Antidepressants Blog

Chinese cooks prefer not to boil vegetables until they are soft; instead, they leave them about 20 per cent raw. In this condition they may taste somewhat bitter and so must be properly seasoned to make them more palatable. But the Chinese cooks know their job and prepare their food in such a way that you will enjoy it, even though you may have to chew more than with food prepared the European way. They also use a wider variety of spices and condiments, for example, curry and soy sauces, various kinds of peppers and all sorts of spicy pods that resemble red and black chillies. Moreover, they almost always include a little seaweed, which, although not much of a taste in itself, adds something to Chinese dishes that is unique.

Centuries of tradition lie behind Chinese cuisine and its habitual use of seaweed, and this ingredient is appreciated for the sake of its minerals and trace elements that are so necessary to our health. This goodness is present in very small quantities, or not at all, in other plants, and the ancient Chinese must have used seaweed instinctively as they would not have known about these substances. However, they must have been good observers and noticed that nature offers us many things that may not be visible to the eye, nor tangible, but are nevertheless of vital importance to us. This precious gift of observation has no doubt contributed to the way in which Chinese cuisine has developed. Even though much else has been forgotten that once was an intrinsic part of their culture, the Chinese people still benefit from this tradition, as they have for thousands of years.

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Some time ago I received a letter with the following query: ‘The other day I read in a book on diet reform that preserved fruits and those bottled hot have no nutritional value. I have been wondering about this, because during the past year I have bottled a quantity of fruit, thinking it would have greater food value than fruit commercially canned.’

I would like to answer this enquiry in print because it will be of interest to everyone. It is quite true that in preserving fruits and vegetables by the heat process many of the vitamins are destroyed. However, the statement about preserved fruits having no nutritional value is absolutely untrue. The actual nutrients, such as carbohydrates, sugar, starch and minerals, remain unchanged and for this reason preserved fruits and vegetables do have considerable food value, assuming that a natural process is used to preserve them.

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If fasting has improved your well-being, do not encourage a friend or neighbour who suffers from Graves’ disease (exophthalmic goitre) or tuberculosis to undertake the same treatment. Such a course would definitely be harmful because you cannot cure these two diseases by fasting. Be very careful, therefore, about recommending a fast to others. A long and complete fast might also prove dangerous to people with certain types of heart trouble, even though the fruit juice diet would make it less strenuous since the body is being nourished to the necessary extent while the work of cleansing is going on. If a liver disorder is suspected, take vegetable juices or Vogel’s vegetable juice mixture, rather than fruit juices, because the fruit acids do not usually agree with the patient. Carrot juice is particularly good in such cases. You see, then, that each case should be considered individually with respect to what one can or cannot do.

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Before carrying out the cure, it would be useful to take a natural plant remedy that helps to liquify the bile, for example Boldocy-nara made from artichokes and other medicinal herbs.

If a chronic condition suddenly flares up again, accompanied by a high temperature and an increase in the number of white blood corpuscles, there is most likely an inflammation. In that case, the patient unfortunately has no alternative but to undergo surgery to remove the gallbladder. This is not the ultimate solution, however, because after the operation condensed bile will no longer be available; it cannot accumulate as it previously had done in the gallbladder that now no longer exists. The bile entering the duodenum will always be thin and fresh and if digestive disturbances are to be avoided, a protein- and fat-restricted diet will have to be adopted thereafter. Thus, if the oil treatment can bring the desired cure, the patient will escape the need for surgery and the undesirable consequences it brings with it.

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Another advantage of brown rice is that it is nutritious and can sustain one over a long period of time. It is filling too, so that even a small quantity is satisfying. This is good for the pancreas, an organ that is often weakened through eating excessive quantities of food. If we stick to a natural diet, chew well, eat slowly and insalivate the food before swallowing, the pancreas is being helped to recover and efficient intestinal activity is more likely. Even small mistakes in eating habits can rob us of the vital elements so necessary for good digestion. At any rate, it is advisable to limit the intake of starchy foods and supplement the diet with vegetables and salads. Sesame seeds, eaten daily, are also helpful. And let me remind you once again, when choosing your menu, be sensible and avoid items or combinations that cause fermentation and flatulence.

So, if the pancreas should be too weak to digest starchy foods, we must take good care of it and do everything we can to restore it to its normal and full capacity. Only then will it be able to help us digest a reasonable amount of starchy food in the future.

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Psychological problems and disturbances lead to reactions in the physical body as well. Knowing of this interaction, it is necessary to treat the body, the physical problem, in order to relieve the psychological disorder. The reverse is also true, in that physical afflictions leave their mark on the mind of the patient to such an extent that his mental balance may be upset. Every psychotherapist will confirm that mental conditions can be responsible for physical ailments, and that organic problems can affect the mind so severely that the patient becomes mentally unbalanced. For example, a malfunction of the ovaries or the male sex glands frequently gives rise to mental disturbance, which will disappear when the physical disorder has been corrected.

Generally speaking, the field of psychosomatic medicine is still mysterious and little explored, so that it is impossible to establish doctrines and principles that are valid in every case. Nevertheless, experience and observation have clearly shown that one-sided treatment is insufficient and often fails to achieve good results, whereas the treatment of the patient as a whole, a unit, is more likely to succeed.

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Many people have kidney stones without being aware of the fact. The same goes for gallstones. Their presence is only noticed when the stones enter the ureter (or in the case of gallstones, the bile duct) and can move neither forward nor backward.

When a kidney stone becomes stuck in the ureter the resulting pain is so excruciating that the patient may end up in a state of delirium. It is not unusual for him to lose all control, knocking into things around him, screaming in agony and, of course, causing great concern to those around him. The pain can last for hours and there is great danger if the proper treatment is not given.

The patient must be placed in a hot bath and with light, careful massage, the stone must be made to move from the ureter into the bladder. The hot water itself will make the patient feel more comfortable. Should the heart start to give trouble or if he suffers from hyperthyroidism (exophthalmic goitre), he must also be assisted with cold compresses. The best way to do this is to apply a ‘heart tube’. Place a tube in a circle around the heart area and let cold water flow through it. This will cool the heart down and bring relief. If necessary, put cold compresses on the wrists and forehead, renewing them frequently to keep them cold. With this treatment the patient should be able to remain in the hot bath for half an hour without fainting.

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Women frequently get haemorrhoids after childbirth. Even during pregnancy the entire venous system is subjected to greater pressure than usual, often giving rise to varicose veins or enlarging those already there. In the weeks just before delivery the baby’s head presses on the vessels in the pelvis and this, in turn, affects the vessels in the rectum. During delivery this pressure increases even more so that piles often appear after giving birth. Specific advice for expectant mothers is given on pages 26-9, but what can be done about this problem in general?

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Another remedy for a sickly plant, where root disease is suspected, was given to me by a very knowledgeable “herb lady”. Make a circle of copper wire (fairly thick gauge, or several strands of thinner gauge) and place it round the base of the ailing plant and about 1\2-inch under the soil. This is a simple remedy for one frequent cause of plant ill-health—a copper deficiency in the soil, reducing the plant’s normal resistance to disease. My favourite “perfect circle” may also have a lot to do with the protection and increased vigour given to the plant.

So, since many herbs are natural insect repellents, grow them beside other herbs which tend to be much less lucky. The chapters on each herb will give you more specific information, but here is a list of herbs that pests will seldom if ever attack: garlic chives, scented geraniums, lavender, parsley, pennyroyal, rue, santolina and tansy (except for an odd snail or two).

Use some of your herbs to free your kitchen of ants, too. Dried tansy leaves, rubbed to release their oils, will keep ants away from honey or sugar, or will drive them away even after they are already infesting a cupboard. Just rub some of the leaves between your fingers to release their oils, and sprinkle a small handful around on your cupboard shelves. A pot of basil will also discourage flies in your kitchen; they dislike its strong odour.

Time and care taken to eliminate pests from your herbs will repay you with healthy foliage and roots, untainted by chemicals or poisons.

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For information on the growing and use of plants beneficial to man, we can go right back to some of the earliest history recorded in the civilizations of Arabia and Egypt, as well as Greece and Rome.

The George Ebers papyrus found in the ruins of Thebes, and the more recently discovered Edwin Smith papyrus, give much information on the use of plant medicines, and Herodotus’s writings tell us of the embalming procedures used about 500 B.C. He named over 700 plants in common use for all manner of purposes, and many of these are still in use today. The Greek physician, Dioscorides, in the first century A.D., applied the knowledge gained about the properties of plants useful to man, and his “herbal”, one of the earliest written, is still referred to as one of the most accurate and learned in the practice of natural medicine.

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