Articles

The Fractal Approach to Healing
Thymus and Your Immune System
The Effects of Music on Health
Xanthine Oxidase and Its Role in Heart Disease
Degenerative Diseases and the Free Radical Process
The Wheatgrass Story
Electromagnetism
Craniosacral Therapy
Fats and Oils Part I
Fats and Oils Part II
Fats and Oils Part III
Fats and Oils Part IV
The Modern Toilet and "Civilized" Diseases


The Fractal Approach to Healing

Good health can be described by many disciplines and their practitioners, yet few can agree to the particular method to achieving it. For instance, in the treatment of obesity, one practitioner will opt for a change in diet under a tightly controlled environment. Another will try to control weight using cognitive therapy. A third may go so far as to remove part of the digestive tract, or to staple part of the stomach. All three may be successful in reducing the patient's weight, but does success mean that they have looked at the entire problem? In the case of treating some problem children in school who are classified as "hyperactive," some practitioners will prescribe the drug Ritalin, which helps quiet the child and increases his ability to focus his attention. Between 4 and 6 million children now take it every day. Others will try to diet or counsel the child. Ritalin, or methylphenidate, is chemically similar to cocaine. Research done at Brookhaven National Laboratory by Nora Volkow, MD, psychiatrist and imaging expert found that it blocks more dopamine transporters than cocaine. The usual dose for children is 0.5 mg/kg, and it was found to block 70% of the dopamine transporters. Like people who take cocaine, Ritalin users also showed high levels of extracellular dopamine. Researchers think that it may be the speed at which dopamine is increased that is the main cause in addiction cases. Conflicting studies show that either Ritalin users are more prone to addiction in later life, or are less prone. For the moment, it seems even though drugs are a quick fix for attention and behavior problems, the root cause is never looked for and examined. Until the root cause is addressed and resolved, anything else is just a temporary patch job.

Different cultures have a multitude of approaches, ranging from the sophisticated to the bizarre. We don't have to step away from our own society to see the worst offenders. In 1965, while working at a state mental institution, I witnessed electroshock therapy administered to a young woman. She had become very withdrawn and the doctors in charge decided this was the treatment of choice; their choice. As her body went into writhing convulsions, her face became distorted. Heavy leather straps held her in place, so she wouldn't go flying off the table. After a few days, it was determined that the first treatment was not too successful. Before it was over, she had nine more treatments. My point is that many people have invested so much energy in their particular approach to problem solving that they tend to defend it, regardless of the outcome. It is because we have become so specialized that we have moved further and further away from the big picture. For instance, heart specialists will spend thousands of dollars for treatment of heart related problems, but how many will tell you that homogenized milk is a cardiotoxin and unhomogenized milk is not, or that silver amalgam fillings can cause cardiovascular irregularities including chest pain, high or low blood pressure and fast or slow heart beat? We can no longer rely on one opinion or one approach. Rather, we must seek several alternatives and then have the confidence to make decisions based on the totality of our understanding.

Are we limiting ourselves in our solutions and thus making slower progress? Is the practitioner who is prescribing Ritalin helping to mask a larger problem that is much more easily dealt with, if properly identified, at an early age than if left masked and carried on to adulthood? There is a widespread tendency in our society to limit ourselves to what we have become accustomed to. This works, up to a point. Then it is time to move along with our own changes and the changes around us. This is a dynamic approach to solving problems including, but not exclusive to good health. A new geometry by Mandelbrot called fractals describes the structural similarity between a part of a system to its whole. In a similar vein, why can't we adapt that to ourselves and our emotional, mental, and physical states? Let's look again at the "hyperactive" child. Have we properly identified the problem the child was having or did we invent a category of behavior so we could quickly label it and avoid the painful resolve of looking deeper into just what that child was trying to tell us? We can observe his behavior and his signals which he's probably been exhibiting for a long time; it's part of him that speaks of the whole. Each child is so individual with such unique characteristics, it's difficult to understand why we mask this with a modern day Cuckoo's Nest syndrome. We should be aware that there are other courses of healing dependent on properly identifying behavior patterns of each of these children.

It's important to be aware of alternative solutions, as well as to maintain a sense of balance in the process. But to do so means constantly challenging ourselves; observing ourselves if only "fractally," and challenging the behavior or habit that we've become accustomed to but which was not too beneficial. Then we can look back, as we would an old photo, to what we used to be like and
realize all the positive changes.

written by Rodney Julian

Published October 1987

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Thymus and Your Immune System

The thymus gland is our first defense against stress, according to Dr. John Diamond, author of Your Body Doesn't Lie (originally titled: BK - Behavioral Kinesiology). The word thymus, loosely translated from Greek, means life force, or feelings. It is the primary goal of the thymus to monitor and regulate energy flow. This flow follows twelve major pathways or meridians that conduct electromagnetic energy throughout the body. Each of the pathways is associated with a major organ. The basis for Chinese acupuncture is the meridian system and its associated organs. Diamond discovered the thymus acts as a regulator and monitor for the meridian system. Kinesiology is a measure of the energy level in the meridian associated with a typical muscle. The basic premise is that each large muscle is related to a body organ. Diamond has taken the basic techniques of kinesiology and broadened them to include the influences around us- especially environmental and interpersonal. Any imbalance in the meridian will ultimately cause physical damage to a particular organ. The imbalance has a cumulative negative effect, but it can be overcome at almost any stage. It is much easier to overcome an imbalance in its primary, beginning stages rather than waiting years later when an organ or an entire system is affected.

Another major role of the thymus is that of protection. Thymus hormones help immature lymphocytes (white blood cells that come from the bone marrow) to mature under their influence. The newly derived mature cell is called a T-Cell, for thymus, and it settles in the lymph nodes and the spleen. At those sites, the original T-Cells generate more T-Cells, which search out and destroy abnormal or foreign cells. This system is called the immunological surveillance. It is directly responsible for resistance to infections and cancers. On an ongoing basis, the thymus hormones must activate the T-Cells in order that they may destroy the small percentage of abnormal cells produced among the billions in each of us every day. If these abnormal cells were to take hold, they would develop into cancer. As we grow older, thymus activity tends to decrease with a corresponding increase in diseases.
For instance, after the onset of severe stress, such as injury or sudden illness, millions of lymphocytes are destroyed as the thymus shrinks to half its size as early as within a twenty-four hour period. On a more generalized environmental basis, if we were to listen to hard rock music, the da-da-Da beat (an anapestic beat) produced would lower our Life Energy causing the thymus to lower its output to the meridians. It also reduces the symmetry between the two brain hemispheres, produces perceptual difficulties, and causes stress-related problems. If the anapestic beat is played in the presence of plants, their growth over time will be severely retarded. Mantras have a similar negative effect. Opposite to the anapestic beat is the dactylic, the same beat as your heart, Da-da-da, where the stress is on the first beat, not the last. Almost all classical, easy listening music, as well as some soft rock music, is dactylic. This raises your Life Energy, reduces stress, keeps your two brain hemispheres working together, and generally keeps your thymus active. It is for this reason that symphony conductors, on the whole, live long and productive lives. A life beat and an anti-life beat are being compared here.

The emotional states that weaken Life Energy, which weakens the thymus, are hate, envy, suspicion, and fear. Those that strengthen or activate the thymus are love, faith, trust, courage, and gratitude. It is not too difficult to see from this that the vast majority of the population have underactive thymus glands. One of the ways you can activate your thymus is to lightly tap a dactylic beat on it with a fist. The thymus lies behind the breastbone, one inch from the top. A person can raise his energy level by placing the tongue against the roof of the mouth just behind the front teeth. In doing this, the meridians make a complete circuit flow, like a light bulb and its power source.

A shower can also have a stimulating effect on the thymus when the water hits the chest. The sound of running water raises the energy level. Cascading shower water also activates acupuncture meridians in the body, and negative ions are produced by running water.

written by Rodney Julian

Published November 1987

For immune support and any autoimmune diseases, please visit http://www.4tf.com/fetalogos

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The Effects of Music on Health

One of the most pervasive influences in our society is music. We use it to bring us joy at wedding celebrations, at rites of passage into adolescence, as dinner entertainment. We listen to it in nightclubs, while driving, to relax with at home, at parties, at church, at concerts of all types, and even at funerals.

A significant question to ask is whether or not influences around us are detrimental to the flow of electromagnetic energy in our bodies. Kinesiologists developed a way to measure electromagnetic activity. A tester faces his subject with the subject's left arm extended 90 degrees and the right arm by his side. The tester, with his right hand, applies 8 to 10 pounds of pressure swiftly to the subject's extended left arm. This is an indirect measure of the subject's life energy, and in all but rare circumstances there should be an adequate spring to the arm so as not to let it drop. If the spring and resistance are intact, this signals a strong life energy. If the tester can overcome the resistance, and the arm falls, this indicates a weak energy. To be very clear, this is not a test of strength between the tester and the subject. Rather, it is a "test of the integrity of the acupuncture system... through which flows the electromagnetic energy of the body." These tests are administered in quiet surroundings without any outside influences.

The subject that tested strong in the previous test will test weak when rock music is played in the background. This has a negative effect throughout the body. A very disturbing and profound change occurs if the subject is tested after a longer period of listening to rock music. He will, in fact, test strong. However, this is only superficially the case. Upon closer inspection, the body has tricked the brain into thinking this negativity is alright. John Diamond, M.D., has developed a kinesiology test called umbilicus testing. The tester puts his left hand on the subject's umbilicus and the subject then puts his right hand over the tester's left hand. At that point, the true negative effects for longer term rock listening can be recorded. All this may seem strange, but when it works over thousands of cases, it's difficult to deny. It is with this latter test that Diamond suggests a deeper understanding of body healing.

Not only has the body fooled the healing system in cases of prolonged rock listening, but it will now convince the system that refined sugar is good, that fluorescent lighting is strengthening, and love is weakening. Diamond calls this "a reversal of body morality." This is true for rock music and diseased individuals. The tendency is to perpetuate this negativity into self-destructive behavior and habits and to choose incorrect therapy. In a recent discussion I had with someone about mantras (repetitive, numbing frequencies), a woman told me that the chants made her feel good and they have a soothing or mellowing effect. It is clear that this is a delusion of the positive life force process. In the case of rock music, it can contribute to anger and outbursts of violence, including violent death at rock concerts.

Picture this scenario: a cozy restaurant with a good crowd, delicious food, and Beethoven and Brahms playing in the background all evening. The atmosphere of relaxation and tranquility among the diners slowly gives way to irritation and short tempers. The one common element that is affecting everyone is the music. It turns out that the music selected was recorded digitally, in order to produce greater clarity. The music may be more clear, but the digital process imposes stress and a reduced life energy. The older analog recordings produce tranquility and a general sense of uplifting and positive life energy. Whether a piece of music is re-recorded from the analog to digital or simply recorded originally in digital makes no difference. The negative effect is still the same. Because the compact disc industry is growing so rapidly, there are fewer and fewer analog recordings being made from the original.

written by Rodney Julian

Published December 1987

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Xanthine Oxidase and Its Role in Heart Disease

When the eminent physician Dr. Paul Dudley White graduated from medical school in 1911, he had never heard of or encountered coronary thrombosis. Today, however, it is one of the chief threats to our health. Many studies show evidence that cholesterol is the major contributor. Autopsy studies show that in American soldiers from Vietnam, 75% had evidence of atherosclerosis and high cholesterol buildup. The average age was 22 years old. It was natural to assume that since cholesterol was almost always present, it must be the leading cause of atherosclerosis. This assumption has continued to today. Many diets today are prescribed by physicians or by diet specialists that completely eliminate cholesterol.

Cholesterol is manufactured in our bodies. It is so important to the integrity of the body that all cells contain it. It is found in high concentrations in the brain. In addition to its role in the conduction of nerve impulses, cholesterol has an important structural role as well. Cholesterol synthesizes male and female hormones. Without cholesterol, Vitamin D, which is required for calcium absorption, would not be synthesized. Bile originates from cholesterol and is essential for proper fat digestion. With all this evidence indicating the physiological importance of cholesterol, why would the body keep producing it throughout our evolution if it was eventually going to destroy us? It would seem that the human system takes adequate care of itself. Perhaps, we are not taking care of the system.

The answer to the discrepancy between needing cholesterol for survival and finding it in heart disease victims comes from Dr. Kurt A. Oster, cardiologist. After suffering from two heart attacks, he was inspired to research how the atherosclerotic process worked. He discovered that the enzyme Xanthine Oxidase (Xo), which is present in cow's milk (as well as the milk of sheep and goats), can be very destructive to heart and arterial tissue. In raw milk, both the fat and Xo are digested in the stomach and small intestines. They are either used or excreted. Xo is found in the liver of many organisms, where it breaks down compounds into uric acid waste products. Humans have a natural reservoir of Xo in the liver, but it is naturally blocked from entering the bloodstream.

All is well until homogenized milk is introduced in 1932. Under pressure of 2500 pounds per square inch, at a speed of 600 feet per second, milk is passed through pipes and fine filters. This breaks up the fat particles and puts them in suspension like a foggy mist. The homogenized process encapsulates Xo into tiny fatty substances called liposomes. This protects Xo from stomach acids and allows it to pass through the intestinal walls into the circulatory system.

Xo destroys plasmalogen, which makes up 30% of the membrane system in human heart muscle cells. Xo and plasmalogen cannot co-exist in one location. The liver, therefore, has no plasmalogen. In autopsies of people who died from heart and circulatory disease, plasmalogen was completely missing. Xo was in its place. Arterial inner linings were completely eaten away. The resulting lesions became hardened by the deposition of minerals. Fatty streaks and cholesterol had surrounded the newly-formed plaque by this time.

The appearance of cholesterol created widespread speculation that it was the cause of heart disease and not the result. The Xo process is slow and effectively destructive. Most 10 year-old children who have consumed homogenized milk have some form of atherosclerosis. In the case of American soldiers autopsied after combat fatalities, some had arteries as brittle as clay pipes.
There is a very high correlation between countries that drink homogenized milk and atherosclerosis. In countries where milk is boiled before drinking, the incidence of heart disease is low because Xo is destroyed in the boiling process.

It has become trendy for health-conscious people to consume skim or low fat milk, but that only slows down the Xo process slightly. Besides that, low fat milk products will cause someone to gain weight. Farmers feed their pigs skim milk to fatten them up before the slaughter. If you look at commercially prepared homogenized milk in supermarkets, most brands state that Vitamin D has been added. Unfortunately, Vitamin D enhances Xo activity. Xo is not the only source of atherosclerosis, but it is a major contributor. For someone looking to improve their diet in a truly healthful manner, they would be wise to avoid all dairy products, except for those that are raw or cultured without homogenization, like whole milk, organic yogurt.

written by Rodney Julian

Published January 1988

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Degenerative Diseases and the Free Radical Process

There is a link among all the degenerative diseases that researchers have studied for over 30 years. They all cause damage from the free radical process. A free radical is any molecule with an unpaired electron in its outer sheath. Under normal circumstances, our body has a balanced pair of electrons around each molecule. If the molecule for any reason gains or loses an electron, then it is thrown into an unbalanced state. This new unbalanced molecule makes an attempt to bring itself into balance by stealing an electron from another molecule. Thus, it weakens this next molecule severely. The more that free radical activity goes on in our body, the greater at risk we are to destroying more cells than we are capable of producing. As the process goes unchecked, it leads to cell death, tissue death, organ death, and then bodily death. All this starts from an unpaired electron or free radical.

The major initiators for this free radical process are chemical stress, emotional stress, physical trauma, and infection. Chemical stress includes pesticides, insecticides, heavy metals, asbestos, air pollution, polluted water, and radioactive wastes. Jet travel exposes us to ozone and radiation. Ozone has been shown to cause tears in lung tissue. Xanthine oxide is the catalyst which helps convert the waste product hydrogen peroxide at the cellular level into the more dangerous hydroxyl radical. As the Xo accumulates, it destroys plasmalogen.

Most cellular damage occurs as a by-product of oxygen metabolism. These free radical by-products are superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, and hydroxyl ions. Fortunately, our body is equipped with antioxidant enzymes that neutralize the free radical process. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) destroys superoxide radicals. It is the fifth most abundant protein in the body. Glutathione peroxidase (GP) removes hydrogen peroxide and lipid peroxides. Lipids (fats) turn rancid in the body from peroxide radicals. Since the liver consists of 50% fatty tissue, it is extremely vulnerable to lipid peroxidation. Methione reductase (MR) is the only one of the three major enzymes that is not produced by the body. It is available from plants or foods. It is also the only enzyme known that neutralizes the hydroxyl radical. The hydroxyl is the primary free radical toxin that is an outgrowth of radiation exposure; this includes high-level radiation and the more deadly low-level radiation.

The process of aging starts with lipid peroxidation. In other words, the fats in our body turn rancid. Each of our cell membranes is surrounded by fatty tissue. If the cell membrane is attacked by free radicals, it either hardens and doesn't allow nutrients to enter, or it is punctured and the cell collapses. This leaves the skin sagging and leathery.

Another free radical process is arthritis. Bones move freely because of synovial fluid which lubricates joints. When free radicals get into the fluid, they oxidize the lipids in the oil. Without the lipids, the joint loses lubrication and causes friction which causes inflammation. We call it arthritis, or bursitis, or gout, but the process is the same. This process is initiated by superoxide free radicals.

Athletes who perform strenuous workouts commonly burn off large quantities of fat molecules. This is what gives them energy. However, chemicals and toxins are stored in these fats. So, their release causes hydroxyl radicals to form. It is extremely important to recognize that those newly burned off fats leave a residue of metabolic waste that must be evacuated from the system. The fatigue someone feels after working out may eventually lead to a chain of unhealthy effects way beyond the cellular level.

We live in an era when it is almost impossible to ward off all the negative effects based on the availability of the antioxidants our own bodies produce naturally. One very successful way is to supplement your antioxidant supply on a daily basis. Vitamin C and E are commonly used as antioxidants. However, 95% of the vitamin C available is ascorbic acid. Ascorbic acid is not vitamin C. For ascorbic acid to function in the body, it pulls all the minerals it needs from other parts of the body because it is incomplete. A vitamin C supplement should include sodium ascorbate, calcium ascorbate, potassium ascorbate, zinc, ascorbate, ascorbyl palmitate, and ascorbic acid. The body produces five million units of SOD daily. It is very important to drink plenty of good water to help flush the system, so that the toxins released won't redeposit at another location causing even greater damage.
Some of the positive effects of antioxidants are: protection against cigarette smoke, tumors, radiation damage, restoration of collagen fiber (a major component of skin, ligaments, tendons, muscles, cartilage, bones, and teeth), remission of arthritis, detoxification of heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, mercury, reduction of cataracts, diabetes, allergies, and eczema. These are only aids in the healing process. They are not intended as replacements for a good diet or a positive, healthy attitude toward life.

written by Rodney Julian

Published February 1988

For more information on supporting a healthy system, please visit http://www.rainforestbio.com/fetalogos

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The Wheatgrass Story

While having a conversation with a friend about nutrition, I mentioned that I go to my local health food store every day and have them make one ounce of fresh wheatgrass juice. She looked at me for awhile and said, "How long have you been grazing like this?" The chlorophyll in wheatgrass and its juice have been valued since biblical times. It is used as a folk medicine remedy by many people around the world. During World War I, it was used to heal wounded soldiers in Europe. It is estimated that fifteen pounds of wheatgrass is equal in protein and nutritional value to three hundred and fifty pounds of ordinary garden vegetables. Wheatgrass contains such an assortment of nutrients that every cell in the body can benefit. It is especially rich in potassium and calcium, as well as magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, germanium, zinc, copper, selenium, and lithium. This high mineral content makes wheat grass an excellent alkaline food. Our blood ought to be slightly alkaline. We tend to overconsume carbohydrates, sugars, and meat which make our blood more acidic. An acid environment is conducive to bacterial growth and degenerative conditions like arthritis.

Wheatgrass helps keep the liver vital and healthy with choline, magnesium, and potassium. In fact, grass-fed hens are far healthier than grain-fed hens. The grass-fed hens have richer and darker blood giving them mahogany-colored livers. The grain-fed hens have light tan colored livers. Notice the color of chicken livers the next time you go grocery shopping. Compared to an equivalent amount of grain, wheatgrass has five times as much protein, 26 times the potassium, 25 times the calcium, four times the B-1, and 100 times the vitamin C. It also has a plentiful supply of B-2, B-3, B-6, B-12, and vitamin E.

We are all born with a compliment of enzymes. With the aid of all the enzymes we obtain from the foods we eat, we can maintain that original supply. However, more than 50% of the American diet consists of processed food or overcooked foods. Thus, we are eating foods with no enzymes in them. Overcooking and processing kills all enzymes. We slowly deplete our original supply of enzymes. We eventually reach that point when our skin loses its elasticity, we age more rapidly, and it becomes more and more difficult to fight off infections. Incidentally, pasteurized milk, which is heated just long enough to kill all the enzymes present (or severely alter them), is an inadequate source of calcium. In the pasteurization process, phosphatase, which is essential for calcium absorption, is destroyed. Enzymes are catalysts that initiate every chemical transformation in our body. Without them, we would soon perish.

Wheatgrass is noted for its ability to dilate blood vessels, thereby increasing the flow of blood, getting better nutrition to the cells, and allowing efficient removal of waste. Researchers at the University of California have identified a substance in wheatgrass called P4D1, which has anti-inflammatory properties stronger than cortisone. P4D1 can stimulate cellular DNA repair without negatively affecting its structure or metabolism.

The mucopolysaccharides found in wheatgrass lower blood fats, retard arteriosclerotic and aging processes within arterial walls, and also relieve arthritis.

When Dr. Hans Fischer and his associates won the Nobel Prize for their research on red blood cells, they discovered that oxygen-carrying hemoglobin is practically identical to chlorophyll on a molecular level. The main difference is that iron forms the central nucleus of hemoglobin, giving it a red color. Magnesium is at the center of chlorophyll, giving it a green color. That is why wheatgrass juice is such an oxygen-giving substance. It is assimilated very rapidly into the blood stream.

In conclusion, I would like to tell you the story of Barbara Moore, who at fifty-six years of age, walked from San Francisco to New York, eating only wayside grasses and edible weeds. It took her forty-six days.

Thanks to Dr. Lita Lee who gave me permission to use information she gathered for her book Radiation Protection.

written by Rodney Julian

Published May 1990

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Electromagnetism

The nineteenth century English scientist, Michael Faraday, proved that a magnetic field is generated when an electric current is passed through a wire. A milligauss is a measure of this electromagnetic intensity equal to one line of magnetic force per square centimeter. It is invisible and odorless and varies in its intensity from place to place, according to the source of the electricity.

There has been a prevailing assumption that the effects of electromagnetism are benign. As power generating stations increased in size and capacity, so did the relay stations. Their 200,000 pound units are designed to power down the electricity coming in from high tension lines, so that there is a proper distribution network. In turn, the electricity is then passed along lower voltage lines until, finally, it reaches the transformer in your neighborhood. From there, the power is transformed and relayed to your house at an acceptable level of 120 volts / 60 hertz.

Dr. Nancy Wertheimer, an epidemiologist at the University of Colorado, has established the link between neighborhood electric power distribution lines and the incidence of childhood leukemia, where children live in close proximity to the lines. To give you more perspective about the power being transferred through these overhead lines, imagine walking within 100 feet of the most powerful lines with a fluorescent light in your hand and watching it glow. The more powerful lines carry as much as 250,000 volts. According to Robert Becker, author of Cross Currents & The Body Electric, it is a "global electromagnetic pollution of the environment, an electromagnetic jungle... almost totally man-made."

In most households, it is not uncommon to find a magnetic field that measures 1-5 milligauss. There is a continuous exposure value emanating from such things as an electric shaver, electric stove, hair dryer, waterbed, electric blanket, computers, TVs, and microwave ovens. The electromagnetic field (EMF) dissipates with distance from the source, but the residual field is 1-3 milligauss in the average home. Add to this the local electric-power transmission and distribution network that is referred to as the ambient field, and suddenly, you realize how quickly we can all be overexposed. Dr. Becker advocates a maximum field strength of 1 milligauss of continuous exposure at 60 Hz. An exposure of 3 milligauss is related to an increase in cancer rates.

An electric shaver plugged into a wall socket will measure between 200-400 milligauss. Think of all the tissues around your face and neck that are being bombarded with this daily 10-15 minute routine. As you move the electric razor around your neck, you move right over the carotid arteries, the source of blood supply to the brain. It has been theorized by two MIT scientists that high intensity magnetic forces may be responsible for bending or altering enzymes, thereby negating the controlled enzymatic metabolic effect and causing out-of-control reactions, such as leukemia. Also, this same magnetic force aggregates red blood cells that are passing through while you shave. The EMF from the electric razor attracts the iron in blood like metal filings to a magnet.

The thymus gland is just behind the top of the breastbone within inches of the shaving area. It is the control center for all immunological responses in the body.

The use of an electric blanket is even more hazardous. Even though the milligauss rating of 50-100 is lower than an electric shaver, the exposure of 6-8 hours is far more damaging. The same is true for a waterbed that is constantly on to heat the water. In fact, the incidence of miscarriage is much higher among pregnant women who use electric blankets.

Another example is the force field from a television. The EMF generated is not only from the screen, in its line for line imaging, but also by the circuitry within the set. Keep in mind that electromagnetic radiation goes through wood and other building materials. If you place a TV next to a wall, the milligauss exposure on the other side of the wall will be just as intense. In other words, the baby's crib should be kept away from that wall.

In one study, it was revealed that Texas power line workers were developing brain cancer at a rate 13 times greater than the general population. Other studies throughout the 1980's have indicated that women who work in front of VDTs (Video Display Terminals) such as airline reservation desks or office computers, have a very high incidence of birth defects, miscarriages, and stillbirths. Exposure to intense electromagnetic forces can also lead to headaches, nausea, anxiety, dizziness, exhaustion and, more profoundly, to neurochemical reactions or genetic aberrations.

The positive electrostatic charge on the face of the VDT can reach 50,000 volts per square inch, and it dramatically changes the environment of ion balance directly in front of the operator. Since beneficial negative ions are attracted to the VDT surface, the operator is left in a critical ion imbalance. The imbalance results in Video Operator Distress Syndrome (VODS). In addition to the symptoms mentioned above, there also occurs respiratory distress and facial rashes, as well as cataracts and other vision problems.

With regard to fluorescent lights, the milligauss rating is far higher than that of incandescent lights. In order for a fluorescent light to glow, its coated interior tube needs a high voltage discharge. A small transformer is used to convert 120 volts to several thousand volts. It is no surprise you can light up that same fluorescent bulb without the use of a transformer by walking under a 250KV power line. As an experiment, observe how you feel after spending several hours in a closed-in mall with no sunlight. Then, walk out into the sunlight and notice the difference.

Note: Since researching this article, the writer has switched from a twenty year habit of electric shaving to using blades.

written by Rodney Julian

Published June 1990

China Healthways Institute sells a compact CHIonizer machine small enough to wear around your neck. It replenishes the negative ion field around you, offsetting magnetic and electric depletion. This will help reverse the effects of VDT exposure. For more information, visit http://www.CHI.us.

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Craniosacral Therapy

As the study of physics, biology, psychology, and medicine intensifies, the differentiation between brain and body mechanisms appears to be rapidly diminishing. In fact, traditional Chinese medicine and East Indian medicine have both long recognized the brain and body to be one homeostatic mechanism. Homeostatic implies self-correcting and self-balancing. It involves a second-by-second adaptation to the continual changes in the internal and external environment.

For example, production of the thyroid hormone by the thyroid gland is controlled directly by the thyroid-stimulating hormone secreted by the pituitary gland. The pituitary is constantly monitoring the level of thyroid in the bloodstream and deciding whether or not to release more thyroid-stimulating hormone.

The craniosacral system is a semi-closed hydraulic system. Fluid flows into and out of the system through semi-permeable membranes. The enclosure includes the brain, brain stem, and spinal cord. It ends at the sacrum. The outer covering of the system is a tough, relatively inelastic connective tissue called the meninges. Meningitis is caused by inflammation of the meninges. The fluid contained within the system is cerebrospinal fluid. The skull or cranial vault contains the top part of the system, while the lower part is protected by the vertebrae.

It is a common belief, supported by Western medicine, that the cranium, although malleable enough to pass through the vaginal opening at birth, later becomes a fused mass. However, new evidence supports the conclusion that the bones of the cranial vault are in constant motion as they homeostatically accommodate the ever-changing fluid dynamics.

Research conducted at Michigan State University's Department of Biomechanics has identified collagen, elastic fibers, as well as vascular and nerve plexi within the sutures between the cranial bones. This allows the sutures to gap open in response to intracranial fluid pressure and to compress as fluid pressure is reduced. It is unknown at this time exactly what causes the constant changes in intracranial fluid pressure. This expansion and contraction is referred to as craniosacral rhythm. It occurs at from 6 to 12 cycles per minute.

The rhythm is independent of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. If you put your hand on top of your head lightly with the pressure of the weight of a nickel, you will begin to feel the rhythm. It was first observed externally in the early 1900's by William G. Sutherland. He originated the craniosacral concept.

However, it was not until 1971 that John E. Upledger discovered the internal rhythmic activity of the craniosacral system. He observed this while assisting a neurosurgeon during cranial surgery.

During a typical cycle, the head widens and shortens while the whole body externally rotates and widens. Next is a neutral stage. Then, the whole body internally rotates while the head narrows and elongates. After another neutral stage, the cycle begins again. One cycle takes 5 to 10 seconds in a healthy person.

This is the core of the regulatory system in our bodies. It directly influences everything that takes place in the brain and spinal apparatus. It ties directly into the vascular network, the neuromusculoskeletal system, the lymphatic system, as well as the endocrine and respiratory systems.

Fascia is the connective tissue that literally holds us together. It is continuous, from the top of our heads to the bottom of our feet. In its many forms, it appears as tendons, ligaments, dense fibrous tissue supporting an organ, or a layered network of glistening white gristle-like fiber holding the craniosacral system in place. Fascia exists in dynamic equilibrium.

Any injury to the fascia, including the craniosacral system, will result in a defensive posturing. The body will seek to protect itself against further occurrence. In doing so, the body quite literally holds the fascia in place, duplicating the original blow anywhere in the neuromusculoskeletal system. This, in turn, affects the flow of energy and neurological responses to that particular area. The homeostatic mechanism is now thrown off. The body immediately seeks to reconcile the imbalance, but it is unable to. Until this is corrected, normal energy flow to the body will be chronically interrupted. This leads to systemic energy loss. The imbalance may manifest in a number of ways.

The physical damage may not appear until years later. Typically, if you have fascia injury to the spine, you have migraine headaches or lower back pain. Ultimately, an organ may be affected if the tension to that area where you received the blow has never been released or expressed.

Tension and imbalance can also occur from our own thought processes. If we choose to hold onto a pattern of thinking that creates enough tension in the body, then eventually, some system will dramatically be affected.

Think about the effect of tension on the lymphatic system. When that gets clogged up, the removal of toxic wastes is severely impaired. It's all the same mechanism at work. The craniosacral hydraulic pump directly influences the entire body. In turn, all the functions of the body directly or indirectly influence the craniosacral system. The tailbone is literally the pump for cerebrospinal fluid. If any damage is done to the tailbone, the flow of cerebrospinal fluid is compromised. Children with leukemia very often have jammed tailbones. The Hindus relate that area of the body to the root chakra. The root chakra is related to sexuality. Any sexual abuse, sexual repression, tension, or stress, can cause the tailbone to freeze. When the tailbone is released, all the emotions which caused the original condition will be released as well.

For those children who seem hopelessly lost in hyperactivity (hyperkinesis) and whose parents have been persuaded to give them Ritalin, craniosacral therapy is an invaluable tool toward normalization without the use of drugs. .

written by Rodney Julian

Published August 1990

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Fats and Oils Part I

From 1980 to 1990, the availability of information regarding nutrition has taken a quantum leap forward. It is now required by the Food and Drug Administration to fully disclose product information on all food labels. Some conscientiously comply with this law with great detail and integrity, while others generally comply but also mislead. For instance, a loaf of bread advertised as whole wheat bread may instead have unbleached whole wheat flour. This is a finer flour, stripped of its bran, which is much more difficult to digest than real whole wheat whole grain flour. It can take 2 to 3 times longer to go through the digestive tract thereby allowing the accumulation of toxins in the body. If the bran remains with the grain, the elimination process is helped greatly, reducing toxic buildup. The growth of health food stores from small cooperatives to large retail supermarkets points to a desire by more and more people to eat better foods free from herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, hormones, and genetic engineering.

Because nutrition is not emphasized in medical school curriculums, it may not be given an important role in many solutions to medical problems. However, there is a growing awareness by medical doctors and other health professionals that the disease process can be greatly reduced by proper nutrition. While a person's mental and emotional states have just as great an impact on harboring or discharging a disease, it is vitally important for the body to have the proper balance of nutrients to help arrest the disease process. Analogous to this, even an expert mechanic cannot get a jet fighter plane to fly using gas intended for automobiles. Yet, we make this same mistake in our own diets.

The Standard American Diet (SAD) clogs our arteries, damages our joints, slows down our nervous systems, decreases our mental alertness, produces stones in our kidneys and gallbladder, and very often leads either to chronic disease or early death. Pure whole foods, in correct combinations, will eliminate most of these problems.

In 1981, worldwide sales of fats and oils were over 40 billion dollars. By 1992, it is estimated that world production of 80 million tons will bring in 60 billion dollars. In the industrialized nations of the world, actual fat consumption is approximately 1500 calories (160 grams) per day or 60 kilograms per year. The average consumption of sugar is 120 pounds per person per year. The average person weighs 150 pounds or 70 kilograms. Imagine the stress on the system that consumes almost twice its weight in fats and sugars per year.

Sugars are carbohydrates that can convert into fats. They include all refined sugars, and syrups; for example glucose, dextrose, fructose, galactose, table sugar (double sugar sucrose), maltose (in beer), lactose (in milk), and dextrins. All those concentrated sources of sugars are rapidly digested, with the excess sugars turning into fats.

The building blocks for saturated fatty acids and for cholesterol are two-carbon acetate fragments. When glucose breaks down, it throws off energy, producing acetate fragments. The normal process is for the body to burn off these fragments into carbon dioxide and water. If there is an oversupply of these fragments, the body turns the excess acetate fragments into saturated fatty acids and cholesterol. This increases blood-cholesterol levels. The body does this as a protection from the toxic effects of excess acetate which is more toxic than excess fat or cholesterol. This is a one-way conversion. The fats cannot be reconverted to sugars, but must be burned off through activity.

Starches are sugar molecules bonded together. Starches turn into sugars when enzymes break their bonds. Refined starchy foods are responsible for gross fat production; for example, white flour, white rice, pasta, cornstarch, tapioca, and most commercially prepared breakfast cereals. The slower absorbing less refined complex carbohydrates like potatoes, yams, corn, figs, and whole grains contain minerals and vitamins. These help convert complex carbohydrates to fuel, slowing down the conversion into sugars, allowing the body to spend its fuel at the same rate it is being produced. In a healthy active body, no fat is produced. Because the more refined carbohydrates lack vitamins and minerals, they tend to absorb too rapidly and overload the blood with glucose.

In mild cases, the body becomes hyperactive, as with young children. In extreme cases, it can lead to dangerously high levels of sugar in the blood (hyperglycemia) and subsequent coma and death.

written by Rodney Julian

Published September 1990

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Fats and Oils Part II

Our insatiable appetite for fats and oil has led some researchers to estimate that 75% of the population in affluent industrialized countries die prematurely because of diseases related to fatty degeneration. These include cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.

In order to understand how fats work or don't work in our bodies, let's examine a fatty acid molecule. It is composed of two parts: one fat and one acid. It is water insoluble and made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Fatty acids are important sources of energy (calories and heat) for the body as well as being the major building blocks of fat in our bodies and in the foods we eat. They protect our cells and within each cell they protect intracellular organelles. As part of body fat under the skin, they insulate us and provide a buffer against shock. The fatty acid carbon chain commonly varies between 4 carbons and 24 carbons (very short 1 carbon chains like formic acid occur in bee stings and ant bites). They come in saturated and unsaturated varieties. The former have no double bonds, while the latter do. This information is useful to someone who has a weak or diseased liver. Since the main function of the liver is to metabolize fats, if after a meal of heavy fatty food, you feel tired or a heaviness within, your liver may not be properly functioning. Unsaturated fatty acids (with double bonds) are used in membrane structures, sensory organs, the brain and adrenal glands, as well as in the testes. Specifically, they attract oxygen, help generate electrical impulses, and aid the transformation process from light energy to electrical energy to nerve conductivity.

The melting point of a saturated fatty acid molecule (SFA) is determined by the length of its carbon chain. The longer the chain, the higher the melting point. A 10 or less carbon molecule will melt at body temperature (98.6 F). Larger carbon chains remain solid. If your system ingests too many SFAs with greater than 10 carbons, you run the risk of solid fats forming crystal structures as they aggregate to form droplets or hard plaque. This plaque deposits in cells, in organs and in arteries with a melting point as high as 185 F! Long chain SFAs are high in beef, mutton, pork, and dairy products.

An unsaturated fatty acid (UFA) contains one or more double bonds in its carbon chain. They give up 2 hydrogen atoms for each double bond, thereby creating a slight negative charge. Also, because the double bond kinks the molecular chain, they tend not to fit together well and aggregate poorly. UFAs are therefore anti-sticking, anti-caking, and they tend to disperse over a very thin 1 molecule thick layer.

The most important UFAs are Linoleic Acid (LA) and Linolenic Acid (LNA). They are called Essential Fatty Acids (EFA) because your body needs them for survival, but cannot produce them. They must be obtained from food sources. Since commercially prepared oils are so overprocessed, EFAs are destroyed in the process.

Briefly, LA deficiency may cause eczema, loss of hair, liver or kidney degeneration, dry glands, poor healing, miscarriages, arthritis, circulatory problems. A deficiency of LNA may cause vision problems, slow learning, poor motor coordination, growth retardation, tingling in the arms and legs. All of these symptoms can be corrected by eating foods with LA or LNA present. One such product is fresh, cold pressed flax seed oil.

written by Rodney Julian

Published October 1990

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Fats and Oils Part III

Shopping for cooking oils today in a supermarket may, at a glance, seem pretty easy. Many people prefer wonderfully clear translucent oils for salad dressing. But, when it comes to baking, they prefer the harder solid oils. There is also the long-standing controversy over the difference between margarine and butter.

Before the large scale development of commercial oil processing, oil was a home and cottage industry. In Europe, every town had their own seed mill. Oil was fresh pressed in small quantities at low temperatures and sold door to door. Fresh flax seed oil was known for its health sustaining qualities, light nutty taste, and for its therapeutic value, for instance, in healing low vitality or liver disorders.

Because flax seed oil is so high in essential fatty acids and turns rancid easily, it eventually went through a refining process to give it a longer shelf life. In the process of adding bleaching agents and deodorizing agents, it lost the very components that gave it its superior quality. Flax seed oil was supplanted by other less nutritive, less spoilable oils. Today, flax seed oil is boiled with lead added to it to make linseed oil, a good drying agent in paints. "Edible" oils now contain pesticide residues which interfere with nerve function and oxidation. The chemical solvents used in oil seed extraction remain in trace amounts in the finished product. These solvents (ie, hexane, a petroleum distillate) are so flammable that, during processing, an oil factory occasionally blows up. These residual chemicals are lung irritants and nerve depressants. The high temperature boiling of oil destroys the natural antioxidants so chemically derived antioxidants are added back into the finished product, but they interfere with energy production, cell metabolism, and respiration.

Degumming removes lecithin, which coats and protects every nerve fiber in our body. It is essential for healthy brain function. Separated out lecithin is sold to health food stores and resold at twice the cost. Margarine and solid shortening are made by hydrogenation of the oil. This produces altered trans-fatty acids. Metals like nickel, platinum, or copper are used in the process as catalysts. These chemically altered hydrogen bonded atomic structures create havoc on the cardiovascular system. The trans-fatty acids interfere with essential fatty acid (EFA) metabolism, the very ingredient so important to our health that is lost in the commercial oil process. EFAs are the precursors for prostaglandins which regulate many functions on a cellular level. These include the arterial wall muscles which help decrease or increase the flow of blood, and the regulation of blood clotting.

Refining the oil further removes fatty acids. During this part of the process, caustic soda (NaOH) is mixed with the oil and more minerals are lost. NaOH is the basis for Draino. Red or yellow pigments are added here. The final process is bleaching and deodorizing. Bleaching agents remove the natural pigmentation. Deodorizing is a steam distillation process which removes both natural aromatic oils and the pungent odors created during the processing.

Even if you thought that processing was good for you, there are still oils you have to be careful about ingesting that are in widespread use. For instance, cotton seed oil contains up to 1.2% cycloprene fatty acid which has toxic effects on the liver and gallbladder. At higher ingested levels, it stops female reproductive functioning and increases the likelihood of cancer causing agents. Cotton farmers heavily overspray their crops to keep boll weevils and other pests under control. It was pesticide sprays at first that killed off the boll weevils' natural predators. So now, the intense spraying to keep everything out results in cotton seed oil having the highest pesticide residues.

Cotton seed oil also irritates the digestive tract, causes the lungs to fill with water, impairs breathing, and causes paralysis. This is caused by a substance containing benzene rings called gossypol.

Rapeseed oil and mustard seed oils contain erucic acid. Until 1974, rapeseed oil contained 40% erucic acid. Cross breeding has lowered that to new government standards of less than 5%. This new genetically modified fat is known as canola oil. The fact is the body cannot tolerate any erucic acid. It causes fatty degeneration of heart, kidneys, adrenal glands, and the thyroid. It also causes fatty deposits and scarring in the heart muscles.

Be careful of herring oil which contains cetoleic acid, the effects of which are similar to erucic acid. Brominated oils are cosmetically used to prevent cloudiness and rings inside the neck of bottles of fruit juices. Unfortunately, brominated oil causes enlarged thyroid, damaged kidneys, fatty liver, damaged heart tissue, and atrophied testes. Bromine accumulates in tissues of children. For this reason, it is outlawed in drinks in Holland and Germany.

written by Rodney Julian

Published November 1990

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Fats and Oils Part IV

Unum usitatissimum, more commonly known as flax, was cultivated in Babylon 5000 B.C. Cloth made from flax fiber was discovered in Egyptian burial chambers dating 3000 B.C. Hippocrates used flax medicinally to relieve inflammation of the mucous membranes. In the 8th century, Charlemagne ordered that all his subjects take flax for radiant health. From these examples, it is easy to understand the incredible versatility of this plant. From the tough, fibrous stalk of this plant comes ramie, a coarse thread usually blended with cotton to keep the cotton from losing its shape, and linen, a refined process of ramie that provides some of the finest cloth in the world.

In terms of health, flax seed oil is the richest source of the essential fatty acids LA (linoleic acid) and LNA (linolenic acid). In fact, up to 75% of this oil is LNA and LA. The body cannot manufacture these two essential acids, so they must come from food. LNA and LA are precursors to prostaglandins which keep blood platelets from sticking to each other on an ongoing basis. This anticlotting process helps prevent heart attacks and strokes. For the kidneys, it is a diuretic. Prostaglandins slow down cholesterol production, relieve angina, and improve circulation. They also regulate calcium metabolism, prevent inflammation, control arthritis, and improve nerve function.

The essential fatty acids LNA and LA are structural parts of the subcellular organelles: Golgi apparatus, mitochondria, and endoplasmic reticulum. Without these fatty acids, the factory-like mitochondria will not oxidize food, so that the stored "sunlight energy" from these foods remains trapped. It is interesting to note that Europeans living north of the Arctic Circle where the sun disappears for months must rely on the release of these stored "sunlight energies" in order to function normally. However, with a very low consumption of LNA and LA, there is a slowing down of brain synapses and neurological behaviors. Only with foods containing LNA and LA will this stored "sunlight energy" be released and reverse this process.

Essential fatty acids are also a structural part of all cell membranes. They have the ability to hold sulphur-containing protein within the cellular membrane using an electrostatic attractive force. Because of this close relationship with sulphur-containing protein molecules, flax seed oil works best if it is consumed with sulphur rich protein.

Flax has been used for a long time to maintain the health of farm animals, including making calving easier for cows, preventing hoof-and-mouth disease, treating respiratory infections, and to prevent distemper. Show dogs who use flax have shiny, lustrous coats.

Although flax seed oil is used in Europe much more than in the U.S., there is a growing realization among health conscious Americans that, without LNA and LA as a regular part of the diet, there is a great risk of fatty degenerative disease. Our bodies need the highly unsaturated, natural fatty acids like LNA and LA in order to keep saturated fatty acids from aggregating into clusters of sticky cholesterol deposits on arterial walls.

Cancer, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, diabetes, acne, multiple sclerosis, and cystic fibrosis, as well as arthritis, and asthma are all the result of fatty degeneration. Someone with fatty material on the whites of his/her eyeballs is suffering from fatty degeneration. Fatty degeneration is the improper or incomplete metabolism of fats. It is mostly the result of consuming altered fatty acids and fat products. For example, toxic reactions and deposits are caused by margarine, shortening, partially hydrogenated oils, deep fried oils, refined oils, and oils exposed to light. In the case of asthma, LNA and LA are involved in every function of oxygen transfer from the air to the lungs, to the delivery system, to the hemoglobin, to all cells and then continues on a subcellular level. Therefore, without LNA and LA, our lungs and bodies are starving for oxygen. Because the essential fatty acids (LNA/LA) have the ability to absorb sunlight, they help increase oxygen metabolism 1000-fold. As they carry a slightly negative charge, their molecules naturally repel, so that they spread out over a very thin surface layer. This surface activity gives toxins an escape route either through the intestines, lungs, kidneys, or skin.

The highest fatty acid composition of LNA and LA is found in flax. Pumpkin seeds, walnuts, and their oils are also sources of both LNA and LA, although to a lesser extent.

One important thing to remember about LNA and LA is that they spoil easily. For this reason, they must be protected from exposure to light, oxygen, and heat. The containers should be opaque, packed in nitrogen, and kept refrigerated. For example, light destroys oil 1000 times faster than oxygen does. Each photon ray of light can cause a 30,000 cycle free radical chain reaction. Thousands of photons strike the oil every second in clear glass. If you purchase flax seed oil, make sure it has been mechanically pressed at temperatures not exceeding 50 degrees Celsius, rather than chemically extracted at much higher temperatures.

Flax seeds contain all the 8 essential amino acids. In addition, they contain histidine, which is essential to infants. A deficiency in the essential amino acid methionine causes kwashiorkor in African children, from a diet of only bean protein.

Flax also contains fiber which helps clear mucus from the colon. A clean and healthy colon won't harbor toxins, which in turn means healthy blood and a healthy liver. Fiber also attaches to spent cholesterol and moves it out of the system, thereby lowering cholesterol levels. The mucilage in flax seed is a natural laxative with no side effects. Mucilage buffers acid stomachs and modulates blood glucose levels. Flax has a full complement of major and trace minerals, with the exception of selenium and vanadium. Hot water soaked flax seeds can be used externally as a compress for boils, bruises, and skin problems. This will draw the toxins out.

A final note to those who still insist on margarine as a suitable fat substitute. Dr. Johanna Budwig, a research biochemist, nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine, isolated polymerized fats of margarine origin from soft cancerous tumors. If unsaturated fish and whale oils are heated to 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 hours and have hydrogen ions passed through the oil, margarine or polymerized fats are created. Vegetable sources of margarine are just as bad because of the hydrogenation process. Dr. Budwig suggests a sulphur-containing protein such as kefir or plain yogurt mixed with 1 to 2 tablespoons of flax seed oil, for higher cellular metabolism.

written by Rodney Julian

Published January 1991

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The Modern Toilet and "Civilized" Diseases

During the 1850's in England, Joseph Bramah, a cabinet maker, designed the original modern toilet. Its popularity soon spread quickly. This innovative plumbing allowed more sanitary disposal of waste, rather than storage in chamber pots. Sometime later, Thomas Crapper, a plumber, improved the original model.

Quite rapidly, we moved from squatting to sitting during our bowel movements. Therein lies the beginning of our modern day "civilized" diseases. They are not from any outside disposal system or sitting contact, although possible. It is the rather awkward position we place our bodies in when we eliminate by sitting.

In the patent application for a new toilet seat, American Standard Company stated, "In those places in the world where water closets are not employed, a squatting position is used, which is the physiologically most desirable position. It is desirable for the person to assume a doubled over or squatting position as closely resembling that position which would be used if the toilet were not employed."

Modern science supports squatting as the natural posture of elimination. Reflexes in the hamstrings are developed at about age two. A child, who may have gone off in a corner of the house to quietly squat into his/her diaper for a year, now faces toilet training in a sitting position.

This "modern way," compromises his newly developing hamstring reflexes.

Squatting builds and sustains the abdominal wall muscle by pulling down and correctly suspends the colon. Sitting during elimination pushes out against the abdominal wall with no counteracting muscle tension. The result is usually a prolapsed (sagging) colon. In the squatting position, there is pressure applied to all areas of the colon via tension by the muscle groups. The pattern that the body assumes is a smooth curved shape with knees tucked close to the chest. With the modern toilet, however, the pattern
of the body is two 90° angles. The two angles are located at the cecum in the lower right quadrant and the sigmoid in the lower left quadrant of the colon. The majority of all bowel problems, including polyps, develop here. Because of this compromised position, less fecal mass passes through, so there is almost always an incomplete elimination. At these two angles, fecal matter stagnates. In its anaerobic condition, it becomes the foundation for cancer and appendicitis. Note that the incidence of appendicitis in squatting African countries is almost zero. In the United States, there are hundreds of thousands of cases each year.

One of the primary causes of potbellies is poor posture and weak abdominal muscles. This leaves our organs unsupported and affects our entire system negatively. In a group of potbellied individuals, the incidence of high cholesterol, low HDL levels and coronary heart disease were 300-600% higher than those without big bellies. And for women with potbellies, the incidence of breast cancer is 600% higher.

First, let us look at the proper way a colon works. After eating, there is a reaction called the gastro-colic reflex. This reflex sends a message from the stomach to the colon to operate the ileocecal valve. It is a one-way valve which induces elimination and prevents the back flow of fecal matter from the colon to the normally semi-sterile small intestine. This stimulation occurs after every meal. It is healthy and normal to eliminate several times a day and not restrict or "educate" our bowels to function only once a day. This habit starts in toilet training.

80% of our cholesterol, whether ingested or produced by our bodies, is processed by the liver. The liver turns this into bile. It is then processed through the colon to stimulate peristaltic action (moving fecal matter down the colon). When you eliminate the "modern" way, the colon bends or kinks in two places, at the right and left lower quadrants. Years of this habit cause flabby stomach muscles and sagging bowels. Fecal matter is effectively blocked at this juncture. The bowel then swells above this "fold."

Only after several days of accumulated pressure will the fecal matter get past this point. In that time, however, the backward flow is so great that the one-way ileocecal valve usually blows and allows toxic fecal material to escape into the small intestine. Test results have shown it escaping all the way back into the stomach and esophagus.

Now, the normally semi-sterile small intestine is toxic and these toxins escape further into the blood stream. At this point, the small intestine becomes congested and is unable to absorb complex foods. Only simple sugars and carbohydrates will satisfy the body easily. This is one cause of sugar cravings. Meanwhile, bile flow is hampered. Since it can no longer exit the colon completely, bile recirculates back into the gallbladder. The gallbladder recycles this old bile (now like unchanged engine oil) into a thicker, heavier mass, which eventually contributes to constipation. Excess bile normally stored in the gallbladder also begins to clog the liver. The liver greatly slows down its conversion of cholesterol to bile because it is using recycled bile.

So cholesterol starts accumulating in the body, upsetting LDL/HDL ratios, depositing as plaque and developing as arteriosclerosis and heart disease.

When toxins back up into the blood supply, they affect every organ in the body. Dr. Alexis Carrel, who won the Nobel Prize for his work on cell immortality, discovered that "heart cells live and thrive indefinitely in a test tube, provided their waste products are removed." There is no harm in these cells fasting for days, but if two days go by without removing the cellular waste, they become sluggish. After three days, they die. This inability to cleanse the cells and tissues of their waste products produces autotoxication. We may eat what we consider a normal diet and yet starve to death because nutrients aren't reaching our cells. And our bodies cannot rid themselves of the normal toxins produced as byproducts.

One of the drawbacks to sitting while eliminating is the weakening of the lower right quadrant muscles in the abdomen. This ultimately causes right hip problems. Some of the symptoms of a dysfunctional ileocecal valve are low back and hip problems, the tendency toward diarrhea, and dark circles under the eyes. Since the production of bile from cholesterol is compromised, everything from individual cell vitality to male and female sex hormones to adrenal hormones is also at risk. Adrenal hormones made from cholesterol are responsible for "flight or fight" reactions and anti-inflammatory responses. Adrenal glands are part of the endocrine system of the body. Its function is the central integration and coordination of specialized groups of cells and organs which transmit signals through nerval-electric and hormonal pathways. Psychic-emotional factors are involved in this mechanism. It may be that poor eating and bowel habits result in so great a systemic imbalance that it is responsible for the emotional imbalances we often sustain and for the depression so prevalent in our society.

How can we correct the following situation: slack guts, potbellies, prolapsed colons and uteruses, buttocks that get sucked under resulting in no rear end? The answer is SQUATTING. Build up to five minutes of squatting a day. It must be flat-footed squatting, so that all the pressure is on the heels not on the thighs. Put a book behind your heels for support, if needed. When you eliminate, put a chair or stool in front of you and rest your feet on it, so your knees will be drawn up to your chest. This will free up your colon and let bile and fecal material pass with ease.

Squatting will give you a restored ileocecal valve, regulated cholesterol, regulated hormones, no more straining, no more hemorrhoids, no more inguinal hernias, LDL/HDL levels that are normal. The program requires 90 days for best results. You will see results sooner if you cut out some acids from your diet to a daily level of 70% alkaline and 30% acid. An acid diet, coupled with blood toxins from a dysfunctional bowel, will result in a caustic bloodstream strong enough to cause arthritis, degenerative bone disease, and make blood vessel walls extremely vulnerable to collapse. Foods with an acidic pH include all bread (white bread has a pH of 0.5, wheat bread is 1.5), pasta, crackers, chips, all forms of refined sugar, all dairy products (except yogurt and butter), all seed oils, soft drinks, and all meat. Foods with an alkaline pH include most fruit (lemon has a pH of 7.5, limes are 7.0), dried fruit are more alkaline than fresh fruit, all vegetables (asparagus has a pH of 6.5, wheat grass juice has a pH of 7.0), and almonds (if they are roasted, the heated oils make them acidic). When you wake up in the morning, squeeze half a lemon into a glass of water. This will turn your entire system alkaline. If you combine olive oil with lemon juice, as a salad dressing, it will improve a sluggish liver.

written by Rodney Julian

Published June 1991

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