LIVING Letter
An e-newsletter of THE LIVING WAY
Issue #15:"The Importance of Greens"
2-8-09
__________________________________________CONTENTS:
1. Scheduled meetings and events
2. Ministry update from Mary Louise;Town Jaqua, Hallelujah Acres Health Minister
3 Feature article: 'The Importance of Greens'
4. LIVING resources
5. Buying Tips and more
6. LIVING recipe: Citrus Smoothie
_________________________________________1. Schedule of meetings and upcoming events:
THIRD ANNUAL LIVE FOOD DINNER
Thursday, February 12, 2009
5:30-7:30PM
Winslow Public Library
136 Halifax St., Winslow
For more details:
http://www.livway.org/meetings_health.htmOur monthly HANDS-ON HEALTH meetings are
taped for later broadcast on Channel 7, Public Access TV.
DVDs are available for a modest fee. For details
contact Laura at 207-453-9895 or
laura@centralmainecatv.comLiving Letter archives-
http://www.livway.org/livingletter.htm____________________________________
2. Ministry update
Dear Friends,
As we persevere through what will hopefully be the
last vestiges of winter, I recall with comfort the words
of the great poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, who wrote,
'If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?" ('Ode to the
West Wind'). Suffice to say, in the face of mounting snow,
ice, and record-breaking cold temperatures, it sometimes
helps to wax poetic. Call it poetic license or a lesson in
survival strategies, we know that each passing day brings
us closer to warmer weather. Happily, daylight hours are
lengthening which is a welcome sign that spring is
indeed on its way!While outside the world is wrapped in a blanket of white, inside
we are thinking warm thoughts.Good things are happening!
Coming up this week is our third annual LIVE FOOD DINNER
which promises to be another festive celebration of healthy eating.
This is your opportunity to shine as a raw chef. Plan your
pot-luck strategy now. Be creative and have fun in the kitchen.
Our dinner will be held at the Winslow Public Library this year,
Seating is limited, so if you plan to attend, please RSVP. Most
of all please bring a dish that will serve at least six people!
Last year there was not enough food to go around! We were glad
that everyone loved the food, but many late comers had little to eat.
Thank you for bringing larger portions this year! For more details
about the dinner visit
http://www.livway.org/meetings_health
Good news! Hallelujah Acres now has its own YouTube Channel!
We are delighted with this news and congratulate Hallelujah Acres
in their new endeavor. Their channel offers a variety of lectures,
testimonies, and demonstrations. The feature post is George Malkmus
presenting his seminar, 'God's Way to Ultimate Health.' If you have
not seen this video, we encourage you to do so. We applaud
Hallelujah Acres for making these life-saving, life-changing videos
freely available. Given present technology, we have long considered
uploading clips of our live food demos, dinners, picnics, lectures, and
radio shows to our website. Suffice to say, it would be rewarding to
share more of our ministry on-line. At present we are exploring
possibilities and pursuing new opportunities. Stay tuned for details!
In the meantime, visit Hallelujah Acres' new YouTube Channel at
http://www.youtube.com/hallelujahdiet.
Speaking of television, our presence on public access TV is
expanding. Selected airings of our monthly health meetings will
soon start to be broadcast in the Madison/Skowhegan area on
Channel 11 CableTV. If you live in that locale, tune us in, and spread
the word around! For more information, phone the Town of Madison
at 207-696-5622 and ask for Richard Bishop.
As the calendar rolls toward spring, it's a good time to think about
gardening. Considering food safety issues and predicted food
shortage, having a garden could be the best investment you ever
make. Now is a good time to investigate seed catalogues and order
while supplies are available. Many prominent seeds companies are
already reporting seed shortages.
On a similar note, severe weather patterns across the country are
teaching many Americans the importance of having emergency
provisions. Being caught in the cold without electricity, food or water
can be life-threatening. Therefore consider making preparations for
basic survival ahead of time. We have a preparedness section on our
website that will help in this regard and more information will be
posted as time allows.
http://www.livway.org/prepareFor now, the best way to prepare for life's challenges come rain
or shine is to cultivate a healthy lifestyle. Be discriminating in your
food choices. Choose live food over dead food. Eat well instead
of ingesting trash, aka junk food. Be kind to your body by taking
it out for a walk in the sun. Learn to live, so that you can help
others discover the wonderful truth, 'You don't have to be sick!'____________________________________
3) Featured Article: "The Importance of Greens'
When discussing matters of health, I am often asked,
"What can I do to improve my health?'. In response I am quick
to say, 'Drop the Standard American Diet and start eating
plenty of dark, leafy greens!' More often than not, this advice
is met with disappointment and usually a grimace. Nevertheless,
I follow up with a mini-lesson about the dark leafies and why
they are so important for building a healthy body.
To begin with, the human body was designed to run best on
plant-based foods. Given this fact, one might question the plan
and purpose of YHVH Almighty in choosing a vegan fare for His
people. Why is a diet of vegetables, fruit, seeds, nuts, and whole
grains such a great menu plan? It seems too simple and too
limited! Furthermore, why is it better to eat it all raw?In His infinite wisdom, YHVH custom made the fruit, vegetables,
seeds, nuts, and whole grains with our better health in mind, since
these plant-derived foods contain all the life force that we need in
order to experience optimum health. The 'seed-bearing fruit of the
tree, and the seed-bearing herb of the field' (Genesis 1:29) in their
natural, raw state are power-packed with myriads of live vitamins,
minerals, enzymes, anti-oxidants, naturally distilled water, oxygen,
phytonutrients, etc. This is living nutrition for your live body. Your
body that is 'fearfully and wonderfully made' is composed of over one
hundred trillion cells. These cells are living and need to be fed each
day. They must have live food in order to function.
While all of YHVH's live foods are an important to achieving optimum
health, dark, leafy greens enjoy a special place in YHVH's menu
plan. So it is that greens such as chard, collards, kale, spinach, leafy
green/red lettuce, herbs, etc. are exceptionally healthy foods
because they are
1) nutritionally dense
2) high in protein
3) rich in life-giving chlorophyll.1) Greens are an exceptional source of concentrated vitamins
and minerals, thus rendering them nutritionally-dense food.
For example, most greens are rich in calcium and vitamins A and C.
They are good for every system in the body. Based on nutrients per
pound, the nutritional profile of some popular greens is as follows:Collards-14,020I.U vitamin A, 203mg ascorbic acid,
503mg calcium, and 118mg. phosphorus. Collards are excellent
for every system of the body.
Kale- 21,950 I.U vitamin A, 335mg ascorbic acid, 655mg calcium,
and 180 phosphorus. It builds up calcium reserves in the body,
builds strong teeth, and aids the digestive and nervous systems.
Parsley- 3,298I.U. vitamin A, 780mg ascorbic acid, 921mg calcium
28.1mg iron. Parsley is a blood puritive, stimulates the bowel, and
leaves an alkaline ash in the body. It is also high in iron, copper, and
manganese.
Swiss chard- 10,920I.U. vitamin A, 148mg ascorbic acid, 410mg
calcium, and 140mg phosphorus. In combination with other
vegetables prevents colds and is beneficial to the digestive system.
Spinach- 26,450I.U vitamin A, 167mg ascorbic acid, 368mg calcium,
13.6mg iron. Spinach is rich in iron, contains about
40% potassium, and leaves an alkaline edge in the body. It is
good for the lymphatic, urinary, and digestive systems. Spinach
is also known to have a laxative effect.
2) Greens are high in protein. Plant-based protein is the best
source of protein because it is the only form of protein that the body
can recognize and process. Animal proteins (meat, dairy, seafood)
are foreign substances that are undigestible and therefore
unassimilable by the body. Surprisingly, the body requires only
about 2% protein each day which many, especially meat-eaters,
find difficult to believe. Research shows that the protein content of
greens (per pound) averages as follows:collards- 8.0g
endive and escarole- 6.8
dandelion- 12.3g
kale-11.3g
lettuce- 3.8g
parsley- 16.3g
spinach- 10.4g
swiss chard has 5.5g
turnip greens- 11g
watercress- 7.7gWhereas no one would eat a pound of greens at a time, it makes
healthy sense to incorporate as many greens into one's diet as
possible in order to maximize protein intake. Eating concentrated
greens in any form (especially juice) is not only highly nutritious,
but filling. Try it sometime. Greens entirely satisfy hunger.
In her book, Green for Life, Victoria Boutenko presents remarkable
evidence of the nutritional value of greens. Her personal research
into the nutrient qualities of greens is spelled out in a number of
charts that explore the essential mineral and vitamin content of
greens as well as their amino acid and protein content. She also
compares the nutritional value of beet, turnip, parsley greens with
their root, and shows the nutritional difference between organic
and conventionally-grown foods. Suffice to say, Victoria has become
a recognized authority on greens. Her book is recommended reading.
3) Greens are special foods because they contain cholorophyll.
Cholorophyll is to a plant like blood is to the human body. This
surprising fact is addressed by Dr. Norman Walker, in his book,
'Fresh Vegetable and Fruit Juices':" ...in order for vegetation to flourish, it needs
nitrogen and carbon from the air; minerals, mineral
salts, and more nitrogen from the earth in which it
grows; and, of course, oxygen and hydrogen from
water. The most vital and potent factors in this
process of conversion are the enzymes and the
life-giving influence of the rays of the sun which
generate the cholorophyll. The chlorophyll
molecule is made up of a web of cardon, hydrogen,
nitrogen and oxygen atoms around one single
atom of magnesium. It is interesting to compare
this design with that of the hemoglobin of our red
corpuscles, which has a similar web of elements
girdling it with an atom of iron instead of the atom
of magnesium."
So it is that a molecule of chlorophyll and that of human blood differ
by one atom. Plants have a magnesium atom, while our hemoglobin
has an iron atom. This similarity begs further investigation. If you
remember from science class, chlorophyll is produced during
photosynthesis: the process which, by the aid of sunlight,
raw materials contained in the soil, air, and water, are converted into
life-energy, aka 'food', for the plants.This manufacturing process
takes place in the leaves of plants and trees. Thus chlorophyll has
become known as 'liquid sunshine'. It is no surprise, then, that leafy
greens such as kale, chard, collards, lettuce, spinach, arugula, etc.
contain high levels of chlorophyll that in turn infuse body cells with
life-giving nutrients of 'light'.In her article, 'What's so great about wheatgrass? 40 Points about
Wheatgrass and its Nutritional Values,' KK Fowlkes, health
minister, author, and sprout enthusiast, enumerates many of the
remarkable qualities of cholorphyll. Here are some of her findings:
1. Chlorophyll is the basis of all plant life
2. Chlorophyll contains more light energy than any other element.
3. Chlorophyll is high in oxygen. The brain and all body tissues
function at an optimal level in a highly-oxygenated
environment.
4. Chlorophyll is anti-bacterial and can be used inside and
outside the body as a healer.
5. Chlorophyll arrests growth and development of unfriendly
bacteria.
6. Chlorophyll rebuilds the bloodstream.
7. The high magnesium content in chlorophyll builds enzymes
that restore the sex hormones, hence increasing fertility.
8. Liquid chlorophyll gets into the tissues, refines them and
makes them over.
9. Liquid chlorophyll washes drug deposits from the body.
10. Chlorophyll neutralizes toxins in the body.
11. Chlorophyll helps purify the liver.
12. Chlorophyll improves blood sugar problems.
13. In the American Journal of Surgery (1940), Benjamin
Gruskin, M.D. recommends chlorophyll for its antiseptic
benefits. The article suggests the following clinical uses for
chlorophyll: to clear up foul smelling odors, neutralize Strep
infections, heal wounds, hasten skin grafting, cure chronic
sinusitis, overcome chronic inner-ear inflammation and
infection, reduce varicose veins and heal leg ulcers, eliminate
impetigo and other scabby eruptions, heal rectal sores,
successfully treat inflammation of the uterine cervix, get rid of
parasitic vaginal infections, reduce typhoid fever, and cure
advanced pyorrhea in many cases.
14. Dr. Birscher, a research scientist, called chlorophyll
"concentrated sun power." He said, "chlorophyll increases the
function of the heart, affects the vascular system, the
intestines, the uterus, and the lungs."TO GET THE FULL BENEFIT OF CHLOROPHYLL, IT
MUST BE FROM A LIVING PLANTConsidering the noble characteristics assigned to greens by
the Almighty Himself, these dark leafies deserve to have a
place of prominence in our daily diets. Incorporating more fresh,
raw greens into one's diet is not only easy but fun. Instead of
using head lettuce (which is an unhealthy food) choose darker
varieties of greens for salads. Acquaint yourself with the different
tastes of greens. Use your favorites in raw soups, smoothies,
entrees, and even desserts. Turn them into wraps. When all else
fails, eat them plain. Chewing on leaves of green is one of life's
simple pleasures. If fresh greens are not available, turn to the
next best solution: BarleyMax. Take a couple extra servings of
this concentrated, powdered barley juice for a healthy boost. No
matter what, eat your greens!
Personally, I love greens! My diet consists mainly of a variety of
kale, collards, dark lettuces, and salad mixes. I enjoy a rich,
green-based raw soup before my large salad at noon. In
the evening, I am known to have another especially green soup
or a tasty green smoothie. As a live foodist of many years, my
body naturally 'goes for the greens.' If I don't have enough of them,
my body feels robbed. I thus encourage others to get the most out
of their meals by making them greener.
It has been said that the bitter herbs which the Israelites ate before
leaving Egypt on the Passover were none other than dark, leafy
greens (Numbers 9:11). If this is true, then YHVH has given us
additional evidence of the importance of greens. In light of their
superior nutritional quality, greens are an important ticket out of
our captivity to the plagues of modern Egypt, i.e. cancer, heart
disease, diabetes, fibromyalgia, liver problems, neurological
diseases, female problems, etc., etc. Considering the amount of
physical, emotional, and mental suffering in the world, it is a
blessing to know that YHVH has provided a way of escape from
our ills by trusting in Him and following His ultimate health plan.
When all is said and done, I find the chlorophyll aspect of greens
most curious in that when we eat greens, it is like eating sunlight!
For those of us who want to 'walk in the light' and be the 'children
of light,' it stands to reason that we should naturally gravitate toward
eating foods that are filled with light, namely chlorophyll-rich
greens. I believe the close correlation between the plant's blood
(chlorophyll) and human blood is no mistake. YHVH's has a
distinct purpose in mind here. He is telling us something. Are we
listening?
I believe the food we will eat in YHVH's kingdom is living food. Dead
food will not be allowed. Manmade food has proven all too long that it
does not feed the body. If anything, it destroys human life. Sickness
and death is not what YHVH intends for His people. He desires His
people to LIVE. Therefore, let's LIVE by eating LIVE FOOD. Let us
enter into His kingdom now by eating what is good for us with the
understanding that superior health is predicated upon excellent
nutrition. Therefore, do not settle for less. Eat your greens!In the second month on the fourteenth day at even
they shall keep it; they shall eat it with unleavened
bread and bitter herbs:
Numbers 9:11For you were sometimes darkness, but now are you
light in YHVH: walk as children of light.
Ephesians 5:8
You are the children of light, and the children of the
day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
I Thessalonians 5:5Every good and perfect gift is from above, and
cometh down from the Father of lights, with Whom
is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
James 5:17
For He is not an Elohim of the dead, but of the
living: for all live unto Him.
Luke 20:38
References:
Green for Life, Victoria Boutenko
Foods that Heal, Dr. Bernard Jensen
Fresh Vegetable and Fruit Juices, Dr. Norman D. Walker
http://www.wheatgrasskits.com_____________________________________
4) LIVING Resources
Do-It-Yourself Chiropractic
A number of weeks ago we were blessed to learn of
Douglas Splittgerber and his wife, Debra, who, together,
teach what they call 'alignment resistance training' for
building a strong body. This method of stretching and
strengthening exercises is known to solve many
'incurable' structural problems in the body. Both Douglas
and Debra surmounted personal physical disabilities by
discovering and applying these stretching techniques. If
you are looking for a safe, natural way to solve back, leg,
arm, etc. problems, this total body stretching method
could be your answer. For more information, visit
http://www.yourbodyyourresponsibility.com/Food for Maine's Future
Resources abound in Maine for those interested in connecting
with like-minded people who want to eat healthy and support
local agriculture. Food for Maine's Future is a non-profit org
that has much to offer in terms of education, events, and
opportunities. Their annual Food Conference will be coming up
soon and would be a good time for locals to better acquaint
themselves with what's happening in the local agricultural
community. Many events are health-friendly and encourage
local participation as well as support. For more information,
visit http://www.foodformainesfuture.orgHealthy news sources
There are many excellent health news sources that offer a wide
variety of information. We recommend that you consider subscribing
to some of these free e-newsletters. A couple trusted sources are:
http://www.organicconsumers.org
http://www.newstarget.comHallelujah Acres Publications
Hallelujah Acres sends out a free bi- monthly magazine that is now
called, The Hallelujah Diet News. George Malkmus, founder of
Hallelujah Acres, also sends out a free, weekly e-newsletter,
Hallelujah Acres Health Tip. Both publications are excellent sources
of inspiring information. Subscribe by visiting
http://www.hacres.comNews worth noting:
Healthy Horror story:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdLxMKuxyr4&eurl=http://www.buckeyeinstitute.org/&feature=player_embeddedSeed Cleaner Assault:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Raids-on-Seeds-life-itsel-by-Linn-Cohen-Cole-081215-45.htmlSticker shock at the food store: http://www.contrarianprofits.com/articles/big-jump-in-food-prices-inflation-is-higher-than-government-says/11985
______________________________________________
5) Buying tips and order info
Herbs, Spices, and Sprouts
We expect to place a bulk order for organic herbs, spices, and sprout
seeds toward the end of February. If you are interested in being part
of the order, let us know. We order from Starwest Botanicals and
suggest that you review their products on their website. Let us know
what you would like, and we will quote you a price. Bentonite clay
and Activated Charcoal are also available. Since this is a
bulk order, there are considerable price-savings, especially when
ordering per pound.
http://www.starwest-botanicals.com
Hallelujah Acres products
If you are interested in purchasing Hallelujah Acres products, we
encourage people to contact HA directly and order using our health
ministry PIN# 407. Since we do not stock their full product line, it is
easier and faster to purchase directly through HA. Kindly know that
we appreciate your support of our ministry through your purchases.
HA occasionally has specials on products and shipping. Quantity
pricing is available through our ministry. Contact us for details.
Equipment purchases
If you want to purchase a juicer, dehydrator, VitaMix, etc., please
order directly through us. Your order can be drop-shipped in a matter
of days. Other materials and products exclusive of HA can be
purchased from us by appointment. Call us to make arrangements.
________________________________________
6) LIVING Recipe: Citrus Smoothie
Mmmmmmmmmm...good!
In celebration of greens, I thought this smoothie would
enliven your tastebuds.This is a simple smoothie that
is easy to make, refreshing to drink, while being
health-fully green! Vary the recipe according to taste.
Explore, experiment, and above all, be generous with
the greens...the more the merrier!
2 oranges
generous handful greens (lettuce, kale, collards, spinach
parsley or combination thereof)
few stems fresh mint (if available)
2 Tbsp. hemp oil or hemp seeds
1.5- 2 cups pure water
Cut up oranges and puree in blender. Add greens, hemp, and
blend with enough water until creamy smooth. For variation,
include a few berries, chunks of fresh pineapple or apple slices.
Drink to your better health!
Choose organic ingredients for optimum nutrition! __________________________________________This LIVING Letter comes to you in Messiah's love to encourage you
toward achieving superior health. Healing of the whole man is the
promise of our Heavenly Father. Begin now to receive your new
life...naturally and spiritually. YHVH is able to do great and wondrous
works, if we will but trust and obey Him. YHVH bless you!
For your excellent health and His glory,
Mary
My beloved greens and I, summer 2008
