body care

How often do you rejoice your body? How often do you feel absolutely at ease in your skin, at peace in yourself and in harmony with your world? For many the answer is seldom. Instead we tend to us put up with the body rather like some slightly cumbersome baggage we carry with us as we go about. Yet all thought, all feeling, every response to beauty and to horror is mediated through the body. In fact your body is the medium for experiencing everything in life. As any healthy two year old knows, when it is fully alive you are fully alive. This aliveness is something we often have to rediscover. Television, films and advertising are replete with photographs of long legged pencil-thin females who are meant to be paragons of womanhood against whom we measure ourselves. Magazines and newspapers spend a large part of their time giving us advice about diets, clothes, exercise which supposedly will help the bodies of their readers more closely approach whatever shape, size and texture body the general consensus at any moment in time considers ideal. Meanwhile millions of women who, because of the way they are built, their personalities, and their own values (whether or not these values operate consciously or unconsciously) have not a hope in hell of ever looking like that ideal. And they suffer. This suffering goes deep - far beyond the simple (yet often painful) feelings of inadequacy which come with having been built with broad shoulders, big feet or a flat chest when the world you live in tells you you are supposed to be different. (Some of us alas have the misfortune of being blessed with all three). For implicit in the whole way in which the body is presented in almost everything we do and think are two far more crippling assumptions: That the body is separate from the spirit or person and that it is ultimately inferior. These assumptions are anchored deep into the belief systems from the Greco-Roman and Christian traditions in which our society has developed. They have led us to view the body either as something not to be trusted - like a wild animal that needs taming lest it gets out of hand or like a physical object outside ourselves to be watched, studied and manipulated. For most Western women their bodies are things separate from themselves, either to be prodded, criticized, and hidden or narcissistically exposed as a sexual object - something useful in gaining attention or drawing to oneself what one needs (or think she needs). In either case there is a sense of estrangement not only from the body but at a deeper level from ones self. Out of this estrangement comes a sense of powerlessness so that one begins to think that what one needs to be happy, to be complete, to be fulfilled can only be found outside oneself - by accomplishment in the world, or wearing the right clothes, by earning the love of a man or by conforming to some abstract ideal. So long as one is driven by a sense of separateness from ones body whether you succeed or fail in getting what you want from the outside world is irrelevant. For neither success nor failure bring you any closer to living freely with real health and beauty. Rediscovering the aliveness of the child and the innocence of bodily freedom can. It helps heal the wounds of separation and free a woman to live in the fullness of her own being.

A search for intermittent fasting on Google turns up more than 4 million results. PubMed lists almost 500 research articles on the subject. Great stuff. And, in the midst of all the kerfuffle, websites and books keep popping up riddled with conflicting information and advice. Some of it is useful. Too much of it is just plain confusing for someone seriously wanting to put this eating style into practice. As a result, many people dive into this way of eating with great enthusiasm only to discover that it turns out to be very tough for them to sustain it for more than a week or two, no matter how much they grit their teeth and keep trying. Whether you call this much talked about eating style meal spacing, intermittent fasting or some other name, it is by no means new having been practiced in one form or another for a century or more by those in the know about the gifts it can bring. A T W Simeons, the original creator of Cura Romana, wove it skilfully into meal planning during the rapid weight loss portion of his protocol. On Leslie Kenton’s Cura Romana, meal spacing/intermittent fasting is incorporated both into the Essential Spray+Food Plan part of the experience and Consolidation. Participants learn as a matter of course how, if they wish, they can structure this food style into their way of eating for a lifetime of lasting weight control, high level health, and protection from the degenerative diseases now plaguing our planet. BACK TO THE FUTURE Since Cura Romana is a holistic, science-based no-hunger protocol which brings balance to the control centers of the brain, eliminating food cravings and unnatural hunger, the process of integrating meal spacing into a participant’s life is simple. In fact, it takes place almost automatically thanks to the profound shifts in biochemistry which the program brings about quite naturally. Sadly, this is not case with a lot of people who, on their own and without the benefits of Essential Spray+Food Plan want to initiate meal spacing/intermittent fasting into their life. Many write to me saying that they struggle hard when trying to eat two meals a day without snacks. Some make the mistake of attempting to do this while continuing to eat all the wrong kind of foods. Others report that they fail, no matter what they do. Then, full of disappointment and self-criticism they revert to the ways they were eating before. I passionately believe that the benefits of this eating style need to be available to everyone. What is missing in so much written and talked about is practical information about how to approach meal spacing/intermittent fasting so you can gently ease yourself into it and become familiar by experimenting with an introductory plan. This will make you free to make a choice as to whether or not you want to make it a permanent part of your life. LET’S GET PRACTICAL There are some important questions which need to be answered before you even begin: What’s the best way to approach meal spacing/intermittent fasting? What kind of foods do you need to eat to reap its benefits and which foods should you avoid? What benefits can it bring? And, most important of all, how do you go about gracefully easing yourself into such a dramatically different way of eating than what you have been used to? First here are some important things to get straight: Dieting with calorie restriction—eating less and exercising more—is forever doomed to fail. It just doesn’t work at all for lasting weight loss. The success of meal spacing/intermittent fasting in no way demands that you count calories. The notion of calories-in-calories out is nonsense. So is the belief that you need to eat three meals a day. This has been foisted upon us for generations. It is wrong as is the idea that we need to eat regular snacks. The truth is that your body needs regular periods free of meals and snacks for health and lasting leanness. This need is implicit in our genetic inheritance. As such it is to be honored. Eating too often, which most people do, forces the body to keep up with on-going levels of glucose that are continually shunted into the blood. This creates a relentless inflammatory load which in turn leads to degenerative conditions including obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, and destructive distortions to blood lipids. It also forces your body to age rapidly. Even short periods of fasting daily—from 12 to 18 hours—help keep insulin spikes down, while increasing insulin sensitivity. Metabolic processes gradually begin to normalize, reducing dangerously high blood glucose levels at the same time. For meal spacing/intermittent fasting to work for you—for them to help keep you healthy and lean for life—you must completely avoid convenience foods. They are filled with artificial sweeteners, colorings, flavoring, and hidden GMO components. Eat only real food—fresh green vegetables, wholesome proteins such as eggs, fish, and meat, plenty of good fats such as organic coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil and butter from cows that have been pasture grazed. WHEN TO EAT When it comes to exploring meal spacing/intermittent fasting, success on every level depends on your creating an eating lifestyle that works for you. By the way, when you begin to space your meals wisely day after day this directs the protein hormone insulin—which plays a central role in healthy metabolism by removing potentially toxic excess glucose from the blood—to direct the blood glucose into the liver and muscles where it can be turned into energy, rather than laying it down as fat deposits. Most people leave out breakfast altogether. They choose to eat two meals a day, spacing them so that they allow at least 5 to 6 hours after their first meal, say brunch or lunch, before eating their second. No snacks are allowed. Doing this enables the body to increase its levels of an important peptide hormone—Human Growth Hormone (HGH)—produced by the pituitary gland. Bit by bit it brings gifts such as helping to reduce body fat, increasing muscle mass and enhancing bone density. Of course, this takes time to develop so be patient. The second meal of the day becomes an early dinner, after which they begin their longest period of fasting which lasts through the night. It needs to be a minimum of 12 hours but many people find that once they have got used to their new eating lifestyle, they want to extend their night fast to as long as 17 hours. No snacking, of course. Provided they are eating the right kind of foods, once they establish for themselves the best pattern of meal spacing to suit their lifestyle, they find themselves feeling vital and not hungry between meals. They are also delighted to be looking and feeling better than they would ever have thought possible before starting to eat this way. WHAT FOODS TO EAT Here are foods to choose any meal spacing/intermittent fasting eating style: A good supply of wholesome natural fats like coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil and butter—preferably from grass-fed cows. Top quality protein foods including meat, seafood, eggs and the very best micro-filtered whey if you like to make smoothies. Plenty of fresh green vegetables—preferably organic— both to eat raw and to cook. Some low-sugar fresh fruit such as berries. For vegetarians, Tempeh, miso and other fermented soya products are excellent. If you decide to use tofu, make sure it is organic. More than 95% of soy beans today have been genetically modified. You do not want to put GMO foods into your body ever. For a complete list of foods to eat—as well as those you want to shun forever—download a free copy of my Healthy and Lean for Life. The first part of this book is available free to download from www.curaromana.com You’ll find it at the bottom right hand corner of the home page FOODS TO SHUN The most significant change to human diets in two million years began with the Agricultural Revolution where man went from a carbohydrate-poor to a carbohydrate-rich diet as cereals and starchy vegetables began to enter our food chain. The more these carbohydrates have been refined and processed, the more problems they have caused us. During the 20th century, an overwhelming increase in cereals, grains, sugars and high-fructose corn syrup used in convenience foods have become the major triggers for obesity and chronic illness. In the nineteenth century, we ate between 10 and 20 pounds of sugar per person per year. Today per capita we consume between 150 pounds and 200 pounds a year. So this is little wonder. For more than half a century food manufacturers, intent on making profit, have been producing a great variety of so-called foods by fragmenting and reducing raw material foodstuffs—grains and seeds, fats and sugars, vegetables and legumes—to simple “nuts and bolts” ingredients. Then they whip up these nuts and bolts into the manipulated “convenience foods” which fill our supermarket shelves—from ready-to-eat meals to candy bars, cakes, breads, and cereals. This tuff now makes up 75% of what the average person eats. Because such foods have been whipped up using grains, flours and sugars, junk fats and chemical additives—all of which you want to avoid when creating your own meal spacing/intermittent fasting food style—you will want to steer clear of them altogether to reap the benefits of your new eating style. BEWARE THE PERILS OF CONVENIENCE White flour and sugar-based convenience foods have an ultra-long shelf life. This suits food purveyors intent on making a profit. Yet such packaged foods are little better than junk foods—often devoid of any nutritional value other than calories. Even the fats used to concoct them are not the natural fats that we thrive on. The highly processed fats most of them contain, together with the masses of chemicals used as flavorings, colorings and preservatives, are far removed from the foods your body needs for health. It is little wonder that human beings who eat them year after year—even those in economically privileged countries—do little more than survive. You will never succeed in creating a meal spacing/intermittent fasting food style for yourself unless you get rid of convenience foods from your life. EASE YOUR WAY FORWARD Anyone new to meal spacing needs to experiment before diving headlong into making dramatic changes in how, when and what you eat. So, next week, I’ll give you a simple and easy-to-begin way to help you experiment with creating condensed eating windows in your own life which that suit your appetite and ability to cook. I’ll suggest meal structures and provide you some of my own recipes. It is high time that the many gifts of meal spacing/intermittent fasting to be available to anyone and everyone genuinely wanting to make use of them.

What is Nature’s most powerful healer? The answer will surprise you: WATER applied to your skin’s surface. Would you consider pouring a stream of cold water over your face to banish fatigue and prevent skin from wrinkling and sagging? Would you walk in ice-cold water up to your knees every morning to increase your vitality and ward off aging? Have jets of cold water directed against your back and legs to help you shed fat? Extraordinary as these practices sound, they are natural methods of treatment with over a century and a half of clinical validation behind them. They are part of one of the most elaborate, effective and well-researched European methods of healing, health enhancement and age-retardation in the world: Kneipp therapy. KNEIPP’S GENIUS Applications of hot and cold water have long been standard treatment for regenerating energy, curing headaches, improving lymphatic function, and even eliminating hangovers after a night of partying. In no small part is this thanks to the pioneering work of Father Sebastian Kneipp, a Bavarian parish priest who strengthened his own less-than-hearty health with water treatments. In 1855, Kneipp was sent to the tiny Bavarian village of Worishofen to supervise a Dominican nunnery. Many of his friends insisted that the church had only sent him there to get him away from his fascination with water-healing, in the belief that it was interfering with his clerical life. There he acted as father-confessor to the nuns, revived the village's stagnant economy, and advised farmers on how to improve their agriculture. But Kneipp’s fascination with health and healing prevailed when later he was made parson of the village. Despite the fact that his days were filled with ecclesiastical duties, he found his time increasingly taken up by a growing number of ailing people who had heard of his ‘miracle cures’, and either didn’t have enough money to pay for medical care, or had been given up as ‘hopeless’ by their physicians. Kneipp treated them with his water techniques. He then taught them to treat themselves, gradually developing a complete system for prevention, cure and rehabilitation based on the theory that a human being is a unity of body and soul, and that whenever this unity is threatened, or whenever the harmony of nature is disturbed, illness ensues. As far back as 1900, Kneipp's water therapy was being practiced all over Europe. Since then, his methods have been researched, applied, refined and adapted to contemporary needs by medical scientists—most of them German—who have established the basis of Kneipp’s water techniques worldwide. AMAZING BENEFITS Still little known in English-speaking countries, Kneipp therapy is practiced in some seventy spas and thousands of hospitals in Europe. Treatments are supervised by physicians highly trained in the various methods it involves, the most important of which is a complex set of water applications which have profound regenerative and protective effects on the body. Far from being some kind of far-out alternative therapy used only by nature freaks and old women, Kneipp hydrotherapy is supported by government health-insurance schemes in Europe, and even subsidized by the state both as a preventative treatment against aging as well as a means of curing and rehabilitating the seriously ill. Kneipp therapy is used in many applications—from affusions, where water in a steady stream is poured over specific parts of your body, to hot and cold compresses—as a treatment for conditions from arthritis, abscesses and heart disease to asthma, diabetes and allergic eczema. All of Kneipp’s methods greatly increase your vitality, can enhance athletic prowess, help you handle stress better, banish insomnia, and counteract a myriad of negative effects connected with the aging process. SECRETS OF HYDROTHERAPY This is the secret of using cold water applications on your body. You need to be warm to begin with, and you must keep warm and dry afterwards. Contact with cold water in these circumstances first causes constriction of the blood vessels, momentarily driving the blood inwards. Then, the moment it is stopped, blood rushes to the surface of the skin, warming it. THE PRINCIPLES Not every water treatment has to be administered by a professional in a clinic or a spa. One of Kneipp's most important principles was that hydrotherapy should be simple enough that any healthy person can benefit from it—as a prophylactic treatment against aging, to improve the condition of the skin, to eliminate stress and to treat minor ailments from a headache to a cold without professional help. Simple at-home water treatments fortify your body against sickness in general, improve circulation and calm frayed nerves. FOR GREAT SKIN An affusion is literally a pouring of running water over a particular area of the body. Affusions stimulate blood supply to the skin, restoring lost tautness and freshness to sagging or faded skin. It is a popular natural treatment in Europe amongst men and women who want to retain (or reform) their youthful good looks. It helps prevent premature aging of the skin, eliminate feelings of fatigue and can even cure a migraine. Here's How Make sure your body is in a well-warmed state to begin with. Then, using a hose with an opening of about ½ inch (it can be a bathroom hand shower with the head removed) turn on the cold water so that a sheet of water is delivered to the skin when the hose is held 2-4 inches from it. (There should be no great pressure of water.) When an affusion is done right, the water flows smoothly and evenly and with no `splashback'. Now, resting your neck on a towel and bending over a sink or the bath, begin by circling your face with the water from just below the temple. Then go back and forth from one side of the face to the other. Guide the stream several times from up to down starting at the left side and working towards the right. End by circling the whole face again. The entire process is done with cold water and should take only a couple of minutes. Pat your face gently to remove excess water and then let it dry completely in the air. TO BOOST VITALITY AND STRENGTHEN IMMUNITY There are several techniques designed to increase vitality and bring protection against illness and age-degeneration. Which you choose depends on your current state of stamina and health. They range from the body wash, which is gentle enough for almost anyone, to the cold Blitzguss, which top athletes and other very fit people favor. The Body Wash This is quite different from the usual cleansing wash you carry out in the bath or shower using a flannel. It involves the uniform spreading of water over your skin with a rough linen cloth. Afterwards you do not dry yourself. Instead get into a warm bed for a few minutes. It helps relax the body while bracing and strengthening it. It also activates natural warmth, eliminating and protecting you from the build-up of toxic substances in the blood and tissues which can cause cellular damage and age-related problems. Here's How Having dipped the linen cloth into cold water, begin on the back of the right hand and sweep upwards over the shoulder then down again on the inside to the thumb. Now turn the cloth over and wash the inside of the hand and arm to the armpit, and finally the back of the palm. Dip the cloth in water again quickly and carry out the same movements on the other arm. Then, quickly dipping the cloth in water again, with half a dozen vertical movements wash over the chest, abdomen and the fronts of legs. Another dip and do the back (or have a friend help here since it is easier). Finish your body wash by quickly rubbing the soles of the feet. The whole procedure (which must be carried out in a warm room) needs to be very quick (only thirty to forty seconds). Then remove excess water from your body's surface, dress warmly and move about, or get into a warm bed for a few minutes. This is a superb way of refreshing yourself after a long day before going out for the evening. WATER TREADING This takes a couple of minutes. In Bad Worishofen there are beautiful pools at the clinics and hotels and even in the woods, where you can take off your shoes and socks and walk barefoot in water every morning, summer and winter, even when there is snow on the ground. If you are lucky enough to live near the sea or by a brook, both are ideal. But you can get the same results at home using a bath filled with cold water. Here's How Dressed warmly, but with your legs and feet naked from the knee down, step into the water and `walk on the spot', lifting first one foot and then another up out of the water. The reaction will be either a pleasant warm feeling flooding the feet or a sharp cold ache, followed by warmth. Begin by treading water for only thirty seconds or so, then work up to a couple of minutes as your system gets stronger and more resilient. Immediately afterwards put on dry warm socks and shoes and move about. (By the way, this is also an excellent treatment for insomniacs when done just before going to bed.) BLITZGUSS A real Blitzguss has to be done by a professional in a special shower using a powerful water-force. But you can get many of its beneficial effects in the shower, particularly if you happen to have a hand-held shower which you can direct on to different parts of your body. This is something I do every morning after exercising. Here's How Take a warm shower until your skin is glowing with the warmth. Turn off the hot water and use only cold, directing it over your face, down your arms and legs, over your trunk and abdomen and down your back. This process should take no more than thirty seconds. Get out of the shower, pat off the excess water and dress warmly. This will leave your skin glowing with warmth, thanks to the reaction against the cold water. Practiced every day or so, it will also strengthen your immune system, not only against age-degeneration but also against colds, flu and other illnesses. Blitzguss greatly increases vitality. This is a favorite of top athletes in Germany. It is also my favorite of all the prophylactic treatments with water—and I am a long way from being a top athlete. But I had to work up to it in the beginning by starting with the body wash and with water treading (which I still do when I feel tired but unable to sleep). It’s best not to use Blitzguss until you are already quite strong. DE-STRESS FOR BETTER SLEEP The next two techniques are particularly good if you feel stressed or you tend to wrestle with insomnia at the end of the day. Wet Socks A favourite of Kneipp himself, this is an easy way to apply a foot compress. It is extraordinarily relaxing. Here's How Wet a pair of cotton socks in cold water and wring them out so that they are no longer dripping. Put them on and then cover them with a pair of dry woolen socks, then get into bed. Leave the socks on for at least half an hour, although it doesn't matter if they stay on all night should you fall asleep. Once you begin to experience some of the extraordinary benefits from these simple treatments, you may find you want to explore some of the other natural therapies which are also carriers of vital information for health and ageless aging. They include air baths, saunas and Turkish baths, herbal treatments using the adaptogens and dry skin-brushing. Not only can each one of them leave you feeling vibrantly well and looking good, together with good nutrition, exercise and relaxation, they are some of the means by which your body/mind/spirit can restore balance and help keep you well, youthful and vital, long after those around you have succumbed to the ravages of time.

Our energy is balanced between dynamic, outpouring energy—which is exciting, creative, fun and challenging—and inner, moving energy, which is receptive. It’s a kind of quiet expectance that allows the universe to give you the gifts that it has to give. And of course, we can’t receive those gifts unless we know how to move from the dynamic state into the real receptive one. One of the things that’s important in helping us learn to do this—and almost everybody I know needs to learn to do it in our hectic, overstressed, dynamic world—is using water. Water itself is a powerful energy balancer. For instance, when you apply hot and cold water alternately to the surface of your skin, this stimulates circulation through the cardiovascular system, and it also spurs really good lymphatic drainage. From an electromagnetic point of view, by stimulating these systems you are increasing electricity at the heart of your cells, heightening your body's ability to produce energy at a cellular level and to produce vitality in your life. Hydrotherapy works in other ways too. Like a really good way of eating, high in fresh green vegetables and low or no processed and convenience foods, water helps detoxify acid wastes which are interfering with normal energetic processes. An excellent technique that works fantastically well is Epsom salts baths. They are magical in the way they can help you to balance your energies, not only on a physical level, but emotionally. Epsom salts are magnesium sulphate. Both magnesium and sulphate molecules have an ability to leach excess sodium, phosphorous and nitrogenous wastes from the body. By reducing toxicity, your body's energy becomes freed up for more efficient use. Magnesium and sulphur are also some of the most alkalinizing earth minerals. In practical terms, what this means is that they have the ability to create more physical space between the atoms and the molecules of your body. The greater the acidity in the body, and the more compressed the molecular space becomes, the greater the physical and emotional pressure you feel. When you get into an Epsom salts bath, the magnesium sulphate disturbs the pressure in your body, dispersing it and helping to restore balance. Magnesium sulphate dissolved in a body of water creates an electrical unified field. When you put your body into this field, it removes any excess electrical discharge from one area of the body and sends it to areas which are undercharged, creating a magnetic balance. There is nothing quite as good as an Epsom salts bath when you have been on a long flight or if you are suffering from jetlag, emotional tension, great fatigue or upset. Here’s How [video src=http://d1vg7rm5xhtxe9.cloudfront.net/video/sd/epsom-salts.mp4 poster=http://d3oy45cyct8ffi.cloudfront.net/health/video/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2013/08/epsom-salts-baths.jpg ] Take two cups of industrial grade Epsom salts. These are available from the chemist and sometimes from supermarkets. Pour it into a bath with a tiny, tiny bit of household bleach—the bleach is optional, but strangely enough it is another helper which, in minute quantities (and I’m talking less than a teaspoonful in a whole bath) ionizes wastes that are stored in the body. Fill the bath with tepid water, just above body temperature. Then immerse yourself in it for at least 20 minutes. If you begin to feel cool, add some more hot water. If you feel too warm, add a little bit of cold water, so that you are able to sustain being in this bath in a very relaxed state for 20 to 30 minutes. Get out of the bath, wrap yourself in a towel and rub yourself vigorously. This is lovely last thing at night and brings blissful sleep. You can also take an Epsom salts bath during the day, or before going out for the evening after a stressful day. When you get out of the bath, wrap yourself up in a towel and lie down for 10 minutes then get up, get dressed and go about whatever you are intending to do.

Last week we looked at intermittent fasting for clearing cellulite deposits and keeping them away. It’s an enormously valuable tool. But the important first step for creating a cellulite-free body is to clear as much of the tissue sludge that creates it as quickly as possible. How? By using the most powerful natural detox protocol I have ever found, for 2 or 3 days. Then, in CELLULITE PART 3 next week, I’m keen to share with you how to go about creating in your own life an on-going intermittent fasting food style which helps make peau d’orange a thing of the past while rejuvenating you—mentally, emotionally and spiritually. IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER Cellulite is always a manifestation of the wrong kind of lifestyle for health and beauty: eating wrongly (or too much), living under prolonged stress, hormonal imbalances, being exposed to too many pollutants, and all the other things that we often assume we can get away with, but never really do. Also, cellulite exists—whether or not one wishes to call it cellulite or something else—despite the fact that the majority of adamant medical voices loudly deny its existence. It is real enough for the woman who, in spite of being lean and well, reaches down and pinches her thigh only to find it puckers, ripples, and looks like the skin of an orange. Cellulite differs from normal fat in three ways: It doesn't disappear just because you slim down and exercise regularly as ordinary fat does. Cellulite areas hold different kinds of fat than ordinary fat tissue. Radioisotopic examinations show that, while the components of ordinary fatty tissue change every eight days, gel-like cellulite remains almost stagnant. CLEAR THE SLUDGE Quite simply, cellulite is a pollution problem. It is the result of a build-up of wastes settle in specific areas of a woman’s body. Where distortions in female hormones are present, we tend to collect cellulite deposits as part of our secondary sex characteristics—on our thighs, hips, buttocks and so forth. Cellulite areas not only contain fat. When you examine a layer of cellulite under a microscope, you find that the fat imbued with water and wastes is held there by a fine network of hard fibrous adhesions. Settling in the subcutaneous (subsurface) layer just beneath the skin, cellulite areas have been surrounded by a cushion-like network of connective tissue known as septa. When the septa tighten down on fat cells present in the area or when fat cells push upwards this forms adhesions—a kind of sclerosis of the connective tissues, which get worse with the passage of time. You can liken it to an overstuffed cushion which, with wear and tear, bursts out above the structural support, tightening down even more on the support. All of this leads back to an impaired lymphatic system. When blood and lymph flow in the body becomes restricted as a result of sludge stored in the body, septa fibers continue to thicken while cellulite deposits in the subcutaneous layers of the skin get worse. It’s time to begin the process of clearing this sludge. It’s time to activate the body’s ability to deliver fresh nutrient-rich blood to skin, and restore good lymph flow so it carries away wastes and toxins from the tissues. THE AMAZING ROHSÄFTE-KUR In my opinion, the best contribution German nature-cure experts ever devised for this is called Rohsäfte-Kur. It’s a protocol you can also use when you find yourself feeling "dead" because of too much stress, too little sleep, or fatigue. It is also the best way to begin clearing cellulite. What is it? It’s a raw juice fast, in many ways superior to a water fast. On it you drink plenty of freshly made raw fruit and vegetable juices. These raw juice meals have remarkable properties, in no small part thanks to the living enzymes they contain in high concentration. The program can make you feel super-alive—mentally clear and sparklingly aware of the world around you. A Rohsäfte-Kur as short as two or three days can make a woman look years younger. It is the best way I have ever found to begin eliminating tissue sludge quickly. Of course you must consult a professional practitioner before beginning—especially if you are on any pharmaceutical drugs. You should not stay on it for more than two or three days unless you are under proper supervision. All that being said, we’re ready to get the ball rolling. In addition to their enzyme content, raw juices made from organic fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals, and trace elements to help bring biochemical balance to the cells of skin and muscles, since on your Rohsäfte-Kur the assimilation of these nutrients becomes almost total. To do a Rohsäfte-Kur properly, you need a juice extractor—an excellent investment for long-lasting health and beauty. Some juicers have attachments so they can be used as a blender and shredder for vegetables, although I prefer dedicated juice extractors—either centrifugal or masticating juicers—which are slower speed but reduce oxidation. HERE’S HOW The day before you begin, eat lightly. Have some low glycemic fruit such as berries for breakfast and a salad for lunch and dinner, perhaps with a little cottage cheese or some yoghurt. This helps prepare your body for the juice fast. You can also take a mild laxative the night before if you wish. FIRST THING IN THE MORNING: A tisane: take a cup of herb or flower tea such as Maté, peppermint, camomile, nettle, rose-hip or solidago— goldenrod—which is particularly good, but often hard to come by, for eliminating excess water from the tissues if you tend to retain it. BREAKFAST Prepare a 250ml glass of organic fresh fruit juice chosen from berries such as strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, apples or pears. Dilute this with enough clean filtered water to make two glasses. Sip slowly until you've drunk both glasses. MID-MORNING Drink a glass of herb tea or homemade vegetable broth if desired. Here is my favorite recipe: Leslie’s Home-made organic vegetable bouillon or vegetable broth. You can use green vegetables to make your own, such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, bean sprouts, asparagus, mustard greens, spinach, watercress, ginger, garlic. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Season with herbs and sea salt as desired then store in the fridge, reheating as needed. This is a good drink if you're feeling weak or headachy when your body begins the natural process of cleansing itself after years of following the inaccurate advice we have all been given. LUNCH A 250ml of fresh vegetable juice made from organic vegetables such as carrot, celery, spinach, kale or cucumber, or a mixture of these. Again dilute with half clean water to make two glasses and drunk slowly. MID-AFTERNOON Another herb tea or homemade organic vegetable bouillon as desired. DINNER Same as lunch. BEFORE BED If you are hungry, take a few raisins (not more than a dozen) chew each one slowly, and another tisane, or glass of spring water if you prefer. OVERVIEW In other words, throughout the day you will be drinking between one and a half and three pints of juice, teas or homemade vegetable broth, depending on how much you feel you want. The reason that half of the juices are vegetable and half of them fruit is that fruits are the natural cleansers of the system and the vegetables are the revitalizers. As with any true fast, if you experience feelings of discomfort such as headache (a sign that you are quickly eliminating wastes), take whatever pain killers you feel you need and tuck yourself away in a dark room to rest until it passes. If you take a lukewarm bath (not hot) in the evening; this will help you to sleep well. It is important that all the juices you drink be freshly made and drunk right away. If they are allowed to stand in a room for a few minutes they oxidize and lose much of their therapeutic and nutritional value. When you choose your vegetables and fruit, make sure they are fresh and carefully washed in running water. You can mix juices in delightful ways, and as a final addition, try a teaspoonful of fresh lemon juice or fresh cream added to each glass. Fresh finely minced herbs such as basil or chives sprinkled in also add something special. GREAT HERB TEAS Here are a few herb teas that are particularly good for helping to clear cellulite, either because of their blood purifying capabilities or because they are natural diuretics and encourage the elimination of excess water from the tissues. Maté Tea is a tonic for the kidneys, a tension soother, and is so satisfying to drink that you feel less inclined to eat. It is nice taken plain or with a squeeze of lemon in it. Solidago Tea (wild goldenrod) is an excellent natural diuretic and a mild stimulant. It is a favorite for spring-cleaning the system at the Bircher-Benner Clinic in Zurich but it can be hard to find these days. Nettle Tea is another diuretic and tonic, excellent for the lymphatic system. It doesn't taste as nice as solidago, so needs to be sweetened with a little stevia. COMING NEXT WEEK Next week, we will not only look specifically at how, after carrying out a Rohsäfte-Kur, you can create for yourself a simple, doable way of spacing meals that can help clearing cellulite long-term and keep it away. We will also expose as yet little-known nutritional mistakes most everybody makes which need to be corrected—not only for keeping cellulite at bay, but for protecting you from early aging and all those degenerative diseases which now plague the Western world. See you then... I have also included some great tea's to try below: The Tao of Tea, 100% Organic Famous South American Herb, Roasted Maté Maté (Ilex Paraguariensis) is an evergreen plant of the holly family (Aquifoliaceae). Although the plant does produce small flowers and fruit, only the distinctive oval shaped leaves and stems are plucked for processing. Toasty, smooth and full-bodied with light cacao taste. Will provide at least 3-4 infusions. Maté contains vitamins (A, B1, B2, C and E), mineral salts, 15 amino acids and high levels of antioxidants. Its chemical constituents also include alkaloids (such as caffeine). Maté is known to help cope with stress and is beneficial for the nervous and immune systems. Order The Tao of Tea: Roasted Maté from iherb Traditional Medicinals, Organic Nettle Leaf Herbal Tea, Caffeine Free Nettle plants grow in the wild throughout much of Europe and North America and are now also grown on farms. Fresh pressed juice of the herb, and tinctures or tea infusions of the dried leaves are commonly used in Europe. Organic Nettle Leaf has a pleasantly refreshing and slightly bitter taste. For maximum benefit, herbal tea must be properly prepared. Pour 8 oz. freshly boiled water over 1-2 tea bags in a cup. Cover cup and steep 10 minutes. These steps directly influence the amount of beneficial components that will end up in your teacup! Gently squeeze the tea bag to release the remaining extract. Drink 3-4 cups daily. Order Organic Nettle Leaf Herbal Tea from iherb BEST LIQUID 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 SweetLeaf Liquid 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. Click here To View Part 3 – Cellulite: How To Live Cellulite Free

Very occasionally when someone goes on an active program of detoxification such as an apple fast for a few days, they have the experience of a severe headache at some time within a day or two, or of feeling moody, or having an upset stomach, a film on their tongue or teeth, even loose bowels. This is a sign that your body is throwing off wastes at such a pace that you are experiencing what is known in natural medicine as a cleansing crisis. In reality, it happens to very few people. If you are one of them, be glad, even though it may be a bit of a nuisance for a few hours; it is actually a good sign. Your body is taking the opportunity you have afforded it through what you are eating (and what you are not eating) of throwing off a lot of debris which you need to get rid of if you are to live at a higher level of health and vitality. If a cleansing crisis does happen, take the time to relax, lie down in a darkened room if possible, and be kind to yourself. Have a cup of peppermint tea - it is very soothing when you have a headache. If you can’t sleep, try a cup of chamomile tea, or eat a banana which is rich in the amino acid tryptophan, a superb natural sedative. Congratulations – it can be quite a feat to be ridding your body of so much old debris all at once. It will pass quickly, leaving you better than ever. caffeine trouble The people most likely to get a headache as part of a cleansing crisis are those who have been drinking several cups of coffee or tea a day. This kind of reaction is triggered by your tissues dumping a lot of stored caffeine into your bloodstream all at once in order to eliminate it from your body. The first time this happened to me I had been in Vienna for six days, where everyone drinks coffee – and very strong coffee too – all day long. Though not much of a coffee-drinker myself, I decided while there to go along with the custom. The day I left the city I got on to an airplane to return to London and my usual way of eating, and was struck down by the most appalling headache which lasted about four or five hours. It was no fun, believe me. But when it passed I was left with the most wonderful feeling of freshness and lightness – the way you feel on a beautiful summer’s morning when there is a light breeze blowing. This sense of lightness is a common one for people who for the first time begin to clear their system of stored wastes. It more than makes up for the headache or upset stomach which can herald its coming. clever compress Something I learnt many years ago from another doctor who uses natural methods for healing, is that if you are experiencing any kind of cleansing crisis, you can help your body enormously by putting a simple cool compress around your middle and leaving it there as you lie down for half an hour. This can also be done when you go to bed in the evening if you prefer. A cool compress stimulates the flow of blood to the area of the liver – another prime mover when it comes to detoxification – so speeding up the release of wastes from the body, and easing any unpleasant symptoms that come with them. Using a compress is also enormously relaxing. Tear a piece of cotton fabric (an old sheet is ideal) into a rectangular piece which is about fifteen inches wide and long enough to go comfortably around the middle of your body (between your armpits and hips). Wet this compress in cold water and wring out completely so it is only damp. Now, using a dry towel (or a piece of wool or thick natural fabric) which is also big enough to go around your middle and to overlap so you can pin it comfortably with a few safety-pins, spread the compress out on the outstretched towel. Now lay your naked midriff on this strip and wrap first the compress around you and then the towel on top, pinning it securely. Pull your clothes or nightclothes down over the lot, and pop into a warm bed for at least half an hour. Such a compress can be helpful not only for sailing through a cleansing crisis, but also if ever you find it difficult to sleep because of worry or stress. kidney power If you find yourself experiencing some uncomfortable symptoms during your apple fast, increase the quantity of spring water you are drinking. When the body’s water level gets too low, your kidneys don’t work efficiently and the liver has to take on too much of the cleansing work on its own. If you tend to retain water, this is often because you don’t drink enough, so your body tries its best to hold on to the water there is in order to dilute any toxicity in your tissues. Believe it or not, you breathe out about 2 big glasses worth of water a day. The kidneys and intestines eliminate roughly another 6 glasses, and 2 are released through the skin. So keep drinking – during a detox and after. We all tend to need more water than we drink for optimum health. It’s a good idea to keep a bottle or two of mineral water on your desk, or somewhere where you will see it often, to remind you to take in enough water each day. Here is a simple formula for working out the ideal quantity of water to drink each day for maximum energy and good looks. Divide your current weight in kilos by 8. (e.g. 58 kilos divided by 8 = 7.25). Round the figure up (to eight) and that is the number of glasses of water you need a day. This is just a base calculation of course. Drinking enough water is one of the most important things you can do day-in-day-out to keep your body eliminating wastes efficiently. Remember that you will probably need to take in more water than your base calculation when you are exercising or if it is a hot day. psychic detox Some people can get a temporary feeling of letdown on a detox. This is usually because the heart, having been stimulated by caffeine and other irritants, begins to beat more slowly, and the false exhilaration you used to get from stimulants temporarily turns into a feeling of being down. It doesn’t last long, and in most people it doesn’t happen at all. Sometimes, however, during a detox it can seem that all sorts of psychic junk suddenly gets released along with the physical toxins you have been carrying around. Feelings of anxiety, worry or guilt may surface with seemingly no reason. They will most likely just be flushed away with all the other junk your body is getting rid of. In the meantime, try putting a few drops of lavender or vanilla essential oil in an oil burner and enjoy their relaxing and soothing properties. Or put one or two drops of either essential oil in your bath and breathe in the fragrance. One of the nice things about this sort of detox is that you often find you think much more clearly after it. Stress does many unpleasant things to the body, one of which is that it can make your whole system acidic. An apple fast alkalizes your system, so bringing it back into balance, and throwing off the byproducts of stress in the process. When you are mentally stressed, your body becomes physically stressed through having to deal with all this toxic waste. Removing these toxic wastes can often mean that your ability to deal with more stress is greatly improved. You begin to see things in a much more positive light and can put what once seemed difficult problems into their proper perspective. relax and revive During a detox it is important to make sure you get enough rest. Think how good you feel after a holiday. It’s usually the one time when we actually allow ourselves to rest - something we don’t do enough of during the rest of the year. Rest is so essential because it is while you are resting that your tissues restore themselves. Without it, your body cannot properly restore damaged tissues. During a detox, your body is working pretty hard in eliminating all the rubbish you have allowed to be released into your system. Give it a break and make time for yourself to relax – and don’t feel guilty about it. Watch your favorite videos, read that book you’ve been promising yourself you’ll find time for, listen to all your old records, or just do nothing. This is a precious time; a time to devote to yourself and your body’s needs. Don’t waste it. During the day, whenever you can, lie down even for ten minutes and just let go. Or practice a simple relaxation/mediation exercise like this one: Close your eyes and watch your breath coming in and out of your body. With each out breath count silently. So it goes like this: ‘In breath… out breath… one… in breath… out breath… two…’ and so on up to ten. If you lose track or find that your mind is distracted, it doesn’t matter at all. Just go back to ‘one’ and start again. Carry this out for ten to fifteen minutes whenever you can find a few spare minutes to yourself. It helps to rebalance your body’s nervous system and can be useful if you have to deal with any negative emotions that surface during your detox.

BUILD A NEW BODY Strong, sleek, firm muscles are what I call power flesh. Creating power flesh means banishing flab and rebuilding your body’s natural, sleek contours. This takes time, and it can't be done without good protein. Proteins are made of long chains of amino acids—the primary structural components of your body. These amino acids act as building blocks for new muscle which is made up of protein and water. Amino acids also stimulate metabolic processes and hormonal activity. They are key to burning up fat and clearing cellulite. In fact amino acids—the building blocks of all protein foods—are needed for just about every physical process in your body from the production of new hormones to replacement of old cells with new. REBIRTH ALL ROUND Within your body old proteins are continually being broken down into their component amino acids and reshaped into new compounds. Even enzymes themselves are made out of amino acids. Radioisotope tracings show that more than 98% of the molecules in your body will be replaced during the next year—your muscles, your blood, your enzymes, even your genes will be made anew. How good they will be depends almost entirely on the raw materials you give your body to work with—in other words, what you eat. A coffee and cake diet will result in a coffee and cake body, not in power flesh. To rebuild a strong, sleek, firm body you need the highest-quality proteins. How much is easy to figure. On any anti-cellulite program you will want about the same quantity of protein that an active woman requires to sustain her body weight if you are exercising, say, an hour a day: This is approximately 1.4 grams of amino acids per kilogram of body weight (2.2046). In other words, if you weigh 8 1/2 stone you will need about 76 grams of protein a day. Once your rebuilding program is complete, unless you exercise a great deal, you can reduce that requirement to between 0.8 grams and 1 gram per kilo of body weight. Unless you supply this quantity of protein foods with a good balance of amino acids, you are asking your body to rebuild itself but not supplying the wherewithal to carry out your request. This would be like pushing an engine to its limit without supplying the fuel it needs to run, namely the right kind of protein foods. But these are not always easy to come by. And it may surprise you—during the Rebuild you may be eating more of these foods than you have ever done before. PROTEIN—CHOOSE WITH CARE There are some important things to watch out for when eating meat, fish, and poultry (quite apart from whether or not you want or don't want to eat meat on moral grounds). Unless you are able to buy organic meat, or at least meat from animals that have grazed on grass and been allowed to roam on fields, the animals you eat will have been raised on grain-based feeds laced with various chemicals, and more often than not fed on GMO grain and cereal fodder. Such animals will also have been treated with antibiotics—all of which you ingest. All of these things you don't need if you are going to live a long and healthy, cellulite-free life. This doesn't mean that if you are a meat eater you must shun a delicious steak for the rest of your life but it does mean that you should be wise and go for the best quality meat you can afford. Excellent sources of proteins also come in the form of fish and shellfish. VEGETARIANS RULE If you feel you must be vegetarian on moral grounds by all means do. The world has many beautiful women without cellulite who live on vegetarian fare. If not, however, at least while you are actively shedding cellulite (and this can take several months since nature works slowly but surely), you might want to explore fish, shellfish, eggs, and microfiltered whey—all excellent protein sources. Many vegetarians swear by tofu. Tofu is great, provided it is made from organic, non-GMO soya beans. More than 95% of soya these days is GMO and grown on depleted soils. Don’t touch soy milk or tofu unless you are certain it has been made entirely from non-GMO beans. Use only the very best microfiltered whey. I spent months exploring just about every variety of microfiltered whey looking for the finest. I was stunned to find just how badly produced and ineffective most of the wheys on the market are. I would not feed them to a dog let alone a human being. So buy wisely. BEST OF THE BEST The microfiltered whey I believe to be the best in the world both for the way it has been processed and the taste: Well Wisdom, Vital Whey, Natural Vanilla, 21 oz (600 g) Vital Whey is a delicious, 100% natural nutritional protein supplement which comes in Vanilla, Cocoa and Natural. All three are proprietary, non-denatured, native whey protein produced to maintain the full range of all the fragile immune-modulating and regenerative components naturally present in fresh raw milk. The milk for this product is derived from cows that are grass-fed and graze year-round on natural pastures. Well Wisdom whey does not contain genetically engineered materials. It is hormone-treatment-free, pesticide-free, chemical-free and undergoes minimal processing: You can learn more about this product and order directly from iherb.com by clicking here: Iherb is the best online e-commerce store in the world—with the cheapest prices anywhere. For over 16 years they have had the distinction of being the most celebrated online natural supplement supplier. They ship efficiently to over 180 different countries, faster than you can receive most goods from the country you live in. They get preferential rates from DHL so even with shipping cost you are often better off ordering from them than buying goods in your own country, even if you have to pay import duty. Check their information on import duty when ordering. In many countries you will not have to. There is nothing like the range of good products they offer, or the customer care they provide. However if you do not want to order from iherb, you can use the link here to take a look at this product so that you know what it looks like and see if you can find it locally or online in your own country. Do check the price too. I order virtually all of my nutritional stuff, fresh nuts, and even non-toxic cleaning and washing products from iherb because, for me, even with the shipping, it costs me less money that it would if I could buy what I want locally.

In the way so many half-truths get blown up by commercial interests, we have been led to believe that all men and women need for strong bones is to get lots of calcium—either by popping pills or drinking milk. Millions of pounds and dollars have been spent to propagate these fantasies. Bottom line? Both these beliefs are fiction. Meanwhile, after four generations of aggressive milk promotion, the incidence of osteoporosis has reached epidemic proportions in the West. In countries where milk is not drunk, osteoporosis hardly exists. FORGET MILK So negative an effect can milk and milk products like some cheeses exert on a man or woman's health that, if you would care to experiment by leaving all milk products out of your diet for three weeks, you are likely to find you look and feel better, as well as experiencing great boosts in vitality. Sometimes doing this can be more difficult than you expect, however. Why? Because, in one form or another, milk finds its way into most convenience foods, including breads, biscuits, and sauces. It is even in a lot of nutritional supplements. Why, I cannot imagine! Milk is designed by nature for a very specific purpose—to feed young mammals until they can feed themselves. Cow’s milk was made for cows, and human milk for humans. As we grow up, our bodies lose the ability to produce lactase, the enzyme that digests the sugar in milk. This creates what is known as a lactose intolerance. Studies show that three out of every four adults in the United States have some degree of lactose intolerance and are therefore unable to digest milk properly. When they include dairy products in their diet they experience lower energy, their bodies produce more mucus in an immune reaction, and they experience food sensitivity reactions with symptoms that can include mood swings, depression, aches and pains and many other undermining issues, often with no sense of what has been causing them. UNDERMINES HEALTH Milk is the most common food allergen in the western world. Wheat follows close behind. But you find milk in one form or another just about everywhere—in cheese, cream, foods with cream sauces, yogurt, ice cream, breads, and all sorts of other manufactured food products. There is also strong evidence that milk—the pure white food which we are continually told will give us good bones, strong hair and “a lot of bottle”—is toxic to many. Dr Daniel Cramer at Harvard Medical School discovered that using milk products increases the risk of ovarian cancer in lactose-intolerant women. After extensive analysis of lactose-intolerant women in 36 countries, as well as meticulous examination of human and animal studies, researchers concluded that galactose, one of the milk sugars, is toxic to the ovaries and interferes with fertility. It may even trigger birth defects. According to Executive Director of The Dairy Education Board, Robert Cohen and many others, the consumption of milk and milk and milk products are in no small part to blame for a long list of health problems: rheumatoid arthritis stroke kidney stones acne heart disease multiple sclerosis diabetes breast cancer REAL MILK IS DIFFERENT Milk that comes from pastured cows containing all the natural fat, has not been processed and is not pasteurized or homogenized is the way to go, provided you are one of the lucky ones whose body can handle milk without any of the negative side effects. It is taken from healthy cows under sanitary conditions. Raw milk is full of natural components which kill pathogens in the human body and strengthen the immune system: Lacto-peroxidase and lactoferrin as well as anti-microbial components in blood, helpful carbohydrates (polysaccharides and oligosaccharides), healthy fats (medium chain fatty acids, phospholipids and spingolipids), and wonderful enzymes to aid digestion as well as growth factors, beneficial bacteria, bifidus factor and B12-binding protein. These natural ingredients in real raw milk are inactivated and destroyed when milk is pasteurized. Yet the huge dairy industry and governments continue to spread false information about the “dangers” of real milk and even to forbid its sale in some countries. WHAT ABOUT CALCIUM? Far from turning to milk as a source of calcium, most men and women who value wellbeing and good looks would be better off clearing out milk and milk products from their diet altogether. But hear this: If you are going to cut milk out of your diet, you need to get rid of anything that might contain milk products such as milk solids, sodium caseinate, sodium lactate, milk fats, whey, or lactose. So read labels carefully. As for taking pills, a number of researchers have shown that calcium supplements do little to stop the loss of cortical bone tissue. They have virtually no effect at all on trabecular bone in the spine and the hip, where most osteoporotic fractures occur. Yet having been told it again and again, most people still believe that the best source of calcium is milk or milk products. Of course, the question which is rarely asked is: Where does the calcium in milk come from in the first place? EAT YOUR GREENS Cows get calcium from eating green foods—grass, silage, herbs and plants. Only plants can take the calcium from the soil and turn it into a form available for absorption by animals. Beetroot tops, chinese leaves, roquette, lettuce, seaweeds, herbs and broad-leafed green vegetables are all excellent sources of calcium. A cup of any of these vegetables supplies as much calcium as a cup of milk. And vegetable-based calcium is easily assimilated, along with a collection of other important minerals and trace elements, without having to deal with possible negative side-effects of using milk products. Include plenty of leafy green vegetables in your meals and you’ll need never give calcium another thought. Incidentally, the reason why taking calcium supplements or drinking masses of milk has no effect in halting osteoporosis is this: The problem is not an absence of calcium in the body, but rather a disorder in calcium metabolism. A DELICATE PROCESS Calcium metabolism is a very complex process. In most people, absorption of calcium in general tends to be highly inefficient. Only somewhere between 20 and 30 percent of the calcium you take in through your foods will actually be absorbed. The rest gets filtered through your blood and then excreted in urine and sweat, or eliminated through the feces. Many factors influence just how much calcium your body will absorb at any time. When you are growing rapidly or when you place stress on your bones doing weight bearing exercise, your absorption of calcium is increased. When your body is in great need of calcium it is also absorbed more effectively. In fact, the smaller the supply of calcium available from your foods and the greater the need your body has for this mineral, the more efficient calcium absorption becomes. The opposite is also true. When large quantities of calcium are available—say if someone has been drinking a lot of milk, or has taken masses of calcium supplements as many women do—then the absorption of calcium is markedly decreased. It is worth remembering that in the United States, where the consumption of calcium supplements and milk products is highest in the world, so too is the incidence of osteoporosis. METABOLIC KEYS For calcium to function properly in relation to bone building, it has to be accompanied by phosphorus—but not too much—as well as magnesium, Vitamins A, B6, C, D, E and K. Zinc is also important, since zinc is a co-factor in the intra-cellular conversion of beta carotene to Vitamin A which in turn helps manufacture the collagen matrix of bone. Zinc has to be present in sufficient quantities for the body's enzymes to make the conversion. Even the trace elements boron and silicon, which are needed only in the most minute quantities, play important roles in bone strength. ALL POWERFUL MAGNESIUM What surprises most women—doctors too, for that matter—is that it is taking extra magnesium that can make the greatest difference to good calcium metabolism. Magnesium is another element essential for the proper metabolism of calcium. Magnesium probably acts as a catalyst for more enzymes in the body than any other mineral, in fact. Magnesium is plentiful in whole grains—brown rice, buckwheat, millet, whole wheat, whole rye and in legumes such as beans, lentils and peas, but low in highly processed foods. Adequate magnesium helps the body absorb calcium. Where there is a magnesium deficiency, not only can osteoporosis develop easily; so can joint and soft tissue calcification. Low intracellular magnesium undermines immune functions too, making women susceptible to infection and such hard-to-handle conditions as M.E. in which women with low intracellular magnesium have been found to have unnaturally shaped bone mineral crystals. Magnesium deficiency is common in both men and women with osteoporosis. Milk is relatively deficient in magnesium—another reason why it is a poor food for protection against osteoporosis. Magnesium deficiencies are particularly widespread in women over 35 who have long been living on the standard diet of convenience foods. PMS expert Guy Abraham MD showed that giving women 600mg of magnesium a day could bring about a significant increase in bone mass in nine months, although the women he treated were also given other vitamins and minerals as well as HRT, so it is impossible to determine just how much of the improvement was due to the magnesium. In an Israeli study, however, where 31 post menopausal women were given between 250-750mg of magnesium a day for two years, bone density increased between 1-8 percent in 75 percent of the cases and remained unchanged in the remaining 25 percent, while women who refused magnesium supplements altogether experienced losses in bone density of 1-3 percent. START EARLY IF YOU CAN Osteoporosis prevention is best started early—preferably in the teens, twenties and thirties, while the density of bones is still increasing. This makes it easy to build good strong bones and to establish good habits that can carry you through the second half of your life with no trouble. If you are female and osteoporosis has already begun, you may want to make use of topically applied, natural progesterone cream to help restore normal bone density, then keep you permanently osteoporosis-free. Finally, just in case all this sounds like a tall order, take heart. The benefits an osteoporosis-protective lifestyle can bring to overall health and good looks are immense. Such a lifestyle helps keep your immune system functioning well, helping to protect you from illness, countering early aging and degeneration, and enhancing your energy all round. Such a program begun at any age can make you look and feel great. Learn more: http://www.realmilk.com http://www.llli.org/FAQ/bflength.html http://www.notmilk.com/ http://saveourbones.com/osteoporosis-milk-myth/

By now you will have grasped the principles of meal spacing. It’s time to get specific about putting it all in into practice. TWO MEALS A DAY Put behind you that old adage that you must eat a good breakfast to keep you going through the day. This is untrue. It never has been true, despite all we’ve been taught. The word breakfast literally means the meal at which you “break-a-fast.” That is just what you will be doing on meal spacing—breaking a fast of 12 or more hours after eating dinner the night before. The timings of your two meals each day will need to take into account what your days are like. Is it an easy thing for you to prepare your first meal at home—say between 11am and 1pm? Or do you work away from home all day? If so, does your job require you to eat in restaurants frequently? On days when you don’t, can you make your first meal before leaving for work—say, a salad complete with good quality protein which you can take to work with you, or maybe a delicious smoothie you can carry in a thermos? The rule of thumb for success with meal spacing is to allow 5 to 6 hours or more between your first and second meal of the day. Longer food-free periods are fine too. If you can schedule your second meal in the early evening—say 6 or 7pm, this is ideal. If, on the other hand, you don’t get home until later in the evening or you have been invited out for the evening, then the period between meal one and meal two is likely to be longer than 6 hours. That is fine too. EAT STOP FAST It is essential that, as soon as you finish a meal, you stop eating. And, just in case you have a habit of munching through a couple of biscuits or a bowl of chocolate ice cream between dinner and bedtime, now is the time to break this habit. It’s important to have ended your eating for the day at least 3 hours before you climb into bed. You need an absolute minimum of food-free 12 hours during the night before eating the first meal of the next day. How you plan your eating and fasting periods depends on you. Your timings may change a bit from day to day depending on what is happening in your life. That’s OK. Just don’t forget that, to become lean and healthy and stay that way, and to protect yourself from early aging and degenerative conditions, your body needs extended food-free periods day after day. And the longest and most important is at night, while you sleep. START GENTLY Many people are afraid they will not be able to make it from one meal to the next when they are just beginning to explore what condensed eating can do for them. I recommend when you are just learning the practice of meal spacing that you feel free to eat a snack or two between meal one and meal two if you feel you need to. That being said, the sooner you come to adopt fully this food style and make it your very own, the better. I predict that it won’t take long before you will have no trouble remaining food-free between meals. SNACK SUGGESTIONS Half an avocado with 2 oz (50 g) of Cheddar cheese A no-sugar smoothie made with Vital Whey, sweetened with English Toffee Stevia if you like 1 cup of sliced cucumbers with vinaigrette dressing made with extra virgin olive oil 1/2 cup of cottage cheese with 1/4 cup raspberries 4oz (100g) plain cow’s, goat’s or sheep’s yogurt with half a grated apple sweetened with stevia and sprinkled with cinnamon. TAKE YOUR TIME Your body will need some time to adapt itself to this kind of eating—sometimes only a few days and other times two or three weeks. Just be patient and stick with it. Have your healthy snacks between meal one and meal two until you sense that you no longer need them. But right from the beginning, make a commitment to yourself to end completely the convenience carb foods that undermine health, provoke weight gain and predispose all of us to sluggishness and depression. Eat as many of the good fats as you like while eliminating sugars and the carbs that turn into sugar when people eat them. What are good fats? Coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil and butter from grass-fed cows. These can strengthen your body, bring you energy you can rely on, and will never make you fat so long as you avoid the life-force draining carbohydrates which still make up the bulk of most people’s meals. These include breads, pastas, potatoes, bagels, cookies, chips, cakes and the rest. Meanwhile, eat lots of good fats If truth be told, we humans have little need for carbs. When our bodies are fed quality proteins, the good fats, green vegetables and low-sugar fruits, their bodies will quite naturally derive any glucose that they need from these foods. (For more information about this see my book Healthy And Lean For Life, which you can download for free on the homepage of curaromana.com.) By the way, if while your body is adapting to your condensed eating program, you experience light headedness, muscle cramp, fatigue, or grumpiness along the way, make sure you increase the amount of sea salt or Himalayan salt (not ordinary table salt please) that you are using on your foods. LESLIE’S RECIPES Let me now share with you some of my own favorite recipes that are good for any meal spacing program. I hope you enjoy them. When it comes to radiant wellbeing, nothing carries the power of fresh raw foods. Not only are they higher in essential nutrients than their cooked counterparts, the quality of the phytochemicals they contain is the best in the world. Contrary to what a lot of people think, raw fruits and vegetables are easy to digest. Each fruit or vegetable carries within it the exact enzymes necessary for us to digest it fully and efficiently. Bircher Muesli serves 1 This recipe, which is great for either of your meals, calls for an apple. But you can use almost any fruit. Berries work very well. The recipe serves one, but can just as easily be made for twelve. This particular form of muesli is dairy-free. If you prefer to use dairy products, try plain unsweetened cow’s yoghurt, or sheep or goat’s yoghurt if you have a problem with cow’s milk. What You Need 2 tablespoons grated fresh coconut (if you are buying coconut commercially, make sure it contains no sugar) handful of raisins, soaked overnight 1 apple, grated or chopped juice of ½ lemon 3 tablespoons coconut milk or sheep or goat’s yoghurt ¼ teaspoon powdered cinnamon or grated fresh ginger Here’s How Mix together the coconut and raisins and combine this mixture with berries or a grated or chopped apple, lemon juice and the coconut milk or yoghurt. Sprinkle with cinnamon or ginger. Serve immediately. Vanilla Nutmeg Smoothie Serves 1 This meal-in-an-instant is surprisingly filling and the vanilla makes it a warming drink, despite being made with ice! You can make the smoothie with or without the egg. If you do use the egg, make sure it is free-range and organic. Use only the best whey (see recommendations below). Most of what you find out there is junk. Don’t touch it. What You Need 6 ice cubes 200ml clean water 1-2 scoops natural or vanilla-flavored micro-filtered whey protein (see resources) 1 free range, organic egg 1 teaspoon vanilla essence (the real thing, no sugar, preferably organic) a pinch of grated nutmeg stevia to taste Here’s How Put all the ingredients into a blender, but blend for no more than 20 seconds as this can change the nature of the whey protein. Sprinkle a little extra grated nutmeg on top and serve immediately. If you like, you can add 1 tablespoon of flaxseeds to this smoothie for a fiber boost. Warm Bacon and Spinach Salad serves 2 I used to live in Wales. This recipe is based on the great Welsh stalwart—spinach. It’s so often cold in Pembrokeshire, so I made this salad a warm one. What You Need 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 4 oz (100g) naturally cured bacon, cubed 2 tablespoons raw walnuts, broken into small pieces 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1lb/450g spinach leaves 1 tablespoon rice vinegar 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, finely grated Maldon sea salt or Himalayan salt and freshly ground pepper to taste Here’s How Heat half of the oil in a heavy pan and add the bacon until golden brown and cooked through. Add the garlic and cook for a minute, then add the walnuts, vinegar and the rest of the oil. Throw in the spinach at the last minute, and toss with the other ingredients in the pan until the spinach has begun to wilt. Serve immediately with the grated parmesan on top. Salmon Delight serves 2 This recipe came from a friend—Belinda Hodson. Salmon is such a delightful fish with a unique and delicate flavor. I love this dish because it is easy to prepare and very tasty. The marinade enhances the natural flavors of the fish and the spring onion really gives it its own special zest. What You Need 2 fillets of salmon juice of 4 medium-sized lemons 2 large spring onions pepper and salt 1 dessertspoon of coconut oil zest of 1 lemon plus 2 lemon wedges parsley (for garnish) Maldon sea salt or Himalayan salt and freshly ground pepper to taste Here’s How Finely chop the spring onions and place in a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, pepper and salt and blend. Place the salmon fillets into the marinade (flesh-side down) and leave for 45 minutes. Turn the fillets onto the other side and leave for a further 15 minutes. Heat the coconut oil in a frying pan. Drain the fillets and place in the pan, cooking until tender. Serve with parsley garnish. Crudités It may sound completely mad, but when dipping crudités, it matters what shape you cut your vegetables into. Some vegetables want to be sticks, some want to be sliced diagonally into rounds. They simply taste better. Keep your crudités in the fridge in a bowl of cold water with a squeeze of lemon. Here’s a selection of some fruits and vegetables that make good dippers Sticks carrots turnips courgettes/zucchini green and red peppers Slices cucumber white radish beetroot Jerusalem artichoke kohlrabi apples Whole button mushrooms—stalks left on baby carrots young green beans, topped and tailed cauliflower florets spring onions Wedges tomato chicory small lettuce endive Serve them with a good dip. Here are a couple of my favorites: Curried Avocado Dip This dip is great for crudités. I serve it together with a platter of fresh phyto-nutrient filled vegetables such as endive, bulb fennel, crunchy lettuce, celery, slices of red, green, and yellow capsicum and anything else I happen to have around. What You Need 2 large ripe avocados, peeled and cubed 3 cloves of garlic, chopped 3 tbsp of lemon juice 1 tsp of vegetarian broth powder 1/8 tsp of Cajun seasoning Celtic or Maldon sea salt to taste freshly ground black pepper to taste 1 tsp of mild to medium curry powder 1 tbsp of lemon zest Here’s How Add chunks of avocado plus garlic, lemon juice, broth powder and other seasoning to the food processor— everything except the lemon zest. Blend until creamy and add lemon zest and serve. This recipe makes about 1 cup, which will keep up to 3 days in the fridge. Sesame Miso Dipping Sauce What You Need 125 ml of rice wine vinegar Granulated stevia to taste 1 tbsp miso 2 tbsp of sesame seeds, ground in a coffee grinder or food processor 1 garlic clove, crushed Here’s How Combine all the ingredients. Can be served immediately. Cool Cucumber Dip What You Need 1 small cucumber ¾ cup of yoghurt (cow’s, sheep’s or goat’s) squeeze of lemon or dash of vinegar 1 tbsp minced onion Spoonable stevia to taste 1 clove garlic (optional) fresh mint Celtic or Maldon sea salt to taste freshly ground black pepper Here’s How Peel and grate the cucumber, then drain off any excess extra juice (you can use it as a drink). Mix with the yoghurt, lemon juice or vinegar, onion, stevia and garlic. Finely chop a few mint leaves and add. Season and serve in a dish with sprigs of fresh mint. FOLLOWING YOUR NATURE It may surprise you to learn that the eating pattern which you are aiming to create for yourself is what the human body has been genetically programmed to thrive on for hundreds of thousands of years. It can enable you to eat well and plenty of food without suffering any sense of deprivation or hunger once you get accustomed to it. This is the way our hunter gathering ancestors, whose genes we have inherited, lived. They ate and then fasted, depending on when food was available and when it was not. When you get into eating quality protein foods at mealtime along with plenty of good fats like those in the above recipes, luscious green vegetables and low-sugar fruits day by day, you are likely to find yourself going from strength to strength. Your body gets firmer and leaner. Your health improves as vitality steadily grows. Your mind becomes clearer. You look younger and better than you may have done for years and you feel happier with yourself and your life. Try it and see. USEFUL PRODUCTS: BEST LIQUID 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. Buy SweetLeaf Stevia BEST MICROFILTERED WHEY Well Wisdom, Vital Whey, Natural Vanilla, 21 oz (600 g) Vital Whey is a delicious, 100% natural nutritional protein supplement. Vital Whey is a proprietary, non-denatured, native whey protein that is produced to maintain the full range of all the fragile immune-modulating and regenerative components naturally present in fresh raw milk. The milk for this product is derived from cows that are grass-fed and graze year-round on natural pastures. Our whey does not contain genetically engineered materials. It is hormone-treatment-free, pesticide-free, chemical-free and undergoes minimal processing. Grass-Fed Year-Round Hormone-Treatment-Free The Finest Biologically-Active Non-Denatured Whey Protein Dietary Supplement Comes in Natural. Vanilla and Cocoa Buy Vital Whey BEST GRANULATED STEVIA 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 Buy Stevita