As a holistic nurse I have always had one burning question when it comes to health and healing….how come some people “follow all the rules” and still get critically ill.  Of course there are some things in life that are just “destiny”, a “twisted fate” that provides an opportunity for spiritual growth. Yet, as a medical professional I have always tried to search for the best information to help others heal and achieve their goals for vibrant health and longevity,

I believe every individual has much more control over reversing chronic illness than at any other time in history.  Yet, it is important to make sure that your information comes from sources that are not tainted by profit seeking corporations or special interest groups supported by pharmaceutical companies or government agencies.

If you suffer from any of the conditions listed below, have you or your doctor considered you may have toxic metals in your body.  Have you considered it may be time for a heavy metal detox ?

TOXIC METALS : The reason you fell sick

Dr. Kaayla Daniel and Dr. Galen Knight have observed that even when people follow healthy dietary guidelines, they can still have serious health problems. They may digest their food poorly, experience digestive distress, or be generally sickly.

One reason may be toxic metals like:

•Mercury
•Aluminum
•Cadmium
•Arsenic
•Lead
•Nickel, and other metal poisons that flood the environment and invade your body.
These toxic metals can cause or contribute to a long list of diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and other brain and neurological disorders. While the medical establishment recognizes the acute toxicity that comes from high levels of metals in your body, far more people suffer the adverse effects of low-level, chronic exposure. Read the rest of this entry »

With a bumper crop of raspberries growing in my back yard I’m always looking for new ways to enjoy their health benefits.  Mostly, I gobble them up by the handful before they have a chance to make it into a recipe.   However,  I try to save some for one of my favorite Ayurvedic breakfast drinks….. Rose Milk Shake.  (See the recipe below).  These little berries are loaded with cancer fighting health benefits.

 Raspberries are a delicious fruit and  a very healthy whole food fruit as well. Research published in the May 2005 issue of the journal Biofactors shows that Raspberries are loaded with powerful phytonutrients and antioxidants that can support your immune system and help your body to ward off disease.

The antioxidants in Raspberries include ellagic acid which protects your cells from becoming damaged. Other nutrients in Raspberries include quercetin and other flavonoid molecules  classified as anthocyanins, and they belong to the group of substances that give raspberries their red color.  (Also found in grapes).

The anthocyanins in Raspberries are very powerful antioxidants that have antimicrobial properties as well, including the ability to prevent overgrowth of certain bacteria and fungi in the body such as Candida. The biggest contribution to raspberries’ antioxidant capacity is their ellagitannins, a family of compounds almost exclusive to the raspberry, which are reported to have anti-cancer activity.

 Raspberries are a great source of manganese and vitamin C that help protect the body from oxygen-related damage. They are also a good source riboflavin, folate, niacin, magnesium, potassium, B vitamins and copper. 

RASPBERRY-ROSE SHAKE

This is a cooling and refreshing drink for summer. When served warm, all body types can drink it year round.  Rose petals are known to nourish the heart and calm the mind.

This recipe makes 2 cups

2 cups organic milk  (you can use nutmilk, kapha should use lowfat)

2 tablespoons rose petal preserves  (rose petal preserves and rose water are sold in most Indian stores)

1 tablespoon rose water

1 cup fresh raspberries.

Mix all ingredients together in a blender.  Enjoy!

Many think that therapeutic grade essentials oils are a new and recent development in the new age of alternative medicine, but they have been used medicinally for thousands of years.  When I was recently told that my mammogram showed  “abnormal” cells growing on my right breast, Frankincense was the first oil I reached for….along with a few herbs from my Ayurvedic pharmacy.  I guess I will never know what actually worked or didn’t but there was no cancer when doctors performed the biopsy.  For 15 years I have witnessed the healing power of therapeutic grade essential oils, in my own life and with my clients. 

Now as a part of my daily self care routine I apply Frankincense oil to my shoulders, arms and breasts, after my shower, just before sitting for meditation.  When the skin is warm and moist the oil is easily absorbed into the tissues, blood, and lymphatic system.

The following information comes from the BBC.

“The gift given by the wise men to the baby Jesus probably came across the deserts from Oman. The BBC’s Jeremy Howell visits the country to ask whether a commodity that was once worth its weight in gold could be reborn as a treatment for cancer.

Oman’s Land of Frankincense is an 11-hour drive southwards from the capital, Muscat.

Most of the journey is through Arabia’s Empty Quarter – hundreds of kilometres of flat, dun-coloured desert. Just when you are starting to think this is the only scenery you will ever see again, the Dhofar mountains appear in the distance.

On the other side are green valleys, with cows grazing in them. The Dhofar region catches the tail-end of India’s summer monsoons, and they make this the most verdant place on the Arabian peninsula.

Warm winters and showery summers are the perfect conditions for the Boswellia sacra tree to produce the sap called frankincense. These trees grow wild in Dhofar. A tour guide, Mohammed Al-Shahri took me to Wadi Dawkah, a valley 20 km inland from the main city of Salalah, to see a forest of them.

“The records show that frankincense was produced here as far back as 7,000 BC,” he says. He produces an army knife. He used to be a member of the Sultan’s Special Forces. With a practised flick, he cuts a strip of bark from the trunk of one of the Boswellia sacra trees. Pinpricks of milky-white sap appear on the wood and, very slowly, start to ooze out.

Boswellia sacra produces the highest-quality frankincense

“This is the first cut. But you don’t gather this sap,” he says. “It releases whatever impurities are in the wood. The farmers return after two or three weeks and make a second, and a third, cut. Then the sap comes out yellow, or bright green, or brown or even black. They take this.”

Shortly afterwards, a frankincense farmer arrives in a pick-up truck. He is white-bearded, wearing a brown thobe and the traditional Omani, paisley-patterned turban.

He is 67-year-old Salem Mohammed from the Gidad family. Most of the Boswellia sacra trees grow on public land, but custom dictates that each forest is given to one of the local families to farm, and Wadi Dawkah is his turf.

Camel train

He has an old, black, iron chisel with which he gouges out clumps of dried frankincense.

“We learnt about frankincense from our forefathers and they learnt it from theirs” he says. “The practice has been passed down through the generations. We exported the frankincense, and that’s how the families in Dhofar made their livings.”

Salem Mohammed: Young people prefer careers in oil or government

And what an export trade it was. Frankincense was sent by camel train to Egypt, and from there to Europe. It was shipped from the ancient port of Sumharan to Persia, India and China. Religions adopted frankincense as a burnt offering.

That is why, according to Matthew’s Gospel in the Bible, the Wise Men brought it as a gift to the infant Jesus. Gold: for a king. Frankincense: for God. Myrrh: to embalm Jesus’ body after death.

The Roman Empire coveted the frankincense trade. In the first century BCE, Augustus Caesar sent 10,000 troops to invade what the Romans called Arabia Felix to find the source of frankincense and to control its production. The legions, marching from Yemen, were driven back by the heat and the aridity of the desert. They never found their Eldorado.

Oman’s frankincense trade went into decline three centuries ago, when Portugal fought Oman for dominance of the sea routes in the Indian and the Pacific Oceans.

Salalah’s Haffa souk: The place to buy Omani brands such as Royal Hougari

Nowadays, hardly any Omani frankincense is exported. Partly, this is because bulk buyers, such as the Roman Catholic Church, buy cheaper Somalian varieties. Partly, it is because Omanis now produce so little.

“Years ago, 20 families farmed frankincense in this area,” says Salem Mohammed Gidad. “But the younger generation can get well-paid jobs in the government and the oil companies, with pensions. Now, only three people still produce frankincense around here. The trade is really, really tiny!”

Cancer hope

But immunologist Mahmoud Suhail is hoping to open a new chapter in the history of frankincense.

Scientists have observed that there is some agent within frankincense which stops cancer spreading, and which induces cancerous cells to close themselves down. He is trying to find out what this is.

The Catholic church mostly buys Somalian frankincense

“Cancer starts when the DNA code within the cell’s nucleus becomes corrupted,” he says. “It seems frankincense has a re-set function. It can tell the cell what the right DNA code should be.

“Frankincense separates the ‘brain’ of the cancerous cell – the nucleus – from the ‘body’ – the cytoplasm, and closes down the nucleus to stop it reproducing corrupted DNA codes.”

Working with frankincense could revolutionise the treatment of cancer. Currently, with chemotherapy, doctors blast the area around a tumour to kill the cancer, but that also kills healthy cells, and weakens the patient. Treatment with frankincense could eradicate the cancerous cells alone and let the others live.

The task now is to isolate the agent within frankincense which, apparently, works this wonder. Some ingredients of frankincense are allergenic, so you cannot give a patient the whole thing.

FRANKINCENSE FACTS *Boswellia sacra grows in Oman, Yemen and Somalia *Other Boswellia species grow in Africa and India *The tree may have been named after John Boswell, the uncle of Samuel Johnson’s biographer *In ancient Egypt frankincense was thought to be sweat of the gods Source: The Pharmaceutical Journal

Dr Suhail (who is originally from Iraq) has teamed up with medical scientists from the University of Oklahoma for the task.

In his laboratory in Salalah, he extracts the essential oil from locally produced frankincense. Then, he separates the oil into its constituent agents, such as Boswellic acid.

“There are 17 active agents in frankincense essential oil,” says Dr Suhail. “We are using a process of elimination. We have cancer sufferers – for example, a horse in South Africa – and we are giving them tiny doses of each agent until we find the one which works.”

“Some scientists think Boswellic acid is the key ingredient. But I think this is wrong. Many other essential oils – like oil from sandalwood – contain Boswellic acid, but they don’t have this effect on cancer cells. So we are starting afresh.”

The trials will take months to conduct and whatever results come out of them will take longer still to be verified. But this is a blink of the eye in the history of frankincense.

Nine thousand years ago, Omanis gathered it and burnt it for its curative and cleansing properties. It could be a key to the medical science of tomorrow.

Jeremy Howell reports for Middle East Business Report on BBC World News.

TO LEARN MORE OR TO ORDER FRANKINCENSE OIL VISIT: www.MarthaGesegnet.com

This recipe is good for all dosha types and is appropriate to eat during all seasons.  It’s qualities are Sattvic. *

It is soothing, nurturing and tasty.  Perfect for vata/kapha season, depending  on the climate where you live.

This recipe comes from Ivy Blank, based on a dish made by Drs. Smita and Pankaj Narem of Bobay.   It is specifically designed to reduce ama (accumulated toxins) and rest the digestive tract during illness,
convalescence or rejuvenation therapy.  It is reprinted with permission from The Ayurvedic Cookbook by Amodea Morningstar with Urmila Desai.

The mung beens are cooling by nature, yet are warmed by the addition of ginger and spices.   Adjust the type of vegetables and amounts of spices to suit individual needs or conditions.

A stick of Kombu can be added to reduce gas and add trace minerals.

* -Vata, -Pitta, -Kapha (without garlic)
* -Vata, +Pitta, -Kapha (with garlic)

In a pressure cooker, put:
 2-3 cups sprouted mung beans
 3-4 cups water
NOTE: if you don’t have a pressure cooker you can use an electric steamer,
or steam/simmer on top of the stove.

Bring to pressure and cook about two minutes or cook the beans and water in a covered sauce pan until soft.
Blend the beans and cooking liquid in a blender.  Set aside.

In a stainless steel soup pot, warm:
1 1/2 Tbsps. ghee or olive oil

Add:
1-2 inches fresh ginger root, (1-2 Tbsps.) peeled and finely chopped
1-3 cloves garlic, minced (omit for high Pitta)
1/2 – 1 tsp. cumin seeds
1/2- 1 tsp turmeric  (I use freshly chopped)
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2-3 bay leaves
1/8 tsp. each of fennel seeds, hing, cinnamon, and cardomom

Toss until coated and their aromas emerge.  Add to the spices and oil:
2-3 cups chopped vegetables ( broccoli, carrots, greens, sprouts, green beans
or asparagus work well).

Toss until coated.  Stir for two minutes then add:
4-6 cups additional water

Mix well.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered until veggies are cooked.  Add pureed mung beans to soup pot.  Stir. Bring to a boil again.  Reduce heat and let soup simmer for 5 minutes.  Add: 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste.

Serve.    I enjoy mine with a little Bragg’s amino acids instead of salt, a squeeze of fresh lemon, and some fresh chopped cilantro as a garnish, to encorporate all the six tastes in onedelicious meal.

Matcha Tea
Renown Cancer Fighting Catechins are Found In Green Tea

I have always believed that despite that fact that many of our commercially farmed soils are deficient in nutrients these days, we should get as many nutrients as possible from our food choices, and “let food be our medicine”.  In part 2 on Matcha tea, you can see why this is a food source that has “super powers.”

Not all antioxidants are created equal. Antioxidants are found in many foods including fruits and vegetables.  There are many types of antioxidants, however, the class known as catechins are only found in green tea, and these maybe the most potent of all. And of the catechins,  EGCg (epicgallocatechin gallate) is the catechin with broadest and most potent cancer-fighting properties.  Sixty percent of the catechin content of matcha tea is EGCg.

Matcha Tea – For Cleansing the Body of Toxins
Rich in Chlorophyll, A Renowned Detoxifying Agent

Chlorophyll,  helps to remove heavy metals and chemical toxins from the body. Because matcha tea is fully ingested when consumed, unlike tea leaves which are infused then discarded, and because matcha is shade grown, a process which increases the chlorophyll content in the leaves, matcha tea is a chlorophyll rich food. 

Matcha Tea – For The Amino Acids
Naturally Mood Enhancing Matcha contains L-theanine, an amino acid known to relax the mind.  For this reason, matcha is also known as a mood enhancer.  Buddhist monks drank matcha to assist in meditation, as matcha’s amino acids, combined with caffeine, offer a sustained calm alertness over time. 

Matcha Tea – Suited for Meditative Practice
Create Your Own Ceremony and Relieve Stress

The Japanese Tea Ceremony known as Chanoyu is a highly ritualized practice of drinking matcha tea. The Zen monks were the first to introduce matcha to Japan, and their influence is seen throughout the ceremony. Most notably is the emphasis on a calm mind, serene settings and awareness of nature. Drinking tea alone will not convert you a Zen monk, but adding a tea ritual to your day, will increase the possibilities for calm and serene experiences in your life.

Here’s a healthy, fun, budget conscious recipe
for the whole family.

Kale recipes aren’t normally on the top
of most parents lists when they’re looking
for vegetables the kids will like.

But I urge you to try this crispy kale.
It is really extraordinary.
The kale is roasted, not fried,
it becomes crispy and salty,
almost like potato chips.

This kale recipe is incredibly healthy, too.
It boasts a whopping 309% of the recommended
daily allowance of vitamin A, 201% vitamin C,
14% calcium, 10% iron, 3 grams of protein,
2 grams of fiber, and it only has 112 calories
and 1 gram of saturated fat per serving!
Ingredients:

6-8 cups chopped fresh kale, hard stems removed
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt or sea salt

Preparation:

Place a rack on the lowest shelf of your oven.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread kale out on a sturdy baking sheet.
Drizzle with olive oil and apple cider vinegar.
Toss to coat completely.

Place on the lowest rack of the oven
and bake for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and stir so that kale
can get crispy all over.

Bake another 8 to 12 minutes or until
kale is crispy. It should be just lightly
browned and crispy to the touch.
If kale still bends, rather than crackles,
when you touch it, it isn’t done yet.
Return it to the oven. Turn down the heat
if it is getting too brown.
Continue cooking until crispy.
Remove from oven, and sprinkle with sea salt
and serve immediately.

I have often been outspoken about the ‘Cancer Industry” here in the united states.  It is big business, whether you realize it or not.

Hospitals, clinics, and pharmaceutical companies make enormous profits from treating patients with cancer.

People don’t die from the cancer they die from the treatment.    As Deepak Chopra, MD has said, “Cancer is nothing more than a cell that has forgotten how to die.”   This seems like such a simple answer, and it is.  Our cells are constantly dying off and regenerating themselves.  A cancer cell has had something out of the ordinary happen to effect it’s cellular memory so that it continues to grow in a manner that attacks the body.

Perhaps this video can shed even more clarity.  Could prevention be as simple as sticking with an alkalizing diet to keep fungus at bay.