Day 86: Gluten/Grains Vs. Beautifying and Cultured Foods
The Hero’s Journey: The Return, Gluten and Grains; Beautifying Foods; Cultured Foods
“The hero, therefore, is the man or woman who has been able to battle past his personal and local historical limitations to the generally valid, normally human forms. Such a one’s visions, ideas, and inspirations come pristine from the primary springs of human life and thought. Hence they are eloquent, not of the present, disintegrating society and psyche, but of the unquenched source through which society is reborn.
The hero has died as a modern man; but as eternal man—perfected, unspecific, universal man—he has been reborn. His second solemn task and deed therefore (as Toynbee declares and as all the mythologies of mankind indicate) is to return then to us, transfigured, and teach the lesson he has learned of life renewed.”
- The Hero With A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
Welcome to Day 86!
Do you have your Feast-Breaking things ready? Where are you going to break your Feast, and who with?
At the beginning of the Feast, it would have been a suprise to you to hear that many people become so comfortable with drinking juices that they are not sure they want to return to the world of eating solid food. If you are experiencing these concerns, this is mainly a sign that you are very comfortable with what was perhaps daunting. The good news is that Juice Feasting is now a tool – one of your most powerful tools – for healing and life transformation. You know how to do it.
Recall Day 1 and The Hero’s Journey. The final stage on the hero’s journey involves the return. What did Joseph Campbell have to say about it? What is this classic part of the Hero Path saying about your own experience?
Refusal of the Return
Sometimes the hero is content in the new world and does not want to return to the old world. However, if the hero is to reach his/her destiny and take his/her place as leader, there must be a return.
Magic Flight/Pursuit
Sometimes the hero wants to return home, but there are forces that would like to prevent him/her from doing that.
Rescue from Without
As the hero tries to return the hero may find him/herself in a difficult situation that looks like the end of the hero’s quest. Just when things look bleak, someone comes to rescue the hero so he/she can finish the journey.
Crossing the Return Threshold
While usually not as involved as crossing the initial threshold, the hero must still return to the old familiar world.
Master of Two Worlds
As the hero completes the challenges, the hero’s bravery is noted by those around. As a result, the hero is often looked up to in the old world as well as in the new world. There are times when the hero returns to the old world and his/her message is unheard (especially if it is not what the society was expecting) or the achievements are unrecognized.
Even as a person casts off worn-out clothes and puts on others that are new, so the embodied Self casts off worn-out bodies and enters into others that are new. If the hero is successful on the journey, and if the hero is accepted back into the old world, the hero will have the freedom to live. Such heroes are generally great leaders of their people.
Finally, at this stage of the Journey, there may be several fears at work.
One is that we can actually realize all that we are capable of. Realizing our true potential can mean a shift, or shifts, in our current reality regarding relationships, work, and where we live.
Another is that when we return to eating, we are going to go food crazy. Make sure you are familiar with Feast-Breaking from the file on Day 84. Visualize now a smooth transition through feast-breaking, continuing to provide your body the most amazing nutrient-dense plant-based diet possible to continue on your path of healing and rebuilding. To further engage, please refer to:
Finally, connect in with your local Raw and Living Foods Association/Potluck right away, if you have not already done so. These groups are made up of loving, accepting, and vibrant people who will often go far out of their way to support and encourage you in transitioning to Live Foods, and thriving.
Topics of the Day: Cooked Food, Grains, and Beautifying Foods
To support you in these final days of Juice Feasting, and in moving into a dietary programme of Nutrient Dense Foods, I have placed these files towards the end of the Feast to put in better perspective the most basic way we have compromised our food, and just where our food can take us, if we understand the miracles it holds. Food is definitely one of the foundational means to our being truly beautiful in body, mind, and spirit. You will forever change the lives of so many people from here on out, with nutrition working for you at every level.
COOKING FOODS USUAULLY RESULTS IN destroying 50% of the protein, according to the Max Planck Institute, and approximately 60-70% of assimilable vitamins and minerals, up to 96% of the B12 and 100% of enzymes and phytonutrients.
Cooked and Raw Foods
This is a major subject that I include today so that you have all the information on cooking and its realities in one place. This makes for an excellent reference for you for your own support, or in discussions about the need for eating Living and Raw Foods. This file contains decades of research by some of the top leaders in the field of Live Food Nutrition: Herbert M. Shelton, Gabriel Cousens, M.D., David Wolfe, the Raw vs Cooked Cancer study offered by Steve Meyerowitz, and 24 Studies Concerning Vegan/Raw compiled by John C. Rose. Folks, this collection of information is an invaluable resource that can save lives, and keep you focused on Living Foods.
COOKED VS RAW FOODS: Gabriel COUSENS, M.D.
COOKED FOOD REALITIES: David WOLFE
EFFECTS OF COOKING: Herbert M. SHELTON
STUDY: RAW VS COOKED VEGETABLES & CANCER RISK Conclusion of Study: “Possible mechanisms by which cooking affects the relationship between vegetables and cancer risk include changes in availability of some nutrients, destruction of digestive enzymes, and alteration of the structure and digestibility of food. Both raw and cooked vegetable consumption are inversely related to epithelial cancers, particularly those of the upper gastrointestinal tract, and possibly breast cancer; however, these relationships may be stronger for raw vegetables than cooked vegetables.”
RAW FRESH PRODUCE VS. COOKED FOOD: ARE HUMANS AN EXCEPTION?
TWENTY-FOUR (24) STUDIES CONCERNING VEGAN/RAW
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU COOK FOOD?
When food is cooked above 117 degrees F for three minutes or longer, the following deleterious changes begin, and progressively cause increased nutritional damage as higher temperatures are applied over prolonged periods of time:
proteins coagulate: high temperatures denature protein molecular structure, leading to deficiency of some essential amino acids
carbohydrates caramelize: overly heated fats generate numerous carcinogens including acrolein, nitrosamines, hydrocarbons, and benzopyrene (one of the most potent cancer-causing agents known)
natural fibers break down: cellulose is completely changed from its natural condition: it loses its ability to sweep the alimentary canal clean, 30% to 50% of vitamins and minerals are destroyed,
100% of enzymes are damaged: the body’s enzyme potential is depleted which drains energy needed to maintain and repair tissue and organ systems, thereby shortening our life span
pesticides are restructured into even more toxic compounds
valuable oxygen is lost: free radicals are produced
cooked food pathogens enervate the immune system
heat degenerates nucleic acids and chlorophyll
cooking causes inorganic mineral elements to enter the blood and circulate through the system: which settle in the arteries and veins, causing arteries to lose their pliability. The body prematurely ages as this inorganic matter is deposited in various joints or accumulates within internal organs, including the heart valves. As temperature rises, each of these damaging events reduces the availability of individual nutrients. Modern food processing not only strips away natural anti-cancer agents, but searing heat forms potent cancer-producing chemicals in the process. Alien food substances are created that the body cannot metabolize.
“It’s a wonder we ever survived Wonder Bread.”
– David Wolfe
Grains
Big subject here. What about grains – they are vegan, right? The Egyptians ate grains and thrived – what is the reality of eating grains today? First, a look back at some of the commercials we were fed as parents and children about a true American miracle food, Wonder Bread. (See videos at right)
The “Enrichment” or “Fortification” of Food by Herbert M. Shelton
The so-called enrichment of white flour has given people a false sense of security. Various states have passed laws requiring the “enrichment” of all flour manufactured in or shipped into them. The people are lead, by this requirement, to believe that the “enriched” flour is good food. Never was a greater fallacy entertained. These laws were lobbied through the state legislatures by the milling companies, in an effort to head off the rising demand for wholewheat flour. They seem to have temporarily succeeded.
This “enriching” process adds a small quantity of “synthetic vitamins” but does not return to the flour the minerals that have been extracted. Seventy-five percent of the minerals of the wheat are extracted in the process of making white flour. All of the vitamins, and not just one, are removed. The present process of “enrichment” is similar to the process of sixty and seventy years ago of adding phosphorus to the flour to replace the phosphorus extracted in milling.
In the milling process organic salts are extracted. These are not returned by the “enriching” process. In the milling process real vitamins are removed. Part of these are replaced, by the “enriching” process, with fraudulent or imitation vitamins. What folly to remove the vitamins in the first place! Why not leave them in the flour and why remove them at all?
Dr. Anton J. Carlson, noted physiologist of the Department of Physiology of the University of Chicago, recently uttered a warning about this very matter in which he said that the term “enriched” applied to white flour to which a little vitamin B is added is misleading. “Such flour is still impoverished,” he said. Referring to the fact that the idea is “put across” that “enriched” flour is better than whole grain flour he pointed out that refining actually takes out salts, vitamins and proteins, only a small part of which are replaced by the “enrichment” process.
Grains contain Gluten. According to David Wolfe in his book, Eating for Beauty: “Many cereal grain seeds (such as wheat berries) are so hybridized that they contain too much gluten. Gluten is an irritating inflammatory substance that can actually burn the sensitive lining of the intestines. Products made from wheat seeds (bread, pasta) can actually cause our face to become puffy. These products, like other starchy carbohydrates (baked potato), tend to make our skin pale and pasty in appearance.
Next, we find good information on grains from Dr. Gabriel Cousens in Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine: “Grains constitute the next class of yeast/fungi/mold-stimulating foods after the high-sugar foods and fruits in particular. Research shows that stored grains ferment in 90 days. Within that time many mycotoxins are produced. In essence, stored grains are a mycotoxic hazard. A correlation was found between 112 patients with esophageal cancer and eating of stored grains (Cancer, 1987). There was a particular risk factor for stomach cancer among Scandinavian and German men eating stored grains reported in The Fungal/Mycotoxin Etiology of Human Disease, vol. 2.Stored potatoes also represent a mycotoxic risk. The black spots on them are caused by the fungi aspergillus and fusarium, which produce the mycotoxins aflatoxin and fumosium.
However, Dr. Cousens has found that grains that are not stored do not pose such health hazards, and they are used at the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center Cafe:
“Some grains are not stored and therefore are not a mycotoxic hazard. These include spelt, amaranth, quinoa, millet, buckwheat, and wild rice. Buckwheat is often thought of as a seed, but it is actually classified as a grain. Buckwheat and quinoa are the only grain-like foods that we use on a regular basis at the Tree of Life Café because they can be sprouted and served live.”
“Inner beauty creates outer beauty.”
– David Wolfe
Beautifying Foods
This section is the glowing light at the end of the tunnel today. David Wolfe, in his book Eating for Beauty did an absoultely outstanding job at highlighting some of the most incredible foods we have available to us: their histories and amazing health-promoting qualities. You will definitely, definitely want to purchase this book if you have not already done so. In this download you will learn:
The major theme is that physical beauty is a function of inner cleanliness;
It is a function of having healthy skin, hair, nails, and internal connective tissue elastically-grown from ideal raw foods containing high concentrations of the minerals sulfur, silicon, zinc, iron, and manganese.
Maintaining the proper acid/alkaline pH balance in the body is a major element.
Becoming parasite free by eating foods and herbs that flush out parasites.
Raw antioxidant compounds and foods (especially those containing vitamins A, C, and E) that help delay or slow free radical damage to cells and tissues (thus creating lasting youth).
Natural anti-inflammatory foods and food compounds that prevent or reverse facial puffiness.
Beautifying Foods Qualities
To clarify and summarize the importance of the themes in this book, the beautifying foods all possess one or more of the following qualities:
An alkaline reaction in the body.
High concentrations of the minerals sulfur, silicon, zinc, iron, and/or manganese.
Anti-parasitical effects.
High levels of antioxidants (ACE)
Anti-inflammatory properties.
Mineral rich, nutrient-dense foods are nature’s best cosmetics!
Dr. Mark Hyman: Could a slice of bread be the source of your health problems? He explains how a common compound in many foods can trigger chronic disease and even raise your risk of dying-and he tells you how to eliminate it from your diet, safely and easily.
Theme Music: “Never Die Young” by James Taylor
Dr. Glidden: Against The Grain: Why Gluten is Bad
Going Against The Grain | Dr. Peter Osborne
Today’s Downloads
beautifying foods
Because the present civilization feeds upon lifeless, indigestible materials, fast food, chemicals, drugs, and toxins of all descriptions, much of its art, architecture, cinema, music, literature, and sculpture are devoid of the raw essence of beauty.
The façade of beauty is there, but the inner seeds are not. Inner toxicity has created the dismal corporate cities we see now on the outside. We know that no other civilization has ever produced so much pollution and ugliness. Even in spite of all of this, some artists and creators are still able to produce beautiful masterpieces. Yet this is difficult when one has been disconnected from Mother Nature and her infinite source of inspiration. Read on!!!
probiotics for balanced health
Bacteria have a reputation for causing disease, so the idea of tossing down a few billion a day for your health might seem — literally and figuratively — hard to swallow. But a growing body of scientific evidence suggests that you can treat and even prevent some illnesses with foods and supplements containing certain kinds of live bacteria – probiotics.
Self-dosing with bacteria isn’t as outlandish as it might seem. An estimated 100 trillion microorganisms representing more than 500 different species inhabit every normal, healthy bowel. These microorganisms (or microflora) generally don’t make us sick; most are helpful. Gut-dwelling bacteria keep pathogens (harmful microorganisms) in check, aid digestion and nutrient absorption, and contribute to immune function.
sauerkraut - cultured vegetables
Cultured Vegetables are an ESSENTIAL food for digestive/gut health, and therefore the overall health of your body. I have personally and professionally had and heard experiences of gut dysbiosis – loose stools, intestinal distress, candida-related issues… poor nutrient assimilation… that have been partially or completely turned around by eating cultured vegetables – sauerkraut. Do not underestimate the importance of these foods in any healthy dietary approach, long-term.
Raw cultured vegetables have been around for thousands of years, but we have never needed them more than we do today. Rich in lactobacilli and enzymes, alkaline-forming, and loaded with vitamins, they are an ideal food that can and should be consumed with every meal.
Since cultured vegetables are an excellent source of vitamin C, Dutch seamen used to carry them to prevent scurvy. For centuries, the Chinese have cultured cabbage each fall to ensure a source of greens through the winter (when they lacked refrigeration). Cultured vegetables are a favorite food of the long-lived Hunzas. Yogurt ads lead us to believe that eating yogurt ensures a long life, but it’s really the active cultures of friendly bacteria (lactobacilli) inside it that are responsible for good health. Similarly, the enzymes and the high lactic acid in raw cultured vegetables promote wellness and longevity.
kefir - raw (dairy and no-dairy)
This is an incredibly important longevity and beautifying food – both in its dairy and non-dairy varieties. Many Vegans are enjoying the newly created Coconut Kefir drink developed by Donna Gates. Further, many Vegans looking to integrate some animal products into their predominantly Vegan diet have found Raw Dairy Kefir to be a beautiful, supportive choice as they move forward in their dietary journey. Donna Gates writes in The Body Ecology Diet:
“It was becoming clearer to me that kefir had tremendous healing power. With its laxative effect, it helped clean my colon. Its beneficial bacteria and yeast helped control the pathogenic yeast and repopulate my colon with a favorable, new life force. And kefir, being cultured, was much healthier than milk.
I began making kefir every day. At first I was skeptical, as I always and about new foods, so I told no one about it. Each morning I had a glass of it, and within two weeks couldn’t believe how much energy I had. When you are over 50 (as I am), if you eat the wrong foods, it shows and you look YOUR age. However, I was amazed that each day I seemed to look younger. Others noticed it, too, and kept telling me how good I looked. Any woman loves that.”
So check this out – whether you are Vegan or not. Katrina and I found kefir to be a miraculous cultured food to integrate into our Post-Vegan approach during our pregnancy with Sophia, and we continue to make and drink it with gratitude and health.
miso - tempeh - natto
Miso (pronounced mee-so) is one of the outstanding treasures of Japanese culture which has now spread from its native home to benefit all of humanity. Miso as we know it today is the result of over 2000 years of care and craft, developed within a world view which intuitively knew that food is our best medicine.
From a health standpoint, one of the reasons that Bacillus bacteria are so interesting is their ability to create a form of vitamin K called menaquinone-7 (MK-7). Vitamin K (in all forms) is an important nutrient for bone health. Sufficient intake of vitamin K is associated with decreased risk of osteoporosis, since this vitamin is involved with maintenance of bone mineral density and also with shaping of bone structure.
Miso is also a potent anti-cancer food, as well as an important anti-radiation food. See the file for more information on these important qualities of Miso.
Natto is our best source of Vitamin K2, among all animal and plant-based sources.
grains
GRAINS CONSTITUTE THE NEXT CLASS OF YEAST/FUNGI/MOLD-STIMULATING FOODS AFTER THE HIGH-SUGAR FOODS AND FRUITS IN PARTICULAR. Research shows that stored grains ferment in 90 days. Within that time many mycotoxins are produced. In essence, stored grains are a mycotoxic hazard. A correlation was found between 112 patients with esophageal cancer and eating of stored grains (Cancer, 1987). There was a particular risk factor for stomach cancer among Scandinavian and German men eating stored grains reported in The Fungal/Mycotoxin Etiology of Human Disease, vol. 2. Read on!!!
Online Articles
For healthy, acne-free skin, just say no to fried foods by Jessica Fraser
Most people with acne attempt to treat their irritated skin with external face washes, soaps, lotions and treatments. Yet, according to a number of natural health authors, the best way to treat acne is by changing your diet and getting rid of acne-causing ingredients such as fried foods.
Great Books
By James Braly, MD
Dangerous Grains turns the U.S. Food Guide Pyramid upside down by exposing the myriad health risks posed by gluten grains (wheat, rye, barley, spelt, kamut, and triticale). The authors, leading experts in the field of food allergies, and celiac disease, present compelling evidence that our grain-centered diet is to blame for a host of chronic illnesses. Largely misunderstood and frequently misdiagnosed, these disorders can be prevented and reversed by the useful program outlined in this important new book.
By William Davis
A renowned cardiologist explains how eliminating wheat from our diets can prevent fat storage, shrink unsightly bulges, and reverse myriad health problems.
Every day, over 200 million Americans consume food products made of wheat. As a result, over 100 million of them experience some form of adverse health effect, ranging from minor rashes and high blood sugar to the unattractive stomach bulges that preventive cardiologist William Davis calls “wheat bellies.” According to Davis, that excess fat has nothing to do with gluttony, sloth, or too much butter: It’s due to the whole grain wraps we eat for lunch.
After witnessing over 2,000 patients regain their health after giving up wheat, Davis reached the disturbing conclusion that wheat is the single largest contributor to the nationwide obesity epidemic— and its elimination is key to dramatic weight loss and optimal health. In Wheat Belly, Davis exposes the harmful effects of what is actually a product of genetic tinkering and agribusiness being sold to the American public as “wheat”—and provides readers with a user-friendly, step-by-step plan to navigate a new, wheat-free lifestyle.
Informed by cutting-edge science and nutrition, along with case studies from men and women who have experienced life-changing transformations in their health after waving goodbye to wheat, Wheat Belly is an illuminating look at what is truly making Americans sick and an action plan to clear our plates of this seemingly benign ingredient.
By Doug Graham
“As Dr. Graham has shown, grain crops are not a natural food for humans…grain farming has stripped the fertile Earth of its minerals. Grain crops are processed, cooked, eaten, and eliminated into the sewers and waterways of civilization. Erosion wears down unstable grain fields washing minerals away. Jungles are turned into rice paddies. One way or the other the soil minerals end up at the bottom of the ocean. Your choice to go “against the grain” radically helps the planet.” – David Wolfe
By Sayer Ji
A critically acclaimed internet classic, The Dark Side of Wheat is now available to own as a downloadable document exclusively from GreenMedInfo.com. It includes two hard-hitting essays that represent a seachange in the way wheat intolerance is comprehended; no longer a rare, strictly genetically-based disease, wheat is revealed to be a species-specific intolerance, whose role in health and disease has been greatly misunderstood since ancient times. The downloadable document also includes a 90-page quick reference guide containing hyperlinks to research on the National Library of Medicine on over 120 diseases that have been linked to wheat consumption.
The Dark Side of Wheat has changed many minds about the exalted status of wheat among secular and sacred institutions alike.
By Shari Lieberman
One of the nation’s top clinical nutritionists presents her 14-day program for treating and reversing gluten sensitivity, a condition that affects as much as 35 to 50 percent of the U.S. population and is a major contributing factor to an array of chronic illnesses
Struggling with weight gain? Plagued by fatigue? Suffering from joint pain? According to preeminent clinical nutritionist Dr. Shari Lieberman, these symptoms are among the hallmarks of a little-known but surprisingly common sensitivity to gluten, a protein in certain grains. Dr. Lieberman has been investigating gluten sensitivity for more than 20 years. In her experience, eliminating gluten can alleviate many troubling symptoms for which doctors often can’t find a cause, as well as chronic conditions for which mainstream medicine offers little hope of relief–including rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, psoriasis, fibromyalgia, lupus, and irritable bowel syndrome.
By David Wolfe
In Eating For Beauty, author David Wolfe, one of America’s foremost nutrition experts, describes how to cleanse, nourish and beautify by utilizing the benefits of a fresh-food diet. The lessons contained within this book can be applied to improve one’s appearance, vitality, and health. This book is about how to become more beautiful, not just how to maintain beauty or even slow the aging process. It is about rejuvenation at the deepest level, and the enjoyment of life.
This book contains the key for creating beauty within oneself through diet and other complementary factors. Though it explores the role of yoga, beauty sleep, and the psychology of beauty, this book is primarily about the way to eat for beauty. The Beauty Diet is based on principles of raw nourishment—representing the cutting edge nutritional science.
With scientific explanations of the human body’s chemical reactions to various elements of nutrition, physical activity and sleep, this book provides a guide for how to reach your potential for beauty. More than 30 gourmet “beauty recipes” and in-depth descriptions of beneficial foods help to steer beauty-seekers down the path of aesthetic enlightenment. The magical, beautifying secrets held within this book will help the human race reclaim one of its most divine attributes: beauty, inside and out.
Media, Films, & Documentaries
Fermented Vegetables and Healing| Joseph Mercola Interviews Caroline Barringer
Wheat Belly with Dr. William Davis, MD on Underground Wellness
William Davis, author of Wheat Belly, stops by UW Radio to discuss how eliminating wheat from our diets can prevent fat storage, shrink unsightly bulges, and reverse myriad health problems. Topics will include why excess fat has nothing to do with gluttony, sloth, or too much butter, the harmful effects of wheat, and why eliminating wheat is the key to dramatic weight loss and optimal health. Learn more about Dr. William Davis at www.wheatbellyblog.com.
Why Grain Causes Pain | Interview with Dr. Peter Osborne
Often times referred to as "The Gluten Free Warrior", Dr. Peter Osborne is one of the most sought after gluten sensitivity experts in the world. Consumption of grains affects many individuals, depending upon constitution. Dr. Osborne's practice is centered on helping those with painful chronic degenerative and autoimmune problems due to grain consumption.