Sacred Truths - Natural Health And Beyond

In this week's episode of the Cura podcast, we are covering mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy. This form of therapy has been more and more in the headlines because it has allowed hyperbaric oxygen to become readily available with the creation of the 1.3 atm and the 1.5 atm chambers. With these mild hyperbaric oxygen chambers it removes a lot of the complications of the high pressured chambers as well as the expense. Making it possible for almost anyone to enjoy the benefits of the increased oxygen saturation in the areas of the body where it is most needed. For myself, I have only recently become a convert to this form of therapy. In this case I seemed to fall into the same trap that many people find themselves, where if we don't know enough about something or haven't experienced it for ourselves then we tend to be down on it. I think this is probably something all of us have experienced at some point. For many years I have used what is known as EWOT training, or exercising with oxygen therapy. This form of training has a very similar action to hyperbaric oxygen but does require vigorous exercise to gain the benefits while breathing close to pure oxygen for short periods of time. When I was able to try the mild hyperbaric oxygen chambers for myself I realised how important they were for athletic recovery and for those that did not want to exercise or in many cases were actually struggling to be able to move. So the simplicity of being able to lie down or sit in a chamber that is filled with oxygen under pressure, that then allows a significant increase in oxygen saturation into the areas of the body that are most inflamed, and most starved of oxygen while you simple rest or read a book seems like a win win situation. As I have mentioned before I have found that the best forms of healing modalities are those that are not invasive to the body. Modalities that are simple to use and very kind. There are many benefits of using hyperbaric oxygen and I personally find it a wonderful complement to the ozone therapy. I hope you find this episode interesting.

In this episode of the Cura podcast I speak with Gemma about ozone therapy. More specifically the HOCATT. Which is a very powerful ozone sauna. This particular sauna makes use of many different healing modalities within a single session. I have personally used one for close to 3 years. I have been amazed at the power it has for healing the body. But most importantly of just how non-invasive it is. I personally have been a big fan of ozone therapy and have used it in almost every way possible for about 20 years. This has included such techniques as intravenous. A method that was taught to me by two separate doctors. The method of utilising intravenous ozone is very safe providing you know what you're doing and you are under the guidance of an experienced ozone doctor or health care practitioner. Having said that anything that is that invasive I do not feel is necessary with the exception of life threatening circumstances. I personally have been very grateful for intravenous ozone as it has made significant improvements in some health issues that I was struggling to overcome in my early twenties. But I have used it rarely which is why I was so grateful to find this particular ozone sauna. From my experience it is as powerful as intravenous ozone without ever having to be invasive to the body. Now I personally have many concerns about the company that makes this particular product but nevertheless the device is very profound in its healing ability. So in this episode Gemma and I speak in detail about the different modalities that are offered within this unit and how it can be supportive for individual health, to restore vitality and to really help the body to clear out bacteria and toxicity with relative grace and ease. There is a lot of fear around ozone and ozone therapy. Most of it is unnecessary and can make people shy away from its simple and clean way to super oxygenate the body. I hope this episode will help people have a better understanding of ozone therapy and what it might be able to offer as an alternative support for restoring balance and helping each one of us to thrive in a somewhat toxic world.

This week Gemma McDonnell and I go into a deep dive about what the refocus program (which is the collaboration between her work and Cura Romana) is all about. We speak in depth about the nature of healing. The role that patterns and traumas play in both the healing process and the physical symptoms that often express themselves through these unresolved conflicts we often carry within our body. This episode is well worth listening to even if you're not considering looking further at the refocus program but simply wanting to learn more about the power that you have and your body has to heal itself. This is a beautiful and surprising process that I continue to be in awe of. I hope you enjoy. Focus health offers an integrated, collaborative care approach to health care. We believe in order to heal, the body must be balanced in every way-mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. This approach has come about through years of working with clients. Using various methodologies we have come to the realisation that there are common thread’s affecting one's health. In order to give the body the best opportunity to heal we must detoxify both our bodies and our minds. We have spent collective years gathering the tools and knowledge and more recently the technology needed to achieve this. The ReFocus program is an holistic approach uniquely designed to help you address your health and emotional challenges. The program is made up of 10 dedicated one-on-one sessions delivered over a 5 day period. These sessions include extensive testing through kinesiology, homeopathy and followed by a nine week detoxification plan. In addition, to ensure maximum benefit and to help better support your body we utilise specialised detoxification technologies, unique and only available in the Irish market through Focus Health. Importantly, focus will be put on identifying and clearing emotional triggers and stressors that are a huge part to everyone’s optimal health.

Today I have for you an interview with Gemma McDonnell. Who has a remarkable story to share with you of her Cura Romana program. She has been on the inner circle program twice. Once with myself and once with Leslie. Using the Cura Romana protocol she has been able to overcome her Lyme disease. Through the process of working with Gemma we have become close friends and collaborators in sharing knowledge about how to support people's health naturally. This has been a fascinating process for both of us which has also led to a joining of forces to offer a programme that combines both her work with her company Focus Health and with Cura Romana. This has allowed us to be able to really help support some of the more significant health challenges that participants have been faced with. This is the first interview in a series of interviews with Gemma. In this episode Gemma largely tells her own story of Cura Romana and how it has helped her to overcome her health difficulties surrounding Lyme's disease. In future episodes we will be taking more of a deep dive into some of the protocols that she uses at focus health. Some of which I am very familiar with and have used myself and some that are relatively new to me. I do hope you enjoy this first interview.

The misrepresentations and ignorance surrounding arguments about fluoridation never cease to amaze me. Let me share with you a few of them: There is still a common belief that countries which fluoridate water have less tooth decay than non-fluoridated countries. This is completely untrue. Yes US with its fluoridated water did experience a big decline in tooth decay in the past 60 years. But the same decline in tooth decay took place in European countries and other in developed countries which had no fluoridation. The World Health Organization has made clear that there is no difference in decay between the small number of developed countries that do fluoridate their water and the majority that do not. In truth the majority of developed countries do not fluoridate their water. Actually, more people drink fluoridated water in the US alone than in the rest of the world combined. In Western Europe 97% of the population drinks water with no fluoride added to it. What few people know is that fluoride affect many parts of the body besides the teeth. It has the ability to interfere with the functions of your brain for instance. Studies conducted in China have shown quite clearly that fluoride lowers the intellectual abilities of people. You see fluoride disrupts our endocrine system. There is even recent research that shows fluoride can increase the severity of many kinds of diabetes. And since diabetes became widespread in the last 40 years this is something to be taken seriously. It has long been known by those informed that being exposed to fluoride interferes with good thyroid function. There is even a lot of information about how fluoride can increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. All of these important pieces of information come from the national research Council in the United States who did a scientific review of of the effects of drinking fluoride in water. Few people realize that fluoride is the only "medicine" which is added to public water. Of course chlorine is added to water to control the bacteria that may be present but this is not a medicine either. Many keen on bringing fluoridation into countries like New Zealand—and there is right now a big push to do this—have concocted all sorts of arguments such as claiming that fluoride is a "nutrient". National Academy of Sciences has vehemently confirmed that this is not the case. Meanwhile most countries in Europe have completely rejected fluoridation because they are aware that the water supply is a totally inappropriate way to deliver a fluoride—most definitely not a "medicine." With a medicine it is the patient who has the right to decide which medicine or drug to take. Fluoridation of the water as is done now in the UK, Ireland, a few areas of the United States and, if government has its way, is soon to be forcibly introduced to the whole of New Zealand. This is ridiculous of course since fluoride in water brings virtually no benefit to teeth. Fluoridation although it may provide good PR for dental trade associations it is bad medicine. What is needed is not fluoridated water making people more vulnerable to fluoride toxicity, but rather an improvement in diet eliminating high levels of sugar and junk food. It is sadly true that children from low income families have high levels of tooth decay. Education is the answer not fluoridation. Another aspect of fluoridation which very few people are aware of is that fluoride's toxic effects are cumulative. According to a 500 page scientific review fluoride can negatively affect your bones, brain, and even your blood sugar levels. Actually there are more than 100 studies published illustrating the harm that fluoride does to the brain alone as well as another 43 studies showing how fluoride can reduce the IQ in children. Here are some of the conditions which fluoridation and overexposure to fluoride can lead to: muscle disorders arthritis increased tumor and cancer rates damage sperm and increased infertility inhibited formation of antibodies and immune system disruptions there is no way that fluoride should be ingested through the waters we drink this is why the EPA’s research laboratory have classified fluoride as "a chemical having substantial evidence of developmental neurotoxicity." Not long ago Paul Connett PhD, director of the fluoride action network (FAN) was asked to debate Mike Berridge PhD of New Zealand's Malaghan Institute of Medical Research on the topic of whether or not it would be wise to fluoridate date all of New Zealand's water. It's an important issue both in the United States as well as in New Zealand and the few countries in the world where water fluoridation is still used. At the moment only 52% of the population of New Zealand gets fluoridated water. The government has proposed legislation that requires men to introduce water fluoridation for the entire country. This is an important short video. I highly recommend that you watch it on You Tube then, given the information above decide for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjkpMofBFfQ In 2015 The Cochrane Collaboration which is considered the gold standard in evidence-based reviews released a comprehensive review pointing out truths that are nearly impossible to dispute. Fluoride does not work to prevent cavities yet is is clear that it causes harm. What concerns me is that in New Zealand where until now fluoridation has been something that the local councils and the population itself were consulted as to whether or not to bring fluoridation into the area in which they live. What the New Zealand government has now done is remove this possibility completely so that they and they alone have the right to decide if the entire country is to be fluoridated. What ever happened to our democracy?

For those of you who have already seen our first five videos on bio-identical hormones I think it's time to deal with some frequently asked questions as well as help you refresh your memory about the nature of bio-identical hormones. They are so very different from synthetic drugs, which can damage your body. So let me explain by answering a few simple questions. Well-known examples of bio-identical hormones like estrogen, progesterone, pregnenolone, DHEA, melatonin, and testosterone can be obtained from a compounding pharmacy provided you have a prescription from your doctor. The rules and regulations governing bio-identical hormones vary dramatically from one country to another. In the United States a number of bio-identical hormones are sold over the counter. This does not mean that they are the best. It is far better to locate a good quality pharmaceutical compounding company in whatever country you're in, such as United States, Great Britain, New Zealand, or Australia and, with your doctor’s help, order them direct from the compounding company.  A good compounding pharmacy can make medications to suit your individual needs in a safe and correct way—in capsule form, cream, gel, oil, pessary, or even in the form of a suppository—whichever your doctor decides is right for you.  Another question that I am often asked is: Can bio-identical hormones be beneficial for men? The answer is an unequivocal yes. There are many symptoms that can be relieved or resolved for men by using carefully selected bio-identical hormones. These include disturbed sleep, muscle weakness, irritability, poor concentration, memory lapses, erectile dysfunction, reduced sex drive, and depression.  As a reminder, bio-identical hormones are chemically identical to the hormones that are produced in the glands of your own body. They bear no resemblance to synthetic hormones, which in truth are not hormones at all but drugs, such as those used in HRT. Your body's cells are incapable of making good use of synthetics. This is a major reason why so many dangerous side effects can be experienced from using these pharmaceutical synthetic drugs.  Where do bio-identical hormones come from? Most are made from diosgenin taken from wild yam. Our bodies can't obtain these hormones directly from these plants, so diosgenin is synthesized in the laboratory into the chemically identical equivalent of whatever hormone is being made.  Another question I am often asked is: If I have a hysterectomy does that mean that I may still need bio-identical hormones? The answer to this question is yes: You see, hormone receptors are found in many areas all over your body, not just in the uterus, breasts, and bones. Your body still needs adequate hormones to function properly.  Okay, here's some other stuff that you need to remember about the complete hormonal picture:  Bio-identical progesterone, which has the same molecular structure as the hormones that your body produces naturally, is a long way from “progestin” synthetic drugs commonly prescribed by mainstream medicine. Progesterone—the natural hormone—has shown itself beneficially able to protect your body from arteriosclerosis, help maintain healthy HDL levels, decrease the risk of blood clots, and improve cardiovascular health all round.  There are three major types of estrogen produced naturally in a woman's body. These are estrone (E1), estradiol (E2), and estriol (E3). Estriol is well known to promote youthful skin, improve sexual function, enhance urinary health, and improve bone density. Estriol is also highly effective in the treatment of menopausal symptoms. Progesterone (the real thing) balances and complements estriol in its bio-identical form. One study showed that this combination substantially improved how much time women with a history of heart attack or coronary heart disease were able to work out on the treadmill before blood flow to the heart was reduced. Progesterone—the real thing—plays a major role in relieving menopausal symptoms. The beneficial effects of bio-identical progesterone compared to progestin drugs include a 50% reduction in anxiety, a 60% reduction in depression, a 30% reduction in sleep problems, a 25% reduction in menstrual bleeding, and a 40% reduction in cognitive problems as well as a 30% improvement in sexual function. In four studies 80% of women reported overall satisfaction with bio-identical progesterone formulation.  And what about some of the other common bio-identical hormones like testosterone and DHEA? DHEA is well known for its ability to improve mood, neurological function, energy, immune function, and the maintenance of bone mass and good quality musculature. It is a natural steroid hormone secreted by the adrenal gland, the gonads, and even by the brain to some degree. A combination of DHEA and pregnenolone has been shown to improve memory. DHEA can also improve insulin sensitivity and triglyceride levels. In both men and women, the levels of DHEA their bodies make decrease as they get older.  Like DHEA, testosterone in women gradually decreases as they get older. This can result in a loss of bone and muscle mass, loss of interest in sex, and a significant loss in libido. Testosterone used in conjunction with the right estrogen can enhance vigor, mood, concentration, and sexual satisfaction. The same combination has also been shown to reduce sleep disturbances in women, including hot flashes and night sweats. And because DHEA is converted into testosterone some studies show it is possible to raise testosterone levels by using DHEA on its own. Any comprehensive hormone restoration program almost always includes these hormones.   There are many books on the market that purport to tell you all you need to know about bio-identical hormones. Unfortunately few of them are written by people who are tops in their fields. So if you want to learn more, I suggest that you go back and find the names of specific practitioners who are particularly skilled in the use of the bioidentical hormones that I've mentioned in the previous sacred truth videos as part of this series. Begin by reading books by these people before you do anything else. You will discover your own excitement and the information you need to know to be able to become one of us, whose lives have been dramatically altered by making use of these wonderful—yet very little known—forms of treatment. You won't go wrong. Meanwhile, an exciting journey of discovery and transformation lies waiting for you.

The number of people I work with on Cura Romana who report that they have long been suffering from a thyroid condition never ceases to amaze me. Almost none of them are aware that low thyroid function is treatable by using well-prescribed bio-available hormones. Your thyroid is responsible for so many functions in the body that are absolutely critical to wellbeing. Even a minor deficiency in the thyroid gland’s ability to produce adequate levels of thyroid hormone can not only disrupt the body’s entire hormonal symphony but also tremendously impact your health. Your thyroid—the butterfly-shaped gland located in the lower part of your neck—is a primary hormone-producing gland that regulates body metabolism and is directly responsible for the production of energy. When the thyroid is not working properly this can lead to any number of other hormonal imbalances in the pituitary, the adrenals, and other hormone-producing glands in your body. When attempting to diagnose hypothyroidism it is not enough just to carry out blood tests and a physical examination. The trained practitioner will also want to listen carefully to your own description of symptoms. It is equally essential to measure your basal body temperature. This was something devised by Broda O Barnes MD, who many years ago carried out exhaustive research, leading him to report that at the time some 40% of the population was likely to be suffering from hypothyroidism. I highly recommend Dr. Barnes’ excellent book Hypothyroidism: The Unexpected Illness to anyone who is keen to promote high-level health. You see, hypothyroidism can reduce the strength of every cell in your body, including those responsible for maintaining your immune system. More about this in a moment. The symptoms of low thyroid function can be many. These include cold hands and feet, dry skin, recurring infections, menstrual disorders, PMS, infertility, obesity, thinning hair and eyebrows, poor memory, depression, headaches and migraines, and general weakness in the body as a whole. Your thyroid should be functioning properly. When it is not, your body can seem to pick up every viral illness that's going around. You may find it difficult to recover from infections. And, amazing as it may seem, when your thyroid is not functioning well, one of the common issues, which is rarely associated with this, is infertility—often a woman cannot conceive. So much for the bad news. The good news is that many men and women respond well when treated with bio-identical hormone replacement therapy. Conventional medicine has little understanding of glandular imbalances and of the most effective treatments for thyroid disorders. This is why, synthetic thyroid preparations like Synthroid or Levothyroxine—both relatively inactive forms of thyroid treatment—are commonly prescribed. These drugs contain T4 thyroid hormone, which must be converted into the more active form of T3 in the body for it to be effective. In fact, a great number of people simply do not respond at all to synthetic thyroid drug treatments because the human body cannot adequately convert T4 into its active form of T3. As a result, people get a poor response to conventional medical treatments. This is similar to the way a body does not respond adequately to being given synthetic HRT. So what is the answer? There is desiccated thyroid, a porcine preparation that contains both T4 and T3 in proportions close to your body’s natural thyroid production. The most commonly used natural thyroid hormone presently available is Armour Thyroid. The thyroid, like every other gland in the body, depends on adequate levels of the body’s natural hormones to support your health and energy. As a result of aging, poor diet, pollution in the environment, or ongoing stress, your glands are unable to supply your body with the level of hormones it needs for optimal health. It can be wise to turn towards bio-identical hormones prescribed by a skilled practitioner well versed in these procedures since bio-identical hormones are as close as possible to the natural hormones made by glands in your own body. And how does one find out if there is a thyroid hormone deficiency? Blood tests on their own are not enough. Thyroid hormones influence your body at a cellular level—the deepest level possible. Lab tests on their own are not capable of identifying a hypothyroid state. Its important that you form a close cooperation with a practitioner well versed in bio-identical treatments who will listen carefully to your perceptions of how you feel and what you sense you may be struggling with. He or she will want to correlate blood or saliva lab tests with a clinical examination, health history, and serial monitoring of your basal temperature. This can be carried out at home following Broda O Barnes’ method for measuring your basal body temperature. Briefly, here’s how it works: Before bed, shake down a basal thermometer and place it on a table at the side of your bed. When you awaken in the morning, tuck the thermometer snugly into your armpit. Leave it there for 10 minutes while you stay quietly in bed. Then record your temperature on paper. Repeat this for five days in row. If you happen to be menstruating it's best to take your temperature on the second day of menstruation and then for the following four days in order to get an accurate basal temperature. If the function of your thyroid is normal your temperature should be within the range of 97.8–98.2°F. If your temperature turns out to be lower than this range this often points to a hypothyroid condition in need of treatment. People who are hypothyroid frequently report that their capacity to remember, to understand, and to stay alert can be very challenged. In the past six or seven years I have worked with many women on Cura Romana’s Inner Circle program who, had spent a small fortune on infertility drugs and treatments while attempting to become pregnant, all to no avail until they discovered the power of bio-identical hormones and the way these can be used to restore healthy thyroid functioning. Some of these women reported that this was literally life changing. A practitioner competent in the use of bio-identicals in addition to analyzing and handling any other glands in your body that also need attention is likely to prescribe a low dose of say, Armour Thyroid. He or she then titrates up the amount until he or she discovers what the optimum levels of natural hormones in your body are. This is important because best results from the use of bio-identicals take place when one bio-identical is used together with other bio-identicals carefully chosen to work with it such as natural progesterone, pregnenalone, DHEA or others It is most important that you have proper nutritional support for your thyroid gland while this is happening. Drink good quantities of pure water every day and eat foods high in iodine like seafood, all of which can be helpful in restoring high-level health to your body. Many practitioners also insist on checking to make sure you have adequate iron stores and that you do not have anemia before they begin hormone replacement therapy. Its important that you remember this: it is virtually impossible to balance your endocrine system without taking into consideration the interrelationships of thyroid hormone with other natural hormones in your body. This is perhaps the most important secret of successful hormonal treatment for your glands, which produce hormones that have a powerful synergistic effect with one another. This makes it important for you to identify a brilliant practitioner who knows his or her stuff. The average GP has no training in the use of bio-identical hormones, he has been trained to use drugs. Next week we will look into important questions such as how to learn more, where to find the right practitioner, and where you can get bio-identical hormones.

How do we identify hormonal deficiencies and imbalances? It’s an important question. Many practitioners trained in the use of bio-identical hormones rely heavily on laboratory tests to guide them in establishing which hormones in a patient’s body are not functioning at optimal levels. These lab tests are most commonly carried out by an analysis of the blood, saliva, or 24-hour urine tests. The problem is that lab reports can be confusing. Hormones are by far and away the most powerful molecules in the human body. They affect every tissue and every system—in fact, every aspect of health and well-being—and it’s impossible to test the action of any specific hormone in the body directly. Too many practitioners rely on lab reports, which can often be confusing. The hormone reference ranges they give are little more than population statistics including two standard deviations from the mean, which is 95% of a group of "apparently healthy" adults. But, as endocrinologist Henry Lindner M.D. points out, the subjects are frequently little more than employees, friends, and relatives, who themselves have been screened for symptoms of deficiency. So the lowest 2.5% of this unscreened adult population is defined as "low." Then a physician might tell a patient with so-called "low normal" levels—say within the 5th percentile—that his or her symptoms are caused by a hormone deficiency even though 95% of adults have higher levels! Such a reference-ranged approach can easily fail to identify disjunctions in the endocrine system, which makes it virtually impossible to identify hormonal deficiencies that may be occurring as a result of chronic stress, environmental poisons, poor diet, and deterioration due to aging. Henry Lindner asks an important question about all of this: "Why don't endocrinologists offer a symptomatic patient with ‘low-normal’ levels a trial hormones supplementation to see if higher ‘normal’ levels relieve their symptoms? I find they are unaware of the literature for instance about the benefits of higher thyroid, testosterone, DHEA, estradiol, and progesterone levels within the population ranges.” This is often one of the consequences of practitioners holding false beliefs about possible harms of hormone optimization. Like Thierry Hertogue, both Henry Lindner and David Brownstein (another expert in bio-identical hormones whose work I admire) agree that although laboratory tests can be of use, it is at least as essential, maybe even more so, that a physician listens carefully to the complaints and symptoms that each and every prospective patient experiences. Take hypothyroidism. Here are some common symptoms associated with hypothyroidism as a result of even a minor deficiency in thyroid hormone: obesity and difficulty losing weight infertility hypercholesterolemia poor memory headaches and migraines intolerance to cold infections ovarian cysts fatigue. A combination of laboratory tests and listening carefully to the specific symptoms and concerns that a patient has when consulting a physician trained in the use of bio-identical hormones is a good way to go while planning treatment. Another important question for anyone who is being guided by a skillful practitioner in bio-identical treatments is this: Are there ways of eating and drinking that can help support a body's glands for the best possible health creation and results while using the bio-identical hormones prescribed? There are indeed. Your body's hormonal system does not work alone. Using top-quality minerals, vitamins, trace elements, and amino acids will exert a positive influence on both hormone utilization and hormone production. It’s also important to make sure you are getting the very best nutrition possible in regard to the foods you choose to eat as well as the nutritional supplements that you choose to take. This has never been more important given the widespread pollution in our environment and all the dreadful convenience foods that ill-informed people continue to buy from supermarket shelves then feed on with no idea how destructive these foods can be for their own health and the health of their families. Good diet and healthy exercise are essential in creating hormonal balance and restoring the your youthful vibrancy. What are the most important nutritional supplements? Here are a few which you need to know: Both niacin and Vitamin C lower blood lipid (fat) levels. L-glutamine can decrease carbohydrate cravings while the trace element chromium can help to both lower insulin levels in the blood and reduce sugar cravings. Equally essential are Vitamins D3 + K2 and magnesium. I find the best way when choosing nutritional supplements is to go for top-quality food-based multiple vitamins. Alternatively, what I often suggest to people working with me on Cura Romana whose systems had become depleted of top-quality nutrients when beginning their Inner Circle program, is that they can often benefit greatly by using an exceptionally powerful nutritional supplement such as Life Extension Mix Capsules or Life Extension Mix Powder. These are advanced, state-of-the-art multivitamins that are vastly superior to most multivitamins on the market. For, in addition to carefully chosen vitamins and minerals, they also provide a broad array of important fruit and vegetable extracts plus many essential minerals and other elements. What about foods? Although each human being is unique, it's important for all of us to remember this truth: It can take 100,000 years for a human being to adapt to new ways of eating. Sadly, the way of eating that most people these days follow relies on convenience foods, which, along with junk foods, are the easiest way to rapidly undermine your health. Many people these days cannot handle cows products, including cheeses, yogurt, cream, and milk. I’ve also found that a vast majority of people whom I work with are not adapted to handle grains of any kind unless they have been sprouted first. Sugar is deadly for your health. It contributes to an overgrowth of bacteria and yeast in your body and undermines the proper functioning of hormones. What we all need in order to help bio-identical hormones thrive is plenty of top-quality, preferably organic, meat, fresh eggs, seafood from unpolluted waters, some low-sugar fruits like berries, and plenty of organically grown vegetables. The foods you choose to eat play an important part in your hormonal balance and wellbeing, sometimes in very specific ways. For instance, eating more top-quality proteins can increase your ACTH levels naturally. Finally, here are a few wonderful foods for high-level well-being and optimal hormonal balance: kale wild salmon spinach broccoli asparagus extra virgin olive oil organic coconut oil butter that comes from cows that have for at least part of their lives grazed on green grass. I hope in this sacred truth video that I’ve been able to cover a few of the important aspects of bio-identical hormones and how best to support them, and by doing so enhance your well-being now and for years to come. Next week we'll look specifically at one of the most important and least understood conditions and find out how bio-identical hormones that are well chosen can transform thyroid issues. Do join us then.

Welcome to the third video in our Sacred Truth series, exploring the power of bio-identical hormones. These hormones, even when made in a laboratory, carry a molecular structure closely resembling the molecular structure of natural hormones made by glands in your own body. Here is something else important for you to know: Any other so-called hormones are drugs. These include all the highly promoted pharmaceuticals prescribed for HRT. Working with people as closely as I do, I’ve learned far too much about the suffering of those who, in their ignorance, have opted to walk down the road of these synthetic drugs. By swallowing synthetic substitutes such as those given to half of the participants in the huge Woman’s Health Initiative study of 2002 this can seriously undermine their health and make them highly susceptible to serious illnesses including cancer. The study involved 40 large medical centers in the United States and 16,608 women. It was supposed to have lasted for 8.5 years, but researchers were forced to end it at 5.2 years as a result of far too many unexpected dangers which surfaced to those who had been prescribed synthetic HRT. If you don’t know about all this, now’s a a good time to go back to my last video and review it. When I wrote my biggest book on menopause PASSAGE TO POWER...Natural Menopause Revolution, few women had ever heard of bio-identical hormones. Even fewer practitioners knew much about the important role bio-identicals could play in improving health and slowing the aging process. Instead, women all around the world had been taught to believe that synthetic drugs were the answer to female problems. Already, pharmaceutical corporations were busy flogging their wares to the media, to the medical profession, and directly to women themselves who did not realize that these drugs are capable of not only of undermining health in the long term and sometimes even ruining lives. I knew there was a better way and I was determined to find out what it was. I studied the visionary work of many knowledgeable pioneers for change. They included prolific writer Dr Ray Peat, female Canadian endocrinologist Dr Jerilynn Prior, and of course Dr John Lee, the family physician who had spent years exploring the actions of a plant-derived natural form of progesterone and making it available to women in most countries. John taught me everything he had learned. Within a few months we’d become close friends. That was then. And it was quite a breakthrough. What about now? Sadly far too many men and women remain unaware of the wonderful transformations that are now possible with the use of carefully selected bio-identical hormones. Happily, knowledge about this is steadily growing. Unfortunately, so is the persistence of multi-national corporations who have no concern with healing, saving lives, and slowing aging. Their goals are simple: increase profits at all cost I’ve been determined to discover as much as can about good things that are happening in the realm of bio-identical hormones. I’ve explored the work of the some of best practitioners working in these realms. These include Dr Tessa Jones, a gifted and dedicated female practitioner much admired for her work and her lectures on anti-aging and bio-identical hormones. Then I tackled the writings and presentations of Belgian physician Dr Thierry Hertoghe. His goal is to optimize health for every patient while delaying—at times even reversing aging. Then I came across the work of the brilliant American endocrinologist Dr Henry Lindner—an expert in metabolism and bio-identical hormone replacement as well as a man of great vision in regard to the nature and workings of the whole universe. What I’ve learned from them and others is that the possibilities for transforming health naturally and slowing aging has never been better, provided we are willing to learn and make use of their skills and their wisdom. Given that our environment is becoming more and more contaminated by poisons, pesticides, and junk food there has never been a better time for us to make use of the valid knowledge that’s available to us and the help being made available to us in the form of bio-identical hormones. Hormone deficiencies are now widespread. Yet they are too often ignored by conventional medicine, which has no idea how to handle them. A hormone deficiency is akin to a deficiency in one or more specific nutrients that your body does not make for itself but which it needs more of to support your health. When, because of illness, poor diet, pollution or the aging process your glands are no longer able to produce the levels of hormones that your body needs in order to truly thrive you have been hormone deficient. What are some of the common signs of hormone deficiencies? Say a woman who is deficient in one or two of the estrogens that make up female sex hormones. She may find herself losing hair, especially at the top of her head. This is something that often takes place around the time of menopause because glands are producing far too little estrogen. Or, if there is not enough progesterone being made in a woman’s body, she can find herself developing abdominal obesity. For each of the body’s hormones there can be a number of signs that may indicate a hormone deficiency. Take Cortisol, which is a vitally important hormone because it gives us lots of energy. If you become deficient in cortisol you may find yourself feeling dog tired all the time or continually stressed. Another sign of deficient in cortisol is a tendency to constantly complain and blaming others around you for how you feel without realizing that it is your own health that is in need of support. DHEA, which is made in your adrenals, is another hormone vitally important to your health. A common sign of DHEA deficiency can be moderate levels of anxiety which are hard to shake. Your body’s natural hormone production is rich and can be hard to understand since unless you are aware of how interdependent all your hormones are. They need each other to thrive. Here’s a sample of how this takes place. Cortisol, on which vitality depends, creates energy by consuming tissues in your body. Meanwhile, DHEA protects against the consumption of too many tissues. As the body ages we want to make sure our DHEA production is high enough to create balance between cortisol and DHEA so they are working in harmony. Actually, cortisol production can also be improved by identifying and then correcting any other hormonal deficiencies that influence the working of the adrenal gland such as testosterone for instance, which can also support good cortisol levels. Next week we’ll look at some important questions in regard to bio-identical hormones such as “How does one identify hormonal imbalances?” “Are there special foods and drinks that can help support your body’s glands for the best possible hormonal levels?”, and “How good or poor are standard laboratory tests as a means of identifying hormonal deficiencies? And many more. See you then...

What few people know is that the body's natural hormones are far more powerful than drugs. They can even alter the expression of our genes. When you have good hormonal control this leads to experiencing the very highest capacity for human health.   Your body contains more than 100 different kinds of hormones. These amazing powerhouses pour into your bloodstream and supply your body with literally thousands of billions of units each day. When they are in good balance they help control heartbeat, encourage good sleep, manage blood pressure, maintain strong firm muscles, lubricate your joints, and even build good bones. Of course they influence the menstrual cycle as well as countering stress, relieving depression, and preventing fatigue. They can even help protect you from infections and allergic reactions. However, knowledge about what the body’s natural hormones offer and how important they are for high-level health has long been marginalized and hidden from popular view by information that is largely controlled by pharmaceuticals.   In last week's Sacred Video I tried to introduce you to bio-Identical hormones. We examined how the body’s natural hormone levels decrease with age and what effect this has upon our vitality, and what can be done to counter this. Now let’s look deeper into the wonderful mysteries of bio-identical hormones, where they come from, and how, with guidance from a practitioner well versed in their use, they can be used to restore strength and balance to the body regardless of age. We will also begin to explore how they can help improve all sorts of chronic ailments, including thyroid issues, menstrual problems, fibromyalgia, PMS, autoimmune disorders, and heart disease. And there’s a lot more to come.   But first, let me share with you some information about the huge health study identifying the failure of conventional HRT, which opened the doors to exploring natural, bio-identical hormones not long ago. A randomized, placebo controlled study conducted by The Woman's Health Initiative (WHI) involved 40 large medical centers in the United States and 16,608 women. It was designed to find out the benefits and risks of using conventional hormone replacement. Half of the women in the study were given HRT in the form of Prempro (Provera and Premarin) and the other half received no active drugs, only a placebo. Researchers wanted to find out if there would be increases or decreases in heart disease, stroke, cancer, hip fractures, and death due to any cause. The study was intended to last for 8.5 years. However, researchers were forced to halt it at 5.2 years. Why? Because it became evident that the overall risks of giving conventional HRT far outweighed the overall benefits and it would have been completely irresponsible to continue the study. For example, they discovered that there was a 29% increase in coronary heart disease in women given conventional HRT, a 41% increase in the incidence of stroke, and an incredible 2,100% increase in pulmonary embolism—blood clots in the lungs. Women in the synthetic HRT group also experienced a surprising 26% increase in risk of breast cancer.   In short, results from the WHI showed that the use of conventional hormones could be seriously harmful. This outcome rang a death knell for synthetic, pharmaceutical drugs, which have been aggressively promoted for 30 years and are still being promoted. It also helped vindicate the doctors who are well trained in the use of natural bio-identical hormones rather than their synthetic counterparts.    Here’s the bottom line: Natural hormones are not only safer in the hands of practitioners who are knowledgeable in how to prescribe them but also more effective. This is why they are on their way, slowly but surely, to becoming a first choice in the treatment of patients who have need of hormonal help.   Now let's take a quick look at some of your body's major hormone glands and the natural hormones they produce. If some of the names seem foreign to you, don’t worry—in the next couple of videos they will become familiar to you. Here are some of your most important glands and a sampling of some of the natural hormones that they make:   •  Your brain makes three very important natural hormones: DHEA, pregnenolone, and ACTH. •  The anterior pituitary gland within the brain makes growth hormone, TSH, and ACTH, while the posterior of your pituitary gland produces another important natural hormone named vasopressin. •  Your pineal gland is where your body makes melatonin, a hormone infinitely valuable for good sleep and to help protect your body from premature aging. •  Your thyroid gland in the throat area is where vital thyroid hormones are made, which are so important for metabolism throughout the body. •  Your adrenal glands make DHEA, pregnenolone, cortisol, and aldosterone. •  In a woman, ovaries make estrogens and progesterone in addition to some androgens (male hormones), which are also important to a woman. •  In men, testicles produce testosterone, which is a hormone absolutely vital for men to be men but, in smaller quantities, equally essential to every female body.   In the earlier part of our lives, provided we have been eating well and looking after ourselves, we can enjoy hormonal abundance. Then, bit-by-bit, each one of us experiences some degree of glandular deterioration. With it comes an inevitable decrease in hormone secretions. There are other factors involved that influence this degenerative process too; for example, we live in an increasingly polluted environment. These things can cause a buildup in our glands, which causes damage to them.   Our blood vessels in which hormones are carried all over the body can gradually deteriorate. Blood circulation becomes more problematic. Instead of oxygen and nutrients being delivered in a steady stream they begin to arrive drop by drop. This deprives our glands of what is needed for them to function well. So can infections, and the presence of parasites, bacteria, and other microbes in our bodies. Probably the most important cause of decreased natural hormone production is the inevitable aging that takes place in the glands themselves.   For young people in optimal health of say, between 18 and 28 for women and 21 to 34 in men, hormone levels can benefit from being regularly monitored. Most of us begin to accumulate more obvious shifts in hormone levels between 35 and 45. This is a good time to begin testing levels of all the natural hormones in the body in order to find out where in our glandular system the hormones being made are no longer at optimal levels. This can be done with blood tests and 24-hour urine tests. And, with the help of your health practitioner who is well trained in the use of bio-identicals they can be used to support your glands and enhance the levels of your natural hormones so you are able to live at the highest level of wellbeing possible for you.   There are all sorts of things that can place extreme stress on the glands and cause a drop in natural hormone production. Overeating is one. So is the regular consumption of alcohol, drug use, smoking, intense athletics training, illness, infections, and exposure to pollution. These things place enormous strain on the body, which makes it susceptible to poor hormone production.   OK, where do we go from here?   Next week we we’ll look deeper into the body's natural hormone system and how important it is when correcting hormonal imbalance not to try doing this using only a single bio-identical hormone. It’s important to use "physiologic doses" of several natural hormones. This way your body will not cause a gland or several glands to cease producing hormones naturally. Learning this stuff can be a lot of fun. It can also be life changing—when after following a well-conceived program of bio-identical hormones you discover it has brought you to a place where you look and feel a good 20 to 30 years younger.

I keep being asked about bio-identical hormones. How do they work? How early in life can we benefit from using them and how late in life? Are they safer and more effective than synthetic HRT or other pharmaceuticals drugs that go on being prescribed for depression, thyroid, cancer, and heart conditions? Since PASSAGE TO POWER, my biggest book on natural menopause, was first published, the suppression of truths about the value of natural hormones has been violently suppressed. This is not surprising since Big-Pharma now exerts almost total control over the medical community, the FDA, and the mainstream media. In the next few weeks, I’ll be covering natural alternatives and giving you information about the powerful blessings you can experience from using bio-identical hormones. This information is so rich and vital that it may take me three or more weeks to bring all of this to you on our Sacred Truth videos. I’ll tell you all about the health-changing, often even life-changing bio-identicals, which the majority of medical doctors, even many practitioners of integrative medicine, still know little about. Let’s get started. For the past 30 years, synthetic hormones have unleashed vicious monsters on men and women of all ages. Together with increasingly dangerous chemicals and pesticides that now riddle our foods and environment, synthetic hormones continue to create serious deficiencies in any body’s natural hormonal interactions. Used over time, as most are, these drugs also bring about deficiencies in essential nutrients—from magnesium and Vitamin D3 to zinc, selenium, Vitamin C, and many more that are vital to our good health. None of this destruction takes place if you choose to use bio-identical hormone therapies, which rely on a combination of natural thyroid hormones, human growth hormone, DHEA, natural testosterone, natural estrogens, and many others. Natural hormones can bring great blessings, provided they have been chosen and prescribed by well-trained practitioners who are knowledgeable about the fundamental principles of good medicine. Sadly, most conventional doctors who continue to prescribe synthetic drugs do not understand these principles. This is why they go on selling synthetic hormones to their patients. They have little idea of the way our biology works. They do not realize, for instance, that injured tissues heal themselves with nutrients and natural hormones. They do not know that receptors on our cell membranes have long evolved to be able to support the body’s own rich symphony of natural hormones. Nor do they know that human cell receptors have no way to adapt to the synthetic molecules that are continually bombarded with synthetic pharmaceutical drugs. No wonder synthetics can wreak havoc with a patient’s body and undermine its ability to heal itself. Anyway, enough of the bad news. Now for the good news: Although conventional medicine is always slow to change, interest in the use of natural, bio-identical hormones has been steadily rising as a result of the failure of conventional drug treatments, and the damage to patients’ health continues. Physicians that conscientiously search for safer alternatives are beginning to investigate bio-identical, natural hormones as being less dangerous and a far more effective way of helping patients to heal. What are bio-identical hormones anyway? Most often they are made from substances in plant products that closely mimic our bodies’ own natural hormones. Not only can bio-identical hormones restore hormonal balance to a body at just about any age; these bio-identicals working together can promote optimal health as well. They can also be used to treat all sorts of chronic illnesses: PMS, heart disease, autoimmune disorders, chronic fatigue, menopausal troubles, fibromyalgia, thyroid issues, and many others. There is no better support for the body’s own natural production of hormones than supplying it with a carefully prescribed collection of bio-available hormones. These hormones can offer all sorts of wonderful gifts for health and healing. A carefully tested combination of appropriate natural hormones can dramatically improve one’s health. Older patients, including myself, report that after taking the right combination of natural hormones they look and feel 20 to 30 years younger. Here are just a few of the conditions that bio-availables improve and can often cure: Crohn’s disease, endometriosis, intransigent obesity, infertility, chronic fatigue syndrome, recurring infections, ulcerative colitis, headaches, and migraines. They slow down and can even reverse signs of aging, including loss of mental clarity, poor muscle tone, wrinkling, and lots of other conditions, which the world still looks upon as negative changes that most people believe accompany getting older. Many patients who arrive in a doctor's offices complaining of being unwell discover that just changing over to natural hormones dramatically improves their condition. Natural hormones work best when they are used in combinations. Self-prescribed individual hormones such as DHEA, which you can buy over the counter in many countries, are not the way to go. To restore your system to a genuinely balanced condition, you need to use a combination of various natural hormones since they work synergistically with each other. These must be carefully chosen and prescribed by a practitioner well versed in the art of reestablishing the hormonal symphony that best supports a body, whether male or female. The hormones must be given in what are called “pharmacologic doses.” They begin with a small enough amount of each hormone that does not cause the body to cease production of its own capacity to make innate hormones. Natural hormones, used inappropriately, can do harm. You need to be under the care of a skilled health care provider who will carry out simple but profound tests to establish your current physical state of health at the beginning and then design a program that makes use of the exact bio-identicals your body needs in the best dosages to begin your process. He or she may also use other natural products, such as vitamins, minerals, and herbs, which bring wonderful support to your transformational process and help take you to a higher level of health, vitality, good looks, and wellbeing. What few people realize is that from the age of 30 onwards the body’s ability to produce the level of its own natural hormones begins to wane. By the time we reach 70 the levels of hormones that that the body is still producing are practically nonexistent. This is why, no matter what your age, it is never too early and certainly never too late to begin your own natural hormone transformation. Ok, so this is your introduction the bio-identical hormone story. In our next sacred video about natural hormone therapy, we’ll examine more deeply what you need to know and how best to begin your own search for help if you decide to use them. I can't wait to share more of these truths with you. See you then.

Epsom salts baths are one of the world’s most potent yet underrated natural treatments. Don’t take them lightly. They can improve your health and they cost almost nothing. They can be useful if you have been having a stressful day because they deep cleanse the body, both physiologically and energetically. They are great for encouraging deep, restful sleep and relaxation. Epsom salts also carry a magic that goes way beyond this. Lying in an Epsom salts bath is a superb way to enter your inner world and make you aware of dreams and longings you may not even have discovered yet. Use them to help forge deep connections with your essential being. Use them often and just allow yourself to BE instead of having to DO all the time. Named after a compound of minerals discovered in 17th century England, Epsom salts were first discovered by Nehemiah Grew in Epsom, a small town not far from London. He discovered that Epsom salts could relieve pain in muscles, calm headaches, and quell inflammation. Early on, drinking Epsom water was used as a purgative. The salts themselves were produced by boiling Epsom water until it turned into hydrated magnesium sulfate—which is where the name Epsom salts comes from. This hydrated magnesium sulfate brings important minerals your body, and they are absorbed through the skin when you take an Epsom salts bath. Both the magnesium and the sulfate molecules have the ability to leach excess sodium, phosphorous, and nitrogenous wastes from the body. As they reduce toxicity, more of your body’s energetic potential gets freed up for use. Magnesium and sulfur also happen to be among the most alkalinizing of earth minerals. In practical terms, what this means is that they have the ability to create more physical space between the atoms and molecules of your body. This is important since the greater the acidity in the body and the more compressed this molecular space becomes, the greater the physical and emotional pressure you feel. There’s more good news. When you step into an Epsom salts bath, magnesium sulfate immerses your body in a unified electrical field. This takes excess electrical discharge from one area of the body and sends it to areas that are undercharged, which creates energetic balance and flow. There is nothing quite as good as an Epsom salts bath; for instance, taking an Epsom salts bath after you have been on a long flight or if you are suffering from jet lag, emotional tension, or fatigue. Magnesium deficiencies are rampant in the Western world as industrial agriculture has removed massive quantities of magnesium from our soils and also because most people choose to feed themselves on packaged convenience foods. More than 80 percent of people in the United States are deficient in magnesium. Very few have any idea just how important magnesium is to their health. Magnesium is the second-most abundant element in your cells. It is also the fourth most positively charged ion in your body and essential to more than 300 specific enzymes in the body. Magnesium helps activate your muscles and nerves. It’s a catalyst for vital neurotransmitters like serotonin. It helps create ATP, which are energy molecules for your body. And it must be present for optimization of the mitochondria in cells, which are crucial for vitality, health, and athletic performance. What about sulfur—the other half of the Epsom salts equation? Sulfur is a natural detoxifier. It is a powerful antioxidant, pain reliever, and anti-inflammatory. Inviting sulfur into your body through the surface of your skin while lying in an Epsom salts bath is a superb way to strengthen your system as a whole. The electrical charge between magnesium with its positive charge and sulfur with its negative charge helps these two minerals blend together in a superb way. There is a very specific way of taking an Epsom salts bath. Let me share it with you: Pour two large cups of industrial grade Epsom salts into the bathtub. You can find them in small amounts at the chemist and in supermarkets. Far better is this: order in bulk a 25 kg bag over the Internet. This way Epsom salts are inexpensive. One more tip: I like to add a pound of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) to every Epsom salts bath because it blends well with magnesium sulfate and is wonderful for skin. But you must make sure that any baking soda you use contains no aluminum since this is the last thing you should ever put into your bath water or anywhere else. Fill the bath with blood-heat tepid water, just above body temperature. Immerse yourself in it for at least 20 to 30 minutes. If your body gets too cool, add some more hot water. If your body becomes too warm, add some cold water. You need to be able to sustain being in this bath in a very relaxed state for 20 to 30 minutes. Then get out of the bath and wrap yourself in a towel. If you are doing this just before bed, now climb into bed, cover yourself up, keep warm, and you can easily drift into blissful sleep. If it’s during the day or if you are trying to restore yourself to be able to go out in the evening, then when you get out of the Epsom salts bath wrap yourself up in a towel and lie down for 10 minutes. Then get up, get dressed, and go about doing whatever you are intending to do. In our home we are completely addicted to the joys and the benefits of daily Epsom salts baths. I predict that you too may become the addicts we have become. Try it and see.

Have you ever wondered why it's so hard to find a great tasting extra virgin olive oil? I did until quite recently when I discovered a confidence game that’s been going on for years. Let me tell you about it. A worldwide adulteration of olive oils has been taking place for years. Extra virgin oils are being diluted, contaminated, and filled with additives, which destroy their taste, texture, and health value to those of us who buy them. Between 75% and 80% of all extra virgins oils sold in the United States as well as 50% of brands sold in Italy and elsewhere do not even meet the legal standards required for them to be labeled “extra-virgin.” They are being fraudulently diluted with poor quality oils and other substances from North Africa and elsewhere. As a result, many bottles labeled "virgin olive oil" contain very little olive oil. Instead, they are filled with seed oils like sunflower, peanut, and canola as well as liquid fats. These counterfeit oils are then deodorized using chemicals and heat to take away the rancid smells they carry. These processes kill off the magnificent taste of genuine extra virgin olive oil. They destroy this oil’s health-giving properties.  Scientists at University of California, Davis collected 186 extra-virgin olive oil samples from different countries found on the shelves of retail stores in California. Seventy-three percent of these failed to pass an authenticity and valuation test. They’d been doctored with cheaper oils, filled with omega-6s like corn, soya, and peanut oil. They’d been exposed to high temperatures, light, and aging. Some had developed processing flaws because of improper storage and their having being filled with over-ripe olives. With all of this going on, how can anyone find a true, top-quality extra virgin olive oil? We’ll look at this in a moment. In the meantime, there’s some wonderful breaking news about extra virgin olive oil—the real McCoy—that you will want to know about.  For many years scientists had assumed that olive oil’s greatest value comes from its high content of monounsaturated fatty acids. For half a century these people continued to promote the value of one particular monounsaturated fat—oleic acid—on the grounds that it can increase high density lipoprotein (HDL), known as "good" cholesterol, and decrease low-density lipoprotein (LDL) believed to be "bad" cholesterol. They were so in love with this assumption that they even experimented with it by feeding people pure oleic acid on the assumption that this would do the same thing. Their experiment failed.   Here’s the great news. Intelligent new research has discovered the greatest health benefits we get from a fascinating other source—namely, from the polyphenols that top-quality extra virgin olive oils contain.  How much do you know about polyphenols? These are naturally occurring compounds in fruits, vegetables, tea, wine, and cocoa as well as in extra-virgin olive oil. Polyphenols are secondary metabolites of plants, which plants themselves rely on to protect themselves from UV radiation and attacks from pathogens. They have marvelous benefits for fighting disease. So far more than 8000 polyphenolic compounds have been found in common plant species.   We now know that monounsaturated fatty acids, which were once believed to be of great benefit to us, come nowhere near close to matching their health-enhancing benefits. However, polyphenolic compounds improve LDL density, increase HDL functions, reduce LDL oxidation, and even enhance blood. So it is they that make unadulterated extra virgin olive oil such a blessing for our health and our enjoyment.  Anti-inflammatories, free-range scavengers, and some polyphenols also carry heart-protecting and anti-carcinogenic properties. They enhance the availability of nitric oxide. This helps prevent the lipid oxidation associated with atherosclerosis. Recently, many studies have indicated that polyphenols can work together to protect against diabetes, endothelial dysfunction, neurodegenerative illnesses, osteoporosis, and many other long-term diseases. And they bring these gifts without creating any known side effects. It's also polyphenols that create top-quality extra virgin olive oil’s unique spicy-peppery and fresh-fruity taste. Their presence even improves the shelf life of top-quality olive oils and helps protect them from rancidity. Try frying top-quality extra-virgin olive oil together with water and see how it goes. This not only preserves the initial antioxidant value of the food you’re cooking; it can even boost a food’s antioxidant content. Finally, if you want to know what polyphenols feel and taste like, then put a tiny bit of top-quality extra-virgin olive oil in your mouth and wait a few moments. You’ll experience a tingling at the extreme back of your throat. This is a sure-fire indicator that the olive oil you are testing is rich in polyphenol. Go for it!  How do you find a truly top-quality extra virgin olive oil you can trust? It can take some serious searching, but here are two brands that I personally trust, which you might consider.  The first is Life Extension’s California Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Authentic, unadulterated, and organic, it is grown by a small family in Yolo County California. It is made from handpicked green olives within hours of harvesting. It has also been tested and found to be extraordinarily high in polyphenols—in fact, more than 600 mg per kilo.  The other that I use all the time myself is Bionaturae Extra Virgin Olive Oil, which comes from Northern Italy and is based on five varieties of Italian olives grown on a small family farm where olives ripen more slowly. Within 24 hours of hand harvesting these olives are pressed at a century-old frantolio where expertise and passion have transcended three generations. Of course all the olives are cold pressed, at temperatures no higher than 27 degrees Celsius.

Most of what we've been taught about depression and its causes is not valid. Most so called anti-depressant pharmaceuticals don’t work. And, if taken long term they can seriously undermine your health and screw up your metabolism so that it can become very difficult to unwind the mess. A mounting mass of evidence shows that antidepressants are no better than placebos when it comes to the benefits they have long thought to bestow. An amazing 20% of Americans over the age of 12 are still being stuffed full of antidepressant drugs as are older men and women who have often taken these drugs for years. One in 10 Americans still take antidepressants as well as one in four women in their 40s and 50s.  So do 13 percent of pregnant women.  Meanwhile doctors continue to prescribe them—especially selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) despite a growing number of studies showing that these drugs can also put a pregnant woman at risk of giving birth to a child with severe birth defects or autism. SSRIs work by increasing the levels of a brain chemical called serotonin, which plays a key role in mood. Your body produces serotonin and keeps it at a certain level, but SSRI drugs increase serotonin levels in the brain by blocking its re-absorption. Prozac was the first SSRI to appear on the market back in 1988. By 2005 SSRI pharmaceuticals had become the most prescribed drugs in the United States.  Side effects that have been shown to accompany their use include weight loss, fatigue, insomnia, headaches, erectile dysfunction and  inability to experience orgasm in both men and women. The false belief that that depression is the result of a chemical imbalance in the brain which can only be treated by using a drug to increase serotonin levels turns out to be untrue. So what is the truth? Recent research shows that most, if not all of the benefits to depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and personality disorders are the results of a placebo effect—a patient’s belief that taking a potent pharmaceutical drug is what he or she must do. An excellent report in relation to the placebo effect was published not long ago in the journal Zeitschrift Für Psychologie which strongly confirms this. Similar reports going back to 2009 and before also support these findings. New research continue to reverse the notion that depression can be countered by conventional drug treatments, which rely on serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Just the opposite appears to be the case. “Serotonin can increase anxiety not decrease it as was previously assumed,” explains researcher Andreas Frick, in the Psychology Department at Uppsala University in Sweden.  A University of Montreal study published in the 2015 issue of JAMA showed that pregnant women who took antidepressants were 87% more likely to have a baby born with autism. So what can help combat depression? Some of the latest findings may surprise you. For instance, the right nutritional supplements can help banish the blues while improving your health all round. Here are a few tried and tested suggestions of natural origin that many people whom I have worked closely with on Cura Romana report have helped get them off pharmaceuticals and become depression free. Omega-3s are right at the top of the list. And most of us get nowhere near enough of these vital animal-based oils. Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Andrew Stoll was one of the first to write about the value of taking top-quality Omega-3 supplements to counter depression in his book “The Omega—Three Connection." How much Omega-3 oils with the important EPAs and DHAs do you need? Most healthy people get along well by taking between 250 and 500 mg a day. But there are good indications that a larger dose of 2,200 mg a day is much more effective in countering mental and emotional issues from schizophrenia and depression to bipolar disorders. It is essential that you take only a top quality Omega-3 product. These can be hard to come by since there are so many poor quality ones on the market. The one I recommend is Life Extension Omega Foundations Super Omega-3 EPA/DHA with Sesame Lignans & Olive Extract. Of course, if you are taking anti-coagulant or anti-platelet medications consult your health practitioner first. Other nutritional supplements which have shown to improve depression include SAMe, 5-HTP, Vitamin D3+K2, and Vitamin B-12 in particular. Every one of these nutrients is known to offer significant help.   They are well worth trying as a natural alternative to pharmaceutical drugs, which can be ineffective and even seriously dangerous to your wellbeing in the long term. Equally important is the way you eat. Cleansing your body is the first step to releasing blocked creative energy and restoring a biochemical balance that will wash your blues away. Begin a long-term way of eating based on REAL FOODS, not the packaged stuff they try to sell you in supermarkets. Choose fresh spray-free vegetables—many of them raw—and top quality proteins from wild fish, organic meat, free-range chicken, and eggs. Avoid all cow’s milk products, including milk itself, yogurt, and cheese. Butter is OK because it is a fat. It’s milk protein that tends to cause problems for people prone to depression. Explore sheep milk cheeses, and yogurts, goat milk products, or buffalo milk products—my favorites. Must important: Stop eating anything made with wheat or other grains and cereals, including pasta, breakfast cereals, breads, and biscuits. And make all processed convenience foods a thing of the past. A diet free of convenience foods releases you from the sort of metabolic disturbance that causes mood swings and depression. It was just such a diet—one in which at least half of the foods I ate were raw—that cleared my own deep depression. It frees your body and opens up your mind. You start to see life with a much broader view. Slowly you can begin to feel a sense of excitement each day with what you are doing. But be patient. It takes time for the transformation to happen. Week by week, feelings of depression and impossibility melt away like snow drifts in the warmth of a spring sunshine. You begin to experience your own natural energies and a balanced state of mind starts to emerge. More peaceful and centered, you come to see that you are actually able to do whatever it is you want to do. The body is a magnificent system capable of the most incredible regeneration and renewal. Once you learn to live on simple, pure, natural organic foods, this helps transform your whole being physically, emotionally, and spiritually. In effect, you discover who you are at the deepest level of your being, and come to live your life from there. I did it. So have thousands of others who never dreamed this could be possible. So can you. A human being is most certainly “fearfully and wonderfully made.” It’s time to discover this for yourself. See below for my suggested Omega-3 supplement. Life Extension Omega Foundations Super Omega-3 http://iherb.com/Life-Extension-Omega-Foundations-Super-Omega-3-120-Softgels/67018?rcode=yes026

Let we share with you my very favorite plant for soothing, healing and helping when you need it most. It is Motherwort—Leonurus cardiaca. In the Chinese pharmacopeia it’s known as Yi Mu Cao, meaning “Lion's Tail.” A herb of the heart, this humble plant grows in waste lands. Motherwort is the most comforting herb I have ever found anywhere. It brings a sense of inner security and calm strength unequalled by anything, except perhaps a love affair of the deepest order—maybe not even that.   This wonderful herb has gained its name from the ancient practice of using it to reduce anxiety during pregnancy. The plant has good sedative properties— well validated by scientific experiment. It is able to calm the nervous system while at the same time acting as a tonic to the while body. Culpepper, who believed that motherwort belonged to the goddess Venus and to the astrological sign of Leo, wrote "There is no better herb to drive melancholy vapors from the heart, to strengthen it and make the mind cheerful, blithe and merry." I think this sums up the virtues of my beloved motherwort superbly.   Its leaves are full of mind-altering natural chemicals. Studies in China have shown that these decrease the levels of blood lipids and exert a regulating action on muscles like the womb and the heart, bringing peace in their wake. This is one of the reasons why, in addition to being used by women to ease hot flushes, banish insomnia, and restore elasticity to the walls of the vagina, it is an excellent herb for the treatment of many heart conditions in men. No wonder it’s the most physically and psychologically healing plant I know. This magical plant is also rich in alkaloids. It’s bitter as an infusion. So it can be easier to take as a tincture or make into a herbal vinegar. Take 10 to 25 drops of the tincture made from the fresh plant, or 1 to 2 teaspoons of the herb vinegar as desired. A herb for all seasons, here are just a few of the gifts it can bestow upon you: Motherwort reduces fevers and is often used to treat illnesses with delirium. It is often used to treat lung issues like bronchitis and asthma, and is sometimes taken in conjunction with mullein. It calms nerves. In fact there is something so calming and balancing about motherwort that it is hard to describe if you have never experienced it. Used frequently it can relieve anxiety, uplift the nervous system, and relax tensions, while raising vitality. I often turn to it when I know I need to confront a situation that I believe is likely to be stressful. Motherwort can also minimize hot flushes and reduce their intensity, length, and frequency while helping to calm the dizziness or faintness that sometimes comes with them.  This is probably thanks to its ability to oxygenate the blood in both men and women, tonify the thyroid, liver, and heart, and invigorate circulation all round. For best results use it regularly for 12 weeks or longer. Although sometimes, 10 to 15 drops or so of the tincture in a little spring water can ease a hot flush while it’s happening. If you want to sleep peacefully and undisturbed, motherwort can be a good friend. It’s also useful if you awaken in the night with sweats and have trouble dropping off again. Take 10 to 20 drops of the tincture kept at the side of your bed with a glass of spring water and swallow some each time you wake up. It’s a natural diuretic as well. A little motherwort every few hours can reduce water retention. This is especially useful after a flight if your legs and feet have become swollen. As for clearing menstrual and uterine cramps if your menstrual flow is absent or light to moderate, I’ve never found anything more effective. Use 5 to 10 drops of the tincture in a little water every few minutes until they have gone then repeat as necessary. Prolonged use strengthens the muscles of the womb, and even makes it resistant to cramping in the future. Finally, in my own experience, this magical plant even seems to enhance women’s self esteem, would you believe? Ten to twenty drops of tincture of motherwort works wonders whenever you are feeling unsettled. Alternatively you can take 5 to 15 drops of the tincture every day for a month or two to stabilize emotions long term. It also strengthens the heart and helps you feel courageous even when the chips are down. There are a couple of important cautions in regard to using motherwort that you should know about. If you are taking blood-thinning drugs—and I sincerely hope you are not—then don’t use motherwort. Finally, if your menstrual flow is very heavy, motherwort could well make it heavier, so avoid it in this case. Meanwhile, I leave you with a wonderful Chinese belief from ancient times when there were many stories of both men and women whose water source was a stream flowing through the banks of motherwort: these people were believed to have lived 130 years or even longer.

Are you worried about hair loss? Let’s take a look at both causes and cures. And there can be many causes, from hormonal imbalances due to under active thyroid, drugs, pharmaceuticals, and poor diet, especially too few B complex vitamins, Vitamin C, zinc, sulfur, and iron. But if you find you’re losing hair at a rapid rate, don't panic. It’s normal to lose 50 to 100 hairs each day. There is a strong link between anxiety and hair loss, especially excess shedding of hair at the telogen stage, which can be made much worse by worrying about it. It’s time to go through a rational process of elimination to discover possible causes then you can do what’s necessary to correct the shedding. Ask yourself the following questions: Are you taking any medication such as the birth control pill or artificially based hormone-replacement therapy? These are common causes of thinning hair, which can be corrected by stopping the drugs and turning to bio-identical hormone replacements under the guidance of a knowledgeable health practitioner. Anti-coagulants, cortisone, and diet pills such as amphetamines are also anathema to hair health. So is boric acid, which stupidly gets added to shampoos, skincare products, ointments for cuts and burns—even eye baths—so read labels carefuly before you buy. Thyroid medication can be a culprit—shift to natural thyroid treatments instead. So can simple aspirin, if you take as many as one or two a day. Now, let me with share you what I have learned over the years about how to stop hair loss: Have you had major illnesses or traumas in your life recently? Shock, illness, and emotional worry can bring about heavy shedding of telogen hairs. This is called telogen effluvium. Help can be had from vitamin supplements—more about this in a moment—and from eating organic liver often. Even getting enough physical activity to help you deal with stressors in your life can help. dramatically. Is is your scalp tight or loose when you put your fingers into it? Start giving yourself a daily scalp massage. And start brushing the old fashioned way—fifty strokes each day. I do myself, and it works. Are you anemic? Women, who suffer from anemia far more often than men do, frequently find their hair has thinned greatly. Have a serum iron test and a total iron-binding capacity test done to find out. Is your hair breaking off near the roots from over-processing, sun bleaching, or too much heat on it? This is easy to detect. If you sit in front of a mirror with the light coming from behind, you’ll be able to see a myriad of tiny hairs standing up out of the scalp no longer than a half to three quarters of an inch. If you examine them carefully, you’ll find that even these short hairs are damaged, with split ends. Consider cutting your hair shorter until the damaged hair has grown out and healthy hair shafts replace it. Have you recently been pregnant? Women often lose hair during pregnancy. It may be the result of hormonal changes or some kind of subclinical vitamin or mineral deficiency—often zinc as it is very low in most women just after childbirth. Happily this condition usually disappears a few weeks after the baby is born, provided your diet is adequate and you are generally well. Do you wear your hair pulled back, or have you been putting rollers in too tightly? A common cause of hair loss is simple traction caused by a tightly wrapped rubber band around a ponytail, or curlers that are too tight. The pull on the hair interferes with proper circulation there and results in damage to the hair follicles, which shed their hairs. If this is the case, you need to change your hairstyle, stop rolling curlers tightly, and give yourself daily massage or treatment with an electric vibrator. If you are using a nylon-bristled brush, rollers with brushes in them, or a too fine-toothed comb, you should replace them as they can exacerbate hair loss. Most important of all—Look to your diet: Eat plenty of foods high in biotin and take biotin supplements. Biotin is needed for healthy hair and skin and to help prevent hair loss. Good food sources include brewers yeast, brown rice, bulgur, green peas, lentils, oats, sunflower seeds, and raw organic walnuts. Don’t eat raw eggs until hair loss has stopped.  You see, because raw eggs contain a protein that binds biotin and prevents it from being absorbed. Cooked free-range eggs are okay. Rinsing your hair with Kombucha tea is far more effective than all the fancy products sold in salons for hair growth and regeneration. It might even prevent hair greying. You can also use apple cider vinegar and sage tea as a rinse to encourage hair growth. Horsetail tea is the best source of silica, which all of us need for strong, shiny hair, and healthy nails. BEST HAIR GROWTH SUPPLEMENTS Good quality Omege-3 oils improve hair texture and help prevent hair loss and damage. Raw thymus glandular—500 mg a day—stimulates immune function and improves the functioning capacity of hair glands. Vitamin B complex with B3 50mg, B5 100 mg, B6 50 mg, biotin 50 mg, and inositol 100 mg top quality B vitamins are needed for the health and growth of hair. Vitamin C—3000 to 10,000 mg a day can greatly improve scalp circulation. Vitamin E—start with 400 IU and slowly increase to 800-1000 IU—increases oxygen uptake, which improves circulation to the scalp. Coenzyme Q10—improves scalp circulation and increases tissue oxygenation. Kelp—500 mg/day—supplies minerals for healthy hair growth. Silica or horsetail—helps keep your hair looking shiny and sleek. Finally, when it comes to reestablishing a gorgeous thick head of healthy hair, always go the natural route. Why? Because it works. You can spend a fortune on hyped-up hair restoring products and get nowhere. Let Nature do it for you! Supplements I personally recommend: Life Extension, BioActive Complete B-Complex What distinguishes BioActive Complete B-Complex is that it provides enzymatically active forms of critical nutrients like the pyridoxal-5-phosphate form of Vitamin B6, the active form of folate (5-MTHF) that is up to 7 times more bioavailable than folic acid, and meaningful potencies of each B-vitamin. Life Extension, Natural Vitamin E, 400 IU There has been a long-standing debate as to whether natural or synthetic Vitamin E is better. For most vitamins, there is no difference between natural and synthetic. With Vitamin E, however, the natural form has proven far superior.

In the realm of cooking a whole new ethos is being born. You don’t need to have every ingredient to make a recipe work. I no longer worry about coming into my kitchen and making a meal out of practically nothing—wilted spinach, whatever herbs I have in the garden, four eggs, an apple, half a carrot, and a piece of fresh ginger. Make up your own recipes. Don’t get hung up on measurements. Use them only as guidelines. Try a little more of something that intrigues you, a little less of what does not. If you like the look of some recipe you’ve come across but don’t have all the ingredients, substitute. At the age of 11, one of my sons, Jesse, decided to make Banana Bread. The recipe he found called for nine ingredients but he had only five. So he tossed all five of them together and whipped it all up. Much to his amazement and ours, he managed to create what we in the family thought was the nicest “Banana err...something or other” that we had ever tasted. So put your kitchen scales away and forget the complex routines for preparing a béchamel sauce. You see, Come Alive Cookery breaks all the rules. It’s not rules that matter when preparing foods. It is a kind of passion for the foods themselves—a feeling reflected in your passion for the earth and life itself. You can watch this in a small child as he enthusiastically devours a bowl of fresh strawberries drizzled with honey. Such passion, which is visual, visceral, and sensuous, can become an inspiration in food preparation, which leads you automatically to make certain choices. If two things look good together they taste good together. Open wide your kitchen window. Welcome the breezes of experiment, wit and spontaneity. The standard meal of roast meat and boiled Brussels sprouts topped off with a piece of sticky toffee pudding must be replaced by something far more hedonistic: slivers of raw Pacific salmon, luscious garden-fresh salads with a slice or two of Russian black bread followed by a winter sorbet of cranberry and mint—foods that are lighter, richer in top quality proteins, full of texture, flavor, and surprises. I look on food as a source of both delight and life-energy passed on to us from the earth. And I believe this energy needs to be preserved by not cooking food too much but by eating it fresh and respecting its essential nature. That way meals become a medium for building the kind of natural vitality that protects your body from premature aging and illness, enhances good looks, and keeps your minds clear. It is the life-energy present in abundance in fresh foods and clean, simple proteins from fish, game, organic meat, and poultry that makes such foods irresistible. Shun manufactured convenience foods that fill up the shelves of supermarket. They’re dead and can make you feel dead if you eat them. Instead, use Real Food—fresh, organic stuff untainted by chemicals, preservatives, colorants, and phony flavor enhancers. We thrive on the kind of food our grandparents grew for themselves. Why? Because these foods are both the most delicious and the most life nurturing. Your kitchen, big or small, should be treated like an artist’s atelier in which you can lose yourself in creative games. I remember as a child sitting in front of an old Stanley stove gazing into the flame filled with delightful visions as my grandmother canned pears, peaches, and green beans for winter. My kitchen is more like a sculptor’s studio than a food preparation station. It is a place where I can laugh with friends, workmates, and family while discussing both serious and trivial stuff as we prepare meals together. Every kitchen should be a space that reflects things that delight you or amuse you. Twenty years ago I bought a gigantic soup ladle that has hung above my sink ever since. It is so big I use it only rarely. It would be ideal for a Salvation Army soup kitchen. Practical? Not really. But I love its beautiful shape and the absurdity of its size makes me laugh. In India the best foods are those you buy in the cheapest cafés because they have been made with love and joy (sometimes with humor too). The word “café” is really a euphemism, since these places are little more than a few stone slabs in which a fire has been built for cooking. Yet the foods they sell are infinitely better tasting, more nourishing and “safer”—less likely to cause Delhi belly than all the fancy foods you get in India’s most expensive restaurants and hotels. Unless each dish you prepare is invested with love—or at least lots of affection—the meal will be dead. Have you noticed how much better food tastes when it’s cooked by someone who likes cooking? This is not because they know what they’re doing; it’s because they love what they do. The bottom line is simple: Experiment and enjoy. The rewards can be endless in terms of health and sensuous pleasure. Above all...have fun!

I have an aversion to lies, coercion, and fraud. A prime example of all three arrived in my letterbox recently from an electricity company. It congratulated me on being one of the lucky people who had been chosen to receive a smart meter. It informed me that, and I quote, “Smart meters are a modern version of an analogue meter. They go the extra step in helping you to keep track of how much electricity your household is actually using. Unlike an analogue meter, a smart meter records your electricity consumption at half hour intervals and sends the data to your retailer power company each day.” Their consumer “information” then went on to describe, in glowing terms, all the “benefits” to myself and the health of my family of having a smart meter under such headings as “Know Your Facts” and “Smart Meters And Your Health” followed by a lot of dangerously ignorant waffle, including a phony chart purporting to compare how EMF emissions from smart meters are completely safe compared to EMF emissions from Wi-Fi routers, cell phones, microwave ovens, and so forth. Frankly, I was horrified. There are a thousand reasons why you do not want a smart meter in your home. People throughout the world who have been exposed to wireless smart meters—experience an endless list of symptoms from insomnia and nightmares to anxiety, sharp pain and pressure in the head, cardiac symptoms, nausea, flu-like symptoms, urinary issues, high blood pressure, hyperactivity, and brain damage in children, who are even more susceptible to damage than adults. Peer-reviewed studies show that smart meters can result in DNA damage, sperm damage, destructive genetic and hormonal changes, weakening of the blood-brain barrier, disturbance in voltage-gated calcium channels such as the ones in the heart, degradation of immunity, and susceptibility to certain types of cancers.   It’s time for you to know the truth about smart meters and the horrendous hoax to the public that continues to invade the lives of millions of people throughout the world. When you have a smart meter installed, corporations are able to analyze your home appliances and use the data completely without your consent or knowledge.  They can then then sell this information to other organizations, to make use of this personal data for their own purposes. Smart meters make it possible for just about anyone to hack into your home and invade your private life. They can spy on people  living in a home by measuring electricity, gas, or water usage frequency and over time. Poor security measures surrounding the digital transmission of smart meter data exposes you to misuse of the data collected. As far as the smart grid, which has been created by millions of smart meters, is concerned, even former CIA Director James Woolsey has warned that, on security grounds alone, the whole smart grid design is, and I quote, “really a stupid grid.” A smart grid can be easily hacked and even completely shut down, making power unavailable to whole cities. Even Homeland Security in the US warns that the electric grids are highly vulnerable wireless systems. Thanks to a compilation of reports from Australia, Canada, and the United States in regard to smart meter fires we now know that, despite all the promotional nonsense about how safe smart meters are, dangerous fires caused by smart meters continue to destroy houses and people’s lives. The Toronto Star reported in 2015 that 5,400 of the electricity conservation gauges have had to be removed due to the risk of the fires they cause. After a protracted argument with the customer service team at my electricity provider, I made it clear that under no circumstances was anyone to put a smart meter in my home. I requested that they send me a formal letter confirming that they would not do this. After three weeks, during which no confirmation letter arrived, I got back to them once again and demand it. What astounded me was simply that these people who were singing the praises of smart metering had no clue about what they were selling. They were like a group of parrots feeding back the party line, completely ignorant about what they are selling.   The bottom line is this: If you already have a smart meter installed in your home, I suggest you ring your electricity supplier and demand that they remove it. If you do not have one, never agree let them put one in. I also suggest that you watch a superb Canadian film on smart meters to find out the truth about these devices. Go online and search for the film “Take Back Your Power.” It is thorough, fascinating, and accurate. You will learn from it all you need to know. You can also check out the list of references I’ve provided below as well as hundreds more to find out the truth about smart meters, which are of absolutely no value to people who have them. Get savvy. Your health and your life could well depend upon on this. Thanks for listening. Take Back Your Power: The Dark Side of “Smart” Meters Invitational presentation to the San Francisco Tesla Society consulting engineer Rob States explains how PG&E's so-called “smart” meters work and why they endanger health and privacy. Smart Meter Fires...burning meters, burning questions, shocking answers. For more information about the ways in which your privacy is invaded: Dr. David Carpenter, a Harvard Medical School-trained physician who headed up the New York State Dept. of Public Health for 18 years before becoming Dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Albany warns of smart meter dangers: Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt M.D. took part in the documentary film Take Back Your Health. He is an expert in smart meters and electromagnetic radiation, which he calls “The Health Crisis of Our Time.” He estimates that 80% of all health problems are caused or contributed to man-made electromagnetic radiation. This short video is well worth watching.

“I’ve got no energy.” It’s the complaint I hear most often from men and women...an experience that carries endless consequences: feeling sluggish, unmotivated, and devoid of the sparkle that makes life enjoyable. In truth, energy potential is still there within you. It just needs to be rediscovered and set free. Begin by listening your soul’s whispers, and the rest comes naturally. Get into your body. Did you know that how you think and feel are inextricably linked to how well your body functions? Mind and body are integrated through our nerve pathways, hormones, and chemical messengers. The first step, therefore, requires a real change of perspective. Start to see your body not as external to yourself but as the physical expression of who you are. Decide you matter. Decide that you have a right to energy. You do. What kind of energy do you desire? When embarking on an energy journey, it helps to know where you’re starting from. So, as you’re starting the energy journey, take note of where you are now. Start an energy diary. Try writing down a few sentences about how you think and feel, where you want to be, and record anything you think may be holding you back. Form a crystal clear vision of what you are seeking to achieve. The clearer your visualization, the easier it becomes to make high energy a reality. What are your energy drainers? Our world is filled with external energy parasites, such as environmental poisons like pesticides, solvents, estrogens, heavy metals, and junk foods. Then there are the inner energy thieves: Negative emotions. Addictions. Low self-esteem. With all these energy enemies pitted against us, it may seem like an uphill battle. But don’t be disheartened. Once you have identified the specific drainers at work in your life, you will be able to take action to clear them. Do a health check now. Not only are there environmental and emotional energy drainers to watch out for, but biochemical factors come into play as well. These include things like low blood sugar, allergies, anemia, yeast infections, and leaky gut syndrome. How do you start addressing these drainers? Identify and eliminate foods from your diet that are causing or worsening these conditions. You may also want to supplement with the nutrients or digestive enzymes you’re low on. Clear out the junk. So far you’ve started your energy journey and dealt with the baddies sapping your vitality. Now it’s time for bold action. It’s time for a detox—spring cleaning your body from the inside out. Over the years, a less-than-optimum diet results in wastes building up in the tissues. Energy expended on dealing with these toxins depletes you of vitality. So it’s time to clear all unwanted wastes. Quite literally, throw away every package of junk food in your kitchen. Drink at least 2.5 liters of pure water every day. Then you’re ready for the next step—change the kind of foods you were eating before today. Buy, grow, and eat only Real Foods. Stop buying packaged convenience foods filled with hidden sugars, additives, and chemicals, which undermine your health. Too few people realize that grains and grain-based products are themselves insidious energy drainers. This is cutting-edge information—still ignored by the media and much of the medical profession as a result of pressures from Big Pharma and the multinational convenience food industry as well as the corrupt FDA. Grains, cereals, convenience foods—which most of the Western world lives on—turn into sugar as soon as you eat them, creating serious health issues: weight gain in those with a genetic propensity to it, rapid aging, and a myriad of degenerative diseases from heart disease, arthritis, and depression to Alzheimer’s and even cancer.    Real Foods means lots of fresh vegetables and low sugar fruits like berries, plus sprouted seeds and high-quality proteins from grazed animals and wild fish. Add a few superfoods. It’s time to acquaint yourself with some of Nature’s superfoods. To name just a few: Spirulina—seaweeds—chlorella, white tea, and immune-enhancing mushrooms like shiitake and maitake. Tap into their amazing power. You won’t look back. Get moving. Choose a physical activity that you absolutely love, and get into it. It can be anything you like, so long as it’s regular (done maybe three times a week), consistent (lasting 20 to 30 minutes each time), rhythmic, and uses plenty of large muscle groups. If you’re stuck for ideas, here are a few suggestions: Walking. Easily incorporated into daily life, and a great option if you’re unfit. Dancing for the sheer joy of it. Yoga. Incredibly adaptable and practical, especially for frequent travelers. Rebounding (bouncing up and down on a mini-trampoline). So much fun, and perfect to do regardless of your fitness level. Movement can become a source of bliss, which becomes a reward in itself. Laugh it off. You’ve learnt the serious stuff. Now it’s time to start living with energy and joy. Laughter is a great way to start. It’s good for your immune system and your entire body. Seek out and spend time with the people whose sense of humor you love. Watch wonderful comedy movies like Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Bowfinger, and Death at a Funeral. They can help energize your life. Time to look ahead. We’ve now come full circle. Go back to your energy diary and ask again the same questions you answered in step two. Have your answers changed? Ask yourself positive questions, and record answers when they come. Now make a long-term energy plan for yourself featuring aspects of the steps you’ve found most helpful. Remember, the energy process is an ongoing journey. And it’s an amazing one. Have fun with it.

What do you know about your second brain? Never heard of it? Few people have. But so important is it to your health, ability to deal with stress, emotional balance, and spiritual life that you need to learn about it as quickly as possible. Your digestive system is, in truth, a second brain. It boasts more nerve endings than the brain itself. Most people find this astounding. When we eat foods that antagonize these nerve endings, we experience all sorts of negative physical and emotional states that compromise our lives. If you have any tendency to gain weight, trouble in your second brain will cause you to do so, and make it very difficult for you to lose weight. Even more surprising, troubles with your second brain can produce extreme symptoms in adults and children, which range from disorientation and poor judgment to deep fatigue, depression, anxiety, slurred speech, and more. Your intestine is porous by nature. A healthy digestive system relies on good-guy bacteria to plug any holes in the gut, neutralize toxins, and metabolize vitamins and nourishment from the food you eat. We’re completely dependent for our health and wellbeing upon a symbiotic relationship with these good bacteria whose job it is to plug any holes in the gut wall, through which proteins—such as gluten and casein—can to pass to enter the bloodstream and wreck havoc in body and mind. A truly healthy balance of good-guy vs. bad-guy bacteria in the gut creates a barrier against toxicity entering your blood. When we have enough good-guy bacteria, which is flora, this enables us to metabolize and break down our foods properly. When, however, we get an overgrowth of bad-guy, opportunistic flora such as Candida albicans, vast quantities of toxins make their way through a porous gut, creating allergies and other conditions such as inflammation on the skin and food cravings, and emotional issues, which are not in fact emotional at all but biochemical in origin. This is what happens when undigested particles penetrate a “leaky gut.” How do we get bad-guy bacteria into our system? By eating grains, cereals, sugar, package, and convenience supermarket foods, and very often from taking antibiotics. Antibiotics are used far too often. They are supposed to clear out colonies of bad-guy microbes. But antibiotics also wipe out good-guy microbes. So that once a course of antibiotics is completed, it is very difficult to re-establish a healthy balance of flora in the body. By the way, babies get their first dose of good bacteria while passing through the birth canal. If a mother has a history of taking antibiotics and has an overgrowth of bad gut flora in her body, then the baby’s body becomes colonized with them as well. Second brain issues were first identified way back in the 1920s by the famous allergist, Dr. Albert Rowe. Clinical ecologists will tell you quite clearly that second brain issues are the most common causes of chronic fatigue, weight gain, anxiety, allergies, and depression. It was Rowe himself who dubbed these conditions “allergic toxemia.” Later on, when he realized just how widespread negative food reactions had become (they are much worse today, with all the convenience foods, grains, cereals, and sugars we eat) he came to refer to all second brain disorders as “allergic tension-fatigue syndrome.” Theron Randolph MD, another pioneer in the field of environmental medicine, charted a myriad of emotional and physical symptoms caused by eating foods with which the body can’t cope, including overgrowths of bad gut flora, which results in leaky gut syndrome. Randolph worked with over 20,000 patients in a career that spanned 60 years. He published almost 400 scientific articles on his discoveries. Here are a few questions you can ask if you suspect you may be among the growing numbers of people unsuccessfully wrestling with the manifestations of second brain issues today: Are you chronically tired? Do you struggle with your weight and suffer from food cravings? Do you suffer from chronic anxiety or depression? Do you have allergies, asthma, or eczema? Do you have a child with autism? Hippocrates (460-370 BC) believed that “All diseases begin in the gut.” In the last 10 or 15 years, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD has made an in-depth study into the nutritional aspects of how the gut works, and how poor gut function seriously impacts not only physical health but also brain functions for all children with learning and behavioral difficulties as well as for adults. She has written a valuable book called Gut and Psychology Syndrome. It’s an in-depth examination of how to counter second brain problems through diet alone. The book is fascinating to read. It also includes a number of excellent recipes. I recommend it to anyone who is suffering from depression or other common second brain disorders as well as anyone who has children experiencing dyslexia, ADHD, ADD, dyspraxia, or autism.