You are what you eat, so eat well. A stupendous insight of civilizations past has now been confirmed by today's investigative, nutritional sciences. They have shown that what was once called "The Doctrine of Signatures" was astoundingly correct. It now contends that every whole food has a pattern that resembles a body organ or physiological function and that this pattern acts as a signal or sign as to the benefit the food provides the eater. Here is just a short list of examples of Whole Food Signatures:
*
A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye...and science shows that carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.
*
A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart is red and has four chambers. All of the research shows tomatoes are indeed pure heart and blood food.
*
Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows that grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.
*
A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds are on the nut just like the neo-cortex. We now know that walnuts help develop over 3 dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.
*
Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.
*
Eggplant, Avocados and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats 1 avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? .... It takes exactly 9 months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 1 4,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).
*
Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the motility of male sperm and increase the numbers of sperm as well to overcome male sterility.
*
Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.
*
Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries.
*
Grapefruits, Oranges , and other citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.
*
Onions look like body cells. Today's research shows that onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes.
"The news isn't that fruits and vegetables are good for you; it's that they are so good for you, they can save your life."
Small changes - BIG Difference!
Showing posts with label environment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label environment. Show all posts
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Criticism Of Homeopathy
Why Homeopathy Is Hated and Vilified
This is an excerpt from Chapter 2 of The Homeopathic Revolution: Why Famous People and Cultural Heroes Choose Homeopathy (North Atlantic Books, 2007)
On the tombstone of homeopathy’s founder, Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, are the Latin words Aude sapere, which translate as “dare to be wise, to experience, to taste.” Hahnemann’s challenge to conventional doctors then and now was to simply try homeopathy and judge for themselves. Sadly, however, most doctors did not honor this simple challenge. In fact, most physicians have maintained a prejudiced and unscientific attitude toward the subject. In other words, they didn’t know much about homeopathy, and they never tried it, but they didn’t like it.
In the nineteenth century many physicians chose to try homeopathy and were surprised and impressed by the therapeutic results, even in the treatment of the infectious disease epidemics that raged during that time. In response to the growing popularity of this “new” medicine, homeopathic medical schools were created to teach basic medical sciences as well as how to prescribe homeopathic medicines. Boston University, New York Homeopathic Medical College, Hahnemann Medical College (of Philadelphia), and several others in the United States were founded to educate a new breed of physician.
Homeopaths did something else that was never done before. For the first time in history, a large and growing group of medical doctors began to criticize publicly the way “regular” medicine was practiced. Further, homeopathic physicians asserted that orthodox medical care did more harm than good.
Before this time, physicians maintained a certain gentlemanly attitude toward each other. Although there have always been differences of opinion within medical practice, the emergence of homeopathy and the development of homeopathic medical schools created a stronger and more sustentative analysis and critique of conventional medicine. Increasingly, the threat of homeopathic medicine was that it attracted the most respected literary elite, many of the leading members of the clergy, a large number of the human rights advocates, well-placed politicians, and many of the richest families in America. Homeopathy was emerging as a viable competitor to conventional medicine of the day.
From the origins of homeopathy in Germany in the early 1800s, Dr. Hahnemann and his colleagues sharply criticized the regular doctors’ use of high doses of mercury, antimony, arsenic, lead, and other poisons. Conventional physicians of the day also regularly performed bloodletting on their patients by using a knife (called a lancet) to open a vein and release blood in order to get rid of what was considered stagnant or excess blood. Even the use of leeches was common until the mid-1800s.
[A section of this chapter is not included here]
The Evolution of Science and Medicine
The words “science” and “medicine” are changing and evolving terms. And yet, there is a seemingly innate tendency for physicians and scientists of any era to be resistant to whatever changes are occurring in medicine and science.
While it is certainly appropriate to maintain a certain healthy skepticism about various phenomena, especially those phenomena that seem especially peculiar or unpredictable, all too often physicians and scientists have maintained a closed-minded skepticism that has fostered unscientific thinking and actions.
Nearly fifty years after William Harvey (1578–1657) announced to the world his great discovery about the heart’s role in circulating blood throughout the body, the Paris Royal Society of Medicine determined that such action was impossible. Even when Harvey’s ideas were accepted into medical and scientific thought, they had little effect on clinical medicine of that time or for the next 200 years.
The Royal College of Physicians of Great Britain greeted Benjamin Franklin with shouts of laughter when he declared the identity of lightning with other electrical phenomena. When the members of the French Academy of Science witnessed a demonstration of Thomas Edison’s new invention, the phonograph, one famous professor of medicine literally jumped up and declared: “We have checked and found that it is a matter of ventriloquist hoax, for it is impossible to have a human voice speak from a roller.”
This resistance to change is not simply a problem in medicine and science but in virtually every field of human endeavor. The most determined opponents of church reform usually have been bishops and clergy. Even when Jesus lived, his ideas about God, life, and love were not eagerly accepted. In fact, as we all know, he died for his ideas and his actions.
A short story about Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) may be instructive here. Kepler was a highly respected German astronomer who lived in Austria during the last twenty years of his life. However, due to religious persecution for his Protestant beliefs, Kepler, his family, and friends left Austria. When the king of Austria heard that Kepler had left his country, the king sent horsemen to ask that he return. Kepler said, “If I go back, my friends will have to return with me!” And when he was asked how he could wait so long and so patiently for his theories to be accepted, he responded, “The Lord has waited a long time for people to understand the harmony of His creation! Why should I be impatient?”
Science and medicine have a long history of resistance to change. Because part of a healthy scientific attitude includes objectivity and humility, a true, healthy scientific attitude would replace the present name-calling, head-in-the-sand refusal to understand or investigate alternatives.
Abraham Lincoln once asserted, “I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon. … The great point is to bring them the facts.” One way to keep people from the facts about homeopathy is to cut off communication to them and from them. Another way to keep people from the facts about homeopathy is to disallow conventional physicians from consulting with homeopathic physicians or their patients. Another way to keep people from the facts about homeopathy is to play games with statistics so that it seems that homeopathic medicines are ineffective.
And yet, as science fiction writer H. G. Wells once asserted, “Kings and empires die; great ideas, once they are born, never die.”
This is an excerpt from Chapter 2 of The Homeopathic Revolution: Why Famous People and Cultural Heroes Choose Homeopathy (North Atlantic Books, 2007)
On the tombstone of homeopathy’s founder, Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, are the Latin words Aude sapere, which translate as “dare to be wise, to experience, to taste.” Hahnemann’s challenge to conventional doctors then and now was to simply try homeopathy and judge for themselves. Sadly, however, most doctors did not honor this simple challenge. In fact, most physicians have maintained a prejudiced and unscientific attitude toward the subject. In other words, they didn’t know much about homeopathy, and they never tried it, but they didn’t like it.
In the nineteenth century many physicians chose to try homeopathy and were surprised and impressed by the therapeutic results, even in the treatment of the infectious disease epidemics that raged during that time. In response to the growing popularity of this “new” medicine, homeopathic medical schools were created to teach basic medical sciences as well as how to prescribe homeopathic medicines. Boston University, New York Homeopathic Medical College, Hahnemann Medical College (of Philadelphia), and several others in the United States were founded to educate a new breed of physician.
Homeopaths did something else that was never done before. For the first time in history, a large and growing group of medical doctors began to criticize publicly the way “regular” medicine was practiced. Further, homeopathic physicians asserted that orthodox medical care did more harm than good.
Before this time, physicians maintained a certain gentlemanly attitude toward each other. Although there have always been differences of opinion within medical practice, the emergence of homeopathy and the development of homeopathic medical schools created a stronger and more sustentative analysis and critique of conventional medicine. Increasingly, the threat of homeopathic medicine was that it attracted the most respected literary elite, many of the leading members of the clergy, a large number of the human rights advocates, well-placed politicians, and many of the richest families in America. Homeopathy was emerging as a viable competitor to conventional medicine of the day.
From the origins of homeopathy in Germany in the early 1800s, Dr. Hahnemann and his colleagues sharply criticized the regular doctors’ use of high doses of mercury, antimony, arsenic, lead, and other poisons. Conventional physicians of the day also regularly performed bloodletting on their patients by using a knife (called a lancet) to open a vein and release blood in order to get rid of what was considered stagnant or excess blood. Even the use of leeches was common until the mid-1800s.
[A section of this chapter is not included here]
The Evolution of Science and Medicine
The words “science” and “medicine” are changing and evolving terms. And yet, there is a seemingly innate tendency for physicians and scientists of any era to be resistant to whatever changes are occurring in medicine and science.
While it is certainly appropriate to maintain a certain healthy skepticism about various phenomena, especially those phenomena that seem especially peculiar or unpredictable, all too often physicians and scientists have maintained a closed-minded skepticism that has fostered unscientific thinking and actions.
Nearly fifty years after William Harvey (1578–1657) announced to the world his great discovery about the heart’s role in circulating blood throughout the body, the Paris Royal Society of Medicine determined that such action was impossible. Even when Harvey’s ideas were accepted into medical and scientific thought, they had little effect on clinical medicine of that time or for the next 200 years.
The Royal College of Physicians of Great Britain greeted Benjamin Franklin with shouts of laughter when he declared the identity of lightning with other electrical phenomena. When the members of the French Academy of Science witnessed a demonstration of Thomas Edison’s new invention, the phonograph, one famous professor of medicine literally jumped up and declared: “We have checked and found that it is a matter of ventriloquist hoax, for it is impossible to have a human voice speak from a roller.”
This resistance to change is not simply a problem in medicine and science but in virtually every field of human endeavor. The most determined opponents of church reform usually have been bishops and clergy. Even when Jesus lived, his ideas about God, life, and love were not eagerly accepted. In fact, as we all know, he died for his ideas and his actions.
A short story about Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) may be instructive here. Kepler was a highly respected German astronomer who lived in Austria during the last twenty years of his life. However, due to religious persecution for his Protestant beliefs, Kepler, his family, and friends left Austria. When the king of Austria heard that Kepler had left his country, the king sent horsemen to ask that he return. Kepler said, “If I go back, my friends will have to return with me!” And when he was asked how he could wait so long and so patiently for his theories to be accepted, he responded, “The Lord has waited a long time for people to understand the harmony of His creation! Why should I be impatient?”
Science and medicine have a long history of resistance to change. Because part of a healthy scientific attitude includes objectivity and humility, a true, healthy scientific attitude would replace the present name-calling, head-in-the-sand refusal to understand or investigate alternatives.
Abraham Lincoln once asserted, “I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon. … The great point is to bring them the facts.” One way to keep people from the facts about homeopathy is to cut off communication to them and from them. Another way to keep people from the facts about homeopathy is to disallow conventional physicians from consulting with homeopathic physicians or their patients. Another way to keep people from the facts about homeopathy is to play games with statistics so that it seems that homeopathic medicines are ineffective.
And yet, as science fiction writer H. G. Wells once asserted, “Kings and empires die; great ideas, once they are born, never die.”
Friday, April 11, 2008
Ready to Renew?
A patient of mine told me that today she took pictures of crocuses blooming on her way to my office. Spring is the time when flowers bloom, leaves grow back, and birds return from the south. Traditional Chinese Medicine diagnosis and principles are based on observations of nature. Spring is a time of renewal for our bodies as much as it is a renewal for nature. What can you do to help in this revitalization?
According to TCM, the key organ of springtime is the liver, a major organ of detoxification. It filters our blood of toxins that are inhaled, ingested, and absorbed through the skin. Even if you are careful to eat healthy; avoid smoking, drinking, and drugs; and use natural bodycare products and household cleansers, in our modern world, the liver still has an enormous task! We still breathe polluted air and it is a daunting challenge to avoid all chemicals, so our livers could definitely use a healing hand.
Why Cleanse?
A stressed liver may result in headaches, allergies and sensitivities, tearing or inflammation of tendons, ligaments, and muscles, stiff neck and shoulders, anger, irritability, frustration, depression, high blood pressure, eye problems, fatigue, and skin problems, amongst other things.
Food Cures
It’s no coincidence that the colour related to the liver energy is the same colour that we tend to see more and more of during spring: green. While winter has us craving heavier, richer comfort foods, spring brings a time when we should lighten up. Choosing more leafy green veggies and sprouts fits with what foods become locally available. If you are veggie-challenged, consider adding a greens food supplement such as spirulina for its energizing, nutritious, and detoxifying properties.
Here are some other foods especially suited to boosting liver energy during springtime:
*
Vegetables: onions, beets, cabbage, turnip root, daikon radish, radishes, kohlrabi, cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, romaine lettuce, asparagus, celery, lettuce, cucumber, watercress, parsley, swiss chard, artichoke, dandelion leaves
*
Fruits: strawberries (choose organic), dark grapes (choose local or imported), blackberries, lemon, lime, grapefruit; small amounts of peaches (choose organic)
*
Grains: brown rice, sweet rice, basmati rice, sprouted grains, whole grains, rye, quinoa, millet, oats, barley, amaranth, roasted buckwheat groats (kasha); naturally leavened, whole-grain sourdough rye bread okay
*
Spices: turmeric, basil, basil leaf, cardamon, marjoram, cumin, dill, ginger, black pepper, rosemary, mint.
*
Lots of room temperature water (optional to add squeezed fresh lemon) or green or herbal tea (e.g. mint, camomille); coffee substitute like chicory (tastes similar to coffee) or yerba mate tea (energizing effect)
*
Beneficial fats: EFAplex oil (1 Tbsp per 50 lbs body weight daily; may have to work up to this if digestion is weak by starting with 1 tsp 2-3 times daily and gradually increasing)
*
Sea veggies: hijiki, nori, kombu, etc.
*
Legumes: aduki beans, mung beans (also detoxify the body), black beans, kidney beans
*
Soy sources of protein, emphasize fermented soy products such as tempeh or miso
Herbs
There are many herbs known to help protect and renew liver cells. They are generally bitter herbs, including milk thistle, dandelion, and artichoke, and the Chinese herbs chai hu and long dan cao. However, TCM is always about balance and about choosing what is right for you. When you are cleansing the liver, you need to make sure that you are properly eliminating the toxins and addressing other strengths and weaknesses that are personal to you.
Exercise
Stretch, stretch, and stretch. And as it warms up, get outside and move and find a beautiful place to breathe in fresh air.
Copyright 2007 Dr. Melissa Carr, B.Sc., Dr.TCM, Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Active TCM -- Helping You Help Yourself.
According to TCM, the key organ of springtime is the liver, a major organ of detoxification. It filters our blood of toxins that are inhaled, ingested, and absorbed through the skin. Even if you are careful to eat healthy; avoid smoking, drinking, and drugs; and use natural bodycare products and household cleansers, in our modern world, the liver still has an enormous task! We still breathe polluted air and it is a daunting challenge to avoid all chemicals, so our livers could definitely use a healing hand.
Why Cleanse?
A stressed liver may result in headaches, allergies and sensitivities, tearing or inflammation of tendons, ligaments, and muscles, stiff neck and shoulders, anger, irritability, frustration, depression, high blood pressure, eye problems, fatigue, and skin problems, amongst other things.
Food Cures
It’s no coincidence that the colour related to the liver energy is the same colour that we tend to see more and more of during spring: green. While winter has us craving heavier, richer comfort foods, spring brings a time when we should lighten up. Choosing more leafy green veggies and sprouts fits with what foods become locally available. If you are veggie-challenged, consider adding a greens food supplement such as spirulina for its energizing, nutritious, and detoxifying properties.
Here are some other foods especially suited to boosting liver energy during springtime:
*
Vegetables: onions, beets, cabbage, turnip root, daikon radish, radishes, kohlrabi, cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, romaine lettuce, asparagus, celery, lettuce, cucumber, watercress, parsley, swiss chard, artichoke, dandelion leaves
*
Fruits: strawberries (choose organic), dark grapes (choose local or imported), blackberries, lemon, lime, grapefruit; small amounts of peaches (choose organic)
*
Grains: brown rice, sweet rice, basmati rice, sprouted grains, whole grains, rye, quinoa, millet, oats, barley, amaranth, roasted buckwheat groats (kasha); naturally leavened, whole-grain sourdough rye bread okay
*
Spices: turmeric, basil, basil leaf, cardamon, marjoram, cumin, dill, ginger, black pepper, rosemary, mint.
*
Lots of room temperature water (optional to add squeezed fresh lemon) or green or herbal tea (e.g. mint, camomille); coffee substitute like chicory (tastes similar to coffee) or yerba mate tea (energizing effect)
*
Beneficial fats: EFAplex oil (1 Tbsp per 50 lbs body weight daily; may have to work up to this if digestion is weak by starting with 1 tsp 2-3 times daily and gradually increasing)
*
Sea veggies: hijiki, nori, kombu, etc.
*
Legumes: aduki beans, mung beans (also detoxify the body), black beans, kidney beans
*
Soy sources of protein, emphasize fermented soy products such as tempeh or miso
Herbs
There are many herbs known to help protect and renew liver cells. They are generally bitter herbs, including milk thistle, dandelion, and artichoke, and the Chinese herbs chai hu and long dan cao. However, TCM is always about balance and about choosing what is right for you. When you are cleansing the liver, you need to make sure that you are properly eliminating the toxins and addressing other strengths and weaknesses that are personal to you.
Exercise
Stretch, stretch, and stretch. And as it warms up, get outside and move and find a beautiful place to breathe in fresh air.
Copyright 2007 Dr. Melissa Carr, B.Sc., Dr.TCM, Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Active TCM -- Helping You Help Yourself.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
