Learn How To Reverse Diabetes with Dr. Gabriel Cousens
July 29, 2009 by Diana
Filed under How To Reverse Diabetes
This article is an excerpt from There Is a Cure for Diabetes
“Yes . . . Type-2 diabetes is a curable disease. From my thirty-five years of clinical experience as a wholistic medical doctor, and that of livefood therapeutic centers since the 1920s when Max Gerson, MD, healed Albert Schweitzer of diabetes with live foods, the fact that diabetes is a curable disease is common knowledge in the live-food community. Diabetes is not a fixed sentence; it is not our natural condition, and has only become a problem of pandemic proportions since the 1940s.This book is about looking deeply at the underlying causes of diabetes on both the pandemic-global and the personal level, and supplying readers with a way to achieve rapid reversal from the misery of a diabetic physiology to a joyous and healthy physiology.
Although many people have a genetic susceptibility to Type-2 diabetes,the true causes (which activate the genetic potential physiology of diabetes) lie in a personal and world lifestyle and diet that pulls the trigger on the diabetes gun. This diabetogenic personal and world lifestyle and diet includes on the level of individual responsibility: a diet high in refined carbohydrates such as white sugar and white flour; high amounts of cooked animal saturated fats; trans-fatty acids produced from cooking (and especially frying oils at high temperatures); lowfiber food; coffee and caffeinated beverages; smoking; a lifestyle devoid of love and exercise; high stress; watching TV programming.
Diabetogenic contributing factors on a planetary level include living in a degraded environment in which the air, earth, and water are, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, filled with 70,000 different toxic chemicals, heavy metals, agrochemicals, and other toxic substances—65,000 of which are potentially hazardous to our health. The Environmental Defense Council reports that more than four billion pounds of toxic chemicals are released into the environment each year, including seventy-two million pounds of known carcinogens. In addition, we live in a mental and emotional environment filled with messages of stress and death from the media, including news of constant wars and terrorism infecting the planet. The degenerate conditions,lifestyle, and diet that create diabetes emanate from these modern human-created realities, which, taken together, we are calling the Culture
of Death.
The cure, on the most profound level, is to move away from a global and personal Culture of Death, to embrace the Culture of Life. On a personal level this means choosing to live in a way that promotes life and well-being for oneself as well as the planet. It means creating a diet and lifestyle in which there is minimal or no incidence of diabetes. Individually, this means a diet that is organic, vegan, at least 80 percent live-food, high in mineral content, 15–20 percent plant-only fat (no animal fat), high-fiber, low-glycemic, low-insulin index, well hydrated, individualized, and prudent food intake—a cuisine that is sustainable for the duration of one’s life, and prepared and eaten with love. Collectively, it means creating a world culture where all people have access to healthy, organic food and water, decent shelter, and a living environment free of chemicals and pollutants. Healing diabetes in this personal and global context is an act of love for oneself and the living planet. This love is an expression of the Culture of Life.
The teaching of this book is that humanity is created to be vibrant, alive, and healthy. As it says in Deuteronomy 30:19 from 3,400 years ago: “Today, I have set before you life and death and a blessing and a curse. You must choose life in order that you and your children shall live.” Things have not changed. We still have that choice.
The inspiration for this book began with a movie on diabetes and live foods that was made at the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center in Patagonia, Arizona. The original idea was to do a film on the effect of being raw for thirty days. I strongly suggested that it would be more interesting to the general public to witness on film the effect of live foods on diabetic, McDonald’s-Culture-of-Death individuals. Based on my clinical experience in healing diabetes naturally with motivated people, I was confident that these principles and approach would work with this new group of diabetic people. It seemed like an interesting exploration of how it would work for a group of people totally unfamiliar with live-food cuisine and way of life. The results were amazing. Of the six who started the program, only one dropped out. By the fourth day, four were off their insulin or oral hypoglycemic medications, and one Type-1 diabetic was down from 70 units of insulin per day to moving toward the 5 units he reached by the end of the month.
One of the two Type-1 diabetics, who was diagnosed with Type-1 diabetes by doctors in a hospital setting, dropped to a normal blood sugar after two weeks, and has remained there ever since. As of this writing, two years later,he remains cured of Type-1 diabetes. Another participant, who had severe neuropathy in his lower limbs, numbness in his scrotum and feet, was suffering from mental deterioration and confusion, and was preparing to have a foot amputated, recovered completely from the neuropathy and became mentally clearer. The tissue of his foot also healed and his blood sugar dropped to normal range in the first two weeks. Two of the women who had been living with a blood sugar of 300-plus while on medications dropped to blood sugars of 111 and 130 by the end of the month without medications. Most of the other blood chemistries of all of them became normal after one month. Mental state became clear and joyous in all participants.
Make no mistake: To liberate ourselves from the cultural, nutritional,and personal habits that contribute to the manifestation of diabetes is to not only heal ourselves and realize better health, but it is an act of love and consciousness that contributes to a multi-level positive transformation of society. Only one question is left to the reader: Do you love yourself and the planet enough to want to heal yourself of diabetes and help the world switch from the Culture of Death, which is the ultimate cause of diabetes, to the Culture of Life, which brings love, peace, abundance, and health to the planet? With blessings to your health and joy,
GABRIEL COUSENS, M.D.”
How To Combat Soil Depletion Naturally
July 22, 2009 by Diana
Filed under Soil Depletion
The following article on soil depletion is an excerpt from Spiritual Nutrition: Six Foundations for Spiritual Life and the Awakening of Kundalini
Mineral Depletion in Plant Food
There are specific mineral requirements for cell nutrition. The number one mineral is oxygen. It connects the symbiosis between the plant and animal world. It is obvious that calcium is needed for bone production and function of the parathyroid glands; iodine is needed for the function of thyroid; iron is needed for hemoglobin production, etc.
The overall generalization is that all disease stems from the weakening of the organism and subsequent parasitic (virus, bacteria, fungus, bowel parasites, etc.) infections. Adequate mineralization protects us against this disease process by strengthening the biological terrain. One of the problems we began to face early in the 1920s is plant disease arising from soil depletion. For example, a gray spec on oats in caused by deficient manganese. Rosette disease affects fruit trees and is due to zinc deficiency.
The point being, that our plants need the proper nutrition, and when they don’t get it, they are prone to disease just like humans. For healthy plant life, corn requires about 48 minerals and wheat and oats utilize about 36 minerals. Soybeans, apples, pears, and peaches, take out over 30 elements from the soil. Most vegetables, including peas, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, and lettuce require more than 25 elements from the soil. Repeatedly used ground that is not regenerated gets depleted.
The foods that grow in it get depleted as a result, and therefore the humans and animals that are eating those foods also get depleted. In essence, we can say that the soil in the United States, and in probably most of the world, is overworked and underfed. The result is diseased plants and sick animals. This is the result of the failure to replace the elements taken out during the growing cycles. This can be called the law of soil exhaustion.
This imbalance is amplified by creating a glut of food with our high technology, pulling more energy and minerals from the soil than it can offer. The cycle gets worse with the soil becoming further depleted of trace elements and the animals lacking vital essentials for their health. Rain, which was once our friend, and in many ways still is, becomes a problem because the rain further carries out the elements from the soil to the sea.
The increased soil exhaustion creates exhausted and diseased plants, exhausted and diseased animals, and exhausted and diseased human beings. Roughly it’s been estimated, according to Sea Energy Agriculture, that Australia loses about six tons of topsoil per square mile, Europe loses one-hundred twenty tons per square mile, and on a worldwide basis, we lose four billion tons of dissolved material that is carried off to the sea from the rivers each year. The soluble elements are washed off first by the rainwater. This is why sodium chloride is so scarce on the land and abundant in the sea.
The Seawater Solution
What is the solution to growing healthy plants again, and therefore well-nourished human beings? Seawater is the most ancient water solution on earth, and perhaps the most ideal physiologically to re-mineralize the soils.
One of the most exciting research studies that has been done on minerals was done by Dr. Maynard Murray as described in his book Sea Energy Agriculture. Dr. Murray was a medical doctor who truly wanted to get to the essence of what health was about. Murray’s thesis, which he stated in 1976 in Acres USA was, “Life is electrical…There can be no life without a transfer of electrical energy.” Dr. Murray’s thesis was that the center of life’s gravity was the oceans, a repository of minerals from the land, dissolved and carried to Nature’s settling basin via streams, both above and below ground.
His research showed that we needed the right key to unlock the nutrient rich accumulations of trace minerals. Each cell is a little battery that puts out a current. Without this electrical current, the cells could not really work and eventually will die. Murray points out that life started in the sea. Human blood is about 25% seawater, and practically 85% of the life on earth comes from and lives in the sea. Murray’s work was to use the minerals in the sea, which added up to 90 trace elements. He used a diluted saltwater mixture in agriculture orchards, pastures, and gardens. In his book, Sea Energy Agriculture, he points out, “It is possible to build up the immunity to staph, viral, and fungal infections in plants.
How To Live, Eat and Implement A Low Glycemic Diet by Dr. Gabriel Cousens
July 22, 2009 by Diana
Filed under Low Glycemic Diet
This article is an excerpt from Spiritual Nutrition: Six Foundations for Spiritual Life and the Awakening of Kundalini
A Low Glycemic Diet
A low-glycemic diet is one of the key components for health, optimal genetic expression, a healthy living colloid field, stable blood-sugar levels, and a quiet mind. These all support spiritual awakening. The prime purpose of the low-glycemic diet is to prevent the “self-composting button” from being pushed.
Negative environmental stresses, acidity, and a high-glycemic diet create a morbid ploemorphic change from healthy cells and protids to viruses, bacteria, yeast, mold, and fungus which give off microtoxins that begin to break down our living tissue. The self-composting process leads to chronic degenerative disease. There are many potential ill effects from a high-glycemic diet besides activating the self-composting button of chronic degenerative disease.
A low-glycemic diet helps to create a healthy biological terrain, preventing or reversing self-composting and candida. In the context of Spiritual Nutrition it is important to give a brief overview of the important of a low-glycemic diet. It is a diet that minimizes high-glycemic fruits, refined carbohydrates, and cooked starchy vegetables.
Phase I of the Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine contains the lowest amount of low-glycemic foods, and therefore accelerates the shutting off of the self-composting button. It consists primarily of raw nuts, seeds, vegetables, oils, and algae. Because of the stresses in our modern environment and our poor nutritional choices in the past, Phase I is appropriate for most everyone for the first three months. Some people who are experiencing only mild self-composting can start with Phase I.5 which includes a minimum of low-glycemic fruits, low-glycemic condiments, and fermented foods. Once the self-composting button has been shut off, one can move to Phase II.
Phase II is a maintenance diet. It includes moderate-glycemic fruits, and raw high-glycemic vegetables. It is also important to note that low-glycemic foods tend to be higher in minerals. The table below delineates the foods appropriate for each Phase of the Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine. In addition, in order to keep your biological terrain, SOEFs, and living colloid field in an optimum energetic state, there are many food which should be avoided in general.
The key point again is that a low-glycemic diet is the most important prevention and treatment. Other important preventative and healing factors include a moderate fat intake and moderate exercise. Minerals and vitamins that are particularly important for healing insulin resistance include selenium, copper, zinc, chromium, magnesium, and vanadium. Proper amounts of B12 are also important for protecting the nervous system against symptoms that occur with insulin resistance.
If someone tends to have obesity, allergies, arthritic troubles, degenerative eyesight and mental function, and an increased rate of heart and kidney disease, one needs to pay attention. We need to communicate positively to our genes by controlling blood sugar and insulin through a low-glycemic diet, exercise, and supportive lifestyle and environment.
Spiritual Nutrition by Dr. Gabriel Cousens
July 22, 2009 by Diana
Filed under Spiritual Nutrition
This is an excerpt from Chapter 16 of Spiritual Nutrition: Six Foundations for Spiritual Life and the Awakening of Kundalini
“Our food choices reflect the ongoing harmony with ourselves, the world, all of creation, and the Divine.” Conscious Eating, Gabriel Cousens, M.D.
“When Ramana Maharshi, one of the most famous Self-realized sages of modern India, was asked what the most important aid to meditation was, he replied a pure vegetarian diet. He quoted the ancient Chandogya Upanishad D II 26.2 that says “when food is pure, the mind is pure, when the mind is pure, concentration is steady, when concentration is achieved one can loosen all the knots of the heart that bind us.” Yoga tradition, as emphasized by the Chandogya Upanishad, teaches, “The mind is made of food.” It says that the food we take in is divided into three parts. The gross part becomes excrement, the middle portion becomes flesh and the subtle essence becomes the mind.
The mind and body are organically interrelated and our bodily condition strongly influences how we think. Therefore, Yoga includes purification of the physical body as an aid to purifying the mind. The tremendous energy required for such inner transformation is provided by prana, through which we can access deeper levels of vitality through various pranayama (breath) techniques. The foundation of Yoga is purification or detoxification of body, mind, and prana. Although Kabbalah is more focused on purification of the mind, the need for a healthy body is recognized. The great Hasidic master, Israel Baal Shem Tov, who lived in the early 1700′s, is quoted in Tzava’at Harivash, “When the body ails, the soul too is weakened, and one is unable to pray properly, even when clear of sins. Thus, you must guard the health of your body very carefully.”
The great physician, rabbi, and philosopher of the 12th century, Moses Maimonides, is quoted to say, “For it is impossible to understand the subject of wisdom and to meditate upon them when he is ill…the welfare of the soul can only be achieved after obtaining the welfare of the body.” A deep teaching about the importance of the body health on the spiritual path comes from Rabbi Yose, a Mishna sage of ancient times who said, “Let all your deeds be for the sake of Heaven.” Pirkei Avos 2:17 (a highly respected Hebrew text) implies that all we eat and how we live is for the sake of Heaven. It affirms this one’s principle guideline for diet for spiritual life which is: “we eat to enhance our communion with the Divine.”
This teaching is current language that aligns with the teachings of the physician-rabbi-Kabbalist Moses Maimonides in his text Hilchos De’os 4:1, which is: we “must avoid that which harms the body and accustom himself to that which helps the body become healthier and stronger.” In the ancient language, Moses Maimonides points out we need a healthy body in order to have the energy to emulate the ways of the Divine. Proverbs (11:17) says, “A person who does Chesed deeds (of Love) does good to himself.” This ancient teaching can be interpreted that the good a person does for themselves in terms of diet and lifestyle empowers them so they have the health, strength, and resources to give to others.
The basic teaching of Spiritual Nutrition is to eat and live in a way to enhance and sustain our communion with the Divine for at least as long as it takes to be Liberated.”
How To Reverse Diabetes Naturally With The Raw Food Diet by Dr. Gabriel Cousens
July 22, 2009 by Diana
Filed under How To Reverse Diabetes
This article is an excerpt from Chapter 4 in There Is a Cure for Diabetes: The Tree of Life 21-Day+ Program
“The first principle to heal diabetes naturally is a prudent diet that we call the Culture of Life anti-diabetogenic diet: organic, plant-source only, live (raw) food, relatively high complex carbohydrate, 15-20 percent (low to moderate) plant-based fats, moderate protein, low glycemic index, low insulin index, high minerals, no refined carbohydrate (especially white flour and white sugar), high fiber, moderate caloric intake, and prepared with love.
This Culture of Life diet, updated with the concept of individualization as explained in detail in Conscious Eating, is best known as the Genesis 1:29 Garden of Eden diet. Some people need more protein (plant-sourced), and others need a diet higher in complex carbohydrates, depending on one’s constitution. Regardless of your constitution, however, this diet is high in vegetables and phytonutrients. A high-phytonutrient diet naturally includes a variety of antioxidants such as carotenes, vitamin E, vitamin C, phenol compounds, and resveratrol. You know you are getting these when there is a full rainbow of colors in your vegetables, fruits, and grains, as colors are actually the pigments containing phytonutrients, which turn on the anti-aging, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory genes. Most important, these phytonutrients turn off the diabetes-causing genes and turn on the anti-diabetic genes.
In Genetic Nutritioneering, Jeffrey Bland, PhD, explains how the hormone insulin indirectly speaks to the genes and alters gene expression. Insulin also influences the other hormones in the body. A healthy flow of insulin in the body not only helps us control blood sugar, but is linked to a healthy balance of many other hormones, including insulin-like growth factor, human growth hormone, cortisol, somatostatin, serotonin, noradrenalin, and leptin. Our control of hormones is found through our diet, stress, exercise patterns, and, of course, the food we take into our body. Emerging research confirms that the type of carbohydrates we eat also influences the expression of our genes through their effect on the secretion of insulin, glucagons, and other cell signaling hormones. So when we eat, we need to consciously consider that what we eat speaks to our genes, and therefore positively or negatively affects our gene expression.
Our genes carry messages that describe how sensitive we are to insulin and blood sugar. In other words, we have free choice to modify the expression of these genetic messages, by what we eat, how we exercise, how we create stress in our life, and the toxins (such as drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and heavy metals) that we bring into our system. The point is that whether or not there is an onset of insulin resistance depends on our food and lifestyle. Insulin is a major regulator of the diabetic genes. When our insulin levels are not in homeostasis, our genes that favor the diabetic process are activated.
Studies have found that when individuals consume animal-protein-rich foods their insulin output is greater. This research done with the insulin index, shows that meat, dairy, and fish can create an excess release of insulin—that is, they have a high insulin index and therefore imbalance the system. Research by Gene Stiller, PhD, found that a protein-enhanced diet often increases insulin resistance. Research generally shows that diets containing whole and natural vegetable protein have a lower insulin response than refined high-fat foods. It has been found that the amino acid mix in vegetable protein, although complete, is slightly different than, and offers certain advantages over, animal protein. Specifically for diabetes, vegetable protein positively affects many aspects of our metabolism, including the improvement of insulin sensitivity and the reduction of toxic reactions. Simply changing the excess of calories in the diet and improving the ratio of protein to carbohydrates and fat according to your constitution can actually improve the regulation of blood sugar levels.
Phytonutrients
One of the most potent components of food that affects gene expression on the molecular level is phytonutrients. Research on phytonutrients supports the general findings we’ve summarized; for example, 82 percent of 156 different published dietary studies found that fruit and vegetable consumption helped protect against cancer. People who eat more fruits and vegetables have about one-half the risk of cancer mortality than those people who are not plant eaters. Plant-sourced diets are very high in phytonutrients, which include a variety of antioxidants, carotenes, vitamin E, vitamin C, phenolic compounds, and terpenoids. We get more than twice the phytonutrients from the same amount of calories on the nutrient-dense live-food diet, which also is a natural calorie-restricted diet. The Tree of Life World Cuisine naturally stimulates and reactivates the anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and anti-diabetic genes, and turns off the diabetes-causing genes with the aid of the rainbow menu of phytonutrients.
These phytonutrients include: the allyl sulfides in garlic and onions, potent stimulators of improved phenotypic expression for diabetes and aids in controlling blood sugar with their sulfur components important for insulin function; phytates in grains and legumes, with anti-cancer effects; glucarates in citrus, grains, and tomatoes, improving the gene expression of detoxification; lignans in flax, improving the metabolism of estrogen and testosterone; indoles, isothiocyanates, and hydroxybutene in cruciferous vegetables, improving detoxification against carcinogens; ellagic acid in grapes, raspberries, strawberries, and nuts, improving antioxidant function; and bioflavonoids, carotenoids, and terpenoids, reducing inflammation and improving immunity.
Inflammation is definitely affected by our gene expression. My favorite anti-inflammatory food is ginger; it has active phytochemicals called gingerols, which have been shown to be quite effective in the treatment of arthritis and other inflammation problems. Used in conjunction with curcumin, these two have been shown to improve gene expression in regard to the anti-inflammatory response. One popular flavonoid is quercetin. Found in apples, onions, and garlic, quercetin helps improve gene expression related to allergy and arthritis, and helps maintain the integrity of vascular tissue for improved circulation. Bioflavonoids, of which quercetin is one, are among the most important modifiers of gene expression, in addition to being antioxidants.
Once we understand this first principle about eating a Culture of Life anti-diabetogenic diet, we start to understand that what we take into our body has very important healing effects. In a October 1997 article in Science by Dr. Caleb Finch, a professor at the Andrus Gerontology Center at the University of Southern California, Finch clearly makes the point that heredity plays a minor role in determining lifespan. One of the most important roles in longevity is connected to lifestyle.This principle applies to the tendency to be diabetic. If we do not activate the diabetes-producing genes, with poor diet and lifestyle, then diabetes will not manifest.”
8 Essential Sugars by David Wolfe, JD
July 21, 2009 by Diana
Filed under Essential Sugars
Introduction to Sugars
Sugar seems to be related to all things sweet in life. We call our loved ones “sweetheart,” “sugar plum,” “honey,” and “sweety pie.” Life without any sweet flavors would be challenging at best and extremely disappointing at worst. Sugar is the great reward of life and we know that people and animals perform consistently better when rewarded.
Because the term is used so loosely, sugar has become an ambiguous word. When one states the word “sugar” it could mean one of a dozen things such as high fructose corn syrup, refined cane sugar, white sugar, brown sugar, maple sugar, beet sugar, fruit juice, dried fruit, etc.
For purposes of this article, sugar is defined as a natural hydrocarbon compound (such as honey, agave, fruits, dried fruits, etc.) and refined sugar is an unnatural hydrocarbon product (such as high fructose corn syrup, brown sugar, white sugar, etc.) made through human engineering, plant breeding, and heat processing.
To be specific, natural sugar compounds consist of hydrogen and carbon molecules linked together in short, medium, or long chains.
Short chain sugars are what we call glucose, fructose, sucrose, fucose, xylose, and galactose. These are simple sugars that are easy to break down and provide quick energy. They are sweet to the taste. Some of these sugars (namely glucose, fructose, and sucrose) can be problematic if overeaten (eating too many dates or bananas) or when miscombined with other foods. Sometimes, we may have such serious candida or cancer problems that we may not want to consume any glucose, fructose, and sucrose sugars at all for at least 3 months (no glucose, no fructose, no sucrose). Candida yeast cells and cancer cells feed on glucose, fructose, and especially sucrose sugars. These are their favorite food.
Medium and long chain sugars are often called “polysaccharides” or “glyconutrients.” Once the sugar chain becomes medium to long in length, the sugar begins to become bitter in flavor. In simple terms, bitter polysaccharides or glyconutrients are one of the healthiest substances we can ingest especially when still found in their natural state in whole organic raw foods, superfoods, and herbs.
Polysaccharides (glyconutrients) are:
- Soothing
- Produce healthy youthful skin cells,
- Help keep us slim and trim
- Help detoxify our bodies
- Improve and educate our immune system
- Increase our brain power.
Polysaccharide molecules of beta glucans (found in the medicinal mushrooms such as Agaricus blazei, Reishi, Cordyceps, Maitake, etc.) have repeatedly been proven to enhance the body’s production of B-cells, T-cells, and NK cell activity – all of these support a healthy immune response. Certain foods, namely yacon root syrup
, have just the perfect length of sugars and provide us with the sweet taste of a short chain sugar, but the health-enhancing properties of medium and long-chain polysaccharides. Polysaccharides in aloe vera rejuvenate epithelial cells (skin cells) better than any other food known. Goji Berries
, due to their high polysaccharide content are not only great for the immune system, they are also great for long-term energy and endurance because polysaccharides are broken down more slowly than simple sugars like glucose.
How The Best Food Ever Keeps Getting Better
Now let’s complexify things slightly. It was discovered in the 1980s by Arizona mineral scientist David Hudson that polysaccharides contain more than just hydrogen and carbon. Hudson discovered that certain elements (high energy particles from the atmosphere or geosphere that he called “Ormus”) can be contained within polysaccharides. The “Ormus” elements appear to be at the heart of the “intelligent” behavior of many of the well-researched polysaccharides such beta glucans, mannose, and the others listed below. Under the correct soil and growing conditions, the polysaccharide fraction of superfoods like aloe vera, Goji berries
, garlic, etc. can be increased and improved. I mention this, because this is an area of research that I am personally involved in and believe will deliver the next breakthroughs in immune system support and longevity as well as more and more of “the best food ever.”
Summary: Is Sugar Good For Us?
So back to the question…Is sugar good for us?
Answer: A qualified YES. As long as we cleanse our body of freeloaders (organisms that like to hang out for a free lunch) by intelligently using herbs (like the EJUVA systems), activated liquid zeolites
, MSM
(sulfur), superfoods, as well as by maintaining a mineral-rich raw and living foods-based diet, healthy relationships, our common sense (to stay balanced), avoid consuming both unnatural sugars (especially high fructose corn syrup and refined cane or beet sugar) and avoid over-consuming short-chain natural sugars such glucose, fructose, and sucrose we should have few problems with sugar. That means we must avoid the temptations to: have any refined sugar, have too many fresh or dried fruits at one sitting, use too much sweetener at one time with our beverages, desserts, and treats, etc.
If due to a long-standing health challenge (candida, cancer, poor immunity, etc.) we have to move towards a “low sugar” diet, I recommend that you follow the advice given on this subject in Dr. Gabriel Cousens book Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine
The Eight Essential Sugars
The question appears to be answered. Sugar is an important part of a balanced diet when used appropriately. Recent research over the last 25 years has actually confirmed that not only are sugars good for us, some are essential (just as some amino acids and fatty acids are essential in our diet). Here are a list of eight essential sugars to human health, their properties, and what foods contain them:
Mannose (polysaccharide)
Properties: Anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral. Reduces inflammation.
Food and Herb Sources of Mannose: Aloe vera, kelp
, shiitake mushroom, fenugreek, carob gum, guar gum, black currants, red currants, gooseberries, green beans, cayenne pepper, cabbage, broccoli, eggplant, tomatoes, turnip, cranberries.
Fucose (simple sugar)
Properties: Anti-viral. Supports long-term memory. Guards against lung diseases. Fights allergies. The abnormal metabolism of this saccharide is associated with cystic fibrosis, diabetes, cancer, and herpes – more fucose helps to alleviate these conditions.
Food and Herb Sources of Fucose: kelp, Wakame seaweed, mushrooms, seeds.
Galactose
Properties: Improves the speedy healing of injuries. Improves memory. Improves the absorption of good calcium.
Food and Herb Sources of Galactose: Most fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, and raw dairy products. Some the fruits, vegetables and herbs that contain galactose include: apples, apricots, bananas, blackberries, cherries, cranberries, currants, dates, grapes, kiwi, mangos, oranges, nectarines, peaches, pears, pineapples, plums, prunes, raspberries, rhubarb, strawberries, passionfruit, echinacea, boswellia, fenugreek, chestnuts, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, avocado, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, potatoes, eggplant, tomatoes, leeks, asparagus, lettuce, green beans, mushrooms (not button mushrooms), beets, onions, parsnips, green peas, pumpkins, spinach.
Glucose (simple sugar)
Properties: Fast energy source. Too much or too little can be problematic. Glucose metabolic disturbances are associated with depression, manic behavior, anorexia, and bulimia.
Food and Herb Sources of Glucose: Nearly all fruits, vegetables, and bee products (bee pollen, honey
). Nearly all naturally sweet substances, such as agave, honey, etc.
N-Acetylgalactosamine (polysaccharide)
Properties: Inhibits the spread of tumors. Heart disease causes a low-level of this saccharide.
Food and Herb Sources of N-Acetylgalactosamine: Ocean’s Alive Marine Phytoplankton, Dumontiaceae (red algae).
N-Acetylglucosamine (polysaccharide)
Properties: Immune system modulator. Anti-viral. Anti-inflammatory. Repairs cartilage. Repairs the mucosal-lining that is damaged by Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and interstitial cystitis. Enhances learning.
Food and Herb Sources of N-Acetylglucosamine: Shiitake mushroom, glucosamine sulfate
N-Acetylneurominic Acid (polysaccharide)
Properties: Anti-bacterial, anti-viral. Enhances learning and brain development. Abundantly found in breast milk.
Food and Herb Sources of N-Acetylneurominic Acid: Lion’s mane mushroom, Ocean’s Alive Marine Phytoplankton
, raw dairy products
Xylose (simple sugar)
Properties: Anti-bacterial, anti-fungal. Helps prevent cancer of the digestive system.
Food and Herb Sources of Xylose: Kelp, berries (blackberries, loganberries, raspberries), aloe vera, okra, birch sap, seeds, some common vegetables. Includes: guava, pears, echinacea, boswellia, psyllium, broccoli, spinach, eggplant, peas, green beans, okra, cabbage, and corn.
There are more sugars than just these eight (just like there are more amino acids than the 8 or 9 essential amino acids). The list of food and herb sources of essential sugars (listed above) is by no means complete. Generally, if you eat superfoods (goji berries, bee pollen, marine phytoplankton
, aloe vera, etc.), medicinal mushrooms (reishi
, cordyceps, maitake
, Lion’s mane
, etc.), and seaweeds (especially kelp powder
, nori
, dulse
, and sea lettuce) you will get all the essential sugars into your diet naturally.
Raw Foods, Superfoods, and Herbs That Contain Healing Polysaccharides
Here are my comments on Raw Foods, Superfoods, and Herbs that contain short, medium, and long chain sugars. Please review and determine which of these sugars you would like to include in your diet.
Yacon Root Syrup – This incredible superfood contains polysaccharides that help to nourish friendly bacteria and help to alleviate blood sugar disorders.
Goji berries – The goji berry contains polysaccharides that give the goji berry many unique medicinal immune system improving qualities.
Agave Nectar – A great source of glucose, fructose, and inulin (a medium chain sugar). Darker varieties are less glycemic.
Noni – One of the best polysaccharide containing foods in the world. Noni is the only fruit tree in the world that grow directly out of a lava field with no soil.
Aloe Vera – Everyone knows that what aloe does for your skin and digestive system is unmatched by any other food. What is the secret ingredient in aloe? Mannose, an essential sugar!
Bee Pollen – Bee pollen is an excellent source of healthy polysaccharides.
Fruits – In general, berries are the best class of fruits as they contain glucose and more medicinal medium and long-chain polysaccharides than most other fruit types.
Medicinal mushrooms – Try different types of medicinal mushrooms. Start with Reishi. Experiment and discover which ones work best in your body. I personally enjoy Reishi, Lion’s Mane
.
Authentic Food and Nature Farming by Dr. Gabriel Cousens
July 20, 2009 by Diana
Filed under Authentic Food, Nature Farming
The following is extracted from Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine
Authentic Food
Authentic food is a concept that helps us absolutely optimize the idea of what quality food should be. The goal is to produce the most nutritious high-energy food possible while protecting the soil for future generations. The farmers that are involved in this adventure each year probe even deeper into the soil-plant-animal nutrition cycle and how to optimize it. Authentic foods stand in contrast to food giants who are beginning to take over the word “organic” and who do not understand the traditional small organic farmer’s commitment and energy involved in producing the highest quality food. The authentic approach is a response to the transition of organic food production from small farms to big time farming.
Authentic farming has to do with what we can do to add energy to food and soil, by love and devotion in its production. This allows us to absorb the highest energy from our food, which is the main way that we derive energy from the planet. Authentic food lifts food to a new level and quality.
The term authentic has to do with farmers who are focused on quality. It identifies fresh, organic food produced by local growers. The concept of authentic goes right down to the fundamentals of how food was offered in the past. These principles are:
- all food is produced by the growers who sell it;
- fresh fruits and vegetables are produced within a 50-150 mile radius of the place of their final sale;
- seed and storage crops are produced within a 300-mile radius of their final sale;
- the growers’ fields and greenhouses are open for inspection at any time and the customers themselves can be the certifiers of their food;
- all of the agricultural practices used on the farm selling under authentic are chosen to produce food at the highest nutritional and vibrational qualities;
- soils are nourished as they are in the natural world with farm derived organic matter, minerals, and particles from the ground rot;
- green manures and cover crops are included with the broadly based crop rotations to maintain biodiversity;
- pest positive rather than pest negative philosophy is involved, recognizing that pest appear when there is an imbalance, and focusing on how to correct the cause of the problem rather than treating the symptoms. This is a holistic approach to farming. The goal, of course, is vigorous, healthy crops that are endowed with inherent powers to resist pests.
- Any authentic farm or garden land would be a genetically modified organism free zone.
The definition of authentic farming is local, seller grown, fresh, organic food which supports the health of the ecosystem, our bodies and the local economy.
Nature Farming
The basis of Nature Farming is an appreciation for the power of “living soil”, which is the key factor that makes the system sustainable and resilient. Living soil is created through the interaction of plants and the life of the soil, especially the microorganisms, earthworms, mites and countless other creatures. In the forests and prairies, living soil is created by the accumulation of plant debris from season to season.
Plants provide the food that serves as the primary production of these ecosystems, thereby supporting the extended food chains that develop there. Next to the plants, the microorganisms and other soil life are the most critical to the stability and productivity of the system. Microorganisms recycle the plant material and release nutrients to further promote plant growth. Microorganisms form symbiotic relationships with plant root systems and help provide nutrients, such as phosphorus, to plants in exchange for exudates from the plant root. Animals, from earthworms and mites, on up, dwell and feed upon the soil-plant complex. This is the natural scheme of things, and humans evolved from this ecological base.
The Truth About Vegan Protein Dr. Gabriel Cousens
July 20, 2009 by Diana
Filed under Vegan Protein
Many people who aren’t vegan question vegans about their vegan protein intake. The following is an excerpt from Spiritual Nutrition: Six Foundations for Spiritual Life and the Awakening of Kundalini
Fact and Fear
The high versus low-protein controversy is more an issue of fear and confusion than fact. The high-protein approach to nutrition was initially based on nineteenth century German research that asserted people need a minimum of 120 grams of protein per day. This high protein thinking lingers today, even though the requirement is now considered by conventional nutritionists to be 60-90 grams of protein each day. But expert research around the world suggests that the real protein requirement is closer to 25-35 grams, and less if the protein we eat comes from live foods. It is also interesting to note that the average protein concentration in mother’s milk is just 1.4 percent, sufficient to supply the human organism with all the essential amino acids and protein needed during the period of most rapid growth and brain development. Apes, considerably stronger that humans, live on a fruitarian diet that averages between 0.2 and 2.2 percent protein, equivalent to the protein concentration in human breast milk. These facts lead one to question: Just how much protein do we really need?
Excess Protein and Degenerative Disease
In terms of metabolic combustion, excess protein in the diet does not “burn cleanly.” It has been associated with creating an over-acid system due to the accumulation of toxic wastes such as uric acids and purines in the tissues. The late nutrition expert, Paavo Airola, Ph.D., pointed out that overeating protein “contributes to the development of many of our most common and serious diseases, such as arthritis, kidney damage, pyorrhea, schizophrenia, osteoporosis, atherosclerosis, heart disease, and cancer: and that a “high protein diet causes premature aging and lowers life expectancy.”
A high animal protein diet includes twenty times more phosphorous than calcium, which in turn depletes calcium resulting in osteoporosis and tooth decalcification. Studies strongly suggest that most people eat too much protein, and that excess protein, especially if it is meat protein, is detrimental to our health.
The Wendt doctrine, a result of thirty years of research by a family of German physician researchers, connects excess protein consumption to some forms of chronic degenerative disease. The Wendts were able to prove with electron microscope pictures, that excess protein clogs the basement membrane, which is a filtering membrane located between capillaries and cells. This membrane helps regulate the flow of nutrients and waste products between capillaries, cells, and fluid in the tissues they penetrate. The more excess protein there is in the diet, the more protein is lodged in the basement membrane. This makes it more difficult for proteins, other nutrients, including oxygen, to enter the cells and for waste to exit.
Eventually, the basement membrane becomes so clogged with excess protein that the cells on the inside of the capillary walls begin to store and secrete the excess protein in insoluble forms that accumulate on the inside of the capillaries and arteriole walls, causing atherosclerosis, hypertension, adult-onset diabetes, and what the Wendts term capillarogenic tissue degeneration. This system-wide condition produces cellular malnutrition. The key understanding is that excess protein in the diet results in a protein storage disease that slowly chokes off the system. It is much harder to meditate when one is choking on a cellular level and the vitality of the system is slowly dying out. The Wendts found that this whole process could be reversed by stopping the intake of all animal protein for one to three months and by eating a low protein diet.
Protein Combining Is Unnecessary
One of the most unnecessary vegetarian practices is combining protein at meals. This inaccurate concept is that our system only utilizes protein in its complete state and we must eat all the amino acids at once to supply sufficient protein for our system to use metabolically. This fearful type of thinking comes from the idea that we do not store proteins and amino acids. The Wendt doctrine clearly proves that this is not true.
The biggest fear generated by pro-meat eaters and new vegetarians is about not getting enough protein. The real problem is just the opposite: we take in too much protein. According to the Max Planck Institute for Nutritional Research in Germany, considered by Paavo Airola to be the most respected and reliable nutritional research organization in the world, there are many vegetable sources of protein which are superior or equal to animal proteins. The Max Planck Institute found complete vegetarian proteins, those which contain all eight essential amino acids, to be available from almonds, sesame, pumpkin, and sunflower seeds, soybeans, buckwheat, all leafy greens, and most fruits. Fruits supply approximately the same percentage of complete protein as mother’s milk. Airola feels “it is virtually impossible not to get enough protein, provided you have enough to eat of natural, unrefined foods.”
Twenty-five to thirty grams of protein are more than sufficient for our protein intake. If the protein is taken in its live-food form, even less is needed. In many cases, as our system changes with meditation, fasting, eating lighter, and increasing live-food intake, our basement membranes become clear, more porous, and thinner, so the protein we take in moves into the cells more readily. With reduced blockage, more of the protein we eat pushes itself through the basement membrane into the cells, so our protein needs spontaneously drop. Perhaps over time we might find that no more than the 1.4 percent protein in mother’s milk is all we need. The lower limits are not clearly established on the materialistic plane for one who is undergoing a spiritual metamorphosis.
Protein and Spiritual Evolution
What can be said is that excess protein, whether from animal or vegetable sources, slows the flow of the subtle energy in the system and decreases our capacities as superconductors. It acts as a sludge to our body energy in general and specifically to the Kundalini energy. In fact, when the Kundalini energy becomes too intense for some individuals, the author often recommends eating lots of vegetarian protein, and rarely even meat, to slow it down. This mild dietary change has worked well for people, and is one way to regulate the flow of the Kundalini energy.
The author first noticed this general sludge effect after he changed his diet to vegetarian in 1972. As the author’s basement membranes cleared out of the toxic protein storage load, he began to sense when he was eating too many nuts and seeds to compensate for the supposedly low protein of a vegetarian diet. When overcompensating, he would feel toxic, acidic, sluggish, and it was harder to focus in meditation. Through self-experimentation, the author found the correct amount of protein intake to feel clear and energized. Over the years, as his basement membranes have cleared, he has slowly decreased his protein intake based on this feedback system. The point is that there are no rules. Through self-observation, as our spiritual practices and bodies change, it is possible to determine what our individual protein needs are. A low-protein intake is not the goal or even an idealization. To eat what helps us maximize the flow of energy in the body, the activity of Kundalini, and the experience of our God Communion is the purpose of an appropriate, moderate, low-protein diet.
Great Qualuity Sources of Plant Based Protein/ Amino Acids: Hemp Seeds, Spirulina, Cholrella, Maca, Goji Berries, Algaes and Marine Phyto Plankton, Sprouts, Greens, Nuts & Seeds & Mylks of.