Shoko and I (Mike) have continued in Dr. Jensen's teaching. We urge all of our customers, friends and family to follow his dietary guidelines. Over the years we have seen consistent health improvement in our own lives and in the lives of our customers by following these guidelines. Please consider the fact that "health" (good or bad) and diet has a cumulative effect in the body. Your poor choice of foods may have taken 20 or 30 years or more to play a negative role in your good health but I can assure you that the process of disease set in long before you began to notice any symptoms. Likewise the process of recovery through the selection of positive food choices is also linked to time. Fortunately most people respond much quicker to recovery but you can typically expect what Dr. Jensen called a healing crisis time line to emerge as you begin your path on the road to recovery. Please feel free to contact either myself (Mike) or Shoko if you are experiencing specific health challenges and do please follow these guidelines. 1-800-654-4394

Food - your best friend and your worst enemy

• The dangers of Table salt:
  Table salt has been linked to everything from high blood pressure to mineral depletion. Processed rock salt (common table salt), put simply, is a food additive drug. It is in large amounts in almost every single processed food and fast food in the world. It can kill you by robbing the body of a necessary mineral/hormonal balance. The natural sodium found in foods like celery and goat whey helps us to have elasticity, limberness, and youthfulness in our tissues, it is necessary to normal chemical balance not only to the walls of the stomach, but also the walls of the intestine. It is necessary to the regulation of the fluid content and to normal flora in the intestinal tract, and is necessary to good bowel evacuation. Natural sodium greatly affects the fluid balance throughout the body. Calcium, with its quality of harshness, can make tissues immobile: the joints may become rigid unless there is sufficient sodium present to keep the calcium in solution. Such disorders as neuritis, neuralgia, rheumatism, and arthritis follow. Many doctors merely say that waste acids are responsible for such conditions, but actually these acids would not be present if there was an adequate natural sodium reserve to neutralize them. Plants that are matured in the sunshine are high in natural sodium. The acids in green fruits are sour, but when allowed to mature the sodium content gives them their sweet taste. Citrus fruits, when tree ripened, are high in sodium, but so many of them are picked green and expected to ripen in storage that eating them may cause disturbance -- especially in a stomach deficient in sodium. Unripe fruit never sets well in the human stomach. Cabbage juice and strawberry juice are good sources of sodium, as is celery stalk. Okra is one of our highest sodium-containing foods, is very soothing to the stomach wall, and therefore excellent for cases of ulcer.

• The dangers of White Sugar:
  White Sugar is the second on the list of food additive drugs. http://www.racingsmarter.com/process_sugars.htm
  In addition to being the major source of tooth decay its health destroying effects extend to the very core of our bodies, our bones and our nervous system. Our experience is that white sugar is the no.1 culprit in low back nerve pain commonly called siatica. White sugar is not a food it is an isolated chemical compound and it is addictive. The next time you crave a candy bar or a piece of chocolate cake try a fresh tree ripened organic apple, pear, or peach. Your body will feel the difference. In place of sugar in baking try stevia, real maple syrup or raw honey. Raw Wildflower Honey, an excellent mineral rich raw honey, is available (in season) through our catalog. These products can also supplement your sugar cravings. You can find these products in any good health food store.

• The dangers of Dairy Products:
  Cow products were not meant for human consumption, http://www.notmilk.com/ and not just because we could save the destruction of the rain forests and feed the entire population of the world with the grain and pasture land it takes to maintain the worlds cow population. Nutritionally it is a human mismatch and milk is the worst of the problem. Calcium rich but magnesium deficient it actually robs the body of its own natural sodium calcium balance. The plant kingdom is full of natural sources of calcium in proper balance for human consumption. Raw sesame seeds, sprouts, raw dark green leafy vegetables like kale and broccoli also fresh organic eggs (poached or soft boiled). If you need assistance converting from dairy try rice dream in place of ice cream, "Eden Blend" (rice/soy) or goats milk in place of cow milk and goat cheese or soy cheese in place of normal cheese. Yogurt and cottage cheese were the only two cow products not on Dr.Jensen's dangerous dairy foods list because they are already partially broken down for digestion and because they are rich in acidophilus. Butter is better than margarine, but no butter or margarine is the best solution. Personally I (mike) recommend Earth balance or smart balance because they contain no hydrogenated oils and in fact contain beneficial EFAs (essential fatty acids).

• The dangers of Wheat:
  Health killer no.4 Wheat. Surprised? Todays hy-bread wheat is a far cry nutritionally from its ancient ancestor. Todays wheat is selectively bread for a high yield crop with a high wheat sugar content (gluten). The gluten in wheat forms a paste in the intestines preventing the proper absorption of nutrients. Wheat has been linked in numerous human studies to have a direct correlation on mental health including depression and anxiety.
  There are plenty of ancient grains to choose from to take the place of wheat. Brown rice, wild rice, kamut, millet, oats just to name a few. A word of caution however, grain storage in America (even organic grain storage) is overseen by the government and is based on the number of bug body parts per kilo of grain if you think they use a lot of pesticide when they are growing it you should see how much they use to control the product in storage. Even organic grains are bug treated with "natural pesticides" that can kill you. Wash all of your raw grain products thoroughly. Sprouting your own grains is the best and safest source.
  NO Wheat, what do I eat? Click here to learn more about the dangers of wheat and to discover some great food source alternatives to wheat.

• The dangers of the Tasty Deadly Night-Shades.
  Dr. Norman Chillers, a professor of horticulture at Cook College in New Jersey who has worked with plants all his life, reported that regular consumption of tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants and bell peppers is a primary cause of arthritis. He noted that in arthritic patients symptoms of this potentially crippling disease go away usually in a period of several weeks to several months when they stop eating these foods.
  Source: Norman Chillers, The and Health, N.J.: Horticulture Publications, 1977.
  Dr. Jensen also found this to be the case. Night-shades are acid forming foods that will set up your body for a variety of disease states including cancer and arthritis.
  

• The dangers of Unripened Fruit:
  We have already mentioned that unripened fruit (particularly citrus fruits) can be very hard on the digestive process because unripened they are also acid forming. It is always preferable to get locally grown ripe fruit and vegetables even if it is not organic. Please frequent the farmers markets in your area instead of buying all of your produce from the supermarket.
  Fruit should always be eaten alone, never with other foods as it is digested in a totally different manner than protein or carbohydrate starches.
  Citrus fruit and melons should be eaten separate from other fruits and cranberries should should be avoided altogether as they are acid forming even when fully ripened.

• The dangers of Meat:
  OK you must have known this was coming MEAT. Frankly this is a hotly debated topic among doctors and alternative practitioners. Shoko and I know you can get everything you need nutritionally from plants, seeds, nuts, fruits and sprouts.
  Some animal products can provide you with an abundance of essential fatty acids however there are excellent plant sources as well as fish and eggs that will provide you with these life and health giving nutrients.
  Meat has, we feel, too many negatives to justify its positives. If you are going to eat dairy and meat products regardless of what anyone tells you about your health risks please at least consider organically fed free ranging meats. I understand from my research in this area that New Zealand produces some of the worlds most nutritionally rich and pesticide free animal products.

• The dangers of Diet Foods:
  Deadly diet products. In an effort to combat the rising problem of obesity, America has turned to diet food products. This is not only a mistake but it just may be the biggest potential health risk facing our country. If a diet product says "low fat" it is usually loaded with sugars and wheat. Because it is low fat it will contain no beneficial fats as well. If a product says low sugar or no sugar (like diet soda) then it probably contains aspartame. This is by far one of the deadliest products ever to find its way into our food supplies. http://www.doorway.com/
  I remember reading a lengthy human weight study done using only diet products 78% of the people in this study gained weight the other 22% stayed virtually unchanged.