Natural Healing Power

We have all heard remarkable success stories of people on raw food diets, but we don’t hear so much about those who don’t really thrive on it, despite of their best efforts to do everything just right. One may be struggling with cravings, deficiencies, dental problems etc, not knowing why, while others are so successful. If you are one of those people struggling, then be sure to check out the Green for Life Program

There can be different reasons for failure. We can easily miss some important factors, and there are also different ways to eat raw. Here are some common limiting factors (they may sound so simple, but read on):

1 Do you get enough sleep? Really, this is often overlooked. It is so easy to go late to bed because we want to finish this or that, at least that is my personal experience. The bad news is: nothing makes up for lack of sleep! It may take some discipline to get to bed in time.

On the other hand, there are powerful techniques which can help us to optimize our sleep in such a way that we can cut our sleeping time considerably and feel even more energized than ever before. You will find incredible and simple to apply powerful techniques in the book
“Powerful Sleep, Secrets of the Inner Sleep Clock”

2 Do you get enough sunlight? Most people tend to think that they get sufficient sunlight, but 2 quotes from The American Journal of CLINICAL NUTRITION may convince you that may not always be the case:

[The elderly are at risk for vitamin D deficiency because of poor dietary vitamin D intake and decreased exposure to sunlight. We observed that 30%, 42%, and 84% of free-living white, Hispanic, and black elderly were vitamin D deficient [25(OH)D < 50 nmol/L] at the end of August in Boston]

[ We observed that 32% of healthy adults 18-29 y of age were vitamin D deficient [25(OH)D < 50 nmol/L] at the end of the winter in Boston]

Did you know that your body only absorbs 10-15% of Calcium from your food in the absence of sunlight, while it absorbs about 30% of the Calcium from milk with adequate sun exposure? Adequate Calcium is needed for long term success on the raw food diet. (I am not encouraging you to go for milk, this is just an example).

Did you realize that you effectively block production of vitamin D with a good sunscreen? If you do it properly you can block up to 95-99% !

We have been warned to avoid sun exposure to reduce the risk of skin cancer, but did you know that sunlight also has a powerful anti-cancer effect? In vitamin D deficiency there is an increased risk of cancer, as well as of diabetes type 1, hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis.

Raw vegans are especially at risk of developing vitamin D deficiency, because they have fewer resources from the foods they eat. Oily fish for example is a good source of vitamin D, and so is cod liver oil, but vegans will not take these. They also tend to take fresh produce rather than vitamin D fortified products. It is clear that vegans need to be more diligent in seeking sun exposure than others. Don’t let lack of time restrain you. Most likely you can find more opportunities for being in the sun than you realize right now.

3 Do you get enough exercise? It is my observation that those who are successful on a raw food diet are the ones who do vigorous work-outs. I don’t need to tell you why exercise is necessary. One of the many reasons can be that exercise provides acid in the body which can counteract the alkalinity of vegetables and fruits. For well-being we need about 80% alkaline and 20% acid foods. In my observation it may be that the body can handle alkaline fruits and vegetables when combined with vigorous (acid-forming!) exercise! So exercise could replace the need for heavy or cooked foods to balance the diet.

4 Are you consuming a lot of nuts/seeds/oils? One possibility is that a high fat diet is draining your energy. You may think you are not getting much fat, but watch out! Fatty foods are very concentrated, it is very easy to overdo on fats on a raw diet. Keep a food log for some days, and you may be unpleasantly surprised!

5 Do you get enough greens? They are loaded with phyto-nutrients and absolutely essential for survival and success on a long term raw diet.

I want to draw your attention to the Green for Life Program. The next group cleanse begins March 31st, 2008. They can only take 50 people at this time, so be sure to join before they’re full. If you join now, then ‘you’ll be automatically signed up for their upcoming and never-done-live-before “Mono-Meal Cleanse”, which you can follow right after the Green Cleanse, for the ultimate detox ever! ‘

Yours in health,

Jannette

When a person gets old and stiff, gets arthritis, spurs on the spine, a wrinkled skin, etc, we normally blame old age.

Would you ever think this person may suffer from a sodium deficiency? Do you think it is possible in this modern age with its excessive intakes of salt to not get enough sodium in our diets?

Yes, it is possible! You know, there is a difference between sodium which is in natural foods and between sodium chloride from our table salt. We can have an excess of sodium chloride and at the same time a deficiency of organic sodium.

Sodium contained in natural foods comes in such a package (with a whole lot of other minerals and trace-elements etc) that the body can make full use of it. Sodium chloride on the other hand comes with a lot of additives which make it insoluble, and the only thing the body can do is excrete it as it is (in urine or sweat) or deposit it somewhere.

Table-salt has been heated at extraordinary temperatures of 800-1000 C in order to let additives like bleaching agents and anti-caking agents bind with it and coat it in such a way that it can be poured readily under all conditions. The same in the body, the salt crystals are coated and do not readily dissolve, so it becomes toxic and will behave like a drug, unlike sodium from natural foods which nourish the body and keep it young and supple.

Sodium has been called the “youth element”. Did you ever realise that (organic) sodium is needed to stay young ? Sodium is essential to keep calcium in solution for example, whereby it will prevent the calcium from depositing around or in the joints, or in the walls of your arteries for example. Without organic sodium life would not be possible.

Sodium chloride in table salt does not do any good in the body. Did you ever realize that when you feel irritable and short tempered, that this can be from excess of sodium? Or that constipation can be due to excess of sodium? Toxic effects may include:

Waterretention
Hypertension
Stomach ulcers
Stomach cancer
Heart disease
Strokes
Osteoporosis (excess salt leads to calcium deficiency)

It will be interesting to learn some of the signs of sodium deficiency. Did you know that dark circles under your eyes can be because of sodium deficiency for example (or potassium overdose, it is the balance which matters)? Dr Jenssen gives some as well, like weakness, gas and bloating, heart arrythmias, attention deficit, difficulty in concentration, to mention some.

Sapoty Brook gives an excellent overview of the symptoms of overdose or deficiency of sodium and other macro-minerals in his book Eco-Eating: A Guide to Balanced Eating for Health & Vitality. Because of copyright issues I think it is not fair to him to give you his list.

We bought his book some years ago, and this has been one of the few books which did not end up on our bookshelf, because we are using it all the time. Sapoty Brook explains how to use minerals to manipulate body and mind, and in practice we found that he has ALWAYS been right. Sometimes we forgot about the principles and wandered away, but we always came back, saying “of course…….” They work . I think the book is written to help raw foodists maintain their raw food life style on the long run, but it is equally interesting and useful for people who are not raw at all. Absolutely recommended.

High sodium foods are carrots, beets, celery, spinach, Swiss chard, watercress, dandelion greens, kale, etc. Remember what matters is the sodium/potassium ratio, not so much the absolute amounts.

How much sodium do we actually need? Generally on a plant food diet one would get 500-1000 mg of sodium, which is all the body needs. There is no need for any added salt on the table. And do not forget that we get a lot of inactive sodium in additives to our food (aromatics, preservatives, baking agents, rising agents etc etc) which do not even taste salty, that way we may get as much as 50 times the normal amounts from natural foods.

Americans on average use about 9-9.5 g daily. This contains at least 3600 mg sodium (insoluble and coated), while the body generally does not need more than 500 mg of natural food sodium.

Some people may argue that unrefined salts like Celtic salt and Himalayan salt are better. They are, at least the salt is not heated and not coated, but it is still extremely easy to overdose on sodium. Take Celtic salt for example, 0.3 metric teaspoon already gives you 500 mg of sodium, and that is on top of your other foods, so you can easily get too much.

I recommend not adding any salt, but if you have to, at least choose one of the unrefined salts or vegetable salts.
Salt numbs the taste buds. After you discontinue salt, it will take a few weeks to adjust, then you can enjoy the wonderful subtle tastes of natural foods again. And raw will taste better. Cooked foods need sweeteners or oils and salt to make it tasty, raw foods don’t need any extras, so increase your percentage of raw and break that addiction to salt!

Yours,

Jannette Benschop

Do you know the number one food for prevention of osteoporosis? I am going to tell you!

The Dairy industry make us believe it is milk, but is it?

And the general belief is “The more Calcium the better” for bone health, but is it?

It is actually not that straight forward. Contrary to what many believe, excessive Calcium makes bones age….. faster.

And that is what osteoporosis is all about, about aging of the bones.

You must read a very interesting article about this subject on http://www.youngerthanyourage.com/4/ExcessiveCalcium.htm
This is from a Dutch researcher.

It says that excessive Calcium causes a high turnover of bone cells, exhausting the replicating mechanisms and leading to premature aging of the bones.

Did you know that countries with the highest intake of Calcium also have the highest rates of hip fractures for example?

On the other hand, we do need Calcium, and in such a way that the body is going to make full use of it.

1 Given our reduced need for calcium on a plant food diet we want to be sure the body is not going to eliminate it in the urine! See the previous entry for the explanation!

2 We also want to be sure that the body is getting all the other factors needed for Calcium metabolism and good bone health, like for example Magnesium, vitamin K, vitamin D, Silicon, and what is important: the proper ratio of Calcium/Phosphor 1.5:1 and of Calcium/Magnesium 2:1

3 In practice we don’t need to worry about that so much as long as we get a variety of foods. The body is perfectly able to assimilate what it needs, if we allow it to by eliminating acid forming junk foods from our diets, which cause calcium loss in the urine, and which may provide an excess of phosphor (think of soft drinks!).

4 Good sources of Calcium are green leafy vegetables, beans, tofu, and even oranges.

With a variety of vegetables and fruits we actually get all the nutrients needed for good bone health.

Do you know the number one food for prevention of osteoporosis?

5 No…….not milk…….. but green leafy vegetables! The best sources of assimilable Calcium are green leafy vegetables. And the greens also provide a good amount of magnesium and vit K. Compared with milk they are far superior!

6 Of course we should not forget vitamin D. Sunlight is the best source, where there is limited exposure, one would do well to supplement with cod liver oil for example, or with some herbs rich in vitamin D. Those who are not vegan may consider raw fish and raw organic free range egg yolks.

7 Silicon is needed to get the calcium where it belongs. An excellent source of silicon is oatstraw tea or horsetail tea. High calcium/low silicon does not protect the bones, but low calcium with silicon does.

8 Don’t take calcium supplements!!!! They will make matters worse.

9 Grains are not the best option because of their high phytic acid content. Millet may be an exception because of its high silicon content!

10 Oxalic acid is a well known substance interfering with calcium metabolism.

11 Exercise and weight training are crucial. Inactivity leads to loss of bone, about 1% per day, that soon adds up!

This will be enough food for thought for now……

Jannette Benschop

It has been suggested so…… but can it be true?

Raw Vegans have lower bone mass generally, which is thought to be a risk factor for osteoporosis.

A study found in the Archives of Internal Medicine compared 18 people on strict raw food diets with a group on the standard American diet with its cooked foods, refined foods and animal products. They found that the raw foodists had lower bone mass indeed and lower bone mineral density, but no evidence whatsoever of increased risk of osteoporosis and fractures. With other words: they had healthy bones!

Other studies have shown that there is a direct relation between osteoporosis and consumption of milk products. NOT with plant food diets, but with consumption of MILK. If you look at it, then you will discover that countries with the highest milk consumption and the highest calcium intake also have the highest rate of hip fractures. The more milk consumed, the higher the risk. And surprisingly, in countries where there is no milk consumed, there are no hip fractures.

I am always amazed when I look at the women here (this is Zimbabwe) with their strong bone structures. They don’t drink milk! They hardly get any calcium from their poor diets, but they are strong.

Looking at the evidence, it turns out that those who are consuming animal protein are the ones at risk!

Animal protein causes calcium loss in the urine. Vegetable protein does not do this. The result is a negative calcium balance, because more is lost than is ingested. That is one reason why milk with its high calcium does not offer protection but on the contrary puts you at high risk of osteoporosis!

Other factors which cause loss of calcium in the urine are salt (!), sugar, coffee, alcohol, smoking, and some medications.

On a plant food diet there is a higher absorption rate of calcium, meaning that we absorb more from plant foods than from milk, plus there is less calcium lost in the urine. The end result is a positive calcium balance, meaning that we ingest more than we loose.

Although we need less, we do need calcium though :). Next time you will learn more about the factors which help us to actually utilise the calcium from the foods! There may be enough in our diet, but you need to know what other factors are needed to make it all work!

Jannette Benschop