 food, while it is in the region wheretaste is developed, is not a Fletcherite.
Any one who succumbs to greed of " getting
the worth of his money," because he has paid forfood, or can get food free of cost, or takes it onthe insistence of Aggressive Hospitality, or tokill time, or for any purpose other than for thesatisfaction of a real appetite, is not aFletcherite.FLETCHERISM  AND LONGEVITY.
Returning to positive definition of a
Fletcherite : it is a good safe betting propositionthat all persons who have passed the seventyyear-mark in the life race are Fletcherites inthe fundamental requirement of healthy eating.If they reach beyond the eighty year-mark it iscertain that they have been fairly decent eatersfor many years, even if they abused themselvesearlier in life. For example : vide the
autobiography of Luigi Cornaro,* which wasconcluded only when he was nearly onehundred years old. Vide also, occasional
newspaper statements attributed tocentenarians or near centenarians who claim tohave been Fletcherites before Fletcher wasborn. Some of them have had the " constitution "necessary to attain the respectable longevityand have used tobacco and alcohol at the sametime, but there is no evidence that eithertobacco or alcohol lengthened their lives. In thesame category of questionably-profitableindulgences may be put any of the stimulants or
* London: Ewart, Seymour & Co., Ltd., 12, Burleigh. Street,
Strand, W.C. Price 1s.narcotics which do not actually nourish the
body.
W. E. GLADSTONE —FLETCHERITE.
The Epicureans, who were true to the
principles of Epicurus, were Fletcherites, beforethe name of Fletcher had evolved from theoccupation of arrow making and archery. Mr.Gladstone was a philosophical Fletcheritebefore Fletcher discovered that he had a mouththat was worth while studying and using, butthe name did not get into the dictionaries asdescribing his most statesman-like inspiration.
A Fletcherite does not confine his
Fletcherizing to food. He is encouraged, by thebeneficial results of careful eating, to try thesame method of co-operating with Opportunityon anything that has good and bad possibilitiesin it.
FLETCHERIZING  LIQUIDS.
For example: careful tasting of food reveals
felicities of taste which lead to seeking similarrewards wherever taste is to be found. Takeliquids: The only liquid that does not invite
Fletcherizing with some deliberation, but seemseager to get into the blood to quench thirst isWater. If it is not pure water, soft, cool as iffrom a spring, and delicious in its purity, it hasan inclination to stop a little in the mouth andgive taste a chance to investigate or to getsomething worth while out of it. Do not thinkthat inanimate things have no sense ofpropriety!
Everything natural is as full of propriety as
an " egg is full of meat." Nature is Propriety!
Mineral waters, lemonade, beer, wine, and
even milk have delicate senses of propriety.They do not rush to be sucked up for the mererelief of thirst, like pure water, but they linger abit in the domain of taste and inferentially say :" I am tasty ; don't you want to taste me : WhenI am swallowed my gustatory charm is dead andgone forever ; please let me leave my taste withyou, good Mr. Taste."
Do not think this is a fanciful personification
of the liquids which have taste. Don't take myword for it. I am only telling you what Taste hastold me, and also told me to tell it to you. Thenext time you are thirsty and have a chance to
get good pure water, note if it doesn't rush toswallow itself in about one-ounce swallows untilthe thirst is satisfied. If it is too cold it will wantto wait a minute to get to the temperature of thebody in the hot room of the mouth, beforerushing in to chill the stomach, and if it is toowarm it will not give the full satisfaction thatspring-cool water gives, showing that Taste hasa wider usefulness than mere glorifying of sapidsubstances. Or : is it Feeling that assists Tastein expressing approval or disapproval of liquidas well as solid nutriment?
GETTING  THE BEST OUT OF EVERYTHING..
From Fletcherizing things which pass
through the laboratory of the mouth, it is mostnatural to call on Mother Nature in her statelypropriety to assist in getting the best and mostout of everything from a kernel of corn to theWorld at Large.
In the personal equipment, muscular exer-
cise, mental discipline, and habits of effective-
ness come in at once for analysis and separation.Outside the personality, companionship is of
most vital concern, and the wonder will be howsoon the Natural Appetite for profitablecompanionship will choose some dogs inpreference to some human beings, for thequalities of sympathy, approval and faithfulnessthat every social being craves.
Of course, there are some companionable
combinations among men that are moresatisfactory and profitable than any dumbanimal can possibly supply, but it is for thepurpose of finding such combinations that theFletcherizing of friends is useful. There is muchgood in every one, as there is in everything thatNature offers as nourishment for the body, buteverything has its Appropriate place and time,its harmonious supplements and compliments,and this is true regarding companionships." What is one man's food, is another man'spoison," is a truism applicable alike tocompanionship and friendship. It is equally trueregarding honesty and dishonesty; truth anddeceit.THE STUDY  OF MOTHER  NATURE.
The foregoing constitutes a pretty stiff
proposition for the measurement of idealFletcherism, but when you come to considerthat the aim is nothing less than getting asclose to Mother Nature as possible and listeningto her orders relative to good team-workbetween us, the contract does not seem soimpossible. It was close study of Mother Natureand her laws of gravity and resistance that ledLillienthal, the German, to try to glide on the"wings of the wind" with imitations of the wingsof birds, and it was following Chanute's leadthat led the Wright Brothers to develop theflying-machine. It was because of tutelage inthe honest school of Mother Nature that theWright Brothers prefaced their first account oftheir " invention " by giving the French aviatorcredit for the initial suggestion.
In similar manner, it was the close, objective
study of the psychology of digestion under thehonest direction of Mother Nature in asomewhat drastic form that led Pawlow, theRussian physiologist, to preface his account ofhis great achievement by calling up the memoryof the French physiologist Blondlot, and telling
that he had described the true process ofdigestion from logical deduction fifty yearsbefore.
In like manner, Professor Cannon, of
Harvard University Medical School, insistedthat dear Dr. Bowditch, his preceptor inPhysiology, had laid out for him the line ofX-ray studies of the " Mechanism of Digestion,"which has given him distinguished researchfame. Getting close to Mother Nature opens upinfinite possibilities of enlightenment, andamong them cultivation of the honesty andunselfishness which she herself typifies.CHAPTER XI
ALL DECENT EATERS ARE FLETCHERITES
Dietetic Righteousness—The Disgrace of Sickness—The Optimism of
the Fletcherite.
IN order that there shall be no
misunderstanding let us agree upon thedictionary definition of " Decent." It is " Havingpropriety of conduct."
Let us also take the dictionary definition of
Fletcherite, as an agreed meaning. It is: " Onewho practises Fletcherism."
Fletcherism, in turn, is defined as " A method
of thorough mastication recommended byHorace Fletcher."
No self-respecting person wishes to be
indecent about anything, and especially aboutthings that are sacred.
I use the term " Indecent " because it has an
ugly look and sound. It is more than thoughtlessor careless. It is positively indecent and nothingless. So is ugly and irreverential eating moreculpable than mere heedlessness when we cometo consider what it means in the way ofconsequences. It spells Indecency from the
beginning to the end of the process involved inthe act.
You may have a very poor opinion of the
namesake in the case, but you must be glad thathe discovered for himself that decent eatingmeans recuperation of health if it has beenshaken : preservation of health if it is afortunate possession : and epicurean enjoymentthat cannot be realized in full without it.
I repeat that the term Fletcherite is not a
personal monopoly but a popular and dictionarycreation. I am selfish enough to be glad thatGladstone escaped the distinction of having hisgreat name used as a designation of decenteating.
DIETETIC  RIGHTEOUSNESS.
When I was called upon to deliver an address
before the New York Academy of Medicine on" Possibilities of Recuperation after Fifty," Iused a phrase of my own coining, " DieteticRighteousness," and was later called to accountfor having been irreverent in using sacredterms in connection with food and eating. " ByGeorge! " I replied, in righteous indignation,
" Is there anything more sacred than servingfaithfully at the altar of our Holy Efficiency


 of B3, B12, folic acid
and vitamin C. An American doctor Carl Pfeiffer has studied more than
20,000 patients and showed that treating them with nutritional supple
mentation and diet can be far more effective, than using prescription
drugs.
Why do schizophrenic patients have nutritional deficiencies? We already
know that the answer will be found only in their digestive systems. A
French psychiatrist Pinel almost 200 years ago wrote, "the primary seat of
insanity generally is in the region of the stomach and intestines". US
Professor Curtis Dohan, MD, devoted many years to researching what con
nection digestive abnormalities in schizophrenic patients may have with
their psychological state. It had been noticed previously that there is a con
siderable overlap between coeliac disease and schizophrenia and Dr
Dohan found that symptoms of schizophrenia could be dramatically
relieved by cutting all grains out of the diet. He also found that some cul
tures in the South Pacific, which never consumed grains, had no
schizophrenia. Only when they adopted a western diet full of grains did
they start getting cases of schizophrenia. Another good example is Ireland,
where people did not consume wheat until the potato famine in 1845.
Before then there were no cases of schizophrenia or coeliac disease
recorded in Ireland. Since adopting wheat as a staple food Irish have one of
the highest incidences of coeliac disease and schizophrenia in the world.
In the late 1970s it was discovered that gluten from grains and casein from
milk can be turned into opiates in the digestive system, which absorb into
the blood, cross the blood-brain barrier and affect the brain. These opiates
were found in the urine of schizophrenic patients and those with depres
sion and autoimmune conditions. Later on Dr Reichelt in Norway and Dr
Shattock in the UK found the same compounds in the urine of autistic chil
dren. That is how schizophrenia and autism found themselves in one com
pany It became clear that both groups of patients could not digest gluten
from grains and casein from milk.
Schizophrenic patients usually develop psychotic symptoms in their
teens or early twenties. However, when I talk extensively with the parents
of these patients, a picture of GAPS emerges. Mothers of these patients
almost invariably have abnormal gut flora and associated disorders. It
means that she would pass her abnormal flora to her baby. A large percent
of schizophrenic patients were not breastfed as babies, which would
further compromise their digestive flora and immune system. From the
childhood health history it becomes clear that the patient was physically ill long before developing psychotic symptoms. Digestive problems,
allergies and reactions to food, eczema, asthmatic episodes, malnourish-
ment, lack of stamina, hyperactivity, attention deficit, dyspraxia, dyslexia,
fatigue, irritability, poor sleep, night terrors are all common. All these
symptoms indicate, that the child had abnormalities in gut flora with
all the usual consequences: malnourishment with multiple nutritional
deficiencies, compromised immunity and toxicity, coming from the gut.
A mixture of these toxins obviously was not right for making the child
autistic for example, but was enough to cause other problems. In
these cases schizophrenia does not come from nowhere, it comes out of
GAPS.
Seeing that schizophrenic symptoms usually appear around puberty it is
reasonable to suspect that puberty plays some role in the onset of
schizophrenia. It is possible that the hormonal turmoil of puberty in some
way interacts with the toxins in the child's body and tips the child into a
psychotic state. It is also possible that the hormones open the blood-brain
barrier for some of the toxins, which were in the child's body al] his/her life,
but could not get into the brain before. Another interesting possibility is
something wrong happening in the maturation processes of the brain.
Apparently through different stages of growth the brain prunes its recep
tors. The most active pruning goes on around two years of age and at
puberty. It is possible that at puberty opioid peptides and other toxins
escaping the gut of the youngster interfere with this natural pruning pro
cess and tip the brain into psychoses. Hopefully, future research
explain these issues. What is obvious is that psychotic manifestation is only
a progression of the physical problems in the child's body and not a new
disease appearing out of nowhere!
The toxicity produced by abnormal microbial mass in the patient's
digestive system affects the brain and causes the symptoms of schizophre
nia. So, in order to help the patient we need to get rid of this toxicity In
order to do that we need to treat the patient's digestive system.
In my clinical experience the same nutritional management, as I pre
scribe for GAPS children, works very well for schizophrenic patients. I
believe this happens because this nutritional management heals the gut
lining and re-establishes normal gut flora. As a result, the patient starts
digesting and absorbing food properly. The gut stops being the major
source of toxins in the body and becomes the major source of nourish
ment, as it is supposed to be. As the nutritional deficiencies and toxicity go
away the psychotic symptoms go away with them. What about the medication?
This is a very important point that has to be taken into account. It is very
rare to see a psychiatric patient, who is not taking anti-psychotic medica
tion. Anti-psychotic drugs change the biochemistry of the brain and,
according to the latest research, even the structure of the brain. Recent
publications in the Lancet and the American Journal of Psychiatry suggest
that long-term use of neuroleptic drugs cause brain atrophy (shrinkage). It
is not known yet whether these changes are reversible. On top of that, anti
psychotic drugs have got a long list of unpleasant side effects and in
essence are toxic. So, it is a logical desire of any patient to come off the
drugs as soon as possible. However, as we detoxify the patient through
nutritional management it is important not to change his/her medication
until the patient is ready for it. I will explain why. When we are sure that
through diet and supplementation the patient's physical and mental state
has dramatically improved and is stable, we can consider removing the
medication. Despite the fact that the pharmacological companies, who
produce neuroleptics, allow to stop these drugs abruptly, there is a consid
erable amount of published clinical evidence to show that ami-psychotic
drugs must be removed very slowly and very carefully. Sudden removal of
these drugs can cause a severe withdrawal reaction because the brain's bio
chemistry and structure need time to re-adjust to life without the drug.
When the drug is stopped abruptly, unfortunately, the withdrawal reaction
is very often seen as a relapse of the disease itself and the patient is
promptly put back on the drugs. It is vitally important to work closely with
the patient's psychiatrist in order to reduce the dose of the drug very slowly
and very gradually in order to avoid the withdrawal reaction. Depending
on the dose of the drug and how long the patient was taking it, this period
can take months, sometimes years (if the patient was on a cocktail of
drugs). Typical symptoms of withdrawal are to be expected in this period:
nausea, vomiting, absence of appetite, headaches, lethargy, lack of energy,
sleep disturbances and mood swings. One of the side-effects of a lot of
neuroleptic drugs is weight gain and water retention. So, weight loss is also
to be expected on withdrawing these drugs. Though the weight loss can be
quite rapid it usually comes down to the normal range for the person and
should not cause any particular worry.
I would like to emphasise again that it is important to build up the
patient nutritionally first and remove the cause of the problem - the GAPS
- before starting the process of drug withdrawal. It is very important for the patient and his/her carers to understand that in this period of drug with
drawal it is vital to stick to the GAPS Nutritional Programme rigidly! This is
not a good time to be relaxed with diet and supplementation! After the
drugs have been safely removed and the patient has been stable for at least
a year on an occasional basis different foods (not allowed on the GAPS diet)
can be tried, but not earlier.
Pellagra
There is a certain group of schizophrenics who may be not schizophrenics
at all but pellagrines. Pellagra is a deficiency of vitamin B3 (niacin or niaci
namide). The typical symptoms of pellagra can look very much like
schizophrenia: delusions, hallucinations, confusion, headaches, anxiety,
depression, irritability with a lot of physical symptoms: dermatitis, chronic
diarrhoea and inflammation of mucous membranes. It used to affect poor
populations whose diet was mainly corn-based. Until the real cause of this
disorder was discovered pellagrines were treated almost like lepers. People
believed that pellagra was infectious and contagious until it was discov
ered that a diet rich in vitamin B3 completely cures it, A Canadian psychia
trist Dr Abram Hoffer has helped thousands of patients with schizophrenia
by simply supplementing their diet with large doses (2-4 g a day) of vitamin
B


 a somewhat low iron level in the patient’s blood and prescribed
an iron medication. The trouble is that iron supplements are toxic, which automatically rules them
out for Gerson patients. In time, with all the green juices, liver medication and Vitamin B-12, the
blood readings will return to normal without drugs. (see Chapter 26 )
 Drugs can be life saving in acute illnesses and emergencies, but when it comes to chronic
diseases, such as cancer, they only provide symptomatic relief at best, and can cause serious harm
at worst. Keep this in mind if and when you are told by a no doubt well-meaning doctor that
chemotherapy works faster and better than carrot juice. Keep your cool. And stick with the carrot
juice.
Flare-Ups and Mood Swings
 Healing reactions or so-called flare-ups are regular events on the Gerson Therapy  (see
Chapter 16, pg. 126.) These episodes can be frighteningly intense; at the same time the patient
may also suffer from depression and a black mood. If the family then panics, the patient may end
up in the Emergency Room of the nearest hospital, where the doctors are kind and concerned, and
give the patient a shot or a pill to stop the symptoms. Unfortunately they also stop the healing, and
that has caused serious problems in some cases. The fact is that the average allopathic doctor has
Copyright © Charlotte Gerson, 2007.  All rights reserved.
This material may not be reproduced in any medium, print or electronic without prior written permission from the author.Page 151Healing the Gerson Way—Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases
www.thegersonway.comprobably never heard of a healing reaction, does not understand its symptoms and function, and
therefore can’t be expected to handle it correctly. The proper way to deal with a flare-up is clearly
set out in the relevant chapter, and should be followed closely.
 Psychological problems and mood swings are dealt with fully in Chapter 24. Here we only
want to acknowledge the power of occasional fits of negativity, when the patient not only feels
physically unwell, with nausea, sweating, headache, horror of food and juices, and possibly fever,
but is also mentally and emotionally crushed. The toxins cruising through the central nervous
system and the brain are to blame, but all the patient feels is an urgent wish to stop the therapy,
break out of all the restrictions and run away. This is a passing phase. It is wise to find out about
it in advance, so that when it arrives, the patient is more or less prepared, and snaps out of it
faster.
Water Warning
   Don’t underestimate the importance of ensuring the purity of all the water used in your
home. The worst offender is fluoride (see Chapter 5, pg. 37 ), so make sure that your water supply
is free from this harmful chemical. If it is not, you must take special precautions. Unlike chlorine,
fluoride is not eliminated by boiling the water! The only way to get rid of it is by distillation (see
Chapter 9, pg. 94 )
   However, fluoride is also present in the water used for the daily shower. And although a
shower needn’t take many minutes, even a brief exposure to warm water opens the pores, so that
any undesirable component in the water gets quickly absorbed. There are two solutions to this
problem. One is to take a sponge bath instead of a shower, in a gallon of warmed distilled water
poured into a basin or sink.
   The other solution is to install a camping shower in the bathroom and filling it with warmed
distilled water. Full description, various models and prices of this appliance are available on the
Internet.
Mind What You Read
 Knowledge is power, and it is the well-informed patient who is likely to make the right
choices. However, the big and growing range of so-called health books and diet bibles is a
dangerous area, full of contradictory theories and advice. Open-minded patients keen to learn
new things read as many health books as they can find and end up confused, because although
most nutritional methods are at least in part based on the Gerson Therapy, none is complete, or
free from its author’s prejudices and subjective ideas.
 The chances are that if you read ten health books, you are likely to get twelve different
opinions. Sadly, people who added to the Gerson protocol some ‘anti-cancer’ substances they
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This material may not be reproduced in any medium, print or electronic without prior written permission from the author.Page 152Healing the Gerson Way—Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases
www.thegersonway.comhad read about didn’t do well at all. So please wipe the slate clean. If you have decided to use the
Gerson Therapy, inform yourself about it as thoroughly as you can and stay with it. After all, it
has the longest and best track record.
Cutting Corners
No one can deny that the Gerson Therapy is labor-intensive; at times it can feel truly
overwhelming. When that happens, patients and/or their carers may feel tempted to ease things
a little bit by changing the routine—say by preparing all the day’s juices in one go and storing
them in the refrigerator, instead of making them fresh every hour on the hour as prescribed. But
to do this undermines the treatment and guarantees failure, since the all-important enzymes in the
freshly made juices have a short lifespan of some twenty minutes. After that time has elapsed, the
minerals, trace elements and most vitamins may survive in the juices, but the living enzymes and
their healing power will have been lost.
Another temptation occurs when some ingredient of the Gerson program becomes hard to
obtain, and the patient decides that something else will do just as well in the short term. But extreme
caution is needed in such a situation. For instance, if organic carrots are not available, under no
circumstances  should non-organic ones be used for juicing (or indeed eating). Commercially
grown carrots are saturated with agro-chemicals; scrubbing and peeling them will not remove the
poisons. As an emergency measure organic bottled carrot juice may be used, on its own or mixed
with organic bottled apple juices. But it should be understood that this substitution must only be
a short-term solution and not a matter of routine.
One of the worst examples of substitution concerned a woman patient suffering from a
collagen disease, who was doing well on the Gerson program until her supply of organic carrots
dried up completely. Rather than search for another source, she and her husband decided to
substitute orange juice for the elusive carrots, and so she began to drink up to eight glasses of
freshly pressed orange juice a day. This would have been harmful to any Gerson patient; in this
case it was disastrous, since citrus fruits are counter-indicated in all collagen diseases, and her
condition deteriorated drastically.
P.S.  Thomas Jefferson wrote, “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” Well, the price
of getting well is the same: eternal vigilance to avoid pitfalls, resist temptations, and decline
unasked-for advice from well-meaning outsiders who don’t understand what you are doing.
However, you know what you are doing and why, and that is all that matters.
Copyright © Charlotte Gerson, 2007.  All rights reserved.
This material may not be reproduced in any medium, print or electronic without prior written permission from the author.Page 153Healing the Gerson Way—Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases
www.thegersonway.comCHAPTER 22
Frequently Asked Questions
The Gerson Therapy is so fundamentally different from the usual pill-popping, symptom-
centered approach of orthodox medicine, that newcomers to this method of healing find some
of its details puzzling. So it is important to explain the reasons behind the rules; once understood,
they prove to be eminently logical.  What follows is a random selection of the most frequently
asked questions with the appropriate answers.
Q: Why not steam vegetables for a short while, then use the water at the bottom of the pan in
the soup, rather than cook all the life out of the vegetables over a long time?
A: Dr. Gerson was very specific about using the lowest possible heat for cooking vegetables.
High heat—steam is hotter than boiling water—changes the colloidal structure of the nutrients,
particularly the proteins but also the minerals, and makes them hard to absorb and assimilate. Dr.
Gerson even suggested putting a heat disperser under the pan to keep the heat just high enough to
simmer the food slowly, until well done.
This method does not “cook the life out of the food.” The only nutrients that are damaged
are the enzymes, which die in temperatures above 140o Fahrenheit. But patients get a huge supply
of enzymes in the fresh raw juices to make up for that loss. The lower heat preserves protein and
mineral structures and some vitamins.
Suggesting that the water remaining in the pan should be used acknowledges that the good
nutrients, especially the minerals, have been leached out into the water—leaving the cooked
vegetables without nutrients! This explains why steamed vegetables have very little taste.
Another reason for cooking food slowly at the lowest possible heat is to provide the patient’s
intestinal tract with ‘soft bulk,’ i.e., well done fiber, to cushion all the raw foods and juices the
patient has to consume.
Q: What about using a B-complex supplement


 ultrasound 18 months after starting the iodine-based therapy and the radiologist reported on
the ultrasound, “It would seem, therefore, that these malignancies have diminished considerably in size. The breast
cancer appears considerably diminished when compared to previous ultrasound. Interval improvement is definitely
seen.”
Update on Delores’ condition: It has now been nearly two years and Delores has been taking iodine as well as the
nutrient therapies described. Delores just had a follow-up mammogram and ultrasound which failed to show any
abnormality. Both were read by the radiologist as normal and she was recommended to have yearly mammogram
screening.
New 5
th
 Edition Update on Delores: Delores is still doing well with no signs of breast cancer. I see her twice per year
for routine follow-up. At our last visit she reported that she was
feeling well. “I am glad I followed a natural program.
Who knows what all those toxins would have done to me,” she said.
There is a wealth of research showing the connection between iodine deficiency and breast cancer. We should be searching
for underlying cause(s) of cancer and formulating a treatment program tailored to addressing the underlying cause(s). The “war”
on breast cancer began 35 years ago. The progress in treating breast cancer with chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation has been
dismal. Survival rates for breast cancer victims are virtually unchanged over the last 70 years
6
, even with the use of
mammograms, surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.
Iodine deficiency as well as other toxicities (especially the toxic halides bromine and fluoride) must be investigated. Perhaps
rectifying iodine deficiency will be the missing piece of the puzzle to solving the riddle of breast cancer. Delores’ results have been
repeated over and over in my practice. I believe all women need to be evaluated for their iodine status before they reach the
stage of breast cancer.
ESTROGENS AND IODINE: THE CONNECTION
This section will deal with the relationship between iodine and estrogens. Estrogens are a class of steroid hormones produced
and secreted in both men and women. In men, most of the estrogen is produced in the adrenal glands, fat tissue, and
liver. The
amount of estrogen in men is ten times lower than it is in women.
In women, estrogens control female sexual development including promoting the growth and function of the female sexual
organs such as the ovaries, uterus, and breasts. The ovaries produce most of the estrogen in women, with smaller amounts
produced in the adrenal glands and the fat tissue.
DIFFERENT FORMS OF ESTROGEN
There are three major types of estrogen produced in the female body: estrone (E1), estradiol (E2), and estriol (E3). Estriol is
a much weaker estrogen than either estrone or estradiol. Research has shown that estriol may be able to prevent breast cancer in
mice.
7
 Furthermore, estriol is less stimulating to breast tissue than either estradiol or estrone and may have a protective effect for
breast cancer. My colleague, Jonathan Wright, M.D., measured the estrogen levels in healthy twenty to forty-year-old womenand found that estriol was produced at much larger amounts than either estrone or estradiol.
8
 Estrogen replacement therapy has
been promoted to help women with menopausal symptoms, osteoporosis, and other illnesses. Common sense would argue that
to achieve the greatest benefit from estrogen replacement therapy, we should try to mimic the body’s own production of estrogen.
In other words, we should use the same proportions of estrone, estradiol, and estriol normally produced in
the healthy body.
Estrogen production in the body can be monitored by measuring the amounts of estrone, estradiol, and estriol that are present in
biological fluid. When there are imbalances in estrogen production, such as lowered amounts of estriol and larger amounts of
estrone and estradiol, problems such as fibrocystic breasts, cancer, and weight gain may develop.
Dr. Wright has reported compelling data that iodine, in the form of Lugol’s solution (iodine and iodide) can help maintain the
correct balance of the three estrogens. Specifically, Dr. Wright has reported that Lugol’s solution will help the body metabolize the
estrogens to favor the safer form of estrogen—estriol. My experience has found the same results; the use of iodine helps to
maintain a balanced estrogen ratio in favor of estriol.
9
For women, a balance of estrogens is vitally important for numerous bodily functions including ensuring optimal function of the
brain, breast development, and lubrication of the skin. In addition, estrogen balance helps to ensure strong bones and may help to
prevent cardiovascular disease. Imbalances in estrogen production are associated with weight gain, mood swings, and disorders
such as diabetes as well as cancer of the breast, ovary, and uterus. Estrogen balance is impossible to maintain when there is
iodine deficiency present. For more information on the use of estrogens and other natural hormones, I refer the reader to my
book,
The Miracle of Natural Hormones, 3
rd
 Edition.
IODINE ALTERS GENE EXPRESSION IN THE BREASTS
Researchers have recently reported that the combination of iodine/iodide (e.g., Lugol’s solution) has been shown to alter gene
expression in estrogen-responsive breast cancer cells. They found that iodine down-regulated (lowered) several estrogen
responsive genes. They also reported that iodine increased BRCA1 activity. BRCA1 is a gene that modulates estrogen activity in
the breast. People with abnormalities in BRCA1 are at a markedly increased risk for breast cancer. Finally, the same researchers
reported that iodine/iodide therapy “…could enhance the efficacy of Tamoxifen therapy…thus preventing or slowing the
development of Tamoxifen resistance.”
10
This is a very important study showing that iodine can favorably influence the gene expression in breast cancer. Future
research will undoubtedly build on this concept.
IODINE DEFICIENCY AND THE BREASTS
Iodine deficiency has been shown to produce specific changes in the breast tissue of rats. Studies dating back nearly 40 years
ago show that iodine deficiency in rats produces the exact precancerous changes seen in humans—dysplasia and hyperplasia.
11
12
 Furthermore, with long-term iodine depletion, more atypical changes in rat breast tissue occur.
13
 This is the precursor to breast
cancer.
Dr. Bernard Eskin, one of the world’s foremost researchers on iodine and the breast, writes, “In all these studies, termination
of dietary iodine restriction…results in a variable modest return toward the normal {breast} structure.”
14
Dr. Eskin has studied the effects of estrogen and iodine in rats. He has found that rats need an adequate level of iodine in
order for estrogen to perform its normal function in breast tissue.
15
Researchers have demonstrated that rats given certain carcinogens will develop breast cancer. When iodine is given along
with the carcinogens, tumor formation is blocked.
16

17
 These studies would indicate that iodine has the ability to block cancer
progression in the breast tissue.
It is known that the ovaries concentrate a large amount of iodine. After the thyroid, the ovaries have the second largest
concentration of iodine in the body. Iodine deficiency produces changes in the ovarian production of estrogens as well as changes
in the estrogen receptors of the breasts. In an iodine-deficient state, research has shown that ovarian estrogen production
increases, while estrogen receptors in the breast increase their sensitivity to estrogens.
18

19
 Both of these conditions will increase
the risk of developing pathology of the breasts including breast cancer.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHOR: ESTROGEN AND IODINE AND THE CONNECTION TO CANCER
Iodine deficiency has many consequences. First, it causes estrogen production to increase. Iodine deficiency also leads to an
increased sensitivity of breast tissue to estrogen. All of the above conditions will increase the chances of developing disease(s) of
the breast including breast cancer. When you factor in our exposure to environmental estrogens, including xenoestrogens found in
plastics, and pesticides, as well as meat and dairy products, it is no wonder that hormone-sensitive cancers like breast (as well as
prostate, ovarian, and uterine) cancer have reached epidemic proportions. Research in animals has shown that the correction of
iodine deficiency results in abnormal breast tissue changing back to normal breast tissue. My clinical experience has shown the
same positive results occur with my human patients. This chapter will explore this concept in more detail.
FIBROCYSTIC BREAST DISEASE
Fibrocystic breast disease is a condition whereby the breasts have cysts that are usually painful to touch. Up to two-thirds of
American women suffer from fibrocystic breast disease. In fibrocystic breast disease, the texture of the cysts can vary from softto firm. Many times these cysts can change size and shape during the menstrual cycle, and they can cause discomfort
premenstrually. Although fibrocystic breast disease is generally thought of as a benign condition, there are many physicians who
feel that the abnormal breast architecture found in fibrocystic disease is a precursor for breast cancer, and this has been confirmed
in various studies.
20

21

22
Estrogens have been implicated as a caus


That	point	isn’t	moving	at	all;	it	is	the	zero	point,	the
beginning	and	end	of	energy.	Zero	isn’t	satisfactory,	however,	since	quantum
calculations	already	show	that	empty	space	is	packed	with	infinite	amounts	of
virtual	energy,	more	per	square	centimeter	than	inside	a	star.
So	think	again	about	the	point	where	the	jump	rope	meets	the	wall.	If	you
put	a	super-sensitive	stethoscope	to	the	wall,	the	rope’s
vibration
	is	shaking
the	whole	wall,	and	in	return	the	wall	is	sending	some	of	that	vibration	back
out	again.	This,	according	to	Laszlo,	is	also	happening	at	the	zero	point.
Every	vibration	is	sending	signals	throughout	the	field,	and	in	return	the	field
is	sending	signals	back.	The	universe,	it	turns	out,	is	constantly	monitoring
itself	by	somehow	coordinating	every	vibration	that	occurs	anywhere	in	the
visible	or	invisible	domain.
Imagine	two	photons	floating	through	the	vastness	of	interstellar	space.
By	chance	they	collide	with	each	other	and	bounce	apart.	Did	anything
happen	that’s	different	from	two	grains	of	sand	hitting	each	other	as	the	surf
crashes	on	the	beach?	Yes,	Laszlo	says:	they	exchange	information	and	they
begin	to	relate	to	each	other.	Systems	theory,	as	summarized	by	Laszlo,	helps
to	explain	this	interaction.	When	two	particles	touch,	they	are	carrying
information,	and	as	they	meet,	they	“speak”	to	each	other:
Here’s	how	fast	I’mgoing,	how	much	I	weigh,	where	I’ve	been,	and	where	I’m	going
.
This	conversation	doesn’t	happen	in	isolation.	The	field	is	listening	in,
and	on	hearing	what’s	happening,	it	stores	the	information	for	reference,	since
it	needs	every	single	bit	to	run	the	cosmos.	“Bit”	is	a	technical	term	in
information	theory,	referring	to	a	single	mathematical	unit—either	zero	or	one
—with	which	any	kind	of	information	can	be	expressed.	When	the	two
particles	separate,	their	future	is	changed	because	of	the	information	they	just
exchanged.
This	exchange	brings	to	mind	the	possibility	that	these	photons
know	what
they	are	doing
.	Most	speculative	thinkers,	including	Laszlo,	can’t	quite	bring
themselves	to	claim	that	the	field	is	conscious;	he	speaks	instead	about	“the
roots	of	consciousness.”	From	a	physicist’s	standpoint,	atoms	don’t	need	to
think,	much	less	be	alive.	They	meet,	they	interact,	they	separate.	If
complicated	things	happen,	they	may	be	mysterious,	invisible,	and	fiendishly
difficult	to	calculate,	needing	far	more	computing	capacity	than	all	the
mainframe	computers	in
the
	world.	Still,	as	long	as	numbers	explain	how
matter	behaves,	there	is	no	need	to	drop	something	alien	like	consciousness
into	the	equation.
Well	and	good,	but	leaving	out	mind	doesn’t	work,	since	you	are	leaving
out	yourself.	Imagine	that	someone	wanted	to	figure	out	the	rules	of	football
and	had	a	silent	videotape	to	work	from.	With	no	knowledge	of	the	game,	it
would	still	be	possible	to	watch	enough	plays	and	come	to	reliable
conclusions	about	what’s	going	on.	All	you’d	need	to	observe	is	the	way	the
ball	flies	and	how	the	players	hit	each	other,	or	don’t.	Every	time	the
quarterback	is	knocked	down	with	the	ball	still	in	his	hands,	for	example,	both
teams	line	up	to	start	a	new	play.	Seeing	this	happen	a	few	times	would	lead	a
scientist	to	conclude	that	the	quarterback	must	either	throw	away	the	ball	or
run	with	it.
Yet	it	would	be	impossible	to	make	sense	of	the	game	if	you	assumed	that
the	players	were	mindless,	inert	objects.	They	are	too	coordinated,	they	form
too	many	complex	patterns,	they	repeat	and	remember	those	patterns,	and	the
scoreboard	makes	sense—somebody	wins,	somebody	loses.	To	go	a	step
further,	it	would	be	a	mistake	to	start	your	research	by	saying	that	football
ipso	facto	cannot	be	based	on	the	existence	of	mind	or	consciousness.	You
would	wind	up	with	wildly	wrong	conclusions	if	you	insisted	that	no	matter
what	the	videotape	shows,	football	cannot	be	a	game;	it	must	remain	a
random	collision	of	objects.
In	trying	to	figure	out	the	apparently	random	activity	in	the	quantum	field,
we’ve	come	to	see	that	there	is	incredible	timing,	coordination,	memory,
information	exchange,	and	self-interaction.	But	what	is	the	point	of	it	all?	The
observer	effect	adds	the	missing	link.	The	observer	effect	is	related	to	one	of
the	cornerstones	of	quantum	physics,	called	“complementarity,”	which	holdsthat	it	isn’t	possible	to	know	everything	about	a	quantum	event.	When	an
observer
looks
	at,	or	measures,	an	electron,	whatever	is	being	observed	is
limited.	Each	and	every	electron	has	a	probability	of	appearing	anywhere	in
the	universe.
Only	under	observation	does	an	electron	jump	from	virtual	reality	into	the
visible	universe,	and	as	soon	as	the	observer	stops	looking,	it	falls	back	into
the	field	again.	Erwin	Schrödinger,	the	great	German	physicist,	devised
Schrödinger’s	equation,	one	of	the	foundations	of	quantum	theory,	which
precisely	calculates	what	these	probabilities	are,	and	yet	the	notion	that	an
electron	is	everywhere	until	an	observer	calls	it	into	existence	defies	logic.
For	those	readers	who	haven’t	read	about	Schrödinger’s	cat,	a	famous
paradox	that	grows	out	of	the	observer	effect,	here	it	is:
A	cat	is	placed	in	a	closed	box	with	a	fatal	device	inside.	The	device	will
release	poison	cyanide	gas	if	it	is	triggered,	and	the	trigger	is	a	bit	of
radioactive	matter.	If	the	radioactive	matter	releases	a	single	electron,	that	will
be	enough	to	trigger	the	device,	release	the	poison,	and	kill	the	cat.
Here	is	the	paradox:	according	to	quantum	physics,	an	electron	has	no
visible	reality	until	it	is	observed.	It	occupies	a	“superposition,”	meaning	that
it	can	be	in	more	than	one	place	at	the	same	time	(a	fact	that	has	been	verified
experimentally	with	subatomic	particles	that	do	in	fact	occupy	multiple
positions	at	once).	Being	in	a	closed	box,	the	cat	is	outside	the	field	of
observation;	it	could	be	dead	or	alive,	so	according	to	quantum	theory,	it	must
be	both.	Only	when	the	box	is	opened	and	the	observer	determines	the
situation	will	we	know	which	state,	dead	or	alive,	has	been	decided	upon.
Until	then,	both	must	coexist.
Many	physicists	have	escaped	the	paradox	of	a	cat	being	dead	and	alive	at
the	same	time	by	pointing	out	that	what	is	true	on	the	micro	level	isn’t	true	on
the	macro	level:	superposition	holds	for	electrons,	not	for	everyday	objects
like	cats.	But	this	begs	the	question,	since
the
	observer	effect	is	alive	and	well
in	the	Schmidt	and	Princeton	experiments,	where	the


, the other aspects of daily
life get neglected. At the opposite end of the spectrum is a loveless
existence. None  of the joy and vibrancy of love is present; the other aspects
of life get all your attention.
Yet there  is a stage of mature love in which a steady flow of both loving
and sexual energy is present. Two people share in the contentment and trustthat mature love brings, and their love evolves into deeper levels of caring
and appreciation. The connection to innocence happens because both
people are open to the other, not building up old resentments, hurts,
disagreements, and a feeling of “same old, same old.”
Innocence is the same as having no agenda. Without falling in love, you
can treat everyone in your life with openness and appreciation. That’ s a
mark of social intelligence, because you are using your physi cal, mental,
and emotional energy without exhausting yourself on the one hand or being
ruled by inertia on the other. In classic Yoga, the fourth yama  is associated
with sexual chastity, but for modern people, the real issue is not sexual
innocence and purity but the right use of every kind of ener gy.
Exercise
Make a list of the people and situations where you are wasting your
energy or using it ineffectually. The telltale signs are that your efforts are
getting you nowhere; you feel exhausted; frustration is always present; and
you keep trying  too hard without results. Almost always there is also a
buildup of low expectations and the memory of past failure and frustration.
Your list might include a family member who never does their chores, a
child you constantly worry about, or a coworker who keeps  demanding
your time in trivial ways.
Now look at the person or situa tion from the viewpoint of your energy
and how you expend it. Use the categories of physical, mental, and
emotional energy. For instance, maybe a friend of yours is consistently late,
and this inconsid erate behavior causes you a lot of irritation. Every time the
behavior is repeated, that leaves you out of sorts, feeling drained and
regretting setting up the get-together.
But it is import ant to realize that your energy is not being drained or
exploited by someone else. It is being drained and exploited by you.
Your response has stopped being open, and you are pursuing, however
silently, an agenda of being long-suf fering that complements your friend’ s
agenda of inconsideration. There is always a better way to deal with yourown energy so that no agenda is involved. Look at the practices listed for
the fourth yama  and take the first step to applying at least one of them.
Measure your success by how your own energy level improves—that’ s the
goal of this yama.
FRIDAY
The Joy of Letting Go
Begin by silently repeating today’ s theme:
I feel no need to cling or grasp.
I feel no need to cling or grasp.
The fifth yama  is about acting with self-reliance, neither clinging nor
creating dependence in others. Not clinging is synonymous with letting go.
Everyone has experienced finall y letting go after the struggle of holding on
has exhausted itself. The moment of letting go brings a sigh of relief. A
burden has been lifted, and you are free to move on. The experience of
letting go is so gratifying, you wonder why people do the oppos ite, holding
on to grudges, resentments, bad relationships, self-defeating habits, and so
on. Royal Yoga devotes the last yama  to non-clinging because the inability
to let go is age-old and has many tentacles.
Your social self has been trained to adopt the ego’s agenda, which can
be simply stated as “more for me.” We grasp, cling, and hold on as a reflex,
our default for getting more  money, more love, more pleasurable
experiences to ward off the threat of loss. In psychological terms, the result
of clingi ng, when it happens in a relationship, is codependency. Two people
cling to each other, even though what the ego wants—love, sexual
gratification, security, and respect—isn’ t being delivered anymore. The
habit of clinging  has taken over without anything positive to show for it.
“But at least we stayed together” is the rationale behind codependent
relationships.Royal Yoga’s aim is to break the habit of clinging, whether it is in the
early or late stages. Social intelligence teaches that when you have your
own space and you give space to others, everyone benefits. The practices of
non-clinging spring from this realization.
THE PRACTICES OF NON-CLINGING
Ask for the space you need from other people. Give others the
same space before they have to ask.
Don’t encourage someone to cling to you out of pity or
superiority.
Practice self-reliance and independence.
Take responsibility for your life, ﬁnding solutions on your own.
Avoid relationships where one person dominates the other.
Drop the need to control.
Don’t be grasping about money and possessions. Choose
generosity whenever you can.
If you apply these practices in daily life, a change starts to occur. You
catch yourself clinging in ways that are not productive and most of the time
are self-defeatin g. It is nearly impossible to follow the ego’s agenda of
“more for me” without at the same time clinging to what you acquire,
whether it is money and possessions or status and family.
Relationships form the acid test. Social intelligence is realistic. It
recognizes that most people have a strong streak of dependency. They are
more than willing to be led by a stronger, more dominant person. They feel
too weak or insecure to practice self-reliance. In the face of this reality,
many relationships are about finding the “missing piece.” Two people find
mutual support because they supply what the other person is lacking.
Missing-piece relationships are perhaps the most common, and they can
bring a sense of security and belonging. The pitfall is the illusion of being
whole. Two incomplete people do not make a whole, and wholeness is the
goal of Yoga. Yet it is also possible that with loving support, two people canencourage each other to evolve and fulfill the wholeness that is found in the
true self.
Exercise
The temptation  to cling to someone else is strong when we feel
incomplete in ourselves. Take a look at your spouse or partner (if you’re
single, choose your closest friend or family member) and list the ways in
which you feel he or she is better than you. Is this person smarter, more
creative, more popular, or a higher earner? Do they seem more self-
confident than you or more successful at getting along with others?
Your list shows you where you have a missing piece, a hole in your self-
esteem. Now think of ways to fill these holes yourself. Begin by not
clinging to the other person. It is certainly good to admire your spouse or
friend for their positive qualitie s. But you aren’ t a sponge that can soak
those qualities up. Earning them for yourself is the only way.
What you are looking for in any relationship is mutual respe ct, first
from your spouse or friend, but also from others, who might be tempted to
think, “He’ s smart enough for both of us” or “She’ s got more than enough
money for two.” Inequality in money, job success, and social standing
destabilizes a mutual relationshi p. Think about how you can find something
valuable that you can contribute; it should be something that makes you feel
more self-suf ficient and worthy.
You don’t have to even the balance by competing—this tactic rarely
works. Let your partner or friend bask in the qualities that are special about
them, while developing in yours elf the qualities that make you special. The
values that matter most are love, compassion, creativity, service, joy,
intelligence, personal evolution,  and self-awareness. All of them  belong to
your true self, and when you pursue these values as a social self, you begin
to connect more closely to your true self, which is your source.
ADVANCED EXPLORATIONIf you want to go more deeply into classic Yoga, there are many  sources
of information about the yamas, beginning with all the free information
online. Look under the Sanskrit names for the yamas, which are given
below with their traditional translations.
Ahimsa: Non-violence
Satya: Truthfulness
Asteya: Non-covetousness
Brahmacharya: Sexual restraint
Aparigraha: Non-grasping, non-clinging
OceanofPDF.comWEEK 2
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
(Limb of Yoga: Niyamas)THIS PART OF THE JOURNEY
In Week 1 we dealt with your social self, which is how you present
yourself to the world and other people. In Week 2 we move on to your
emotional self, which relates to you personally and privately. Only you
know how you feel and what makes you happy or unhappy. The journey of
Royal Yoga is about moving ever closer to your true self. Every step of the
way makes the light brighter and removes another layer of ment al obstacles
(vrittis ) that block the light. These two steps never change.
The second limb of Y oga outlines the practices known as niyamas. They
are complement ary to yamas,


 escape routes, like imagination and
fantasy, which get around the rules by not matching reality. Thereis anoth er escape route, waking up, which allows you to be here
now. In the eternal now the conditioned mind has no place.
YOUR EXPERIENCE:

 DAY 12

Virtual reality is a web of relationships.
The physical world is all abo ut relationships. Around them we
create stories. A Christmas tree tells a story; the tree the
ornaments are hung on is re lated to other evergreen trees, which
leads back to the plant kingdom and the origins of life. There is
nothing in the world that can be seen without being embedded in
relationships spreading out in all directions. This web of
relationships is the invisible net that holds everything together.
Tangled inside the web, we create endless stories in an ongoing
movie.
But how do you get out of th e web? Humans dream of a realm
like Heaven that allows the relative world to drop away forever.
Heaven may be a dream, but a world beyond isn’t. By waking up,
you find yourself in that world, which is consciousness itself.
Beyond all created things lies the womb of creation.
For Today
Let your gaze roam the room and pick any object at ran dom.
Now in rapid succession, think of as many words as you can in
thirty se conds that relate to t he object. Let’s say you chose  a table
lamp. Words related to a tab le lamp: light, lightning bug, torch,
Statue of Liberty, lamp beside the golden door, freedom,
immigrants, Germany, Nazism, Hitler, World War II, an d so  on.
Notice t hat the flow of words  spreads out on its own, going in any
and every direction. By a sim ple exercise in word association, you
have woven one strand of the web that creates the known world.YOUR EXPERIENCE:

 DAY 13

The mind has entangled us in a virtual reality of our own
making.
In creation myths around the world, God or gods stand apart,
looking down on the world th ey created. For humans, however, we
created virtual  reality and then stepped into it. The pu rpose of
virtual reality was to allow us  a double role, as both the authors of
our own stories and the actors who play them out. The two roles
are mind-created, and keeping them separate is confusing. When
trouble arises, people ask themselves, “Did I do this to myself?”
without being able to answer.
Entangled in virtual reality, w e find it easier to simply go along
and pretend we play only one  role, the actor. Yet the role of author
is fa r more im portant. Unfortunately, how to be an author has
been lar gely forgotten. Life is too confusing already. By waking up,
you clea rly see  your role in the creative process. You are no longer
helpless or a victim, any mor e than Romeo and Juliet are  victims
of Shak espeare. They came to life in their author’s awareness, as
you come to life every day in yours.
For Today
Put yourself back at the creat ive center of things. The next  time
you order food or ask to s ee something in a store, fra me the
situation this way: I had the thought that put this situation in
motion. I put the thought into words. The words caused another
person to undertake a new action. That action prompts another
action by the cooks in the kitchen (or the manufacturer who
made the goods in a store), who are earning a living to create
their ow n stories, and the sum total of these stories is humanhistory. Therefore, at every  moment, my thoughts are at the
creative center of history.
This is more th an a new way  to frame a commonplace act ivity.
It is the truth. You are the creative center of things, ever and
always.
YOUR EXPERIENCE:

 DAY 14

The body, mind, and world, when seen directly and
without interpretation, are actually one activity.
Even though we busy oursel ves with a thousand things a  day,
seeing the world as one th ing comes naturally. To a devout
believer, the one thing is Go d’s creation. To most scientists, the
one thing is the physical u niverse. But these are conditioned
responses. Believers cannot consult God to confirm their belief,
and scientists cannot confirm where time, space, matter, and
energy come from. What if you look at the world directly, without
a co nditioned response? Yo u would see that the one thing is
awareness constantly modifying itself. Body, mind, and world are
experiences in consciousness. This alone can be verified.
Experience is the touchstone of reality. When you wake up, it
becomes the only touchston e you need. You join the play of
consciousness and revel in it.
For Today
The play of consciousness embraces all of creation. Today you
can join the game as an enjoyable experience. Take a moment to
do s omething that makes yo u happy—it could be lunch with a
friend, appreci ating the trees and sky, watching children on the
playground. If  your enjoyment comes from eating ice c ream at
midnight, that ’s perfectly fine. Whatever you are doing, re lax into
your en joyment and notice it. Enjoyment is the easiest w ay to be
here no w. Just by noticing yo ur enjoyment, you have put yourself
into the eternal play of consciousness.YOUR EXPERIENCE:

 DAY 15

Upon close examination, no external world or physical
body can be found independent of our perceptions.
We are so used  to living with  a divided self that it is a big step
to see beyond it. The divide d self tells you that you live in two
worlds, one “in here” and on e “out there.” But if reality is a single
thing, t his view is mistaken. Consciousness is the one thing. It
unfolds as one reality. Know ing this, you have firm gr ound to
stand o n—your own awareness. The conditioned mind corrupts
and dis torts awareness. It colors your perceptions, forcin g you to
accept t he division between the inner and outer worlds. Waking
up c larifies the truth. All wor lds are experienced in consciousness.
There is no need to prove the existence of the physical world or
not to prove it. You are here now, and that is enough.
For Today
It’s not difficult to merge the  inner and outer worlds into one.
Find a photo of yourself; it can be your driver’s license or a
snapshot. Holding the photo  in your hand, look at yourself in the
mirror. Then look at yourself in the photo, and finally, see yourself
in y our mind’s eye. As you m oved from seeing your physical body
reflected in a m irror, capture d on film, and inside your mind, each
was an experience in conscio usness. On that basis, there w ere not
three different experiences. There was one experienc e being
modified in three ways. Everything in life stands on the same
ground, as experiences that are modified consciousness.
YOUR EXPERIENCE:

 DAY 16

Since there is no independent physical world, everyday
reality is a lucid dream taking place in the vivid now.
Dreams aren’t  all cut from the same cloth. Some dream s are
vague, b arely more vivid than having a fleeting memory when you
are awake. At the opposite extreme are so-called lucid dreams.
When you’re having a lucid dream, you have no clue tha t it is a
dream. You are fully immers ed in it and, when you wake up, it’s
hard to acknowledge that the dream wasn’t real. Likewise, virtual
reality is a fu ll-immersion experience. There are few clues to
suggest that you are not fully awake.
For that reason, glimpses of  clarity, moments of joy, creative
insights, and the experience of meditation are precious. They
suggest that you are immersed in a vivid, lucid dream. Waking up
will come as a  surprise—for many people, it’s a shock to  realize
that they’ve been asleep all th eir lives. Every passing moment was
like experiencing the vivid now. Once awake, however, now
becomes a window into pure consciousness. It doesn’t matter what
fills the now. What matters is that you are fully awake to it.
For Today
Moments when  you see through the spell/dream/illusion often
happen sponta neously—they come upon you by surprise. There’s
no set way to bring about such glimpses; the closest you can come
is throu gh meditation. Still, you can prepare the ground today for
the seed of metareality experience. At any time, take a look
around, smile to yourself, and say, “Imagine, this is all a dream,
and I am th e dreamer.” The smile is important. It’s likeanticipating Christmas as a child. You know something good is
coming and, by reminding yourself, you open the way.
YOUR EXPERIENCE:

 DAY 17

Now isn’t a moment in time that can be grasped and held.
Now is the rise and fall of awareness.
If you want to  know who enforces the rules of virtual re ality,
the cloc k is a good place to st art. The tick-tock of clock tim e slices


(these	substances	may	cause	the	body
to	lose	water).	Water	is	a	simple	choice,	often	overlooked.	Dehydration	is	a
common	problem,	especially	among	our	elderly	population.
A	toxic	lifestyle	is	often	created	unwittingly.	We	fail	to	appreciate	that	many
small	toxic	exposures	over	time,	to	a	wide	variety	of	toxins,	lead	to	an
accumulation,	causing	our	cells	to	malfunction.	Even	small	amounts	of	toxins
can	perform	amazing	feats	of	chemistry	by	inhibiting	hormones,	deactivating
enzymes,	compromising	our	detoxification	systems	and	using	up	precious
nutrients.	Toxicity	is	seldom	recognized	as	a	primary	cause	of	our	healthproblems.	The	toxic	invaders	in	our	lives—whether	they	are	brought	into	our
homes	or	they	are	created	in	our	own	bodies—are	also	not	easily	detected	by
typical	“radar.”	The	toxins	that	harm	us	seldom	are	labeled	hazardous,	and	they
are	difficult	to	identify.
Once	we	understand	the	role	toxins	play	in	cellular	malfunction,	we	can
understand	the	importance	of	minimizing	toxic	exposure	and	maximizing	the
body’s	ability	to	detoxify.	In	order	to	protect	yourself	and	your	family,	you	must
learn	how	to	spot	these	silent	and	hidden	dangers,	and	how	to	keep	your
defenses	strong	in	order	to	avoid	toxic	overload.	Never	before	has	the	human
body	been	faced	with	such	challenges	of	personal	and	global	pollution.	To
respond	to	these	challenges	and	to	move	yourself	in	the	right	direction	on	the
toxin	pathway,	learn	to	make	the	daily	choices	that	will	reduce	your	toxic
exposure	and	support	your	detoxification	systems.7
T
HE
	P
SYCHOLOGIAC
P
ATHWAY
“The	simple	truth	is,	happy	people	generally	don’t	get
sick.	One’s	attitude	toward	oneself	is	the	single	most
important	factor	in	healing	or	staying	well.	Those	who	are	at
peace	with	themselves	and	their	immediate	surroundings
have	far	fewer	serious	illnesses	than	those	who	are	not.”
Bernie	Siegel,	M.D.
Love,	Medicine	&	Miracles
E
ven	when	nutrients	are	scarce	and	toxins	abundant,	one’s	potential	for	health
is	nearly	limitless,	and	it	relies	almost	entirely	on	ourselves	and	the	power	of	the
mind.	Thoughts	and	emotions	have	a	tremendous	effect	on	our	cells	and
therefore	our	health.	What	we	put	into	our	minds	may	be	more	important	than
what	we	put	into	our	bodies.	The	power	of	the	mind	is	your	best	ally	in	choosing
to	get	well	and	stay	well.
You	are	what	you	think.
“How	can	it	be,”	you	might	ask,	“that	the	mind	has	so	much	control	over	the
body?”	This	question	assumes	that	one	is	separate	from	the	other;	in	fact,	they
are	inseparable.	All	the	cells	in	our	body	contribute	to	what	we	call	the	mind,
and	what	goes	on	in	our	mind	affects	what	happens	in	all	our	cells.
Chemical	reactions	are	produced	throughout	the	body	by	our	thoughts,
emotions	and	interactions	with	others.	Fear	makes	us	turn	pale;	embarrassment
makes	us	blush.	Modern	science	has	proven	that	these	“thought	chemicals”
either	can	be	beneficial	or	detrimental	to	health.
We	can	choose	what	we	put	into
our	minds,	and	in	doing	so,	we	can	choose	between	health	and	disease.
This	concept	is	sometimes	difficult	for	people	to	embrace	because	thought
chemicals	are	abstract.	Their	effect,	though,	is	reflected	in	Dr.	Bernie	Siegel’s
1986	book,
Love,	Medicine	&	Miracles
:	“If	I	told	patients	to	raise	their	blood
levels	of	immune	globulins	or	killer	T-cells,	no	one	would	know	how.	But	if	I
can	teach	them	to	love	themselves	and	others	fully,	the	same	change	happens
automatically.”
Consider	how	thought	chemicals	can	improve	or	damage	health:
•	A	1991	study	in	the
New	England	Journal	of	Medicine
found	that	stressful
life	situations	(such	as	losing	a	job,	breaking	off	an	engagement	or	simply
feeling	overwhelmed	by	life’s	problems)	nearly	doubles	the	risk	of	catching
a	cold.•	A	thirty-five-year	study	(1946–1981)	of	Harvard	graduates	showed	that
people	who	had	a	pessimistic	outlook	on	life	suffered	significantly	more
disease	after	age	forty-five	than	people	with	a	positive	outlook.
•	A	2001	study	in
Psychosomatic	Medicine
found	that	optimism	protects
against	heart	disease.	People	who	are	pessimistic	and	blame	themselves	for
everything	were	much	more	likely	to	die	of	a	heart	attack	than	their
optimistic	counterparts.
•	Dr.	O.	Carl	Simonton,	in	his	1978	book,
Getting	Well	Again,
talks	about
how	visual	imagery	with	positive	mental	images	had	a	beneficial	effect	on
patients	with	advanced	cancer.	Simonton	found	that	people	who	used	their
minds	to	heal	had	double	the	survival	rate	of	those	who	did	not.
•	A	study	in	a	2000	issue	of
Lancet
concluded	that	women	who	experience
severe	emotional	stress	during	the	first	trimester	of	pregnancy	are	80
percent	more	likely	to	have	a	child	with	birth	defects.
Body,	Heal	Thyself
You	must	believe	in	your	health	if	you	are	to	maintain	or	regain	health.	You
must	actively	care	for	your	health	when	you	are	well,	and	actively	pursue
wellness	when	you	are	ill.
When	my	own	body	was	in	progressive	deterioration	during	the	depths	of	my
illness,	I	began	to	realize	that,	for	survival,	I	needed	to	employ	my	mind	as	well
as	my	body.	I	began	to	repeat	a	version	of	an	old	affirmation	to	myself,	again
and	again,	a	mantra	of	sorts:
Every	day,	in	every	way,	I	get	stronger	and	stronger
and	better	and	better.
At	first,	when	I	would	say	this	to	myself,	my	mind	would	fight	back,	saying
something	like,
Wow,	are	you	a	liar!	You	feel	worse	today	than	you	did
yesterday.
I	realized	that	my	positive	mental	affirmations	were	being	negated	by
my	own	thinking	about	my	situation.	I	began	to	reply	to	my	mind’s	objections
by	saying,
I	know	I	am	worse	today,	but	I	am	giving	you	an	instruction.
Once	I	became	comfortable	giving	my	body	instructions,	my	own	objections
began	to	disappear	and	my	body	began	to	respond.	I	would	say	my	affirmation,
sometimes	out	loud,	with	passion	and	expectancy,	many	times	daily,	repeatedly,
until	I	could	feel	strength	coming	into	my	body	as	I	said	the	words.	After	a	few
weeks,	my	subconscious	mind	began	to	implement	the	instructions	and	intent	of
my	conscious	mind.	One	day,	after	saying	these	affirmations,	I	felt	the	best	that	I
had	felt	since	the	onset	of	my	illness.	The


 have tremendous longevity and are never sick. For instance,
there are freshwater trout and there are ocean-water trout, and they couldn’t be more different in
seawater Minerals and the Coming Agricultural Revolution
their health patterns—but, genetically, they’re practically identical. However, because of the lack of
minerals in freshwater, freshwater trout are always sick in some way. So this inspired Dr. Murray to do
some tremendous research on animals—chickens, pigs, every kind of animal—and what he saw was
tremendous differences in their health and how they grew.
Mike : How much research did he do with humans?
Hartman : Well, remember, he grew up in a time when lab instruments were not particularly sensitive
and with very little funding, so I would say his human research was fairly limited, although he did get
interesting results. I encourage people to read his book, “Sea Energy Agriculture,” which is available
from us. It’s really his quest to find out what is special about seawater and all the experiments that he
did. Another interesting thing that people recognize commonly now is that the absence of lithium in
your diet causes bipolar disorder. People are sensitive to it, and this is fairly understood now, twenty-
something years after Dr Murray’s death. Every disease, I think, at the end of the day, will be traced to
some missing element.
How humans are really seawater creatures
Mike : Ultimately, if you go back into our ancestry, we have strong ties to seawater. We even have ocean
chemistry inside us, and in the first stages of fetal development, we actually grow gills, just like fish.
Hartman : I’m glad you brought that up, because your blood plasma, which is the clear part of your
blood, is like seawater—every element in the same proportion. In fact, there was a French doctor who,
in the early part of the 19th century, did therapy that injected clean seawater intravenously into humans.
He had tremendous results with terminal patients and extremely ill patients, and it’s a therapy that is
still ongoing today. There’s a South American doctor who—and I know PETA people will be appalled,
and I love animals too—but he drained out three quarters of the blood from a dog and replaced it with
clean seawater, and the dog was up and running around half an hour later, no problem.
Mike : Wow, that’s very interesting. It’s definitely a horrifying experiment, and I’m against experimenting
on animals, but it certainly demonstrates an interesting point because you can imagine that most
people’s blood is lacking some of these elements.
Hartman : Another interesting discovery that is now well known is that seawater, hemoglobin and
chlorophyll have very similar chemistries, except that seawater is based on sodium, human blood is based
on iron, and chlorophyll is based on magnesium. Other than their prime elements being different, the
other elements fall in order, in proportion. And chlorophyll and hemoglobin have very similar carbon
chemistry. They are the same shape molecule, the only difference being the iron and the magnesium.
seawater Minerals and the Coming Agricultural Revolution
It’s very easy for the body to convert chlorophyll, like you have in wheatgrass juice, to blood. I mean,
it’s a tremendous treatment for somebody who, for instance, is anemic.
Mike : I think it’s important to connect these dots again. Chlorophyll is the blood of plants, hemoglobin
is the oxygen-carrying part of blood in people, and ocean water is the blood of the earth. That is
wonderful.
Getting Ocean Grown seawater concentrates
Mike : Your website, again, is OceanGrown.com. Can you give us a little description of what people
can get there. What can they order, and how do they get it?
Hartman : Let me give you some background. We’ve been in business five years, and we’ve been on
the market two years. But we’re trying to build a distribution network, so typically we try to dissuade
commerce through the website because we try to encourage our distributors. If there is no distributor
in your area, we’d be happy to take the order, but, wherever possible, we try to push orders through
distribution. We have a growing loyal following of distributors, and that’s coming along very well.
Mike : How do people find local distributors?
Hartman : Just drop us an email and we’ll respond.
Mike : So there are retail stores in cities around North America where people can find this?
Hartman : Yes, and it’s growing all the time. Someday, I hope we’ll be in the big box stores. You’ll be
able to find it on every shelf like you see Miracle-Gro today.
Mike : I don’t know if you can answer this, because of the pending patent, but people are going to
wonder where your ocean water is from? I hope it’s not from Miami Beach.
Hartman : I’m glad you brought that up, because, typically, when people first hear about Dr. Murray,
they race down to their local ocean if they’re fortunate enough to live near one. But think about what
ends up in coastal waters. You’ve got chemical plants dumping things in there. You have sewage and
all kinds of other things going in that coastal water that I don’t think you’d want in your food—heavy
metals in odd proportions and that kind of thing. What we typically do is go out to sea at varying
distances, anywhere from 30 to—our longest trip was 600 miles—and we are in very clean areas. We
process the water at sea, so what we have when we come back is a concentrate that’s ready to package
and ship, but we don’t do that just yet. What we do is quarantine that product in our distribution
seawater Minerals and the Coming Agricultural Revolution
center and send samples out to an environmental lab to get tested for volatile organic compounds, like
chemicals and pollutants. We don’t ship that product unless there is no detectable pollution, and there
are 70 different things that they look for, and their detection limit is half a part per billion. When that
test result comes back, it has to say ND next to every pollutant: “non-detectable.” When we get that
test result back, we liberate whatever that voyage produced to be packaged.
Mike : So you’re saying there is still ocean water that’s fairly clean on this planet?
Hartman : There is, but not coastally. You can’t just run a pipe down to your local coast. Even if you’re
on some island in the Caribbean and you think, “Well, maybe I’ll just put a pipe in the water,” you
might be lucky. But if you look at the boating regulations at what can be dumped at sea, it’s pretty
staggering what boats are allowed to dump if they’re far enough away from a coast.
You know, God invented this; we’re not taking credit for inventing seawater. What we’re trying to do
is collect it in a way that doesn’t damage it or change the proportion of it or hurt the aerobic bacteria
that are in it. We are very careful about how we do it and where we do it, and we work to make sure
that it’s pollutant free, and we try to make it as economic as possible to ship. We are within a year of
having a higher concentration, which will further reduce the shipping costs. But before I forget, I just
want to mention this aerobic bacteria. Seawater has about five times more aerobic bacteria—and that is
the friendly kind, the kind that stimulate roots to pick up elements and nutrition—than the healthiest
soils. To give you an idea of what aerobic bacteria can do, they can help the soil fix nitrogen, which is
very important to soil. The role of the bacteria is terribly important. It comes with seawater, and we do
everything we can to make its life happy and healthy and to preserve it in our product.
I think Dr. Murray mentions in his book that seawater bacteria can fix 40 pounds of nitrogen per acre.
Currently, chemical farmers are putting about 200 pounds of nitrogen on an acre, let’s say, to grow corn,
so that alone will help them reduce the need for that much nitrogen. You say, “Why do they have to
add anything at all?” Well, the reason they have to add nitrogen in the first place is because they use
highly hybridized species of corn that require it, and it’s kind of a self-fulfilling process. You have these
companies that are hybridizing corn, and they need more of the product they sell.
What about the salt in seawater?
Mike : Here’s a common question that I’m sure you must get: If there is salt in seawater and you put
seawater on your crops, won’t it increase the salt content of your tomatoes? What about people who are
worried about too much salt in their diet? It sounds like a silly question, but I’m sure you get it.
Hartman : It’s a great question. Think about when you go to a hospital. What’s the first thing they
give you?
0seawater Minerals and the Coming Agricultural Revolution
Mike : Sodium chloride.
Hartman : They give you a saline solution. So what is so important about sodium that it happens to be
number one in seawater and number one in health care? Well,


 those of the people around you, have a
harmful ef fect on digestion.
Be grateful for nature’ s unending gift of food, and respect it as you do
yourself.
OceanofPDF.comCHAPTER 13
EXERCISE—THE MYTH OF “NO P AIN, NO GAIN”
From an Ayurvedic standpoint, much of the exercise recommended today
falls short of ideal. Why do we need physical activity in the first place?
Charaka, the greatest writer on Ayurveda, gave this answer: “From physical
exercise one gets lightness, a capacity for work, firmness, tolerance of
difficulties, elimination of impurities, and stimulation of digestion.”
Aerobics for your heart or weight training for your muscles achieve some of
these goals, but these are not comprehensive enough activities to fit
Charaka’ s description. The ideal is to balance the whole system, mind and
body. It is also vital that exercise give more energy than it takes, a
consideration that people tend to ignore.
One very simple exercise, walking, comes close to being ideal because it
is a natural activity that satisfies  all three doshas. Vata types find that taking
a long walk tranquilizes them. Pitta types react quite differently. They like
being slowed down from the driving pace that so often overtakes them
during their workday. Kaphas feel stimulated and lighter; a brisk walk
clears out any minor congestion  they might have built up and makes their
typically slow digestion more efficient. For these reasons, a brisk half-hour
walk every day is one of the prime recommendations we make to patients at
the Chopra Center.
Patients are also taught a new approach to exercise in which the aim is
not to strain or to pound their muscles into shape. They are shown that
exercise is meant to forge a closer link between themselves and their
quantum mecha nical bodies—it thus becomes a powerful tool for balance.
We call this approach “three-d osha exercise.” It is embodied in a set of
short, connected routines:The Sun Salute ( Surya Namaskara )—a morning exercise that
combines stretching, balance, and calisthenics (1 to 6 minutes)
Neuromuscular integration—a set of gentle yoga positions (10 to 15
minutes)
Balanced breathing—a simple form of Pranayama, a traditional yogic
breath exercise (5 minutes)
The description of these exercises begins on page 325. Performing them
in connection with meditation, for which they are ideally suited,  raises mind
body integration to a new level. To begin with, these exercises are natural
and comfortable forms of activity that the doshas welcome. They can also
be performed by all age groups and do not require you to be in shape.
From the very first session, people discover the intimacy that nature has
established between awareness and physiology. The body is not just a shell
or a walking life-support system. It is your self intimately clothed in matter.
Getting back in touch with this intimacy is very reassuring and delightful,
particularly for people who have given up on exercise and become virtual
strangers to their bodies.
SUCCESS WITHOUT  PAIN
Before explaini ng these points further, let’s consider conventional
exercise. Since life is generally meant to be comfortable and happy,
Ayurveda views exercise as a means to that end. It holds that exercise
should always leave you ready for work. Exercise shouldn’ t be work itself.
Yet, many Americans see it that way. They feel that without a grim and
determined attitude, they are not doing much good for themse lves. (Go to
the park early tomorrow mornin g and count how many frowns there are on
the faces of the runners you see.) If you get only one benefit from
Ayurveda’ s approach to exercise, it should be that “no pain, no gain” is a
myth.A good way to see this is in terms of Vata dosha. All physica l activity
increases Vata. A moderate increase makes you feel more vigorous, alert,
and clearheaded, as well as stronger physically. You are getting  mental and
physical benefits together, in a natural balance. But overstimulating Vata
destroys all these benefits. It makes you feel restless, fatigued, and shaky.
How much is enough, then? As a general rule, Ayurveda wants us to
exercise to 50 percent of maximum capacity. If you can bicycle ten miles,
go for five; if you can swim twenty laps, make it ten. These lower limits are
not detrimental to fitness; in fact they make exercise more efficient, because
you are not givin g your body so much repair work to do afterwa rd, and your
cardiovascular system will have an easier time returning to normal after
your workout. Another simple guideline has to do with exertion. Rather
than exerting yourself to the point where you are sweating heavily and
panting for breath, just go until you break out into a light sweat and start to
mouth breathe. Those are natural signals that you are at the right limit.
You are going too far if you begin to pant or sweat profusely, if you feel
your heart pounding violently, or if your knees feel rubbery. At the first sign
of overe xertion, stop exercising, give yourself a few minutes of walking
around to let the system cool down by stages, and then rest for another few
minutes until your pulse and breathing are back to normal. In the heat of
competitive sports such as tenni s and racquetball, you may not notice how
strenuously you are exerting yourself. If it is fun to play, then keep on. But
if you are pushi ng yourself to win the game or to prove that you can keep
up with someone else, your attitude is needlessly punishing your body.
Vata types especially should be careful not to overdo; their constitutions
generally have lower exercise thresholds than Pittas, and Pittas lower than
Kaphas. Exertio n also needs to be adjusted for age: over the age of 45 or 50,
everyone begins  to have increased Vata, which should be comp ensated for
by not exercising as hard as before. As in everything else, you need to
respect your doshas. Going the extra mile at any age is just another way of
inviting serious Vata problems. (Recent studies in sports medicine indicate
that 50 percent of serious women athletes have significant menstrual
disturbances, a symptom of highly aggravated Vata.)BODY -TYPE EXERCISE
Every time you move your body, you are talking to your doshas. Because
each dosha has its own emphasis, there are three kinds of benefits that all
balanced exercise brings:
Vata: poise, agility, limberness, coor dination, and inner exhilaration
Pitta: warming up the body, circulation of blood to all parts, increased
heart capacity
Kapha: increased strength and stability, steady ener gy
If you never get out of your armchair to exercise, obviously you will not
experience these benefits. But many active people with firm muscles and
sound hearts do not experience them either. Most exercise programs today
are dedicated to increasing the capacity of the cardiovascular system, which
puts a heavy emphasis on Pitta dosha. I would like to list balanced activities
that are broader in scope and more suited to the major body types.
VATA-TYPE EXERCISE
Vata types have bursts of energy but tire quickly. They excel at balancing
and stretching exercises. Being light and lithe, they like yoga and walking,
as long as these do not beco me too tiring. Because of their natural
enthusiasm, Vata types also feel good doing bouncy dance aerobics to
music. Any exercise that takes place indoors is good in winter, since Vatapeople are averse to the cold and do not have enough fat and muscle to
protect them from the elements.
Everyone dominated by Vata must always be careful not to get carried
away and push themselves too far. This is the primary caution for them,
since Vata dosha typically starts  with a bang but does not know its limits,
particularly when out of balance. Half an hour of mild exercise a day is
enough. If you are exhausted, trembling, dizzy, or on the verge of cramping,
you have gone much too far. These are all signs of Vata imbalance.
PITT A-TYPE EXERCISE
Pitta types tend to have more drive than endurance. They are good at all
exercise in moderation. Because they like a challenge above all, Pittas enjoy
skiing, hiking, mountain climbing, and other sports that bring a sense of
accomplishment at the end of the day.
Athletes in competitive sports must have a good deal of Pitta to give
them a fighting  spirit, but this is not the dosha for intense competition.
Pittas hate to lose; this motivates them more than the satisfaction of
winning. (Sports  studies have shown this among professional tennis players,
some of whom are notorious for Pitta-type anger.) Pittas will grimly make
themselves run, jog, or weight train but gain very little inner contentment
from their ef forts.
Probably you already know whether you are falling into this trap. If you
stew over every bad shot on the golf course or want to drill your tennis
opponent with the ball, give up these sports. If you chew yourself or anyone
else out in any sport, walk away from it. Anyone who needs to


tra	television	show,	surfing	the	Internet,	online	shopping,	or	whatever	else
it	may	be.	This	often	pushes	bedtime	later	and	later.	At	the	same	time,	we	shave
our	sleep	away	on	the	other	end	by	rising	earlier	and	earlier	in	the	morning	to
tend	to	small	children,	fit	in	a	workout,	or	simply	get	to	work.
No	matter	how	much	sleep	you’ve	been	getting	up	until	now,	going	forward
you	must	shift	your	priorities	in	order	to	start	getting	peak	beauty	sleep.	In	this
pillar	you’ll	learn	how	creating	peak	beauty	sleep	can	help	you	lose	weight	or
maintain	your	ideal	weight,	improve	your
metabolism	and	your	immunity,
better	repair	damaged	tissues	or	cells	(including	in	your	skin),	and	delay	disease
and	aging,	all	around	working	to	increase	your	beauty.	You’ll	also	learn	the
most	effective	tips	and	tools	to	optimize	your	beauty	sleep,	which	is	key	in
allowing	your	most	beautiful	self	to	shine	through.	Hopefully,	by	the	end	of
this	pillar,	your	perspective	on	sleep	will	have	radically	shifted.SHIFT	10:
Understand	the
Sleep-Beauty-
Wellness	Connection
How	Much	Sleep	Do	You	Really	Need?
No	matter	how	you	slice	it,	most	of	us	aren’t	getting	enough	sleep.	The
National	Sleep	Foundation	suggests	that	on	average	adults	need	about	7	to	9
hours	of	sleep	per	night.
1
	This	is	a	general	recommendation,	and	you	may	need
more	than	that	depending	on	your	individual	constitution,	but	unfortunately
most	of	us	don’t	get	that	much.	(Contrary	to	popular	belief,	only	a	small
fraction	of	the	population	can	get	by	for	extended	periods	on	less	than	7	hours
of	sleep	at	night.)	Healthy	sleep	is	also	uninterrupted,	not	the	kind	where	you
wake	up	several	times	a	night.	Data	from	the
National	Health	Interview	Survey
concluded	that	at	least	30	percent	of	American	adults	don’t	get	enough	sleep.
This	30	percent	reported	only	6	or	fewer	hours	of	sleep	per	night.
2
Ironically,	there’s	been	a	lot	of	talk	lately	that
oversleeping
	can	be	harmful.	In
2002,	a	study	resurfaced	that	found	that	people	who	slept	6.5	to	7.4	hours	had
lower	rates	of	mortality	compared	with	people	who	slept	either	fewer	than	4
hours	or	greater	than	8.
3
	But	before	assuming	that	getting	more	than	8	hours	is
“bad,”	it	is	important	to	know	that	this	study	was	conducted	on	cancer	patients.
This	might	have	shifted	the	results,	as	those	with	cancer	likely	have	different
sleep	needs	than	the	general	public.	In	those	with	high	mortality	rates,	the	lack
of	sleep	or	excessive	amount	of	sleep	might	have	been	a	symptom	of	the
patients’	illness	and	not	the	cause.	This	shows	how	important	it	is	to	look	at
studies	very	carefully	before	making	broad	assumptions,	especially	as	they	relate
to	lifestyle	shifts.
Meanwhile,	a	growing	number	of	researchers	don’t	believe	there	is	such	a
thing	as	oversleeping.	Dr.
Sigrid	Veasey	of	the	University	of	Pennsylvania’s
Center	for	Sleep	and	Circadian	Neurobiology	puts	it	bluntly:	“
You	can	never	get
‘too	much’	sleep.	When	you	have	had	enough	sleep,	you	will	wake	up
.”There	are	other	interesting	findings	as	well.	Researchers	at
Stanford
University	studied	the	impact	of	playing	sports	while	involved	in	academics.
The	result	is	that	players	often	get	little	sleep.	They	conducted	an	experiment	in
which	the	players	slept	10	hours	a	night	for	a	five-	to	seven-week	period	instead
of	their	usual	6	hours.	The	results	showed	that	their	speed	and	accuracy,	as	well
as	their	physical,	mental,	and	emotional	well-being,	all	grew	measurably	better.
4
It’s	no	surprise,	then,	that	many	top	athletes,	including
Usain	Bolt,
Michael
Phelps,
LeBron	James,	and
Roger	Federer,	report	getting	upward	of	10	to	12
hours	of	sleep	a	night.
You	may	be	asking	yourself,	What	does	this	have	to	do	with	beauty?	Well,
athletes	need	to	allow	their	bodies	to	rest	and	rejuvenate	to	reach	peak
condition	for	their	athletic	competitions.	Likewise,	rest	and	rejuvenation	is	key
for	all	of	your	body’s	functions	to	perform	at	their	peak.	This	has	a	direct
impact	on	your	beauty.	An	article	published	on
Harvard	Medical	School’s
website	explains	that	major	restorative	functions,	“like	muscle	growth,	tissue
repair,	protein	synthesis,	and	growth	hormone	release	occur	mostly,	or	in	some
cases	only,	during	sleep.”
5
Ultimately,	you	must	listen	to	your	body	to	see	how	much	sleep	you
personally	need.	It	might	be	8	hours	or	possibly	even	9	or	10.	It	is	completely
individual.	You	may	wonder	where	you	could	possibly	find	more	time	to	get
additional	sleep,	but	it	is	often	possible	to	cut	out	unnecessary	evening	activities
and	simply	go	to	bed	earlier.	Television	is	one	thing	that	takes	up	so	much	time
for	most	people	but	is	completely	unproductive.	It	may	sound	radical	to	suggest
giving	up	TV	entirely,	but	it	might	be	easier	than	you	think	and	could
profoundly	improve	your	life.
Once	you	have	a	deeper	understanding	of	how	strongly	sleep	can	impact
your	beauty	and	overall	wellness,	you	will	likely	feel	compelled	to	really
prioritize	your	sleep.
The
Effects	of	Too	Little	Sleep
If	you	consistently	get	fewer	than	the	ideal	number	of	hours	of	sleep	for	you,
here’s	what	you	are	most	likely	dealing	with.
ACCELERATED	AGING
If	you’ve	ever	wanted	actual	scientific	documentation	for	the	phenomenon	of
beauty	sleep,	here	it	is:	A	study	published	in	2015	assessed	actual	skin	aging,
and	the	subjects	whose	sleep	was	deemed	“good”	were	found	to	have	lower	skin
aging	scores.	This	included	a	30	percent	higher	barrier	of	recovery	whencompared	with	poor	sleepers.
6
In	another	fascinating	clinical	trial	from	the
University	Hospitals	Case
Medical	Center	in
Cleveland,	Ohio,	a	direct	connection	was	found	between
poor	sleep	and	accelerating	aging,	especially	of	the	skin.
7
	Researchers	examined
sixty	premenopausal	women	between	the	ages	of	thirty	and	forty-nine
8
	who	fell
into	either	a	“poor”	or	“quality”	sleep	group,	based	on	sleep	length	and	overall
excellence.	They	discovered	that	the	poor	sleepers	showed	twice	as	many	signs
of	aging	as	those	in	the	quality	sleep	group.	These	measurements	included	fine
lines,	uneven	pigmentation,	slackening	of	skin,	and	reduced	elasticity.
9
	They
also	found	that	those	in	the	quality	sleep	group	recovered	more	efficiently	from
damage	and	other	stressors	like	exposure	to	the	sun.
10
	This	shows	that	sun	is
not	the
only
	big	issue	with	skin	aging.	Other	factors,	such	as	the	quality	of	your


ria which are too often described as "health" literature!
The colossal task of translation has been nobly accomplished by
Mr. L. Purcell Weaver, but for whom, declares the author, this book
would still be lying in manuscript form in French among the records of
his various scientific expeditions. The decorations in black and white by
Arthur Wragg aptly interpret the theme. No more massive, profound or
far-reaching work on Health and Life has ever been published. <|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>Soil and Health Library
This document is a reproduction of the book or other copyrighted material you
requested.  It was prepared on for the exclusive use of Oriana, whose email address is
orianaoriana@gmail.com.
This reproduction was made by the Soil and Health Library only for the purpose of
research and study.  Any further reproduction or distribution of this copy in any form
whatsoever constitutes a violation of copyrights.   A NEW DIETARY
DISCOVERY

STALE FOOD
-vs-
FRESH FOOD
BY ROBERT S. FORD
President, Magnolia Laboratory
 — MEMBER —
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF CEREAL CHEMISTS
THE INSTITUTE OF FOOD TECHNOLOGISTS
A.H.A. COUNCIL ON ARTERIOSCLEROSIS
AMERICAN OIL CHEMISTS' SOCIETY
P. M. P. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
AMERICAN AGING ASSOCIATION
   AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION

DEDICATION
THIS WORK IS DEDICATED TO A BETTER LIFE FOR ALL

THIS BOOKLET IS AVAILABLE FROM MAGNOLIA LABORATORY
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MAGNOLIA LABORATORY DOES NOT SELL FOOD, AND DOES NOT TREATOR
ADVISE INDIVIDUALS. IF YOU NEED HELP, TAKE THIS BOOKLET TO YOUR FAMILY
DOCTOR.

   Copyright © By R. S. Ford
1969 Second Edition Copyright © By R. S. Ford 1969
 Third Edition Copyright © By R. S. Ford 1970
Fourth Edition Copyright © By R. S. Ford 1971
Fifth Edition Copyright © By R. S. Ford 1975
Sixth Edition Copyright © By R. S. Ford 1977
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  PREFACE TO SIXTH EDITION
   Thousands with the good sense and will power to change their eating habits say they have been
greatly helped by the discoveries described in this now-famous booklet, and are enjoying good health
again. They say they have cleansed their arteries, avoided surgery, and become free of anginal pain in
the chest and legs. Circulation in the head and neck have improved so as to clear up dizziness and ear
noises, and enhance mental clarity. Likewise, visual disturbances and blackouts have ended. Blood pressure, cholesterol, and tri-glycerides have been  reduced far more effectively than by drugs or low-
cholesterol diets. Many people say they have never before eaten so well, and with so little kitchen
work, yet their weight and figure are improved. They sa y such things as: "I am back to work again", or
"No more standing still while the pain fades". Some are even frank enough to say "Sex is a joy again". Many say their diabetes is controlled without drugs on this diet. Since it is always a pleasure to see
people enjoying the use of one's discovery, these results make all our hard work seem very much
worthwhile. See how it all started, on inside back cover ( at the end of this booklet in the internet
version).

THE BASIC CAUSE OF COMMON ARTHRITIS
   It is widely agreed among medical scientists th at common arthritis starts with deterioration of the
synovial membrane. As shown in the drawing on the rear cover, this membrane encloses the moving parts of the joint like a bag. Nature provides this membrane bag containing a clear white lubricating
fluid to keep blood out of the joint space, because the delicate red cells of blood would be quickly crushed between the weight bearing surfaces. Since there is no blood circulation inside the joint space
or in the cartilage, the clear white lubricating fluid must play another role as well, nourishing and
carrying away the wastes of the cartilage as it constantly grows to repair wear and tear. In a healthy joint, the lubricating fluid does this very well by a process called dialysis, by which it interchanges
essential nutritive materials and wastes with the bloodstream coursing through a rich network of tiny
blood vessels in the walls of the bag. The joint fluid is secreted by special cells lining the bag, utilizing
materials taken from the bloodstream, and is thus c onstantly made afresh as required. Excluded from
the life-giving bloodstream, the joint cartilage is entirely dependent on the services of the membrane
bag for its lubrication, nourishment, waste dispos al, and microbic protection by means of the special
joint fluid. If the joint fluid is not thus constantly freshened by interchange with the blood, the cartilage
must starve, weaken, be worn away, and perhaps be come infected by invading microbes. Healthy joints
are to a large degree self-repairing due to the consta ntly growing cartilage, but are sure to deteriorate
when not properly supplied with joint fluid.

THE BASIC CAUSE OF COMMON ARTHRITIS
   This diagram shows how a typical joint is enclosed by its
membrane bag, which makes a clear white fluid from blood to
lubricate and nourish the working surfaces. When blood circulation
through the wall of this membrane bag is choked by fatty rubbish from stale food, the joint fluid can no longer be properly made. The
joint is thus starved and begins to  fail. Various forms of arthritis
can then develop from wear and tear, infection, self-repair
reactions, etc. See text page 1.

   Medical authorities agree that the network of fi ne blood vessels in the membrane bag is subject to
being choked with fatty rubbish the same as other arteries. Also, the fibrous walls of the membrane
resemble the walls of the arteries, and the entire membrane tends to become thickened, hardened, and
deadened in much the same way as arteries are affected. This deterioration of the membrane bag
disturbs its performance in freshening the joint fluid, and the joint cartilage suffers accordingly. As described in authoritative medical textbooks, common arthritis begins with deterioration of the
membrane and consequent disturbance of the joint fluid, followed by a variety of painful and
disfiguring reactions in the joint.

   When blood circulation in the membrane fails and the joint begins to starve, automatic repair
responses by