This research project was written by my former classmate and dear friend: Laura Dobson. This is very important and powerful information that people must know, for these reason I asked Laura to publish her research so that it can reach more people:
If you don’t take care of the body, where are you going to live? It has been said that it is easier to get one to change their religion than it is to change their diet. I have never found a topic with more universal emotional charge to it than to discuss with someone the possibility of a permanent change of their diet. Along with more awareness of a split, I hope this paper inspires the reader to want to KNOW on the cellular level the truth about which foods are for YOUR optimum health. If you feel that your health is anything besides optimal, energized, vibrantly alive, I hope you will consider the points brought up in this paper.
By encouraging you to be proactive, I hope for you to avoid the sense of overwhelm if the day should come when the doctor stares at you or a loved one with a serious diagnosis. To that end I hope I am providing some little known information on what could be common knowledge about food but isn’t. I write this paper as a gift to my self to heal my own resistance as it still crops up. This topic is vital to our healing since food and drink have such dramatic results in the physical. As we become more sensitive to how we feel our emotions in the body-mind connection, the subtle energy of our food becomes magnified.
There is an intimacy with food. What else is taken so deeply into the body for our whole life. What I have discovered in my journey is that not all unhealthy choices are made willfully. There is an entire structure of misinformation which adds to the mix, as well as an entire structure of withheld information that is hard to find on the destructive and addictive elements within the food. This paper explores all 3.
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For me personally, the journey with food growing up was more wounding than nurturing. My earliest memory was throwing up Brussels sprouts at age 5 as I was raised in that mind set where kids sit at the table till all the food is eaten. At 14 I caused the camp director to go into a rage as I left an anonymous note complaining about the white bread.
The camp director’s reaction was like my own father’s rage and I dared not complain again until I left home at 18. When I left home I was exhausted, and hypoglycemic, seeing spots if I sat up quick. The prevailing nutritional info was of Adelle Davis who recommended eating liver. Yuck. At age 19 I was introduced to a meditation by Indian vegetarians. It was a relief to not eat dead meat but I didn’t like vegetables either. Coming off meat is actually challenging however and I didn’t understand for years why.
I switched from the addictive properties of meat to the addictive properties of wheat and dairy and got fat. I didn’t shake the weight till I embraced vegetables and fruits. At age 45 my best friend, fellow meditator, and vegetarian, who barely smoked or drank developed multiple myloma…(cancer of the bone marrow).
Given our similar lifestyles and spiritual outlook I was in huge transference and I was scared. It could have been me I thought. What causes a death sentence at this young age? If it happened to me… what was I going to do about it. The medical solution of cut burn poison seemed all wrong, (surgery, radiation, chemotherapy). I was already an student in the Barbara Brennan School of Healing so I figured I needed to clean up my diet and find out, what exactly is the right food to eat.
Despite knowing dairy was no good for one’s health I persisted between the cravings and the social ramifications of restaurant problems, family dynamics, etc.
Then I found out that to keep milk flowing, cows only produce milk after they have given birth, and dairy cows must give birth to one calf per year in order to continue producing milk. Typically they are artificially inseminated within three months of giving birth. This is done by putting them on what is called a rape rack.
Energetically I was horrified at thinking that because I like whip cream and cheese, some poor animal is getting raped and having their young ripped from them. This was the information which solidified my decision to quit dairy.
What I experienced is that about 4 months after I stopped what little dairy I ate, I realized I was happier. The energy of confinement, enslavement, rape and possible other cruelty transmitted through factory milk, was gone. I now felt a kinship with these sentient beings who share our planet. I noticed a secondary benefit also in that the migraines I’d been struggling with for 20 odd years ended. What a relief!!!
A change to eating less cooked/more raw was a no-brainier as cooking destroys enzymes. This did however require some help in learning how to. The body needs enzymes to live. I then had to come to grips with buying organically. It’s expensive. The practice of farming genetically modified food however is ungodly. I am grateful I’ve been able to make different choices. For the last 5 years my diet is 100% Vegan, high raw, mostly organic.
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The characterological defenses and social ramifications of eating differently from others are where we might find our internal resistance to work with. Why don’t we eat what we know we SHOULD eat? You can hear the ego identification in the question many of us ask ourselves.
In the description of PD skill 11 it states: “The superego is like a shell -a hardened capsule almost-around the whole ego structure. Terms that always go with the superego are “should”, “Have to,” Who do you think you are?” “Self hate” and “Imploded rage.” It holds the “little ego” needs in place”.
According to the Pathwork lecture 142 “Putting your identity exclusively into the outer ego, you must fear to let it go. To actually let go appears like annihilation, because your very existence seems threatened. All really beautiful, valid, constructive, meaningful experience comes from a perfect balance between the volitional ego and the non-volitional self…The non volitional self allows those experiences which make you feel your oneness with the universe…
The destiny of integrating the ego with the deeper self simultaneously becomes your greatest longing and your deepest fear… Where such over-control (of the ego) has existed for some time and exhausted the personality, people often resort to false means to liberate themselves from the burden of the too tight control… The most extreme forms of releasing ego-functioning are alcoholism and drug addiction. Less extreme forms are self-alienation and mental states of dissociation from the self. These are unconsciously instituted to effect a flight from the ego.”
Said another way by Carolyn Myss: “When the heart and mind are split, The WILL goes into addiction”.
As this paper will describe later, beyond alcohol and drugs, there are a good many foods we eat which hit the brain the same way cocaine and opiates do. Beyond addiction there are also the Characterological defenses: The schizoid terror of being unwilling to eat something for not knowing how safe it is to eat that unknown thing… The oral defense of not being able to get enough food/drink…The masochist defense of being forced to eat what one does not want to eat…The psychopathic dilemma of not wanting to acknowledge that our institutions are lying, poisoning and betraying us…The rigid defense of eating what the family or culture always said what was right to eat. Could everything my parents taught me be wrong???
My experience of discussing dietary change with people is that there is a big masochistic NO for most. People tell me “I like what I eat”. In a way that ends the discussion. Yes I think, but does your BODY?
From the chapter on masochism in Character styles: pg 206.. “Food, alcohol, tranquilizers, analgesics and narcotics can provide the kind of reliable and nonreciprocal immediate soothing that many an addict has missed from more natural interpersonal sources. Amphetamine, cocaine, work, sex and love addictions can all support the grandiose false self, which has been mobilized to cope with the narcissistic injury and loss of the undernourished real self.
Gambling, spending, food and love addictions can fill the emptiness of the borderline and other self-disordered pathologies. What keeps these patterns going and so resistant to change is the arrested, libidinal hope for contact with that “libidinal other” who was vitally needed for optimal human development. To move forward in the absence of that requires morning this critical loss and once and for all, giving up hope that the loss will ever be undone. To really change behaviors in this type of masochistic dilemma, one must accept one’s life on its own terms and relinquish the undoing of lost entitlement.”
Note: The author doesn’t break down which food in his statement above, so I will here. When you read cocaine, think sugar as it hits the same center of the brain. When you read amphetamines, think coffee, When you read analgesics, know that meat, wheat, and dairy among other foods have naturally occurring opioids.
What are the signs and symptoms of opioid addiction?
Familydoctor.org states: “Signs and symptoms can be physical, behavioral, and psychological. A primary sign of addiction is the inability to limit use of a substance beyond what is clinically recommended. (Think overeating and/or food cravings as well as drug and alcohol use ) Other signs and symptoms of opioid abuse include: Poor coordination, Drowsiness, Shallow or slow breathing rate, Nausea, vomiting, Constipation, Physical agitation, Poor decision making, Abandoning responsibilities, Slurred speech, Sleeping more or less than normal, Mood swings, Euphoria (feeling high), Irritability, Depression, Lowered motivation, Anxiety attacks.”
How often have we observed one or more of these symptoms in our self or others when the only thing we’ve ingested is food and a hot beverage? One common distortion I experience with people is when they say about a particular food, I need this for my health when in fact they have a craving from an addiction they were unaware of.
For example: OPIOIDS are substances that act on opioid receptors to produce morphine-like effects. Wheat has Gluten exorphins. Dairy has Casomorphins. Meat has Hemorphins from the blood hemoglobin. You have to eat these opioid substances to get them, but then there are opioids that come from inside the body.
Dr. David Kessler, in his book, The End of Overeating states: “Salt, sugar, and dietary fat trigger opioids in the brain which can contribute to overeating. The neurons in the brain that are stimulated by taste and other properties of highly palatable food are part of the opioid circuitry, which is the body’s primary pleasure system.
The “opioids,” also known as endorphins, are chemicals produced in the brain that have rewarding effects similar to drugs such as morphine and heroine. Stimulating the opioid circuitry with food drives us to eat…It is the combination of sugar and fat in food which makes us crave it. Sugar alone and fat alone do not produce the same strong cravings as sugar and fat combined.”
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One of the reasons we may feel less than optimal is we often don’t know what’s in the food. The most egregious example of this is that The FDA allows Genetically Modified food to be grown in this country. There are at least 38 countries that ban GMO crops and 26 who definitely grow them. When Europeans come to America, much of what looks to be the same food is not at all the same. It is outside the scope of this paper to discuss this abomination in detail, but I need the reader to consider that your emotional issues could be also tied to having your gut flora screwed with in the most unholy way.
We are being systematically poisoned with GMO’s. If that doesn’t inspire you to learn about your food supply, you might want to check your split intention for health. This practice is such a nightmare to the planet that the effects are multiple. If one becomes ill the FIRST step would be to stop eating anything that is a GMO crop or the animal that ate the GMO feed.
Corn for example, kills insects when they bite the kernel by using a toxic pesticide INSIDE the DNA of THE KERNEL ITSELF that causes their stomach to explode.
As humans we eat all the kernels, develop leaky gut and the hell begins from there. The information is suppressed and we are all in a grand lab experiment to see what effect these pesticides and mutations play in our own intestinal flora which clearly affects the rest of the body. Misinformation abounds. For instance people tell me….I eat grass fed…whatever animal…OK. So Alfalfa pellets supplement grass fed and Alfalfa is one of the 9 big GMO crops. YOU are being poisoned by the concentrated pesticides in the animal flesh from the alfalfa pellets the animal ate. Better to just eat organic alfalfa sprouts and skip eating the animal because the truth is unless it says, grass fed AND grass finished AND organic it’s a GMO problem in America especially. Here’s one….The sugar substitute Aspartame is made from the feces of genetically modified E. coli bacteria. Yummy…the pink packets and yellow packets of artificial sweeteners are not your friend either. Switch to Stevia
I am grateful I’ve been able to make different choices. The best way to avoid eating GMO food, is to learn what those crops are, then buy those crops (AND all products made from those crops including animal feed), organically In America, The federal gov. has overridden the states rights to demand GMO labeling. To know more about this topic watch Seeds of Destruction. This movie is on Youtube. The European Union is banning GMO’s.
To understand dis-ease from the physical, 7 stages have been identified:
ENERVATION –disease 1st stage- This means tiredness or exhaustion. More energy going out than coming in.
2nd. TOXEMIA-The blood and tissues become loaded with the un-eliminated toxic materials from body metabolism such as virus’ and/or an unhealthy lifestyle from toxins taken in from processed foods, drinks, drugs, etc.
3rd. IRRITATION – Irritation results from the un-eliminated waste products being sensed by our central nervous system. If we feel unsettled, itchy, queasy, jumpy or uncomfortable without being able to detect the source, irritation exists. Excess mucous or an itchy nose is a form of irritation. Substances like alcohol, caffeine or cigarettes etc. can trigger irritation If the causes of enervation /intoxication/ irritation remain, inflammation results.
4th. INFLAMMATION – This stage is recognizable usually by pain and or redness and swelling. Running a temperature would fall into this stage. Recognized by physicians as pathology, for it involves pain.
5th stage. ULCERATION – painful, poisonous matters have begun destroying cells and tissues. An Ulcer provides the body with an outlet for an extraordinary load of toxic materials.
6th. INDURATION – This is when the body tries to patch itself up. the body will wrap cells around toxic substances which then hardens and a tumor is formed. This is to wall off the poisonous materials that are destroying it.
7th stage. CANCER – This last stage of disease is when cells start to behave independently and multiply in an unorganized manner. Cancer cells are parasitic as they draw their needs from the blood stream without contributing to body function. Cancer, as you can see, doesn’t just appear, it starts with Enervation. If you don’t listen to your body and correct the condition as it progresses, cancer will be the end point. If doctors know that disease is tied to a toxic load, why is detoxing not the standard of care? Do doctors not know? Or is their allegiance to the pharmaceutical companies? For a more detailed description of these 7 stages click here
It is important to understand these stages so we can address any split within us that would tolerate accepting less than vibrant health. Statistically The National Institute of Cancer in America states: “Approximately 39.6 percent of men and women will be diagnosed with cancer at some point during their lifetimes (based on 2010-2012 data).” Wow!
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Doctors, the government food agencies, as well as public schools are all sources of nutritional misinformation. These are institutions we believe we can trust for what is the best nutrition for us but the facts don’t bear it out. We need to WANT to know the truth. If we don’t then…what is that resistance? We must come out of denial about our food addictions once we recognize this as truth in the labs of our own bodies.
In the world of energy medicine we don’t seem to discuss the energy consciousness in food but mostly it’s proteins, fats, carbs, vitamin and mineral make-up. People can be sick as anything and STILL won’t touch this topic so long as what they eat is not coming right back up because the doctor told them “eat what you want” !!!…. This mass unconsciousness is reflected in hospital food. Seriously!
Hospital food is as bizarre a reflection of a split to heal I have ever seen. What people don’t realize here is that doctors get almost NO training on nutrition in school and the schools are supported by the pharmaceutical industry.
Time magazine article March 6, 2009: “Of Harvard’s 8,900 professors and lecturers, 1,600 admit that either they or a family member have had some kind of business link to drug companies — sometimes worth hundreds of thousands of dollars — that could bias their teaching or research. Additionally, pharma contributed more than $11.5 million to the school last year for research and continuing-education classes”.
School cafeteria food is second. We raise a nation of sick young bodies as discovered by autopsy of young servicemen killed in action. The USDA food charts sets the standard in this country and it does promote meat, dairy and wheat.
When it comes to an unconscious split, there is one distortion that needs special mention. That is the protein Myth:
Research would show that meat is an inferior source of protein compared to the power house of certain plant foods. The short version is that it is a hardship on the human body, it’s a disaster to the planet to raise animals for livestock and it sure as anything, is no good for the animal. God help the planet if the human race embraces the paleo diet. It is simply not sustainable.
Wikipedia states: Certain parties state that “Ag-gag laws are intended primarily to censor animal rights abuses by the agriculture industry from the public, create a chilling effect in reporting these violations, and violate the right to freedom of speech”.
For me this is unconscionable that we accept this as a society where in any other arena, freedom of speech is sacred. The problem is though, who can really look into the eyes of another creature, and then kill it.
Just because we don’t know well enough how to communicate with another species, are we not in a serious distortion and split from our heart to objectify them, enslave them, rip their young away, violate them for milk…or is it just more palatable if we get others to do it for us?
Grasses, algae, and sprouts are superior protein sources and vegetables and grains provide more than enough protein.
To know more about the protein myth, visit this or watch the movie “EATING” or enjoy the lectures.
So what are the principles of health as it relates to what we eat and drink?
I say, if you want to be healthy, find the people who are vibrantly healthy and do what they do. You can find individually healthy people in many places, but collectively there are people who live in what are called The Blue zones. These are 5 places on the planet where people live the longest. Common to all is a plant strong diet. Lifestyle absolutely plays a part too.
From the perspective of alignment of all dimensions I would like to suggest that the food eaten be that with the highest life force. Foods with the most life force are Raw vegan and organic. Foods with the most Life-force absorb the most sunshine. Blue green algae, and chlorella as well as certain sprouts and tropical fruit are considered 5 star foods.
Cooked foods have no life force and animal products have a negative effect on life force. So if the criteria is food as energy medicine please see Table 6-10 starting on page 126 of LIFEFORCE for the full list of star rated foods.
From a physical perspective it can be said that the solution for all disease is to bring the body back into homeostasis. The principles are simply toxins out, nutrients in. Feed the body oxygen rich foods. Cancer can’t live in the presence of high levels of oxygen. Bring up the body PH. This is obtained through the ingestion of large quantities of Sprouts, wheatgrass with some algae supplementation along with raw veggies. You might get fruit depending on your health.
This is what I call boot camp raw as opposed to gourmet raw. Even with gourmet raw there is fructose, wine, cacao, salt and oils. What I have found is that the institutes which offer this powerful “bootcamp raw” as medicine protocol are simultaneously food addiction detox & healing places. They are best described as Optimum health, life transforming and healing programs. This protocol at these specialized places is so powerful that it is used to reverse the incurable. The stage 4 cancer, MS, and others….if the body isn’t too far destroyed.
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If your criteria for a dietary change is for reasons of compassion, then Will Tuttle’s book The World Peace Diet is the go-to for why you would never eat animal products again. This change is a great heart opening.
If your criteria is for a spiritual awakening, eating raw, vegan, organic, will provide such a level of detox that a person can more easily feel their essence once the addictive food and environmental and metabolic waste is flushed.
A MAJOR diet change at once is best done with support from someone who has successfully done it. The downside can be a hyper-sensitivity to the toxic input from the world around…personally I have found that I have had to modulate this experience as what is easy in a sheltered environment is too intense in the world at large. I am now learning how to magnetize a kinder, gentler world to myself so that when I eat what I believe to be in the highest and best way, I can not just tolerate, but find pleasure in the people and activities of my life.
So what are current recommendations past the therapeutic (detox) period? A summit convened to get agreement from those who are on the front lines of using food as medicine wrote up the criteria for an optimum diet:
V“The Hippocrates Health Institute hosted the INTERNATIONAL LIVING FOOD SUMMIT: Vibrant Health through Plant-Based Nutrition.
This historic summit was held at the Hippocrates Health Institute in West Palm Beach Florida on January 14, 2006.
The summit convened to unify the leadership in the Living Food Movement, establishing scientifically based common standards for optimum health. Leaders from eight countries (with a combined total of 405 years following this lifestyle) agreed on the following standards:
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The Optimum Diet for Health/Longevity:
– Vegan (no animal products of any kind, cooked or raw) Organic Whole Foods,
– High in nutrition such as vitamins, antioxidants and phytonutrients, Highly mineralized
– Contains a significant quantity of chlorophyll-rich green foods
– Contains adequate complete protein from plant sources
– Contains a large proportion of high-water content foods
– Provides excellent hydration, Includes raw vegetable juices
– Contains all essential fatty acids: including Omega 3 fatty acids from naturally occurring plant sources
– Is at least 80% raw (the remaining to be Vegan, whole food, and organic)
– Has moderate, yet adequate caloric intake, Contains only low to moderate sugar and exclusively from whole food sources (fruitarianism is strongly discouraged)
– Is nutritionally optimal for both detoxification and rebuilding
– Supplementation with Vitamin B-12 is advised.
– The addition of enzyme active super-foods and whole food supplements is also advised.
This way of eating can be further optimized by tailoring it based on individual needs (within the principles stated). Benefits derived by following these principles are proportional to how well they are followed. We will remain open-minded, and this information will be updated and expanded upon, if necessary, as new research becomes available.”
Having attended the programs of 3 of the leading health institutes in this country I can say that they all agree with this. The program works, and I have met people reverse life-threatening conditions as well as get out of their wheelchairs on this protocol. Within the broad guidelines above, we still need to learn what works for us individually.
Not all fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, grains, algae, grasses and legumes work the same for all people. What helps one can work against another depending on your metabolic type, Nervous system type, your dosha (mind-body type) etc.
A complete list is described in Conscious Eating Chapter 3. Many sources of research of the principles above however do show that the above guidelines work for all humans. I would recommend that you find testing you trust to find any nutritional weakness and after a period of detoxification, follow internal guidance with more clarity.
In conclusion: I found Pathwork lecture 142 to go deep into the real split reflected by this topic. The lecture also provides the solution.
To paraphrase: Our beliefs, thoughts, feelings, actions, relations, attitudes, values, etc. combine to create both positive and negative magnetic fields within us. “As long as there is negativity and destructiveness within you, you must fear to let go of your outer controlling ego.”
To paraphrase again. Once you bring consciousness to and understand the distortions which create the negative magnetic fields they weaken and become positive. The ego must come into balance-neither too weak nor overburdened. The ego must be integrated with the inner self.
For me this lecture describes the work we do at Brennan. I hope by reading this paper it has helped you to remember this physical body is a temple for the work of inner self-realization, and that the food and drink we gravitate to is what supplies the energy to do this sacred work.
Eating drinking and medicating with that which does not support us to be vibrantly alive could well be described as self-defeating behavior. I encourage using the mirror of what we choose to eat and drink as a guidepost on our inner journey.
Resources to support one who wishes to make healthier choices:
– Once you’ve made a decision to change your diet, Where do you begin? Click here to download: Tipsonhowtomaketheswitch.doc
– Meetup.com In the USA this website can be used to find a vegan or raw group in your area.
– Hippocrates Health institute -To experience the power of Food for health and healing http://hippocratesinst.org/
– Optimum Health institute- To experience the power of Food for health and healing http://www.optimumhealth.org/
– Living Light Culinary school-To learn to prepare raw & living food http://rawfoodchef.com/
– Seeds of Destruction- Youtube video on GMO’s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynp4vHSwh6o
– Raw Emotions –Book by Angela stokes. Self help techniques to overcome food cravings and emotional eating
– The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite- Book by David Kessler. Discusses our addiction to food.
– Conscious Eating-Book by Gabriel Cousens, MD. How all body types can benefit from a vegan diet. He also runs the detox center http://treeoflifecenterus.com/ and there is a wealth of info on the site.
– Lifeforce- Book by Brian R. Clement Phd. This book describes the restorative power of live, enzyme-rich food.
– The world Peace Diet- Book by Will Tuttle. He speaks the truth of the interconnectedness of all life and makes the case for veganism.
– Character styles- Book by Stephen Johnson. How we use food and other addictive substances to defend.
– http://responsibletechnology.org/ The best source for GMO information
– Therealtruthabouthealth.com. The name says it all.
– http://pathwork.org/the-lectures/ free audio and pdf download
– Rawfoodexplained.com – A huge volume of information on health and disease.
– http://bodyecology.com/ Donna Gates is a pioneer in bringing wisdom about probiotics.
– https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/- To see what the government is advocating for us here in America as well as their food charts.
– https://thetruthaboutcancer.com/ A fantastic website where information has been compiled from multiple countries on what you can do to heal cancer if you choose to do more or different than today’s standard protocol.
Laura Dobson, March 2017
