LOCAVORE: Word of the Year for Oxford Dictionary

What is a LOCAVORE?
LOCAVORE is the 2007 Word of the Year for the Oxford American Dictionary!

A locavore is someone who makes an effort to eat only foods grown or harvested within a 100 mile radius of their home. Coined by a group of concerned culinary adventurers from San Francisco who wanted to bring attention to the fact that the choices we make about what foods we choose to eat are important politically, environmentally, economically, and healthfully.

Why Eat Locally? – taken from www.locavores.com
Our food now travels an average of 1,500 miles before ending up on our plates. This globalization of the food supply has serious consequences for the environment, our health, our communities and our tastebuds. Much of the food grown in the breadbasket surrounding us must be shipped across the country to distribution centers before it makes its way back to our supermarket shelves. Because uncounted costs of this long distance journey (air pollution and global warming, the ecological costs of large scale monoculture, the loss of family farms and local community dollars) are not paid for at the checkout counter, many of us do not think about them at all.

What is eaten by the great majority of North Americans comes from a global everywhere, yet from nowhere that we know in particular. How many of our children even know what a chicken eats or how an onion grows? The distance from which our food comes represents our separation from the knowledge of how and by whom what we consume is produced, processed, and transported. And yet, the quality of a food is derived not merely from its genes and the greens that fed it, but from how it is prepared and cared for all the way until it reaches our mouths. If the production, processing, and transport of what we eat is destructive of the land and of human community — as it very often is — how can we understand the implications of our own participation in the global food system when those processes are located elsewhere and so are obscured from us? How can we act responsibly and effectively for change if we do not understand how the food system works and our own role within it?

Vist the Locavores website and get motivated to start a local group where you live.
www.locavores.com

Joshua Rubin
www.eastwesthealing.com

Insomnia and Various Recommendations

Clients who have sleeping problems, especially insomnia may have 7th Chakra issues because too much energy is coming into the chakra. This relates to their purpose in life. Often they are spiritually lost and have a rough time sleeping. They lie awake thinking about their life.

What job is he doing? What job did he really want to do when he was younger?? Is he living with an unhappy relationship? How is his relationship with himself? I’m sure you get the picture that he needs to ask himself these important questions…when he is ready and wants to sleep again without medication. It is how he is perceiving his life and its purpose that is likely to be disturbing his sleep. Some people also link sleep problems to the 6th chakra.

If he’s not living his dream then he needs help getting back on track. He may well have totally given up the will to live – but not shared that with anyone, maybe not even himself. A life coach, particularly one that works from a spiritual angle (if the client is open to this) may help.
If not, a regular life coach may be more comfortable for him to work with. Often it’s of more use if someone guides us back onto our path, providing we have the willingness and internal motivation to continue, which stem from self-love.

So many people live in the rat race, forget their dreams and do a job that pays the most money simply because it pays the bills. They realise deep down they hate their lives and more importantly themselves. They have strayed from their life purpose because of a desire for material things and money. Often they are kicking themselves deep down and may hold anger which manifests as depression. Is your client depressed?

It is likely that the client has an imbalanced cerebral hemisphere – he is either left brain (ego/logical/intellectual) or right brain dominant (emotional/feelings/intuitive brain dominant.) Left-brainers have a lot of intellectual activity (is this how he solves his problems – by
thinking about them while he’s awake)? Sometimes they can be disconnected from their emotions. Right brainers are master escapists from life. Ideally both hemisphere need to be in balance, just as the ego and higher self need to work together. Is any of this fitting your
client’s profile?

If both hemispheres are not working together it will affect his pineal gland function. The pineal is also the main organ linked with the 7th chakra. Depression and obsessional behaviour are also linked to this chakra. Check your client for a history of these. You could look at Catherine Carrigan’s newsletter archives on her website for on brain gym exercises to help your client synchronise both hemispheres. The web address is: http://www.totalfitness.net She has some excellent resources on her site.

If he is an exercise client, a brisk walk using a cross-lateral gait will help to balance both hemispheres and stick to exercises that use opposite arms and legs as much as possible. Dr. John Diamond, a major contributor to behavioural kinesiology has found that rowing, cycling
and some resistance training exercises can destabilise cerebral hemisphere function and trigger people to switch into either left or right brain dominance.

THIS ADDS A WHOLE NEW DIMENSION TO CONSTRUCTING EXERCISE PROGRAMMES!

If he has poor sleep and exercises, has he reduced the intensity to compensate for the reduced recovery and increased stress his body is experiencing?

My mum takes some hypnotic pills to put her to sleep every night and has been on them and other related meds for at least a decade. She has told me that she fears not having any sleep if she gave them up or even cut them down. She worries about everything, is not happy with her life and is depressed, bless her soul. So, if your client can cut them down or ask the doctor to reduce the dose gradually over time then it may help. This needs to be done in conjunction with sorting out the spiritual and emotional issues that are disturbing his sleep. It’s important to break the habit of taking the pill. This is to prevent him becoming reliant on them, which may cause him to get too scared to try sleeping without them. The feeling of being sharper after having had a pill is a false reality.

If he’s waking up, at what time is he waking?? Is it after 2am? If so, I wonder if there are emotional issues that are unresolved in his life. Does he wake up at the same time each night? What time is he going to bed? Build up as full a picture of his life as you can.

Is he watching television before bed, on the pc >9pm, reading the newspapers or other opinion rags? Is he exposed to fluorescent, bright, or full-spectrum lighting before bed? These will affect circadian function, reduce melatonin production and zap his life-force energy
levels. Get him to use several lit candles in his room about 30 minutes before bed. This will help him relax. If he’s sorted this lot out and has no blood sugar problems then I’d also consider checking the wiring in his home and what electronic devices he has in his bedroom to
eliminate EMFs. Price Pottenger sells a useful $20 detector. They are fun to use and very revealing!

Does he travel and change time zones often?? This may affect his circadian rhythms which are regulated by the pineal gland. This gland, as you may know Helen produces melatonin, a sleep hormone that helps prepare our body for sleep. Melatonin is made from serotonin, which is
often deficient in people who are depressed. If you have got his protein intake, timing and quality right then he may benefit from amino acid supplements in the short-term to boost serotonin production. Get in touch for more info on this.

Additionally, he could purchase a small pietersite crystal and sow it loosely into a pocket of his night garments. This helps to stimulate the 6th chakra and the pineal and hypothalamus. Lack of sleep will also affect the rest of his body and create havoc with his endocrine and
immune systems. Additionally, this crystal may help him get more in touch with his purpose. It is particularly good during moving meditations, such as a slow meditative walk. Make sure he can remove the crystal from the clothing easily. The crystal needs to be programmed and
cleansed before use, and each day when he’s at work and not sleeping. This is easy to do. A book called the Crystal Bible by Judy Hall ISBN 1841811750 can help, or send me an email for some instructions. I’m assuming he doesn’t work late or night shifts and hasn’t had a history
of them, or stayed up late recently for between 7 and 21 successive late nights. Other crystals he can use are a Herkimer diamond which can help with insomnia, as can amethyst which is considerably cheaper.

If the seventh chakra isn’t balanced, excessive energy may cause inflammation in the brain which can cause massive problems. Alzheimer’s is one, epilepsy is another, both are caused by inflammation.

Does he need more omega fats and water??

1. You may want to repeat or look again at your client’s HAQ. There are different organs that are most active at certain times of day. Liver time is 1-3 am. Lung time follows. More than likely, your client is toxic and experiencing liver stress – probably not just from the sleeping pills, but before that.

2. Liver stress often does not show up on the HAQ, so even if the score is low, give him another questionnaire (you can email me with your address and I can send you one) to determine his toxicity level.

3. More than likely there will be a sugar handling problem. When blood sugar drops in the middle of the night, cortisol will rise and wake you up. If the liver is overloaded, the body has trouble storing energy properly, so again an appropriate detox may be helpful.

4. If there is a sugar handling problem, often this relates to how the person eats during the day – ie, if blood sugar is not even throughout the day, problems could manifest at night. Have him eat 5-6times per day.

5. Check for parasites – worms keep everyone mentally agitated and a person can experience a huge shift mentally when he gets rid of them. Ie, you will be calmer and able to rest more deeply if you get rid of them. The real clue about parasites and sleep is teeth grinding – check for TMJ problems. Many people grind their teeth at night and have no realization of this fact, so he may not be aware. If he has parasites, you can use the amino acid ornithine at night before bed to calm the system.

6. In general, check the digestive system. The largest portion of serotonin is produced in the GI tract. If he is low serotonin, his brain will not be able to produce enough melatonin as melatonin is made from serotonin. Clean up the gut to improve the brain.

7. Encourage a minimum of 30 min. per day of direct sunlight, best is walking outdoors to help the pineal gland, which needs sunlight, especially more as we go into winter. The pineal produces melatonin. Do the zinc test – the pineal gland also needs zinc to produce melatonin.

8. Avoid alcohol, which interferes with REM sleep.

9. Frankly, this may also be a spiritual problem. If he is getting insight in the middle of the night, he may be simply using his psychic gifts at this time. Whether he realizes it or not, this may be the only time during the day when he has communication with his spiritual guides. Many people don’t want to go into this discussion – he may not – but the bigger issue is he is not taking enough quiet solitary time during other times of the day to receive his spiritual guidance, even if he would never, ever want to realize that this is what is happening.

10. Check adrenal stress with a Biohealh lab test. Ironically, the most highly stressed people are so depleted in their brain chemistry that they can not get the rest they need. If he is in stage 3, or if he shows scores on depression or anxiety you may want to consider amino acids such as inositol, a B vitamin that boosts serotonin, or Brain Vitale, phosphatidly serine and carnitine, all of which you can get from Designs for Health. GABA if there is a picture of anxiety – when a person is not operating out of their frontal lobes they don’t produce their own GABA. IE, if they are in fight or flight, they don’t produce GABA and are not able to think logically and relax.

11. We have to remember that one third of all humans on the planet are born without enough serotonin to prevent eating disorders, anxiety, depression, drug addiction etc etc etc., so compassion is called for in all such cases, rather than a “my way or the highway” approach. Ask if he has a family history of alcholism, drug addiction or depression/anxiety. If so, help him understand that his problems may be genetic in origin and that he will have to take excellent care of himself throughout his lifetime to overcome his genetic predisposition.

12. Find out if he is willing to wean himself off the sleeping pills. Frankly, if he is in stage 3 of adrenal stress, has low serotonin or these other issues are not addressed, he may not be successful in weaning himself off. Rather than setting him up for failure, tell him you want to help him resolve these other issues – it will motivate him to stick with you!!

Joshua Rubin
www.eastwesthealing.com

Gall Bladder Removal and 5 Elements

I have a client who has no GB. How would I correlate nutrition, assessment, etc to the 5 elements…in a simplified sense?

Typically with GB removal you can see constipation, but typically you see diarrhea. I use TCM and the 5 elements for matters such as this. If part of the wood element (GB-yin organ) is removed, initially the LV-yang organ can become excessive to try to make up for the missing yin. As well, the 4 other elements, phases or organs (whatever you want to call them) initially will become excess, but over time burn over (deficiency). Water (KD/UB) is the mother of wood, so it can become excess and then in chronic conditions, it will become deficient. The metal element (LU/LI) is the grandmother of the wood element and looks over it. So if it looks over it too much, once again it become excess, then deficient. The earth (SP/ST) element is the grandson of wood and will become deficient. The fire (HT/SI) element is the son of the wood element, so it will become deficient. So you can see, the Cycle of Creation (Shen) becomes out of wack and becomes the Cycle of Destruction (Ko). There are many things you can do for this. Here are some general recs that I use with clients. Keep in mind I don’t use all with each on. It just depends on the client:

1. Sour is the taste of the LV/GB. I have clients eat Kym Chee (spelling?) or Sauerkraut prior to each meal to perk up the element and feed it energy.
2. Have them take LV/GB support from Designs for Health prior to each meal with fat. About 1-2 caps.
3. Have the client talk to their food at each meal and correlate the prayer/meditation with the LV/GB.
4. Green is the color of the wood element, so you they can focus more on dark green veggies, that they are emitting bright green light while meditating, etc.
5. Keep in mind, this is just for someone who has a deficient wood element, not excess. Excess signs are headaches, irritability, quick to anger, shoulder pain, short tempered, etc.
6. If the other organ systems are excess or def, I use daily Qi Gong of the 5 Elements, as well as rec weekly acupuncture to keep the 5 elements in harmony.

HOpe this helps!

Joshua Rubin
www.eastwesthealing.com

OPRAH and Quantum Wellness

I don’t watch TV that much, but for some reason I popped on OPRAH today. I am always quite amazed with what OPRAH does for our universe (yes she has the money, but decides to use it more enviromentally), as well as the people she has on her shows, at times. The gal she had on today was Kathy Freston, the author of Quantum Wellness.

My goal in life is not to judge, to be more compassionate and to empathize with all. But there was a small part of me that was conflicted with this gal. We tend in life to say things that we don’t know the reasons “why” behind what we said. For example, “raw milk is bad,” “being a vegetarian is healthy,” and “I hate that person.” I think we just say things to keep our brain busy and to comform.

Well to make a long story short, this gal became healthy (looking on the outside, but what about within) from becoming a vegetarian and living conciously, as she said. Her idea of conciousness is her pillars of eating (where did the food come from), having fun, meditating, personal growth (reading, etc) and so forth. I am for everything she recommends but one thing…………….her ideas on food. She believes that animals are treated unfairly through slaugther and should not be eaten. She is what you call a vegan. She recommends eating fruit, veggies, not using or wearing leather, eating and drinking soy, blah, blah………….the typical vegetarian view of life.

Well, my question is to get answers behind what she is doing.

1. If animals have emotion and we should not kill them, what about plants? If you do the research you can find that plants have emotions as well. We kill them? Read the book, The Secret Life of Plants by Tomkins and Bird, Study Taoism, etc and you will see research as well as energetic principles/philosophies to show us that we are all living, in some way, shape or form.

2. If soy is so great, why do we have to kill it, pulvarize it, add flavors and coloring so we can drink it? I did not know that soy beans have tits? Read the book, The Whole Soy Story by Kaayal and Daniel, Read the articles on soy at http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/index.html.

3. She advocates not wearing leather? What about all the poor children and families that work in a factory to provide the clothing and furniture that is on her and in her house? She talks about concious living, is this concious living?

4. We have been hunting since day one..we are human…and our bodies need certain proteins to live. If you do the research (Ray Peate, Paul Chek, Dr. Mercola, Weston A. Price and on and on), we have always been and always will be hunter gatherers. If you choose organic grass fed meets, you are OK………there is thing called evolution and a chain of events that perpetuate it…that is called eating!

So she states she is trying to live conciously, well my experience is that she is living as UNCONCIOUSLY as every American out there. They speak before they think, they speak without knowing what is behind what they are saying and they play follow the leader with all these weird diets.

As I stated, I am trying not to judge and I know she is doing the best she can do at this point in time…. BUT if you are going to go on a OPRAH and preach concious living, well, then live it!

Joshua Rubin

www.eastwesthealing.com

Cytomegalovirus and Breast Cancer

Cytomegalovirus & Breast Cancer – New Study Shows Link
(press release) A study just published in the prestigious British Journal of Cancer by researchers at the University of Otago’s Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences and Dunedin School of Medicine, and the University of Melbourne, has found evidence of a link between a common virus and breast cancer in women under the age of 40 years.

The research suggests that those women who are exposed in adulthood to the virus, cytomegalovirus, may have a greater risk of developing breast cancer, the most common cancer affecting women in New Zealand. 377 women were included in the study, and blood samples were taken to measure antibody levels to cytomegalovirus, and to another virus; Epstein-Barr virus.

Countries where most people are exposed to cytomegalovirus and other viruses in childhood, have lower rates of breast cancer, says principal researcher Dr Ann Richardson.

Our study found that women with breast cancer had higher cytomegalovirus antibody levels than women without breast cancer. The higher antibody levels could be the result of more recent infection with cytomegalovirus. This may mean that late infection with cytomegalovirus,rather than in childhood, is a risk factor for breast cancer

Dr Richardson says that it is not unusual to find links between viruses and increased cancer risk. Several cancers such as cervical, liver, and some forms of leukaemia are known to be caused by viruses. Breast cancer in mice can also be caused by a virus. Cytomegalovirus or CMV is a common virus that is shed in breast milk as well as saliva, urine, cervical secretions and semen.

The study also investigated links between another virus, Epstein-Barr, and breast cancer but the results are negative.

At present it is still scientifically unclear exactly how CMV might cause or influence the development of breast cancer. Dr Richardson says that further research is needed. The most exciting possibility is, if late infection with CMV does increase the risk of breast cancer, it could be possible to decrease the risk by exposing people to the virus by immunisation in childhood.

Around 2000 women develop breast cancer every year in New Zealand, but most are over the age of 40. Further research is needed to investigate this possible link between cytomegalovirus and breast cancer. This study was supported by the Cancer Society of New Zealand, which funded the antibody testing of the blood samples.

For further information contact:
Dr Ann Richardson
Department of Public Health and General Practice
Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Otago.
(03) 364 3642, (03) 332 8481 (h). ann.richardson@chmeds.ac.nz