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There are many other powerful helpers readily available to give a hand with banishing cellulite. Some of my favorites are: The Cactus Connection Another powerful adjunct to breaking down cellulite and keeping your system clean is drinking the biogenic—life generating—juice of the aloe vera plant. Aloe vera is a beautiful cactus. Used externally, you will find nothing better than pure aloe vera juice as a base for your own anti-cellulite treatment (see below). Used internally, it appears to help detoxify the body in general, enhance digestion so that wastes do not build up in the system, and improve the quality of micro-organisms in the large intestine, which help protect immunity and keep the body clean. But it is useful against cellulite in other ways as well, thanks to its being rich in proteolytic enzymes. These enzymes appear to help with the breakdown of necrotic, hardened, protein-based connective tissue that is essential to eliminating cellulite, although that remains to be proven. It has, though, been recently discovered that aloe vera juice enhances the development of capillaries and circulation in general, reduces water retention and inflammation, and speeds up cellular reproduction in skin. In order to make use of aloe vera’s healing properties, you either have to use the juice fresh from the cut leaves of a cactus which is at least four years old, or it has to be carefully processed at extremely low temperatures to preserve its biogenic properties. Find the best aloe vera juice you can, keep it refrigerated and use it within a month. While beating cellulite, take a small glass of pure low-heat processed aloe vera juice on rising, between breakfast and lunch, and between lunch and dinner, as well as just before you go to bed. Silica Silica plays an essential role in the development and maintenance of cellulite-free flesh. When there is an adequate supply in your body, this brings a high level of support to the metabolic pathways responsible for the production of strong new collagen, elastin and ground substance in skin. A woman’s daily requirement of silica is rather high, at 20-30mg. Organic matter in the soils should, by rights, break down readily available inorganic silica in the ground and render it available to us through the foods we eat. Unfortunately, high-tech farming methods have destroyed much organic matter in our foods, so that our fruits and vegetables are now depleted of silica. Modern food processing then tends to remove even the little that is left. As you get older, the amount of silica present in your body decreases year by year. There is only one, extremely rich source of organic silica known to man: horsetail. Never take powdered horsetail, as it is extremely irritating to the intestines and very little of it will be absorbed by your body. Find a good natural organic silica supplement instead. Most women notice a difference to their hair and nails within 3 to 6 weeks of beginning to take between 2 and 6 tablets of organic silica a day. The benefits on the inside to connective tissue will be happening at the same rate. Plants from the Depths Another source of plant complexes particularly useful in banishing cellulite and re-establishing good body ecology is the sea. All seaweeds—from kelp to dulse, to nori and kombu—are rich in the minerals which your body’s metabolic processes require to function properly. A good supplement of sea plants which have been collected from unpolluted waters and then ‘atomized’, or broken into very fine particles, can offer another source of important metabolic support on any anti-cellulite regimen. Seaweeds tend to have very hard cells walls, and unless these plants are extracted or their cell walls are exploded, much of the metabolic treasure they contain remain unavailable to the body. They are also, of course, delicious to eat. Buy them dried and crumble them onto soups and salads. DIY Cellulite Lotion The active ingredients in the best of the cellulite creams, lotions and oils include a number of potent herbal extracts to help enhance circulation, encourage fat burning, restore integrity to damaged capillaries, decrease water-logging and improve firmness. They include things like silica derivatives, free-form amino acids, herbal extracts from butcher’s broom to horsetail, and even caffeine, which, when applied in the right form to the surface of the skin, has been shown to stimulate fat burning. All of these products need to work with a whole body program, and most of them are expensive. You can make one of your own at a fraction of the cost. It is true it won’t have a sweet cosmetic smell like the others and, because it contains herbal extracts which are brown in color, you will need to be careful not to stain the white bathroom rug when applying it. But it works a treat. Here’s how Take 1 small bottle of aloe vera liquid (350ml). Add to it 25ml of liquid extract of fucus vesculosus and 25ml of kola liquid extract. Shake well. Keep refrigerated. Apply twice a day to cellulite-prone areas of the body after a bath or shower, then, using one of the special anti-cellulite gloves, mits or rollers available in most pharmacies, gently go over those areas of your body.

When it comes to food for this kind of total health, there is one basic principle to remember - the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Know this and you can stop worrying about all of the contradictory advice that is continually being thrown at us from the media about what you and your child should and shouldn't eat. The best foods are whole foods - fresh natural foods - such as fruits and vegetables (preferably organically grown), pulses, whole grains, eggs, a few dairy products. Whole foods have not had every nutrient refined or processed out of them, neither do they come swimming in syrup or emulsified in junk fats. They arrive on your child's plate and enter his body just as Nature intended them, radiant with their own natural colors and textures and brimming with a complexity of structural information essential to maintaining a healthy body and balanced mind. Just what is this structural information? It is something you will find mentioned in few books on nutrition. Yet in an understanding of it lies not only your ability to establish real health for yourself and your children, but an ability skillfully to support your child's seedpower - his individual nature - so that it unfolds beautifully as he grows. The term structural information was coined by an eminent Russian scientist - winner of the much coveted Lenin Prize For Science - Izrail Brekhman. He used it to describe the infinitely complex synergistic, energetic and chemical order in living plants and animals on which human beings must feed if they are to maintain high-level health. Living systems are unique in the universe. Unlike non-living things - from rocks to rubber hoses - they do not continually degrade and disintegrate as described by one of the most important laws of physics - the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Your own body and the body of your child defies this law. It avoids decaying into an inert state because it is able to assimilate energy from outside. Put simply, the better quality the energy it takes in, the more alive it will be. The very high order of the sun's own electromagnetic energy is converted by plants through photosynthesis into material form, then stored in complex ways. This high order of structural information is embodied in the healthy plant as it comes out of the ground - a fruit or vegetable, pulse or grain. It is the embodiment of its wholeness - implicit in the plant's structure. The plant (or the animal which has fed on the plant) brings to the person who eats it a high degree of structural information - living energetic order - which makes him able to resist degeneration, simply because its wholeness has not been degraded by processing, fractionation or chemical distortion. Nobel Laureate, physicist Erwin Schrodinger, put it another way. He says that for a person to stay really healthy he needs to drink order from his environment. This is exactly what your baby or child fed on wholesome natural food does. The more order he drinks, the more support you are giving him for balanced high-level health and growth - in every way. drinking order For it is not only nutrients in a food which can be measured chemically - vitamins, minerals, protein etc - that are important for health. It is also the complexity of the way these, and other, as yet unidentified factors - positive and negative magnetic fields and subtle energies for instance - are present and combined in a particular food that matter. Processing foods not only destroys vitamins and minerals (which cannot be adequately added afterwards despite what food manufacturers would have us believe) it disrupts its structural information, impeding or destroying a food's ability to carry life energy into the body and brain of the child who eats it. Feeding your child on such foods year after year - convenience cereals, white bread and pasta, refined sugar, phony snacks and drinks full of chemical flavorings, colorings and preservatives - steadily degrades the natural order of his own body and mind, creating a poor seedbed for his growth and inner development. It also lowers his immunity, making him susceptible to illness, and contributes to the kind of mental and emotional imbalance which is becoming endemic amongst kids in our society who are being raised on junk foods. At the core of hyperactivity and many emotional problems you see in children lies this inability of the ready-made frozen foods, drinks, chips cooked in junk fats and poor quality school dinners to offer a child order - the structural information needed for sustained physical and emotional balance. Chemical additives, food colorings and flavorings, hydrogenated `junk' fats - they are all products of a multi-billion pound food industry whose main purpose is not to serve your health, but to fill its own coffers at your expense. They are a poor excuse for good food. As an experiment, a biochemist at the University of Georgia bought one of the new munchy-crunchy children's cereals. He emulsified both the box and the cereal, then fed one white rat the box and another the cereal. The rat that ate the box thrived. The other did not. So poor is the quality of our common convenience foods that the packaging can sometimes be nutritionally superior to the food it contains. Foods grown on healthy soils (preferably organic) and eaten as close as possible to their natural state offer your child the highest quality of structural information. There are two major concerns which parents voice about feeding their children. The first is the question of cost, and the second is the question of time. Contrary to popular belief, feeding a family on good natural food - fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grain cereals and breads, pulses and so forth (whether or not you choose to eat meat and fish) - is far cheaper than relying on the poor quality, prepackaged convenience foods a lot of mothers use these days. A pound of good boiling potatoes is fifty times less expensive than the same quantity of potatoes made into crisps. Growing your own sprouted seeds and grains is very cheap. It can be done in a couple of old jam jars in your kitchen, and kids love helping, since these little plants grow so quickly. Sprout a seed, and within three or four days you will have increased its vitamin C content as much as 600 percent. Like home grown organic vegetables, these little powerhouses for health are not only delicious, they are some of the healthiest foods you can feed any child. As far as time is concerned, I have never found that it takes a lot more time to prepare meals from scratch using natural foods than it does to dish out their poor relations - convenience foods. A hearty homemade soup based on brown rice and vegetables, with pulses or a bit of meat or fish, is one of the best whole meals you can eat, and it is only a question of putting the ingredients into a pot and letting the stove get on with it. Besides, kids love to cook. Involve your children in food preparation from the time they are very small. They love it. I have always used the opportunity of us being together in the kitchen to explain to them about the goodness and bounty of foods and about why I don't let them eat sweets and mass market drinks and junk foods, and to help them become aware of the way in which television and magazines are continually trying to sell kids and parents foods which are not really going to do good for them. I believe it is important that, right from the beginning, children are made to understand the ways in which our highly commercial society tends to exploit human beings and that such exploitation needs to be resisted if they are to live out the truth of who they are. You will be surprised at how savvy even very young children can come to be about such things.

Valid discoveries in medicine depend on the ability of researchers to make accurate observations in relation to the subject they are studying. For the past 70 years, obesity research has been based on massive false assumptions which, by now, have developed all the earmarks of a fundamentalist religion. Even governments have bought into these lies. Here’s one of the biggies that form their false litany. In the words of the Surgeon General of the United States—“overweight and obesity are the result of excess calorie consumption and/or inadequate physical activity.” IT JUST AIN’T TRUE There is so much nonsense taught about obesity, not only through the media, but even through published findings of trained scientists and doctors who should know better. If ever you decide to take time out and to plough through the voluminous research and declarations about obesity, its causes and its cure—as I have done virtually ad nauseam—you will discover that some important conclusions about the cause of weight gain, and the difficulties of making weight loss permanent, demand to be drawn. Some of them will surprise you I think, because we have been taught to believe so many false ideas by the media, food manufacturers and Big Pharma. Obesity is NOT a disorder caused by lack of exercise. Nor will intense exercise prevent or cure overweight. Obesity is NOT caused by overeating or lack of will power. As the prestigious National Academy of Sciences report Diet and Health points out, “most studies comparing normal and overweight people suggest that those who are overweight eat fewer calories than those of normal weight.” THE TRUTH CONCEALED Overweight and obesity are states of excess fat accumulation as a result of some, as yet officially unidentified, disequilibrium in the hormonal regulation of fat metabolism. This is the major issue which must be addressed to conquer the epidemic of chronic overweight. The healthy diets - Leslie Kenton's Cura Romana To my knowledge, only one scientist chose to spend 40 years of his life grappling with the fundamental issues of obesity, its causes, its symptoms and its essential nature: ATW Simeons. After doing specialized work with thousands of patients, he concluded that the accumulation of excess fat on the body is the RESULT of a metabolic disorder—a functional abnormality in an area of the brain which lies at the center of hormonal control, within the autonomic nervous system. He then proceeded to identify the means of restoring balanced functioning to this area, thereby allowing the body naturally to shed its inessential fat and restore the harmony on which radiant health depends. It was he who created Cura Romana—The Roman Cure—more than half a century ago. Unwittingly, his discoveries challenged the nonsense promulgated by food manufacturers, and posed a serious economic threat to the sale of potentially dangerous slimming drugs sold by multi-national pharmaceutical companies. No wonder his work has been vilified, discredited and attacked by the powers that be. HERE’S THE GEN Do you want to stay lean and healthy? Do you want to stop feeling brain dead? Do you want to regenerate and rejuvenate your body? Here is how: Stop eating cereals and grains like wheat and bread and pasta as well as convenience foods which are made out of them. Because of the effect these foods exert on insulin and blood sugar, refined carbohydrates, sugars and starches are most certainly the dietary culprits in the development of diabetes, coronary heart disease and obesity. They are also inevitable contributors to other diseases of civilization, including cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. Well-designed independent research studies confirm all this and more. Cereals, grains, and sugar-based carbohydrates not only make you fat and/or prone to degenerative conditions. They distort hormonal regulation and homeostasis, fostering obesity as a consequence of the way they disturb insulin balance. They engender insulin resistance syndrome, Metabolic Syndrome—Syndrome X. Why? Because carbohydrate foods such as these turn into sugar instantaneously on eating them. They dull your brain. They stimulate insulin secretion. This in turn increases hunger, and diminishes the energy available to the body to fuel good metabolic processes and for use during day-to-day life. Finally, they undermine the healthy functioning of the fat and appetite control center in the brain, which is the one thing you want to restore balance to if you want to stabilize weight permanently. If you include starches in your meals, eat only a small amount of “safe” starchy foods—15 to 20%—such as potatoes, buckwheat, brown rice, or wild rice. More to come about natural health, weight and rejuvenation in relation to foods soon.

One of the biggest medical cover-ups in history involves root canals. The biggest mistake I ever made with my own health was listening to a dentist who told me I needed a root canal. This damaged my immune system for years. It also set me on a search which lasted more than a decade to figure out why, as a result of allowing a root canal into my mouth, the health of my whole body was damaged. Your dentist will probably tell you, as mine did, that a root canal is a great way to replace an infected or damaged tooth. The sales talk goes something like this: “We clear out the pulp-filled cavity down to the root of a troubled tooth, then replace it with an inert material so you won’t have to have your tooth pulled. Then we sterilize it, seal it and put a crown on the top.” Here’s what you need to know: Root canal procedures are not safe. And the irony of it all is that your dentist probably doesn’t even know this. The American Dental Association—together with most dental colleges around the world—has been denying the dangers implicit in root canal procedures for generations. Way back in the 1920s, world-renowned dentist and dental researcher Weston A. Price carried out exhaustive studies on the fundamentals of dental infections and how they can cause systemic bodily infections and degenerative diseases. After years of study, Price reported that he was never able to find one root canal-treated tooth that did not eventually become seriously infected. Since then, exhaustive research by other cutting-edge dentists, who have been courageous enough not to buy into the official party line, has confirmed Price’s findings again and again. Most people think of their teeth as things separate from the rest of their body. Each and every tooth in your mouth is a living entity, just like the organs and glands in the rest of your body—your stomach, pancreas, thyroid and so on. Each tooth has its own nerve and blood supply, rising up the main canal into the inner pulp chamber, then branching out into minor canals which communicate with the surrounding area and bone. These are called lateral canals. The bulk of the tooth—the dentine—is a porous structure, made up of a network of tiny channels known as tubules. This complex network of living microscopic tubules are so numerous that, if you were to lay them end to end, they would extend to an amazing two or three miles in your smallest teeth, and as far as 10 miles in your molars. These tubules are infinitely small, yet they are wide enough to incubate dangerous bacteria and toxins, which can seep into the rest of your body. It’s here in the dentine and the tubules that you find the crux of what makes root canals potentially dangerous. All root canal teeth are completely dead. And no dead tissue should ever be left in your body. Would a surgeon removing a necrotic organ in your body leave pieces of it in your tissues? Absolutely not! Yet this is exactly what takes place in a root canal. When a dead tooth is sealed, the environment becomes anaerobic. Bacteria can then morph into their anaerobic forms and reproduce prolifically within the dentine, creating noxious toxins. You see, a root canal is an ideal medium for this to take place by supplying warmth, nutrients, and water. The immune system is unable to deal with the problem because the dead tooth has no blood supply. Yet most, if not all, dentists still believe that leaving a dead root canal tooth stuck into your jaw will cause no problem. And this is exactly what endodontists—dentists highly-trained as root canal specialists—do. They clear out all blood vessels, connective tissue, and infected nerves from your tooth’s pulp chamber. Then they widen and reshape it in preparation to receive the filler substance, which is often gutta-percha. By doing this, they are attempting to create sterility. But here’s the rub: No amount of medication used in an attempt to sterilize these tubules has ever shown itself capable of accomplishing this. There is simply no way of eliminating bacteria hidden in the tubules. They can harbor masses of bacteria and diseased tissue. And, since the tooth is completely dead—nothing more than a moribund hunk of material—your jaw becomes the ideal place for toxic by-products to be produced. Because a dead tooth’s blood supply and oxygen supply no longer exist, bacteria present in the space between the upper gum and the crown of the tooth can easily make their way into the porous dentine tubules, not only infecting the area around the dead tooth but your gums as well, causing gingivitis and then periodontitis. Then pathogenic bacteria can begin to travel to other sites in your body to create serious health problems, like inflammation and heart disease—even building up plaque in your arteries. Similar to the Clostridium botulinum bacteria, which creates the hideous toxin associated with botulism, hundreds of mouth bacteria, deprived of oxygen, behave in a similar way. To quote Robert Kulacz D.D.S. and Thoman Levy MD, “…like the oxygen-starved environment of a contaminated vacuum-packed can of food, the harmless bacteria of the mouth will produce similarly potent toxins when trapped in the oxygen starved environment of the dentine tubules of a root canal treated tooth.” Fair warning. But root canal procedures are great money-makers. Each year, endodontists in the Western world carry out a mind-boggling 30 to 40 million root canal procedures. I found out about all this the hard way when I came to experience for myself just how devastating the seepage of pathogenic and poisonous by-products can be. My own body was having to work hard to support my immune system. I was suffering with strong pain in areas of my body for which there appeared to be no apparent cause. I devoted many months to researching the worldwide root-canal cover-up—reading books and interviewing experts. As a result of what I learned, I chose to have two root canals removed from my mouth by a brilliant oral and maxillofacial surgeon. Within a couple of weeks of his doing this, the horrible pain in my body which I’d been forced to put up with for years, as well as the fatigue that accompanied it, disappeared. So here’s the bottom line: Refuse to accept what you are told about how safe root canals are supposed to be, regardless of how nice your dentist is. Carry out your own research. Discover first-hand the truth behind the root canal cover-up. It could change your health and your whole life for the better. Read some of the books I have listed below. Also contact responsible organizations for information on root canals, such as the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology. You’ll be glad you did. If you want to learn more, here is where to go: Dental Infections and the Degenerative Diseases by Weston Price DDS Chronic Fatigue, ME and Fibromyalgia—The Natural Recovery Plan by Dr Alison Adams Roots of Disease—Connecting Dentistry and Medicine by Robert Kulacz D.D.S. and Thomas Levy M.D Root Canal Cover-Up by George Meinig D.D.S  F.A.C.D It’s All In Your Head by Hal A. Huggins D.D.S. M.S. Whole Body Dentistry by Mark A. Brenner and Stephen Sinatra M.D. The Toxic Tooth: How a Root Canal Can Make You Sick by Robert Kulacz DDS

Widespread overweight is a relatively new phenomenon. So is adult-onset diabetes, kidney stones, hypertension, coronary heart diseases and cancer of the bowel. Together with many other chronic degenerative ailments, these belong to a group of illnesses now known as Diseases of Western Civilization. These conditions are hard to treat—so hard that, despite all the sophisticated drugs and leading-edge techniques of modern medicine, we have been unable to halt their spread. For, unlike the microbe-generated infectious diseases like typhoid and tuberculosis, Western Diseases are lifestyle-caused. Thanks to pioneering works from scientists such as Sir Robert McCarrison—who did the first epidemiological studies on the relationship between diet and health—and Drs Weston Price, Dennis Burkitt and Hugh Trowell, it is now widely accepted that degenerative conditions including obesity have developed as a direct result of the massive changes that have taken place over the last 150 years in how we live—especially in the way we eat convenience foods. Convenience Foods - NO WONDER WE’RE IN TROUBLE A lot has happened to our foods in the last century to produce this state of affairs. First, they are grown differently than the way our ancestors, for thousands of years, grew theirs. We grow food on chemically fertilized soils in which the organic matter has been degraded or destroyed. Eating foods this way leads to a depletion and imbalance in the minerals and trace elements available to our bodies—both of which we need in good quantities, to support complex metabolic processes on which health and leanness depend. Second, our foods are now highly processed. Raw foodstuffs, instead of being made into meals in home kitchens as they were in our grandparents' time, are sent to food manufacturers where they are fragmented—literally broken apart physically and chemically—then put through complex manufacturing processes to alter them out of all recognition. Third, our foods are shipped over long distances and stored for long periods of time, both of which lower their nutritional value. These modern practices destroy food's wholesomeness—a property very hard to measure, except in terms of the degenerative effects that eating such foods has on our bodies. Destroy a food's wholesomeness and you destroy a food's ability to support the highest levels of health. And once the health-giving integrity of any food has gone, it has gone for good. It can never be compensated for by vitamin and mineral supplements, or by eating cereals to which extra fiber and vitamins have been added. FOOD’S NATURAL STATE Our great-grandparents—whether they were Africans, Indians, Orientals or Europeans—had two important things in common. Their meals were mostly prepared from foods of animal and vegetable origin, and the foods they ate were little processed. They were eaten whole, as closely as possible to their natural state. Such foods form the basis of a way of eating that rejuvenates the body and restores healthy functioning. This kind of eating helps prevent the development of obesity and other degenerative conditions—even if you happen to have inherited a tendency towards them. This way of eating can free people of all ages from much suffering caused by degenerative conditions such as high blood pressure, arteriosclerosis, diabetes, diverticulitis and other Western diseases. FORGIVE YOURSELF NOW There is one more major change that has taken place: today we also swallow a kaleidoscope of chemical colorants, flavorings additives and `enhancers', not to mention pesticides, herbicides and fungicides, which our ancestors never imagined in their wildest dreams. We slurp down chemical pollutants with each sip of our diet cola and every bite of our pre-cooked meals. Such is the Western diet. So next time you upbraid yourself for what you perceive to be your lack of willpower as you reach for yet another biscuit and feel guilty about it, let the guilt go. It does not belong to you. The denatured, degraded, food we eat bears the lion's share of blame for the fat state we find ourselves in, as well as for how hard it is in our culture to stay lean and to remain healthy.

The response to my recent blog “Your Magnificent Self” was enormous. Last week I published PART ONE of my reply to your having asked for more. Here is PART TWO . I hope you enjoy it... One of the most important keys to connecting with your essential self lies in learning to pay attention to your peak experiences. These are times when you perceive reality through fresh eyes, experience the world as a whole and everything in it as being right. All of us have peak experiences yet too many of us don’t even stop to notice they are happening to us. EPIPHANIES The occurrence of these small moments of awakening can be tremendously enriching, for you are temporarily set free from habitual ways of thinking and behaving that tend to stifle your creativity. Look for peak experiences, surrender to what is happening to you, enjoy them when they come. Then record them in your notebook. The occurrences of both small and large moments of awakening can be tremendously valuable. You are temporarily set free from habitual ways of thinking and behaving that may be stifling your creativity and joy. Stay open to epiphanies. Sometimes they can be life-changing. Let me share with you how I discovered the power of peak experiences which many times have completely changed what, at the time, I believed to be true. AWAKENINGS When I was 18 years old, in my second year at Stanford University, I fell in love for the first time in my life. It was not long before I had to leave California to live in New York. His name was Dick Givens. He and I had never spent a night together. Now we would have twenty-four hours together in San Francisco before I had to catch a plane. We walked through Golden Gate Park. I had been there many times before on my own—visiting the Japanese garden, lying on the grass in the sun, looking at the paintings in the museum. But I'd never paid much attention to what was around me except in the vague way I had always appreciated being amidst the trees, grass and flowers. Today was different. He and I wandered aimlessly, aware that, in a few hours, we would probably never see each other again. REALITY SHIFTS I could feel death sitting at my shoulder. I loved this man with such intensity that I could hardly bear the fire that burned in my flesh when he touched my face, nor the surges of bliss which flooded my heart and body when we made love. Then, without warning, my whole world shifted. For reasons I will never understand, my consciousness – my awareness of the ordinary world – became transfigured, luminous. I had never experienced anything like it. As I walk with him, the structures of ordinary reality crack wide open. We come out of a wood, cross a road and step onto the curb. Old men are bowling on the green. Absorbed in their game, they pay no attention to us. Without warning the trees, the grass, the small knoll behind the men rising to a copse above, turn into a wondrous but terrifying universe. Space expands in all directions as though a million tiny holes are piercing the fabric of reality. Each one emits brilliant light. The air, the grass, the pavement, the bodies of the men, the clouds above us, the trees around us – everything trembles with a radiance. It breaks over me in great waves, simultaneously wiping me out as though it is even bringing me to birth in a new form. I understand nothing of what’s happening. DEEP MYSTERY In the presence of this overwhelming beauty, I sensed I’d tumbled into a deep mystery. Discovering love with my son, Branton who was born several months before. had been my first epiphany—my first peak experience. That day in Golden Gate Park brought my second. I am quite sure that the intensity of the love I felt for this man had triggered it. But the experience itself was far greater than either of us. I knew for the first time that by own essential being was urging me to live a different kind of life than I had lived until then – deeper, richer, larger and more connected to all living things. This was my first experience of something overwhelming which, instead of being terrifying, it carried with it a sense of exhilaration and excitement. It brought me incredible hope. That was the day I became certain that the universe is a place far greater than I had ever imagined. TELL YOUR TRUTH What are your own peak experiences? Think back and record them. Stay alert to when they arrive and enter into them. Epiphanies come in all shapes and kinds. Some overflow with bliss, others are brimming with sorrow, still others can be funny revealing to you something important about yourself that you were not aware of. Write them down whatever they are. Be as honest as you possibly can. Telling the truth first to ourselves and then, when appropriate, to some others, has enormous power. Too many of us lean in the direction of being diplomatic and discreet—adjusting our opinions and answers to fit with what we think others want to hear. This leads to a sense of confusion where instead of bringing you closer to your essential being and allowing it to guide you, you become confused—not sure what you genuinely think about anything. LOST TEENAGER That was very much the state I found myself in when at the ago of 13 an embarrassing epiphany forced me to turn away from what I had been taught and decide for myself what mattered to me. Here’s how it happened: I was sent away to a school called Castilleja and thrown in to a clique of privileged girls with whom I was quite sure I didn’t belong, I was terrified. I hoped being at this boarding school would give me the time I needed to work out the kind of human being I was supposed to be so I could survive. I was desperate. It was do or die. Once a month, as part of our ‘cultural development’ we girls were packaged in best dresses, shoes and crinolines and ushered off to view paintings, hear opera, or take part in something else which the school considered an essential part of our ‘intellectual, artistic and social development’. I learned that the trip this month was going to be to the San Francisco Opera House where we would be forced to listen to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, conducted by some Englishman called Sir Thomas Beecham. LESLIE THE PARROT Having been brainwashed by my opinionated musician father to believe that any music written before the twentieth century was ‘irrelevant to now and therefore a total waste of time’, I had taken on his beliefs as though they were my own. All the way to San Francisco I blabbered on about what a stupid idea it was for us to be spending time listening to ‘that old stuff’. When we arrived at the opera house, I was still seething with disapproval at having been press ganged into being there at all. In short I made an ass of myself at everyone else’s expense. THE CURTAIN RISES Then the music begins. No more than three minutes pass before my mouth drops open. I am scared to breathe, afraid that the sound of my breath will prevent my immersing myself in this wonderful sound. Incredible. Magnificent. Beethoven. In the presence of this music something occurs that has never happened to me before. His music cuts through my fear, my rage and my confusion. It fills the hollowness inside me with something so stark, so real, so vital, I can’t begin to describe it. The music and I become one. So long as it is playing, I am no longer alone. For the first time in my life, words come to me – words which will return again and again in the years that follow: ‘If such things exist, I want to go on living.’ Thanks to that experience I would come away from that night with a great gift. It opened up a world of music that had been hidden from me until then. It gave me spiritual nourishment and encouraged me to seek my own values in the world. Decades later it would also lead me to spend four and a half years writing my first novel Ludwig... A Spiritual Thriller. TAKE RISKS To free the Magnificent Self which is who you really are, consider new ways of doing things instead of mechanically following the same old patterns. Never be afraid of making a fool of yourself. When you do, as I did then (and have done many times since it must be said) you can learn some wonderful things about yourself while shaking off a lot of old baggage. Risk standing out from the rest—your own natural way of living, thinking, dressing, working may be quite different from the way you have been trained to do these things. Your opinions may differ greatly from those of people around you. Be courageous about seeing things your own way. Dare to be different in what you say and do if you feel different. The sense of freedom this can being is exhilarating. Listen to the whispers from within you. Find out what you want and then go about getting it. Whatever you work at, work hard and wholeheartedly. This brings a sense of self-reliance and also frees a lot of otherwise frustrated energy for constructive use. DISCARDING ROLES Take a look at the roles you play. There are dozens. We all play them—the 'intelligent woman', the 'man to be reckoned with', the 'expert’ the 'sexy lady', whatever. Some may be useful in getting what you think you want Most are irrelevant. They do nothing but sap your energy. As you become conscious of your own ‘roles’ you discover that have free choice to decide if you want to go on playing them or let them go. The more you leave roll playing behind, the freer you become from the hold they have exerted over you. This lets you come closer and closer to living your own authentic life with self respect, celebration, creativity and freedom. Your unique Magnificent Self is calling to you. Set it free. Discovering who you really are becomes be the most exciting thing you can do The time is now. Just do it.

In our vastly overmedicated society, a mind-boggling 230 million prescriptions for antidepressants are filled every year. Over the course of one decade, their use has doubled—they are now the most popular class of drugs in the US. Yet they are far from the miracle drugs many believe them to be. Not only do they carry the risk of seriously dangerous side effects. Many trials have suggested they are no more, and perhaps even less, effective than placebos—mere sugar pills. In light of all this, it would be a mistake to ignore the safe, effective help for anxiety and depression provided by nature, which comes in the form of some wonderful herbs and supplements. It’s vital that you become aware of these natural alternatives in case you, or one of your loved ones, are in need of the remarkable healing they can bring. Natural Remedies For Depression - Banish The Blues There are many causes of depression—some are of the body and some of the psyche. I don’t think you can separate the two. Just as body and mind feed each other in producing the dark, seemingly endless blues which can set in at any period of your life, the herbs you call on for help will improve both body and spirit. When you feel depressed, you can feel anxious as well. Many of the plants which are effective in lifting the blues also help to clear fear and anxiety. Here are a couple of the best. St John’s Wort Known botanically as Hypericum perforatum, St John’s Wort is possibly the best herbal antidepressant nature has to offer. Its Latin name means ‘over an apparition’—a reference to the belief that a mere whiff of St Johns Wort will banish any evil spirit. Used since the time of the Greeks and Romans to treat nerve-related disorders, it is now the most commonly prescribed antidepressant in Germany. This makes good sense when you look at the research: At least 23 randomized clinical trials have shown that this plant is just as effective as standard antidepressant drugs, if not moreso. It’s earned its name as “nature’s answer to Prozac”, but can be used without fear of the dangerous side effects that pharmaceuticals bring. How to use The bright yellow flowers of St John’s Wort contain a red oil called hypericin which is antiviral and probably mood enhancing. Many studies show that it is whole plant extracts, however, rather than hypericin alone, that have the best anti-depressant effects. You can pick the flowers, leaves and stems of St John’s Wort while the plant is in flower. Dry them quickly, as you want to preserve the red oil in the flowers. To make tea, use 1-2 teaspoons of the dried herb in a cup of boiling water. Steep for 10-15 minutes, strain, and drink 3 times a day. One of the most effective ways to use St John’s Wort for depression is as a tincture. Take 1 teaspoon of St John’s Wort tincture in a little water 3 times a day. It should be taken for at least a month before results can be expected. A lucky few people, however, respond right away. Nature's Tranquilizer The drug valium takes its name from a plant. Valerian (Valeriana officinalis) was the primary herbal sedative used on both sides of the Atlantic before the advent of barbiturate sleeping pills. It is a safe and well-tested herbal remedy with a smell like dirty old socks. But don’t let that put you off since valerian is a powerful herb for inducing safe sleep – more potent than hops or camomile. You can take valerian in a couple of ways. I like the tincture best – 10 to 20 drops in a little water before bedtime or in the middle of the night when you awaken. Alternatively you can take a couple of capsules of the dried root. Valerian in lower doses is equally useful when your nerves feel ‘shot’, even during the day. It has the remarkable ability to enhance your ability to deal with stress and bring you stamina while it calms. Very occasionally, and only to a very few people, valerian will cause a hangover in the morning, if this happens to you lower the dose or try a different herb. Sam-E Short for S-adenosyl methionine, Sam-E was discovered in Italy in 1952. It is not actually a herb, but an amino acid, which occurs naturally in our bodies when we are in good health. However it easily becomes depleted by stress, illness and deficiencies. Though it has been popular for treating depression in Europe since 1975, it has largely remained unknown elsewhere in the world—that is, until recently, when it became available in the US. It’s still unknown exactly how it works to lift depression. One hypothesis suggests that it can increase the availability of two neurotransmitters that regulate our mood: serotonin and dopamine. Studies repeatedly find in its favor compared with pharmaceuticals and placebo. (You may be interested to read this 2002 analysis of depression trials by the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality) Sam-E is especially recommended for those who have tried and not responded to traditional prescription antidepressants. Help From Omegas Last but not least, there is ever growing evidence to demonstrate the importance of fatty acids in the diet to guard against depression. In particular, the levels of omega-3 in the blood of depressed individuals was found to be significantly lower than those of non-depressed people. This is in addition to the wealth of other well-documented benefits that omega-3s bestow. Yet in the United States alone, it is estimated that over 90% of adults are deficient in this essential fatty acid. Therefore, adding a good quality omega-3 supplement to your diet (see recommendations below) is one simple and effective measure you can take to bolster your mental and overall wellbeing. LESLIE RECOMMENDS I have tested all of the products that follow, both personally and with others who wanted to leave behind antidepressant drugs in favor of natural alternatives. I have also listed below what I believe to be the best brand you can buy in the case of each product. Valerian Root Liquid Phyto-Caps - Gaia Herbs' patented technology delivers a concentrated full spectrum alcohol-free liquid extract in a 100% vegetarian capsule. Extra Strength Liquid Phyto-Caps For Ultimate Support of Restful Sleep 100% Vegetarian A Dietary Supplement Not to be used during pregnancy or lactation. If you have a medical condition or take pharmaceutical drugs, please consult with your doctor Order Gaia Herbs-Valerian Root from iherb Omega 3-6-9 Essential Fatty Acids in Hexane Free Nutritional Oils A balanced blend of two essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (and their derivatives) necessary for many body functions: Omega-3 oil from Flax Seed and Canola, and Omega-6 oil (GLA) from Primrose and Black Currant. Oleic Acid, an Omega-9 oil from Canola and Flax Seed, is a monounsaturated fat not considered "essential" but does play beneficial roles in human health. Order Now Foods - Omega 3-6-9, 1000 mg from iherb Flora, St. John's Wort Extract A Wild-grown Full-Spectrum Extract. Flora's premium St. John's Wort is prepared in the traditional manner using freshly gathered wild-grown St. John's Wort flowers. They are sun-infused in extra-virgin olive oil for 1,000 hours to maximize extraction of the full-spectrum active principles into the oil. Flora's St. John's Wort can help reduce the effects of mild depression, anxiety, and nervous tension caused by daily stress. Order Flora, St. John's Wort Extract from iherb Nature's Bounty, SAM-e The body makes SAM-e from the amino acid methionine. However, you may not be able to obtain sufficient methionine levels simply by ingesting food. In addition, because of age or other factors, levels of SAM-e can fluctuate or decline. Supplementation with SAM-e is the easiest way to increase intake. The enteric coating helps the breakdown of SAM-e occur in the small intestine. In addition, the enteric coating is designed to protect SAM-e from moisture and serve as a protective barrier so that SAM-e can be absorbed where it can provide you with the greatest benefits. Order Nature's Bounty, SAM-e from iherb ORDERING FROM IHERB.COM: Get $5 OFF your first order. They ship all over the world very cheaply, and their products are the cheapest and best in the world. Get your order sent to you via DHL. I use them for almost everything no matter where I am.

I have had recently had a lot of questions about Xylitol, So I have decided to post some information that has come largely from one of my favorite sources which is the Western Price Foundation. Hope you find it helpful. Xylitol is a sugar alcohol, a low-calorie carbohydrate made from birch bark, fibrous vegetables and fruit. Xylitol has no known toxic levels and was approved by the FDA in 1963. Some diarrhea or slight cramping may occur at first if a large amount is consumed all at once. It is recommended that one start small and let the body's enzymes adjust, which they will do. Xylitol is deadly to dogs even in small amounts. Gums, candies, baked goods, and table scraps containing xylitol must be kept far away from, and inaccessible to dogs, including ladies' and children's purses, and the garbage for dogs who are foragers. Xylitol had been known to the world of organic chemistry since it was first manufactured in 1891 by a German chemist. A natural, intermediate product, xylitol regularly occurs in the glucose metabolism of animals as well as in the metabolism of several plants and micro-organisms. Xylitol is even produced naturally in OUR bodies, up to 15 grams daily during normal metabolism. Because it metabolizes without using insulin, there is no blood sugar spike. Xylitol's Dubious Health Claims Since xylitol is an industrial product, it pays to be dubious about the industry’s health claims for it. First among these is the claim that xylitol prevents cavities. Indeed, many studies can be cited to support such a claim. But not all. The results of a recent two-year trial found no difference in cavities between those who chewed xylitol-containing gum and those who did not. 2. In an earlier study, researchers concluded that “Overall, consumption of xylitol-containing snacks and candy did not reduce S. mutans levels.” 3.As for the claim that xylitol is good for diabetics, the fact that this sweetener is not completely absorbed comes at a cost: bloating, diarrhea and flatulence. In a study performed on 18 diabetic children who consumed a dose of 30 grams of xylitol per day, researchers found a significant elevation of the uric acid concentration.4 And since 80 percent of xylitol is metabolized through the liver, a danger to liver function similar to that of fructose is a distinct possibility. The Public Relations Story The official website for xylitol, xylitol.org, states, “In the amounts needed to prevent tooth decay (less than 15 grams per day), xylitol is safe for everyone.” Fifteen grams of xylitol is about 0.5 ounces. What about doses over 15 grams? In a long term toxicology study on rats researchers found that xylitol caused a significant increase in the incidence of adrenal medullary hyperplasia in male and female rats in all dose levels tested (5%, 10% and 20%).5 That means it caused abnormal cell growth in the adrenal glands. In one higher-dose study in which mice consumed 20 percent of their diet as xylitol, there was a significant increase in the mortality of the males as compared to those consuming sucrose.6 A major study in dogs found an increase in liver weight associated with xylitol use.7 Conclusions About Xylitol Xylitol’s own promotional material says it is not safe for everyone to use. Since children are smaller and less developed than adults, they will obviously be much more sensitive to xylitol’s effects. There are no safety data or tests to indicate a safe dosage for children. And foods containing xylitol may also contain additional sweeteners that are undeniably harmful, such as aspartame. As for claims that xylitol can prevent tooth decay, I can only say, “Buyer beware!” Such claims are based on the faulty theory that bacteria cause tooth decay. We know from the work of Weston Price that tooth decay is a problem of nutrient deficiencies—the bacteria are just there cleaning up dead tissue. Finally, and most importantly, this industrial product is just not necessary. Nature has provided us with many wholesome sweeteners that can be used in moderation without adverse effects in the context of a diet of nutrient-dense traditional foods. Natural Stevia... the real thing is a better choice: Spoonable Stevia By Stevita: Spoonable Stevia by Stevita uses only stevia extract with at least 95% pure glycosides (extremely sweet tasting ingredients of the Stevia herb leaves), and a little erythritol, a crystal granulated naturally produced filler found in fruits, vegetables and grains. It is best for baking and sprinkling. Order Spoonable Stevia By Stevita from iherb ENGLISH TOFFEE STEVIA: Wisdom Natural, SweetLeaf, Liquid Stevia, English Toffee Sweet Leaf liquid stevia with all natural flavors is convenient and easy to use. As a supplement, add this nutritious stevia to water, tea, coffee, milk, sparkling water, protein shakes, plain yogurt or anything else you can imagine. It comes in many different flavors including lemon but English Toffee flavor is the best by far. Order English Toffee Stevia from iherb ORDERING FROM IHERB.COM: If you decide to order any products from Iherb.com, you will automatically receive $5 or $10 off your first order. Their products are the cheapest and best in the world…I use them for everything no matter where I am. Get it sent to you via DHL. It will be with you in three to four working days… iHerb.com ship all over the world very cheaply. IMPORTANT - Do not be fooled by the artificially made Stevia products such as Truvia and Purevia. These products are not the natural Stevia plant. To learn more read my post here called beware of Truvia. Some research if you want to look at it Dehmel KH and others. Absorption of xylitol. Int. Symp on metabolism, physiololgy and clinical use of pentoses and pentitols. Hakone, Japan, 1967, 177-181, Ed. Horecker. Int J Paediatr Dent. 2008 May;18(3):170-7. J Am Dental Assoc, 2002;133(4):435-441. Förster, H., Boecker, S. and Walther, A. (1977) Verwendung von Xylitals Zuckeraustauschstoff bei diabetischen Kindern, Fortschr. Med.,95, nr. 2, 99-102. Russfield, A.D. (1981) Two-year feeding study of xylitol, sorbitol and sucrose in Charles River (UK) rats: Adrenal Medulla. Unpublished report. World Health Organization, Summary Of Toxicological Data Of Certain Food Additives and Contaminants, WHO Food Additives Series NO. 13 Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives* Rome, 3-12 April 1978 accessed at: http://www.inchem.org/documents/jecfa/jecmono/v13je11.htm. Heywood, R. et al. (1981) Revised report: Xylitol toxicity study in the beagle dog (Report of Huntingdon Research Centre).

Are you someone who has long struggled with your weight, or who has lost weight on a diet only to regain it afterwards? Or maybe you feel you have inherited a genetic tendency towards obesity from your family line? [audio id=https://xs3.lesliekenton.com/health/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/25032052/leptin.mp3 ] In 1994 scientists made a major discovery which caused the medical world to tremble. Researchers came upon a hormone that nobody knew existed before. The hormone is called leptin. Leptin regulates virtually all the hormones in the body. It also contributes to the functioning or malfunctioning of the hypothalamus which governs appetite and whether or not the body lays down inessential fat stores - the spreading waistlines, bottoms and thighs in women and the pot bellies in men that are so hard to shift even on strict diets. A major cause of all these conditions is disturbed leptin behavior in the body. The good news is that recent research shows that hCG - used on Cura Romana - enhances healthy leptin activity up to 12.9 times. This is likely to be a major reason that Cura Romana, is such a powerful tool for bringing about fast, no-hunger weight lost and helping to make it permanent. Before leptin’s discovery the medical world believed that the fat on our bodies was little more than unimportant excess energy storage. Now we know that fat is a very complex and as yet little understood sophisticated endocrine organ. What leptin does is coordinate the metabolic endocrine and behavioral responses to hunger. Its behavior affects our emotions and our food cravings as well as weight loss and weightgain. Leptin - the new hormone on the block - is secreted by our fat cells. It plays a major role in the body’s inflammatory processes as well. So important is lptin in the management of the entire endocrine system and its complex relationship between one hormone and another that when you get your leptin functioning properly it tends to rebalance everything. In other words if you want to enhance the functioning of your adrenals thyroid, and sex hormones look to enhancing leptin. When leptin was first discovered, drug companies went wild in the hope that they might be able to create a pharmaceutical that would bring about weight loss. All of their attempts failed because leptin is enormously complex in the way it interacts with the body’s systems and glands. Put more leptin into the system and instead of fostering weight loss, it only causes “leptin resistance” making the body less able to shed excess fat and keep it off. The research, reported in Endocrinology showing that small quantities of hCG enhanced leptin promoter activity up to 12.9 times is enormously exciting as a possible means of beginning to understand more fully the remarkable weight loss and health enhancing experiences participants report on Cura Romana. Leptin balance body virtually controls metabolism. For a long time it was believed that this was something for which the thyroid was responsible. Now we know that leptin oversees metabolic processes including the functioning of the thyroid and also determines whether or not we feel hungry, lay down more fat or burn fat. So important is leptin to the management of the entire endocrine system - the complex interrelationship between one hormone and another - that once you get your leptin functioning properly it helps rebalance everything. In other words if you want to enhance the functioning of the adrenals, thyroid, and sex hormones look to leptin. People who are chronically overweight, have trouble shedding fat and keeping it off are invariably not only insulin resistant but leptin resistant. Restoring healthy leptin function is the most important step towards establishing healthy endocrine balance no matter what your age. It can also help eliminate forever the kind of food cravings and constant hunger that prevent permanent weight loss. While homeopathic hCG on Cura Romana empowers healthy leptin behavior during HCG+Food Plan, it is the six-week carefully worked out Consolidation process following it that encourages long term good leptin behavior long term which appears to protect from rebound weight gain. Let’s look at what upsets the leptin apple cart, what creates leptin resistance and what makes us gain weight in the first place. The number one offenders are carbohydrate foods and subsequent blood sugar surges which eating them brings about. They trigger leptin dysregulation and hormone imbalance, create blood sugar disorders, produce cravings and screw up insulin behavior. These include bread, potatoes, pasta, cereal, rice, and other starchy vegetables, as well as -- sadly -- wine and beer. The so-called natural sugars such as honey, maple syrup, agave, along with refined sugar belong to the same group. They are best avoided forever except in the smallest quantities and only occasionally at that. So do caffeine and other stimulants which cause blood sugar levels to rise quickly. Worst of the lot is high fructose corn syrup which is continually added to convenience foods. Prescription drugs can also contribute to leptin resistance. When we consume these substances it can cause surges in leptin overwhelming the hypothalamus in the diencephalon so it no longer responds in a healthy way to leptin’s important messages about weight management. This in turn suppresses thyroid function, upsets the adrenal glands and creates an experience of chronic stress. At this point, many things can start to come apart leading to adrenal exhaustion and chronic fatigue,as well as early age degeneration. How do you restore healthy leptin functioning? By creating for yourself a way of eating that is very low in sugar and starch. This is what Cura Romana’s hCG+Food Plan does - -- clearing out the pasta, breads, grains, rice and potatoes as well as sugars. Take the little quiz below to find out if you could be leptin resistant: Do you have high blood pressure? Do you feel tired after eating? Are you overweight? Do you suffer from osteoporosis? Do you crave sugar? Do you crave stimulants like caffeine? Are you hungry after eating a meal? Do you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep? Do you have trouble losing weight or keeping it off? Do you crave comfort foods? If some of these things sound familiar it is very likely that your body is both insulin resistant and leptin resistant. Rebalancing the body on hCG+Food Plan followed by Consolidation can help you eliminate both leptin resistance and insulin resistance forever. The great gift from all of this is you may never again have to worry about gaining weight once your excess weight is lost and the process is consolidated. To find out more about Cura Romana please click on the link below: