, coconut water is now becoming popular as a natural rehydration beverage among athletes. In fact, it is popularly known as “Nature”s Gatorade.

Coconut water is available at most good health food stores and, as its popularity continues to grow, is finding its way into many grocery stores. It comes packaged in easy-to-carry cans, bottles, and tetra paks. Tetra paks are the most convenient because you don’t have to worry about them breaking. You can take them with you anywhere, even when you work out, go camping or hiking, or go to the football game. If you freeze them beforehand, they will stay cold for hours, providing you will a cool, refreshing drink later in the day.

You can also get coconut water straight from a fresh coconut. You want to make sure you get a “young” coconut. Young coconuts are those that have not fully matured. The water in the mature brown, hairy coconuts you see in the grocery store is too old and tastes much different. Whole young coconuts are also sold in health food stores. They look different from the mature brown coconuts. When a coconut is harvested from the tree it is covered in a thick fibrous husk. The husk is usually removed before being shipped to market, so you never see the husk, just the brown shell. Young coconuts, however, have only a portion of the husk cut off, leaving about an inch covering the shell. The husk is white and often shaped like a large toy top, with a point on one end and flat on the other. They are perishable, so you will find them in the refrigerated section of the store.

Dr. Bruce Fife is a certified nutritionist and naturopathic physician. He is considered the world’s leading authority on the health aspects of coconut and related products. He is the author of 20 books including Coconut Water for Health and Healing and serves as the director of the Coconut Research Center, www.coconutresearchcenter.org. 

Taken from the Body Ecology site (Donna Gates)

Please consider these three questions carefully:

1. Do you often feel you lack the energy you should have?

2. Do you experience gas, bloating and/or feeling tired after eating?

3. Do you have trouble digesting some vegetables, dairy or meats?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you may very likely be lacking in the enzymes needed for proper digestion. Enzyme deficiency is very common but also more dangerous than most people realize, because improper digestion can lower your immunity ad harm your health.

The Body Ecology system of health and healing focuses on improving digestion; one of our most important recommendations to do so is to take digestive enzymes.

Why You Need Enzymes

Stress, antibiotics and other drugs, or a diet high in processed foods can diminish the enzymes in your stomach necessary for proper digestion. Even improper food combining - for example, eating starches and proteins in the same meal — can dampen your natural “digestive fire.”

Over time, improper digestion harms your inner ecosystem and your immunity. A healthy inner ecosystem is made up of the friendly microflora (good bacteria) that reside in our intestines and keep us healthy and strong.

When you eat, you could be breaking food down, but not digesting it. Improper digestion can lead to food remaining in the digestive tract longer than it should. When this happens, it starts to ferment in your body, producing sugars that feed yeast and other pathogens. This causes further damage to your digestion and lowers your immunity, along with keeping your body from absorbing all the nutrients in your food.

What is FA?

We are an international fellowship of men and women who have experienced difficulties in life as a result of the way we eat. We joined FA either because we could not control our eating or because we were obsessed with food. We find that we need the fellowship of others who share this problem and this program of recovery to stop abusing food and live a fulfilling life. Through shared experience and mutual support, we help each other to recover from the disease of food addiction.

Our program of recovery is based on the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous. We make use of AA principles to gain freedom from addictive eating. There are no dues, fees, or weigh-ins at FA meetings. Membership is open to anyone who wants help with food.

Who Joins FA?

FA members are men and women of all ages. We can be found all over the world- in North America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. Some of us have been obese, while others have been too thin or have joined because of struggles with bulimia. There are also members who have managed to stay at a normal weight but remain constantly obsessed with food and with maintaining their weight. What we have in common is that our obsession with food has kept us from living a fulfilling life. Among us are people who have weighed less than 100 pounds, more than 400 pounds, or who have maintained a normal weight.

Does the Program Really Work?

Typically, before joining FA, we tried many different solutions to our problems with food, including diets, exercise, and medication. In FA we have finally found an approach to recovery that is long-lasting. Some of us have maintained a normal weight and have been free of obsession with food for more than twenty-five years. As more and more newcomers enter the program, the number of individuals with 5 or 10 years of recovery continues to grow. Members with 1 or 2 years of recovery are common.

Meetings In Los Angeles & Orange County

Monday
Torrance 7pm, kaiser Permanente Torrance Conference, 20790 Madrona Ave, Gail 562-426-1080

Tuesday
Burbank 7:30pm, Temple Beth Emet, Rm. 1, 600 No. Buena Vista St, Jane 818-887-3131

Wednesday
Santa Monica 7:00am, Unitarian Universalist Community Church, Forbes Hall, 1721 Arizona Ave. @18th St, Sara 310-398-2986

Thursday
Los Angeles 4pm, Westwood United Methodist Church, 10497 Wilshire Blvd., Linda 310-277-9307

Santa Monica 7pm, First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica (Mariners Room), 1220 Second St, Lori 310-393-0920

Saturday
Huntington Beach 8am, St. Wilfrid Episcopal (Room 10),18631 Chapel Lane, Susan 714-955-8885

Santa Monica 9am, First United Methodist Church (Room 101), 1008 11th. St, Yoli 310-822-8208

Sherman Oaks 8am, Sherman Oaks United Methodist Church, 14401 Dickens St, Lori 310-880-8203

Sunday
Irvine 9:30am, Irvine Family Clinic, 14150 Culver Drive, Marie 949-857-1327

The Reversal Process

Nature cures, but she must have an opportunity. We must stop hindering her. There can be no tissue recovery without “side effects” - good side effects. Drugs suppress discharge; nature brings it out. The REVERSAL process is natures way. Catarrh, phlegm, and mucus are found at the beginning of mostdiseases. Suppression is the usual answer. Nature wants to aid it to exit. Herring’s Law; “All disease is corrected from within out, from the head down and in reverse order as we have built it up in the body.” It works exactly as described. “You don’t have to seek a miracle; you are one.”
(Dr Bernard Jensen)

A HEALING CRISIS takes from 2 to 5 days, usually; often 3 days. The difference between a HEALING CRISIS and a DISEASE CRISIS: a disease crisis comes when we are run down or under unusual stress. A HEALING CRISIS comes right at a time when we have never felt better. It comes after a person has begun a right-living program. It should be greatly welcomed. It is the “good” side effect of tissue recovery. Disease can progress to the point of “no recovery”, and then the only way to cope may be with drugs. But we shouldn’t wait till that point to act. Disease preys on a weak and malnourished body. When the doctor suppresses the symptoms, he creates new diseases now known as “Iatrogenic” diseases, or “doctor-produced” diseases. The “cure” creates new diseases to be “cured” with more drugs that create more diseases to be cured by more drugs, etc. This method has a “built-in” guaranteed income for the doctors and the undertaker.

There are many ways of practicing the healing art, but only one way that heaven approves of.

I believe that way is to:

Cleanse the body internally
and to Nourish the body

Because we are so conditioned to think that the (medical) Doctor has the only way, one must accept that his way is not “working”. Then Faith must be established in nature’s way. The body is servant to the mind. Mechanical manipulations may be helpful. Massage, muscle stimulation, physical therapy and reflexology can help to stimulate circulation and aid in carrying off toxic wastes; but without cleansing the body, these manipulations never last as the tissues, ligaments and very structure of the body are so compromised by the high levels of toxicity that these therapies have little lasting
impact.

Nothing can substitute for 1) Cleansing the body and 2) Good Nutrition.

- GOOD BLOOD, the result of good nutrition after cleansing

- GOOD CIRCULATION, the result of “passive” or “active” exercise.

A sluggish, toxic body cannot keep up with its demands. When the tissues are cleansed and we are well nourished, we can expect a “healing crisis” to take place. You will not be raising your children as doctor bills. The husband won’t be taking pills at the end of the day and the wife won’t be depending on suppressant drugs for catarrhal discharge. No doctor should be depending on suppressant drugs for catarrhal discharge. No doctor should object to this sort of program, (cleansing and rebuilding) and all of society should be interested in it. FOOD IS YOUR BEST MEDICINE.

THE REVERSAL-RETRACING PROCESS

There is much more to health than eating, even though some appear to think that is all, judging by the waistline. Good health principles apply to us all alike, but we are not all alike; and the application of these principles may differ greatly from person to person.

We can’t have hate part of the time and love part of the time, or the mind will become mixed up. By the same token, we can’t eat good food part of the time and junk food the other part, or the body will be mixed up. The way we live today will determine your future. What you eat today will walk and
talk tomorrow.

When people decide to change their way of life for the better and seek a cleansing program for getting a new start, they are often confused at what happens to them. A few days after beginning a detoxifying program they experience symptoms of a disease or condition which they had earlier, but
which they had thought were over. Symptoms had disappeared and they considered themselves well of it. Now the symptoms that had been repressed return and they are confused.

The reversal process means that we go back over illnesses we have had in the past. Most people, when they are sick, take drugs, which do not remove the cause, but they suppress the symptoms. The person thinks he is well, but the toxicity which the body had tried to eliminate at the time of the
illness, was driven back into the body where it lies dormant in the cells. The drugs leave the body weaker than before. During detoxification these wastes are drawn out of the cells and thrown into the bloodstream for carrying off through the organs of elimination. As this blood circulates through the body, toxic-laden as it is, one may have a headache, feel depressed, angry, discouraged, be nauseated, or have various aches and pains; or he may show a skin rash. Some may have stiff joints or back aches or stiff necks. But many will begin to feel euphoric, which shows the good physical condition of the body. Suppression by drugs leads to chronic disease.

If we can remember that all “disease is an effort of the body to rid itself of waste which has built up due to the transgression of the laws of health, we can better understand what is happening when we develop some of the same problems we have had previously. If we have hindered the body from doing
its eliminative work by drug suppression, and then we begin cooperating with the body to cleanse itself, we may have the same symptoms again. Praise God if we do! It shows the body is regaining its lost integrity and ability to cleanse itself. The Body will usually start with the most recent illnesses
and move backward until it has removed the earliest problems we had, sometimes all the way back to childhood. This is the reversal process and nature’s way. It is TRUE healing and restoration. God has placed within the body the ability to build new tissue in place of the old diseased tissue, and to restore the function of organs which have been functioning poorly.

There may be no other factor that so contributes to a buildup of toxicity in the body as an underactive bowel. Some of us feel that the bowels should move every time solid food is eaten. Babies do this until they are taught the “nicety” of not allowing it to happen. We “potty train” them as early
as possible and feel good about our achievement. They, too, soon feel good about it, because now they don’t have to stop their play until they choose to. By that time, the urge to defecate has passed and constipation is on its way. They continue to practice this wonderful “control” through grade
school, high school and college and right into the adult work world. by this time they are chronically constipated and on their way to degenerative diseases And the doctor is on his way to a full-time lucrative practice of treating the results!

I have have found that the first and most important task in restoring normal healthy body functions to cleanse the bowels and begin to establish good bowel action. With this the other various organs and systems of elimination can finally begin to do their job. This is simply due to “getting out of
their way”.

The Royal Society of Medicine in Great Britain, once compiled a report indicating that over 36 toxins may be found in the bowel, some of which are able to get into the bloodstream in cases of constipation, “leaky gut syndrome” and bowel under-activity. Examples include indol, skatol, phenol,
inican and methylmercaptan. Food offenders include wheat products and milk, as well as sugar and over consumption of all animal products. Allergies develop frequently to these foods due to the heavy use of them. The body then forms “gobs” of mucous throughout the entire alimentary canal (the
tongue down to the anus) and food both digested and undigested as well as fecal matter begin sticking to this substance. This is know as the dreaded MUCOID FECAL PLAQUE!

Colon Hydrotherapy (colonic irrigation) in conjunction with an herbal detoxification program is the single most important beginning to any HEALTH BUILDING regime. And working with a qualified therapist who can assist you individually will make the cleansing process a most amazing experience.

Remember HERRINGS LAW: “All disease is corrected from within out, from the head down, and in reverse order as we have built it up in the body.” This is called the “reversal process” and it works exactly as described. You don’t have to seek a miracle; you ARE one,” says Dr. Bernard Jensen.

Preventing Disease Naturally
By Michio Kushi

Self-reflection involves using our higher consciousness to observe, review, examine, and judge our thoughts and behavior as well as contemplate the larger order of nature or what we might call the Law Of Spirit. The more we reflect upon ourselves and the eternal order of change, the more refined and universal our awareness becomes. We begin to remember our origin, foresee our destiny, and understand what we came to accomplish upon this earth. As our consciousness develops, our life manifests the spirit of endless giving just as the universe itself expands infinitely. Our motto becomes, “One grain, ten thousand grains.” For each seed planted in the soil, the earth returns many thousand seeds. By endlessly distributing our knowledge and insight, our understanding deepens and we become one with the eternal order of creation and Spirit.

Self-reflection may take many forms, including a short period each day in quiet meditation or prayer. Questions we might ask and areas we might seek guidance include the following:

1. Did I eat today in harmony with my environment?

2. Did I think of my parents, relatives, teachers, and elders with love and respect?

3. Did I happily greet everyone today and express an interest in their life?

4. Did I contemplate the sky, the trees, and the flowers and marvel at he wonders of nature?

5. Did I thank every one and appreciate everything I experienced today?

6. Did I perform my tasks faithfully and thereby contribute to a more peaceful world?

The origins of butter go back thousands of years to when our ancestors first started domesticating animals. In fact, the first written reference to butter was found on a 4500- year old limestone tablet illustrating how butter was made.¹

In India, ghee (clarified butter) has been used as a staple food, and as a symbol of purity, worthy of offering to the gods in religious ceremonies for more than 3000 years.²

The Bible has references to butter as the product of milk from the cow, and of Abraham setting butter and milk from a calf before three angels who appeared to him on the plains of Mamre.³

For millennia, people around the globe have prized butter for its health benefits.

So how did butter become a villain in the quest for good health?

At the turn of our century, heart disease in America was rare. By 1960, it was our number one killer. Yet during the same time period, butter consumption had decreased - from eighteen pounds per person per year, to four.⁴

A researcher named Ancel Keys was the first to propose that saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet were to blame for coronary heart disease (CAD).

Numerous subsequent studies costing hundreds of millions of dollars, have failed to conclusively back up this claim.⁵

Yet the notion that a healthy diet is one with minimal fat, particularly saturated fat, has persisted. While Americans drastically reduced their intake of natural animal fats like butter and meat, the processed food industry, particularly the low-fat food industry, proliferated.

When the baby boomers were children, concerned mothers began to replace butter with margarine. The margarine manufacturers told them it was the healthier alternative and mothers believed them. In those days no one asked, “where is the science to prove it? I want to know before I give this man-made, plastized stuff to my children. After all we humans have been eating butter for thousands of years?”.

As a result, since the early 1970’s, Americans’ average saturated fat intake has dropped considerably, while rates of obesity, diabetes, and consequently, heart disease, have surged.

Reducing healthy sources of dietary fat has contributed to a serious decline in our well-being, and those of us that speak out against the anti-fat establishment are still largely ignored .

Is Margarine Better than Butter?

No! This is a tragic myth. Butter is a completely natural food essential to your health - especially when you eat organic. Also, please make the extra effort to obtain high-quality organic, raw butter.

Margarines, on the other hand, are a processed food, created chemically from refined polyunsaturated oils. The process used to make these normally liquid oils into spread-able form is called hydrogenation.

Margarine and similar hydrogenated or processed polyunsaturated oils are potentially more detrimental to your health than any saturated fat.⁷ For more information on why you should avoid all processed oils read Why the Processing of Consumable Oils Has Devastated America’s Health.

Include Real Butter as part of Your Body Ecology Lifestyle

As many of you already know, I am a strong proponent of including a variety of healthy oils and fats into your diet. Together they work as a team to supply your body with essential fatty acids for longevity, hormone balance, heart health, sharp vision, glowing moist skin and energy. The wonderful variety of oils and fats certainly includes organic, preferably raw butter. Cultured raw butter is even better.

And why would I be so insistent that you eat butter? Take a look at the long list of the benefits you receive when you include it in your diet:⁸

1. Butter is rich in the most easily absorbable form of Vitamin A necessary for thyroid and adrenal health.
2. Contains lauric acid, important in treating fungal infections and candida.
3. Contains lecithin, essential for cholesterol metabolism.
4. Contains anti-oxidants that protect against free radical damage.
5. Has anti-oxidants that protect against weakening arteries.
6. Is a great source of Vitamins E and K.
7. Is a very rich source of the vital mineral selenium.
8. Saturated fats in butter have strong anti-tumor and anti-cancer properties.
9. Butter contains conjugated linoleic acid, which is a potent anti-cancer agent, muscle builder, and immunity booster
10. Vitamin D found in butter is essential to absorption of calcium.
11. Protects against tooth decay.
12. Is your only source of an anti-stiffness factor, which protects against calcification of the joints.
13. Anti-stiffness factor in butter also prevents hardening of the arteries, cataracts, and calcification of the pineal gland.
14. Is a source of Activator X, which helps your body absorb minerals.
15. Is a source of iodine in highly absorbable form.
16. May promote fertility in women.⁹
17. Is a source of quick energy, and is not stored in our bodies adipose tissue.
18. Cholesterol found in butterfat is essential to children’s brain and nervous system development.
19. Contains Arachidonic Acid (AA) which plays a role in brain function and is a vital component of cell membranes.
20. Protects against gastrointestinal infections in the very young or the elderly.

Raw, Organic Butter is the Best

Believe me this is only a partial list. If a woman is pregnant, hopes to become pregnant or is nursing her baby, I think it should even become a law for her to eat butter for her baby’s developing brain, bones and teeth.

The best butter you can eat is raw, organic butter because pasteurization destroys nutrients. Unfortunately, the sale of raw butter is prohibited in most of our 50 states.

You can, however, make your own healthy butter, and it is easier than you think. Look into our Body Ecology Culture Starter, which you simply add to organic cream. After letting this mixture sit at room temperature for 24 hours, chill it, beat it with a whisk, and voila! You’ll have healthy, probiotic butter that is delicious!

Cultured butter is full of health sustaining good bacteria like lactobacillus planterum, and lactococcus lactis. These microflora are essential for a healthy inner ecosystem.

Sources of Healthy Butter

If you don’t want to culture your own butter, I recommend butter from grass-fed animals only. A good source is U.S. Wellness Meats.

I also recommend Activator X and Vitamin rich butter oil, made by Green Pastures.

Heart Healthy-the Body Ecology Way

Completely eliminating butter and other healthy animal source fats is NOT the Body Ecology way. It is not how our ancestors thrived, and not what nature intended.

How much should you eat each day? Like sea salt, your own body will tell you how much to eat. If you crave it, eat it, your body needs it. If the quality is excellent you can feel confident it will be good for you and you’ll soon see the benefits yourself. If you are following the Body Ecology Food Combining Principle and eating as we recommend (adding at least one source of fermented food or drink to your diet) you will see your body reach its idea weight. The raw butter will help you develop beautiful muscles.

The Body Ecology program is gaining recognition for being a premier way of healing candida and other immune dysfunctions. And what’s more, it’s a heart-healthy, super-slimming, anti-aging way of life, which is crucial to your health as a whole.

By Donna Gates

URL: http://bodyecology.com/07/07/05/benefits_of_real_butter.php

INTRODUCTION

If an angel came and gave a formula that would cure almost any disease, it would be against the law to claim its effectiveness. But explaining in simple, scientific terms how we destroy our own bodies and minds and how we may reverse that destruction, leaving out all claims, will hopefully not offend the A.M.A, or F.D.A, will it? Fortunately, we live in a country that guarantees freedom of speech. Anyone is welcome to use a system of healing that has been proven to work, but they won’t profit much monetarily. The health profession makes money on sick people, not well people. If we were to make everyone well with a system that works, we certainly wouldn’t perpetuate our incomes. After all, there would be little use for this book, the “Clean-Me-Out Program” or even the entire health care system. How sincerely do we want to heal?

Evidence clearly states: no matter what the disease, as long as a person has the right mental attitude - in this case, a strong desire to be healthy and the willingness to do whatever is necessary to be cured - he will bring into his world that which he desires; he WILL find health. If only health professionals would espouse this truth, the door would open to making (or letting) it happen. Too often people lose hope because they continue to be treated by those whose healing successes are rare.

FOUR STEPS IN OVERCOMING DISEASE
The first step in overcoming disease is to put a stop to its cause. This always begins with the rearranging of the thoughts and feelings. For the decomposition of the body (or dying) begins with “suicidal” thoughts and feelings - ie feelings of hate, anger, criticism, condemnation, judgment, blame, self-pity, jealousy, resentment and depression. Good health requires not only the control of the emotions, but good thoughts and good feelings. Love, peace, harmony, poise, gratitude and praise expand the life and light in the body, building energy, vitality and happiness.

The second step toward perfect health of the body is to stop eating any foods that do not contain enzymes, life force and nutrients since lifeless “foods” cause mucus toxins and congestion - especially congestion of the intestinal tract. This substance is known as “hardened mucoid fecal matter” and is the cause of over 90% of all disease (with the exception of injuries).

The third step toward overcoming disease is to remove congestion anywhere and everywhere from the body. Some health professionals choose to address the local area of obvious trouble alone. But, as Dr. Bernard Jensen likes to say, “if you step on a cat’s tail, it’s the other end that yells!” There is no single part of the body that is not affected by the whole. So, all congestion and toxins must be removed and it must begin with the removal of the hardened mucoid fecal matter.

The forth step toward lasting health is to then supply the body with the needed elements. But you cannot successfully complete this step until the third step is done, or well on its way.

NATURE’S OWN REMEDY - A LOGICAL PROCESS
Isn’t this sensible? This logical process is Nature’s own remedy, yet it is in large part neglected by health professionals. This explains uncountable failures, for even when there is success in curing on ailment, it is rarely more than a brief time befofe the patient develops another ailment. This is because the symptom alone was treated, not the cause.

One prominent cancer researcher, Dr. Hardin Jones said, “My studies have proved conclusively that untreated cancer victims actually live up to four times longer than treated individuals…Beyond a shadow of a doubt, radical surgery on cancer patients does more harm than good.” Dr. Jones said he advocates less surgery and chemotherapy. According to Edward Griffin, author of World Without Cancer (a fantastic book that I urge you to read), excluding skin cancer, the average cure rate of cancer by medical doctors is 17%. Would you take your car to a mechanic if he claimed a mere 17% cure rate of transmissions? I would suggest it is time to consider other methods.

The medical world claims no cure for cancer and, what’s more, no one else can either. It’s against the law - even for those who know the cure. Therefore, I hereby announce that I do not claim the “Clean-Me-Out Program will cure cancer. Should you find your cancer disappearing when you use this system, I will not accept responsibility. You’ll have to take the credit yourself.

The cure of cancer or any other disease has been known for decades among health experts who understand disease and its cause. But, it is also unlawful for those experts to treat cancer unless they are M.D.’s What a crime against the American people! To think that there are those who can cure cancer who are not legally permitted to do it!!!

I had better be careful here. I had better not say that all cancers can be cured. No disease is curable if it’s gone too far or if the patient’s attitude will not permit healing. But based on the patients I’ve known of who have conquered cancer, heart disease, diabetes and leukemia, based on the numerous books I’ve read and health professionals I’ve talked to, the following is undeniably true: America must look to other healing methods if it wants to return to the healthy nation it once was. There are some shocking governmental statistics to support this statement.

THE FACTS
The U.S. Public Health Service revealed the rate of health deterioration of the American people. Out of 100 participating nations of the world, America was the healthiest in 1900. In 1920, we dropped to the second healthiest nation. During World War II, we went back to number one-that’s when sugar and meat were hard to get and family vegetable gardens were common. In 1978, we dropped to 79th. In 1980, we were 95th ! (I recently heard from a friend in the business of enlightened healing that we have now hit rock bottom-that’s number 100 on the list) Yet we are said to be the wealthiest nation in the world. Who, or What is responsible?

A DEPARTURE FROM NATURE
Since 1900, the basic sensible theories of health care have changed dramatically. The major change was the shift from Nature, or natural healing methods, to drugs. In addition to this shift in health care came the increasing use of preservatives and chemicals taken into our bodies through food, polluted air and synthetic fabrics. This unnatural approach to life has had its detrimental effect on the American people.

In my opinion, as long as our approach to healing (except in rare cases) involves the use of drugs, chemicals, radiation and scapels, we will never be successful. If we sincerely want to bring the American people back to health, or if we personally wish to reclaim our own perfect health, we muct return to God and follow His ways - Nature’s ways - by using herbs and other natural methods that purify and strengthen the body.

The Following is taken from the book: Cleanse and Purify Thyself - Written by Richard Anderson, ND

You may purchase Cleanse and Purify Thyself at Transformational Health.