food

We’re told that potatoes aren’t good for us. It’s true if you’re talking about GMO potatoes, which most people eat these days without ever knowing it.  Please don’t ever eat GMO anything.  But grown traditionally—unsprayed and certified organic—potatoes can not only be good for you, they can be great.  You see, potatoes belong to a very special yet little-known category of food known as safe starches.  These safe starches are far removed from the grains and cereals that make us fat and foster degenerative diseases. I’ll tell you more about them in a moment.  Meanwhile, it’s time to celebrate the humble potato and its wonderful gifts.     Potatoes come in more than 100 varieties. They can be prepared in almost as many forms—steamed, boiled, baked, sautéed, or what have you. The botanical name for potatoes is Solanum tuberosum. They were introduced to Europeans in 1621, when Spanish Conquistadors brought them back from South America, where they’d been cultivated since 8000 BC. Seafaring men relied heavily on them as a source of Vitamin C to protect sailors from scurvy. Nutrient Rich Potatoes Potatoes are now the fourth largest crop grown throughout the world. They’re good for supplying you with important B complex vitamins, especially vitamin B5, B6, niacin, and folate. They’re also full of minerals like phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, copper and iron as well as antioxidants, phytonutrients, carotenoids and flavonoids. In 1995, the heroic potato was the first vegetable to be grown in space, to feed astronauts on long space voyages. Now let’s take a look at where some of the false beliefs, which have undermined our appreciation for organic potatoes, come from. I think you’ll find this interesting.   Paleolithic diet You may not know that for thousands upon thousands of years, our ancestors lived not in forests as we have been told, but in grasslands. They survived by digging up tubers, roots and corms—all of which are ancestors to today’s potato.  Early man relied heavily on these starchy plants which today are known as safe starches. What scientists now call the Paleolithic diet was made up of 15 to 20% of these foods dug from the ground, eaten with 50 to 70% of fatty animal-based foods, including insects, eggs, birds, reptiles, and creatures from the sea.   Then, along came Loren Cordain, who is considered the father of the Paleolithic diet. He made a few inaccurate assumptions.  He claimed that our ancestors never ate starchy root vegetables—something we know now to be simply untrue. By the way, Cordain is said to have greased his pots with canola oil—heaven forbid—and washed down his Paleo meals with diet soda. What he apparently didn’t do was delve deep enough into the vast research now available in regard to diets of primitive peoples from experts like Samuel Hearne, Weston Price, Stefansson, and Cabeza de Vaca. Anyway, here’s the truth: Early humans were genetically programmed to thrive on these starches—a group to which our modern potato now belongs. We still are today. Safe starches  Safe starches include white rice, potatoes, sago, tapioca, and sweet potatoes. Grown organically, all of these foods can help improve digestive health. But they need to be cooked gently, so any natural plant toxins—which all plants contain to some degree—become neutralized. By the way, brown rice is not considered a safe starch since the phytin it contains can interfere with the absorption of certain minerals and provoke an immune response. There are no known autoimmune antibodies generated by white rice protein. When it comes to potatoes, you will want to store them in a cool dark place. The unwanted solanine and chaconine toxins that they contain are activated if you expose them to light and heat. It’s equally important that you throw away any potatoes that may have become discolored or are no longer fresh.   protect your health and your body shape Any healthy person with a clean digestive tract can eat organically grown potatoes with no problems. Naturally, if you have an autoimmune disorder or are seriously diabetic, you must consult your health practitioner before assuming potatoes are fine for you. As far as the worries many people have of gaining weight when they eat potatoes are concerned—fear not.  Eaten occasionally and in moderation, none of the safe starches cause weight gain. The foods you need to cut way down on or even eliminate altogether if you want to protect your health and your body shape are the conventional grains and cereals, as well as legumes, added sugars and vegetable seed oils. Then you’ll be well on your way to a whole new experience of wellbeing.  Enjoy.

If you’re not yet nourishing yourself with green power, it’s time to take the leap. Green helps create vibrant health and dazzling rejuvenation. It costs little and its gifts are easy to access. If you’re looking for a simple but life-changing move you can make: go green. There are two intense substances which contain virtually everything you need to live at the highest levels of wellbeing. One is blood. The other is chlorophyl. These fluids are nature’s most potent carriers of the ineffable life force. Without them, no living thing would exist. They have something remarkable in common. It was Nobel prize winner Hans Fisher who first pointed out that the hemoglobin molecule and the chlorophyl molecule are virtually identical, except that at the core of this pigment that gives human blood its color and oxygen-carrying capacity, you find the element iron, while the molecular core of chlorophyl is magnesium. So close is the relationship between blood and chlorophyl that when we feed crude chlorophyl to anaemic animals, it can restore normal red blood cell counts within 15 days. Yet chlorophyl which has been chemically refined to remove its “impurities” shows no corrective effect on anaemia. On the contrary, it can poison the bone marrow – the site of red cell production. Green supplements such as spirulina and chlorella are fine – if expensive – but they fall way short of what you can get from drinking the life-blood of a green plant itself. Spinach, cabbage and nettle juice – all rich in chlorophyl – are successfully used to treat heart disease, gum disease, cancer, allergies, atherosclerosis and many other conditions – even depression. To make use of green power from plants, you need to go straight to the plant itself. Here’s the surprising news: even green juices lovingly gleaned from your favorite juice extractor fall short when it comes to turning your body on to green power. To create a good alkaline balance, rejuvenate your body, regenerating your life and make you look and feel great, you need access to the totality of whatever greens you are using – not just make your juice and toss the fiber away. Much like whole foods, superb, life-enhancing green liquids are only made through whole juices. This means you need to harvest their goodness with the help of a powerful blender – something I value so much that I consistently travel the world with mine. The fiber that is thrown away in ordinary juicing holds some of the most valuable treasures of a green plant. Ordinary juicing creates a fractured food, discarding much of the potent protection the plant has to offer against aging and illness by protecting the body against toxicity. It wastes a lot of the plant’s powerful anti-oxidants too. Get into whole juicing and you can toss out most of the expensive supplements you’ve been relying on to keep going. Whole green juicing does it far better. Fresh, green, organic salads are great. I love them, but the body assimilates many times more vital nutrients from whole juices. Why? Because, blending green leaves with water in a powerful blender breaks down the cell walls of the plants – these are some of the strongest molecules in nature – setting free their life-giving elements. This is something neither conventional juicing nor chewing salads give us access to. Green leaves are far and away the most nutritious part of most plants. In addition to vital minerals and vitamins, they carry traces of alkaloids in combinations specific to each plant species. These nitrogenous organic compounds of plant origin have important physiological and psychological actions on human wellbeing. Taking in the minute quantities of alkaloid mixtures from green leaves strengthens the immune system and promotes mental and emotional clarity. It even fosters greater spiritual awareness. Your supermarket, your greengrocer, and your garden offer a wide variety of green leaves ideal for whole juicing: kale, bok choy, mitsuna, lettuces, radicchio, spinach, turnip greens, grape leaves, chard, silver beet, celery – the list is virtually endless. Many vegetable tops that we throw away like turnip greens and the tops of lettuce are great for this purpose. So are herbs like parsley, mint leaves, lemon balm, basil, young dill and fennel. Best of all, next time you go for a walk in nature, don’t forget the wild edibles like purslane, sorrel, dandelion – both the greens and the flowers, chickweed, and even young stinging nettles. These free foods are wonderful sources of green power to help you transform your life. Just make sure you know the wild plants you pick and are able to differentiate their leaves from non-edible or poisonous species. What is the secret of making green power drinks taste great? You can add some fruit if you like, or honey or agave for sweetening. Experiment to find out what tastes best to you. Personally, I like my whole juices straight up, with the addition of a little stevia – the only calorie-free, natural sweetener in the world. It comes as a white powder which looks like sugar but is 200 times sweeter and carries none of the negative effects of sugar. It also comes as a liquid and in a green powder form made from the dried leaves of the stevia plant. A South American plant, stevia itself is an excellent source of green power. It grows happily in the garden or a pot sitting in your kitchen window. Just add a few leaves to your blender along with a mixture of edible greens, a few ice cubes and a cup or two of pure water. Blend and enjoy. Drink a couple of glasses of green power each day. It keeps well in the fridge or a thermos, so you need only make it once. You’ll be surprised at how life-changing this simple, inexpensive practice can be for you and your whole family. Kids love green drinks spiked with a banana or pineapple, apple or orange.

Remember food combining, developed by William Howard Hay MD? It has changed thousands of people’s lives, protecting them from fatigue, weight gain, degenerative diseases and early aging. The basic principles behind food combining are simple: Don’t mix foods that fight. Never eat proteins and starches at the same meal. Never eat fruit and vegetables at the same meal. And do not eat dessert after a meal. If you do, the dessert gets trapped in the stomach and starts to rot, since it can’t be digested properly. These fundamentals of what has long been known as Conscientious Food Combining are easy to learn and even easier put into practice. The benefits of doing so are many, including freedom from reflux, poor digestion and long-term fatigue. DIGEST TO THRIVE Your body expends more energy on the digestion of food than on any other function. Think how sluggish and sleepy you feel after a traditional Sunday lunch. It may surprise you to learn that the energy your body needs to digest food is even greater than that which you use when taking strenuous exercise. When you take in food, your system has to redirect blood supply—and therefore vital life energy—away from the brain and other organs towards the gut. Once there, your energy reserves get busy breaking down your meal. When you eat foods that fight each other, or more food than your body needs, you greatly diminish your overall vitality. You also build up body pollution. Any food—even good quality food—in excess tends to pollute the body. PROTEINS AND CARBS ARE NO-GO Leave behind the old practice of meat-and-potatoes or fish-and-chips. When the wrong foods are mixed together, this further delays digestion and produces toxicity while increasing both appetite and digestive upsets. Most people’s bodies are not designed to efficiently digest more than one concentrated food in the stomach at once. In the simplest terms, you need an acid medium to digest protein and an alkaline one to digest starch. Eat concentrated proteins and starches together—fish and chips, bacon sandwiches, meat and potatoes—and nothing gets digested. An awareness of this principle lies at the core of virtually every tradition of natural healing. Eating concentrated proteins and starches at the same meal wreaks havoc with digestion. It increases the number of incompletely broken down food particles that find their way into the bloodstream to cause food allergies, depression and exhaustion. Concentrated proteins such as cheese, eggs, fish and meat must have an acid medium for good digestion. If there are any starchy or sugary food including breads, pastas or sweets in the stomach at the same time, they neutralize the acid medium, so the proteins remain incompletely digested and poorly assimilated. All carbohydrates foods need an alkaline medium for digestion and must be eaten at a separate meal. What you can get away with is the occasional garnish for protein foods or fruits—such as sesame seeds or raisins—but you would not want to add them in greater quantity. OUT WITH Convenience FOODS Ready-in-a-minute pre-cooked meals, junk foods, and the standard meat-and-two-veg Western meals are incredibly energy-draining. They present your digestive system with the greatest difficulty of all. Virtually all of these manufactured items are grossly deficient in essential nutrient. for it to break down and make use of. Convenience foods and junk foods are also grossly deficient in essential nutrients as well. So are chemically fertilized fruits and vegetables and foods which have been excessively processed to alter their natural state. Convenience foods contain additives such as artificial colorings and flavorings which are potentially harmful. Such foods include breads, sugar, most meats, sweets, and coffee and all the ready-in-a-minute snacks and meals that fill the shelves of our supermarkets. They have no place at the food combining table. CREATE VITALITY If you want to build energy quickly, start right now to separate your concentrated starches from your concentrated proteins, eating each at separate meals. This will help protect your system from a build-up of acid wastes, restore metabolic balance, and resolve the energy crisis which takes place when digestion is overtaxed. Most important, it can bring you a whole new kind of energy which can have you looking good and feeling better than ever with each week that passes. It is not only separating the kind of foods that you eat that matters for an abundance of energy. You need to be just as conscientious about what you eat. The human body is not genetically equipped to handle the refined flours, sugars and excess quantities of poor quality proteins that make up the typical western way of eating. Our ancient ancestors, whose genetic makeup we share, had no bread, sugar, junk fats or pre-packaged, pre-cooked convenience foods. They ate simple, ordinary, wholesome foods—as much of them as they could kill or gather. Their diet was high in green leaves and vegetables—all complex carbohydrates—and moderate in protein. This is the way our own bodies genetically expect to be fed: Good, wholesome, preferably organic foods, simply prepared and eaten as closely as possible to their natural state. FREEDOM TO THRIVE This way of eating calls for real foods rich in fiber, and plenty of the best fats: Organic coconut oil and extra virgin olive oil, for instance. The health-enhancing properties of real living foods have long been tested and eulogized by highly respected European and American physicians—from Gordon Latto and Philip Kilsby in Britain, Max Bircher-Benner in Switzerland and Max Gerson in Germany, to Henry Lindlahr and JK Tilden in the United States. Eating for energy asks that you combine your foods sensibly, and that as much as possible you choose foods grown on healthy organic soils and served as closely as possible to their natural state, either cooked or raw. This is not as complicated as it sounds. Here are the basic principles of eating of high vitality eating. They quickly become second nature. EAT FRUIT ON ITS OWN Fruit passes through your digestive system very rapidly. It needs little help from digestive enzymes to break it down. If you try to eat fruit at a meal with other foods, its digestion and assimilation are slowed drastically and you can get fermentation in the gut causing indigestion, wind and discomfort. If you have a blood sugar problem, insulin resistance or an overgrowth of Candida albicans, then stay away from sugary fruits altogether, or eat no more than a couple of servings of berries a day. Instead of fruit for breakfast you might have a green drink made from the tops of green vegetables in a juicer or a blender. MAKE ONE MEAL A DAY A BIG SALAD A vibrant, living salad based on home-grown or store-bought sprouted seeds and green vegetables is the mainstay eating for high energy. It’s the best way to get optimal support for rebuilding cells and tissues, rebalancing biochemical processes, and restoring normal metabolism. Sometimes, of course, this is not possible—for example, when you have to eat in restaurants all the time. In this case, you can replace the living salad with a big dish of lightly steamed or wok-fried fresh vegetables cooked in coconut oil and served with a side-dish of soup or a protein food. That being said, the more often you are able to make a living salad the focus of the meal, the sooner you will reap the rewards of your new lifestyle. Remember that your digestive system needs time to complete the digestion of a meal before you put anything else into it. Four or five hours need to elapse between lunch and dinner. Otherwise digestion is not complete, and increased toxicity ensues. Always drink as much filtered or spring water or herb teas between meals as you like. But don’t drink liquids at a meal as they will dilute the important digestive enzymes. AIDE MÉMOIRE Eat fruit or a green drink in the first half of the day followed by a protein or carbohydrate lunch and dinner, both of which should include a big, fresh, raw salad. Leave four to five hours between lunch and dinner for efficient digestion. Eat as much as your body needs and listen to its signals of how hungry you really are. Take your time, chew thoroughly and stop as soon as you feel you have had enough. Never overeat. Get rid of packaged convenience foods that rob you of vitality and undermine well-being. These include breakfast cereals, breads, pasta, sugar and all the so-called goodies made from it. Cut back on tea and coffee. If you drink either, make sure it’s organic so you avoid taking chemicals and pesticides into your body. After wheat, coffee is the second most sprayed commodity in the world. Restrict alcohol to a glass or two of good wine with a meal, once a day. Never eat a concentrated starch food with a concentrated protein food at the same meal. Eat fruit on its own, or leave at least 20 to 30 minutes between a fruit starter and the next course of your meal. You can pick and choose your own foods and make up your own menus once you get your head around these basic principles. Practice Conscientious Food Combining for a month and I think you’ll be delighted with how you look and feel. You can also say goodbye forever to mainstream medications designed to treat GERD—gastroesophageal reflux disease—with all their nasty side effects. Meanwhile your energy will just keep on building.

People keep hounding me about hot cocoa. “It is OK to drink?” “Will it make me fat?” “Oh god... I just adore it.” These are only a few of the words I’ve been sent in the past few weeks so I guess it’s time to dive into the cocoa scene and make sense of it. A SACRED FOOD Like coffee, cocoa—from which both chocolate and hot chocolate is made—is one of the world’s most sacred foods. And, like all sacred foods, it is meant to be taken only from time to time, and only from the finest, purest source. The worship of the cocoa tree began with the ancient gods of the New World. The Olmec Indians in Central America are credited with the discovery of this tree. Later the Aztecs and Toltecs—who called cocoa ‘food of the gods’—told the story of how Quetzalcoatl, the supreme god of the air, brought the seeds of the tree to earth as a gift to his chosen people. Montezuma, the great Aztec king, is believed to have downed 50 pitchers of an elixir made from cocoa each day. The drink was called ‘xocolatl’, an aphrodisiac—deliverer of strength, sexuality and vigor. Cortez, who brought it back to Europe in the sixteenth century, soon created a cocoa storm among the courtiers. Madame Pompadour gave her seal of approval to cocoa as an aphrodisiac, while Casanova claimed cocoa was the perfect tool for seduction. Some recent research partly explains why. Scientists in California have isolated a substance in cocoa, which links into our brain receptor sites and, like cannabis, brings sensations of pleasure and relaxation. But cocoa, I suspect, has many secrets. This is only one of them which feeds our passion for this dark,seductive food and at the same time enhances our passion for love. SOOTHING ENERGY Cocoa contains naturally-occurring mild stimulants called methylxanthines. Theobromine is the predominant methylxanthine in cocoa. It’s believed to lend cardiovascular support and the mood-elevating properties ascribed to chocolate. Caffeine is another methylxanthine present in lesser amounts in cocoa that contributes to its energizing effect. If you're going to drink cocoa, only buy unsweetened organic cocoa, not only because it's the most delicious, but also because it is the real thing—as unprocessed as possible. Avoid powdered cocoa with sugar and milk in it like the plague. Such products have none of the health-enhancing properties of the real thing. On the market these days you find all sorts of imitation hot chocolate products, which have had vegetable fats and god knows what else added to them. Avoid them. Make your cocoa drinks with water, sheep’s milk, unsweetened rice or almond milk, with natural stevia to taste for sweetening. ONLY THE BEST My favorite cocoa for hot chocolate is unique in the world. It’s called CocoCeps. Created by Madre Labs, it’s an unsweetened, instant, certified premium organic cocoa into which full-spectrum immune-enhancing micronized Cordyceps and Reishi mushroom powders have been added. CocoCeps Cordyceps (Cordyceps sinensis) is a mushroom which has been used in Tibetan and Chinese cultures as a tonic to promote energy and longevity. Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum) is probably the most well-known tonic mushroom in the world. It is known in China by the name Ling Zhi, and revered throughout East Asia as the "Mushroom of Longevity." Low in calories, at 20 calories per serving, all of its ingredients are organic, and the product is not only delicious; it is energy supporting, yet calming, all at the same time. Order CocoCeps from iherb I use the the wonderful Wisdom Natural, SweetLeaf, Liquid Stevia, in English Toffee flavor to sweeten my cups. 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.

The media is suddenly obsessed with fasting. On one hand, this is a good thing. The right kind of fasting can be a tremendously powerful tool for rejuvenation, weightloss, restoring insulin sensitivity, promoting human growth hormone—the anti-aging hormone—and lots of other things. Fasting can clear your mind and body of what is preventing you from living your life on top form. What worries me is the way so many wild fasting practices have turned up recently. One day it’s a cure-all for everybody. The next it leads people to binge on junk foods. So what is all the buzz about? Fasting is a powerful tool. But it needs to be taken seriously, fully understood and carefully followed. In recent months I have had a number of people join our Cura Romana Journey or Inner Circle Gold on line programs who were in trouble after their metabolism became all screwed up by their having tried to follow one of the current fast-yourself-slim diets. This is a sad state of affairs. More unbiased information about fasting, its blessings and its drawbacks needs to be forthcoming. MY LIFE IN FASTING When it comes to fasting of all kinds I’d wager there are few who have researched and experimented with it as long as I have. I was introduced to the ancient tradition of fasting in my mid-twenties when I had been unwell for many years, and it changed my life. I first wrote about intermittent fasting more than thirty years ago in The Joy of Beauty. I’ve continued to research and write about it in many other books since. I became fascinated by the profound healing of body, mind and spirit that takes place when people fast wisely. I have done so many kinds of fasts—juice fasts, water fasts, fasts using nothing but free-form amino acids, and intermittent fasts. I’ve just about tried them all. I even did a 40 day fast on water then spent the last five days of it skiing at St Moritz. WAKE UP AND SMELL THE FLOWERS I remember well the healing physical effects of carrying out my very first fast. My head became clearer and clearer. After the first few days my vision was so sharpened it was as if I were looking at the world through a crystal glass. It’s impossible to describe the changes that took place in my thinking and my emotions during the fast. I can only say that the world looked different. I realized that there was so much beauty around me which I had continued to miss. Fasting made me stop and think, stop and feel. I found delight in the simplest of things—just sitting under a tree, washing vegetables, or combing my hair. Everything seemed important. I found I wanted to do everything with real awareness. I also gained a sense of distance from my own problems, enabling me to make the decisions facing me calmly and quietly. As a result, since then, whenever I feel myself hung-up over something or whenever I sense I’m not seeing things clearly, I will quietly fast—often just for a day or two until I feel clear again. To some people this may seem an eccentricity, but not, I believe, to anyone who has actually tried fasting. DAYS ON DAYS OFF The buzz now, however, is intermittent fasting. This form of fasting has many faces. Some are better than others. The most lauded at the moment is where you spend two or more days a week drinking water while during the rest of the week you eat “normally” either with or without a very low calorie diet for the purpose of losing weight. The right kind of fast, while eating the right kind of foods, is indeed capable of facilitating weight loss provided you are capable of following it religiously for several weeks, while your body shifts from a glucose-based metabolism to a fat-based metabolism. But, even with the best will in the world, very few people can carry out this exacting procedure for long enough to allow this important metabolic transformation to take place. The second problem with days-on-days-off fasting is that it tends to precipitate binge eating during eating days. Few people understand that if you want to benefit from the experience you must rigorously fast when you are meant to be fasting and avoid binge eating on the days when you do eat. It’s essential, too, that you alter the kind of foods you eat if you want good results both in terms of weight loss and enhanced health for the future. MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE The other way to practice intermittent fasting works much better. It is a lot easier to carry out and protects your body from unnecessary strain. Here’s how it works: Instead of the day-on-day-off practice, commit yourself to eating only during a specific window of time—say 8 hours— each and every day. This is convenient and do-able for almost anybody, and it protects you from bingeing. You do all your eating between, say, 11am and 7pm and have no food or drinks except clean water and herb teas in between. For example, you skip breakfast and make lunch your first meal of the day, and you don’t eat anything after 7pm that evening. How does it all work? It takes from six to eight hours for your body to burn stored glycogen in your tissues after eating carbohydrate foods. Once this happens, your system starts to turn towards fat as its primary fuel. After a few weeks of this time-restricted fasting, food cravings that may have dogged you for eons are likely to have disappeared. (And you can take organic coconut oil which is rich in short-chain fatty acids which are quickly broken down to deal with any food cravings.) But you absolutely must be choosy about the foods you eat during the hours that you are eating. Download my little book Healthy and Lean For Life to learn more about what kind of foods protect from weight gain, foster natural weight loss and create powerful protection from degenerative diseases. It is free on the home page of www.curaromana.com in the lower right-hand corner. SPONTANEOUS INTERMITTENT FASTING So natural a procedure is fasting that in some cases it can happen spontaneously. By the time most Cura Romana participants have completed 24 days on the Essential Spray+Food Plan part of their program, and are ready to move into Consolidation, they are already fasting intermittently. At this point in their program the body has been taken through a process of deep cleansing. Food cravings have long since disappeared. Control centers for appetite, emotions, and hormones are functioning well so their food preferences are now excellent. Quite spontaneously most participants choose to skip breakfast. They say they love the vital, empty feel this brings them. They don’t need to be taught how to do intermittent fasting, they just do it. What has happened to them is that their bodies have already become adapted to burning fat instead of glucose for energy. Unnatural hunger is gone and sugar addictions no longer exist. HEALTH PAYOFFS The benefits of this kind of intermittent fasting are many. The procedure of incorporating this practice into your life becomes easy and natural. It is the start of a new way of living and eating that helps protect us from degenerative conditions long into the future. Here are just a few of the benefits it brings: Insulin sensitivity increases. So does the efficiency of mitochondrial energy, helping to slow aging and disease. Stress resistance improves dramatically. Oxidative stress diminishes since the body’s proteins, nucleic acids and lipids are protected from much free radical damage. Next week we can delve further into fasting—intermittent and otherwise. We’ll look in greater depths at the powerful therapeutic potentials it can have for weight loss, metabolic improvements, even as an effective treatment for mental and emotional disorders. We’ll examine its spiritual dimensions as well as its advantages and disadvantages. Then we’ll clarify who should and who should not fast. See you then.

Depression can be a killer. I know. I suffered from it badly in my early twenties. I suspect I was born with a genetic tendency towards it. I am familiar with the deep sadness, feelings of shame and helplessness, the terrible fatigue coupled with not being able to sleep to relieve it, the poor concentration and strange shifts in appetite. I have learned a lot about handling it over the years. 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 help to clear fear and anxiety too. Cleanse Body And Soul Where you find depression, you almost always find a mass of creative energy which, for one reason or another, has remained blocked. This can make you feel impotent and helpless. You also often find a tendency to live life by other people’s rules rather than your own—from the depths of your own soul. Indeed, if depression is deep and debilitating enough, you may even come to feel you have no soul to live from. Deep-cleansing the body is important in releasing blocked creative energy and restoring the biochemical balance that helps wash away the blues. Use the Herbal Cleanse. Take a look at my brand new 10 Day Clean-Up Plan book, just published on Amazon. When your cleansing program is done, try following a long-term way of eating based on fresh vegetables—many of them raw—and good quality proteins from fish, organic meat, free range chicken and eggs. Avoid milk products including milk itself, yoghurt, and cheese (butter is OK because it is a fat, and it is the milk protein that tends to cause problems for people prone to depression). Also cut out wheat and anything made from flour such as pasta, breakfast cereals, breads and biscuits and, finally, make highly processed convenience foods a thing of the past. It was just such a diet—one in which at least 50-75% of the foods I ate were raw—that began to lift my own deep depression in my twenties. Sacred Plants Then, turn your attention to herbs and discover just how useful they can be to rebalance brain chemistry, strengthen the body and clear the mind. Then call on the healing powers of some of the best plant-based antidepressants you can find, from St John’s Wort, rosemary and California poppy, to the gorgeous ginkgo. Ginkgo Clears Cobwebs The beautiful leaves from ginkgo biloba—also known as the Maidenhair tree—improve circulation throughout the body and brain. Ginkgo’s seeds were sent to Europe in the 1720s from Japan and China. The Chinese use the ginkgo seeds, but research in the West has mostly concentrated on the leaves. They contain ginkgolides, unknown in any other plant. These phytochemicals block blood platelet activating factors. In doing so, they inhibit all sorts of allergic responses. Meanwhile, ginkgo’s flavonoids do wonders to improve circulation to the brain. Recent studies show that this long-standing Oriental gift can help people clear depression. Ginkgo increases the rate at which information is transmitted at the level of nerve cells. This helps depression in many, thanks to the plant’s ability to enhance the flow of neurotransmitters in the brain. An effective antidepressant dose in one study where ginkgo was used to specifically counter depression was 240 milligrams of the powdered herb a day, in capsule form. It can take six to eight weeks to experience the full effects of ginkgo. So be patient. California Bright Lights Its watery sap has long been used by Native Americans to relieve toothache. It relieves pain, relaxes spasms and warms your body. California poppy is the best anxiety-calming herb I know and it works quickly—in a few hours. Don’t worry, it is not a narcotic, only a gentle sedative and tranquillizer so safe that herbalists give it to children. Neither does it depress the central nervous system as many sedatives do. The usual dose of tincture is 1 teaspoon to half a glass of water taken twice a day in the afternoon and evening. I like to combine tincture of golden California poppy, Eschscholzia californica, with that of St John’s Wort—in equal parts—to lift the blues. Bright As Sunlight The yellow flowers and dancing leaves of St John’s Wort—Hypericum perforatum—can bring balance and joy. This plant may be slow to act, but its effects are deep and long lasting. St John’s Wort is nature’s answer to Prozac. Every part of this joyous herb yields uplifting power—its leaves, its shoots, its glorious yellow flowers. Even the way it grows seems to celebrate life. St John’s Wort can banish anxiety, bring light into the dark depths of depression, and help transform difficult times—the loss of a job, of a lover, or of sense of purpose—into times of power. In the past 20 years, dozens of randomized clinical trials have shown that this plant is just as, if not more, effective than standard antidepressant drugs. Yet it comes without the negative side effects. In Germany alone, 1 million prescriptions are written for this plant each year. The bright yellow flowers of St John’s Wort contain a red oil called hypericin, which is anti-viral and probably mood enhancing. Many studies show that it is whole plant extracts, however, rather than hypericin alone that have the best antidepressant effects. Help From St John's Wort To make tea, use 1 teaspoon of the dried herb in a cup of boiling water. Steep for 10-15 minutes, strain, and drink 1 to 3 times a day. Another effective way to use St John’s Wort for depression is as a tincture. When you feel at your lowest you don’t have to go to the trouble of making a tea. Take 1 teaspoon of St John’s Wort tincture in a little water 3 times a day. When used as an antidepressant it should be taken for at least a month before results can be seen. A lucky few people, however, respond right away. Caution: In a few people St John’s Wort causes mild nausea, stomach-ache, depressed appetite, tiredness, and in even fewer still, sensitivity to sunlight. It shouldn’t be taken during pregnancy. If you are already taking antidepressant drugs do not stop taking your medication without consulting your doctor. Lift Your Spirit Tea Rosmarinus officinalis grows just about everywhere. Who would ever suspect that the rosemary plant is one of the most useful herbs you will ever find for lifting the blues. The strong and sturdy plant is an excellent tonic as well as an all-round stimulant. It raises spirits and energizes the body, clearing apathy, nervous exhaustion and digestive disturbances. Rosemary has a long-standing reputation for strengthening the memory as well. That’s why Greek scholars wore garlands of rosemary when taking exams. It is also rejuvenating, in no small part thanks to the flavonoid diosmin which it boasts in abundance, to strengthen capillaries and collagen in the skin. In the 14th century, 72 year-old Izabella, Queen of Hungary, was crippled with rheumatism. She used masses of Hungary Water (rosemary leaves macerated in alcohol) and regained her youth so well that the king of Poland proposed to her. One of the first to be distilled, a few drops of essential oil of rosemary in the bath can help clear a fuzzy head with ease. You can use the fresh leaves or the essential oil in steam inhalations for exhaustion and shattered nerves. Meanwhile, simple rosemary tea is bracing and wonderfully uplifting. Spirit Lifting Tea Put a handful of rosemary leaves (1 tablespoon of the fresh herb or 1 teaspoon of the dried herb per cup) into a warmed pot and pour boiling water over them. Replace the lid to prevent the aromatic vapors from being wasted. Leave to brew for five minutes. Drink hot. Top quality herb products: Gaia Herbs, Kava Kava Root Liquid Herbal Extract Validated Full Spectrum Extract Dietary Supplement Supports Normal Relaxation from Tension Brought on by Daily Stress Promotes Muscular and Nerve Relaxation Encourages a Sense of Emotional Well Being Order Gaia Herbs, Kava Kava Root from iherb Natrol Ginkgo Biloba Helps Improve Memory Supports Sharpened Alertness Dietary Supplement Natrol Ginkgo Biloba may help support circulation, which is one way researchers believe this herb helps enhance cognitive function. Our formula is standardized to guarantee a potent level of highly active compounds. Order Natrol Ginkgo Biloba from iherb Gaia Herbs St. John's Wort Liquid Herbal Extract Validated Full Spectrum Extract Dietary Supplement Order Gaia Herbs St. John's Wort from iherb Herb Pharm, California Poppy We prepare our California Poppy Extract from fresh (undried) whole Eschscholzia californica plants (root, leaf & flower) which are Certified Organically Grown on our own farm without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides. To assure optimal extraction of bioactive compounds, the plants are hand-harvested while in full flower and are then taken directly to our laboratory and promptly extracted while still fresh and succulent. Our poppy plants are never fumigated or irradiated. Order Herb Pharm, California Poppy from iherb

In the next five minutes, I’ll tell you how—with little effort—you can banish feeling low in energy and replace it with looking and feeling great, in only two days. Meet my amazing Apple Detox. It can work miracles if you’ve been through a spate of too much work and too little sleep. It’s great in Spring before you hit the beach, after Christmas indulgences, or any time you need a lift. Detoxification Detoxification is a long word for just clearing out your system. It’s a process that stimulates your body’s natural ability to get rid of the toxic wastes that build up in your cells, tissues and organs from eating convenience foods and breathing polluted air. What’s the secret power? Organic apples. The second most cultivated and widely-eaten fruit in the world is the apple. We were well into the 21st century before science finally discovered its incredible nutritional value. Medical News Today featured an article about the top 10 healthiest foods. Apples were number one. Apples are extraordinarily rich in antioxidants, flavonoids, and marvelous dietary fiber. The phytonutrients and antioxidants they contain help reduce our risk of developing cancer, diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. And there’s lots more. Scientific Studies Recent studies show that apples have the ability to improve your neurological health since they’re rich in quercetin, which reduces cellular damage caused by the oxidation and inflammation of neurons. Research at University of Quebec discovered that apples also reduce our risk of stroke. A big study involving 9,208 people showed that those who ate the most apples over a 28-year period had the lowest risk of stroke. Apples can also help reduce the risk of diabetes. A huge study involving 187,382 people showed that those who ate 3 servings of apples a week had a 7% lower risk of developing type-2 diabetes compared to those who did not. Now, let’s talk Apple Detox. How do you do it? Set aside two, or no more than three days for your Apple Detox. Buy a box of organic apples—or three or four different kinds for variety. They must be organic You can eat as many as you like each day, but you should eat the whole apple, including the peel, the seeds and the core You must chew it all very well, until you’ve got the last drop of flavor out of the fruit The only part you throw away is the woody stem You eat nothing but apples They must be fresh and eaten raw. You can munch your crisp organic apple au naturel or you can grate them and sprinkle a little cinnamon on top You can even put them in a blender with a little pure water to make a whole apple drink But you must not put them through a juicer. You need the whole apple to make things work Detox Reaction If you happen to get a headache within the first day or two, or feel moody, get an upset stomach or loose bowels, this is only a sign that your body is throwing off wastes at such a pace that you are experiencing what’s known in natural medicine as a cleansing crisis. In truth, this happens to very few people—except a few heavy coffee drinkers. If it happens to you, be glad. Even though it may be a bit of a nuisance for a few hours, this is actually a good sign. Your body is taking the opportunity to get rid of a lot of debris that it wants to eliminate. Make time to rest and relax—in a darkened room if possible. Be patient and kind to yourself while it passes. It’s quite a feat to be ridding your body of so much old debris at once. When this cleansing passes, it can leave you better than ever. Check with your health practitioner Eat apples whenever you’re hungry throughout the day. How long you carry out your Apple Detox depends on you. Always check with your health practitioner. Two days are plenty to give you a good start on spring cleaning your body. Three days is as much as any healthy body should do on his or her own, without being under the supervision of a practitioner well-versed in the use of living foods. Cautions No pregnant or lactating woman should ever do an apple detox, nor should anyone with a kidney, liver or heart complaint. For in such cases a sudden change of diet can carry with it potential dangers to health. But, if you are generally well, then a short apple detox is a great way to clear the decks for a new way of healthier living. Keeps The Doctor Away No wonder apples are special. The Welsh adage that “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” is not just an old wives’ tale. The organic apple has more than earned it title as the queen of fruits. Try it and see for yourself.

Over the years I’ve amassed so many useful tools for dealing naturally with unnatural states of mind and body—even, god forbid, hangovers. The most obvious way to avoid a hangover is don’t drink. If you do drink then choose only the best—be it wine, whiskey, or whatever, and never overdo it. The best always has fewer unpleasant chemicals—known as congeners— to upset the system. King of all the alcohols when it comes to purity and low levels of congeners is tequila. However, if you make yourself a margarita, make it from real tequila. So much of the stuff they sell as tequila is filled with a lot of insidious junk you don’t want to put into your body. SUCCULENT LILY Agave, which is called cactus, is actually a succulent that belongs to the lily family. The finest blue agave comes from the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico. It must be harvested at the peak of its sweetness. My brother, whom I adoringly call Toto, is a connoisseur of Tequilas. He insists—I have checked out his recommendations and come to trust them implicitly—that the finest tequila is made by Patron. Anejo Patron is his favorite. Silver Patron is mine. My son Aaron has developed a fabulous recipe for Margaritas. It’s very simple: To a handful of ice in our Vita Mix he adds four jiggers of freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice, 4 jiggers of Silver Patron, 2 jiggers of Cointreau or Grand Marnier, a couple of jiggers of water and the crème de la crème, a dropper or two of the most delicious stevia in the world: English Toffee Sweet Leaf Liquid stevia from iherb,com (so much more delicious than the usual sugar or syrup, which is really rather revolting). He turns on the Vita Mix for 30 seconds while he rubs the rim of each glass with one of the lemon or lime skins, then plunges it into a saucer of Maldon salt to coat the rim. This makes Margaritas for 4 people. A perfect hangover-free treat to share with friends. Hangover Cure - WORST CASE SCENARIOS Now let’s get back to hangovers, should they happen from drinking stuff that’s not so pure or far too much of even a good thing. Drinking lots of fluids along with alcohol helps to prevent the dehydration that comes with an over-indulgent evening. There are also a couple of things you can do the morning after to help feel better. First thing, make yourself a cup of peppermint tea. Put 2 teaspoons of the dried leaves (or 4 teaspoons of fresh) into a tea pot and pour a cup of boiling water over it. Steep for 5-10 minutes and sip it gently. The peppermint will settle your stomach. Breathing in the steam from your tea will also help to ease your headache. When your stomach is settled enough to handle more, take a couple of grams of vitamin C and 2-3 grams of evening primrose oil, or star flower or borage oil. The vitamin C’s antioxidant properties help the liver clear the toxic wastes from too much alcohol. The GLA in these oils is turned into prostaglandin E1—an important regulator of mood which alcohol depletes. When it is low you can feel depressed and very tired. Hangover Cure - SAINT MARY’S THISTLE Also known as milk thistle is a wonderful liver cleanser and supporter. Take 2 capsules or 1 teaspoon of tincture in a little water every 3-4 hours until you are feeling better. If you can remember where you last saw it in your current state, reach for some dried borage as well. Open the jar, or put it in a paper bag, hold your nose over the bag and take a deep breath. No one has ever explained to me how it does it, but this clears your head wonderfully. I have heard that taking ginkgo before you go out for the evening can also help to prevent hangovers by enhancing your body’s ability to metabolize alcohol swiftly. However, I’ve never heard anyone say how much you should take, or how long before drinking alcohol you should take it. If you are taking ginkgo for other reasons, pay attention to how you feel after a glass or two of wine and see if this makes a difference.

The shelves of health food stores are chock-a-block with vitamin and mineral supplements. If you want to get the very best of them for the sake of your own health and that of your family you’ll need to choose them carefully. Despite their big price tags and the sexy designs that appear on their labels, the vast majority of multi vitamin and mineral products consist of synthetically manufactured chemical lookalikes of no value to your health. You’ve got to go for feed-state multivitamins and minerals if you want health supporting benefits. More about this in a moment. WHO NEEDS VITAMINS ANYWAY? We all do, despite the fact that a myriad of medical professionals completely untrained in good nutrition continue to tell their patients that taking supplements does nothing but produce expensive urine. This is nonsense. As far back as 20 years ago impeccable research was being published in reputable scientific journals making it obvious that human beings benefit from taking the right kind of multivitamin supplement. For instance, one excellent study which appeared in The Journal of the American Medical Association showed that women who take over-the-counter multivitamin supplements in the first months of pregnancy dramatically reduce the risk of giving birth to a neurologically damaged child. Neural tube defects are amongst the most horrible and most common birth defects. They cause everything from death to paralysis in the child and they affect between 1 and 2 babies in every 1000 births. The study was carried out under the direction of Aubrey Milunsky, director of Boston University's prestigious Center for Human Genetics. It involved 23,000 women, half of whom took multivitamin pills containing folic acid (a B-group vitamin in particularly high demand during pregnancy). The results were astonishing. The incidence of neural tube defects in babies born to the women who took the multivitamin pills was only a quarter of what it was amongst those women who took no supplements. SHAKING THE FEDS So remarkable were these results that they shook United States Federal officials who have for generations claimed that taking nutritional supplements is not only unnecessary but can be damaging to an ordinary 'healthy' person's wellbeing. Nonetheless, the FDA and CODEX still insist that “nutrition is not relevant to health” and that if any vitamins and minerals are to be allowed on the market they will only be permitted in ultra-low doses. Clinically effective nutrients and doses are month-by-month being treated as “toxins” and removed from public access. How do we get around this? By taking good quality Food State Supplements instead of the run-of-the-mill chemically produced varieties. WHY YOU NEED FOOD STATE Most vitamins sold in stores and online are synthetic man-made vitamins that have been produced in the laboratory in an attempt to match the molecular structure of naturally occurring vitamins normally found in our foods. As a result they tend to contain high doses of the chemically-made nutrients in an attempt to make enough of each nutrient biologically available to the body. It is just these high dosages that the FDA and CODEX are targeting by making them illegal to be sold over-the-counter. But there is a wonderful way around this which I strongly urge you to explore—to shun chemically made vitamins (which over 90% on the market are) and go for their Food State cousins. Our bodies have been accustomed to absorbing with ease the vitamins and minerals that we get from our foods. Man-made synthetics, even though they try to match the molecular structures of vitamins and minerals, are not the same. Our bodies do not handle them as well, so you may be taking a high potency man-made synthetic that has come recommended, but you may not actually be absorbing the vitamins and minerals it contains. This is one of the reasons why I am so passionate about whole-food, natural multi-vitamins and minerals. GROWN NUTRIENTS Good manufacturers of whole-food vitamins and minerals grow the majority of the foods and botanicals that go into their formulas themselves. Then, using state-of-the-art scientific instrumentation, they test, validate and document the potencies of all the raw materials that make up the formula. This is achieved by using high performance liquid chromatography to test vitamin potency and inductively coupled plasma optimal emission spectrometers to test mineral potency. They are also very careful in how they handle the food extracts that are often added to these supplements. For instance, they use a very specific system of drying which transfers heat gently and efficiently, removing moisture from delicate foods and botanicals while preventing oxidation of the raw materials. This protects the integrity of the food and the botanicals as well as protecting against the degradation of their nutrient content, maintaining the color and the flavor. TREMENDOUS BENEFITS Because natural Food State vitamins are indeed natural and food-state, you will find that the recommended daily serving of vitamins per person is usually somewhere between six and eight tablets a day in order to be able to obtain the full benefit. In addition to the usual vitamins, i.e. vitamin A, C, D3, E, K1, folate, and so forth, there should be a good broad spectrum of minerals: calcium, iodine, magnesium, selenium, chromium, molybdenum, manganese, etc. These wonderful food-state vitamins also often contain extracts taken from other plants that are beneficial to the body, things like extract of barley grass and green papaya, extract of carrot for instance, as well as astragalus. They may also contain many of the Ayurvedic herbs or the herbs that are used in Chinese medicine—reishi and shitake mushrooms, foti and kudzu root. This is the kind of vitamin that I think you will benefit most from. BUYER BEWARE There are many vitamins on the market that claim to be whole-food vitamins but that are not of top quality. Always make sure, whatever vitamin/mineral complex you choose, that it is free of corn, soy, yeast, wheat and dairy products, and it has been formulated without the use of preservatives, artificial flavors or coloring. Here are some food-state vitamin and mineral supplements at the top of my own list. Tried and tested, they are worth every penny you pay for them. I have used all of these products personally and can’t recommend them highly enough. If you try some of them, I’d love you to let me know how you have found them yourself. MegaFood, Women's, Whole Food Multivitamin MegaFood cares about doing things the right way - they refuse to take shortcuts, and never compromise on quality or the things that matter. Since 1973, they have been going out of their way to source fresh and local foods from trusted farmers. They then make all their wholesome supplements using a one-of-a-kind process to deliver the most authentic nutrition - much more than vitamins alone. Order MegaFood Womens Whole Food Multi from iherb MegaFood, Baby & Me, California Blend, Whole Food Multivitamin Ideal for pregnant and lactating women Order Baby And Me Multi from iherb MegaFood, Men Over 40, Whole Food Multivitamin & Mineral, Iron Free Formula MegaFood cares about doing things the right way - we refuse to take shortcuts, and we never compromise on quality or the things that matter. Since 1973, we have been going out of our way to source fresh and local foods from trusted farmers. We then make our wholesome supplements using our one-of-a-kind process to deliver the most authentic nutrition - much more than vitamins alone. Order Men Over 40 Multi from iherb MegaFood, Skin, Nails & Hair, Whole Food Multivitamin MegaFood cares about doing things the right way - we refuse to take shortcuts, and we never compromise on quality or the things that matter. Since 1973, we have been going out of our way to source fresh and local foods from trusted farmers. We then make our wholesome supplements using our one-of-a-kind process to deliver the most authentic nutrition - much more than vitamins alone. Order Skin, Nails & Hair Multi from iherb