August Newsletter

Modern Problems Seeking Ancient Wisdom

Problem #1: Our health depends upon our nutrition. Our soil and food supply is deficient and contaminated.

Problem #2: Toxins are in our air, water, and food and build up in our bodies, disrupting functions of our organ systems and immunity.

Problem #3: Degenerative diseases (heart disease, cancer, MS, MD, Scleroderma, Lupus, Arthritis, Allergies, and HIV) are making us sick and killing us. Modern medicine has few cures, only drugs to cover up symptoms.

Problem #4: The medical/pharmaceutical/chemical industries have a vested interest in the status quo and our FDA, EPA, NIH, NCI, etc., are in bed with the industries that they “regulate.” So no help there.

Soo…. We are on our own.

I am trained as a chiropractor with naturopathic tendencies and an Ayurvedic practice. Ayurveda is a 3000-year-old system of medicine from India made popular by TM (Maharishi) and Dr. Deepak Chopra. Ayurveda offers simple, common sense self-care solutions to many of the problems that we face today. Here are a few concepts and actions to effect a change:

Eat a wide variety of natural, organic food to increase the range of nutrients available in your diet. Insure that your food is pesticide/herbicide free and of a higher nutritional content (due to healthy “soil loving” farming practices) by paying more for organic natural foods. You will be supporting organic farmers (an endangered species) and add to the increase in demand for these foods. Organic farmers know that healthy soil grows healthy plants. When the soil is healthy, the population which eats off of it is also healthy. It goes without saying, GMO’s and their by-products have been proven unsafe.

Avoid antibiotics and antibiotic tainted foods which can alter or destroy the friendly flora in our intestines. When this happens, putrefactive bacteria and yeast can take over, producing toxic by-products that are reabsorbed into the blood, taxing our liver and immune system. Antibiotic use should be a final defense, when time and all natural methods have been ineffective. Unless your eggs, milk, and meat are free range which are hormone and antibiotic free, they are tainted with chemicals and injurious to you and the environment. Use good acidophilus to re-establish flora when necessary.

Chew your food. This is the first, but often skipped, stage of digestion, which creates small particles, well mixed with saliva digestive enzymes. If this stage is skipped, the stomach, liver, and pancreas must work harder to complete the task. During WWII, Franklin D. Roosevelt sanctioned a campaign to educate America about Fletcherization (chewing) during wartime food shortages. Take time, enjoy, and bless your food by chewing it.

Separate your food. Ayurveda teaches that digestion is a chemical process that has rhythm and order. Excess fluids will dilute digestive enzymes interfering with the process. No more than one-third of your meal should be liquid. Drink before meals or several hours afterwards. Starches require a different (alkaline) digestive process than proteins (acid process). For best economy, separate protein and starch meals. Fruits require almost no digestion and should be eaten alone. Refer to books on proper food combining for more details and menu planning. When experiencing digestive problems, these separations can make a big difference.

Reduce sugar. Ayurveda urges minimization of concentrated tastes like sugar. Yet, the average American is consuming over 150 pounds of sugar per year. Almost one-half a pound per day. Never before in human history has this occurred. Sugar is implicated in bone loss, yeast overgrowth (Candidiasis) and a myriad of degenerative diseases. A single coke has twelve teaspoons of sugar (in addition to enough phosphoric acid to dissolve a tooth left submerged overnight – a new twist on the tooth fairy ritual). Most of this sugar is disguised as corn sweeteners, malt dextrose, etc. Reading labels is a must. Two out of three Americans are overweight and wonder why?

Seasonal Eating. Ayurveda says “every season has a food for energy for that season.” Spring gives us greens to cleanse our system from the heavy foods of winter. Summer gives us cooling fruits. Fall gives us grains, tubers, squash, nuts and salmon for foods rich in energy, which we can store for winter. With modern transport and refrigeration, we could eat watermelons in December and salmon in June, but should we? More often, people eat the same foods day in and day out, never “noticing” the seasonal change in food supplies. Start to notice.

To Reduce Bio Accumulation and Toxic Load:

Eat low on the food chain. Top predators suffer first and most. Eat less meat and only organic/free range. For fish, reduce consumption of top predators like tuna, swordfish, and mackerel. The lowly mullet and tilapia are vegetarians with much lower mercury and arsenic levels.

Eat lots of chlorophyll. Ayurveda recommends leafy greens, wheat grass, vegetable juices, cilantro, seaweed alginates, and other chelating naturals that will help remove toxic metals. Green is the color of life on planet earth. Chlorophyll’s “heme” molecule is remarkably similar to our blood’s hemoglobin and will escort heavier metals out through your kidneys.

Ayurveda prescribes herb teas and spices as nature’s beverages and medicines. Most Americans use only salt and pepper as spice, and black tea their only herb. Many herbs are universally beneficial (mint, cinnamon, ginger, clove, chamomile, fennel, etc.). Others are specific for particular conditions, i.e., Echinacea (infection), gingko (memory loss). Spice up your foods with basil, parsley, cilantro, dill, fennel, anise, clove, cumin, etc. Ayurveda sees individual metabolic types and specific herbal needs. Consult your local Ayurvedic specialist.

Ayurveda says “water” is life. Secure a good source of water. Avoid municipal supplies with chlorine, fluoride, and worse chemicals. Pure spring water or a purification system combining several methodologies is best. Drink when thirsty. Obey your thirst. Don’t force water. Excess fluids can flush out minerals.

Use non-rancid vegetable oils like ghee and olive oil. Most vegetable oils are suspect due to production and storage problems. These two oils are time tested. No civilization was ever based on soy, corn, or cottonseed oil. Margarine, trans fatties, and hydrogenated oils are known dangers to avoid (read labels).
Sweat every day. Through exercise or steam sauna, your skin can discharge 25% of your body’s waste. Skin brushing can also stimulate the skin’s activities. Exercise and massage both stimulate lymph (waste) system drainage. Even mild to moderate regular exercise is beneficial. Exercise also stimulates deep breathing. Most people breathe at 20% of capacity. We can live one month without food, one week without water, but only 5 minutes without air. What does that tell you? Air alkalizes the body (most Americans are too acid).

Ayurveda developed a system, called Pancha Karma, for cleansing toxins and rebuilding the immune system, thousands of years ago. It was used on the Royal families in the Spring and Fall of each year to keep them at the peak of health. It involves light diet, juice therapy, herb teas, special colon cleansing, aromatic steam baths, fourhanded medicated oil massage, yoga, breathing exercises, and much more. Toxology studies were done on a group of yearly Pancha Karma participants and they showed a remarkably lower biotoxic accumulation than a comparable sample of the general population. Pancha Karma is offered in Ayurvedic centers today for those wishing a giant leap forward on their health. All Ayurvedic methods are time tested, efficient, and address the problems we have today. We create our health by the choices we make.

My intention in writing this article is to present information and empower you, the reader, to make healthy choices. We vote with every dollar we spend. Will you vote for more pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, hog farms, cattle lots, etc. or more health food stores, farmers markets, organic farms, and healing retreats.

Change is at hand, you can touch it. Vote green.

Dr. Bryan A. Miller is Co-Director of the Ayurvedic Center for Well Being in Sarasota which contains a yoga center, healthy restaurant, herb and oil apothecary, College of Ayurveda, and Day Spa. Email: info@AyurvedicHealers.com

Bryan’s links:

http://AyurvedicHealers.com
http://PrasadSarasota.com

Thousand-Hand Guan Yin - this is a video I hope you enjoy

Here is a link regarding cell phones and teens called. Why Children and Teens Should Stay Away From Cell Phones - Canadian health officials issue warning of the "emerging pattern" of health threats from cell phone exposure. Also on the same site, a health warning regarding hpv vaccines in teens linked to paralysis. http://mercola.com/

For the next 5 weeks we can be reached via email partially regarding information on up coming workshops like the Tantra workshop for more information email: onpurpose@sandylevey.com or info@AyurvedicHealers.com. Also contact us for treatment and scheduling.

Thank you!

Drs. Bryan A. Miller and Light Miller