Let's talk about healthy nutrition

[Questioner]

What do you think of nutrition? What has helped you understand a deeper spiritual meaning to the value of food?

I've had the best success when I combine the blood type diet from Dr. Peter D'Adamo with the zone diet from Dr. Barry Sears.

Dr. D'Adamo continued his father's life work. He explores how each blood type has different body chemistry and needs a different balance of foods. This is based on the history of human evolution and on biochemistry. I find it fascinating.

Dr. Sears suggests balance of lean protein, low glycemic index carbohydrate and healthy fats & oils at frequent small meals and snacks throughout the day.

I also liked much of Denie Hiestand's "Electrical Nutrition." I had to set aside much of what he said about his own spiritual and relationship journeys as not relevant to me now. But his insights about agriculture science and preparing food with love helped me be more deeply thoughtful about food. (They also amplified my lifelong desire to visit his native New Zealand some day.)

I just saw the movie about Temple Grandin, the very compassionate autistic lady who empathized with the experiences of cattle and revolutionized humane slaughter. Her struggles with the stupid, vicious cruelty of people who lacked compassion are similar to what many of us have experienced, and equally heartbreaking. Her ultimate triumphs are astounding inspiration for anyone who envisions transformation of something broken.

And I loved the peaceful, calm mindset of "Laurel's Kitchen" by Laurel Robertson. The blood type work explains why a strict vegetarian, high-grains diet like hers is not actually the best for me, but her attitudes about mindful cooking are inspiring.

What inspires your tummy and spirit?

[βαθμιαίος]

We basically follow our interpretation of Edgar Cayce's recommendations: Eat local, eat 80% alkaline-reacting and 20% acid-reacting, and remember that what comes out of your mouth is as important or more important than what goes into it.

We are lucky to be able to have a big garden, laying hens, and a milk cow, and to get most of our meat from family members who raise beef cattle, pigs, meat chickens, and turkeys.

We eat a home-cooked family dinner most nights and try not to rush through it but to say grace and talk about the day and about what's on people's minds.

We try to imagine what we eat, even when it is junk food, making us healthy and strong.

[Eddie]

I agree generally with both of you. This is an important topic, and one that should receive more attention here.

Remember that YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT. This old aphorism isn't metaphorical; it's literal.

Let us take a couple of situations, and contrast them.

To preface this exercise, let us remember that there is no separation. There is only the ONE. Everything that exists is a manifestation of GOD. The question is, how will one manifestation (us) react with, and properly utilize, the lessons that may be taught to us, by other manifestations?

Let us remember that, since everything that exists is a manifestion of GOD, then everything is CONSCIOUS. Nothing is dead or abeyant. Every atom, every molecule, every being, every crystal, is conscious, and strives toward reunion with the One Infinite Creator. Every morsel that we eat carries its own consciousness, and preserves its own memory. That memory is transferred to us as we eat the morsels.

Let us take the case of eating meat...in this case, modern industrial chicken.

I suspect that many of you haven't been in a modern chicken-house. These contain 10,000 to 100,000 chickens; they are confined to cages so small that, in most cases, the poor birds can't even turn around; and they are stacked upon one another, so that chickens on the rows below the top, are shat upon by the overlying chickens on the top row. In some cases, chickens are confined 2 or 3 to the cage. The farmers have to burn the ends of their beaks off with an electric needle, so that the chickens confined together in a tiny cage won't peck each other to death out of sheer frustration.

I well remember driving down the road one day, with a friend, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. We were following a tractor-trailer truck hauling a large load of chickens to the slaughterhouse. The chickens, which had been bred to be white, were 2 to a cage, stacked six cages high, on the back of a flatbed; and they were a dark, dirty, dull grayish-brown; the result of a lifetime of being covered with the excrement of the overlying fowls. We had, for a short time, the windows down, on our pickup, as we followed this truck. The smell emanating from these poor birds was absolutely ghastly. We hastily rolled up our windows and turned on the air-conditioning.

Now, imagine yourselves eating meat from these fowls (which you do, every time you don't eat a "Free-Range" chicken). What you ingest into your body is cells with the memory of a CONCENTRATION-CAMP life.

What will your body do after incorporating these memories into your physical structure?

Compare that situation with the meat that I prefer.

I hunt (I am not a vegetarian). I do my best to shoot game (mostly deer) efficiently and cleanly.

On the day that we witnessed those unfortunate chickens heading toward their doom, we were returning from a hunt for rails at Chincoteague. (Rails, for those of you not familiar with them, are small, skinny, chicken-like birds that live in the marsh.) We had killed about 9 or 10 rails. We returned to our lodgings, cleaned the birds, and fried them up as if they were small chickens. What we consumed was the flesh of fowls that had spent their lives in lovely salt marshes, free, unconstrained, watching the sun rise and set, never covered in anything thicker than salt water. We took their memories and joy, their unconstrained connection to GOD, into our bodies with the meal.

Which would you rather incorporate into your being?

(End of part 1; continued in part 2)

---

(Part 2; continued from above)

Now, let us consider the case of eating plants.

You can venture to your local market, and buy vegetables; you have no control over the conditions of their raising. They may have been sprayed with potent organophosphates, for example; if they come from Mexico (which many of our vegetables now do), they may very well have been irrigated with raw sewage. (This practice is, of course, illegal, but it is widely adhered to in Mexico, which has chronic water shortages, and easily bribed officials).

OR, you can grow, as I do, your own vegetables, and fertilize your garden with grass clippings and hardwood leaves. You can nourish your soil with products of Light, the light that comes from the Sub-Logos; and your vegetables will incorporate into their bodies, that loving Light.

As I work in my garden, I send love to my plants.

When I harvest and eat those plants, what I take into my body, is Love, Light, and Sunshine.

Which would you prefer?

[Peregrinus]

Hey Eddie, when can I come to your place for supper? You have the right ideas brother.

I'm a vegetarian, but not because I don't like meat. I just won't eat the meat of animals that have suffered, which is cattle and chickens and... pretty well anything that one buys in a store nowadays. I am not against eating wild game, animals that have lived in the glory of nature and have enjoyed their existence.

I've worked cattle feedlot on horseback, and seen the many needles of God knows what that they all get. It wasn't as bad as many feedlots nowadays, where the cattle never see a pasture. The cattle I worked with at least got that.

I've picked chickens by hand to put them on the trucks. As a kid that was a quick way to make money, usually about 23 to 26 bucks for a few hours work. In those days it was 10,000 or so chickens in a barn, with feeders/waterers in several locations on the floor, so they weren't stacked and they were white. It was still no life for an animal though, so close to each other they could barely turn around, and they never got to spend a second outside in the sunshine and never tasted a bug or a blade of grass in their life.

I see they sell some products that they call 'free-run", which I suspect isn't the same as free range to be sure.

I've only a month ago become a veggie again, and am learning to live with it. I've tried before, but didn't know what to eat, so I craved... this time so far so good. I get physically ill thinking about ingesting (concentration camp) meat, so that keeps the cravings away.

Meat is an inefficient way to eat. An acre of land can yield 20,000 pounds of potatoes, but that same acre would only graze enough cows to get 165 pounds of meat. ~ Alexandra Paul

[Eddie]

Hey Eddie, when can I come to your place for supper? You have the right ideas brother.

You are very welcome to dine with me at any time. I'd suggest the late summer-early fall period, only because we have the most variety coming in from our garden at the time. We will be happy to accommodate your vegetarian inclinations, as we have a large and diverse garden. My wife has considerable skill as a chef; we love company and good dining.

By the way, that happens to be the time of year that the LLResearch Homecoming occurs, and I plan to bring several bushels of fresh vegetables to Carla/Jim/Gary et al. You could hardly do better, on your path of advancement, than to join all of us in Anchorage (KY) for this event. Eating well will be the least of your blessings if you join us.....

[Questioner]

I've never been to Kentucky. Eddie, I hope I could get to also visit your hospitable family and/or LLR HQ. There are so many people on this forum that I would love to have conversations with in person. I'm amazed how much we can communicate through reading and writing, but there are some things so much easier to express in person... even if it's just through sharing time without much said. (That doesn't make for a very exciting online forum!)

[Eddie]

I've never been to Kentucky. Eddie, I hope I could get to also visit your hospitable family and/or LLR HQ. There are so many people on this forum that I would love to have conversations with in person. I'm amazed how much we can communicate through reading and writing, but there are some things so much easier to express in person... even if it's just through sharing time without much said. (That doesn't make for a very exciting online forum!)

Questioner, we are a family here.

You were meant to be here, and you were meant to join with all of us.

[Questioner]

Thank you, Eddie, more than I can possibly say.

I just had to stop, cry and catch my breath a bit. I think this is the first time in my life anyone has ever said that to me.

(Yes, other people have been kind and welcoming here, and a few other circumstances... but I think this is the first ever time I've been called a welcomed member of a family.)

[Monica]

this is the first ever time I've been called a welcomed member of a family.

Wow, I've thought it many times...sort of take it for granted so didn't think to actually say it...but I think of you and the other members of B4 as family...we're spiritual family.

---

I have a different point of view that I will share.

29 years ago, I read 2 books that changed my life very suddenly and profoundly:

The Essene Gospel of Peace (teachings of Jesus to the Essenes)

Survival into the 21st Century: Planetary Healers' Manual by Viktoras Kulvinskas

These books changed my life every bit as much as the Law of One books did, in their own domain.

Survival is rather hardcore, and I no longer subscribe to the dogmatic approach in the book. However, it still has many priceless gems.

There are countless diets out there, and it can be confusing to know which is appropriate. I personally reject the blood type theories because they don't take into consideration spontaneous physical evolution triggered by spiritual transformation. I see no reason why I must eat as my ancestors did. I also don't believe it is necessary to slaughter our younger other-selves in order to live. That just doesn't fit into my spiritual paradigm. I see no reason to support violence, and I find the concept of 'humane' violence an oxymoron.

For me, The Essene Gospel of Peace sums up the whole issue of diet more beautifully and profoundly than anything I've ever read. It's just so incredibly logical and...profound. I can readily believe it is an authentic account of the teachings of Jesus.

Here is who inspires me now:

http://www.youtube.com/user/liferegenerator

I'm also very into wild foods, as their life force is manyfold stronger than cultivated foods.

Some wonderful books on wild foods:

The Psychic Garden by Mellie Uyldert

The Genesis Effect by Dr. John W. Apsley, II

And, some less hardcore books documenting dramatically lower rates of cancer, heart disease, stroke, obesity, diabetes, etc. among vegetarians:

The China Study

The Enzyme Factor by Dr. Hiromi Shinya

Ultimately, the real issue for me is how killing an animal relates to polarity. The animal is in a state of fear and is running away. Taking its life is an act of domination and infringement of its free will, which is to live. I know that many spiritual people do indeed eat meat and I intend no judgement here. But since the subject was brought up, with an invitation to express our views, I will say here that I honestly don't understand how a bloody, violent act is reconciled with the STO path. While I definitely agree that it's more humane to allow an animal a natural life rather than forcing it into a factory-farm, I respectfully disagree that the essence of a wild animal's joyful life is transferred to the person who ended its life. That animal was in a fight-or-flight mode at the moment of death, and, purely on a physiological level, that state of stress triggers the release of fear hormones in its body, which are then consumed. On a purely physical level, I don't see how that can be healthy. Contrast this with live foods whose life-force is still intact at the moment of consumption, thus merging with the person, rather than fleeing from it. By the time an animal is cooked and eaten, its life-force is long gone.

I realize my views are controversial and might seem inflammatory to those who disagree with them. So I offer them for your consideration, and might not participate much in this thread from this point onwards, to avoid heated debate of a potentially volatile topic.

[Aaron]

It's customizable! Change out the words as you please to discover just how many cycles are present in life!

[ayadew]

Hello friends. Good thread. I wish to add something different

I skip carbohydrates due to them forcing the body creating insulin (carbohydrates = sugar) which stops the body from using fat as energy. Instead of eating 30% carbohydrates like Sweden's nutrition department recommends I eat 5-10%. Rest is fat and protein. So basically it's much vegetables with milk products and a little meat. You people have adequately discussed the drawbacks with meat in this thread and I agree. I only eat ecological/moral meat, and it's 200-300% more expensive than regular, it's not doable to eat much meat then.

I believe in eating the food this body has eaten for some hundred thousand years (almost all meat and vegetables) instead of the last 10'000 years (farming -> wheat). I am extremely healthy, I am thin and almost never hungry due to fat making you full for 6 hours in relation to 2 hours from the same energy of carbohydrates. Fat is slow energy, stable. Carbohydrates = sugar is fast, intensive, then gone like the wind.

Eating fat doesn't make you fat.
Eating carbohydrates which blocks the fat from being used as energy, combined with eating fat, makes you fat, tired.

If you respect your body it respects you.
Blessing your food helps, but since I'm not a master of intention/transformation I do need healthy food as a base..

[Questioner]

βαθμιαίος, as a city kid sometime I wonder if I should aspire to move to the country. That's probably material for another discussion. "What comes out of your mouth is as important or more important than what goes into it." Amen! Thank you for the reminders about a loving attitude for mealtime, and about visualization.

Monica, you almost certainly said something to me very much like this: "Remember, this is your spiritual family where we love you! Welcome home to this loving family. As a beloved family member, please feel at home. Home is where you can feel the love of spiritual family that loves you!" I'm pretty sure you did, several times.

Tap, tap, tap, crack; water, water, water, then the leaves finally pop up. Sometimes a new type of message has to be repeated several times before it breaks through. Eddie's words happened to be the tap that poked a hole in the shell.

Thanks for the references. I look forward to learning what they have to say. It's fun to have thought for food, not just food for thought.

I agree that a separate thread might be appropriate for more passionate discussion of meat and morality.

Would you like to explain more about the science behind the kangen water system?

Aaron, I got a big laugh from your diagram. Maybe carrie could implement that with a "zoom in/out" control. Of course no matter how much you zoom it would look the same! You could have an online subscription to download new messages.

Ayadew, it looks like your approach is a mostly vegetarian version of the Atkins diet. Have you read about the blood type diet? The theory there is that some people have the same nutritional chemistry as our hunter/gather ancestors, before agriculture brought more grains and dairy. Paleolithic Prescription by Eaton says that everyone benefits from eating this way.

But D'Adamo says that some people today inherited a different type of nutritional chemistry that evolved to cope well with grains, dairy, and city life. These are the people for whom a macrobiotic diet is excellent.

If D'Adamo is right (and I think he is), then you and Carla may well share a type O blood type with me.

I love the way this conversation is going, thanks everyone!

[Eddie]

Ayadew, it looks like your approach is a mostly vegetarian version of the Atkins diet. Have you read about the blood type diet? The theory there is that some people have the same nutritional chemistry as our hunter/gather ancestors, before agriculture brought more grains and dairy. Paleolithic Prescription by Eaton says that everyone benefits from eating this way.

I'm this way. I feel much better when I eat a mixture of meat, fruit, and vegetables, than when I eat food made from white flour (which makes me sluggish) and/or dairy products (I have trouble digesting butterfat....gives me indigestion). (By the way, my blood type is O+.)

I have nothing against vegetarianism; I fully understand the spiritual implications of killing animals, and I would be a vegetarian if I could. I've tried it (several times), and it just doesn't work for me. After 3 days without red meat, I get ravenously (almost insanely) hungry, and no volume of any other food will satiate my hunger. My body needs animal flesh. Red animal flesh. Even if I gorge on fish, say, for several days, I still crave red meat.

I spent a number of incarnations as a hunter-gatherer, and at least one other as a herder of sheep and goats, who ate little else but mutton and goat. It's hard to break a 13,000-year-old habit.

[thefool]

It is an interesting topic

I am a practical vegetarian with white meat to satisfy the animal protein that my body craves for from time to time. My body usually communicates with me about it's needs.

My food habits have changed significantly in the last few years, drives my wife crazy . As my body is undergoing changes it needs higher vibrational food ( and I give it just that most of the time unless I am in mood for something different lol). The higher vibration food for me is something that is closer to the source i.e. SUN. So anything raw is good. raw nuts, vegetables, fruits, yogurt, cheese, free range chickens, rice. drinking lots of fresh water is part of good nutrition. I add in a couple of protein bars to add some quick protein to my diet. I am suspicious of anything in a container. I like to eat a lot of dried figs, plums, almonds etc from the local organic store. The sea kelp is the only supplement I have taken consistently and like it. As I am traveling often I get what is available many times .

edited: The sprouts have alo become a key part of my food right now. Also I wish to note that the above is the ideal fro me and currently I am operating at less that ideal.

[Eddie]

I like raw vegetables and fruits and eat what is available, given the season. Members of the mustard family (brassica), that may be eaten raw, are especially valuable.

For those of you who garden, I have discovered a wonderful green. It is called Kyoto Mizuna. It's a member of the mustard family. It is easy to grow (just sprinkle the fine seeds on the ground, and it doesn't require fertilizer). It is suitable for spring and fall crops; it will bolt in hot weather. This fall, I had some, and found it to be cold-hardy down to 20 degrees F (and, in fact, it grows extremely well in cool, cloudy, damp weather....makes a lot of growth when temperatures are in the 30s or 40s F). It's delicious raw. All through the fall and into early winter, I was taking baggies full of it to work, and snacking on it all day. It's a great way to take sunshine into your body.

Another tip--we learn, through the lectures of Dr. Rudolph Steiner, that there is a direct connection between sunshine and honey. While other sweeteners, such as cane sugar and corn syrup, may be detrimental to the body, honey is healthful, especially for older adults. I have started adding more honey to my diet.

[ayadew]

Hello Questioner. We are friends. We are family. Earth, and all inhabitants, are your family. All beings in the universe is your family. We are together

I will look into this blood-type business you outline. It sounds quite interesting. In Japan they've taken blood-types to the extreme, defining and deriving personality traits and skills from it. You need to say which blood-type you have when applying for work etc to see if you're 'appropriate'. Crazy

[Monica]

Lots of different perspectives being offered here!

I would be a vegetarian if I could. I've tried it (several times), and it just doesn't work for me. After 3 days without red meat, I get ravenously (almost insanely) hungry, and no volume of any other food will satiate my hunger. My body needs animal flesh. Red animal flesh. Even if I gorge on fish, say, for several days, I still crave red meat.

This is very common. I respect the blood type theory as a possible explanation, though I don't agree with it. I offer another possible explanation, if you wish to consider it:

The foods we are currently eating are all denatured to some degree, compared to their ancestors. According to USDA figures, it takes 75 bowls of today's spinach to equal the iron content of 1 bowl of spinach from 60 years ago. The US has had its wheat refused by other countries because it had no protein. Many oranges on the supermarket shelves have zero vitamin C! Any random sampling of lettuce has as many as 90 different chemicals on it.

In short, the foods we're eating are but shadows of their former selves!

Organic produce can be many times more nutritious as conventional, but even it pales in comparison to its ancestors of even a century ago. The reason for this is the loss of topsoil and microorganisms in the soil.

Thus, whether we're vegetarian or not, it's difficult to get enough nutrients from today's produce. When you eat meat, you are getting nutrients that the animal already converted for you. The work is already done. The animal got it from plants. We too can get all those nutrients from plants, provided the plants have the nutrients and aren't denatured!

Think of meat as concentrated nutrients from the animal's entire lifetime.

Even so, the meat lacks many things. But that's a whole 'nother issue. For now, I am offering another explanation of why some people crave meat when they attempt a vegetarian diet.

The vegetarian diet, and its most advanced (or extreme, depending on your opinion of it) form, raw foods vegan, is relatively new, in terms of widespread popularity. There is evidence to suggest that various spiritual sects and isolated cultures have pursued such a diet thousands of years ago (as described in The Essene Gospel of Peace), but from a practical, scientific standpoint, our knowledge of it is in its infancy. There are just so few people adhering to the raw foods vegan diet, and fewer still whose lifestyles can be traced back generations, that we lack clinical evidence for the long term benefits and potential challenges. The data on the more middle-of-the-road vegetarian diet is beyond dispute, but such is not the case for the more radical versions of the vegetarian diet. Those who pursue this path are pioneers, in a sense, and not all have been successful. Many have encountered health issues, and this is often used as an argument against being a vegetarian at all, even though there is a huge difference between being a lacto-ovo vegetarian and raw foods vegan; not to mention that the SAD (Standard American Diet) itself is known to cause myriad health problems.

So, there has been a lot of trial and error. Mistakes were made along the way. I fell victim to it myself, when I tried to be a raw foods vegan living on mostly sprouts. That didn't work!

In recent years, there has been a huge amount of new information. In particular, info regarding the role of the 'healthy' fats (nuts, seeds, avocados, coconuts, etc.) which had been lacking before. But then many people took that to the other extreme, and got sick after indulging a craving for a whole jar of peanut butter!

One of the most exciting breakthroughs recently has been from Victoria Boutenko (one of the raw foods movement's new generation of gurus). She and her family got incredible results when they went vegetarian raw, and all their health challenges vanished. But, later, they experienced other challenges. In an effort to restore her family's health, she investigated the diet of the animal most closely related to us anatomically: The wild chimpanzee.

The chimp is structured the most like humans (which is why, sadly, they are used in research). Look at its teeth and compare to our teeth. Its digestive system...etc. We don't have sharp fangs like carnivorous animals. We don't have the extremely strong hydrochloric acid like cats and dogs. We don't salivate at the sight of a freshly killed rabbit like cats and dogs do.

In the wild, chimps eat mostly greens and fruit. They are vegetarians except for bugs. But they eat an enormous amount of leafy greens! It would be impossible for humans to eat that much greens, with our present lifestyle. We have better things to do than sit around chewing leaves all day, right?

Well, Victoria et al have found a way to solve that problem. The new generation of vegetarian raw foodists have taken the diet/liveit to a whole new level...in which the concentration of nutrients can be obtained, by including massive amounts of raw leafy greens.

How to do that?

Enter modern technology!

Here is Victoria telling her own story and explaining how to solve the problem of cravings, by getting to the root issue...of what is missing. And, she explains how to do this in a way that is palatable and even enjoyable, by utilizing modern technology:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1764512/vi...terview_1/ (part 1)

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1764514/vi...terview_2/ (part 2)

Regardless of your dietary inclinations or philosophy of the 'correct' diet, you may find this extremely informative.

Here's Dan the Liferegenerator on animal protein:
http://www.youtube.com/user/liferegenera...YpCHaCq1MU

He's a bit scattered but he walks his talk and I think he's cool!

Victoria Boutenko, Roger Haeske, Dan the Man Liferegenerator...all have offered so much in the area of raw foods cuisine, that restores the life-force so that cravings become a thing of the past. I'm not totally there yet myself, but I feel very inspired by their work and consider this path an ideal to aspire to. It's happening rather naturally and I'm having fun with it. So I just offer this fyi, for whoever might be interested in learning more about it.

[Monica]

Monica, you almost certainly said something to me very much like this: "Remember, this is your spiritual family where we love you! Welcome home to this loving family. As a beloved family member, please feel at home. Home is where you can feel the love of spiritual family that loves you!" I'm pretty sure you did, several times.

Whew! That's a relief!

I agree that a separate thread might be appropriate for more passionate discussion of meat and morality.

Yeah, those discussions can turn into intense debates, especially when people feel an emotional charge about it one way or the other.

Would you like to explain more about the science behind the kangen water system?

Here's a thread about it. With our bodies being 75-80% water, it's certainly an important part of any discussion about nutrition! But since there's already a thread about it, it makes more sense to discuss that topic over there. (Actually, I think there's a 2nd thread someplace about water in general, too.) I'd be happy to answer any questions about Kangen Water on the other thread, so we can keep this one on the topic of food nutrition. For now, I will just say that one's choice of water can have a significant impact on the absorption of nutrients, as well as overall health.

[thefool]

The foods we are currently eating are all denatured to some degree, compared to their ancestors. According to USDA figures, it takes 75 bowls of today's spinach to equal the iron content of 1 bowl of spinach from 60 years ago. The US has had its wheat refused by other countries because it had no protein. Many oranges on the supermarket shelves have zero vitamin C! Any random sampling of lettuce has as many as 90 different chemicals on it.

In short, the foods we're eating are but shadows of their former selves!

I would like to research this fact more before I accept it. Could you please provide a link for this information that we now have less nutritional content in the food from 60 years ago? Oranges with 0 vitamin C?

I think many people have developed bad food habits but they are still living longer than ever before. I just did a quick search and found that between 1970 and 2004 the life expectancy increased by around 5 years for all racial groups.

Although I do agree with the statement that new research about the nuts have changed the landscape.

[Monica]

Could you please provide a link for this information that we now have less nutritional content in the food from 60 years ago? Oranges with 0 vitamin C?

I've seen the references in hardcopy form but it was about 10 years ago, and I have no idea where the data is on the internet. But I'll see if I can dig it up for you. Or maybe I can find the documents with the references and scan them for you...they're in a box someplace!

I think many people have developed bad food habits but they are still living longer than ever before. I just did a quick search and found that between 1970 and 2004 the life expectancy increased by around 5 years for all racial groups.

True...people are being kept alive longer, but the quality of life has declined. Elderly people are generally on a lot of meds and have myriad illnesses...and people as young as 40 are having heart attacks...children getting cancer. Children didn't used to get cancer.

Contrast this with the Hunzas, who live to be 120, and climb mountains up until the day they die. They are vegetarians, drink raw goat's milk, and drink freshly melted glacier water. Interestingly, when the younger generation of Hunzas began moving into the cities and eating at McDonald's etc. they started getting heart disease, cancer, etc. just like other people. The younger Hunzas in their 60s are now sicker than their grandparents!

I hope you don't ask me to back that up too...I read it on the internet. I know you can't believe everything on the internet, so whether it's totally accurate or just a good story, I really can't say! But it makes sense.

Although I do agree with the statement that new research about the nuts have changed the landscape.

Yeah, vegetarians have a lot more info now than we did 30 years ago, when we fretted about (unnecessary) food combining.

---

Here's a site that mentions it, but they don't provide references:

http://www.algae4oil.com/original_algae_project.htm

It's a very commonly cited statistic among fans of superfoods.

[Eddie]

Contrast this with the Hunzas, who live to be 120, and climb mountains up until the day they die. They are vegetarians, drink raw goat's milk, and drink freshly melted glacier water. Interestingly, when the younger generation of Hunzas began moving into the cities and eating at McDonald's etc. they started getting heart disease, cancer, etc. just like other people. The younger Hunzas in their 60s are now sicker than their grandparents!

I read a long article on the Hunzas about a year ago...It was in, I think, either Smithsonian or Natural History magazine. The Hunzas are not (and never were) vegetarians; they eat meat whenever they can get it, and in fact, prefer meat to other foods. They don't eat much because they are poor. They eat vegetables and fruits during the summer and fall, because they have to save their sheep and goats to eat during the winter, when they can't grow plants. They live a marginal existence farming very thin, nutrient-poor soil at high altitude, and can hardly raise enough of anything, animal or vegetable.

The authors of the article stated that the Hunzas aren't as healthy as commonly supposed, either; they suffer many chronic diseases, and most are infested with parasites.

The myth of Hunza vegetarianism began some years ago, when a western traveler reached their remote realm. He was with them for a short period in late summer, when the Hunzas were eating their garden produce. He didn't stay long enough to experience their meat-eating season.

[Questioner]

Monica, I read most of the Essene Book 1 today from the link you provided.

I think a companion discussion thread on cleansing & fasting may be quite useful.

Beyond the nutrition and cleansing parts of the essene book, it has so much to ponder. I loved the part about how our true family is spiritual. I also delighted at the picture of the elements as angels that are ready to offer loving help if we meet them halfway. And the balance of the well-known "Lord's Prayer" with the companion prayer to Mother Earth feels like a long lost missing piece. We're getting a bit off the subject of nutrition here. But then, from that book's perspective, eating is merely one more sacramental activity in a life of contemplative devotion.

[Monica]

The myth of Hunza vegetarianism began some years ago, when a western traveler reached their remote realm. He was with them for a short period in late summer, when the Hunzas were eating their garden produce. He didn't stay long enough to experience their meat-eating season.

Aw, now my bubble has burst!

Perhaps the truth is somewhere in the middle:

The longevity claims made for Hunzukuts by foreign visitors vary considerably, with the highest estimate being 150 years of age. Renee Taylor writes in her book Hunza Health Secrets for Long Life and Happiness: "In Hunza, people manage to live to over 100 years of age in perfect mental and physical health . . . men of 90 [are] new fathers and women of 50 still conceive." Betty Lee Morales, president of the American Cancer Society and a 2-time visitor to Hunza, reported to the Los Angeles Times (July 16, 1973), "It's an exaggeration to say that they live to be 150 but there's no need to gild the lily. The average age is 90 when they die." Dr. Alexander Leaf, Chief of Medical Services at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School, has reliably reported meeting a 106-year-old man who still worked herding goats during the summer months, while "the oldest Hunzukut" was "revered" for being 110. Dr. Leaf also has pointed out that it is "the fitness of many of the elderly rather than their age that impresses me," ...According to the Mir of Hunza, out of a present population of 40,000, 6 men are over 100 years of age and many are 90 years old or more. (Before the 1st road came, there were at least 50 over the age of 100.) In America, by contrast, there are only 3 centenarians for every 100,000 people.

I mentioned the Hunzas as an example of what I consider a healthy diet and lifestyle. I don't know exactly what the truth is about them, but there is a mountain of information about them supporting the 'myth,' often complete with numerical data as cited above. I have read conflicting reports and question their accuracy. Having experienced firsthand multiple occasions in which mainstream media reports were blatantly false, I don't necessarily accept them as authoritative.

---

from that book's perspective, eating is merely one more sacramental activity in a life of contemplative devotion.

Yes, I thought the book was beautiful. I prefer it to other teachings attributed to Jesus.

[Peregrinus]

at high altitude

The reason why gurus that lived high on mountain tops lived to such an old age is because of the lesser amount of oxygen.

Because we are 97% water, and contain minerals, the oxygen causes us to rust.

[Monica]

The reason why gurus that lived high on mountain tops lived to such an old age is because of the lesser amount of oxygen.

Because we are 97% water, and contain minerals, the oxygen causes us to rust.

Hmmmm...I assume the smiley means you're joking?

[Peregrinus]

Yes dear sister, I was joking about rusting, though living at higher altitudes does have its very noticeable benefits for health.

[Monica]

OR, you can grow, as I do, your own vegetables, and fertilize your garden with grass clippings and hardwood leaves. You can nourish your soil with products of Light, the light that comes from the Sub-Logos; and your vegetables will incorporate into their bodies, that loving Light.

As I work in my garden, I send love to my plants.

When I harvest and eat those plants, what I take into my body, is Love, Light, and Sunshine.

That's wonderful that you are able to grow your own veggies! I look forward to the day when I am able to do that too.

In the meantime, I'm grateful for the increasing popularity of organic foods, even at the mainstream grocery stores. And, for those of us who don't have the space, time, or resources to maintain a garden, sprouting is an easy, cheap, and lovely way to grow your own greens! Sprouts are powerhouses of nutrients...and they are alive! All that life-force joins with yours when you invite living sprouts to merge with you.

You can now get all sorts of sprouting seeds...even nuts can be sprouted! So you're not limited to those dull, limp alfalfa sprouts you see in salad bars! (Fresh alfalfa sprouts are sooooo much better!) My favorite is lentil sprouts. I have a mix of several varieties...not just green but even black and purple lentils. Yum!

Today I harvested wild lettuce from my front yard. There is this huge wild lettuce plant that I could swear wasn't there yesterday! So instead of being able to pick only a few tiny leaves, I was able to enjoy bountiful harvest. Of course I thanked the plant profusely! In fact I am enjoying that wild lettuce right now. Nothing died. There was a continuous process of life exchanged from the Earth to me. I feel the energy, the life, the condensed SunLight, right now.

I also picked some dandelion flowers. OMG have you ever eaten dandelion flowers??? They are exquisite! They're like little orbs of SunLight. I picked some yesterday and ate them immediately and they were succulent and delicious. I saved a few in a ziploc in the frig for later, and they weren't nearly as good. Eating live plants fresh from the Earth and Sun is a joy!

The dandelion is one of the most misunderstood plants. I cringe whenever I see people killing dandelions and other weeds, with chemicals, in their effort to have a pristine, homogenized lawn. How boring! And how tragic! All those wonderful plants, so alive, so bountiful, and they kill them, in favor of a plastic lawn. Then they buy such dead food from the stores, when they had a chance to eat living foods right out of their front yards.

Since last year when I started working from home, and am more tuned in to what's growing in my yard, I've seen my front and back yards both metamorphose into a garden of (mostly edible!) weeds. What happened to the grass? We've been living here 26 years and never before has the grass been taken over by weeds. Why now?

If you read The Psychic Garden, you'll learn why. It's because the plant devas know I am now appreciating them, and they are giving me gifts.

I can't do much with the back yard, unfortunately, because I have dogs. But the grass is gone from there too. It's so funny...all the neighbors have grass in their yards, but we have wild, wonderful weeds!

[thefool]

You can now get all sorts of sprouting seeds...even nuts can be sprouted! So you're not limited to those dull, limp alfalfa sprouts you see in salad bars! (Fresh alfalfa sprouts are sooooo much better!) My favorite is lentil sprouts. I have a mix of several varieties...not just green but even black and purple lentils. Yum!

I love sprouts. Last week we had purple lentils, soyabean, graham (variety of chick peas) and lima beans as the sprouts. My wife has developed a nice middle ground where she just fries them enough to not burn but all the spice seasoning is applied, along with ginger and what not. I would not even call it fried they retain their raw taste but gets spiced up flavor. Add chopped fresh onions, tomatos and fresh lemon juice. and yes the sea salt to top it all. And you are in my food heaven

[Lavazza]

Awesome thread. I'm so late I couldn't possibly hope to catch up past the first few posts, but I'm with Pere & others when it comes to the meat attitude. I have nothing against the consumption of animals if they have lived a healthy and mostly happy life according to whatever that species (say, a chicken for example) would expect to experience pre-incarnatively. I understand they are of a lower form of consciousness (as my mostly non-spiritual friends would respond with), however that doesn't justify their basic enslavement and torture with today's concentration camp style factory farming. Don't even get me started on the concept of veal.

As such I find myself mostly vegetarian. We participate with a farming co-op near Los Angeles that raises organic vegetables and humanely raised livestock. Although very much more expensive financially, the positive energy is priceless.

Also, to Questioner and everyone else present- I also count you as my spiritual family. There is a such a great deal of love, sharing, respect, healing and helping here that I also have grown very much attached to all of you This is the thrust of my "B4th SMC" thread, I think that's exactly what we're learning to do here.

[AnthroHeart]

Lavazza that is wonderful. I didn't know there were "co-ops". Good to know the term there. I had thought, since I am not really good at growing stuff, contributing to a community of growers or such. I'll have to look into that.