health

Sodium bicarbonate—commonly known as baking soda—is derived from naturally occurring mineral deposits. It’s something most of us keep around the house for cleaning or, as its name suggests, baking purposes. It’s been used in this way for more than 150 years. This humble powder has many more applications than you might imagine. It can be a common cure for simple maladies, ranging from removing nasty splinters to clearing a common cold. In this day and age, where drugs of questionable safety are thrust upon us for just about every ailment, it’s a relief to know you can call on an inexpensive, old-fashioned natural product for help when you need it.    Chances are that you’re familiar with taking a little baking soda in water to clear a sudden case of indigestion. Its alkalinity lends itself well to this purpose when used occasionally. You can also use it to take the fire out of minor burns and sunburns, as its heat-absorbing nature means it can draw heat from the skin. But here’s a less common use for this humble powder. Did you know that it can even be used to fight—as well as prevent—colds and flu? Many attest to its efficiency, though it’s not yet known for sure how it works to ward off ills and chills. One theory is that it stabilizes the pH balance in the bloodstream, strengthening the immune system in the process. A Dr. Volney S. Cheney used it as far back as the late 1910s. With the help of plain old baking soda, the good doctor helped many of his patients fight off the dreaded swine flu—with great success. He then went on to publish his discovery in 1924. You might like to try it for yourself next time you feel you’re coming down with something, and see what happens. It certainly won’t do you any harm. For, unlike pharmaceuticals, Dr Cheney’s treatment carries no nasty side effects. The recommended dosages based on Cheney’s findings are as follows. Day 1: Take six doses of ½ a teaspoon baking soda in a glass of cool water, with two-hour intervals in between. Day 2: Take four doses of ½ a teaspoon baking soda in a glass of cool water, with the same intervals in between. Day 3: Take two doses of ½ a teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of cool water, morning, and evening. Thereafter, ½ a teaspoon each morning in a glass of cool water until cold symptoms have cleared. Baking soda’s marvelous healing abilities don’t end there. Got a troublesome splinter? Try making a paste with a tablespoon of soda and a small amount of water, and apply it to the affected area twice daily until the splinter emerges. Alternatively, you can put the paste onto a bandage and leave it on for 24 hours. This should encourage the splinter to the surface; it may even fall out on its own. Stop an itch. You can also apply this type of paste to insect bites to soothe itching, or to itchy or painful rashes such as from poison ivy. Natural deodorant. Try using it as a natural deodorant—you’ll avoid the nasty parabens and aluminum found in most commercial types.   Great foot soak. Add a few tablespoons to a tub of warm to hot water and enjoy a foot soak. Or make a paste of 3:1 ratio of baking soda to water and use as an all-over body exfoliant. We continue to find new uses for this stuff like freshening carpets with baking soda and some essential oils; mixing it with white vinegar, a bit of dish soap and warm water to create a heavy duty floor cleaner; and mixing a dash of the powder with shampoo to clear any buildup of impurities, so your hair becomes soft and manageable. It will even remove crayon marks from walls and painted furniture when you apply it to a damp sponge and rub lightly. And it will clear the inside of a porcelain cup. Just wet the inside, pour some into the bottom, and scrub. Coffee and tea stains will disappear.  Give a few of these things a try. You may become as enthusiastic about this humble powder as we are.

It’s little wonder that people are confused about where to go and what to do when they get ill. I personally hear all about this, because I mentor hundreds of men and women throughout the world. They become overwhelmed by the media propaganda and aggressive advertisements they see on television. Our medical industrial complex has turned into a bizarre conglomeration of misinformation, lies and deceptions designed to further the corporate agendas of Big Pharma, government regulatory bodies and mainstream medicine, with little regard for human wellbeing. Now let me be clear: I am by no means damning all doctors. Far from it. I have the highest regard for conscientious practitioners who— because of the pressures they themselves have been put under to dole out drugs—find themselves caught in the same trap as their patients. This means that even doctors who have a genuine will to bring healing to those who need it are often prevented from doing so. DRUGS DON’T CURE Pharmaceuticals are designed to suppress your symptoms, not to cure your problem, despite all the aggressive hype and publicity which would have us believe otherwise. Also, the vast majority of what medical studies conclude in their research has been exaggerated, is misleading or plain old bad science. Dr John Ioannidis is one of the experts who have been exposing bad medical science with great clarity and conviction. His article Lies, Damned Lies and Medical Science, in the October 4 issue of “The Atlantic” magazine, is well worth reading if you want to understand the way in which medical research is supposed to work, but how most often it does not. The corruption, lies and deceit which pervade the functioning of our medical industrial complex are enormous. Pharmaceutical corporations bring in from five to six times more earnings each year than any other corporations. You need to become aware of all these implications. FALSE BELIEFS RULE Take anxiety and depression, which are so widespread now, and so fundamentally undermining to your health long-term. In 1987, SSRIs—selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors—arrived on the scene, spawning with great fanfare a gigantic market for the treatment of anxiety and depression. The assumption on which these drugs were manufactured is this: “Anxiety and depression happen because of low serotonin levels in the brain.” This belief was neither scientifically tested nor proven. Nonetheless, the mainstream medical profession, sold a bill of goods by the pharmaceutical salesmen, embraced prescribing these drugs hook line and sinker—and Big Pharma began to make a fortune on them. Prozac (Fluoxetine) came first. It was followed by Celexa (Citalopram), Zoloft (Sertraline), Paxil (Paroxetine) Lexapro (Escitalopram) and several others. TRUE OR FALSE When the National Institutes of Mental Health decided to find out if anxious and depressed people do indeed have low serotonin levels, they found there was no evidence to support the claim. In 2007, more research concluded that the claim that low serotonin causes anxiety and depression was incorrect. Another Swedish research project confirmed that SSRIs are not a valid treatment for anxiety and depression. Did Big Pharma take note, and begin to question their aggressive sale of these drugs to the public? Not a bit! They continued to assert that adding more serotonin to the brain is the right way to treat these alleged “chemical imbalances.” Other commonly prescribed pharmaceuticals for anxiety include Valium, Ativan, and Xanax. What are the significant risks associated with such drugs? Hip fractures, memory loss, addiction and bone fractures, to name a few. We also know now that those who continue to take SSRIs can be four times more likely to die prematurely and have a 35% greater risk of cancer than those who do not. This was reported in Medical Daily June 17, 2015. EUROPEAN ANALYSIS A fascinating debate recently took place between the highly respected BMJ Danish medical researcher, Dr Peter C Gøtzsche, and a London based researcher Allan H Young, during which mind-altering drugs were rigorously investigated for their safety and effectiveness. Gøtzsche claimed that antidepressants do little more for patients than swallowing a placebo. He pointed out that there are likely to be 15 times more suicides among patients taking them than are being reported by the Food and Drug Administration, which issued a black-box warning on these drugs more than a decade ago after carrying out meta-analyses of hundreds of studies involving almost 100,000 people. At that time they had discovered that the rate of suicidal thinking or behavior doubled among those on the drugs. “Psychiatric drugs are responsible for the deaths of more than half a million people aged 65 and older each year in the Western world.” Gøtzsche estimates that this means an astounding 539,000 deaths take place each year in the U.S. and the European Union. This is based on studies showing higher mortality rates in older patients taking antipsychotic drugs, such as those used to treat schizophrenia; benzodiazepines, which are prescribed to treat panic and anxiety disorders, as well as antidepressants. VACCINATION WARNINGS Dr. David Brownstein is Medical Director of the Center for Holistic Medicine in West Bloomfield, MI. A member of the American College for the Advancement of Medicine, he frequently lectures to physicians about the use of natural hormones and nutritional therapies. He also has much to say about vaccines which are indiscriminately being given to both adults and children. In some countries, such as Australia, ongoing vaccination of your child is mandatory. It may soon become mandatory in the state of California. While recently watching a movie “Trace Amounts: Autism, Mercury, and the Hidden Truth”, Brownstein felt impelled to spell out some of the horrific truths which conventional medicine chooses to ignore in regard to the dangers of such vaccinations. Here are some of the things you need to be aware of: Mercury is one of the most toxic substances known to man. You will not find even one study that has ever shown that it is safe to inject mercury into a living body. Yet it continues to be used for DTaP, Japanese encephalitis, Influenza, rabies, tetanus and many other vaccines along with other toxins such as aluminum, formaldehyde and even MSG. TOXIC INVADERS Brownstein writes: “In regard to the flu vaccine, there is a whopping 51,000 ppb (parts per billion) in the multi-dose flu vaccine—the most common type of flu vaccine given. How much is 51,000 ppb? It is 25,000 times the legal maximum for mercury in drinking water established by the Environmental Protection Agency.” Remember that when you inject mercury, it is 100% absorbed, so it is more toxic to inject it as compared to eating it in fish or drinking it in water. The autism rate that has gone up from 1:10,000 in 1970 to 1:68 now. He writes, “This is NOT a genetic problem. This is a multifactorial problem that is being caused by toxicities, as well as nutritional and hormonal imbalances. And, toxic vaccines are part of the problem. We have already damaged a whole generation of children because of this mess.” Yet the powers that be, following Big Pharma’s lead, continue to legislate for yet more vaccinations. INTO THE DARKNESS Editor and Chief of The Lancet-considered to be the most prestigious peer reviewed medical journal in the world-Dr Richard Horton, recently published a courageous statement in regard to the quality of medical research. He writes, "The case against science is straightforward: much of the scientific literature, perhaps, half may be simply untrue. Afflicted by studies with small sample sizes, tiny effects, invalid exploratory analyses, and flagrant conflict of interest, together with an obsession for pursuing fashionable trends of dubious importance, science has taken a turn toward darkness." I recently came upon an excellent video by Gwen Olsen, who was herself an ex Big Pharma sales rep. I strongly urge you to watch it. There is a lot more for all of us to learn if we are to become genuinely well and remain that way, and she has much to share with us. 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Valid discoveries in medicine depend on the ability of researchers to make accurate observations in relation to the subject they are studying. As the famous French scientific historian Claude Bernard pointed out more than 150 years ago, “To have an idea about a natural phenomenon, we must first of all, observe it. All human knowledge is limited to working back from observed effects to their cause.” Scientists with preconceived notions assume that they already know the cause and this makes it impossible for them to make valid observations.  They are only able to see what they expect to see. FALSE BELIEFS ARE DANGEROUS This is what has happened to obesity researchers in the past 70 years. They have not diligently searched for and observed what makes us get fat and what to do about it. Instead, virtually all of the research projects that have been carried out since World War II have taken as a given three false notions—all three of which have only contributed to making us fatter and sicker in the Western world: That obesity, heart disease and other degenerative conditions are the result of a high fat diet. That we need to eat lots of carbohydrates to keep up our energy and stay healthy. That weight loss is a simple matter of calories in/calories out—in the words of the Unites States Surgeon General, “overweight and obesity are the result of excess calorie consumption and/or inadequate physical activity.”   These beliefs have continued to prevent us, and the so-called experts, from learning the truth. Happily, this situation is beginning to change, albeit slowly. Such false beliefs still reign supreme amongst most doctors, research scientists, and the media. These mistaken notions (and many more which accompany them) continue to rule scientists, Big Pharma, multinational food corporations and—thanks to television, magazines and newspapers—the great majority of human beings. LIFE-CHANGING FACTS If one takes the time to plough through the voluminous research and declarations about obesity, its cause and its cure, a completely different set of conclusions demand to be drawn: Obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation, not overeating or lack of exercise. Obesity is not caused by gluttony or lack of willpower. This disorder is the result of an as yet unidentified disequilibrium in the hormonal regulation of fat metabolism. This is the major issue that must be addressed if we are to find a cure for chronic overweight. Taking in excess calories is not the cause of gaining weight, nor does expending a lot of energy on exercise prevent it. As a result of their effect on insulin and blood sugar, refined carbohydrates, sugars and starches are undeniably the dietary culprits in the development of diabetes, coronary heart disease and obesity, as well as the major contributors to other diseases of Western civilization including cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. Cereal, grain, and sugar-based carbohydrates distort hormonal regulation of homeostasis, fostering obesity as a result of their effect on insulin balance and their ability to bring about insulin resistance syndrome—‘syndrome X’. Because they stimulate insulin secretion, carbohydrates increase hunger and diminish the energy the body expends on metabolism and during exercise. With the exception of chemically distorted oils and fats full of trans-fatty acids, the traditional oils such as olive oil, coconut oil, and butter in no way contribute to obesity. Quite the contrary: They can not only prevent it, but enable the body to shed fat and keep it away permanently by supplying the body with ongoing energy for work, athletics, and play. DAILY OVERLOAD The most signification 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 quickly digestible starches entered our foods. The more these carbohydrates became refined in the past three hundred years, the more problems they have caused; not only in terms of burgeoning waistlines worldwide, but in the development of chronic degenerative diseases of civilization. Similarly, the overwhelming increase in sugars and fructose—such as those found in so many convenience foods and in the form of high fructose corn syrup—has to be a major contributor on both counts as well. In the eighteenth century, we ate between 10 and 20 pounds of sugar per person per year. Today, we consume between 150 pounds and 200 pounds of sugar a year per capita. How revolting does this sound? Especially when there are so many delicious, nutritious proteins, vegetables and healthy fats out there that we could—and should—be eating, for better health, looks, and the ability to unlock our full potential. The standard dietary advice still goes something like this: “We need to eat a minimum of 120 to 130 grams of carbohydrates a day to remain healthy.” This figure, which most nutritionists still propound as though it were a decree from God, was arrived at since researchers supposed this to be the quantity of glucose that the central nervous system and brain makes use of on a carbohydrate-rich diet. KETONES—NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK Such information is out of date and inaccurate. Even the 2002 Institute of Medicine report Dietary Reference Intakes, which still blindly adheres to the outdated daily recommendation of 120 to 130g of carbohydrates a day, then goes on to acknowledge that the brain can function perfectly well without them. In truth, it often functions far better when carbs and sugars are reduced to a mere 25 to 50g a day. The central nervous system and the brain work great when fueled by ketones. Ketones are substances produced by the liver from fats—those released from one’s own fat stores and from fats and oils that people eat. A moderate, controlled level of ketones in the bloodstream allows the body to function superbly well on minute quantities of carbohydrate foods. This is called a ‘state of nutritional ketosis’. Energy increases, clarity of thought improves, and cravings for foods vanish as one’s body becomes keto-adapted. The transformation can be life-changing. Yet almost nobody in the medical, scientific or media world is bothering to pay much attention to all this. NUTRITIONAL KETOSIS By definition, nutritional ketosis is a benign metabolic state that provides the human body with the flexibility enabling us to handle major shifts in available foods. For many years, a ketogenic program has been considered of great value in the treatment of epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, and even successful weight loss. I myself wrote a book about it in 2002 called X FACTOR DIET... For Lasting Weight Loss and Vital Health. Now, suddenly, ketogenic adaptation is being discovered and celebrated by top athletes and fitness experts who find that when the body becomes keto-adapted and is fed on high-fat (60%+), moderate protein (20%+) and very low carbs (primarily taken from green vegetables), the body gets all the energy it needs—and more—from fats. And, unlike relying on carbohydrates or sugars, after a long run or heavy training, the energy in a ketone-adapted body just keeps coming. Of course, the fats one chooses have to be the best—primarily butter from grass-fed beef, organic coconut oil, and extra virgin olive oil. My own experiments on myself and others who are not particularly fitness fanatics is that, after becoming keto-adapted, the body persistently tends to shed unwanted fat deposits. One needs less sleep, skin texture improves, even many chronic aches and pains diminish or disappear completely. It’s early days yet, but the promises of keto-adaptation which I first discovered in the late nineties and then wrote my best-selling book about are beginning to validate themselves. Not only is this fascinating metabolic adaptation changing people’s lives for the better. The latest research appearing from doctors and scientists studying ketone adaptation could dispel all the false beliefs and insane dogma about the causes of obesity and degenerative diseases, replacing them with truths that can transform lives for the better on every level. This is my hope. For more information read: The X-Factor Diet: For Lasting Weight Loss and Vital Health Syndrome X has spawned obesity on a scale never seen before. Also known as insulin resistance syndrome, it predisposes us to high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and early ageing. Cutting-edge research has recently shown that the major culprit is the high-carb/low-fat diet we have been urged to follow. This regime simply does not suit the way our bodies have evolved. Result: it makes many of us fat. Leslie Kenton's scientifically backed The X Factor Diet provides two fat-loss programmes, together with delicious recipes and easy meal plans to restore normal weight naturally, increase energy levels and make you fitter for life. Join her on a journey towards a leaner, healthier and more beautiful body. Order The X-Factor Diet The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance by Jeff S Volek and Stephen D Phinney A Revolutionary Program to Extend Your Physical and Mental Performance Envelope. Our recent book 'The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living' was written for health care professionals, championing the benefits of carbohydrate restriction to manage insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and type-2 diabetes. Order Low Carbohydrate Performance The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living By Jeff S Volek and Stephen D Phinney Carbohydrate restricted diets are commonly practiced but seldom taught. As a result, doctors, dietitians, nutritionists, and nurses may have strong opinions about low carbohydrate dieting, but in many if not most cases, these views are not grounded in science. Order Low Carbohydrate Living

Now we come to the exciting stuff - energy. This is where life breaks all the rules. Biological science is just beginning to penetrate the mysteries of life energies. For thousands upon thousands of years, until now, they have remained the province of mystics and sages. When it comes to rejuvenating the body, energy is where it's at. Put simply, successful rejuvenation depends on being able to activate energies which support the life force within. It is this life force that governs growth, nourishes us, sustains us, deep cleanses our bodies, regenerates our cells, heals us and makes us feel grateful just to be alive. buffalos and daffodils This ineffable life force is found in abundance in each of us as it is in all living things from buffalo to daffodils. Different cultures call it by different names. The Indians speak of it as Prana. In Polynesia it is know as Mana. The Chinese call it Chi. All of these words describe various forms of subtle energy which until the advent of quantum physics remained largely unknown to Western science. Yet throughout history all forms of traditional medicine from Paracelsus to Chinese and Ayurvedic herbalism have worked with it. biophotons and quantum magic Long ago quantum physicists established that wave particles such as electrons, atoms and molecules in living systems behave as biophoton energies. These energies appear to help regulate and control enzyme activities, cell reproduction and other activities in living systems. Experiments such as those reported in the March 1995 issue of Scientific American by Brumer and Shapiro established the existence of these particle/wave reactions in organisms. Like light bulbs, atoms give out radiant bio-energies which can either act constructively or destructively on the body's own molecules. Scientists are beginning to define how the interference wave forms generated both by internally manufactured toxins and by environmental pollutants act either constructively on the body to support health and vitality, or destructively, interfering with the harmonious biophoton energies (another name for life energies) on which health and protection from premature aging depend.  In the future we are going to hear a lot more about these biophoton energies and their effects on our health but for now we can make practical use of the knowledge there already is of how to influence them for healing and regeneration. energy consciousness From the point of view of quantum physics, as human beings we are not only immersed in an energy field.  Our bodies, our minds, our selves, are energy fields. These fields are constantly expanding, contracting and changing as our thoughts, diet and lifestyle change. The aim of any form of natural treatment, from dietary change and detoxification to hydrotherapy, exercise and meditation, is first to enhance positive bio-energies in an organism and second to help to balance them and create order. sheer radiance In University Parapsychology Research Laboratories such as the one at UCLA in California, scientists like Dr Thelma Moss have experimented with techniques such as Kirlian photography to examine, record and analyze the unique energetic patterns living things emanate. Kirlian photography is one of the methods whereby ordinary non-visible force-fields around and through living and non-living things can be recorded visually and studied. Kirlian photographs are extraordinarily beautiful. Researchers find they get consistent results when working with the Kirlian method to photograph plants and foods when comparing cooked foods with their raw counterparts for instance, or the leaf of a healthy plant to the leaf of a damaged one. The luminescent energy corona recorded on film from a living thing such as a healthy plant, or one of the superfoods such as organically grown herbs, wild crafted algae, organic green juices, and plant enzymes, is significantly stronger, more radiant and wider than in that of a processed food. The corona produced by well harvested spirulina or an organic raw carrot or cauliflower is dramatically reduced when these foods are cooked or processed. Uncooked vegetables and fruits radiate brilliant spikes of light, harmoniously surrounded by geometric shapes. Cooked and processed foods show only the dimmest evidence of corona discharge. Foods, plants, and herbs with a wide corona carry a lot of the life energy useful for rejuvenation. etheric forces Chromatography is another tool useful for studying energy. It is widely used in chemistry, biology, medicine and industry as a way of analyzing complex substances such as the amino acids in a protein or for detecting impurities in a compound. The use of chromatography to measure energy differences between living things and between natural and synthetically made substances was originally developed by European chemist Ehrenfreid Pfeiffer. Early on in his career Pfeiffer was asked by the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner to find a chemical reagent that could be useful in charting the quality of life energy - what Steiner called the formative etheric forces - in living matter. After experimenting with many different substances Pfeiffer discovered that when he added extracts of living plants to a solution of copper chloride then let it evaporate slowly it would produce a beautiful pattern of crystallization typical of the species of the plant used. Radiant form and shape consistently indicated the life strength of the plant. Pfeiffer established that strong crystallization patterns indicated health, while weak ones indicated ill-health. Nowadays scientists working with techniques like chromatography, Kirlian photography, photomicrography and polarized light field photography - as well as clairvoyant healers who can actually `see' changes in energy patterns around plants, people and animals - confirm that certain foods, herbs and plant products carry high levels of harmonious bio-energy. They can be used to enhance the beauty of a living organism's energy patterns. So can techniques of breathing, meditation and deep relaxation as well as the laying on of hands or spiritual healing, hydrotherapy, bodywork and autogenics. That is why all of these things can be so helpful in the rejuvenation process. healing the impossible One of the most interesting researchers to look into the area of life force treatments for healing and regeneration is the American healer Mitchell May. At the age of 22 May was in a car accident that rendered him profoundly damaged. He lost several inches of bone from his legs, and the tissue and nerve damage was extensive. He lay in insufferable pain. His physicians told him he would never walk again and that it was necessary have his right leg amputated. They also informed him that his immune system would be permanently compromised and that his health would be severely restricted for the rest of his life. May was lucky enough to have been hospitalized at one of the most important medical research centers in the world, the University of California Medical Center at Los Angeles. There he became part of a special study involving ongoing experiments into life force healing and extrasensory perceptions using skilled spiritual healers working under strict scientific controls. He met and worked with a very gifted healer named Jack Gray. Gray had a great gift in his ability to activate powerful and natural healing life force energies within a person. Within a week of Gray's having begun simple laying on of hands treatment, May discovered he was able to turn off and on his experience of excruciating pain using the techniques Gray taught him. energy healing May became fascinated with the whole area of life force healing and become an apprentice to Gray. He developed an interest in states of consciousness, subtle energy and in discovering ways to enhance life force through the use of spiritual healing, plant foods and biological compounds - those which have a particularly high quality of energetic radiation. May's own story is one of the most well documented tales of impossible recovery in medical annals. Not only did his body heal, he was able to learn to walk again and eventually regained full use of his body. In the process he has also become one of the most respected and acclaimed healers in the world. During the period of his recovery May worked intimately with Gray and with Thelma Moss in her Parapsychology Research Laboratory at UCLA, photographing energy patterns around foods and other nutritional substances. He also carried out wide searches of scientific literature and conferred with physicists, health professionals, doctors and practitioners of natural medicine both trained in Western science and Oriental health traditions. He set out to discover, test and record information about specific foods and plant compounds which can enhance human health not only chemically by supplying an abundance of vitamins, minerals, phtyo-antioxidants and immune enhancers, but also by providing an abundance of life force. May wanted to find ways of making it possible to help people live at their fullest energy, vitality, and wholeness, in maximum health and wellbeing. entranced by beauty Before long May became totally fascinated by the beauty of energy patterns certain foods and plants emitted. He also became convinced - as had many researchers before him and since - that the fundamental processes of healing and rejuvenation depend on intensifying the life force within an individual and then helping to bring about a harmonization and balance of its movements within the living system. He saw that there was so much potential to help people by working in an energetic way. He also discovered (as have practitioners of natural medicine) that it is not just food and plants that are able to enhance the life force. He experimented with many forms of meditation and breathing, shifts in attitudes of mind, and various healing modalities, energy-shifting exercise such as Tai-Chi, yoga and the martial arts, which enable us to awaken the life force within. Most of all, he loved working with plants. Slowly, painstakingly, he identified plants, algae, mushrooms, sprouted seeds and grains, all of which carry an abundance of this life energy. He also found they could be used to intensify a person's own life energy and help create coherent and harmonious patterns of energy within. As early researchers into the healing effects of living foods such as Dr Max Bircher-Benner and Dr Max Gerson had insisted, plants are holders and emitters of quantum sunlight - life force which we can use to our advantage either taken fresh and live or when grown, harvested and dried properly. These plants are able to transfer their life force to us. perfect balance May's highly practical experiments were carried out over 20 years, during which he conferred with the very finest medical practitioners in Western medicine as well as experts in Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic medicine, and spiritual healers. Slowly, painstakingly, he was able to identify foods and plants - organically grown - with a particular abundance of life force and to develop ways of further heightening their powers for healing by combining them in a carefully formulated synergetic way, so that the energies of each balanced and enhanced the energies of the others. Out of this he developed what I believe to be the most remarkable and potent nutritional supplement that I have ever come across. It is called Pure Synergy. Its combination of 62 of nature's most potent and nourishing components include organically grown freeze-dried herbs, organically grown immune supporting mushrooms, plant enzymes, freeze-dried royal jelly, wild crafted algae, organic green juices and many other natural ingredients, and is the finest super food made so far. energetic rejuvenation May, and others like him such as Dr David Peat and twice nobel nominated Robert O Becker, have delved deeply into the field of subtle energy. They have helped to build bridges between orthodox, chemically-based, allopathic medicine (which until recently paid little attention to the energetic aspects of healing) and the ancient traditions of medicine which have always viewed healing as primarily an energy art. Breathing, movement, thoughts and dreams as well as the metabolism of the foods that we eat, all contribute to active energy `information' or life `intelligence' capable of bringing about a continuous circulation of harmonious energy to transform and heal the body. Energetically speaking, illness and degeneration are viewed as some sort of misalignment or blockage which interferes with the natural flow of energy, perverting its natural balance or siphoning energy off from its natural vital function of supporting the body. Rejuvenation takes place by using everything at one's disposal to enhance this harmonious and orderly circulation of life energy. The dynamic harmony within body/mind and the restoration of energetic balance which energy-based rejuvenation aims to bring about is not a static state but a dynamic process whereby energy continually circulates and health continually unfolds. This is living in the zone at its very best. This in turn helps bring about a process of renewal, regeneration and expansion of the individual spirit and its life purpose. After all, everything each of us needs to regenerate and rejuvenate ourselves lies within. pure alchemy There are no magic bullets for rejuvenation. What works is creating a lifestyle for yourself that continues to support your energetic flow at a very high level. The Chinese, who have probably delved into the whole process of rejuvenation more than any other culture, consider the whole process an alchemical one. They see it as a great art and science in which ultimately a person becomes more fully who they truly are, living out their physical, emotional, mental and spiritual potentials to the full. To put it another way, rejuvenation is a process in which `base metal' undergoes a remarkable series of transformations first by being broken down into its materia prima (here is where detoxification comes in) and then transformed into `gold'. This alchemical process which is also recognized by the Sufi tradition, and the Ayurvedic one, not only occurs on a level of external and material change such as a younger, stronger, healthier body, but also on a spiritual, psychological level whereby the soul, the heart and the head are united together with the material body in what is traditionally referred to as a `mystical marriage'. urgent needs At this point in history we have a greater need than ever to learn to practice such alchemy within ourselves. Our air and water have become polluted. There is less and less good quality fresh food readily available. Much of our food is poisoned by herbicides and pesticides which distort bodily processes, polluting our bodies and undermining our clarity of thought and visions in ways that can seriously interfere with our ability to maintain health on a physical and spiritual level. Only we can change that for ourselves. I believe it is time we began to turn away from the whole idea of magic bullets, symptomatic treatments and quick fix ideas, replacing them with foods and natural techniques that enhance our energies and support our lives in the best possible ways. Once the life force energy is built the body heals itself.

When it comes to regenerating and rejuvenating the body, water is the most important nutrient of all. It is the stuff from which your blood, your cells, your muscles—even your bones—are mostly made. A healthy person who weighs 65 kilos carries about 40 litres of water around—25 liters inside the cells, 15 liters outside, including 5 liters in the blood. Let yourself become dehydrated, and the chemical reactions in the cells involved in fat burning become sluggish. Also your cells cannot build new tissue efficiently, toxic products build up in your blood stream, and your blood volume decreases so that you have less oxygen and nutrients transported to your cells—all of which are essential to fat burning. Dehydration also results in your feeling weak and tired, and can lead to over eating as it disturbs appetite mechanisms, so you think you are hungry even when you are not. The role of water in weight control and health in general is almost completely ignored. The brain too is 75 percent water. This is why the quantity and quality of water you drink also affects how you think and feel. Thoughts and feelings become distorted when your body gets even mildly dehydrated. For mental clarity and emotional balance you need plenty of water. But if the water you drink is polluted by heavy metals or chemicals, then the biochemical reactions on which clear thought and emotional balance depend will become polluted as well. SCALING EVEREST Drinking enough water brings dynamic energy. When Sir Edmund Hillary set out to conquer Everest he had a shrewd doctor named George Hunt on his ascent team. Hunt knew this precept well. He had studied the records of a recent failed attempt by the Swiss team, and discovered that their climbers had drunk less than two glasses of water per day per man. So he ordered special battery-operated snow-melting equipment for the kit and urged the British climbers to take a minimum of twelve glasses of water each day of the climb to reduce their fatigue as they scaled the peaks. VITALITY TO SPARE Since then, research with athletes at Harvard University and Loma Linda University in the United States, carried out to explore the relationship between water drinking and energy, has demonstrated that drinking extra water reduces fatigue and stress and increases stamina and energy to a remarkable degree. During one of the Harvard studies, researcher G.C. Pitts set athletes walking at 3 miles an hour, allowing them to rest regularly, but not allowing them to drink extra water. They reached exhaustion after 3 hours with temperatures of 102 degrees fahrenheit. Under the same conditions, he allowed them to drink as much as they wanted. The same athletes lasted 6 hours before collapsing. The third time around athletes were forced to drink more water than thirst dictated—in quantities calculated by researchers to replace what was being lost in perspiration. This time the athletes were able to continue indefinitely without fatigue or fever, until finally, after running out of time, researchers were forced to bring the experiment to a close. Few of us drink as much water as we need to remain in top form. Even if you pay attention to your thirst and quench it regularly, you are likely to replace only about a half to two-thirds of the water your body needs for optimal health. Mineral Water - YOUR UNIQUE QUOTA It takes a bit of practice at first to make sure you get your water quota each day but soon it will become second nature. Start by drinking two glasses of water first thing in the morning when you get up, either neat or with a twist of lemon or lime. You can heat the water if you like. This helps with elimination. Then drink two or three glasses between breakfast and lunch, and another two or three between lunch and dinner. When you exercise or when it is hot, remember to drink more. Getting into the water habit will quench your appetite, improve your body's ability to eliminate wastes, heighten your energy levels, improve the look of your skin and help your metabolic processes function at peak. You will be amazed to discover just how potent are its gifts. Here is an action plan to help you experience the vitality that water drinking can bestow upon you: Divide your weight in kilos by eight then round up to the next glass to discover how many 8 ounce glasses of water to drink each day Drink two glasses of clean water on rising and then get your daily quota by drinking more between meals Keep a bottle or two of mineral water by you during the day as an easy measure of just how much you need to drink to get your daily quota Watch your energy soar.

The core of a human being - that source of virtually boundless creative power as well as physical and psychic energy - will never be found by dissecting the human body. Nor can it be arrived at by analyzing the human mind. Yet a sense of what I call living from the core or the soul, an experience of living - living truthfully to your own values - is something each of us experiences at certain times in our lives. Although most of us only happen upon this experience accidentally, it can also be cultivated by pursuing actions which we enjoy, or which make us feel good about ourselves and our lives. It can happen when we fall in love, when we feel happy because everything seems in harmony around us, or when we feel pleased with ourselves, our children, or some accomplishment. In such moments everything seems to fit together, or feel right, and life has meaning. Such a sense is central to an experience of living with energy. The techniques for building a high-energy lifestyle are only of lasting value if you value yourself and live your life on that assumption. tuning into core energy Psychologist Abraham Maslow, who spent his life studying not human pathology but rather human beings who lived their lives with great energy, creativity and joy - he called them self-actualizers - referred to the special moments in our lives as ‘peak experiences.’ After examining the experiences of thousands of high energy creative and happy people, he came to the conclusion that these self-actualizers have certain things in common. They tend, for instance, to be the healthiest people in society mentally and physically. They tend to have a lot of values in common too such as prizing simplicity, wholeness, effortlessness, truth, honesty, uniqueness, completeness, and perfection - in fact, the same values one might expect mystics to possess. They are, in effect, fully functioning people who tend frequently to have peak experiences - moments of great happiness, rapture, ecstasy - in which life’s conflicts are at least temporarily transcended or resolved. Other psychologists, anthropologists and philosophers have described Maslow’s self-actualizing person too. Carl Rogers - perhaps most appropriately of all - refers to Maslow’s self-actualizer as a ‘fully functioning’ person. Out of their work has emerged a whole new picture of what it is to be human. It has changed our perspective, so that we no longer see a human being the way Freud did - as a collection of repressed destructive urges, only barely restrained by learned moral constructs from destroying ourselves and others - but as potentially autonomous human beings. We recognize that the destructive and self-defeating tendencies which we all have are far less the hidden truth of a person than the results of a frustration in the expression of what Maslow called the Self - or soul - of life itself. Not only boundless energy, but happiness and freedom from this frustration and from negative thought patterns and the behavior they engender lie in letting your natural self-actualizing tendencies (which in most of us are still weak or dormant) develop. Until they grow, we all regress into fear and frustration or laziness. Once they become stronger, one’s life becomes an ongoing process of energy release, growth, and unfolding of potential as well as, quite simply, much happier. what are your peak experiences? Describe a moment or moments in your life where you felt a sense of `living from your core' - a time when everything seemed to work for you, where you felt temporarily fulfilled and good about yourself. If you are not sure you understand the idea, simply describe a moment when you felt particularly happy. Remember the scene as vividly as possible and use as much detail as you can to recall your impressions. Use this description as a reference point from now on for how good you can feel and how wonderfully life can fit together. As you become more and more self actualizing and come to live more and more from your soul, peak experiences become more frequent. create new visions of you and your life Now start now to dream of what it will be like for you to have all the energy you ever need. Begin to play with a number of clear mental pictures of yourself fit, well and looking great. But don't just consider the physical changes you would like to make. Get to know the person you aim to be and see yourself in this image. Record what you see, hope for, want to bring into being in a notebook and refer to it often when you feel unsure of your goals and direction. Here are some of the characteristics of high energy self-actualizing to use as inspiration: An exceptional ability to cope with change and to learn from it. Most people have trouble with change. It is unsettling and frightening. It needn't be. It all depends on how you look at it. We all face fear with changes, but the more you come to live from your core - to manifest your soul energy - the more you will tend to view change not as threatening but as a challenge to learn from and grow from, whether any particular change at face value appears to be `good' or `bad'. And as far as failure is concerned, instead of being a source of fear, it can be viewed as something that shows how to deal with a similar situation in the future. After all, human beings do fail sometimes. No great worry about saying ‘No’. Not aggression, but assertiveness, plays a central role in creating energy. It implies a strong sense of your individual right to your values and opinions, and a tendency to respect the rights of other people as well. You need to be able to say no to a food or drink you don't really want, a request from a lover or spouse, a demand from a child or a colleague. The best way to develop healthy assertiveness is simply to practice it. It feels a bit strange at first, but the more you do the easier it becomes. Paradoxically, only when you are positively assertive can you discover what real unselfishness is, because then what you give is what you choose to give, not what you feel obliged to give. A well-conditioned body. This not only brings you energy, it also helps you cope with stress better, look better and younger, and strengthens your sense of self-reliance. It also shifts hormonal balance and brain chemistry, making you highly resistant to depression and anxiety, and highly prone to feeling good about yourself and your life. Top-level fitness leads to a freedom to achieve excellence in other nonphysical areas of your life as well. It increases stamina, strength and flexibility, not only physically but emotionally as well. A marked absence of common minor ailments and troubles. Most people believe that the Monday morning `blues' or the aches and pains in joints after forty are a normal part of living. But they take up little space when you have an abundance of energy. `Normal' means moving with ease, and feeling pretty good about things day after day - sometimes feeling very good indeed - not because something stupendous has just happened, but because when you are really fit and well that is the normal way to feel. Laughter comes easily. An ability to laugh at the absurd (including yourself when appropriate) and a sense of fun are perhaps the most important of all the high-energy characteristics. Joy is health-giving. Paradoxically, often the most delightful sense of humor parallels a strong sense of purpose in a person - another high-energy characteristic. Integrity. The more you become a self-actualizer, the more you set your own standards and live up to them. Your values become a source of strength and energy for you. You don't have to compromise them to achieve some temporary advantage. You can feel the truth, be who you really are, and make your life work.

Did you know that biochemical changes brought about by the things you eat can affect your brain and alter consciousness dramatically? So much is this true that foods can produce imaginary fears and even hallucinations. But, as a result of several generations of psychologically-oriented doctors influenced by Freudian theories, only recently have we begun to chart the exact mechanisms of how the foods you eat can have such a powerful effect—both positive and negative—on your brain. You need to know about this. It matters enormously. YOUR CONTROL CENTER Your brain is the center of thought, emotion, mood, perception, drive and memory. Few people are aware that your brain is also the control center for an abundance of important hormones and other neurochemicals responsible for changing the way you think and feel. Joy, paranoia, even despair are thanks to the delicate balance or imbalance of these important chemical substances that come from our foods. If, as many researchers now know, we can influence this without causing adverse side effects—such as those which result from the use of tranquilizers, antidepressants, drugs or sleeping pills—we are able to exercise enormous control over destructive moods and feelings, and to increase our enjoyment of life tremendously. Here’s the biggest surprise: Nothing is more powerful in influencing all of this than making very careful choices about the foods that you eat. Because each one of us is unique, this is highly individual. Some foods work beautifully for us, other foods are absolutely destructive. CHOOSE YOUR FOODS CAREFULLY Food sensitivities were once uncommon. Now they’ve become so widespread that nutritionally-trained doctors estimate between 70 and 90% of us experience symptoms associated with food reactions, although few of us realize what is taking place. There are major reasons for this exponential rise in food reactions: First, our immune systems are increasingly challenged by the presence of chemical and energetic pollution in the environment. Next, our massive consumption of convenience foods has rendered large segments of the population deficient in minerals and vitamins, which would once have helped protect us from sensitivity reactions. And the packaged foods on which most of us live these days are chock-full of the foods highest on the list of reactive substances, such as cow’s milk products including cow’s cheese, milk, and yoghurt; wheat, grains and cereals; junk fats and chemical additives. As a result, your body’s enzymes, whose job it is to digest milk products and grains—and protect you from chemical pollution—have become gravely overtaxed. So you can become addicted to a food to which your body reacts negatively, without realizing it’s the very act of eating that has caused your addiction. HOW IT WORKS Let me explain. When you are sensitive to a food or chemical you react negatively on first contact, although it sometimes takes a day or two to experience the negative reaction. But if you eat or drink this food again and again, so that you are continually exposed to it, this negative reaction—together with the symptoms it produces—becomes “masked”. It’s very much like the alcoholic who feels OK so long as he has a drink in his hand. Then, when alcohol is withdrawn from him, he goes “cold turkey” and feels terrible. If you stop eating a food (or drinking the alcohol) to which your body reacts negatively, WHAM—you get withdrawal symptoms, just as the alcoholic does when he or she is deprived the “fix.” I’ve seen a lot of this happen to people at the start of the Cura Romana program, especially those who’ve been drinking a lot of coffee or diet sodas, or eating a lot of grains, cereals and sugar-based convenience carbohydrates. Symptoms often include no energy, a bad headache, depression and cravings. Fortunately—thanks to the power of the changes that take place in the brain on Cura Romana—such experiences usually clear within a few days. ADDICTIONS DESTROY Experts in clinical ecology have discovered that alcoholism and food reactions share a common cause, common triggers, and a common biochemistry. When you eliminate the foods to which your body is sensitive—those your body literally hates, in fact—false hunger, cravings and addictions completely disappear. When you’re tired, upset, depressed or anxious without apparent cause, the problem most often results from the kind of foods you’ve been eating. I know this is hard to believe. It is something that most people would never dream of. But this is how potent the effect is that foods can exert upon us. You can not only suffer from food sensitivities and allergies to specific—sometimes even highly nutritious—foods which set your mind and emotions whirling, or make you lose confidence in yourself and blame yourself in negative ways; you can also experience an upset in mineral balance in your body, or low blood sugar. On the positive side, some foods can be used to alter states of consciousness, improving mood and inducing relaxation. Understanding how the foods you choose to eat can affect your own moods and mental states, and discovering the foods that work for you in a positive way, can be life-changing. But you also need to learn the foods that are destructive to you. This is a highly individual thing, which you learn only by testing your foods. UNTOLD TRUTHS What is hard to believe is that the question of food sensitivities is still met with hostility, even scorn, by most doctors—who, ever since Freud, have been taught that problems such as chronic anxiety, depression, hysteria, psychosomatic illness and other functional disorders arise entirely from psychological factors. It just ain’t true. The work of some brilliant biochemists and psychiatrists such as Dr. Abram Hoffer in Canada, and allergists Dr Ted Randolph and Albert Rowe, as well as British psychiatrist the late Dr. Richard Mackarness, has shown quite clearly that factors in our physical environment—such as chemicals in our foods and water, as well as certain foods themselves—cause mental and emotional symptoms, as well as weight gain and the development of degenerative conditions and rapid aging. They do this by inducing sensitivity or allergic reactions that involve the central nervous system. The study of this phenomenon is called clinical ecology. SHOCKING SECRETS For many years, clinical ecologists have tested patients with psychiatric problems, from simple depression and anxiety to schizophrenia and even psychosis, to see if the cause of these things comes from reaction to specific foods. In general, all of us react to certain groups of foods in a negative way, such as manufactured foods; sugar; carbohydrates; packaged and convenience foods. But the more serious food sensitivities and allergies tend to be highly specific to the person experiencing them. The way all of this is tested is quite fascinating. They do this either through a complicated procedure called cytotoxic testing—checking how your blood reacts to specific substances—or by putting you on a fast for five days, then introducing a few drops of water containing the suspected food under your tongue, and charting your reactions. These may include changes in your pulse rate and other physical symptoms, as well as natural shifts of mood or emotional outbursts, indicating that this particular food is the troublemaker. Reactions vary from person to person. They can be something as simple as a feeling of mental confusion, grief, or fatigue, to as dramatic as a psychopathic outburst in which someone tries to slash his wrists or attack those testing him. Once the offending foods are known—they could be milk, grain, cheese, vodka, sugar, or almost anything—the patient is told to eliminate them from his diet. Provided he does so, his aberrant emotional or mental state does not reoccur. If the allergies are mild, they can sometimes be controlled by a “rotation diet”, in which food intake is carefully planned so that you only eat a particular food once in any four-day period. Food sensitivities and food allergies are far more common than people realize. Some of the worst offenders are grains, cereals, wheat, milk products, and all convenience and packaged foods. People find that when they exclude these foods completely from their diet, their energy levels increase and their disposition transforms. What is also interesting is the sense that people have of themselves. Whether they trust themselves, and whether they feel good about being who they are, depends tremendously on the foods that they are eating. HEAVY METALS Heavy metals such as lead, mercury and cadmium, or too high a concentration of copper—one of the trace minerals necessary for good health—can create interference with the brain and nervous system, as well as the endocrine system, resulting in aberrant emotions. An excess of copper, for instance, can produce hyper-emotionalism, hallucinations, and even psychic experiences for some people. A high level of lead in the body is linked to mental retardation in children and is often a significant factor in over-aggressive behavior. It’s also indicated as a cause of hyperactivity and learning problems in kids. Excess cadmium, from a lifestyle that includes taking several cups of coffee a day, often leads to a low blood-sugar problem, so you feel you need more coffee or something sweet just to keep going. So does eating too many carbohydrates, which themselves turn into sugar. Low blood sugar is common amongst people living on a typical British or American diet. There are some simple tests to determine mineral balance and the levels of heavy metals in the body. These tests are not foolproof by any means, but they are still valuable. They are often done by burning a small sample of hair cut from the head, and then analyzing its mineral content. If any imbalances are found, they can be corrected by giving chelated minerals and/or by drying out excessive heavy metals from the tissues using natural substances such as pectin, high doses of vitamin C, garlic and kelp. HOW TO TEST YOUR FOODS Learn to test your own foods—it’s not hard to do. It’s all about becoming conscious of what your body thrives on and loves, and what it dislikes. In fact, it’s all about honoring yourself and your life. Say, for instance, the first food that you decide to test is cow’s yoghurt. You eat a nice big helping of yoghurt at one meal, then you don’t eat any more yoghurt for 48 hours, and you don’t introduce any other new foods. If, during this period, you find your energy levels have dropped for no apparent reason; you’re ravenously hungry or craving something; your bowels are upset; you feel emotionally unsettled or low; or you develop aches or pains in your body, then you can be pretty sure that your body has reacted badly to the food you have been testing. If, on the other hand, after 48 hours you experience none of these reactions, you can safely assume that the food you have tested can be incorporated into your meals as a food that your body is happy with. If you do have a negative reaction to the food, it’s important to realize that you haven’t done anything wrong. This is the way you learn about the foods that your body can handle and which you need to stay away from. Of course, it’s important to learn by your body’s unique rules, and test each food one by one. Give thanks to your body if it says “no” to a food. Meanwhile, get plenty of top quality proteins and fresh, green, non-starchy vegetables, no matter what else you’re eating. It’s important to remember that your digestive system is, in truth, your second brain. (See “Secrets of the Second Brain” ) It boasts as many nerve endings as the brain itself. When you eat foods that antagonize these nerve endings, you experience all sorts of physical and emotional states that hold you back. Discovering the foods that work for you is sheer joy. These are foods that you can eat with impunity, without gaining weight or worrying about undermining your health—provided you avoid the foods that you discover your body does not work well with.

We’ve inherited a fear of the sun. It has developed out of simplistic thinking and a commercially-fuelled set of false beliefs. Here’s the inside story: Ultraviolet light is NOT the fundamental cause of skin aging nor skin cancer. Exposure to the sun is not the main reason that skin wrinkles happen. And here’s some shocking news: The chemical sunscreens we now use to protect ourselves from wrinkles and cancer contribute to both. EXTRINSIC AGING Rough, loose, creviced, wrinkled skin, complete with irregular blotches—it’s known as photo-damaged skin or extrinsically aged skin. It is always blamed on exposure to sun. It is not exposure that causes it; it is the misuse of sun coupled with exposure to mounting levels of destructive chemicals that are the real culprits. To get a first-hand feel for what this looks like, take a look in the mirror at the skin on your bottom. It looks ten or twenty years younger than skin on your face. The difference speaks volumes about what extrinsic aging looks like. How do you avoid it? The ads tell us to smear on more sunscreens. The truth is far more complex. Extrinsic aging means skin damage triggered by external factors—high exposure to UV light from tanning beds or sitting in the sun at the wrong time of the day, chemicals in the environment, and—in many ways—the products you’ve been told to use to protect yourself from them. Mounting evidence indicates that many sunscreens contain carcinogens and that the rise of skin cancers parallels the increase in sunscreen usage Lita Lee, pHD BANISH SUNSCREENS Most sunscreen chemicals which should be protecting your skin from damage actually cause it. They eat up your body’s natural enzymes designed to guard against degeneration. A growing awareness of this in the cosmetic industry has led manufacturers to add free radical scavengers, like vitamin A derivatives and phytonutrients, to their sunscreen products. It’s a bit like sweeping dust under a carpet; this only hides the issue. Chemicals used in sun products and other toiletries do not belong in our bodies. As Rachel Carlson insisted half a century ago, their ubiquitous presence in animal bodies undermines health, vitality, and in this case, beauty too. COSMIC RADIATION The sun produces high energy rays from cosmic and gamma and X rays through longer, lower UV, infrared, microwaves and radio waves. Gamma and X radiation are mostly filtered out by the earth’s atmosphere, although flying in jets at 35,000 feet exposes your body to them in big quantities. This is one reason we need extra antioxidant protection when boarding a long haul flight. When gamma rays—which are also used to irradiate foods and sterilise medical equipment—hit water molecules in a living body, free radicals are generated in large numbers, important enzymes are destroyed and your skin’s natural protective ability is undermined. BREAKING THE WAVES The UV rays—most likely to trigger aging in an unprotected or polluted skin span from 190 to 400nm. They come in three varieties: UVA (320-400nm). Deep penetrating ‘silent-killer’ aging rays. UVA radiation can delve deep into the dermis and wreak havoc with DNA and collagen, triggering degenerative changes especially in light-colored skin, messing up the skin’s enzyme systems and cross-linking its collagen. UVB (200-290nm). Shorter, these guys penetrate more superficially. They can oxidize skin’s natural oils, dry it out and undermine its ability to protect itself on the surface. UVB are mostly responsible for burning. They are what chemical sunscreens try to mitigate in an attempt to prevent sunburn. UVC (280nm and shorter). Highly dangerous to skin. Most of these are filtered out by the biosphere, but you can be subjected to them from most office lighting. FACTS AND FICTIONS Photo aging got its name because it often develops out of excessive exposure to UV radiation. You see it in sun-worshippers on the beaches of Australia’s Gold Coast or California’s Venice Beach. Extrinsic aging mimics the destructive damage all skin is exposed to over time. This damage can happen fast when you hang out too long in the sun, especially between 11am and 4pm. Chemical pollution, long periods of intense physical activity, alcohol, cigarettes and drugs—just like excessive UV radiation—all generate high levels of reactive oxygen species in the skin: Super oxides, hydroxy radicals and hydrogen peroxide. These cause free radical damage, degrade and cross-link collagen, and help produce wrinkles, sags and age spots. Like the rest of these onslaughts, big doses of sun also accelerate the formation of advanced glycosylation end-products (AGEs) to interfere with cellular functions and make skin lose elasticity. However, the notion that sunlight is the bête noir in all extrinsic aging is absolutely untrue. REAL CAUSES Our ancestors were exposed to the sun’s UV rays for over a million years of evolution. The human body is genetically adapted to sunlight, and well equipped to handle it. The exponential rise in skin cancers began in the twentieth century—not in all those years of evolution. What’s happening? Two things. With each decade that passes, we are bombarded with higher and higher levels of chemical aggression in our environment, and forced to handle more electromagnetic pollution. Together they produce toxic build-up in our body, stressing its natural antioxidant systems and undermining our immunity. This triggers degenerative processes, increasing our skin’s sensitivity to UV damage. It also makes us highly susceptible to cancers. Yet we continue to assault our skin with more chemicals in the form of irresponsibly formulated cleaning products, herbicides and insecticides, and to use skin and body care products to deliver yet more chemicals directly to the skin. CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL The standard protocol for sun protection is to smear on more chemical sunscreens. Selling them is a $3.5 billion a year business, and growing rapidly. We fear aging and skin cancer so we keep buying. Yet much of what we buy significantly contributes to the damage we are trying to prevent. Sun “protection” products come in two forms—chemical sunscreens and physical sunblocks. A few products contain both. Physical block products literally create a physical barrier of fine, non-reactive minerals on the surface of your skin, rather like micro-fish-scales. They reflect excess UVA and UVB back into the atmosphere instead of letting skin absorb it. They are good and not dangerous. Using them is like wearing a hat or a veil so the sun’s rays don’t penetrate at all. No commercial sunscreens have been proved safe. Their chemicals penetrate the skin into the circulation and add to the burden of toxins to be detoxified. Joseph G. Hattersley Chemical sunscreen products—most sun protection products fit into this category—are different. They do not reflect. They absorb UVB and UVA rays, allowing them to penetrate your skin. Many chemical screens these days have begun to target UVA radiation as well as UVB, but the “sun protection factor” (SPF number) you read on a product’s label will have been calculated entirely by how much UVB radiation the chemicals it contains are able to absorb. Unlike physical sunblocks, chemical sunscreens “absorb” the UVB radiation in an attempt to neutralize. They are rapidly used up in the formation of new chemical compounds which your skin then has to find ways of detoxifying from your system. WAY TO GO To protect yourself from aging and cancers, you need to limit your use of chemically-based sunscreens. Better still, throw them out. Go for a mineral-based sunblock, or use one of the new mineral foundations every day. Based on physical agents like titanium oxide and zinc oxide, these products reflect the light instead of relying on chemicals to ‘absorb’ and transmute it. They are safe, inert, and protective. Other physical screens are commonly used by surfers, skiers, cricketers, and tennis players. But choose your block carefully. Unless the mineral fragments have been milled into micro-particles, they can make you look a bit like Marcel Marceau. GET SAVVY ABOUT THE SUN Here are some important things to remember about tanning and how to protect your skin from extrinsic aging and cancers: There is no way to get a safe tan. Never use a sunbed. They filter out UVB burning rays but let the UVA in deep. They are automatic aging machines which increase your risk of melanoma. SPF numbers don’t tell you about UVA protection from wrinkling and aging. Most only deal with UVB protection against burning. For the safest protection from aging and burning, read labels. Shun chemical sunscreens in favor of physical sunblocks—products based on micro minerals such as titanium dioxide or zinc oxide which won’t absorb the sun’s rays or react with your skin. Apply a sunblock a quarter of an hour before going out into the sun. Water resistant products are not what they seem. Their effectiveness is compromised by sweat and swimming. Reapply your sunblock often. If you are or have been using any kind of AHA’s, Retin-A or Renova or any other pharmaceuticals on your face, cover it with a hat as well as a physical sunblock and don’t spend a lot of time outdoors. Never get sunburnt—the damage it causes continues to get worse for 24 hours after the initial burn appears, and when the burn has been severe, can last a lifetime. Think twice before taking oral contraceptives or HRT. Use of these hormone-based drugs is correlated with a three times greater risk of sunburn and skin damage. Take a tip from the Arabs, who know a lot about sun protection. Cover your body well when you plan to spend long hours outdoors. Always wear a hat. Use one of the excellent non-reactive mineral-based makeup products on your face which last all day, look natural, cover your skin and reflect UV rays, while making your skin look fabulous. Devita Solar Body Block SPF 30 Natural, Safe, and Inexpensive Buy Devita Solar Body Block SPF 30 Jane Iredale Mineral Makeup GLOW TIME™ FULL COVERAGE MINERAL BB CREAM Glow Time comes in six great colors, covers blemishes, minimizes pores, disguises wrinkles and smoothes and brightens skin while providing SPF 25 UVA?UVB PA++ Buy Jane Iredale Mineral Makeup

This is an extract from our Cura Romana Journey Program. An important part of reconnecting with the core, and coming to live your life from your essential being, is a willingness to leave behind the notion that what you need or long for can only come from outside yourself. In truth, everything we need for our own freedom and fulfillment we already have inside. It simply needs to be discovered, called forth, and set free. As Edward in Canada, who shed 32.7 pounds on the program, discovered: “For the first time ever, I feel that the next phase of my life will be really exciting and full of growth and more new experiences. Now I know I have the power to make it that way.” When I personally came to terms with just how profound the emotional and spiritual changes are for many men and women on Cura Romana, I started gathering together tools, techniques and information which I – and others I have worked with – find helpful in reconnecting with our core. I began to show them to those I am mentoring as a way of supporting spiritual processes which they told me had been initiated and/or intensified by the Cura Romana Journey. Here in the Cura Romana Sanctuary, I will be sharing some of these simple processes with you. They are interesting, consciousness expanding and fun. Try them out. Use those that appeal to you and forget the rest. You might be surprised what a powerful role practicing some of them regularly can play in rebuilding and strengthening that bridge between your inner and your outer life.