Week 3 - heading home soon
What a journey this has been. 10 months ago I feel like I set out on an expedition with no idea where it would lead. I've learned about all sorts of "alternative" treatments used for cancer and other ailments. I've implemented different protocols. I've read books and magazines and studies I can find to help validate or debunk what I am learning. Then I landed here at OHI, Optimum Health Institute, for 3 very full weeks of learning some very different ways of living. Fascinating!
It comes out of work by Ann Wigmore, "The mother of raw eating and the use of wheatgrass for healing." I read her riveting autobiography and I have met some people who knew her. She was passionate about bringing health and healing back to people as a Christian ministry. Her life was dedicated to showing people why their vitality was wasting away as they ate what was becoming the norm after the industrial revolution.
So often I think food has just become degraded since the take over of the petrochemical industry in producing and preserving (and marketing) our foods. She saw the change way before, when people stopped eating live plants they grew themselves and started eating foods grown by others, picked, processed, and shipped long distances, and people created more and more complicated recipes and palates.
I have learned the power of wheatgrass in healing although I have trouble drinking it here for some reason. It makes me nauseous for hours. I will try again at home; I buy it flash frozen rather than juice it myself - something I'll be evaluating.
I have learned to sprout nuts, seeds, and legumes to help them come alive (as if they were growing a new plant) and how to make sure to soak them to take off the natural pesticides that help protect the plant but block us from being able to best digest them. I am buying a dehydrator and will only be buying raw, organic, unpasteurized nuts and seeds and will be heating them to no higher than 105 degrees so their natural enzymes are in tact. I look forward to making yummy chile lime nuts in the dehydrator. The food here has been pretty bland and I'm craving flavor! People are raving about jerky made from coconut meat I want to try too. They claim you can fool meat lovers with it.
I've learned that digestion is the single most energy taxing process our bodies undertake. So, to give my body more of a chance to use it's energy to heal, I will fast 24 hours once a week. A recent study also showed that fasting for 72 hours completely resets the immune system, so I will do that at least quarterly, maybe monthly.
I've learned that heating foods over 105 degrees destroys the enzymes our bodies desperately need to process foods well. So I am committing to a 85% or so raw diet. That's not that big of a stretch since we are big on smoothies for breakfast and salads for lunch anyhow. Another salad for dinner and some kind of vegan entrée or soup for dinner sounds good. I am having trouble committing to absolutely no meat long term, but I am committed to that for at least 90 days, to give my body the chance to heal without the growth hormones triggered by meat and dairy. Maybe by then I will feel so amazing without animal products that I will be able to stick to it.
I've also learned that combining certain foods together stops digestion so I am going to be ever more mindful of how I combine foods. Drinking fluids while eating also dilutes the digestive enzymes, so I don't drink anything with meals anymore.
I am absolutely hooked on sprouts - of all kinds. I've been successful growing them here - they are so easy! I feel like I am actually feeding my cells when I pick a handful of sprouts (fenugreek, alfalfa, buckwheat, pea, ... there are so many!) and add them to a salad, smoothy, cold soup, what have you.
I've had some things reinforced here - like the importance of meditation and visualization in addition my prayer and Bible study time. I tend to get overwhelmed by the "to do" list of these things but I have decided to just let it flow as life unfolds, while still making such things a priority.
We swim in a sea of toxins daily, so I will continue the sauna, epson salt baths, and coffee enemas to help my body regularly expel toxins.
And I know that feeding my mind helpful information continuously helps me keep up my belief in all I am doing and the importance of being positive and persistent. Great videos on netflix like "What the Health," "Forks over Knives," "Fat, sick, and Nearly Dead," The Truth about Cancer Series, The Sacred Plant series... and You Tube videos like Freelee on how to live raw vegan all help me keep my mind in the right place.
I am still using cannabis (with no high), supplements and herbs, lymphatic massage, physical therapy, Recall Healing psychotherapy, and more.
So, there you have it. What is changing as a result of all I've learned. I go back to work Monday. I'm determined not to panic. There is enough time. There is enough energy. It's all OK. xoxo
It comes out of work by Ann Wigmore, "The mother of raw eating and the use of wheatgrass for healing." I read her riveting autobiography and I have met some people who knew her. She was passionate about bringing health and healing back to people as a Christian ministry. Her life was dedicated to showing people why their vitality was wasting away as they ate what was becoming the norm after the industrial revolution.
So often I think food has just become degraded since the take over of the petrochemical industry in producing and preserving (and marketing) our foods. She saw the change way before, when people stopped eating live plants they grew themselves and started eating foods grown by others, picked, processed, and shipped long distances, and people created more and more complicated recipes and palates.
I have learned the power of wheatgrass in healing although I have trouble drinking it here for some reason. It makes me nauseous for hours. I will try again at home; I buy it flash frozen rather than juice it myself - something I'll be evaluating.
I have learned to sprout nuts, seeds, and legumes to help them come alive (as if they were growing a new plant) and how to make sure to soak them to take off the natural pesticides that help protect the plant but block us from being able to best digest them. I am buying a dehydrator and will only be buying raw, organic, unpasteurized nuts and seeds and will be heating them to no higher than 105 degrees so their natural enzymes are in tact. I look forward to making yummy chile lime nuts in the dehydrator. The food here has been pretty bland and I'm craving flavor! People are raving about jerky made from coconut meat I want to try too. They claim you can fool meat lovers with it.
I've learned that digestion is the single most energy taxing process our bodies undertake. So, to give my body more of a chance to use it's energy to heal, I will fast 24 hours once a week. A recent study also showed that fasting for 72 hours completely resets the immune system, so I will do that at least quarterly, maybe monthly.
I've learned that heating foods over 105 degrees destroys the enzymes our bodies desperately need to process foods well. So I am committing to a 85% or so raw diet. That's not that big of a stretch since we are big on smoothies for breakfast and salads for lunch anyhow. Another salad for dinner and some kind of vegan entrée or soup for dinner sounds good. I am having trouble committing to absolutely no meat long term, but I am committed to that for at least 90 days, to give my body the chance to heal without the growth hormones triggered by meat and dairy. Maybe by then I will feel so amazing without animal products that I will be able to stick to it.
I've also learned that combining certain foods together stops digestion so I am going to be ever more mindful of how I combine foods. Drinking fluids while eating also dilutes the digestive enzymes, so I don't drink anything with meals anymore.
I am absolutely hooked on sprouts - of all kinds. I've been successful growing them here - they are so easy! I feel like I am actually feeding my cells when I pick a handful of sprouts (fenugreek, alfalfa, buckwheat, pea, ... there are so many!) and add them to a salad, smoothy, cold soup, what have you.
I've had some things reinforced here - like the importance of meditation and visualization in addition my prayer and Bible study time. I tend to get overwhelmed by the "to do" list of these things but I have decided to just let it flow as life unfolds, while still making such things a priority.
We swim in a sea of toxins daily, so I will continue the sauna, epson salt baths, and coffee enemas to help my body regularly expel toxins.
And I know that feeding my mind helpful information continuously helps me keep up my belief in all I am doing and the importance of being positive and persistent. Great videos on netflix like "What the Health," "Forks over Knives," "Fat, sick, and Nearly Dead," The Truth about Cancer Series, The Sacred Plant series... and You Tube videos like Freelee on how to live raw vegan all help me keep my mind in the right place.
I am still using cannabis (with no high), supplements and herbs, lymphatic massage, physical therapy, Recall Healing psychotherapy, and more.
So, there you have it. What is changing as a result of all I've learned. I go back to work Monday. I'm determined not to panic. There is enough time. There is enough energy. It's all OK. xoxo
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