Helen asks, “Ana, please give me some well-combined evening meal suggestions. I feel like I just eat the same thing over and over and I’m getting bored. And also, is it okay to eat the same meal several nights in a row if I am really loving it? I want to stay on track and keep enjoying my meals.”
Thank you for your question. I want to address the second part first. The answer is yes, it is perfectly fine to have the same meals several times in a row, provided they are well-combined and working well with your body. Remember, the focus in this lifestyle is no longer on getting what we need from outside sources. Instead, we focus on the removal of obstruction so our bodies can perfectly regulate themselves and draw what they need from the sun, and the raw juices and salads we are flooding them with.
If you are having a meal that is water-rich (with plenty of raw veggies), is combined to exit quickly, and results in a massive bowel movement the next morning, you are doing no wrong. For example; a large raw salad with goat cheese followed by steamed broccoli with marinara sauce, and some 70% dark chocolate. These are all classified as “human food” with the exception of the dark chocolate, which is certainly okay nightly in moderation. The meal is well combined (raw and cooked neutral veggies with goat cheese, which is an animal protein), and contains enough raw to really move and pull some hydrated and awakened waste out with it.
If, however, your meal contains grain, or fruit, or nuts and seeds, you must be more careful. These can be tricky, and your bowel movement will give you the answer. If you have a big raw salad followed by some cooked quinoa, and it passes cleanly, go ahead a second night. If instead you feel bloated and gassy, and have little or no movement the next day, it’s time for a change. Very few women can get away with eating a fruit dinner every night of the week, it is simply too awakening and it will be yeast-feeding for the new detoxer. Nuts and seeds are quite dense, and although they can work well in the company of a heap of raw veggies, I’ve found that they can slow progress, and that not many people can eat just a few.
Two of my favorite salads:
Starch night:
• 1 box organic spring mix greens
• Juice from 2 limes
• stevia to taste
• 1 head chopped cilantro
• 1 diced avocado
• 1 ear raw corn (cut off the cob)
• 2 tblspns high-quality salsa
This makes the most delicious south-western Tex-Mex salad. And it’s so dense and satisfying (and perfect for summer).
Protein night:
• 1 box organic baby romaine
• Juice from 1 lemon
• stevia to taste
• 2 tblspns Diijon mustard
• 2 chopped baked beets
• 3 oz grated Alta Dena goat cheese
• ½ box grape tomatoes
The contrast between the sweet beets, tangy cheese, and spicy mustard is heavenly. By the way, every Sunday I slow-bake about 6 beets for the week while I putter around the house. They go in washed and unpeeled on a baking tray at 325 for about 2 hours. They pop them in the fridge and they’ll last several days.
Some dinner favorites:
Starch night:
•Bake one acorn squash by halving it, scooping out the seeds, and placing it face down on a baking tray at 350 for about 30 minutes.
Turn both halves face up, and mix the squash with a small amount of butter, cinnamon, and stevia, until it is creamy. Serve right in the shell.
This is a wonderful chilly night comfort food. And kids love it as well…
Protein night:
Steam a broccoli/cauliflower mix by cooking them with about a half an inch of water in a covered pan. The water will run out right about the time the veggies are perfectly steamed (if not, simply drain the excess).
Add ¼ cup marinara sauce and about 3 oz grated Alta Dena cheese. Turn off the heat, but recover the pan.
Enjoy your big raw salad, and by the time you are ready for your cooked portion of the meal, the cheese will be nicely melted.
This is an easy way to satisfy those Italiano cravings for pasta, pizza, or anything else dripping with sauce and cheese. How decadent!
GUIDE TO BIRTH CONTROL, AND POPCORN (March 22, 2010)
Jennifer writes, “I know that IUDs are not ok, along with the pill. I currently have an IUD, and am wondering what a good alternative method of birth control is. Also, my husband is not into the raw food thing. He’s eating healthier along with me, but I don’t expect it to go very far. Do I need to protect myself against his toxins during sex?”
Birth Control is a hard issue. For myself, I choose not to put hormones into my body. They have interfered with my weight, skin, mood, and almost every aspect of my mental and physical health. But this is a very personal decision, and I can never make it for another person. If you choose to use oral contraceptives, IUDs, or Depo-Provera shot just please carefully understand what you are putting into your body.
If, like me, these options will not work for you there are several alternatives, and none of them are perfect.
Pull-Out Method
This is where a man disengages in intercourse right before he ejaculates.
Benefits: no harsh chemicals are involved, and if perfectly timed this can help prevent pregnancy.
Risks: pre-ejaculatory fluid does contain some sperm so there is a risk pf pregnancy. This method does not protect against STDs, and it interrupts a very powerful intimate moment.
Condoms
Benefits: a range of pregnancy and STD protection in the 90%s (depending on the brand, just carefully read the label) and orgasm can still be achieved during intercourse with no interruption. A clean/detoxing partner will also be protected from a more toxic partner’s ejaculation.
Risks: there is always a small percentage risk for both pregnancy and STDs, and latex, lubricant, and spermicide and act as irritants. And lets face it, it just doesn’t feel the same!
Rhythm Method
This is where a woman times her cycle by taking her temperature to determine when she is ovulating and can more easily become pregnant.
Benefits: when done perfectly, women can understand their body’s natural cycle to the point where they know which days are safe for intercourse, and which will result in pregnancy.
Risks: this method is very tricky to master on one’s own, despite numerous guide books and websites. And it is not effective in preventing the spread of STDs.
Lady-Comp
There is a cool new product for helping you to get in touch with your Month. I’ve been using it for some time now, and really liking the results. It’s called the Lady-Comp, and was actually recommended to me by a community member! It is a German engineered devise with a smart-chip that is programmed with over 20,000 cycles. It acts as an alarm clock, to take your base temperature before you start to move around and really wake up. It then gets to know your cycle, and is able to indicate green days (safe for sex without pregnancy), yellow days (it cannot be sure, proceed at your own risk) and red days (ovulation days). As it gets to know you there are only 4 red days a Month, and the manufacturers claim it is 99% effective if used correctly.
Risks: you will misuse or misread the lady-comp, and it also does not protect against STDs.
Benefits: It will adjust for time zone changes, altitude, ambient temperature, and really does get to know you quickly! It has a 15 year warranty, and can last on battery alone for up to 30 days. Also, it can be taken as carry-on on a plane (it’s quite small).
For me, the best way to go is a combination of my Lady-Comp (www.lady-comp.com for more info) and condoms for those red light days. But again, this is a personal decision for you and your partner that should be well researched and agreed upon. It is true that some clean eaters can be irritated by the fluids of less clean folks, but condoms can sometimes produce the same effect. It’s a matter of choosing the highest comfort level for you and your partner.
Andy asks, “How does popcorn combine, and is it part of the Detox4Women program?”
Popcorn combines as a starch. I do not recommend it too often for women who have weight to loose, or who are already eating cleanly. It is not one of the foods listed in Detox4Women for several reasons, but there are plenty of other movie-going snacks that you can enjoy. And occasionally satisfying that popcorn hankering won’t get you into trouble if you do it right.
The issue with popcorn (and any other dry starchy snack like potato chips) is that it is yeast and fungus feeding so it will not allow a yeasted woman to progress as quickly as she’d like. It is also extremely constipating, and so not really a quick-exit food. If you would like to have it once in a while just make sure it is in company of a big raw salad. And a wonderful clean alternative is puffed kamut, which has a similar texture and crunch.
For the movies, my favorite thing to do is to stop at the grocery store on my way and sneak in my own snacks. I like to get crudités (like carrots, celery, and bell peppers) and guacamole for dipping (sometimes these are too crunchy for a quiet movie!). Or I will make cabbage leaf rollups with raw goat cheese and Dijon mustard. Olives and cherry tomatoes are also wonderful, especially during a pre-dinner movie.
These foods will pass through the body quickly and cleanly, as much more alkaline, high-vibration, water-rich options. And I find them to be much more satisfyingly crunchy and delicious!
Carl writes, “I was wondering about combining wine with a meal. Is it possible to combine wine with a meal and if so are there any exceptions or groups of food that should be avoided when drinking wine?”
Wine is a “safe poison”, which means that while it is certainly acid forming, it is allowable in small quantities. We recognize that it is not health generating, but rather slightly health deteriorating, and use it wisely.
We can get away with wine consumption because it is not a concentrated substance that leaves undigested waste behind in the body, because we are doing everything else right, and because we consume it in such moderation. It is not an ideal substance, but it makes this way of living something that can remain social, pleasurable, and not feel too stringent (ultimately giving this diet its longevity). When the first half of the day is spent concentrating on pulling acidic toxic waste out be flooding it with alkalinity, a small amount of wine will never hinder progress.
Like all of the “safe poisons” that make this lifestyle livable (like dark chocolate or goat milk ice cream), wine is best consumed alone and following an alkaline water-rich meal. Have your big salad with goat cheese, followed by your steamed veggies and marinara sauce, and then join your spouse/roommate/best friend for a relaxing glass of cabernet sauvignon. Sipping your wine along with your dinner is okay, too, just make sure you start with that big raw salad. And both red and white are equally acceptable.
Typically, steering clear of combining large amounts of liquids with your meal is the best course of action. It aids your “quick exit” eating strategy by allowing your undiluted stomach acids and enzymes do their work on your properly combined meal to quickly shuttle things along. But a properly poured glass of wine is only about 4-6oz, and will not work against you. The key is not to overindulge, and not to overindulge in too many “good poisons” at once. You wouldn’t want to follow dinner with a bottle of wine and a pile of chocolate.
Here’s the key: if the rest of your day is filled with delicious green juice and big raw salads, wine is not going to impede even the most advanced detoxer. It’s the processed flours, meats, and badly combined eating that will hold you back.
Liz writes, “I would like to incorporate the Ezekiel bread in my daily diet, and I have a couple of questions about how to do so.
1. Can I toast the Ezekiel bread?
2. Can I spread the raw honey or almond butter on the toasted bread or un-toasted bread?
3. And can I have bread at lunch after eating a large bowl of raw salad or is it better as a snack between meals?”
Thank you for your questions, Liz. Grains are wonderful transitional tools for beginning detoxers, children, and un-yeasted men. Proceed with caution if you are a woman who is dealing with the more finicky weights by eating grain very rarely, and only properly combined.
If you want to included the bread, feel that it’s right for where you are in your transition, and that you are able to eat it in moderation, here are some tips:
First, it is always better to eat sprouted grains in the company of water-rich alkaline veggies (like with or after a salad) to help escort it through the body. I make avocado, sprout, tomato and sea salt sandwiches for my boyfriend. And for children who can get away with less focus on combining principals, you can use the raw goat cheese or nut butters in a sandwich.
Toasting is fine, and a small amount of high quality butter is a nice topping. Adding honey is yummy for kids and gents, but really hard for a yeasty woman. Better to try stevia and cinnamon. And to be clear, goat cheese with bread is a miscombination that really only works for men and children and will have a harder time passing through the body. Nut butters will be an even slower exit.
Sprouted grain bread for women in general isn’t the best course of action, especially because most varieties include nuts and seeds and are in themselves improperly combined. Feel yourself out. If you can have a big salad and then eat only one piece once in a while you’re in good shape. If, instead, you go running for slices 3 and 4 several days in a row, you’ve got to set it aside. Instead, make personal pizzas using toasted thinly sliced eggplant, sauce, and cheese. Or use red pepper halves filled with sauce and cheese. For something comforting and sweet try hot tea with lemon and stevia and a slice of ginger root, or make your (organic, local, free range) omlette sweet instead of savory by dusting it with nutmeg and stevia. And don’t forget Natalia’s cabbage leaf rollups for a great sandwich option! You can roll avocado and salsa, or goat cheese and mustard for a perfect lunch or snack option.
Free will is the most important legacy we have from the Universal Spirit. We are constantly being presented with choices in life, “forks in the road” that lead to different places. Free will lets us choose. That ability to choose gives us the power to take our life in any direction we want . . . and create our future life. —Jon Peniel, from The Children of the Law of One
The fundamental religion of this culture is that of human dominion, and it does not matter so much whether one self-identifies as a Christian, a Capitalist, a Scientist, or just a regular member of this culture, one’s actions will be to promulgate this fundamentalist religion of unbridled entitlement and exploitation. This religion permeates every aspect of this culture. This is a big problem, a problem big enough that it is killing the planet. —Derrick Jensen
Freedom of choice is a concept that most of us in the Western world take for granted. We appear to have countless choices wherever we turn—whether it’s at the supermarket, the department store, the car dealership, a restaurant, or at nearly any other kind of retailer. But there is a difference between the illusion of choice and freedom of choice. How often do we pause to really think about what we’re supporting when we purchase, say, that cartload of groceries, or a new pair of jeans, or a cute new handbag? Does all this choice actually offer us real freedom or is it an illusion of freedom that sneakily enslaves us and harms many others? Well, let’s take a look at one such scenario.
Let’s say you want to buy a trendy new handbag by a big brand name, but you can’t afford it. So you go down to Chinatown, NYC, where everyone knows you can buy cheap designer handbag knockoffs. You figure most people can’t tell the difference between the knockoff and the real thing, anyway, so why not? Well, guess who’s busy making those cute little bags? Little children, particularly little girls, are being forced to manufacture them in terrible conditions. According to certain insiders, these young girls, ranging in age from 6 to 18, frequently get their legs broken so they cannot run and play. Driving this practice are shoppers, who come to the area specifically for this cheap specialty item, keeping it in high demand.
This kind of activity goes on day in and day out around globe, based on common consumer activities, and as members of modern society, we are all complicit. As much as we would like to pretend that we are not to blame for society’s routine injustices (whether wielded against people, wildlife, or the planet), the reality is that every single choice we make contributes either to the destruction of life on the planet or to the healing of it. It does us no good to palm off responsibility to others.
We must always be asking ourselves: Will the next choice I make be healing or destructive? Even if we are not ready yet to eat only local, seasonal foods or give up our cars to rely solely on public transportation, we can still start shopping for our veggies at the local farmer’s market, or decide to take the train to grandma’s house for a change.
We support whatever we spend our money on, and we cannot excuse our purchasing choices just because no activists are posting signs or picketing. It is our responsibility to research and understand where we are spending our money, energy, and resources—not just as a society, but as individuals. In fact, it is in our own best interest to do so, as members of the interconnected whole of life. We cast our vote multiple times a day, whether we know it or not. We, not some phantom authority sitting on high, are the ones with the power to destroy or heal.
Yes, the concept of voting with our wallets is simple enough to grasp, but it’s not always so simple to act upon. Why? Because our world is rife with consumer traps and snares that trip up even the most well-intentioned individuals. Even a pretty basket of fruit might have questionable origins. Still, we can and must continue to educate ourselves, in order to make increasingly informed decisions. Every life-generating step toward authentic health, love, and beauty makes a difference. Indeed, there are a lot of forces and false authorities working against this higher purpose, but that is all the more reason to reclaim our freedom of choice and learn how to wield it! We begin to do this by taking a moment to step back, dial down all the chatter, and start listening to the voice within.
Exercise: Clearing Your Inner-Space for Freedom of Choice
When we’re feeling powerless and inundated by the pressures of modern living—which, in today’s high-speed technocratic world, is the norm for most people—we become extremely vulnerable to all kinds of destructive habits, conditioned thinking, and peer pressure. Often this leads to such behaviors as binge eating and binge shopping, which only bring temporary numbing relief, but leave us feeling even worse and more powerless than before. The next time you feel yourself spiraling out of control in this way, before you completely cave or make another destructive choice, take a moment to try to quiet your mind, find your center, and honestly ask yourself the following questions:
• How many different voices and opinions are ringing in my ears right now, and which, if any, are authentically my own?
• Do I really need or even truly want this product that I’m shopping around for? Why am I agonizing so much over which brand or model to purchase? Are all these “choices” truly empowering me?
• Will eating all this greasy food actually make me feel better, or is it just a mindless habit that supports the food conglomerate and leaves me feeling bloated and ashamed?
• Why am I running myself ragged to attend all these social functions? Which of them are really important to me, and which are just a matter of keeping up appearances?
• Why do I spend so much of my free time e-mailing, IMing, and surfing the Internet? Do they really make me feel more connected to others? What am I sacrificing by choosing to do this?
These are just examples of the kinds of questions you might pause to ask yourself. They will help you to realize just how fragmented and scattered your thinking can be (the natural expression of a fragmented self) and honestly reassess your choices before you make another one you’ll regret. As long as you sign away your power and let the world make your choices for you, you will perpetuate all kinds of suffering—others’ and your own. If you do not call upon your own highest authority, these riptides of consumerism and social conditioning will carry you off, farther and farther away from yourself, into dangerous waters indeed. Worst of all, you probably won’t even know it until it’s too late, because you’ll have fallen for the illusion of choice again and again.
So take the time to pause, breathe, center yourself, and weigh your choices carefully. It does require a vigilance and concentration, but exercising your freedom of choice becomes easier with practice, and is ultimately a lot less work than suffering the consequences of mindless living! Don’t squander your life on false values and aspirations. Take this opportunity to ask yourself the important questions in life—e.g., What kind of person would I really like to be? Which qualities do I want to cultivate? What do I most admire in others, and what do I most deplore? Where do I most want to direct my time, resources, and energies? How would I like to impact the world around me?—and let your answers guide your every choice.
This concludes our tenth lesson. In the next edition of The Rose Program Insider, we will talk about the healing power of patience and perseverance.
It’s nearly Valentine’s Day—a time to celebrate romantic love. But who are we kidding? We cannot have a healthy, fun romantic life when our sexual organs are dysfunctional. The rates of cervical, ovarian and prostate cancer diagnoses are growing every day (to say nothing of breast cancer). HPV, ovarian cysts, erectile dysfunction, yeast infections, and the common over-the-counter complaints about the nether regions are simply <em>not</em> sexy!! Yet nearly everyone walking around today has something to complain about.
We must admit to the following truths:
1) “Normal” living is not clean living.
2) Unclean bodies produce compromised offspring.
3) There is far more to sexual responsibility than wearing a condom.
Photographic illusions of alluring models may sell products, but “normal” Americans with their distended body parts, bad breath and unhealthy sexual organs are anything but sexy. When you think about love this Valentine’s Day, pull back the veil of plastic illusions and discover the truth: sexy, loving relationships occur between men and women with clean-celled bodies living for the highest good of our micro- and macrocosmic communities. We must take responsibility for the health of our sexual and reproductive organs.
Just about every product that average Americans use on a daily basis negatively impacts sexual health. For example, it’s widely known that underarm deodorants deliver chemicals and heavy metals into the lymph and breast tissue. It’s also generally known that perfumes, dyes and preservatives in mainstream toiletries are carcinogenic and highly acidic to the body. But one particularly toxic product is often overlooked: the tampon.
We never want to jam things into organs that require a flow in the opposite direction. Mothers, tell your daughters: tampons fight the natural flow, creating reverse pressure and leading to ovarian cysts that then lead to bigger issues. Further, all tampons, even the ones at the health food stores, are loaded with highly carcinogenic chemicals that leach into the body—skyrocketing the potential for bladder and cervical cancer and cervical issues! Records show a dramatic discrepancy between the frequency of female cancers before and after the invention of the tampon.
Now, if you need to use a tampon now and then, it should not cause great harm, but use them sparingly! If you are having heavy, uncomfortable periods, it is a sign that you are out of balance. Once your body regains its balance, your periods will be shorter and lighter. The pill and IUDs are also extremely damaging with repercussions that are so far-reaching that they will need to be addressed separately. The bottom line is this: Women are poisoning themselves in the name of sex and do not know how to care for their sexual and reproductive health.
Men’s biggest sexual organ issues are prostate trouble and erectile dysfunction. The first is largely caused by the secum and sigmoid in the colon overfilling with waste, which presses into the groin, creating prostatitis. More than 90% of American men over the age of fifty have a prostate issue. The biggest factor that affects the prostate is a high-protein diet. And get this: excessive masturbation also leads to prostate issues, not to mention severely drains a man’s chi. However, when a man is with a woman, her pulsations give him energy, making up for some of his loss. And when real love is actually present in lovemaking, there can be no loss of chi drain since love and chi are the same thing.
According to the <em>I Ching, The Tao of Health, Sex and Longevity</em> and Mantak Chia’s works (which are too extensive to list here), men are really only meant to ejaculate ten to thirty-five times a year and ideally no more than once a week for optimal physical health. (Keep in mind that this is just what the ancients recommend for optimal health, so find the balance that is right for you and your relationship.)
Also, the semen of an unclean body carries a lot of microtoxins, which are not good for a man’s partner. This results in a lot of unpleasant reactions in women. The cleaner a woman is internally, the more extreme her reaction will be to the toxic semen. (Again, not sexy!) In fact, there is so much toxicity released in the average man’s semen that he can easily wind up with prostate problems if he doesn’t regularly release some of that built-up toxicity. This is why abstinence in modern men can also lead to prostate trouble.
Finally, we cannot ignore the most obvious part of romance: procreation. Our children are sick, sad and angry. Why? Because people who are internally unclean (their cells are carrying excessive waste matter) are having children, severely compromising the physical, emotional and mental wellbeing of these offspring. Children born to parents who eat and live “normally” take on all their parents’ internal problems in their DNA. Before you get too hard on yourself, it’s the build-up of generations and generations unfit consumption and degenerating health. This is how we’ve arrived at a state of widespread illness that has turned us into a pill-popping Prozac Nation.
However, there is a way to turn it all around. The more people cleanse internally through diet and clean living, the better for the future of our kids. <strong>Two clean, emotionally, mentally, and physically healthy people who feel deeply attracted to each other and share the vision of a clean, joyful world for their children—now that is sexy! </strong>
This is not a moral or religious conviction. It’s just nature. We are destroying nature with our illusions of what is sexy, romantic and desirable.
If you are trying to get pregnant or wish to have a child sometime in the future, you must understand that generations of poor diets and damaging lifestyles created the childhood diseases that now haunt our culture. A child’s health stems from the parents’ seed (semen) and soil (womb). In fact, the seed is much more of a determining factor in the health of the child than the soil, which means the father’s health is critical for the creation of a healthy child.
Everything we do to our bodies has a direct effect on us and a parallel effect on the future of our world. When we use products or ingest substances that offend the laws of nature, we not only create immediate imbalances in our being, but we pass those imbalances into other realms and stages of our lives, into the next generation, and ultimately to the future of our whole world. <em>How you treat your body and yourself matters—it matters to you, to your partner, to your children, and to your community at large. </em>
Fall in love with the truth this Valentine’s Day and see how sexy and beautiful life can be when it springs from the highest good!
