Sample of the Book

The use of this book is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. Before making any decisions regarding your health, please consult a physician or other qualified practitioner.

Here in a sample of Body Wisdom: Natural Health in You

IF YOU ANSWER “yes” to any of the following questions, then Body Wisdom-Natural Health in You ™ is for you.

·         Are you low on energy or not feeling well?

·         Have you recently been diagnosed with a serious illness?

·         Are you wondering what to do now?

·         Have you recently lost a good friend or relative to illness which made you think, “That could easily have been
me!”

·         Do you believe that nature can provide answers to a healthier body?

·         Do you believe that your body can be healed by what is in nature better than by factory produced chemicals?

·         Are you looking at your parents and wondering if your health is predestined to follow their tracks?

IF YOU ANSWER “yes” to any of the following questions, then Body Wisdom-Natural Health in You ™ is for you.

This book is based on the premise that our bodies absorb too many man-made toxins. This cannot be stopped entirely; however, it can be minimized through awareness and with an effective plan. Genetics load the gun, but lifestyle is what pulls the trigger.

Through personal research and the guidance of healthcare professionals who advised me with my own health, I wrote a plan which I incorporated into my lifestyle. This book grew out of my plan. I leaned heavily on the input of my integrative doctor, primary medical doctor and chiropractor. Throughout this journey, I learned that I am my own best “doctor” when I am making lifestyle choices concerning nutrition, exercise, hydration, and rest. It is time for us all to ask the right questions. Taking medicine to treat a symptom will not stop the cause of a disease. Today is the day for each of us to take responsibility for how we think, for what we eat and our personal habits.

I am very grateful for modern medicine, for excellent emergency care and powerful medical help but, as a nation, are we doing enough to ward off preventable diseases? Millions of Americans each year are diagnosed with a dangerous disease. One out of every four Americans will be diagnosed with cancer! One out of every eight women in America will be diagnosed with breast cancer. One out of every 21 women in India will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Why the difference in statistics? Some believe this is in part due to a longer breast feeding custom or more herbs and turmeric in the diet. In some places in Africa, breast cancer does not even exist.

No one has the answers for everyone. It is a challenge to consider the process in this program to help you find the detox plan you need, but it is a challenge you should seriously consider. Allow this plan to fit into a larger picture as you find the right doctor, nutritionalist, a registered dietician and/or support team.

There are so many diets, and the contradictory information can get confusing. You can learn about fad diets, high protein diets, raw diets, food combination diets, juicing diets, etc. This book is not about recommending a diet. You must discover how and what you want and need to eat. Then allow yourself to wrestle with your demons and modify your food habits with the help of this program. Have fun and create beautiful, colorful foods for yourself every day. When hearing conflicting information, just remember that your body’s needs are unique. Some people need only raw vegetables, some digest them better when they are cooked. I cook them because I know that the flavonoids, or antioxidants, are usually not destroyed by cooking.
I do modified fasts now and then, where I eat just the basics of lots of vegetables, berries and meat. These fasts last three weeks. Then I add back other foods and see how I feel.

The goals of this book are to:

·         Assist in re-organization of your kitchen

·         Foster the development of a healthy attitude

·         Modify your behavior to achieve your goals

·         Help brainstorm dietary needs and identify suitable meal replacements

·         Provide easy, tasty recipes to get you started

Chapter 1: Detoxify Your Kitchen

The ultimate goal is healthy body equilibrium. An illness needs sugar and toxins to survive, so the solution is to not open the door to illness. Chronic consumption of refined sugar, such as those in soft drinks and many of the pre-made sugar treats found in the public domain, provide the groundwork for disease. High fructose corn syrup is even more dangerous. Changing what you eat is the key here. The average American adult eats about twenty-two teaspoons of sugar a day; many of these sugars are hidden in the small print on food labels. Read the labels carefully to see what you are eating.

According to Balfor Sartor, MD. (Director of the Multidisciplinary Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Research and Therapy and Co-Director of the Center for Gastrointestinal Biology and Disease at the University of North Carolina), and other medical authorities, a high fiber diet promotes intestinal health. With vegetables, the more you eat, the better it is for your health and your gut, although there are some exceptions, most notably potatoes.

STEP ONE:

Remove toxins from your kitchen, and focus on keeping your digestive track healthy. How will you know what to throw out? You have to use all tools available to you to discover what you need to eat and what you need to avoid. You might already know this on the basis of your experience. What helped me was to toss out anything with white refined sugar, soy, flour, gluten, corn, and most dairy. Yogurt and goat’s milk may be exceptions. Your list may be similar or different. Eliminate anything with words you cannot pronounce, artificial food colors, plus meats with antibiotics and hormones. I trashed eight bags of food because I didn’t dare give all that “non-food” to anyone. Clearly, sugar is harmful, but some corn, soy and flours are often toxic because of the way these foods are grown. Usually, they are genetically modified organisms (GMO) to grow bigger and faster or to carry a built-in insecticide; nutritionally, they are a burden to your body. All the chemicals used to keep the insects out are not good for you either. This information is current as of the time that I wrote it, but new information surfaces daily.

Dairy is often questionable and debated. Much dairy is produced from cows grown with added hormones and antibiotics and loaded with preservatives. Many people are allergic to dairy, and some people are milk intolerant. I can tolerate goat’s yogurt, so after I eliminated my old dairy products, I replaced them with yogurt made from goat’s milk. You will need to research whether dairy is good for you and learn if it is available in your area.
There is some information that suggests that cow’s milk is naturally designed for calves – not humans, and this would be true of goat’s milk as well; however, when consuming dairy products it would be wise to consider how you feel after you eat them. Organic almond milk and organic coconut milk are wonderful substitutes. They are available unsweetened and in a variety of flavors such as chocolate, plain and vanilla.
If you do not want to do one clean sweep of your kitchen, you can slowly use up the last of your sugar and then replace it with honey, maple syrup, etc. Or, you could use the sugar as a facial scrub until it is gone (see recipe).

STEP TWO:

Learn what to keep in your kitchen. The goal is to eat so deliciously that you will not miss anything you have removed from your diet. You will want to do a little research on your condition — to discover what nature has provided to help you heal. If you are healing high cholesterol, your diet could include almonds, olive oil, pumpkin seeds and green tea. If you are healing inflammation due to an athletic injury, you might consider turmeric, cherries, goji berries, cucumbers, ginger, pineapple, and cilantro. If you are healing cancer, foods to include are cruciferous vegetables, dark chocolate–see my sugar free, toxic free, dairy free recipe on page 130, non-hormone-treated meats, fruits, seeds, grains, and nuts. If you want to sleep better, goji berries release melatonin and are great to eat at night. I like them dried because they start out crunchy and then get chewy. Other foods that are great at night are walnuts, tart cherry juice (or tart cherries), tomatoes, fennel and mustard seeds, almonds (soak in water to help with digestion), and raspberries.

With this plan, the key is to have plenty of healthy food in your house or readily available. If possible, get an extra refrigerator or freezer. If you live in a country where a refrigerator in your home is not possible, make sure your daily food source and pantry are mostly organic. If you really cannot find organic vegetables, buy conventional vegetables and wash them with 3% food grade hydrogen peroxide. Read The One Minute Cure by Madison Cavanaugh. The following list is a suggestion and if any of these items are not available in your area, just create your own list for what makes sense for you. Also, eating seasonal foods makes sense as well. I try to eat summer fruit in the summer, winter fruit in the winter, etc. I store all my dry foods in mason jars– not in plastic.