A Plant Based Diet v Disease - A Personal Story
"The Chinese Do Not Draw Any Distinction Between Food And Medicine"
Lin Yutang (1895-1976) writing in 'The Importance of Living'
Six years ago my health was deteriorating fast. At one point I seriously thought I had either stomach or bowel cancer. Thankfully after the appropriate testing this was not the case, however it was a big wake up call.
When I hit 37-38yrs old I found myself in an unfamiliar position of being financially stable, great house and girlfriend and my business at the time was more or less running itself and paying me well. What more could I ask for.
The trouble was not only had I put on considerable weight my digestive system and colon was in a state of collapse and the prognosis didn't look good. My quality of life was put on hold for well over a year while the doctors tested me and gave me handfuls of medication which gave me more problems than they solved. The discomfort I had 24/7 was unbearable, I had to sleep sat up in bed. On top of all that I had become addicted to the painkiller codeine. I also had terrible migraines which I later found out is a side effect of taking codeine which ironically was recommended by my doctor for my headaches!!!
Eventually through desperation and complete lack of faith in my doctors I took the responsibility of my health into my own hands. I started researching my problems and very soon discovered that maybe my predominantly meat and dairy based diet might be responsible for my poor condition. Also I'd done my fair share of partying through the years, all the excesses, I won't give specifics, I'll leave that to your imagination. But it was time to hang up my Blue Suede Shoes and Rock n' Roll lifestyle before it killed me.
As a man of extremes it was all or nothing, I know no other way. I'd embarked on the most important and enlightening journey of my life. Little did I realise how powerful its effect would be. It's brought me to writing this very blog, my business and my relationship with myself, the people and the World around me and it's all been 100% positive.
I decided that what I needed was a complete detox and so I stopped eating all animal produce, meat, fish and dairy. I also stopped eating wheat when I found out that approximately 70% of the population has a gluten intolerance and most don't even realise it.
I started making a nutrient rich green smoothie every morning. At first it was a struggle I have to admit but I figured I owed it to myself and I couldn't carry on they way things had been. To my surprise within a week I was waking up clear headed and with no pain, no stomach cramps and sorry to be graphic but no blood in my toilet. I'd even started to really enjoy my green smoothies, constantly thinking of new vegetables & fruits to add to the mix. I also started to grow my own wheatgrass and juiced it everyday.
Within 3 weeks I had lost 40lbs and I never felt hungry. All my ailments were a distant, scarey memory. Since my move to a plant-based diet in 2009 I haven't had so much as a cold apart from one week in Spain earlier this year when I spent a week in bed with a fever which everybody around me seemed to have had also.
I'm now 47yrs old and I've never felt so alive and healthy. You are what you eat and if the body is denied the nutrients (fuel) it needs cell by cell we start to die. Several of my family and friends have had serious ailments such as high blood pressure, diabetes Type 2, lupus and heart disease. After seeing how I regained my health they all jumped on board to a lesser or greater degree and no surprise have had incredible results, I've seen it with my own eyes time and time again.
My family and I take wheatgrass as a dietary supplement everyday, either powdered concentrate or freshly juiced. It's a big commitment to grow your own especially when the powdered concentrate is so convenient to use. But either way the benefits are worth the effort.
As regard the claims that wheatgrass cures cancer all I can add is, if I had this terrible diagnosis it's one of the first things I'd turn to. It helps detox the liver and boosts the immune system. Out of 102 vital vitamins and minerals the body needs everyday to function at a base level, a couple of shots of wheatgrass can provide 98 of them. It's one of the highest nutrient densities of any plant on the planet. The most effective treatment would be colon irrigation with 2-5oz daily. This would ensure the the powerful nutrients and enzymes were easily transported into the system through the thin colon wall and into the blood without being destroyed via the stomach acid.
This level of nutrients I try to get inside me everyday to keep myself strong and resilient to disease. I don't mean by the method described above but through my diet. Ask yourself when was the last day you had all your natural quoter of nutrients? Probably never would be the most honest answer. If that's the case is it any wonder that most of us suffer with some form of ill health.
Chlorophyll is one molecule different to Hemoglobin. Plant blood (chlorophyll) has at its centre a molecule of Magnesium whereas Hemoglobin (blood) has an iron molecule. This makes wheatgrass that's packed with chlorophyll an incredible blood purifier and restorative agent. It literally rebuilds your blood.
After coming back from a year long trip through Southeast Asia chasing bugs, beasts and butterflies I started to get some discomfort in my right eye. I did a little research and then went to see my optician and doctor and they confirmed what I had already surmised. I was suffering from a degenerative condition called Pinguecula which is basically mutating cells of the eye caused by UV damage from the sun. Well I'm a wildlife photographer and had just spent a year looking into the skies through a long lens chasing birds. My optician and MD told me that there was no cure and as I aged the condition would get worse and eventually I'd go blind in my right eye because of the the damaged cells growing across my eyeball. On top of all that it was a real discomfort. It felt like I had grit in my eye all the time that I couldn't get rid of. A real pain in the gluteus maximus. I was told that expensive surgery was an option but it only had a 50/50 chance of success and even then my condition would most likely return.
This was not an option for me at all. I've had perfect 20/20 vision all my life and I use my sight for my profession. Again I dove headlong into days of research on the biological makeup of the eyes. To cut a longer story short (this post is already too long) I came to the conclusion that I was going to run an experiment on myself. For one month I treated my eye with 5 drops of freshly juiced wheatgrass via a eyedropper pipette. Much to the astonishment of the experts my condition more or less disappeared. Very occasionally my eye flares up a little after a long day with my cameras in the sun or several days sat with my laptop writing. When this happens I go straight for the wheatgrass juice and within minutes the inflammation and irritation disappears, problem solved.
Obviously mine is just one case but I believe more research is needed into the restorative effects on the human body of high concentrations of clean nutrients. I see the reason this hasn't been done, it's money. Who's going to invest into a long and very expensive research study that could eventually prove 100% that the population can grow it's own medicine and prevent, cure and even reverse disease. How does Big Pharma patent that?
The big secret that Big Pharma won't tell us is that we can grow our own medicine and there is no reason for the multi faceted range of disease it our society. Sure if I need heart surgery or a hip replacement I'm ready for the incredible advancements medical science has made in the last 100yrs. Put me under the knife I'm ready to go. Saying that though I truly believe the modern society has an epidemic of diet related disease. We're getting more obese every year because we are feeding ourselves low nutrient, processed food and therefore we are always hungry and suffering from malnutrition. When the body need nutrients the brain sends the message 'FEED ME' and we shove pizza and diet coke down our necks thinking it will nourish us! This kind of toxic diet full of chemicals and nutritionally dead food is killing us cell by cell and making trillions for the food and pharmaceutical industries which by the way are hand in hand in the deception.
This info is not new to science, our grandparents knew this. My great grandmother used to drink all her vegetable water left over from cooking. She lived a healthy, long life and passed away at 92yrs after a fall. She had no toxic processed food just home grown veg and a little organic meat (it was all organic back then) when she could afford it as it was a real luxury. Long before the farmers were forced by law to be customers of the likes of Monsanto.
It sounds good to me, my old granny knew a thing or two. What have we got to lose apart from our health, and that's all we have really.
Cheers I'm off for my wheatgrass. Until next time Mooooooo!
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Healthy Living and Nutrition versus Disease.
John Hodges
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