Start with Basics

Nutrition & Mental Health

Duane Law, L.Ac.

And Do ThemVery, Very Well

Start with Basics... And Do Them Very, Very Well

Depression Sessions edition

Duane Law, L.Ac.

Pigs & Fishes Books

Beverly Hills, CA

Copyright © 2015 by Duane Law, L.Ac.

No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording, nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise copied for public or private use, without written permission from the publisher.

The information in this ebook is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any specific disease or medical condition. Please seek the advice of a licensed healthcare professional before beginning any natural, conventional or functional medicine treatment or protocol.

Table of Contents

Intro: The Eight Basic Steps .......................................1

B Vitamins ..................................................................4

How to Source and Take Bs .................................7

Resupplying Bs after not supplementing ..............8

Trace Minerals ............................................................9

Essential Fatty Acids ................................................13

Sourcing EFAs ....................................................16

Antioxidants ..............................................................17

Vitamin D ..................................................................25

Food Allergies ...........................................................26

Watch Carbohydrates ..............................................31

A Simple Way to Cure Sweet Cravings ...............32

Watch Sodium/Potassium Balance ..........................35

High Potassium Foods .......................................38

Juice Fasting ............................................................39

My Fave Green Drink: Bieler’s Broth ........................46

Homeopathic Flower Essences ................................47

A Little Background on Homeopathy .................49

Additional Resources ...............................................53

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Intro: The Eight Basic StepsWant to get the most from your Natural StressCare work?

Start with nutrition ... and start with the basics. The Eight Basic Steps are ways we address modern changes in our food supply.

Beginning with the invention of agriculture and indoor living about 12-14,000 years ago, our growing technological abilities have enabled us to profoundly change the nature of what we put into our mouths every day.

Those changes include:

• reducedmicronutrientdensities.Modernfarmingmethods rarely replace depleted minerals. Processing, storage and cooking can further reduce vitamin content,

• novelsubstancesinmanycasesneveradequatelytestedfor safety,

• highglycemicloadfromdietsrichinrefinedcarbohydrates,

• excessivesaltcontentupsetssodium/potassiumbalancein our cells, disturbing crucial metabolic processes,

• drastically reduced exposure to natural sunlight,

• andthelistgoeson.

The Eight Basic Steps address many of these issues. And that’s why taking them is the best foundation for any Natural StressCare program.

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Taking the Steps:

Walk Before You Run (The Disclaimer)

Caution: I haven’t met you or examined you so I can’t diagnose or prescribe for you. The information here is educational only.

It’s best to start some nutrients very gently, others need to be sourced carefully to see good results. Not all supplements are made alike.

The detailed instructions on each nutrient page are essential,especially when starting B vitamin supplements.

How This Works

The steps fall into two groups:

• The Five Basic MicroNutrients:• B Vitamins• Fully Chelated Trace Minerals• Well Made Essential Fatty Acids• Antioxidants• Vitamin D

The last four steps involve becoming aware of the way food makes us feel and sometimes changing long-standing habits:

• Three Food Awareness Steps:• ReduceorEliminateRefinedCarbs• Reduce Salt• Identify and Reduce Allergic Foods

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The human brain is profoundly affected when micronutrients areneglectedandrefinedmacronutrientsareexcessive.Brainneurons burn through a lot of energy. The brain is only 2% of the body’s weight but uses 25% of the body’s glucose fuel.

So brains need a constant supply of fuel and nutrients to be at their best. They also need to run clean. Modern diets can createachroniclowgradeinflammationinthebrain.Whenthis happens the microstructures brain cells use to talk to each other start acting funny. It’s hard for those same cells to make enough energy.

There’s many ways to boost brain power naturally (using it being one of the best!) All of them work better when the Basic Seven Steps are covered.

ThefirstfiveStepsareprettysimple.Findtherightpillsinthehealth food store and take them most days. The last three Stepsaremoredemanding.Theyrequireustogrowourknowledge and awareness. We need to be ready to work on our relationship with food.

Don’t attempt all Eight Steps at once. Giant steps rarely “take” ... at least when it comes to nutrition. Baby steps are better. Let the changes become a part of your routine.

That done … then more baby steps.

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Step 1: B Vitamins

Energy Boosters. Best Taken in the Morning.

Everything we do takes energy. Our cells make this energy by oxidizing ... “burning”, in a sense ... carbohydrate and fat fuels. Tiny mitochondria combustion engines are found everywhere in every single cell. But the “burning” takes place at a controlled pace, in a watery environment, at low temperatures. How does this happen?

B vitamins make it possible. B vitamins are catalysts for the body’s production of energy. They’re essential, which means our bodies can’t make them and so we need to get them from food.

And that can be tricky because the heat of cooking destroys some B vitamins.

This article describes why we need B vitamins and how to take them. For a summary of the peer-reviewed evidence base on the effects B vitamins have on mental health, go here.

B Vitamins: Crucial Catalysts

B vitamins are also critical catalysts for the processes by which the body puts together and takes apart the huge numbers of different molecules it needs to run. B vitamins are critical to the production of neurotransmitters in the brain and throughout the nervous system. They’re also vital to the enzymes the body uses to take those neurotransmitters apart again and disarm them once their job is done.

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What’s a catalyst? Let’s take a moment to review just what catalysts do.

To start many chemical reactions a certain amount of energy has to be brought to bear. If we want to light a candle we use a lighter.

The energy that starts a chemical reaction is called the activation energy. When the wick gets hot it burns on its own until the candle is gone.

Catalysts lower the activation energy needed to start a reaction. Again, the B vitamins in our cells allow oxidation to take place at a low temperature, in a watery environment, at a controlled rate. So they’re essential to our bodies’ energy production.

This of B vitamins as the “sparkplugs” in our cells’ engines.

Why can it be hard to get enough B vitamins from food? Generally we cook it and/or eat too many leftovers. B vitamins are fragile critters. They break down in heat and wash out in water. Some of them will break down when exposed to air or ultravioletlight.Itwastheharnessingoffire…cooking…thatstartedusdowntheroadtoBinsufficiency.Whenwestartedgrindingourgrainstomakeflour,thetrendaccelerated.Bvitamins are found in the husks of whole grains; that’s why it’s a good idea to eat them cooked whole (true, cooking doesn’t destroy all the B vitamins … just some of each one.)

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Meet the Bs ...

There are generally considered to be ten different B vitamins. They are:

B1 ThiaminB2 RiboflavinB3 NiacinB5 Pantothenic acidB6 PyridoxineB7 BiotinB9 FolatesB12 Cobalamin PABA Inositol

So Why Are Bs Important?

B vitamins get involved in just about everything the body does.

If they’re not helping the body burn energy they’re helping it make or break down tens of thousands of molecules the body creates and destroys every second.

Thiaminekeepstheheartbeating.Riboflavinprotectsourvision. Niacinamide, one of the three forms of vitamin B3-niacin-levels the peaks and valleys of bipolar behavior. Cobalamin preserves the myelin sheathes insulating the nerves.

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Each B vitamin has their own special role in the body … often more than one. B vitamins are essential: we can’t make them, so we need to get them from outside sources. They’re water-soluble so the body doesn’t store any excess, excreting them instead in urine.

My clinical experience has been that there are few people who don’t experience more energy, optimism and mental clarity when they supplement regularly with a good B complex.

How to Source and Take Bs

I usually recommend B-50 products. These are made by many different companies and are widely available in groceries, pharmacies and health food stores. There is no single B vitamin known as “B-50”, rather, these products are formulas made up of either 50mg or 50mcg of each of the B vitamins; roughly 8-12 times the Daily Value (DV) levels (except for folic acid, which is usually limited to Daily Value levels.)

Since the body easily rids itself of excess amounts of most B vitamins there’s little or no danger in taking these elevated levels, with a couple of caveats.

Failingtorecognizeourbodies’needforadequateBsisdangerous.Bvitaminsarefrequentlyessentialpartsoftheenzymes that help our digestive systems absorb Bs in the gut.Studiesshowthatifmammalsaredeprivedofadequateamounts of B vitamins for long periods they lose some of theirabilitytoabsorbBslater,evenwhengivenanadequatesupply. This is one of the reasons for taking generous doses

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of Bs; the other has to do with the fact that in modern societies certain critical body areas typically experience alossofcirculatoryefficiencyasweage.Thisconcernisespecially relevant to physical medicine issues.2 However, given increasing indications that atherosclerosis may impact blood circulation in the brain as humans age, the problem of poor circulation may also impact mental health concerns. The evidence is particularly strong linking poor cerebral blood circulation to Alzheimer’s.

Resupplying Bs after not supplementing them for years

If you haven’t been supplementing with Bs for years or decades,takingtoohighadosetooquicklycanmakeyoufeel sick.

Bs aren’t bad for you. They’re crucial. And my experience has been that when someone has a bad reaction resupplying Bs after not taking them for very long periods of time, it’s actually a good sign. It means that they’re very likely to feel a marked improvement after getting over an initial hump. It’s just that toomuchtooquicklyisn’tagoodideainsuchacase.

The solution here is to start very slowly, and come up to a B-50 level of supplementation over a period of months. A liquidBcomplexistheticket.

(There’snothingsuperiorabouttheliquidform…it’sjusteasier to adjust the dosage precisely when measuring in drops.)

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Here’sthewayitworks:mostliquidBsdoseat1tsp-1tbsp/day. The most B-deprived should:

• startat2drops/dayforthefirstweek,• increasingto4drops/daythesecondweek,• 6dropsthethirdweek• andsoonuptoabout10-12drops.

An eyedropper is useful; these are commonly available at pharmacies and almost all health food stores.

Once one reaches 10-12 drops/day people in otherwise decent health can start increasing their dose by four drops/day each week, up to about twenty drops/day. Going from nothing to 20 drops/day, about ½ dropperful, seems to be the tricky part. After that, going from ½ dropperful to ¾ dropperful the next week, then 1 full dropper the next, then 1 ½ droppers the next, and so on until reaching the full label-recommended dose.AtthatpointcontinuewiththeliquidorswitchtoaB-50pill as one prefers.

If one is elderly or taking pharmaceuticals, it’s imperative tocheckinwithyourpharmacistand/oraqualifiedhealthprofessional before beginning any supplement program.

Step 2: Trace Minerals

No Oxides, Sulphates Sulphides or Carbonates Please

If B vitamins are the cell’s spark plugs, trace minerals are its nuts and bolts. Very important parts of everything the body

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makes, they’re not much by weight or volume but critical for hormones, enzymes, neurotransmitters, cell walls, bones, the connective tissue holding it all together. Without tiny amounts of trace minerals nothing gets built.

Key trace minerals like magnesium and zinc are also important antioxidants,preventing the slow “rusting” of the bodywecallinflammation.It’snowrecognizedthatchronic,low-gradeinflammationunderliesallthechronicdiseasesofaging.

The body’s digestive juices don’t dissolve pieces of solid metal very well. Inorganic salts like oxides, sulfates or carbonatesdissolveinstomachacidjustfine,butthenanewproblem arises—intestinal walls are made up of long-chain proteins,electrochemically“neutral”.Thefree-floatingmetalions left behind when their oxide (sulfate or sulphide) groups take off carry an electrical charge. The difference in these charges causes the metal ions to stick to the intestinal wall—so they can’t get through and therefore aren’t well assimilated. The solution is to surround the metal ions with amino acids, a process known as chelation. (This chelation is not the strong protein-bonding action of EDTA, used in chelation therapy to pull toxic metals out of the body. These chelates are strong enough to withstand stomach acid, but not so strong that they can’t release their metal ions back to the body when the time comes.)

Unchelated trace mineral pills are common because they’re usually cheaper and smaller. Some digestive systems will do the work of chelating the minerals, but as we get older our ability to do this well can decline. That’s why it’s important

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to buy a trace mineral supplement that’s already chelated. Because this knowledge isn’t widespread, the best formulas tend not to sell. Therefore they don’t get as much shelf space (or indeed any at all) at the local health food store. You may have to hunt for them or special-order them.

It’snotenoughtofindamineralsupplementthatsaysonthefront of the label in large type that it’s chelated. You have to turn the bottle over and read the tiny type on the back: many manufacturers only partly chelate their products so they can call them chelated on the label while still keeping the pills small and cheap. People like small pills. But if you see any oxides,sulphates,sulfides(akasulphides)orcarbonatesbackthere you it’s not completely chelated.

You’llhardlyeverfindfullDailyValue(DV)dosesoffullychelated trace minerals in a multi-vitamin. There’s too much of a premium placed on keeping the pills small and few. My quicktestistocheckthemagnesium.Ifthere’s400mgofmagnesium in the supplement and none of it is magnesium oxide, that’s a very good sign. (If the small print doesn’t tell you what form the magnesium is in, that’s not a good sign. If it’s a good form (no oxides, sulfates, sulphides or carbonates, remember) but it’s less than 400 mg, that’s a slightly better sign. Best is 400 mg or more.

Unlessonereceivesspecificmedicalguidance,it’snotagood idea to take large amounts of single minerals, especially chelated ones (they’re absorbed so much better.) Trace minerals compete with each other for transport through the body and if you take large amounts of one you’ll crowd out some of the others and run the risk of hard-to-identify

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deficiencysymptomsdowntheroad.Instead,it’sbesttoget a good trace mineral formula. As of this writing I’m recommending a product made by a small manufacturer in Norwalk, American Dietary Labs.

ADL makes the housebrands for a number of smaller health food stores, and they have a product that goes by different names in different stores. The best way to order it is to call them (believe it or not they don’t seem to have a website!) Estelle is the manager and can be reached at (800) 423-8837. The product number is 387410 (100 count) or 387425 (250 count). Not only is this one of the few products I’ve ever found that gives full Daily Value (DV) levels of all crucial trace minerals in a fully chelated form, it’s also the cheapest!

A close second is Nature’s Plus Ultra-Mins. You may have to have your local health food store order this for you, although some stores do carry it. (Product #3300). This formula is probably better for vegetarians like myself because of its high ironcontent;ifyou’reanomnivoreyoumightwanttofindonewithout iron.

It’s important to avoid mixing one’s trace minerals with whole grains. Whole grains contain phytic acid, which can bind with themineralsandmakethemdifficulttoabsorb.

When we start resupplying trace minerals to a mineral-depleted body it’s usually a much smoother process than resuppling B vitamins to a B-depleted body. Every once in someone will get a little nauseous when taking trace minerals, this usually means liver trouble. If this happens to you cut back, take fewer capsules (or pills) either by reducing one’s

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daily dosage or taking them every second or third day instead of every day. One can also try taking them with meals. It might be good to get a liver checkup.

Step 3: Essential Fatty Acids

If the oil’s not in the refrigerator at the store, go look for one that is.

If B vitamins are like the spark plugs of our body’s cells, if trace minerals are the nuts and bolts, then essential fatty acids (EFAs) are the electrical system. They help move electrical currents through our cells, serve in the control mechanisms of a wide array of essential body functions, and while they’re not usually burned as a main fuel they are involved in running a number of the body’s “accessories.”

This article describes why we need EFA supplements, how to pick a good one, and how to take them. For a look at the effects EFAs have on mental health, go here.

More precisely EFAs are used to construct membranes and create electrical potentials. The body can easily alter the shape and structure of EFAs creating new molecules which are crticial to some of the most active tissues of the body. The brain, sense organs, adrenals and testes are all highly dependent upon EFAs for their proper function. EFAs attract oxygen, generate electrical currents as well as move them, help transform light into electrical signals and then into nerve impulses. EFAs can be processed by enzymes into prostaglandins, hormone-like substances that control the operation of all body tissues.

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Currentlyenjoyingawaveofpopularity,EFAsuntilquiterecently were fairly routinely ignored. This nutritional problem, like many others, had its genesis near the end of the nineteenth century, when the rapid growth of cities began to disrupt age-old relationships between farmers and their customers. Until the late nineteenth century, most people, if not growing their food themselves, knew the people who did personally (much like today’s patrons of farmers’ markets.) But in the 1880s and 1890s these relationships began to be disrupted as farmers had to transport their products farther and farther from where they were produced. In an age before refrigeration these farm products started spoiling. Late nineteenthcenturychemistsgottoworkandquicklyidentifieda fraction of the food products which were spoiling much more rapidly than the rest. They invented ways of removing these offending substances from the food to make them more palatable. The easily-spoiled substances they targeted were the omega-3 (w3) essential fatty acids.

Unfortunately, the very same highly reactive properties that led the chemists to remove w3 EFAs from food are precisely the same properties that make them so vital in co-ordinating the operations of our cells. Neurotransmitters can’t bind to their receptor sites without w3 EFAs, which are found in abundance insynapses, the small gaps between neurons that must be crossed by electrochemical signals if nerves are to communicate. When a hormone or neurotransmitter encounters a target cell the messenger is rarely allowed to enter directly. Instead, the hormone or neurotransmitter usually binds to a receptor site that then generates a second messenger molecule that carries the signal to the nucleus of the cell (or other organelle) so that the cell can respond to the

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signal. These second messenger molecules are also made from w3 essential fatty acids.

EFAs are commonly divided into three groups, omega 3 (w3), omega 6 (w6) and omega 9 (w9). The number refers to a bit of rather arcane information: the number of atoms from one endofthemolecule(themethylend)wherethefirstdoublebonded set of carbon atoms occurs. As a function of the chemical nature of these molecules, w3s are the most highly reactiveandthusoxidize,orspoil,thequickest.W6saretherefore much more common in food because they’re more stable. W3 EFAs and w6s play opposite roles in much of the body: for example, w3 EFAs are used to create naturally anti-inflammatoryprostraglandins,andw6screatenaturallypro-inflammatoryones.

In order for the body to function properly it has to maintain a delicate balance between w3s and w6s - too much of one or the other and problems ensue. In modern diets, w6s tend to vastly outnumber w3s. This is not just because the w6s are more chemically stable but also because most commerically produced vegetable oils are much richer in w6s than in w3s. Thebestsourcesofw3EFAsarefishandflaxseedoils.W6-richoilslikecornorsafflowertendtobefavoredbyrestaurants and processed food manufacturers.

Iusuallysuggestthatmypatientsuseflaxoilastheirsource,largely because it’s important to supplement these critical molecules on a daily basis and because with today’s polluted marineenvironmentsonehastobecautiousaboutone’sfishconsumption.Pureflaxoilisnotthebestwaytogo,however.It’s so rich in w3s that the delicate balance between w3s and w6s can be upset in w3s favor.

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Sourcing EFAs

I’malsovery,verypickyaboutwhatbrandofflaxoilsupplement my patients use, largely because of concerns about manufacturing and distribution practices. W3 EFAs are so highly reactive that they easily oxidize if they come into contact with brass, which happens to be a common metal usedinthefittingsforcommercialoilpressesandbottlingequipment.Oxidationinw3oilsisachainreaction:oxidizeone molecule and it will go on to oxidize another, which then oxidizes another, and so on. So some commercially-prepared w3 products are spoiled before they even reach the consumer.

One clue: is the oil refrigerated when you buy it? If not, at best the manufacturer isn’t aware of this problem; at worst, they don’t care.

Udo Erasmus, the researcher who wrote the book on this subject, Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill, works with a company called Flora Brand to put out a well-balanced product called Udo’s Choice Oil Blend. It’s the only product that I feel comfortable recommending because, not only did Udo write the book on the subject, but Flora Brand is the only company I’m certain has gone to the trouble of fabricating their own, custom,non-reactivefittingsfortheirbottlingandpressingequipment.Theyalsomakesuretheiroilsarerefrigeratedfrom the moment they’re pressed until they’re picked out of the cooler case at the local health food store.

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Step 4: Antioxidants

The brain runs better when it’s clean.

Human bodies are much more complex and interesting ... but to continue our auto analogy if B vitamins are like the spark plugs of the body, trace minerals like the nuts and bolts, if EFAs are like an electrical system, then keeping our bodies in abundant supply of antioxidants is like keeping every part of the car clean. Paint, interior, inside the dashboard, wiring harnesses,lightfixtures,insideandoutsidetheengine-allofit, clean.

This article describes why we need antioxidants supplements and how to use them. For a look at the peer-reviewed evidence base on antioxidants and mental health, go here.

Ever notice how much smoother your car runs when it’s clean? Don’t laugh. Much of the work an engine does is to push the car against wind resistance, especially at speeds over 30 mph. When a car is covered with dirt there’s a lot more drag as it moves through the air; washing the car and covering it with wax helps it slip much more easily through the atmosphere and so the engine has less work to do.

Antioxidants keep our bodies running “clean.” They work by soakingupfreeradicals,sofirstalittlechemistry’sinorder.Atoms are groupings of protons (with a positive charge) andelectrons (with a negative one and neutrons (with no charge.) Electrons “orbit” in pathways called shells around their proton/neutron nuclei. It’s in the nature of atoms to have either one or two electrons in their outer shells; two electronsintheshellmakesforastableconfiguration,but

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having only one electron in the outer shell makes the atom veryelectrochemicallyactive.Thathalf-filledoutershellwantsanother electron to make it balanced and stable. This is the force that leads to molecules ... when two atoms with half-filledoutershellsfindeachothertheyjoinforcesandcreateabond.

Hook up a few or a few dozen or dozens of atoms in this way and preto - a molecule. The balance of electrical forces between atoms gives the molecule a characteristic shape; and it’s this shape which gives it its chemical properties. Howmuchtemperatureisrequiredtomeltabunchofthesemolecules, what color they are, how something behaves ... all flowfromtheshapeandsizeofthemoleculesthatmakeitup,their number and the balance of electrical forces holding them together.

Free radicals are tiny molecular thieves. They’re highly reactive molecules with an unbalanced outer shell; this means thatthey’requickandreadytostealelectronsfromother,larger, more electrically balanced molecules wherever free radicalsfindthem.

Now what makes those larger molecules useful, useless or toxic to the body is their shape. And what gives them their shape is the balance of electrical charges. Throw a bunch of electrochemically larcenous free radicals into an organic structure and they start grabbing electrons willy-nilly from the outer orbitals of the atoms making up that complex organic structure. Things go downhill fast. This process is called oxidation, though this is not the useful, energy-generating kind of oxidation that goes on in the mitochondrial energy-

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factories of the cells. This oxidation is more like the kind of oxidation that happens to the paint of a car that gets parked in the backyard for ten years or the skin of a chain smoker.

A similar thing happens to vegetable oils, especially when they’re heated. Hot oils exposed to air oxidize, and this oxidation itself creates more free radicals. As we’ve seen, oxidationinorganicfluidsfrequentlybecomesachainreaction in which one oxidized molecule becomes a free radical itself and goes on to oxidize still more molecules. In a solid oil-containing food this process is visible in a piece of cheese left out overnight on the counter. The discolored, slightly shrunken, cracked edges and surface of the cheese have oxidized. In common language we speak of the same process and something becoming spoiled, rotted, rancid.

Our bodies generate large amounts of free radicals all the time as they are produced by the energy-generating oxidizing processes going on in each cell at every moment. Immune cells digest their targets by generating large amounts of free radicals which then destroy the offending microbes (or other substances) by stealing so many electrons from their organic molecules that their structures dissolve. Sort of like being sandblastedtodeath.Wecallthisprocessinflammation.

We also absorb free radicals from air pollution, cigarette or exhaust smoke, and rancid fats and oils in our food. Food that’s fried in oil that’s exposed to air and not changed frequentlycanbeheavyinfreeradicals.

In the normal course of things the body soaks up these free radicals, protecting itself by generating antioxidant molecules

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either internally or by consuming them by mouth. But sometimes things get out of control, particularly after toxic exposures or during infections or auto-immune conditions, and it’s smart to get help.

Antioxidants work by being more electrochemically attractive to free radicals than are the body’s own organic molecules in cells and tissues. There are literally tens of thousands of different antioxidants. Vitamins C and E and A are three of the best known; there’s also super-oxide dismutase (SOD, which migrates to joints), beta-carotene (which the liver converts to vitamin A but which is a potent anti-oxidant in its own right), Co-Q10 (which in another role is an important part of the energy-generating Krebs cycle) and alpha-lipoic acid (which has a special anti-aging role in that it protects mitochondrial DNA, making it very useful for diabetics.) There are also thousands upon thousands of other antioxidants grouped into twolargeclasses:thewater-solublebioflavonoids,chemicallyrelated to vitamin C, and carotenoids, related to vitamin A. Selenium is an anti-oxidant mineral which appears to play a role in cancer prevention.

Bioflavonoidsandcarotenoidsarefoundinabundanceinbrightly colored fruits and vegetables. Vitamin C is found in abundance in the inside, soft white part of citrus fruit peels, the cortex (not the peel itself, which contains toxic turpenes.) Dark green leafy vegetables like chard, collard greens or cale are also rich natural sources of vitamin C.

When most antioxidant molecules absorb a free radical they’re generally out of action for awhile. Vitamin C plays a particularly special role here as it’s such a powerful

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antioxidant that it can accept free radicals from other antioxidant molecules, recharging them. If one thinks of all the other antioxidants as beat cops, out on the street collaring common criminals, then vitamin C is the jail - once a beat-cop antioxidant transfers its free radical prisoner to a vitamin C hoosegow, it’s capable of going back out into the molecular arnachy and collaring more corrosive free radicals.

Most mammals can make large amounts of vitamin C in their own bodies, interconverting it with blood sugar (blood sugar becomes vitamin C and vice versa, as needed.) A few higher primates (including us) and guinea pigs are the only mammals that can’t. Our ancestors were apparently living in an environment rich enough in vitamin C containing fruits and vegetables that roughly 40 million years ago our bodies lost interest in going to the trouble of making it themselves.

Linus Pauling, the two-time Nobel prize winner, gained notoriety a couple of generations ago by investigating this at some length. He measured the amount of vitamin C generated by a number of different mammalian species, averaged the amounts across species and then calculated how much vitamin C humans would produce if this amount was adjusted to an average human weight of about 170 lbs. He determined that if we were making as much vitamin C per pound of body weight as the average mammal we’d be generating about 17,000 mg/day.

The fact that in most mammalian bodies large amounts of vitamin C are generated from blood sugar means that sugar and vitamin C share the same cellular transport mechanisms. Andthismeansthatconsumingsubstantialquantitiesof

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sugar can block the body’s utilization of vitamin C, a prospect that should give pause to anyone considering the use of “chewable” vitamin C products containing large amounts of sugar.

There’s a dynamic in chemistry whereby when the end-product waste of a chemical reaction builds up in the vicinity of the reaction itself it tends to inhibit and ultimately shutdownthereaction.Lightacandleflameinsideofaglasscupandcoverthecup;soontheflamewillgooutascarbon dioxide builds up inside the cup. Carbon dioxide is a byproduct of combustion; as it builds up it inhibits the flameuntilultimatelythere’ssomuchCO2thereactioncan’tproceed.

Linus Pauling observed that human immune systems need vitamin C to function. Remember that immune cells attack their targets by generating large amounts of corrosive free radicals. Sinc vitamin C soaks up these free radicals Dr. Pauling reasoned that if large amounts of vitamin C were takenwhenthebodywasfightingoffaninfectiontheimmunesystemwouldbeabletooperateatitspeakdesignefficiency.

When a mammalian body has absorbed enough vitamin C it gets diarrhea. This is called taking vitamin C to bowel tolerance. Dr. Pauling also observed that if a mammal was activelyfightingoffaninfectionitsboweltolerancewouldincrease, sometimes by a very large factor. Humans, for example, usually hit their bowel tolerance for vitamin C somewhere in the neighborhood of 6-7,000 mg. But if a humanisfightingoffacoldorotherinfectiontheycansometimes take 15, 20 or in acute situations even 30 gms

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before getting diarrhea. Dr. Pauling thought that this showed that taking large amounts of vitamin C was sometimes justified;heconcludedthatifwewantourimmunesystemstofunction at peak capacity we should ideally consume enough to be within about 5% of our bowel tolerance.

This idea didn’t go over very well with the medical scientists of his day (it still doesn’t sometimes. Nevertheless, my own personal experience and the experience of those of my patientswhotrythisapproachfindthatit’sararefluorcoldthat will survive 2-3 rounds of taking vitamin C to bowel tolerance. This can be accomplished in a single, very long (and somewhat, but only mildly uncomfortable) day.

Dr. Pauling and his associates went on to speculate that some schizophrenics might be suffering from chronic subclinical infections. They claimed that they were able to ease the suffering of some of these folks by dosing them with large amounts of vitamin C. This therapeutic application was even more poorly received than the last. Part of the problem Dr. Pauling had in the 1950s was the political polarization of the day. Nutrition was associated with progressive social movements and in the 1950s this carried a more negative connotation than it does today. The ease with which nutritional therapies are defeated by poor research design makes it easy to produce follow-up studies that don’t replicate early results. Dr. Pauling and his associates started their own journal.

In any event I myself take 3-5,000 mg of vitamin C/day and findthatwheneverIdomythoughtsbecomeclearerandmymind more alert within a few moments. Those of my patients

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who also follow this regime as part of their nutritional program report that a wide variety of ailments, particularly those with inflammationasacomponent(asinchronicpaincomplaints)seem to be eased.

Oxidative stress is the term used by medical scientists to describe the effect on body tissues of over-exposure to oxidizing free radicals (aka: undersupply of antioxidants.) In the brain oxidative stress has been linked to chronic emotional stress, neurodegenerative disease, cognitive impairment and the dementia of aging, chronic fatigue syndrome, schizophrenia and autism.

Vitamin C is important from at least two other perspectives. It’s essential to the production ofcollagen, the gluey raw material for all kinds of connective tissue. Udo Erasmus, the author cited in the previous section, puts this very cogently. He says, “without vitamin C, we’d dissolve into puddles of cellsonthefloor.”VitaminC’sfree-radicalclearingactionisalso critical to the RNA transcription process I mentioned with respect to trace minerals a few sections ago. Free radicalswiththeircorrosiveinfluencecanplayhavorwiththedelicatedanceofDNA,RNAandaminoacidsthat’srequiredto produce the proteins of hormones, neurotransmitters, enzymes and tissue replacement. That’s another of the reasons cigarette smokers and alcoholics tend to age so quickly:thecorrosiveactionofsmokeandboozeonthebodynot only attacks body tissues themselves but then inhibits the process of tissue replacement so the damage can’t be repaired. This is how we get old before our time.

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Step 5: Vitamin D

One of the big changes humans have experienced over the last few thousand years ... and particularly the last few hundred ... is that we spend a lot more of our time indoors.

That means we don’t get as much vitamin D as we’re designed to need. Vitamin D generally comes from being exposed to sunshine.

And that’s a big deal. Vitamin D plays all sorts of crucial roles in the body, in addition to its well-known job of regulating calcium metabolism:

• It regulates cellular growth and differentiation. That means it’s important for cancer prevention.

• It regulates receptor sites on our cells, controlling the signals that tell our genes what to do.

• AdequatevitaminDhasapowerfuleffectonthehealth of the epithelial lining of the cells in our intestines.ThismeansthatinadequatevitaminDis one of the factors setting us up for “leaky gut syndrome,”aconditionthatcreatesinflammationthroughout the body and is related to issues as diverse as anxiety and depression, auto-immune disease and cancer.

Soit’scrucialtogetadequatevitaminD.Irecommend2-4,000 IU/day of vitamin D3. Avoid vitamin D2, it’s an inactive form that does nothing for us.

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Step 6: Food Allergies: Watch Those Favorite Foods

Allergies create chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation wears us out.

Cytokines are immunomodulators that also function as neurotransmitters and are released when the immune system is activated. Some people experience stress because they’re unwittingly keeping their immune systems working in overdrive by stimulating them with allergy-generating foods. Unfortunately, it’s easy to become addicted to foods that trigger allergies.

Digestion is a very energy demanding, complex process. That’s one of the reasons stress hormones redirect blood away from digestion when we’re stressed. If we’re running or fightingforourlivesweneedallourbloodandenergyforthat- it’s not time to be digesting food. That’s why on occasion people lose their appetite when stressed or have gastric distress if they’re unexpectedly disturbed while eating.

Our gastrointestinal tract has to break down the proteins in our food into their amino acid constituents; carbohydrates get brokendownintosugars.(Fatsgetemulsifiedandabsorbedthrough a different route.) Digestive enzymes have to be secreted, stomach and intestinal walls have to contract, massaging the whole solution and moving it through the gut ... all this takes a lot of energy and a lot of nutrients which are sometimes in poor supply.)

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If digestion weakens then the gut may not be able to do its job. Stress weakens digestion; so does normal aging. When digestion is compromised proteins may not break down completely into their constituent amino acids. This allows randomized protein fragments to leak through the gut wall into thebloodstream.Thisleakageworsensifthegutisinflamed.

Andit’seasyfortheguttobecomeinflamedwhenthisgoeson because once the protein fragments are in the bloodstream they encounter the immune system. The immune system also has a very demanding job. Immune cells are constantly circulating through the body trying to distinguish what’s us from what’s not us. It does this by examining the shapes on the surfaces of everything it encounters. If the shapes immune cells encounter tell them that something is part of us, they leave it alone. But if the shapes are not right (as in the case ofourundigestedproteinfragments)theyflagtheoffendingmolecules as foreign invaders (called antigens) and begin to mountaninflammatoryimmuneresponse.

Free radicals are generated which oxidize the invading antigensbutalsocreatetheinflammation.Whenthishappensin the gut wall a vicious cycle occurs as the tissues can become so porous that even more incompletely digested protein fragments can enter the blood, triggering still more inflammation.Cytokinesaregeneratedandaccessthewholebodythroughthebloodflow.Inflammationcanmaketheblood brain barrier more porous as well as the gut, particularly ifthey’reundernourished.Thisallowssubstancestoflowintothe brain that would not normally be allowed. Some cytokines can cross the blood brain barrier and have been associated with changes in psychological state. The reactions can be complex and idiosyncratic.

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Thecommonnameforthissequenceofeventsisallergy.Abody going through such an allergic reaction registers the increase in cytokines as an emergency; this provokes the HPA axis into releasing stress hormones in response. These stress hormones have multiple actions, one of which is to stimulateanincreaseinbloodsugartofuelafightorflightorhypervigilant state. Of course we’re not actually running or fightingandtheriseinbloodsugarlevelcansetinmotionanendocrine cascade involving dopamine and serotonin release. This is how we can become addicted to the foods that trigger this immunoendocrine cascade.

There’s two relatively simple ways one can tell if this is going on.

1. The simple way: check the pulse before and after eating something. Because the release of cytokines stimulates the release of stress hormones, the pulse rate will increase noticeably. If this happens then it’s likely that an allergic reaction is happening. If it’s not happening an allergic reaction might still be in process; double-check the results by doing the following,moredefinitivetest:

2. Challenge Allergy Testing is something anyone can do themselves. Use it to monitor your changing reactions to foods and other problem substances. Feedback is direct and immediate, and once you grasp the way it works with food you can use it to test your reaction to all kinds of things, not just foods.

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• Startbykeepingafive-dayfooddiary.Don’tbegood—be yourself. It’s not going to help if you alter your habits for the purpose of the test. Write down everything you eat.

• Whenyou’redone,reviewyourlistandlookforfoodsthatyoueateveryday.Ifyoufindany,markthemwithamentalyellowflag.

• Next,askyourselfifthefoodyou’veflaggedisafavoritefood.Ifso,thisistwoyellowflags.Themore you crave the food, the brighter yellow the flags.

• Finally,watchforanenergyorconcentrationdrop or mood swing (or other allergic symptom; one example might be gastric distress in Crohn’s disease sufferers) within thirty to sixty minutes after eating the suspect food. If so, this is three yellowflags,andit’stimetodotheChallengeTest.

• Stopeatingthefoodinquestionforaweek.Seeifyou can detect an improvement in energy, mood or other symptoms.

• Ifthere’sanydoubtinyourmindatthispointabout the matter, you can then reintroduce the food, eat it every day, and see if your old symptoms return. If so, you’re allergic to this food. You’ll feel it in your body and mind.

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There are at least three things that can throw off the Challenge Test’s results.

1. If you’re chronically malnourished, simply avoiding allergic foods may not produce marked positive change in your energy or moods. Cover your basics.

2. If you’re allergic to several things and you only drop one of them you may not get a clear-cut result.

3. there’s often a lag period of several days in each direction. It can easily take two or three days of abstinence for your mind to clear and your energy to re-emerge. It can also take two or three days of allergic re-exposure for fatigue and mood swings (or other aggravations) to begin again.There’s two bits of good news though: with most mild allergies, once you’ve avoided an allergic food for awhile you can have it on special occasions without triggering the allergy. Make your allergic foods delicacies, not staples. Also, since the problem is triggered by poor digestion, taking digestive enzymes can help.

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Step 7: Watch carbohydrate consumption, especially processed carbs.

Highly Addictive ... And They’re Everywhere

From evolution’s point of view, it hasn’t been very long since humans’ve had sugar. We’re designed to crave carbs; the brain in particular won’t burn anything else for fuel. But we needed to graduate from hunting/gathering and start growing grains before we could really begin indulging our taste for them. We needed to perfect industrial machinery before wecouldmakelargequantitiesofrefinedcarbslikesugarcheaply.

Throughout much of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries sugar was thought to be more of a threat to the fabric of American society than cocaine. Both sugar and cocaine stimulate the dopamine addiction/reward circuit; sugar by triggering dopamine release and cocaine by enhancing neuronal receptivity to dopamine. So what can one doifonefindsoneselfinthegripofanaddictiontosweets,pretzels,chips,cookies,muffinsorcroissants?

I’dsuggestthefirstandmostimportantthingistorealizethat if a negative worldview clouds your existence it may be nothing more than your body’s reaction to the empty calories you’re putting into it. Of course if you’re not feeling that way then you can ignore the following advice. It’s typically people who’ve experienced a great deal of stress in life, particularly the vulnerably young years, that tend to crave carbs the most.

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If you are addicted to carbs and feeling bleak, there’s two things you can do. One is to go cold turkey. Stop eating all breads, all fruit, all grains, all sweets. You may well feel exhaustedandemotionallydistraughtforthefirstfewweeks.Kicking a carb addiction can be harder than stopping heroin in some respects.

But before too long something else will happen, something magical. The clouds will break, your energy will start to return, and you’ll rediscover an optimism that you may only dimly remember.

Unfortunately you have to remain vigilant. Dopamine’s effects are persistent; your brain remembers the pleasure it felt and just like a recovering addict you’ll likely experience a constant or episodic struggle to maintain your processed-carb free status.

The Simple Way to Cure Sweet Cravings

Another, easier approach involves taking an amino acid, l-glutamine.L-glutamineenjoyedquiteavogueinthe1940sand1950sasacureforalcoholism;italsoworksquitewellfor almost all processed-carb addicts. Typically 3,000 mg/day,takenfirstthinginthemorningonanemptystomach,will do the trick. One wants to take it on an empty stomach because amino acids compete with each other for uptake and assimilation and so taking the l-glutamine with food will keep it from working. After twenty minutes it’s ok to go ahead and eat; that’s all the time it needs.

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It usually takes from 2-8 weeks for the effect to appear. It’s notquiteclearjustwhythisworks.L-glutamineisconvertedby the body into an neuronally excitatory amino acid, glutamic acid, and a sedating neurotransmitter, gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA). Perhaps the combination of the two mimics to a certain extent sugar’s dual exciting and calming effects on the brain. In any event, work it does.

Almost always. I have encountered a few patients over the years (I’d estimate less than 1%) who have negative reactions to this approach. If one feels any increase of pain or headaches one should stop the l-glutamine and take the first,moredifficultapproach.Butwhenl-glutamineworks,which is almost always, the effect is so powerful yet subtle at firstthatsomepeoplemissit-thecravingforsweetsorotherprocessed carbs just ... disappears.

L-glutamineshouldnotbetakenatthesedosagesindefinitely.If one happen to be one of the few people who don’t respond after eight weeks, stop taking it. L-glutamine isn’t carcinogenic, but brain tumors do love it and if any small brain tumors have formed they’ll grow rapidly. And glutamic acid (which can be made in the brain from l-glutamine) is an excitatory neurotransmitter; too much can be harmful.

Butthenagain,socantoomanyrefinedcarbohydrates.

Dopamine, our brains and the human condition being what it is, it’s often the case that someone who successfully kicks thecarbhabitinwhateverwayworksforthemoftenfindsthemselves back in its grip again a few months or years down

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theroad.Notinfrequentlythishappensinthefallorwinter,when the absence of light triggers endocrine changes that can result in depression. If this occurs, it typically takes much less l-glutamine to stop the carb cravings a second time than it did thefirst.Atypicaldosewouldbe1,000-1,500mg/day,againfirstthinginthemorningonanemptystomach(nosolidfoodfor twenty minutes), for a week or two. Stop the l-glutamine as soon as the carb cravings stop.

There’s also a variation of this approach that I learned from Dr. Hyla Cass ... she recommends that, when sweet cravings hit, take a 500 mg capsule of l-glutamine apart and place the powder in your mouth. Let it absorb. If you’ve got tablets, you can chew one into powder.

This creates a sudden surge of l-glutamine in the bloodstream and can help some people get through a weak moment without resorting to the weeks of high-dose l-glutamine I recommend above.

Of course, all the usual demurrers apply here. I can’t diagnose or prescribe for you without examining you and counseling you personally. If you’ve got a medical or psychological condition you need to see a doctor or a professional psychotherapist. None of the information in this course should be interpreted as diagnostic or prescriptive ... it’s intended to be solely educational.

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Step 8: Watch Your Sodium/Potassium Balance.

Overdoing Salt Damages The Body’s Electrical Generators

Salt plays a central role in human history. Salt (sodium chloride) is critical to the health of all organisms. Our bodies are designed to crave salt. Before humans started using fireaboutaquarterofamillionyearsago,wewereableto obtain most of the salt we needed by eating raw meat. Oncewestartedcookingourfood,weneededtofindsalt.Onshore breezes and fog carry some salt inland from the shore and leave trace levels of salt in vegetation that’s enough to support life. Seafood is salty. But when our ancestors ventured farther than a few miles from the ocean they had to seek salt out - and they had to be metabolically motivated if they were to make the effort. Salt had to taste good.

In every cell of our bodies there’s a “sodium-potassium pump” which functions as a miniature electrical generator. It moves more sodium out of the cell than potassium in, and since both these ions carry an electrical charge this generates a current. Cells use this electrical current to power numerous other critical processes. Without enough sodium in the diet animals can’t outrun their predators, they don’t have the energy to hunt or forage for food, there’s not enough energy to reproduce.

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Formostofhumanhistorysaltwasdifficulttoproduceandthus an expensive luxury. We still earn “salaries” and speak of people who are “worth their salt.” It’s only been in the last hundred and twenty years or so that industrialization of the food supply has progressed to the point where plentiful salt is now cheap enough for everyone.

Estimates are that our ancestors ate on average 7,000 mg potassium/day and 3,000 mg sodium/day. Typical modern diets provide 7,000 mg sodium/day and 700 mg of potassium. This complete reversal of the traditional sodium/potassium ratio plays havoc with the sodium potassium pump and a numberofcriticalcellularprocesses.Oneofthefirstthingsthat happens is that too much sodium can make us very tired.

It’s relatively easy to see this effect oneself. Some restaurants load up their food with plenty of salt to make it more delicious. Alittleexperimentationandattentiontodetailwillfindyouthe ones that do - you’ll taste it in the food. Take yourself out some afternoon to one of these restaurants. Enjoy your lunch ... but afterwards watch what happens to your energy level. The next day steam yourself a hearty portion of vegetables; dark green leafy ones like collard or chard are excellent. Take note of how much energy you feel after that meal.

Less sodium/potassium pump electricity means more acidity inside the cells. Less sodium/potassium electricity means more calcium inside the cells. This causes muscle cells to contract, leading to uncomfortable muscular tension and constricted arteries (every artery in the body is coated in muscle tissue; this helps the body send blood where

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it’s needed.) More calcium in cells can make them divide inappropriately and may also increase the production of tissue-stiffening collagen.

Morespecificallyfromthepointofviewofmentalhealth,toomuch salt in the diet pulling too many calcium ions into the cells can create insulin resistance. This is bad for the brain. A growing body of evidence suggests that this can lead to a syndrome called cerebral diabetes. This “brain diabetes” can contribute to a wide range of psychopathologies, all of which involve poor glucose utilization by brain cells.

The solution: increase potassium and reduce sodium. Read labels and consume less processed foods. High-potassium foods are better than potassium supplements, concentrated potassium can be dangerous for the heart. On the next page you’llfindalistofhigh-potassiumfoods:

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High-Potassium Foods

Fruits Vegetables Other Foods

Apricot Artichokes Bran/Bran products Avocado Beans, dried Coffee Banana Broccoli Chocolate Cantaloupe Brussels Sprouts Coconut Casaba Celery Granola

Dates Escarole Grapefruit Juice

Dried Fruit Greens (chard, collard, dandelion, mustard, beet)

Figs Kale Nuts

Honeydew Kohlrabi Salt Substitutes (“NuSalt”) Mango Lentils Seeds Nectarine Lima Beans Tea Papaya Mushrooms

Plums Potatos (french fries, baked, sweet) Prunes Parsnips Raisins Rhubarb Salt-free vegetable juice

Tomatoes “NuSalt”, potassium chloride, is available in many health food stores. Its taste is very similar to ordinary salt. Using NuSalt in cooking makes food savory while increasing potassium.

A good goal for reducing sodium: 3,000 mg/day. Diets below that level tend to be unpalatable to western tastes.

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Juice Fasting

Much More Than Simply Not Eating

Fasting has been practiced for thousands of years in cultures all over the world for health and spiritual purposes. Fasting has a reputation for calming and clearing thought, easing stress and opening one’s eyes.

It’s based on the idea that it’s natural for mammals to go for periods without food and that important body maintenance processes occur during these times.

Our bodies store excess energy in fat tissue so it’s available later. Fat serves another purpose––it’s the best place to store toxins which the body hasn’t disarmed and excreted. Toxins interfere with the body’s mechanisms. Storing toxins in fat tissue gets them out of the bloodstream and away from vital organs and the central nervous system.

Digestive processes consume enormous amounts of energy. Molecules are broken down, drawn through cell walls and and out of tissues, rebuilt. When we stop eating a lot of energy is saved. Instead of digesting new food, the body starts consuming itself, drawing on its reserves of fat, minerals and proteins to keep going. As the body breaks down fat the toxins stored within it are dumped back into the bloodstream. Since digestion is not making its usual heavy demands more energy is available for the work of disarming these dislodged poisonsandflushingthemoutofthebody.

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Fasting makes use of this natural process. By eliminating solidfoodforaperiodofthreetofivedaysormorewesetinmotion the body’s natural cleansing machinery.

It’s very important to do this in the right way. Many modern under-nourished bodies are usually already low in essential nutrients––some of these are critical to the function of our liver, kidneys, intestines––all organs involved in cleansing. Drinking strained raw vegetable (and some fruit) juices or well-strained vegetable broth is a good way to supply these nutrients. Water fasts won’t do this.

It’s also important to keep the body’s channels of elimination open and clean while fasting to assist in the elimination of the toxins the body is trying to dump. Scrubbing the skin with a loofah sponge, taking hot Epsom salt baths and sweating for 15-20 minutes afterwards (not a good idea for people with heart problems), gentle morning enemas to wash out accumulations in the large intestine––all are good ways to makesurethatthebodycanflushitselfcompletely.

The assistance of a good naturopathic physician or acupuncturist familiar with fasting or at least an experienced partner-in-fastingcanbecritical.Especiallyonone’sfirstfast,disturbingsymptomscandevelop.Theyusuallypassquickly,but it can be crucial to have experienced hands available nearby for guidance, advice and sometimes even evaluation and treatment.

Of course if one has a medical or psychological condition one shouldconsultaqualifiedprofessional.

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Above all, it’s important to end a fast in the right way. In a word:SLOWLY.Evenarelativelyshortfive-dayfastrequirestwo to three days to gradually return to a regular diet. The firstmealshouldbeextremelylight:vegetablebrothor,ifthe weather is hot, a fruit smoothie. Light salads and soups come next, with heavy protein and fatty foods reserved for at least three days after breaking the fast. When the liver is busy recovering from processing corrosive toxins the last thing it needs is a tidal wave of labor-intensive proteins and fats crashing in all at once.

It’s critical to give the liver a few days to make the transition backtonormal.Breakingafasttooquicklyisthesinglemostdangerous fasting mistake and has been known to be fatal.

When fasting is done properly, however, it can be incredibly effective.It’slikedoingregularmaintenance.Afive-dayfastdoes the work of months of other forms of cleansing. Re-establishing the regular, cleansing times of fasting that our ancestors experienced is one of the most demanding and rewarding naturopathic paths.

How To Do a Juice Fast

Before the Fast

Get a physical and an ok from a sympathetic M.D., N.D. chiropractor or acupuncturist, especially if you have a medical condition that’s left you weakened. Be sure you’re dealing withaprofessionalwhounderstandsthebenefitsoffasting,because many don’t and see it as eccentric and unnecessary. Be sure this physician understands the need to monitor you and be available while you go through the fasting process. If

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you’retakingmedicationgetspecificadvice.

Buy a good electric juicer. Champion makes industrial strength juicers that will last you the rest of your life. You want a good juicer because you’re going to be making a lot of juice. Plastic juicers can break, and you won’t be able to make enough juice by hand.

Get an enema bag from the drugstore and put it together.

Arrangefivedayswhereyouwon’thavetohandleanyofyournormal responsibilities. This needs to be a time for you. If you can arrange for a companion to fast with you it can be very helpful in those moments when you are tempted to break the fast. Be sure they’re a good companion and work out ways to take breaks from each other and handle sticky communication moments––you’re going to be seeing a lot of each other when both of you are at something less than your best.

Fill your refrigerator with large bags of carrots, celery, beets, zucchini, and anything else you want to juice. You’ll want to have many more vegetables than fruits, however. Too much fruitjuiceinanemptystomachcansetwildfluctuationsinblood sugar in motion. This will make you miserable.

Please be sure to buy organic.

During the Fast

Don’t eat any solid food. Any.

Make as much fresh vegetable juice as you want, and drink it whenever you want (at least 12 oz every two hours). It’s

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important to make fresh juice so that (a) you have something simpleandmindlesstofillupthetime,and(b)sothatthere’sas much chi as possible in the juice. Your body will need it. Be sure to have a large glass of juice every two hours, except when sleeping.

Be sure to thoroughly strain the juice. Any pulp left remaining in it can stimulate your digestive enzymes and make you more hungry. You should also be sure to thoroughly clean the juicer immediately every time you make juice; it’s much easier to do this when the waste is fresh, moist and soft.

If you’re fasting when the weather is cold or if you need a change of pace, you can also make yourself a vegetable broth. Potatoes are a good ingredient, along with any other vegetables you like. Keep it cooking all day and pour yourself cups when you’re hungry. Be sure there’s no pulp in what you drink.

Every morning give yourself a gentle enema with warm water. Fillthebagwithwaterandbesuretosqueezealltheairoutofthebag.Youcandothisbyfillingthebagwithasmuchwater as possible, screwing in the top plug, and then holding the bag against your belly with the hose coming out of the top andsqueezinguntilwaterstartstorunsmoothlyoutofthehose. If you fail to get all the air out of the bag and hose, you’ll get air in your intestines and this will hurt.

Lie on your right side in a comfortable position. You may want tomakeyourselfabedofpillowsandtowelsonthefloorof your bathroom, near the toilet. Using a lubricant such as K-Y Jelly, cover the inserted end of the hose with lubricant

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and gently insert it into your anus. Then open the valve on the enema bag slowly and take as much time as you need to to empty at least 2/3 of the content of the bag into your intestines. Don’t force anything––if you feel like you have to stop, then stop. It will get easier each time you do it.

After you’ve either drained the bag or taken as much water in as you can, pull the hose out and try to lie on your back for a minute or two. If you can, gently massage your abdomen in a clockwise direction. After awhile, you will want to empty out. Do so.

It’s crucial to wash out the intestines while fasting because the presence of food is necessary for peristalsis, the muscular pumpingthatmovesfluidthroughtheintestines.Peristalsisslows when there’s no solid food. Yet the liver still dumps toxic residues into the gut after cleansing overnight. The liver does a lot of its work at night because more energy’s available when the body’s at rest. Not washing the intestines in the morning risks a buildup of this waste and since the intestines can reabsorb some of what’s inside them, washing the waste out is a very, very good idea.

The period after the enema is usually where you get to experience the energy and clear-headedness that fasting brings.

Thefirstdayofafastisusuallyprettyeasy.Bythesecondand third days the classical idea is that serious toxin dumping is being done; you may feel pretty miserable. You can lessen your discomfort by sweating in an epsom salt bath, doing the enemas, drinking more juice and resting. Consider this a

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sacred time. By the fourth day the most aggressive part of the cleanseisover,andyourenergywillstarttoreturn.Thefifthday ... will surprise you. Let’s just say you may well come to a new understanding of how Christ and Ghandi were able to do what they did.

To End the Fast

Yourfirstmealiscriticalandshouldbesmallandextremelylight. You can have a little of the remains of the broth you’ve been making, or some miso soup. You want to eat something that takes as little energy to digest as possible. No chunks of fat or protein. Not yet.

Yoursecondmealisalmostascriticalasthefirst.Alightsaladwith a slice or two (no more) of bread is ideal. The second mealshouldnotcomeearlierthan8hoursafterthefirst.

By the second day you can start to eat somewhat normally. You still want to concentrate on vegetables and light grains, though. No heavy meats, and only a little cheese, please.

By the third day after breaking the fast (the day you break it is Day 1) you can resume normal eating habits. It’s not a good ideatoeathuge,demandingmealsforatleastfivedays,however. Take your time.

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My Fave Green Drink: Bieler’s Broth

Henry Bieler was an early twentieth century naturopath. He becamefamoustreatingthefirstgenerationofHollywoodroyalty, whereupon he was shanghai’d to New York and turned into a minor celebrity. He wrote Food Is Your Best Medicine,anearlynaturopathicworkthatprefiguredmuchoftoday’s nutrition knowledge.

This is his gentle naturopathic cleanse which emphasizes the flushingsideofcleansing,andsoreducesthepossibilityofdetox crisis.

½ lb green beans (ends removed, cut into 1” pieces)2-3 stalks celery (not heads – the individual sticks)2-3 zucchini, chopped1 generous handful parsley tops (stems removed)

Boila2qtpotofwater.Whenit’sboiling,addthegreenbeansand cook for 20minutes. Then add the celery and zucchini and cook for 5 minutes more. Then add the parsley tops and cook for 40 seconds more.

Cool, puree and drink 1-3 cups/day. The broth will keep in the refrigerator for about 36 hours, although some would say that it’s always best to consume green drinks immediately.

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Flower Essences Do Plants Pray for Us?

Waitforasunnyday.Takeaflowerstillbloomingonitsstalk,picksomepetals.Put them inafishbowlofwaterandplacethat fishbowl at the foot of the plant fromwhich the petalscame.Makesurethefishbowlgetslotsofsun.

Do this in the early morning. In the evening come back and collect the water. Strain out the petals.

Add a little brandy to preserve and refrigerate.

You’vejustmadeafloweressence.

(Be sure you know what you’re doing before using such a home-made essence for healing as I describe below; some flowersaretoxic.Theonesavailablecommerciallyaresafe.)

Flower essences are without a doubt the most magical healing system I’ve encountered. I say that as a veteran acupuncturist (a system that itself appears magical to many and still dubious to a few.)

They’re prescribed homeopathically—that is, in extremely di-lute formforspecificpatternsofsymptoms.WhiteChestnut,forexample,isforworry.Beechforfinger-pointers.Impatiensfor the impatient.

Here’s how one best uses them: take a drop of the preserved mixture and put it in any size container of water (or juice, or anything drinkable.) We’re going very dilute here deliberately.

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Take the bottle and strike it smartly against a hard surface. Any plastic water container, if tipped and bounced on a corner, will go up and down with very little physical effort if one balances it on the corner of the bottle like a little trampoline.

The bounces don’t have to be very vigorous. But one should bounce thebottle (or tap itsmartlywithsomethingfirm)100times. This process is called succussion, and homeopaths are convinced this transfers the medicinal action of the medicine into the water.

Drink the water. It’s best to keep it by one’s side and sip from it all day long. It’s not how much one drinks; it’s how often one comesintocontactwiththeenergyofthefloweressencethatseems to matter.

Theoriginal38floweressencesdescribedbyBachinthetwen-ties and thirties have recently been augmented by 106 more. Eachfloweraddressesaspecificflavorofaspecificchronicemotion. Mimulus is for fear of known origin. Aspen for fear of unknown origin. Angel’s Trumpet for fear of death.

Watchforasuddenflurryoftheemotiononeisworkingwithat the beginning, followed by both a new inner peace regard-ing the issue and often but not always a series of related syn-chronistic events. I’m no longer surprised when, say, an un-employedfloweressencetakerwillgetinterviewedandhiredwithinaweekortwoofstartingacourseoffloweressences.This seems to be particularly the case when the new hire has a lot of momentum, either by accomplishment or aspiration, in a

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particularfieldorlineofwork.

AsI’vewatchedtheeffectsoffloweressencesinpeople’slivesover the years, I’ve often found myself marveling at the similar-ities between the kinds of things I see happening and the kinds of events people talk about when they say, “my prayers were answered!”

And it’s left me wondering ... do plants pray?

More information about using and purchasing Homeopathic Flower Essences can be found at:

www.bachcentre.com/www.flowersociety.org/

And if you’re interested in my guidance with respect to picking therightfloweressencesforyou,goto:

www.naturalstresscare.org/ Flower-Essence-Coaching-Deal.html

A Little Background on Homeopathy

It’s probably a good idea to stop here for a moment, back up and cover a little background on homeopathy:

Homeopathy is the one branch of alternative medicine most favored for targeting by those who attack the proponents of non-conventional medical traditions as quacks. “Your so-called ‘medicines’ are so dilute,” the rationalists insist, “there’s nothing in them!”

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Homeopaths consider themselves a different form of rationalist. Their strong suit was the detailed and obsessive record-keep-ing characteristic of classic homeopathic practice. Homeo-paths focused on outcomes and didn’t do much to develop their theory in physical terms.

The homeopaths were convinced they’d noticed that anything taken into the body has both a large effect and a small effect, the two being mirrored opposites of each other. We drink cof-fee to wake up and become alert. Five or six hours later we’re sleepy and need another cup to keep going. People drink alco-hol to become loose, relaxed and friendly. The next day they’re hungover, irritable, tight, dangerous.

The homeopaths thought they noticed this happening with anything taken into the body, and they interpreted this as the body’s intrinsic healing ability getting rid of the substance in question.Sotheyasked,“howcanwegetthesmalleffectwith-out the large effect?” The answer they hit upon was serial di-lution.

Homeopaths take one part of a medicinal substance, dilute it with ten parts of a dilutant (water, milk sugar), shake the mix violently one hundred times and call that a 1x dilution. Take one part of a 1x dilution, go through the same process, that’s 2x. And so on.

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At 27x the chance of there being even a single atom of the original substance left in the medicine drops to essentially zero.

30x is a strong home remedy and a garden-strength clinical medicine.

It seems to work. Not only does it seem to work, but the power of the homeopathic medicine appears to become stronger the more dilute the substance (and the higher the “x” value.) This of course makes no sense in conventional biophysical terms. (It does seem to have some resonance however with recent developments in theories about the physics of faster-than-light particles ... and ancient concepts that seem to suggest chi dis-plays reverse entropy.)

Homeopathy made its reputation treating the epidemic diseas-es that swept America and Europe during the 19th century. To this day German and French physicians are trained in homeop-athy; the British royal family is a big supporter of the tradition.

But at the turn of the twentieth century a battle raged in the U.S. between the advocates of what would become today’s science-based conventional medicine and the homeopaths. The scientists would point to homeopathy’s inability to clear-ly articulate a mechanism-of-action for medicines that had lit-tle-to-nothing of the supposedly medically-active substance in them.

“You can’t call yourself scientists!” the rationalists insisted. “You can’t explain how your ‘medicine’ works!”

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The homeopaths responded, “How dare you claim to be able to really explain how something as complex as the body ac-tually works. Only God knows all that ... and he’s not talking!”

“You only have your theories which are always changing! Our ideas are consistent. We’ve got outcomes backing us up!” And they did. And do. Just not randomized controlled trials (RCTs.) Competent homeopathic diagnosis relies on its own, highly individualized disease classifications; attempts to validate itagainst western diagnostic categories tend to return false neg-ative results.

Eventually Andrew Carnegie weighed in and funded the Flex-ner Report, which standardized medical education in the US around the principles which today are the generally-accepted theoretical basis underlying the practice of conventional med-icine.

But when one looks at how rising costs foreclose access to decent care for many ... when one considers how rushed one’s doctors are today, and how many mistakes are made ... the long waits for care ... as one watches new miracle medicines later found to create side effects so severe the drugs must be withdrawn ... while the evidence supporting the medical use of substances found naturally in the body and the legacy medi-cines of hundreds of generations is deemed unconvincing ... one can be forgiven for wondering if perhaps Mr. Carnegie made, at least in part, a mistake.

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Additional Resources

Here’s how to get in touch with some of the other mental health-supporting resources I mentioned during my interview with Sean:

Mantak Chia

Mantak is a Thai civil engineer who became very interested in Tibetan Buddhism. He has a number of teaching centers all over the world where he shares the wisdom of the ancients withrespecttoenergetichealingtechniques:

http://www.universal-tao.com/

Brainwave Machines

These are the folks who make the brainwave machines that helped me so much when I was climbing out of my own depression:

www.photosonix.com/

The device I’ve used for decades is called:

The NovaPro 100

Incidentally, I didn’t make it clear during my interview with Sean that when using a machine like the NovaPro it’s important to close your eyes!

And if you want to get in touch with me:

duane@naturalstresscare.org(310) 498-2777