The Good Fats Miracle

I've been reading an older book (written mid '90's) by Sam Graci called The Power of Superfoods: Thirty Days that Will Change Your Life. What a great book!

In the book, Graci shows what's wrong with our diet, why we're fat, full of cancer and degenerative diseases. It's an eye-opener.

I like that Graci became a health researcher when he finally got sick and tired of early aging and obesity when he was in his thirties. He's authentic. He speaks from experience and backs up his conclusions with research.

Interestingly, I finally have a better understanding of a miracle cure that happened in my own life, because of reading his chapter on healthy fats. Graci explains how trans fats (from hydrogenated or partly hydrogenated oils) and damaged fats (heat processed cooking/vegetable oils) not only add unhealthy toxins to our bodies, but actually prevent our bodies from accessing the essential fatty acids that we take in when we consume good fats. These unhealthy fats hit the body at a cellular level with a double whammy as a result.

The bottom line is, though many of us are eating twice the recommended daily allowance of fats, we're still deficient of the essential fatty acids that our cells need for normal functioning.

Which helps to explain something that happened in my own life. Several years ago, I had severe eczema on my hands and legs. It was extremely uncomfortable. Added to that, I had itchy, flaky scalp. I used medicated dandruff shampoo and still suffered. The doctors prescribed corticosteroid ointments for my legs and hands, but they didn't help.

Then I read a letter in an Alive magazine about someone who had similar problems. The advice given in the letter was to take flax seed oil. I began taking 2 T/day. Within 2 weeks, my skin closed up, the weeping stopped. It was a miracle! The pain was gone. Within a month or so, my skin was completely healed. Amazing.

I was deficient in essential fatty acids. Such a simple cure, but such profound results. Thanks, Sam Graci, for the explanation!

Amazing Enzymes

Since I’ve learned about the essential role that enzymes play in maintaining our health, I’ve been making a real effort to shift to predominantly raw foods at meal times. Although we're not 100% raw, we're striving for 70%.

What I’ve learned is that enzymes are necessary not only for digesting food, but for all communication that goes on between cells and systems within the body. The bad news is, that as we age, we produce fewer enzymes for doing all the break-down, building and maintenance work that goes on in the body. On top of that, we hasten our own degeneration by eating cooked foods, because the body is forced to produce digestive enzymes for breaking down cooked foods, since cooking destroys all enzymes. Raw food comes with its own digestive enzymes. As a result, eating raw doesn’t stress our organs the way eating cooked food does.

Eating raw is not such a big deal when you’ve got a good variety of foods to replace your normal cooked fare. For example, our usual breakfast is some form of cooked cereal, usually oatmeal. But we’ve found that a good replacement is soaked organic grains.

We’ve also found that our new raw breakfast is so easy to digest. We’re actually hungry by lunch time and eat to fill a need rather than eating just because it’s time to eat. Complete digestion is the cornerstone of good health.

Here’s what we had for breakfast this morning.
2 cups buckwheat, soaked overnight
3 or 4 apples
Dash of cinnamon (optional)
Almond/cashew cream (optional)

Rinse the buckwheat a few times with cold water. Grate the apples on a fine grater or chop them in a food processor. Stir the chopped apples into the buckwheat. Serve with nut cream.
Tip: The buckwheat can be served whole, because the grains are really soft, but we like them whizzed in our blender with the apples. I just toss the apples (cut in chunks) with the buckwheat into the blender, add enough really hot water to get it processing and then serve it with a sprinkling of sliced almonds or shredded coconut.

For more info on amazing enzymes, go to:
http://health2us.com/enzyme.htm

Three Angels Wellness Center

I've recently gotten to know the lovely people at Three Angels Wellness Center, a lifestyle education and health retreat in Glendon, Alberta. I've visited there a number of times and have been very impressed with the genuine and concerned people who work there, the facility, and the programming. The focus of the center is on natural biblically-sound healing methods. Here are some photos.

The Lobby

Front Entrance

Instructor, Mamon Wilson, teaching at the Center

Far infra-red sauna

Easy Cracker Recipe

Easy Crackers You Can Make!
Here's a simple cracker recipe that's delicious and easy to make. Plus, there's no bad stuff in it!

2 cups whole grain flour
2 cups ground nuts or seeds of your choice (our favourites are coconut or sunflower seeds)
pinch of salt
Enough water to make a firm dough

Mix the flour with the ground nuts or seeds and salt. Make a well in the centre. Add water slowly while stirring dry ingredients into the centre. Add just enough water until the dough forms a ball that you can handle easily without sticking to your fingers. If you put too much water in, just sprinkle the dough with flour and work in until it no longer sticks.

Roll the dough flat and very thin with a rolling pin. Place on a cookie sheet and poke holes all over with a fork. Score dough with a sharp knife. Bake at 325 degrees until edges are just beginning to brown - about 12 minutes.

These crackers are great for dipping and spreading. Experiment with extras for added flavour. Try: crushed garlic and italian herbs, flavoured stevia drops (NOW makes a delicious hazelnut flavoured stevia), finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes and freshly chopped basil. Enjoy!