Natural Healing Power

‘You can not stop disease through any kind of adjustments, treatments or diets, without stopping the eating of the foods which produce disease’ (Arnold Ehret).

Modern foods create mucus, uneliminated waste and toxins in the system, which cause discomfort or disease one way or another.

There are two types of mucus. There is a thin natural layer covering and lubricating mucosal linings. This layer is healthy and necessary. Then there is pathogenic (=causing disease) mucus, which is the result of eating the wrong types of foods. The last type is an ideal medium for propagating germs, microbes and bacteria. Cow’s milk is the worst when it comes to production of pathogenic mucus. And that is why babies raised on cow’s milk have constantly running noses, infected tonsils etc. I have heard a doctor say that tonsillitis is strongly connected to drinking of milk, he never saw tonsillitis in people who never drank milk.

It all starts in the colon. It makes a thick layer of mucus trying to protect the body against unwanted disease causing substances. When the system is overwhelmed toxins and what all will get absorbed into the circulation, and cause trouble here or there.

Mucus forming ‘foods’ are dairy products, all sorts of meats, margarine and cooking oils, refined flours, anything with sugar, excess salt, etc

Mucusless diet on the other hand prevents the formation of mucus and helps the body to eliminate waste and toxins, and prevent and reverse disease.

A mucusless diet mainly consists of fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. If needed, depending on your circumstances and on availability, you can add raw, sprouted, or low heated grains and legumes.

In this modern age it is totally impossible to avoid toxins of all kinds, be it from our plastic containers in which we store our food, gases emitted from our furniture, air pollution by traffic and industry, our cell phones, pesticides, insecticides, all sorts of chemicals used nowadays, and what all.

Yes, you could try to clean up your diet, clean up your indoor environment, and live in the forest, settle as a recluse, but for most of us that is very impractical, to say the least…..and you will still not avoid everything….

The alternative is to reduce the toxic load in such a way that the body will be able to handle it. We can not avoid toxins all together, but the good and surprising news is that cleaning up the diet alone will go a long way and deal with most diseases when it comes to prevention and healing.

Our bodies need proper nourishment as well in order to be able to function well. Junk foods in the broadest sense of the word (everything which is not natural and generally everything which comes in a package) do not supply the needed nutrients, they will only serve to clog up the system and make it impossible to eliminate what needs to be eliminated.

We need a clean system. The good news is that the body is geared towards cleansing as long as we do not overwhelm the detox and elimination systems. Our liver is an amazing detox factory, but we can ask too much of it.

True, diet alone is not the only thing, but it certainly is the main culprit in causing the diseases which are caused by our modern way of life in our present day world. The wrong foods serve to clog up the system, so detox and elimination are hindered and disease sets in.

Colds and flus for example are not something unavoidable, they are the result of our way of life with loads of mucus forming foods. If you clear up your diet, you will not catch colds and flu’s and you will not be troubled by running noses for example. Yes the bugs may be around, you will be inhaling them but in a clean system they will have nothing to feed on so they can not survive in your body. Your immune system will be really functioning so well, they won’t touch you. There are immune cells in that tiny healthy layer of mucus, which can effectively deal with invaders, but once that layer is allowed to thicken those immune cells will no longer be able to perform as well.

Clinical practice has shown that it IS possible to reverse disease, acute or chronic, as long as these principles are followed. Dr J.R. Christopher used to say that there are no incurable diseases. The body has an amazing self healing capacity if we do not overwhelm its detox and elimination systems. It WILL go to work if we allow it to….

Enough food for thought for today!

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