by Jesse Boudreau
Month: October 2011
Raw Food: a great way of internalizing physical and spiritual environmentalism while achieving longevity and indomitable health
By Jesse Boudreau
In this day and age many people are experiencing the ill health of body, mind ,and planet. Commercialism, fad diets, and rampant consumerism reign supreme and finding simple, clear, and affordable solutions can seem difficult to achieve. However, this is really not the case. As time goes on, an increasing number of people are gravitating to time honored methods such as consuming organic food, growing food locally, and utilizing medicinal herbs. Theses methods which our ancestors used for ages worked well at healing the human body without causing the kind of environmental degradation we see today. This modern industrial schism that has occured between our minds and the physical world has resulted in a great deal of mental/spiritual degradation. Mental health has at its root physical health.
In recent years there has been a growing popularity of raw and living foods. In the past, and especially the distant past people largely ate a diet of raw greens, herbs, nuts, and seeds. Cooked meats, in the diets of our ancestors where an augmentation of the diet and the exception, not the rule. Often times pre-industrial or indiginous cultures would eat meat raw. Sushi, jerky, or straight raw meat are some historical examples of raw meat consumption. The scientific theory propounded by raw food activists is that by cooking, food enzymes are destroyed, nutrients and water content are diminished, as well as the vital life forces, or scientifically mesurable bio photons within the food.
Today’s diets are largely comprised of non organic, highly processed, highly cooked or fried foods with very little vegetables included in the meal. Obeistiy, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes are the pernicious and “conventionally” incurable angels of death that plague our society. Ill mental health is also on the rise and no doubt connected to one’s physical health. For example, Niacin (vitamin B3) is a natural nuerotransmitter regulator. By simply eating a handful or two of raw cashews or another niacin rich food regularly one could be rid of the need for antidepressants. These artificially synthesized antidepressants offer the same function of regulating seratonin levels but are toxic, expenisive,and to some unobtainable. While some find buying organic food to be expensive, it is far cheaper than paying for exorbitant hospital bills and expensive pharmaceuticals for extended periods of time. A diet of locally grown, organic raw food is a form of health insurance, paid in full, on the front end. One that helps the body, ecology, and local economy.
There is, within us, the need to heal the wounds of seperation from our earth-mother. By purchasing organic food from the grocery store or farmers market one can help heal our body/mind/ planet. This simple act leverages dollars into sound agricultural practices and local economies. Even better still is the act of gardening and wildcrafting as it connects one directly with nature. Organic, locally available foods are higher in nutrient content because they have not lost their nutrients by being picked green, sitting in warehouses, on trucks, and on store shelves for extended periods. Organic. fresh raw food often tastes better and is also light and easy to digest. If you grow your own, or forage for wildfoods it is the best of all possible worlds. Then your food is fresh, organic and free. By engaging in these acts, one can see the direct relationship we have with our earth-mother, and that though our efforts, we can re-engage with the community of nature and heal our physical and psychic wounds.
10 universally tonifying herbs you can wildcraft or grow
By Jesse Boudreau
In today’s times, health and health care have become elusive and expensive
for many individuals. High costs of hospital bills and pharmaceutical
drugs have people looking to more holistic, less expensive means by
which to maintain one’s health. One simple way to maintain one’s health
is to use tonic herbs. Unlike pharmaceutical medicines (and even many
herbal medicines) that treat symptoms after one is already ailing, the
regular use of tonic herbs helps to tone and strengthen the body’s own
natural defense mechanisms. Many of these herbs are easy to grow or
wildcraft and are easy to incorporate into one’s own health
sovereignty regimen. Here are my top ten tonic herbs:
1. Dandelion
2. Nettles
3. Alfafa
4. Garlic
5. Thyme
6. Yarrow
7. Chamomile
8. Parsley
9. Comfrey
10. Asparagus root
One simple way to administer the herbs is to merely decoct the leaves
or flowers by boiling them in water to make a tea. You can also mix and
match herbs without deleterious effects. Another simple way to take
these herbs is to simply add them to soups, salads, or stews. In times
like these where health is such a major issue to so many these
surprisingly simple methods are an excellent and cheap way of
maintaining one’s health in the long term. As Hippocrates, the
father of modern medicine said, “Let food be thy medicine and
medicine be thy food.”
ziaenergetics 