atory and anti-viral spice. How long to take? It can be taken upto two weeks, based on your doctor’s advice. Is it safe during pregnancy and lactation? Nope. Avoid it. Side Eﬀects
Overdose may cause burning sensation in stomach and mild diarrhoea.183. Home Remedy for
Gout, Rheumatoid Arthritis,
Non Healing Wounds and
Piles
Y
Indian Tinospora (Giloya) and ginger are very powerful herbs with anti
inammatory eﬀects and anti microbial properties. Here is a traditional herbal
ghee preparation, which is a home remedy for gout, rheumatoid arthritis, etc. Ingredients
Coarse powder of Indian Tinospora (Tinospora cordifolia) – 100 g rams
Fine powder of Ginger – 25 grams
Claried butter (ghee) – 100 ml
Water – 1.6 litres
Step One –
Take 100 g of Tinospora to 1.6 litre of water, boil, reduce to 400 ml. [1:16 =
4]
After 400 ml of Kashayam is ready, it is ltered. Step Two –
Take ghee in a wide mouthed vessel. Add the Kashayam to it.Make a paste of ginger with little water and add it to the ghee. Heat this mixture till nally all the water content (400 ml of kashayam)
evaporates and only 100 ml of herbal ghee remains. ings to Observe
While preparing ghee, initially the whole mass will be one muddy liquid. Slowly, nearing the end, the ghee becomes clear and gets separated from the
ginger bolus. At the end, when you take a piece of ginger paste from the ghee and put into
re, there will not be any re. is is an important sign indicating there is no
more moisture in the vessel and it is the time to stop the procedure. At the end, when you take a piece of ginger paste between your ngers and
roll, the paste can be easily rolled into a wick form. During initial stages, when moisture is there, the paste will be too soft to roll
into a wick. If you have over burnt the ghee, the wick will become and will
break into pieces, if tried to make a wick out of it. How to take? If you have the habit of taking ghee, replace the ghee with this herbal ghee. Remember to drink half a glass of warm water after taking the ghee. How it works? Both ginger and Tinospora are powerful anti inammatory herbs. Hence both
are very useful in Gout and Rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In RA, we had learnt that there is impairment of digestion power as well as
joint health. Ginger corrects the enzyme levels at stomach and intestines. In Gout and RA, there will be some level of depletion in immunity. Both
Ginger and Tinospora are known immunity boosters.Tinospora is powerful anti microbial herb, hence this remedy is traditionally
mentioned as inducing quick wound healing. Due to its wound healing property and its soothing eﬀect over mucosa, it is
also very good home remedy for Piles.184. Home Remedy for Gum
Swelling and Bleeding
Gums
Y
Here is a simple home remedy with only two ingredients for gum swelling,
bleeding gums and to strengthen teeth. is can be prepared within 5 minutes
and once prepared; you can store it for 1–2 m onths. What You Require
Long pepper fruit powder – 50 grams
Saindhava Lavana (Black salt) – 50 grams
How to make? Prepare ne powder of long pepper and black salt. Mix them together in equal quantities. Keep it in air tight container. How to use? It can be used as tooth powder in cases of gum swelling, inammation and
bleeding gums. Use this powder to massage gently over the gums. What to expect? You may expect a very slight burning sensation.Side Eﬀects
No known side eﬀects. Care should be taken not to swallow this powder, while using in people with
high BP. How long to use? It can be used for 3–4 weeks or till the gum swelling lasts. Can this be used as tooth powder forever? No. It is ideal to use this for a limited time period only.185. Home Remedy for
Hiccups, Asthma and
Chronic Lung Diseases
Y
Ayurveda has explained many common remedies for hiccups, asthma and
chronic lung diseases. is is because; both hiccups and respiratory diseases
have same Dosha dominance of Kapha and Vata Dosha. Here is a simple home
remedy for such conditions. Home Remedy for Hiccups and Asthma – What you need? Sugar candy – 10 grams
Long pepper fruit – 10 grams
Raisins – 10 grams
Dates – 10 grams
Ghee – 10 grams
Honey – 5 grams
How to make? Take sugar candy in mortar and pestle and make ne powder. Remove seeds from dates. Add raisins and dates to the sugar candy powder and mix thoroughly.Add long pepper powder, honey and ghee to it and mix well to make a
homogeneous paste. Indications –
It is traditionally indicated in the treatment of hiccups, asthma and wheezing
due to seasonal change and allergic causes. It is also useful in chronic respiratory disorders such as tuberculosis and
chronic bronchitis. Traditional Indications
is remedy is described in the context of Rajayakshma – a chronic respiratory
disorder with body tissue depletion. It is also indicated in
Kasa – cold, cough
Shwasa – asthma, respiratory disorders involving diﬃculty in breathing
Jwara – fever
Vaisvarya – hoarseness of voice. Dose – 3–5 grams, twice or thrice a day, after food with water. How long to take? It can be taken for a period of 6–8 weeks, based on your doctor’s advice. Shelf Life (expiration date)
Once after preparing, this remedy can be stored in air tight containers for upto
4–6 months. How does it work?Long pepper is one among Trikatu and is very useful in relieving cold, cough. It also stimulates immunity. Honey is well known for its eﬀectiveness in sore throat, cold, cough etc. Ghee, Raisins and dates helps to soothe the respiratory tract. In chronic respiratory disorders, often the patient suﬀers from weight loss (as
seen in tuberculosis). ese three help the patient by providing nutrition. Safe for kids? In a dose of 1–2 grams once or twice a day, this remedy can be used in kids
above 3 years of age. Safe for pregnant mother? It is quite safe in pregnant mother. But before taking it, please consult your
doctor, if you are pregnant. It is safe in lactating mother. Side Eﬀects:
ere are no known side eﬀects in the suggested dose.186. Home Remedy for High
Pitta Balance and Anorexia
Y
Here is a simple home remedy for High Pitta in oral cavity, ear, eyes, nose and
throat and anorexia using very simple ingredients. is liquid remedy is used for Gandusha or gargling. What you need? Sweet tamarind – 10 grams
Sugar candy/unprocessed sugar – 10 grams
Water – 50 ml
Cardamom powder – 1 gram or 1 pinch
Clove powder – 1 gram or 1 pinch
Edible camphor – 1 gram or 1 pinch
Black pepper – 1 gram or 1 pinch
How to make? Take water in a bowl. Add sweet tamarind to it. Squeeze well for 1–2 minutes. Filter. Add sugar and stir well. To this, add one pinch of each of cardamom, clove, edible camphor and
black pepper powder. Mix well.How to use? is liquid is used for gargling, 3–4 times a day. Each gargling time period can be – 3–5 m inutes. What are its benets? It is useful in relieving anorexia. It improves taste. It is also used to balance high Pitta at the level of head and neck, leading to
burning sensation in oral cavity and throat, oral ulcers, burning sensation in
eyes, headache of Pitta origin associated with nausea and dizziness, etc. Mode of Action
As per Ayurveda, clove, sugar candy and sweet tamarind helps to relieve Pitta. Hence, it is  used in all imbalanced Pitta conditions. Pepper, clove, edible camphor and cardamom stimulate taste buds and help
improve taste and relieve anorexia. How long to use? In a day, it can be used for gargling for a maximum of 6 times. It can be used
for 1–2 weeks time. Once prepared, how long can it be stored? It can be stored for a maximum of 1–2 days only. Safe for kids? Pregnancy and lactation? It is better to avoid in kids, during pregnancy and lactation period. Side Eﬀ


 from the cradle to the grave. In the case of nervous afflictions resulting from the degeneration
of the sheathing of the nerves, the abundant use of carrot and celery
juice has helped to restore these to their normal condition and thus
alleviate or remove the affliction. Celery is very high in magnesium and iron content, a combination
which is invaluable as a food for the blood cells. Many diseases of the
nervous and blood system are due chiefly to the inorganic mineral
elements and salts taken into the body by means of dev italized foods
and sedatives. If there is an inadequate supply of sulphur, iron, and calcium in
the diet, or even if there is an abundant supply of these, but in
36 devitalized inorganic form, then asthma, rheumatism, hemorrhoids,
and other disturbances may result. Unbalanced proportions of sulphur
and phosphorus in the diet may create conditions of mental irritability,
neurasthenia, and even insanity. Also, many diseases hitherto ascribed
to excessive uric acid in the system may really be caused by the
consumption of foods too rich in phosphoric acid and deficient in
sulphur. The combination of carrot and celery juices furnishes a balance
of these organic minerals in excellent combination to combat
tendencies toward these diseases and help to restore the body to
normalcy where these afflictions have started or taken root. CUCUMBER JUICE
Cucumber is probably the best natural diuretic known, secreting
and promoting the flow of urine. It has, however, many other valuable
properties, for example, as the promotion of hair growth, due to its
high silicon and sulphur content, particularly when mixed with carrot,
lettuce, and spinach juice. It contains more than 40% potassium, 10%
sodium, 1XA% calcium, 20% phosphorus, and 7% chlorine. The addition of cucumber juice to carrot juice has a very beneficial
effect on rheumatic ailments which result from an excessive retention
of uric acid in the system. The addition of some beet juice to this
combination speeds up the general process. The high potassium content of the cucumber makes this juice
very valuable in helping conditions of high and low blood pressure. It
is equally helpful in afflictions of the teeth and gums, such as in
pyorrhea. Our nails and our hair need particularly the combination of
elements which fresh vital cucumber juice furnishes, helping to prevent
the splitting of the nails and falling out of the hair. Skin eruptions of many kinds have been helped by drinking
cucumber juice to which the juices of carrot and lettuce have been
added. The addition of a little alfalfa juice in some cases has helped
to speed up their efficiency. DANDELION JUICE
This juice is one of our most valuable tonics. It is useful to
counteract hyperacidity and to help normalize the alkalinity of the
system. While exceedingly high in potassium, calcium, and sodium,
it is our richest food in magnesium and iron content. 37 Magnesium is essential for giving firmness to the skeleton and
preventing softness of the bones. A sufficient quantity of vital organic
magnesium and calcium in the food during pregnancy will help prevent
the loss or degeneration of teeth due to childbirth, and give firmness
and strength to the bones of the child. Vital organic magnesium in proper combination with calcium,
iron, and sulphur, is essential in the formation of certain ingredients
of the blood. Such magnesium has great vitalizing powers and is a
constituent as builder of body cells, particularly the tissues of the
lungs and the nervous system. Vital organic magnesium can be obtained only from live, fresh
plants and must be used fresh and raw. It must not be confused with
manufactured magnesium preparations which, as inorganic minerals,
interfere with the proper healthy functions of the body. All chemical magnesium preparations, whether powdered or in
so-called milk form, result in deposits of inorganic waste matter in
the system. While they may give the more or less immediate results
claimed for them, such results are purely temporary. The aftereffects
of the deposit of such inorganic matter in the body may have
repercussions of a more or less devastating nature in the future. We
prefer to follow in the footsteps of the sage whose principle was to be
safe now rather than to be sorry later. Vital organic magnesium, as obtained raw from vegetable juices,
is a nourishing element of inestimable value to the human system. Raw dandelion juice obtained from the leaves as well as the root,
and combined with carrot and turnip leaves juice, will assist in
remedying spinal and other bone ailments, as well as give strength
and firmness to the teeth, thus helping to prevent pyorrhea and decay. ENDIVE JUICE
Endive is the curly vegetable resembling lettuce, and known also
as escarole and chicory. In our east coast markets the curly endive is
usually known as chicory, the word endive being usually reserved for
the winter-grown heads of the Witloff or Brussels Chicory, which
consists of only the long, more or less straight, thick creamy-white
leaves, 5 to 6 inches long by one or two inches wide, pressed closely
together. This is not as rich as the green varieties of endive, as its
large leaves are cut off and the roots set in cellars in sand to bleach
them. Thus, this type is deficient in chlorophyll and in some of the
essential minerals of which the full-grown vegetable is so rich. 38 Endive is closely allied to the dandelion plant, and their chemical
constituents are more or less alike. Endive however, has food elements
of which the optic system is constantly in need. The addition of endive juice to that of carrot, celery, and parsley,
we furnish nourishment to the optic nerve and muscular system, which
bring amazing results in correcting many eye defects. One or two
pints daily of this combination has frequently corrected eye trouble
in the course of a few months to the extent that normal vision was
regained, making the use of glasses unnecessary. One of the most outstanding cases which has come to our attention
is that of a lady whose home was in West Virginia, south of Pittsburgh. Cataracts took away her eyesight completely, and for nearly three
years no hope whatever was given to her that she could ever see again. She heard that in Pittsburgh there was a very efficient plant in
operation that made fresh juices daily from a large Triturating and
Hydraulic press. It had been said that miracles were happening as a
result of fresh, raw vegetable juice therapy and she decided to give it
a try. She followed rigidly the necessary cleansing regime of colonic
irrigations and enemas to remove all interference by waste matter in
the body; she ate only raw vegetables and fruits with no concentrated
starches or sugars; she drank daily:
One pint of carrot, celery, parsley, and endive juice,
One pint of carrot juice,
One pint of carrot, celery, parsley, and spinach juice,
One pint of carrot and spinach juice. She recovered her eyesight sufficiently in less than one year's time so
that she could read newspapers and magazines with the aid of a
magnifying glass. Endive is one of the richest sources of Vitamin A among the
green vegetables. Carrot, celery, and endive juices combined, are most helpful in
asthma and hay fever, provided the cause of these conditions has been
permanently removed from the diet. The cause, naturally, is usually
milk and the concentrated starches and sugars. In combination with celery and parsley, endive is very helpful in
anemia and in functional heart trouble (when this is not the result of
gas in the intestines), and as a blood tonic. It is also very beneficial in
conditions involving the spleen. 39 Endive juice in almost any combination promotes the secretion
of bile and is, therefore, very good for both liver and gall bladder
disfunctions. FENNEL (Finocchio) JUICE
There are two varieties of fennel—the common garden or sweet
fennel, which is used mostly as condiment and flavoring, and Florence
Fennel usually known as Finocchio and used on a very large scale by
Italians and other Latin races. The former is classified mainly as an herb and is not suitable for
use in juice form except under the care of an expert on the use of
herbs. The Florence variety, however, makes an excellent juice. The plant
belongs to the celery family, but its juice is much sweeter and more
aromatic than celery juice. In fact, the plant is sometimes known
erroneously as anise celery, but the Italian name, Finocchio
(pronounced Finokkio), is more generally used. Fennel juice is a very valuable blood builder and is, therefore, of
the utmost benefit in menstrual disorders. It has been used successfully
alone or in combination with carrot and beet juice in this connection. GARLIC JUICE
Metaphorically speaking, garlic itself is bad enough but garlic
juice by itself may cause devastating social ostracism for the one who
drinks it. It is very beneficial, if one has the mental fortitude to
overcome social handicaps, and the intestinal fortitude to endure the
general discomfort which accompanies the more or less rapid house
cleaning of one


 think of dairy products as meat, only in a liquid, cream, or solid form. After all, they contain just as many concentrated, disease-promoting, and
nutritionally compromised calories.Dairy is ubiquitous in the American diet. The milk and dairy industries
have done an amazing job of propagating and maintaining the myth that we
need three servings of milk, cheese, and/or yogurt a day to maintain healthy
bones and overall health. We don’ t. In fact, the opposite is true—see page
35. So instead of reaching for a glass of milk, sample the many wonderful
milk substitutes found in most supermarkets: soy, rice, almond, and oat
milk, for example. Use any one of these in recipes calling for milk. Also remember to avoid all cheeses. Cheese is, simply put, a disease-
promoting, nutritionally vacant, calorie-dense food. It’ s loaded with
saturated fat and animal protein. Cheese also contains casomorphines (i.e.,
low levels of morphine), which is why so many people have such a hard
time kicking the cheese habit. No compromising here! No cheese for you! And be wary of soy cheese substitutes, too, because they generally
contain casein, which is not only the main protein found in dairy foods but
also, according to many studies, is a major promoter of tumors and cancer. Please pat the butter good-bye as well. Rather than disguising food with
butter, why not appreciate vegetables and grains for their authentic and
natural taste? Open up your spice cabinet, sprinkle some on, and discover
an entirely new world of flavors. Use a spray like Pam (but only a very
little, as it’ s all fat) to grease skillets, casseroles, baking sheets, and pans. Think about it: When you eliminate all forms of dairy, you’ll have
neither aller gens, nor lactose intolerance, nor animal protein, nor saturated
fat to deal with, and a host of new foods and flavors to enjoy. It’s a win-win
choice. Americans currently consume a staggering 50 percent of their calories
from refined and processed foods. With no fiber and scant amounts of
vitamins and minerals, these empty calories will be replaced immediately
by whole foods. Whole foods are stocked with fiber, vitamins and minerals,
and calories that count. Without cakes, cookies, soda pop, unhealthy chips,
white rice, white flour, white pasta, white bread, you will blossom, you’ll
avoid blood sugar and insulin spikes, your ener gy levels will even out,
you’ll prevent excessive fat storage, and your weight will drop. Matthew Liebowitz, 14
High School StudentI think other teenagers could do it easily. There’ s always something to
eat. If you like turkey sandwiches, you can eat hummus instead. If
you like milk, you can have almond or rice milk. If you like sweets,
you eat dark chocolate. If you like bur gers, you get a Boca Bur ger. If
you like pizza, you get a cheeseless pizza with veggies. There are a few things you have to be prepared for, like your
friends will make fun of you. But I just make fun of them back. They
say, “You can’ t eat like this every day, can you?” So I tell them,
“Well, you can’ t eat meat every day, can you?” It’ s the same thing. Week Two—Meat and Eggs
If it has a face or a mother, it has muscle, which always contains fat and
cholesterol. Although red meat has more fat than chicken, most people
don’t know that they both contain about the same amount of cholesterol. Fish, meanwhile, which everyone is fond of for its healthy omega-3 fatty
acids, can contain more cholesterol than either red meat or chicken. Steeped
in saturated fat, cholesterol, and unhealthy animal protein, meat is left
behind on the E2 Diet. Don’ t bother looking back. Instead, explore the wonderful world of whole grains and legumes. Shop
for rice, millet, oats, beans, barley, quinoa, wheat berries, whole wheat
pasta, and whole wheat couscous. Or try meat substitutes. Look into tofu (hard, medium, and soft), tempeh
(a tasty fermented tofu), wheat gluten (aka seitan), TVP (textured vegetable
protein), veggie hot dogs and bur gers, and countless other options. The E2
recipes (see Part III) will assist you in discovering and preparing new
favorites. TWO THINGS ARE WRONG  with eggs: the yolk and the white. The yolk
contains 212 milligrams of cholesterol and 5 grams of fat per egg. The
white is almost pure animal protein, which is harsh on the kidneys and
leeches calcium from your bones. Be careful of using egg substitutes, too. Most of them contain egg white,
or some other dairy product. Week Three—OilUnlike most other plant-based diets, E2 asks you to do without added
oils for the full four weeks—or at least a portion of them. When these
weeks are over, you can reconsider oil, but I find that nearly everyone who
goes oil-free likes it, and although they may add some oil back into their
food, they discover that less is better. Why is oil of f-limits? Because the Engine 2 Diet is based on a whole
food, nutrient-rich diet. Oil is certainly plant-based, whether it comes from
olives, sunflowers, or corn, but it’ s not a whole food. The oil you buy in
stores is extracted, meaning that the manufacturers take, say, a bunch of
beautiful olives and, instead of leaving that oil in its wonderful natural
package, squeeze out the good parts (healthy fiber, vitamins, and minerals). All that’ s left is the most refined and concentrated doses of calories on the
planet—olive oil contains close to 4,100 calories per 16 ounces, or 120
calories per tablespoon! Oil’ s nutrient content is low, its saturated fat level
is high, and all that fat goes straight to your waist and eventually clogs up
your arteries. Yes, olive oil is better than pure saturated fat because a lar ge percentage
of it is monounsaturated fat, which does seem to have health benefits. But
15 percent of olive oil is the saturated, artery-clogging kind. There are much
better ways to get the healthier forms of fats than from refined and
concentrated oils; instead, eat walnuts, ground flaxseed meal, soybeans, and
green leafy vegetables. WHY  FOUR WEEKS? Although the original Engine 2 Pilot Study lasted six weeks, I later
discovered that its health benefits could often be achieved in as little as two. The wonderful cholesterol results achieved by the participants at the
three-week mark during the original Pilot Study inspired me to conduct a
series of smaller studies, in which participants ate an all plant-based diet for
only two weeks. These people achieved results comparable with those of
the six-week study in every category except weight loss—naturally, the
longer you are on this diet, the more weight you will lose. Obviously, I am a big believer that the Engine 2 Diet is the best way to
eat for life. However, my goal during the next four weeks is simply to let
you experience how good it tastes to gain control of your palate, your
weight, your lipids, and your health destiny. I know that you canaccomplish all this in just four weeks while developing the skills, habits,
and knowledge you’ll need to increase your hunger to do even more. And at the end of those four weeks, you’ll find your body is a nutrient
paradise. You will feel clean and light, ener getic, and optimistic. And you
will have accomplished this in less than a month! Once those four weeks are over, you will face a big decision: Are you
ready to commit to this lifestyle for additional weeks—or for the long term? All the Engine 2 Pilot Study participants have decided to bring the
Engine 2 Diet into their lives for good—but at dif ferent levels. Some are
living it at 100 percent, some 95 percent, some 75 percent—and others are
simply remembering to eat the healthy E2 way as often as possible. BAD CHOICES/GOOD CHOICES
BAD GOOD
Milk chocolate 70 percent dark chocolate (sparingly)
Chips and salsa Toasted pita bread cut into pieces with salsa
Ice cream Fruit sorbet
Mayonnaise Homemade hummus spread or guacamole
Soda Seltzer with a slice of fresh lemon or lime
Meat Grilled marinated tofu, seitan, or tempeh
Hambur ger/hot
dogVeggie bur gers/hot dogs with all the trimmings
Cheese pizzaNutritional yeast on whole grain pizza, ground-up nuts,
sliced avocado—but go easy! CookiesHealthy fruit newtons, bananas rolled in finely chopped
nuts
What will you do? Will you be a 100 percenter? The more you continue
living and eating this way, the easier it will get, making it dif ficult to return
to your old dietary habits. Or for lifestyle and personal reasons, maybe you will find it unrealistic
to continue at the peak of the Engine 2 Diet, and will back of f some of the
time. Yet with even, say, a 75 percent commitment to the E2 Diet, you will
still reap many of the benefits of living and eating this way.Marisa Pondo, 32
Child Car


 Since this guided meditation has brought you some
revelations, you  may want to write down what came to you duri ng the
meditation.E NERGY -B ODY  H EALING WITH  G EMS AND  C OLORS
The color sky blue is associated with the fifth chakra. Lapis lazuli, known as the “stone of truth,” is great for speaking your
truth. Y ou can also use aquamarine and turquoise. Y ou can  wear or hold to
your thr oat chak ra the stones b lue kyanite and blue iolite to help enhance
clairaudient or psychic hearing abilities. Fifth Chakra Mindfulness Ideas to Ponder
1. When I communicate with other s, I will keep in mind that it’ s not the
words that create beautiful st ories, but the spaces between the
words. And it’ s not the musical  notes that create melodious m usic,
but the pauses between the notes. I’m creating space in my
communication. I’m pausing, listening fully, and allowing the space
to create beautiful conversations. 2. Revealing my inner truth is the only way to authenticity. 3. Honesty is the way I express my self-love and my integrity. 4. I remain open to all forms of communication, and I honor others’
needs to express themselves in many ways. 5. As I live more in truth, more truth will be revealed to me.T6  T H E  T H I R D - E Y E  C H A K R A
A j n a
ELEMENT :  Light
COLOR:  Indigo
MANTRA SOUND:  SHAM
he sixth chakra is a special place on our chakra journey. Anatomically,
we have  arrived  at the area of the third eye, which is located between
the t wo eyebrows and the two p hysical eyes. The sixth chakra includes the
eyes and the pineal gland. Ajna is our center of intuition and clairvoyance,
or seeing things beyond the physical. Relatively speaking, the descriptions of the first five chakras have been
fairly grounded and hopefully relatable to your daily life. Pleas e bear with
me throughout the description of the sixth chakra, as it w ill be more
esoteric. The world we live in is made up of opposites. Where there is up, there is
down. Where there is day, there  is night. Where there is darkness, there is
light. No matter how hard we  try to only have half of something, its
opposite always  tends to show up somehow. As happy as you can be one
day, you know i n the back of your mind that something can happ en to make
you sad. But the  upside is, when  you’re sad, you can be fairly certain that it
won’ t last and that you will eventually experience happiness again, if you’re
patient. This principle of opposites is called duality.When you were born, you came into this world of duality. Y ou began
life on earth, and shortly thereafter you realized that you will die someday. According to T antra yoga philosophy, we can transcend this world of
duality while we’re still living. W e don’ t have to experien ce death to
appreciate our state of perfection wherein suf fering no longer exists. W e can
have this experience while we’re alive. In the first five chakras we’re stuck with the experience of our five
senses, the tanmantras ; with the five elements, the mahabhutas; and with
the three  gunas,  or states of being. The first five chakras are also bound to
the t hree doshas as well as the alternating ener gies of yin and y ang, which
are repre sentative of the Ida and Pingala nadis. As you can see, up until this
point, w e were bound to the eb b and flow of many factors that influenced
the experiences of our existence. Not any more. Once you reach the Ajna chakra, you’re able to go
beyond all these factors. The Ida and Pingala nadis end in the nostrils. For
the s ixth chakra, the two physical eyes represent the Ida and Pi ngala nadis,
and the third e ye represents the Shushumna nadi. Rememb er that the
Shushumna nadi is the central nadi that runs through the spinal cord
connecting all seven main chakras. The physical eyes see the past and
present, and the third eye sees th e future. Lastly, the physical ey es represent
the sun and moon, and the third eye represents fire or intense light. This bea utiful q uote by Dr. K. O. Paulose portrays the essenc e of the
sixth chakra: “Ajna is where time ceases to exist. There is no past, no
present and no future. Ajna will help you break down the barriers between
your ind ividual self and teach you to blend with the cosmic mind in single-
pointed consciou sness. This is the chakra wherein duality ends. There is no
light and dark; no good and e vil. Unconditional truth is the essence of
Ajna.”
The color we attribute to the third-eye chakra is indigo. The mantra, or
bija (seed) sound, we vocalize for the sixth chakra is SHAM. Sixth Chakra Ailments
Ailments of the Ajna chakra include blindness, eyestrain, blurred vision,
headaches, hallucinations, dif ficulty concentrating, and nightmares. Memory problems can also be a sixth chakra disorder.Sixth Chakra Energy
If you have never experienced a transcendent state, Ajna’ s ener gy may be
dif ficult to understand. Y ou might even have a hard time believing that
something like this exists. Let me give you an example to help you
recognize that you have already experienced the transcendent quality of the
sixth chakra. Have yo u ever experienced your sense of intuition through a hunch or
inner knowing? Have you had a  clear sense about a person or s ituation but
no idea how you knew it? Let’ s say you’re in the market to buy a new car. Y ou shop around and find a particular vehicle that you would like to buy. The car salesma n shows you the  top-of-the-line model with all t he bells and
whistles. Y ou explain you want the basic model with heated front seats but
nothing else extra. He convinces you that he can get you a  great deal,
fantastic trade-in value, and perfect financing on the car he showed you. Reluctantly you agree to let him write up the paperwork. Three hours later
he s ays he’ s crunched all the numbers and presents you with a bill that is
$5,000 m ore tha n you wanted t o spend. Defeated, you’re about to sign on
the d otted line w hen something inside you says, “Stop!” Y ou put down your
pen and tell the salesman, “I thin k I need to shop around some more. I think
I can  get a better deal elsewhere.” He tries to convince you tha t you could
never in  a million years find a better deal on such a car. Listening to your
intuition, you leave and head of f to another dealership where you’re able to
buy the  same top-of-the-line model for $5,000 less, exactly what you
wanted to pay in the first place and with more amenities. That is
transcendence. Y ou mig ht ar gue  that your decis ion to leave the first dealership was pure
logic since you know through life experience when you’re bei ng taken to
the clea ners. But your hunch wasn’ t based on factual information, not
unless y ou had called every sing le car dealership in your area with the specs
on that same car  and had already gathered the information before declining
the f irst deal. It came from an in ner knowing, a small voice that  told you to
get out while you still could. If you’ve ever experienced telepathy or meaningful coincidence, you’ve
also tapp ed into your sixth chakra. Have you ever thought about someone
you hadn’ t seen or spoken to i n a long time, and the mere experience ofthinking about her caused her to call you out of the blue? Or maybe you
thought about a book you really  wanted to read, and a friend w alked up to
you and said, “I was out shopping, saw this book, and thought of you. W ould you like to have it?” That happened to me while I w as living in
France. I was helping my father -in-law, who was having some health issues. I w as thinking about a book I had read several years before, 8 W eeks to
Optimum Health  by Dr. Andrew W eil. I knew that if I could give it to him,
it might change his life. But I didn’ t know where to find it or if  it was even
translated into French. That day I went to the supermarket and walked past
a ba r gain bin f ull of books. I glanced down and there was 8 W eeks to
Optimum Health  in French and on sale. It was crazy. That is what happens
when you access your sixth chakra fully. Many p


165
vs. love, 107–1 1, 116, 161
and marriage, 159, 162
needs of, 108, 1 16, 190, 204
and or gasm, 135
and sensitivity, 128–29
and separation, 162
signals from, 259
vs. spirit, 157, 164, 168, 204
and surrender, 156–57, 163–64, 168, 169
Ego sur gery, 279–81
Emotions, 263–69
Energy:
creative, 230
renewal of, 49
sexual, 142, 146, 229, 284
of Shakti, 239
spiritual, 228
Enlightenment, 135
Equality:
and acceptance, 77–78
and courtship, 127, 130
spiritual, 163
Evolution, personal, 167, 168
Expectations:
in ‘I love you,” 1 13
and sex, 142–49
Falling in love:
vs. being in love, 5
blessed state of, 23–24
and desire, 269–71
ego vs., 24, 1 16, 165and escape, 1 15, 1 16
healing via, 215
needs and, 102
as opening, 62–63
and psychology vs. spirit, 91–93
relationship and, 159
and soul, 66, 71
surrender in, 163–64, 165
False love, 1 13–15, 120–22
Fantasy:
and courtship, 109
and false love, 1 13–14
and fear, 68–69
and infatuation, 89, 99
and sex, 135–36
Fatalism, 194
Fear:
black holes of, 212–15
of commitment, 100
control of, 199–200, 201–4
and danger, 111
of death, 221–22
and fantasy, 68–70
about for giveness, 280
healing of, 215–16
of life, 268, 269–70
and memory, 110–1 1
of risk, 22–24
and selfishness, 1 15
survival, 214–15
Fragmentation, 103–4, 191
Freedom, and intimacy, 137–41
Freud, Sigmund, 10, 12, 37
God:
action of, 244, 247in the beloved, 37
devotion to, 87–88
knowledge of, 247
as love’ s source, 9, 62, 84–85, 86, 249
mirror of, 1 1
as present in death, 247
relationship with, 5
separation from, 191, 205
and soul, 275
Spirit as, 13
as within, 243
Grain of sand, 301–3
Growth, and love, 42
Gyana, 35
Gyana Shakti, 238–40, 241–42
Happiness, 227, 282
achievement of, 39–41, 105
and control, 40
as pleasure response, 40–41
Healing:
death as, 9
defined, 43
by falling in love, 216
of fear, 215–16
of love, 16, 27, 41–43
of separation, 205
Heart:
attention on, 53–55
as center, 51
chakra of, 317
expansion of, 292
meditating on, 52–55
purification of, 51–55
Human nature:
as mirror of God, 1 1spiritual vision of, 10–15
I am enough, 212–17, 321
I am love, 1–3, 33
spiritual tradition of, 5, 1 1–12
I am loved, 322–28
I am That, 274
Icha Shakti, 238–40, 241
Illusion:
and need, 108
vs. reality, 14–15
“I love you”:
emotions in, 1 17
hidden meanings in, 1 12, 1 17, 200–1
and passion, 270
Immanence, 92
Immune response, 88
Independence, and aloneness, 58
Infatuation, 64, 87–105
between two worlds, 89–93
and fantasy, 89, 99
and innocence, 90
loving practice, 94–97
in our lives, 98–105
and perception, 91–92
regression in, 91
and transcendence, 92–93, 94
Infinity, 250
In our lives:
but never the bride, 98–105
Cinderella for sale, 123–30
dying unto death, 218–24
house of light, 314–21
somebody out there, 20–28
what about me?, 179–88
what’ s a little gray?, 79–86who will rescue me?, 56–61
wooing the goddess, 261–71
worn-out lover, 151–55
Insight, 299
Inspiration:
cultivating, 299–313
infinite moment in, 300–3
threads in fabric of, 303–13
Intimacy, 64, 131–55
as agreement, 135–36
and desire, 131–34, 135
and freedom, 137–41
loving practice, 142–50
in our lives, 151–55
and resistance, 139–40
with the self, 134–35, 273–76
and shared self-expression, 135
see also  Sex
Intuition, 244–47
Isolation, 27, 57, 165
Joy, pure, 295
Judgment, 45–46
Kali, 228
Kama, 131–34
Karma, 35, 193–97, 223, 242
Knowledge:
of God, 247
and gyana, 35, 241–42
as love of truth, 1 1–12
Kriya Shakti, 238–40, 242
Letting go, 25, 169–78
and awareness, 170
emotionally, 175–78mentally, 174–75
physically, 173–74
times for, 170–71
and voice of spirit, 258–60
ways of, 173
of what, 172
Liberation, 276
Life:
fear of, 268, 270
as love, 1 1–12
passion for, 227, 229, 234, 237
perfection of, 131
spiritual goal of, 3
Loneliness, 26, 58, 165
Lovability, 70–73
Love:
ability to receive, 84
absence of, 47–50
alignment with, 19
and balance, 42
divine revealed in, 250
vs. ego, 107–1 1, 116, 161
falling in, see Falling in love
false, 1 13–14, 120–22
giving and receiving, 44
God as source of, 9, 62, 84–85, 86, 249
and growth, 42
healing of, 16, 27, 41–43
importance of, 9–10
life as, 1 1–12
messages from, 96–97
vs. non-love, 1 1
path to, see Path to love
and power within, 29
as protection, 202reality as, 14, 16, 27
and relationship, 46
and religion, 12, 36–37, 88
of Self, 216
Self as source of, 14, 33, 46, 65
and sex, 136
social pattern of, 4
and soul bar gain, 17–19
and spirit, 2–3, 1 1–12, 23–24, 29, 33, 37, 39, 65
spiritual meaning of, 3–6, 12, 39
unconditional, 327
and unity, 35
universal, 14, 282, 292
and wholeness, 250
Love story:
with God, 9
living, 43–46
loving practice, 17–19
in our lives, 20–28
revival of, 7–9, 14
Loving practice:
accepting ambiguity, 74–78
cultivating inspiration, 299–313
freeing sexual blocks, 142–50
healing our inner needs, 205–


consideration, and
every other sort of unloving behavior with sweetness and light. For
all its apparent goodness, this situation smacks of self-denial and
even masochism. The rishis’ version of unconditional love contains no eort at all. A person who feels love “no matter what” is simply following his
nature. In truth, this is all that can be asked of anyone. Acting
according to your own level of awareness is inescapable. In order to
smile at the stranger who bumps into me on the street, I need to feel
like smiling; otherwise, my behavior will be calculated. As we saw
before, calculation is the primary strategy of the false self. It has to
calculate when to smile because it is too afraid to show theemotions actually being felt. Tact and diplomacy, which most of us
applaud as “nice behavior,” can also be seen as the subtle skill of
lying. All of us are radiating our awareness out into the world and
bringing its reection back to us. If your awarenes s contains
violence and dread, you will meet those qualities “out there.” On
the other hand, if your awareness contains unconditional love, the
world, even the eyes of a derelict, will mirror that love. The curative
value of this kind of awareness is enormous, as I would like to
illustrate with a moving story told by R. D. Laing. At the age of fourteen, a Scottish boy named Phillip came home
from school one day and found his mother on her bed in a pool of
blood. A long-term tuberculo sis patient, she had died from a sudden
hemorrhage in her lungs. Instead of consoling the boy and helping
him to overco me his shock and grief, Phillip’s father berated him,
telling him again and again that he had killed his mother by putting
her through the exhaustion of pregnancy, birth, and raising him. This went on for two months. Then Phillip came home from school
to nd that his father had committed suicide. Six months later, Laing came  across the boy in a Glasgow mental
ward, in a bizarre state of psychological and physical deterioration. As Laing vividly recalls, “He smelled awful. He was incontinent of
urine and feces, given to staggering and walking peculiarly. He
gesticulated in strange ways without speaking, seem ed almost
completely self-absorbed, and could not care less about his
surroundings and the people in them.”
Although he was in the midst of doctors and nurses whose job
was to care for him, Phillip had pushed the limits of compassion. He
was too strange and disgust ing for anyone to be around for more
than a few minutes, much less to help. He had developed a stutter,
along with a peculiar collect ion of tics: blinks, darts of the eye, and
twitches in his cheeks, tongue, hands, and ngers. Worst of all was
his total I-could-not-care-less attitude, which had alienated the other
patients and turned the whole sta against him. Two months in the hospital made little change in Phillip’s
condition. “There was no question of the diagnosis,” Laing recounts.“He was an acute (probably becoming chronic) catatonic
schizophrenic. When he had anything to say, it was clear that he
was hallucinated, very paranoid, and very deluded.” Laing felt
drawn to this shattered creature. Phillip had no remaining relatives
or family friends to take him in. That he would be put away for the
rest of his life was a foregone conclusion. Instead, Laing took Phillip home with him, to his wife and three
children under the age of four. He made this extraordinary decision
because, when talking to Phillip alone in his oce, outside the
setting of a psychiatric ward, he noticed that the boy became
calmer. Phillip started to talk intelligibly, and although his talk was
about “crazy” things—his feeling that the ward was a gigantic
sphere with himself as a pin in the center, his visitations by
interstellar beings, his hallu cination that a black man’s voice was
speaking gibberish to him in the night—he did not seem completely
gone. His tics and twitches also subsided in Laing’s oce. For an
hour at least he controlled his bodily functions, and most telling of
all, a shadow of gratitude passed over his rigid features when Laing
oered to help him. Laing had the insight that perhaps the doctors and nurses were
keeping  Phillip crazy simply by the way they felt about him. “Phillip
generated in everyone  who came near him mixed feelings of
revulsion, at the sight of him and the smell of him, and feeling sorry
for him, just because he was so repulsive, as well as at his evident
misery. The result was that hardly anyone could resist trying to
appear to him to be kind and loving, but eeing out of sight and
smell of him as quickly as possible—not because they could not
stand him, but for some other necessity.”
Phillip was being kept crazy because the attempt to love and care
for him was tinged with hypo crisy and he knew it. As soon as Laing
took the unheard-of step of bringing a catatonic schizophrenic into
his home, Phillip improved with astonishing speed. His incontinence
ended the mom ent he entered the house. Within a couple of weeks
he had stopped staggering, although he still shook. He began to talk
falteringly but coherently. Three months later he was well enoughto be moved into a foster home. The threat of a lifetime spent
locked up in a mental ward had been removed. Laing did not use psychothe rapy on Phillip while he was under
his roof. The boy was treated honestly, without emotional
hypocrisy, which meant that what was good or bad about him was
reacted to as such. Fifteen years later, he returned to the house to
report his progress. As Laing puts it with a shade of dry wit, “He
was married, had two children, had a steady job, and was taking
evening classes in psychology.”
It is hard to deny that Phillip’s sanity depended to a huge extent
on projections from the mind s of others. The supercial “love” and
“caring” in the mental ward kept him imprisoned in a false self
because these feelings were equally false. Behind them lurked the
real message: “love” was just a means to keep him under control—it
was a power ploy. Fortunately, in Laing the boy found someone who looked upon
him in the light of love. To me, that is the most touching part of the
story. Laing does not raise the issue of love. He puts his motives on
a simple human basis: “I felt very sorry for his plight and very much
wanted to help him, if possi ble.” Yet in Laing’s presence, a rapport
was established  that was an honest reection of one awareness with
another. The intensity of life, so clear, sane, and loving, radiated
from Laing and touched the boy. That seems to be the most natural
part of what happened between the two, and what should happen
between all of us. One true self speaks to another, using the
language of the heart, and in that bond a person is healed. Safe to Love
If the rishis are right, the end of the false self spells the end of
fear, and the desperate need for power that fearful people cannot
help. Power is a form of self-protection, and when fear is gone, there
is no need for protection. The true self is love, and being able to love
all the time is the most one could want. The clash between love and
power then has no meaning. As Tagore so decisively wrote, “Love is
not a mere impulse; it must contain truth, which is law.” I deeplybelieve that, because I have met people who suddenly found
themselves living under this law. “I was driving down the highway looking for the exit onto the
turnpike when  I noticed an unusual sensation in my chest. It began
as a warm or tingling feeling, which I recognized from meditating. Generally the feeling is pleasant but temporary. Now it began to
intensify, and instead of physical warmth, wave after wave of
emotion started to sweep over me.”
Chris’s eyes shone as he talked on: “It was love, but much purer
and more concentrated love than I had ever felt. I have read in
various scriptures about the heart opening like a ower—one never
thinks such things are going  to happen in real life, on a six-lane
road. But this was it: my heart was unfolding like a ower, almost
drowning me in the exquisit e sensation of love. Strangely, I could
still keep my attention on the road, but I decided to pull o. I
walked into a hamburger stand and just stood there lookin g down at
the salad bar, having the most wonderful experience of my life.”
I still see my friend Chris every once in a while. He has worked as
a bank manager and a community organizer; he is a hardheaded
sort, not the man you would pick to have his heart unfold like a
ower. But that is wrong


 those that seem unresponsive to antibiotics, strokes, emboli, sclerotic vessels as found in arteriosclerosis,
severe nerve degeneration interfering with nerve transmission to vital organs. Treating the critically ill does not have to be an all or nothing, ideological choice between holistic medicine and A MA style
medicine. It is important for the critically ill and their families to know that if they use standard medical treatment such as drugs or
surgery, these measures can and should be combined with natural healing methods. It is always desirable to qui t all addicting
substances, start a whole foods diet, (as light as possible), and add meganutrition (supplements) to the medical doctor's tre atments. Few medical doctors are so arrogantly partisan as to assert that natural measures will do any harm as long  as the MD is still
allowed to prescribe as they please. Holistic support will not only lessen the side effects of the medical treatments but will speed up healing and often reduce t he
required dose of prescribed drugs. I have had several clients with cancer who chose to have surgery, radiation and chemotherapy,
but stayed on a raw food diet and took high doses of supplements throughout the treatment. These people amazed the attending
physician by feeling good with little if any fatigue, no hair loss, o r flu symptoms. The same can be true of other conditions. Food In The Order Of Digestive Difficulty
    Individual digestive weaknesses and allergies are not taken into account in this list. Hard To Digest: Meat, fish, chicken, eggs (if cooked), all leg umes including soy products, peanuts and peanut butter, beans, split
peas, lentils, chick peas, dairy products such as cheese, milk, butter milk, nuts and seeds and their butters. Intermediate: all grains –quinoa, amaranth, millet, spelt, rye, wheat, oat s, barley. Fairly Easy: Brussels sprouts, green beans, green peas, broccoli, cauliflower, raw cultured milk products, asparagus, cabbage,
sprouts especially bean sprouts, kale, other leafy greens. Very Easy: fruits, vegetable juices, fruit juices, broth (clear). No Effort: herb tea, water. Ethyl always comes to my mind when I think of how much healing power can still be left in a dying body. She (accompanied by
her husband for support) came to Great Oaks School with terminal cancer, heart failure, advanced diabetes, extreme weakness, and
complete inability to digest. Any food ingested just came back up immediately. Ethyl had large tumors taking over the breast,
sticking out from her skull, an d protruding from her body in general. The largest was the one in the left breast which was the size
of a big man's fist. She did have one crucial thing going for her, Ethyl was a feisty Irish red head who still had a will to live, and a reason to  do so. She and her husband, who had just retired, had dreamed their whole life of touring the US and Canada in their own RV the minu te
he retired. The time had finally arrived but Ethyl was too ill to support her own weight (only 90 pounds) and to top it off was blind
from diabetic retinopathy. The doctors had done everything they could to her, and now judged her too weak to withstand any mo re
surgery (she had already had her right breast removed). Radiation or chemotherapy were also considered impossible due to heart
failure. They sent Ethyl home to die, giving her a few days to a month at most. Any sensible hygienist trying to stay out of jail would have refused to take on this type of case because it was a cancer cas e
where death was likely. Treatment o f this highly lucrative disease is considered the AMA's exclusive franchise, even when the
medical doctors have given up after having done everything to a body the family can pay for or owe for. Whenever a person die s
under the care of any person who is no t a licensed M.D. there must be an autopsy and a criminal investigation in search of
negligence. If the person dies under the care of an M.D. the sheriff's assumption is that the doctor most assuredly did every thing he
could and should have done and death was inevitable. By accepting Ethyl I had a reasonable likelihood of ending up in trouble; but
being foolish, brave and (stupidly) feeling relatively immune to such consequences (I was under 40 at the time), it seemed
important to try to help her. So, undau nted by the task, regardless of the outcome, I proceeded logically, one step at a time. Today,
with more experience and a modest net worth I wouldn't want to have to defend in a lawsuit, and at age 55. possessing no spar e
five to ten years to give to the S tate to "pay" for my bravery, I would probably refuse such a case. Fortunately I have not been
confronted with this problem lately. Since Ethyl was unable to digest anything given by mouth, she was fed rectally with wheat grass juice implants three tim es a
day. She was carried to the colonic table for a daily colonic. Wheat grass and clay poultices were applied to her tumors thre e times
a day. She received an acupressure massage and reflexology treatments during the day, plus a lot of tender loving care. This
program continued for a month during which the tumors were being reabsorbed by the body, including the large, extremely hard
tumor sticking out the flesh of the right breast. Ethyl complained of severe pain as the large tumor in her breast shra nk. While it had been getting larger and pressing ever
harder on all the nerves, she had little or no sensation, but as it shrank, the nerves were reactivated. Most people think th at a
growing tumor would cause more pain than a shrinking one. Often the opp osite is true. Pain can be a good sign that the body is
winning, an indicator to proceed. By the second month, Ethyl, gradually gaining strength, was able to take wheat grass and carrot juice orally, and gradually e ased
into raw foods, mostly sprouts and leafy greens such as sunflower and buckwheat greens grown in trays. She started to walk with
assistance up and down the halls, no longer experiencing the intense pain formerly caused by a failing heart, and most surpri sing of
all, her eyesight returned, at first seeing only outlines, and then details. The third month Ethyl enlarged her food intake to include raw foods as well as the carrot and wheat grass juice and sprouts, plus
vitamin and mineral supplements to help support her immune system and the healing process. All the tumors had been reabsorbed
by her body and were no longer visible, her heart was able to support normal activity such as walking, and nonstrenuous house hold
chores, and her diabetes had corrected itself to the point that she no  longer required insulin and was able to control her blood sugar
with diet. Her husband was then instructed in her maintenance and they went home to continue the program. The last I heard from them
they had made two lengthy trips around the US in thei r RV and were enjoying their retirement together after all. My treatment worked because the most important factor in the healing of the critically ill person is not give them more
nourishment than their body is able to process. The moment the digestiv e capacity of the sick person is exceeded, the condition
will be exacerbated and in a critically illness, the person is likely to die. If the body still has sufficient organ integrit y and vital
force to heal itself, it will do so only if given the least po ssible nourishment that will support life –provided no essential organs are
hopelessly damaged. If the liver and kidneys are functional, and the person has done some previous dietary improvement and/or
cleansing, success is likely, especially if the person wants to live. A person in critical condition does not have time to ease into fasting by first spending a month or two on a raw foods diet. This
means that the person who is taking care of the critically ill person must be experienced enough to adjust  the intensity of the body's
healing efforts and accurately assess the ability of the person to process toxic waste products clamoring for removal so the ailing
body is not drowned in it's own poisons. It is often necessary to use clear vegetable broth, ve getable and wheat grass juices, and
fruits juices, or whole sprouts to slow down the cleansing gradient and sometimes, to resupply the tissue's exhausted nutriti onal
reserves. I wish all cases of critical illness had such a positive outcome as Ethyl's,  but unfortunately they don't. I had Marge on the same
program at the same time. She also had cancerous tumors all over her body and had similarly been sent home to die. In some wa ys
Marge's body was a more likely candidate for survival than Ethyl's. Marge  did not have heart failure or diabetes and was still able
on arrival to at least take small amount of water orally and walk to the bathroom. Put on a similar program, her tumors also shrunk
and were reabsorbed and she too went home. But Marge did not  really have a strong reason to live. Although her husband was by her side throughout the treatment program,
Marge was deeply upset because she was estranged from one of her sons who she had not seen for over 10 years. When she went
home from Great Oaks, t he son finally consented to see his mother, went to the effort of trying to


 skin is essentially a vital organ. It is subject to a
wide variety of
diseases
, the greater number of them being inflammations. Inflammation of the skin
is called
dermatitis
. The skin is fed by the blood, not from any form of exterior feeding. There are no skin foods
other than the blood itself and all money spent for so-called “skin foods” is wasted. The skin as the
body’s protecting envelope, comes in contact with many outside substances and influences that are
harmful. It is damaged in a variety of ways. Fortunately its powers of self-repair are great, so that
few of these damages leave permanent marks. Most skin diseases are due to systemic causes. It is
these that should concern us most. Dermatitis may appear in myriad forms, giving rise to diagnosis of the various forms of eczema,
psoriasis, dermatoses and a host of others. So far as the layman is concerned, the fine-spun
diagnoses and descriptions have
only short value; at best they represent merely slight variations of
the same condition. Dermatologists who use only salves and internal “remedies” do not really
remedy
 these inflammations. Many cases are the results of a general or systemic toxemic state; many others are the results of
120taking such drugs as arsenic, mercury, iodine, potassium, and the so-called vegetable blood
remedies. Some of the irritation is the result of vaccines, serums and other drugs. In all of them
recovery hinges upon removal of the cause; this no salve can do. It is not unusual for dermatologists to advise against bathing in many of these skin eruptions, as
soap and water are supposed to aggravate the condition. Soap may do so, but not plain warm
water. Indeed, cleanliness is half the victory in almost all of these conditions and to go unwashed
is to intensify the trouble. In all skin eruptions, even the worst forms of eczema, I insist upon frequent bathing with warm
water. It may seem strange, but in many instances cleanliness is all that is required to enable the
patient to get well. A few baths and the skin disease vanishes. It reminds one of bathing seven
times in the Jordan that we read about in the Bible. In all skin eruptions, diet requires first attention. Almost certainly the patient will be found to be
overeating. It is common that a redundancy of starches and sugars in the diet gets a major share of
the blame. In most cases the combinations are such as to favor indigestion. There is the habit of
taking starches and proteins at the same meal. This is often enough to cause indigestion and result in skin inflammation. If there is a history of
drug taking, this must be given due consideration as there are many drugs that cause skin eruptions. Brome acne is a common example. Bromine is given in many conditions and is contained in many
different drugs in common use. Psoriasis is characterized by small spots, a little elevated from the surface and covered with a
flaky, bran-like covering which peels, especially in hot weather, leaving the surface red and
irritated, and the skin somewhat thickened. These spots range from the size of a pea to that of a dime. Then they develop on the face, they
appear much worse after shaving. They often cause much humiliation to those who develop the
disease on exposed regions of the body. I recall a beautiful young girl whose psoriasis was hidden
when she was in a street dress but very apparent in a bathing suit. A good swimmer, she had to
give up swimming because of the humiliation brought on by this condition. Large surfaces on the body may be involved. On the lower extremities the whole leg may be
covered. In some cases the dry scales flake off at a mere touch. Psoriasis is a very persistent
disease and patients suffer with it for years. It may develop only on the forearms or about the
elbows, or it
may cover the whole body. It tends to get better in the summer and to grow worse
during the winter months. It has a tendency to recur after the skin is perfectly clear. Indeed, it seems that to completely
recover from the disease almost always requires an extended time. Slight indiscretions in eating
and beverage drinking will cause a recurrence. It, therefore, becomes necessary for the psoriasis
patient to live very carefully for an extended period in order to eliminate a recurrence. As
imprudent eating seems to affect the condition more promptly than any other self-indulgence, it is
especially important that careful attention be given to the eating habits. Even an occasional short
fast, as the eruption tends to recur, is often necessary. Eczema—early generations knew it as tetter—may develop on almost any surface of the body,
but seems to occur most often on the elbows, about the fingers and wrists, on the back and on the
ears, on the anus and genitals. It also develops quite frequently on the face and on the abdomen. The skin tends to thicken and crack and there is considerable itching, causing much scratching
which only aggravates the trouble. The dry patches about the elbows, knees and ankles are
specially prone to itch and burn. 121Wrong eating plays a dominant role in the production and maintenance of this skin inflammation. It is essential in these outbreaks that correct diet follow a preliminary fast. The fast hastens the
healing of the eczema. The disease is often seen in infants, where it appears to be more persistent
than if it develops later in life. The fast of the infant must be conducted under the most careful
supervision and only by those fully trained and competent to conduct it. Often a long fast is not needed, but if the condition is serious, it should be taken. In some
instances, a series of short fasts with careful feeding between fasts can be made to serve. The patient should force himself to keep his hands away from the itching surface, to avoid
rubbing and scratching, as both these processes tend to aggravate the condition. Cleanliness is the
chief need to prevent great itching. Frequent bathing with warm water is essential. Often, indeed,
cleanliness is all that is required for complete recovery. 12230
Prostatic Englargement
The prostate gland is an auxiliary of the male reproductive organs. Neatly tucked around the neck
of the bladder, just under the body of this organ, the utrethra or tube through which the urine flows
from the bladder, passes through it. The prostrate gland secretes a fluid that is mingled with the
semen after it reaches the urethra. Because of its location about the urethra its enlargement results
in more or less blockage of the flow of urine. Enlargement of the prostate is almost as common in men over thirty-five years as enlargement of
the tonsils in children. For every woman who suffers with uterine disease, there is a man who has
enlarged prostate, irritation, inflammation and ulceration of the urethra, and the neck of the
bladder. In large numbers of men over fifty, there is more or less ulceration of the urethral portion
of the prostate gland. These conditions can be the source of much annoyance and suffering in men. It is a common
cause of retention of the urine and fouling of the bladder often giving rise to discomforts in the
back, hips and legs, and sometimes causes lumbago and sciatica. The irritation resulting from
retention of the urine ultimately leads to cystitis (inflammation of the bladder) and even to
ulceration of the bladder and its neck. Indeed, it may not be an exaggeration to say that prostatic disease, and its influence on
neighboring organs, causes more than half the discomforts of men past fifty. Many of the diseases
of elderly men, for which they are being regularly and unsuccessfully treated, are but reflexes of
genitourinary disease, of which prostatis or inflammation of the prostate gland is the primary
disease. Prostatic enlargement may begin early, at thirty five or sooner, or later, even after seventy. Fat
men with large abdomens and sedentary men are more liable to prostatic enlargement, as both the
fat and the sedentary life interfere with pelvic circulation, the resulting blood stasis being,
perhaps, the principal cause of the prostatic enlargement. Thin men and physical workers are not,
however, exempt from the disease. Enlargement of the prostate gland results in the retention of a portion of every urination—
residual urine. The pressure upon the urethra and mouth of the bladder exerted by the enlargement
prevents the bladder from fully
emptying. A slight retention is caused by a slight enlargement of the
prostate. As the enlargement increases, the amount of urine retained is also increased. One of the annoyances of men after middle life is slow micturition, soon to be followed by a
slowly developing obstruction to the flow of urine. At fifty-five to sixty there develops small
retention of urine, which means that after all the urine has been passed that can be passed, there
will be an ounce or two of urine left in the bladder. The inability of the bladder to empty itself
slowly increases. As the same time the amount of urine retained increases. The retained urine
poisons the bladder, and in, time, the entire system, causing much discomfort and suffering, even
death. As the prostate enlarges, its weight pulls the bladder downward thus making it even more
difficult for the bladder to empty itself. As


 to an uncle I received an
invitation to try my fortunes in Florida. My boyhood friend, Bill
Sykes, had settled there. When I told Judge Street what I had in mind,
he made me an attractive proposition:
"George, I like the way you have taken hold of things here. That
proves you will make a go of whatever you undertake. You stay on
with us, and we'll convert that land three miles up the valley at
Warrenton into a livestock farm. If you will marry and settle down, I'll
build you a nice home and give you half the proceeds of the farm,
consisting of about 800 acres." Judge Street knew that I had not become widely acquainted with
the young people in that community so he mentioned a fine young girl
whom we both knew. "Cousin Tom," I answered, that is the finest offer I ever had but I
just cannot make up my mind to acce pt it." (A 'wee small voice' within
me had told me to say "No" and, as it later seemed, for the best." So, when my second year was up, I bade the Street family good-
by and pledged them I would never forget all the things that had been
done for me. In September of that year Atkins entered the University. He and I exchanged letters for seve ral years.,When the United States
took over the Philippine Islands at the turn of the century, T. A. Street,
Jr., of Alabama helped draft a code of laws for the new possession. He
became Judge Advocate at Manila and held that post until shortly
before World War II broke out. When I revisited Alabama in the spring of 1947, I called to see
Atkins' sister, Mrs. Julia Snead, in Birmingham. She recalled how, 60-
years before, Atkins and I had written to each other, in French,
whereas, only a few months before he had drilled me in nouns and
verbs. CHAPTER 5

IN WHICH I DECIDE TO STUDY
DENTISTRY

A revered teacher of mine in Alabama, Chess Alien, first put the
idea of studying dentistry into my head. He told me that good dentists were scarce and badly needed. By ente ring that field, he told me, I
could do a world of good and at the same time earn a competence for
myself. For some years I kept turning that advice over in my mind. It
was while teaching school in Falls County, Texas that I finally
decided that was my calling. When I went to Dr. Norton in Mexia to
get some teeth filled, I suddenly confided my ambition to him. "Do you think I could make a dentist, doctor?" I asked him, "You
know I would not want to turn out a square peg in a round hole." "Young feller, what did you like to do best when you were a
small boy?" "To make wagons out of pine bark and hickory saplings." "Well, then, you need not hunt any further for a trade. You have
the knack it takes to be a dentist." Dr. Norton did not say to me, "Go and tell no one," but that was
the course I followed. I kept my counsel but began saving dimes to
pay for my education. During my last year on Tom Johnson's farm, I
spent no money for anything. When my employer would toss his worn
out shirt or pants into the rag box, I'd fish out the discarded garment,
patch it up and wear it. All the while, I worked overtime making a good farm hand. At
cotton picking time I'd be up before daylight to get the pickers into the
field early. After supper I'd help to load a bale of cotton on the wagon to start for the gin early next morning. In the long run, that policy paid
me handsomely. Whenever I wanted to go riding with Johnnie Belle,
or to go any place, Tom would let me use his horse and buggy. Then
when I became a struggling dental student, he was my friend in need. When the time came to reveal my secret, I suddenly said to my
employer:
"Tom, I'll be leaving you one of these days, I am figuring on
entering Vanderbilt University's dental school at Nashville in
September." Though he hated to lose a good farmhand, Tom Johnson
took the news with good grace. "That will be the finest thing you ever did, George. You can
count on me to help you out in any way I can." There was another person in my  life who likewise took the news
in stride. My girl, Johnnie Belle Davidson. I had kept my secret from
her too, until I had definitely made up my mind. So a delicate situation
for the two of us had to be faced. I had barely enough money saved to
get by for a year at school, and that only by making every penny
count. Definitely, I could not support a. wife. Now Johnnie Belle was an active ranch girl who could help or do
anything that came to hand. She was intelligent and broad-minded. She had written stories for newspapers in that part of Texas. Nowadays a resourceful young wife will find herself a job and help
her husband stay in college, but in the 1890s that was not so well
thought of. I knew instinctively that Johnnie Belle would have been
game to do it, but I simply could not brook the thought. I was too independent minded for that. So Johnnie Belle and I talked things over in perfect frankness
and agreed together—though it hurt us both more than we were
willing to confess even to each other—that we must drop our
romance. When the day came for me to tell her goodby, Johnnie Belle
said to me:
"I will always remember you for this George. In our relations
with each other you have been a perfect gentleman." * * *

My family in Alabama never knew how ragged I went while I
was saving my money to go to dental college. One day my friend,
Tom Johnson, spoke about my ragged clothes:
"What would the people in the community where you taught say,
and what would your girl, Johnnie Belle say if they knew how ragged
you were going." A day or so later my old friend Will Harlan came over. He
looked me over and asked:
"Why don't you get yourself something fit to wear?" "Clothes cost money," I told him. "For what a new outfit would
cost, I could buy a bunch of forceps to pull teeth with. You see, Will,
I'm leaving here next week to en ter dental school at Nashville." "Well, you had better not get hungry and come to my house. A
fellow as ragged as you are cannot eat at my table." Then I bantered him. "I'll bet you would like to have my picture
in these togs. Join me and Tom in Marlin tomorrow and you can have
one." "I'll be there sure." So, Tom, Will and I are in the picture. On a
visit to Marlin 51 years later I met up with Will Harlan. He told me he
still had that picture. Left to right—Dr. George W. Heard, Tom Johnson, Will Harlan

CHAPTER 6. I GO TO DENTAL SCHOOL ON A
SHOESTRING

When I was ready to leave his place to catch the train for
Nashville, Tom Johnson figured up how we stood. He owed me $300 in wages. "As you need this money," he told me, "I will send it to you." I
had money in my pocket to buy my railroad ticket. That $300 was all I
had to pay for dental education, three years' tuition, living expenses
and dental tools. The thought that I might not make it never entered
my head. Years later I was to read  in my Bible how Abraham entered
Canaan and took possession of the land as far as he could see. Unawares I was imitating the old patriarch on that September
morning in 1895, when I headed for Nashville nothing could stop me
short of the goal I had set for myself, a dental education. Achieving it
would call for pinching every penny and seizing every opportunity to earn another one. But, until that hour, my life had been one continuous drill in doing without things I wa nted. Saving came natural to me. On arriving in Nashville, I was lucky enough to find three fellow
students in the same fix as myse lf. Bradshaw from Kentucky, Catlett
from Mississippi and Howard from Texas. The four of us rented a
room with two beds in it for $16 a month. We found a place to eat for 10 cents a meal. Eating twice a day, I cut my food bill to $6 a month. During my whole three years in Nashville I went to the theatre
only twice. Each time a friend bought the tickets. When I wanted to go
some place, I walked. On a few rare occasions, I rode the streetcar. Being broke in Nashville, a college  town was the common lot. A
common saying at Peabody College was that no student having a half dollar in his pockets would think of spending it until the eagle on it
was worn slick. So by living frugally I got through my first year in college
without going into debt. By summer vacation time I had learned how
to do some kinds of


 into practice for 2 to 3 weeks. Y ou will find a
program specific  to your BOL T score, exercise history, and state of health
in P art I V of this book. T wo or  three weeks is a relatively short period of
time in the grand scheme of th ings, and most individuals will experience
positive benefits  within a few short days. As you experience the positive
benefits, I am i n no doubt tha t you will be happy to incorporate these
principles into your life, for the rest of your life. For exam ple, wh en I first learne d to unblock my nose and switch from
mouth to nasal breathing, I imm ediately felt tension lifting from my head,
and desp ite havi ng wheezed my way through the previous twenty years, mysymptoms reduced by as much as 50 percent within the first day, simply by
breathing calmly through the nose. Even if you are unwilling to make a 100 percent change to nasal
breathing during  your peak seas on training, bear in mind that whatever you
do t o incorporate the Oxygen Advantage program into your routine will
provide a return. Ultimately, your success depends on your ability to
improve your BOL T score—each 5-second improvement will cause the
benefits to accumulate. In Part IV I have outlined a series of dif ferent programs to suit
individuals according to their current training, BOL T score, age, and overall
health. Choose the one that best matches your fitness level and abilities and
move on  when you feel you ha ve accomplished as much as po ssible from
each program. W ould Y ou Do Me a Favor? I am  ver y optimistic that if you follow the principles outlined in this book
and work toward increasing y our BOL T score, your health and sports
performance will improve in many ways. Since 2002, I ha ve observed tremendous improvements in the sporting
ability of both amateur and p rofessional athletes who have applied the
concepts of the Oxygen Adva ntage program. I have also wi tnessed the
negative ef fects on respiratory, mental, and cardiovascular health from
chronic overbre athing. It is my  aim to spread the word of t hese simple
techniques to provide an easy and ef fective way of improving the health and
well-being of readers. And you can help me to generate awareness! I w ould  appreci ate it greatly if  you would try out these practices and
then spr ead the word to your frie nds and family who are interested in health
and sports, or who suf fer from any of the problems described i n this book. Y ou could also help by writing a review of The Oxygen Advantage  on
Amazon.com. Also, please share the book with anyone you think may benefit from the
techniques within the Oxygen Advantage program.Finally, if you have any question s, or would simply like to tell me about
your personal experience with the Oxygen Advantage program, please drop
me a line. I would love to hear  from you. Y ou can contact me directly at
patrick@OxygenAdvantage.com. Best wishes and thanks again,
Patrick McKeown
Galway, IrelandP A R T  I V
Y o u r  O x y g e n  A d v a n t a g e  P r o g r a mS u m m a r y  a n d  G e n e r a l  P r o g r a m  B a s e d  o n
B O L T  S c o r e  a n d  H e a l t h
E ach time I work with a client, I design a program of breathing exercises
and lifestyle guidelines to help him or her reach goals safely and in the
shortest time possible. When de ciding on a program, it is necessary to take
into considerati on each individual’ s health and BOL T score. Having an
insight into a pe rson’ s lifestyle is also useful, as exercises can be tailored to
cause minimal disruption to work schedules and current training routines. I
fully understand the challenge of making time in a busy life to exercise,
which i s why the Oxygen Ad vantage program of fers quick, easy, and
achievable techn iques that can f it around any existing routine. There is no
doubt th at a low BOL T score can result in fatigue, reduced co ncentration,
and poor productivity, so by allocating just a half hour to one hour each day
to practice these exercises, your  BOL T score will increase alon g with your
ener gy levels, well-being, and  performance. I have seen th e proof in
thousands of clients that spendin g a little time to improve body oxygenation
is a hugely beneficial investment. The best  way to approach the O xygen Advantage program is to view it
as a lifes tyle cha nge and something to be incorporated into your way of life
as o pposed to a set of exercises practiced formally throughout the day. This
way it will become part of your daily routine rather than a regular chore or
duty.Q u i c k  R e f e r e n c e  S u m m a r y  o f  t h e  O x y g e n
A d v a n t a g e  P r o g r a m
H abitual overbreathing involves breathing more air than your body
requires during rest and exercise. Overbreathing leads to:
•  A reduction of the gas carbon dioxide in the blood
•  Mouth breathing and underutilization of the gas nitric oxide
•   Impai red rele ase of oxygen from red blood cells ( see the Bohr
Ef fect.) •   Cons triction of the smooth muscle in the blood vessels an d
airways
•  Adverse ef fects on blood pH
•   Reduced oxygenation of working muscles and or gans,
including the heart and brain
•  Increased acidity and fatigue during exercise
•  Limited sports performance
•  Negative ef fects to overall health
Benefits of practicing the Oxygen Advantage program include:•  Improved sleep and ener gy
•  Easier breathing with reduced breathlessness during exercise
•  Naturally increasing the production of EPO and red blood cells
•  Improving oxygenation of working muscles and or gans
•  Reduction of lactic acid buildup and fatigue
•  Improved running economy and VO 2  max
•  Improved aerobic performance
•  Improved anaerobic performanceO x y g e n  A d v a n t a g e  E x e r c i s e  S u m m a r y
T he fo llowing BOL T measuremen t and exercises are explained in  detail in
earlier chapters. Body Oxygen Level T est (BOL T)
1. Nose Unblocking Exercise
2. Breathe Light to Breathe Right
3. Breathe Light to Breathe Right—Jogging, Running, or Any Other
Activity
4. Breathing Recovery, Improved Concentration
5. Simulate High-Altitude T raining—W alking
6. Simulate High-Altitude T raining—Running, Cycling, Swimming
7. Advanced Simulation of High-Altitude T raining
Body Oxygen Level T est (BOL T)
Y our pr ogr ess  c an be determi ned by a reduction to breathlessness during
physical exercise, how you feel, and your BOL T scor e  as follows:1. T ake a  small, silent breath in through your nose, and allow a
small, silent breath out through your nose. 2. Hold y our nose with your fing ers to prevent air from entering
your lungs. 3. Count the num ber of seconds until you feel the first definite
desire to breathe. 4. At the  first definite desire to b reathe in, you may also feel the
first involuntary  movements of your breathing muscles. (Y our
abdomen may jerk and the a rea around your neck may
contract.) 5. Release your nose and breathe in through it. 6. Y our inhalation at the end of the breath should be calm. Y our BOL T  score is the length of time in seconds that you are able to
hold you r breath  until you feel the first physical signals to take a breath. T o
increase your BOL T score, it is necessary to:
•   N ose-breathe at all times, in cluding during physical exercise
and sleep. •  A void taking lar ge breaths while sighing, yawning, and talking. •   Practice Oxygen Advantage exercises appropriate to your
health and fitness.By incorporating the Oxygen Advantage exercises into your routine,
your BOL T score should increase by 3 to 4 seconds during the first week. After co ntinued practice for a n umber of weeks, you may find your BOL T
score remains stubbornly at ab out 20 seconds. Continue to p ractice and
incorporate breath holds into your physical exercise to increase your BOL T
score above 20 seconds. It can take 6 months for an individual to reach a
BOL T s core of 40 seconds, but  by then your health and fitness levels will
be at a totally dif ferent place than before. Enjoy the journey! 1. Nose Unblocking Exer cise


20 mg Bioflavinoids 100 mg
Vitamins For An Older Healthy Person
Someone who is beyond 35 to 40 years of age should still feel good almost all
of the time. That is how life should be. But enjoying well-being does not mean thatno dietary supplementation is called for. The onset of middle age is theappropriate time to begin working on continuing to feel well for as long aspossible. Just like a car, if you take very good care of it from the beginning, it islikely to run smoothly for many years into the future. If on the other hand youdrive it hard and fast with a lot of deferred maintenance you will probably have totrade it in on a new one after a very few years. Most people in their 70s and olderwho are struggling with many uncomfortable symptoms and low energy lament, “ifI’d only known I was going to live so long I would have taken better care ofmyself.” But at that point it is too late for the old donkey; time for a trade in. Gerontologists refer to combating the aging process as “squaring the curve.”
We arrive at the peak of our physical function at about age eighteen. How highthat peak level is depends on a person’s genetic endowment, the quality of thestart they received through their mother’s nutritional reserves, and the quality oftheir childhood nutrition and life experience. From that peak our function begins todrop. The rate of drop is not uniform, but is a cascade where each bit ofdeterioration creates more deterioration, accelerating the rate of deterioration. Ifvarious aging experiences were graphed, they would make curves like those onthe chart on this page. Because deterioration starts out so slowly, people usually do not begin to
notice there has been any decline until they reach their late 30s. A few fortunateones don’t notice it until their 40s. A few (usually) dishonest ones claim no losses
into their 50s but they are almost inevitably lying, either to you or to themselves,
or both. Though it might be wisest to begin combating the aging process at age19, practically speaking, no one is going to start spending substantial money onfood supplements until they actually notice significant lost function. For non-athletes this point usually comes when function has dropped to about 90 percentof what it was in our youth. If they’re lucky what people usually notice with thebeginnings of middle age is an increasing inability for their bodies to tolerate insultssuch as a night on the town or a big meal. Or they may begin to get colds that justwon’t seem to go away. Or they may begin coming home after work so tired thatthey can hardly stay awake and begin falling asleep in their Lazy Boy recliner infront of the TV even before prime time. If they’re not so lucky they’ll beginsuffering the initial twinges of a non-life-threatening chronic condition like arthritis. The thinnest line demonstrates the worst possible life from a purely physical
point of view, where a person started out life with significantly lowered function,lost quite a bit more and then hung on to life for many years without the mercy ofdeath. If one can postpone the deterioration of aging, they extend and hopefully
square the curve (retard loss of function until later and then have the loss occurmore rapidly). Someone whose lifetime function resembled a “square curve”(thethickest, topmost line) would experience little or no deterioration until the veryend and then would lose function precipitously. At this point we do not know howto eliminate the deterioration but we do know how to slow it down, living longerand feeling better, at least to a point close to the very end. Vitamin supplements can actually slow or even to a degree, reverse, the aging
process. However, to accomplish that task, they have to be taken in amounts fargreater than so-called minimum daily requirements, using vitamins as though theywere drugs, a therapeutic approach to changing body chemistry profiles andmaking them resemble a younger body. For example, research gerontologists likeWalford reason that if pantothenic acid (vitamin B
5, in fairly substantial but quite
safe) doses can extend the life and improve the function of old rats, there is every
indication that it will do a similar job on humans. Medical researchers andresearch gerontologists have noticed that many other vitamin and vitamin-likesubstances have similar effects on laboratory animals. Some will object that what helps rats and mice is in no way proven to cause
the same result on humans. I agree. Proven with full scientific rigor, no. In fact, atpresent, the contention is unprovable. Demonstrable as having a high likelihood’sof being so, yes! So likely so as to be almost incontrovertible, yes! But provableto the most open-minded, scientific sort—probably not for a long time. However,the Life Extension Foundation is working hard to find some quantifiable method ofgauging the aging process in humans without waiting for the inarguable indicator,death. Once this is accomplished and solidly recognized, probably no rationalperson will be able to doubt that human life span can be increased. Experiments work far better with short-lived laboratory animals for another
reason; we can not control the food and supplement intakes of humans as we canwith caged mice. In fact, there are special types of laboratory mice that have beenbred to have uniformly short life spans, especially to accelerate this kind ofresearch. With mice we can state accurately that compared to a control group,feeding such and such a dose of such and such a supplement extended the life-span or functional performance by such and such a percent. A lot of these very same medical gerontologists nourish their own bodies as
thoroughly as the laboratory animals they are studying, taking broad mixes of foodsupplements at doses proportional to those that extend the life spans of theirresearch animals. This approach to using supplementation is at the other end ofthe scale compared to using supplements to prevent gross deficiencies. In the lifeextension approach, vitamins and vitamin-like substances are used as a therapyagainst the aging process itself. Will it work? Well, some of these human guinea pigs have been on heavy
vitamin supplementation for over thirty years (as of 1995) and none seem to be
suffering any damage. Will they live longer? It is impossible to say with full
scientific rigor? To know if life extension works, we would have to first determine“live longer than what?” After all, we don’t know how long any person might havelived without life extending vitamin supplements. Though it can’t be “proven,” itmakes perfect sense to me to spend far less money on an intensive life extensionvitamin program than I would certainly lose as a result of age-related sickness. Besides, I’ve already observed from personal use and from results in my
clinical practice that life extension vitamin programs do work. Whether I and myclients will ultimately live longer or not, the people who I have put on theseprograms, including myself and my husband, usually report that for several yearsafter starting they find themselves feeling progressively younger, graduallyreturning to an overall state of greater well-being they knew five or ten or fifteenyears ago. They have more energy, feel clearer mentally, have fewer unwantedsomatic symptoms. Sometimes the improvements seem rather miraculous. After a few months on
the program one ninety year old man, an independent-minded Oregonian farmer,reported that he began awakening with an erection every morning; unfortunately,his 89 year old cranky and somewhat estranged wife, who would not takevitamins, did not appreciate this youthfulness. A few months later (he had a smallfarm) he planted a holly orchard. Most of you won’t appreciate what this meanswithout a bit of explanation, but in Oregon, holly is grown as a high-priced andhighly profitable ornamental for the clusters of leaves and berries. But a slow-growing holly orchard takes 25 years to began making a profit! A few older clients of mine reported that they noticed nothing from the life
extension program, but these are unique people who have developed the ability todominate their bodies with their minds and routinely pay their bodies absolutely noattention, driving them relentlessly to do their will. Usually they use their energiesto accomplish good, Christian works. Eventually, these dedicated and high-tonedpeople break down and die like everyone else. Will they do so later on life
extending vitamins than they would have otherwise? I couldn’t know because I
can’t know how long they might have lived without supplementation and sincethey refuse to admit the vitamins do them any good, they won’t pay for them. Many on life extension programs experience a reverse aging process for
awhile. However, after the full benefit of the supplementation has worked itselfthrough their body chemistry, they again begin to experience the aging process. Ibelieve the process will then be slowed by their vitamins compared to what itwould have been without supplements. But I can’t prove it. Maybe we will havesome idea if the program worked 20 to 40 years from now. At this time I know of only two companies that make top quality life extension
vitamin supplement formulas. One is Prolongevity (Life Extension Foundation),the other, Vitamin Research Products. I prefer to support what I view as thealtruistic motives behind Prolongevity and buy my products from them.Unfortunately, these vitamin compounders can not put every possibly beneficialsubstance in a single bottle of tablets. The main reason they do not is fear of thepower-grabbing Food and Drug Administration. This agency is threateningconstantly to remove certain of the most useful life-extending substances from thevitamin trade and make them the exclusive property of prescription-writingmedical doctors. So far, public pressure has been mobilized against the FDAevery time action was