obesity Archives | Natural Health with Merrilyn Hope

List Of Heritage Apples Rich In Cancer-Fighting Phytonutrients

Natural Remedies

Apples are a wonderful health food. ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’, we used to say, and I think there is some truth in this old adage.

Apples are a great natural cleanser of the digestive system, including the intestines. This makes them very helpful in preventing or treating cancer. A good heritage apple eaten daily will help lower cholesterol, thus helping to prevent heart attack and stroke, and provide many valuable vitamins and nutrients as well.

For best health benefits, of course it is best to eat the whole, unpeeled apple. Even the pips of the apple are benefial, as these contain laetrile, or amygdalin, also called Vitamin B17, which has been used to good effect in treating cancer. Be cautious about eating too many pips, though – the pips of one or two apples per day should be more than enough for a person of average build who is in good health. More pips could be taken if one was treating cancer or another degenerative disease, but it is important to get some advice on an appropriate cleansing diet, preferably with the use of enemas, in the case of treating cancer and other serious disease with the help of laetrile. You can over-do the pip therapy, as the pips also contain traces of cyanide.

If you can grow or procure apples heritage apples, and you eat at least one a day, then you are less likely to develop serious degenerative disease, such as cancer, than if you ate no apples, or ate commercially grown modern varieties. This is a proven fact: In the February 2005 publication of the ‘Growing Today’ magazine, I found an article about the proven benefits of eating heritage apples in preference to newer, commercial varieties.

The article also quotes a 2002 National Public Health study from Helsinki:

The study group of people who ate several heritage apples per day over many years had not any signs of serious diseases such as cancer, arthritis, obesity or diabetes at the end of the study. The health of these people was far superior in every way to the people who ate few, or no apples per day.

The fact is that heritage apples, or seedling trees which have been grown from scratch in your garden, have a higher amount of phytonutrients than the modern, commercial types of apples. Supermarket varieties are mostly grown for their appearance, and their storage qualities, rather than the amount of ‘goodness’ within the apple.

Heritage apple trees, and seedling trees, are generally much hardier and need less attention than modern commercial strains, as they are more bug resistant, and disease resistant than their modern rivals. This means that they need less spraying, whether or not you use organic or commercial poison methods.

At the top of the list of heritage apples, according to studies done in NZ and elsewhere, are the Monty’s Surprise and Hetlina apple varieties. These two have the highest amount of phytonutrients than any other apple trees tested so far. The russet apples are also high on the list.

Generally speaking, any of the heritage apple trees will likely be higher in nutrients than any shop-bought variety which has been grown for its looks.

Here are some to consider: (note – this list will continue to grow – i will continue to add information about each variety)

Belle de Boskoop: A very old heritage variety which originated in Boskoop, Netherlands. It is a common tree throughout Europe: It is a distinctive tree, willowing out from the upper centre quite beautifully with abundant flowers followed by large handsome apples which are crisp and tart and sweeten with storage. Good for cooking, eating, and for cider.

Boskoop Rouge: A version of the Belle de Boskoop, but with a redder skin.

Cox’s Orange

Gravenstein: This apple has apparently been known since the 1600’s. It originated in Denmark. A New Zealand variety of the Gravenstein is the red-fleshed, sweet-tasting, juicy Albany Beauty, which originates from the Albany area north-west of Auckland.

Hetlina: One of the highest after Monty’s Surprise for riboflavin content and other phytonutrients.

Kentish Filbasket

Lord Wolsely

Monty’s Surprise: According to ‘Thunder Mountain’s nursery list, Monty’s Surprise is a ‘unique New Zealand seedling variety’ from the lower part of the North Island. It is very resistant to disease and is therefore capable of being grown without chemical sprays. It was re-discovered by Tree Crops Association member Mark Christensen in the 1990’s, the original Monty’s Surprise tree being around 90 years old.. Monty’s Surprise is a great cooking and dessert apple, and, eaten whole, pips, skin and all, is a powerful disease inhibitor. ‘This is to the best of our knowledge, the best anti-cancer eating apple in the world.’ (Thunder Mountain says)

Northern Spy: This is a well-known apple commonly grown in the northland areas of New Zealand, where clay and wet soils often prevail. It has excellent resistance to wooly aphids. Because of its hardiness, it is often used as a root stock for other varieties. It grows from 3 to 5 metres high.

Reinette du Canada

Sidero Cidre

Sturmer

Takapuna Russet

Wealthy

Worcester Pearmain

Yarlington Mill

Causes of Cancer Article In NZ Listener 2015 Has Major Omissions

Cancer Is A Political Disease, as Doctor Samuel Epstein famously wrote.

This article about cancer, which featured in this week’s NZ Listener, May 16-22, 2015, was yet another gloss-over of the real, underlying causes of most cancers.

Remember that book by Samuel B. Epstein, ‘The Politics Of Cancer’? Epstein’s concerns in the 1970,s or early ’80’s are as relevant today as they were then.

One thing the Listener article had right: Just because you carry a gene which might increase your chances of getting cancer, carrying the gene does not mean that you need to succumb to the disease. Most cancers can be prevented through eating the right foods, and living a healthy lifestyle which incorporates regular exercise. You do not need to run out and get a breast cut off to avoid getting cancer, like some well-known film stars have done.

However, if the vegetables, fruit and meat you are buying are devoid of all the main nutrients they are supposed to carry, because of artificial fertilizers ruining natural fertility of the soil, and they are contaminated by the use of various agricultural poisons used in producing them, then diet may not help much in preventing cancer. For diet to prevent or cure cancer, then it is imperative that a clean, organic source of food be found.

Point One On The Omissions In Listener Article: It failed to mention that the widespread poisoning of the planet by agrichemical giants is the main cause of cancer. If we don’t get poisoned through agriculture, then the local council might do it for us: Governments and councils all over the world support these companies by allowing these poisons on our parks, in nature reserves, and around our towns on the pavements.

Point Two: It also declined to mention that poverty, or inequal distribution of the world’s wealth, is another major cause of obesity, which in turn goes hand in hand with higher cancer risk, as well as heart disease and diabetes. This is because vegetables and fresh fruit are expensive, whereas take-away foods such as McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried, are relatively cheap, which is why many poorer families rely on these second-rate choices. Apart from the obvious high-fat in takeaway foods, they contain high levels of genetically-modified items, such as corn, which are contaminated with glyphosphate and other agrichemicals.

On point one: No matter how good the food you eat, chances are it has been exposed to quantities of glyphosphate poison, found in RoundUp, as well as many other contaminants.

The World Health Organization has recently announced that glyphosphate, an active component in RoundUp weedkiller, ‘probably causes cancer’.

Agrichemical giants have argued for a long time that ‘there is no proof that poisons such as glyphosphate are harmful’, and they have aggressively suppressed information which might alert people as to their health risk. At last, WHO have come out with an albeit half-hearted attack on glyphosphate and Monsanto’s RoundUp.

The world-wide push for countries to sign the TPPA trade agreement is going to weaken the power of governments further: It will effectively eradicate our right to free speech, as these chemical giants will rule under USA law, which currently gives them the right to sue if we harm their sales. This means anybody claiming that these poisons harm your health will be sued, just to shut them up.

The end result of this corruption is that our food will continue to be contaminated by the major seed and herbicide-pesticide manufacturers, and will probably become even more toxic with their increased powers, once they have shut down free speech and any adversaries of their ethics.

Monsanto have been using ‘RoundUp Ready’ seeds for a long time now. Being so-called ‘Round-Up Ready’ means that the plant has been developed to resist glyphosphate poison. But it also means that the food, which has come from genetically modified seeds so that it can withstand glyphosphate weed-killer, will be highly contaminated with this poison. The plant may survive the glyphosphate weedkiller, but it absorbs the poison, and then we ingest it.

75% or more of the world’s corn and soybeans are now thought to be genetically modified seeds which are so-called ‘RoundUp-Ready’, which means they can withstand liberal use of glyphosphate-containing RoundUp poison.

So, so sad to see John Campbell leaving TV3 and his programme ‘Campbell Live’. This is a political move, as John is the only journalist who deals honestly and helpfully on all manner of political, social and environmental issues, and I bet the National government is overjoyed he has been pushed out. Now we have no one to defend the poor, or the environment, or to keep the politicians honest.

My guess is that, more than anything, TV3 has come under pressure from the government, who wanted John Campbell quietened down on the serious worries we all have to do with our government and their secret negotiations to sign the TPPA with America, our government’s dubious spy agency, and other things, such as unaffordable housing in Auckland and rocketing house prices.

It has nothing to do with Campbell’s ratings. I believe these have been trumped down in the same way that National’s ratings are trumped up – to suit the government. John Campbell is probably the most loved TV personality ever, and his ratings are still much higher than those of other important programmes run by TV3, or any other station.

A friend of mine told me angrily this week that policital issues should be kept separate from health ones, and that I am wrong to include both. Funny – I pulled all the obvious political stuff from my health site when it was being hacked regularly, around the time just prior to the election three years ago.

I guessed that the reason was political, and that the National lot were to blame. My son discovered that the site had definitely been hacked, and that an ad for ‘viagra for sale’ had been inserted within my articles, along with other examples of sabotage. One sure way to get your site ruined in its ratings is by sticking ads like this onto it.

Then, just two weeks before this last election, someone invited a response from me, in a comment that they made on my site. So, for the first time in around three years, I mentioned the National government, whom I had criticized earlier. I said that my site had been hacked because of my views on the current government, which I consider to be their obliviousness to the urgencies of social issues such as housing, and jobs, their lack of concern for the environment, and their greedy desire to sell off every part of our country for quick profit.

Within an hour of writing this, my whole site was totally blocked. I was effectively silenced, not able to answer comments, not able to agree with the arguments put forward by Nicki Hager, that the National government had serious bloggers out there to undermine the other parties. Now I knew how serious this movement to protect the status quo really was – that they have the power to stop any protesters or dissenters, by de-activating their sites. And I couldn’t write about it, because my site was down.

The site wasn’t able to be restored until two days AFTER the election, because the ‘WordPress’ help-desk was conveniently shut until then. Well – Great to see all this stuff printed in ‘The Listener’ on diet, and what foods to eat for keeping healthy and avoiding cancer. But we, who have long held serious doubts on the belief systems of the medical establishment, knew all this a long, long time ago.

Weight Loss Research Shows Thunder God Vine Slows Appetite

Natural Remedies

Harvard Medical School has just published a paper in the science journal ‘Cell’ on 20th May, 2015 which indicates the Chinese herb ‘Thunder God Vine’ could be very promising for curing obesity.

Radio New Zealand gave us a report on the new findings today, Saturday 23 May, 2015, just before 1PM.

With the numbers of obesity growing throughout the world now – over a third of the population is supposed to come under the obese category – the need to find a non-toxic and effective remedy for weight loss is becoming urgent.

A selection of herbal remedies, known to be helpful in weight loss, were used in the recent Harvard studies: The one which came top of the list for its effectiveness was the Thunder God Vine. It has the remarkable capacity to slow down the appetite because of a compound called Leptin.

Leptin warns the brain that you have had enough to eat. People who are deficient in Leptin eat too much because they still feel hungry, even after eating a full meal.

This ancient herb, which is native to China, Korea and Japan, has been used in Chinese medicine for centuries.

Research on mice at Harvard has proved that Leptin in the Thunder God Vine reduced appetite, causing weight loss. A reduced food intake resulted in a 45% weight loss over several weeks of taking the herb each day.

And there have been no toxic effects observed in the use of the herb.

The Leptin within the Thunder God Vine looks to be very promising for curing obesity: It has the capacity to awaken the appetite centre in the brain, so that instead of ignoring those signals to stop eating, when you already have a full tummy, the brain will have the right response. With the help of Leptin from the Thunder God, you should feel full after a meal, and not want to overeat.

Of course, the herb will not be enough on its own in maintaining a healthy body. Adequate exercise must be taken.

Food choices should still be sensible ones, with sugary foods, wheat flour breads and cakes all omitted from the diet Yeast products should be avoided too.

It is really best to avoid dairy foods as well, and use soya milk instead of dairy milk. Remember that the pastures where dairy cows graze have been sprayed with many chemicals, and these chemicals get absorbed in concentration in the cow’s milk. Some of these chemicals can cause cancer and other health problems, such as obesity and depression. See the paragraph on herbicides and pesticides below.

Another negative aspect of dairy milk is that it is spoilt for human consumption by pasteurization. Pasteurized milk is difficult to digest properly, and many people have a problem with it. Dairy milk, and especially pasteurized dairy milk, causes mucous to form in the intestines, and this milk makes a home for intestinal parasites, or worms.

If the milk is not digested properly, then it causes bloating in the bowel, which causes the stomach to swell. Wheat products can do the same thing. Wheat bread is especially bad when it is made with yeast, as the yeast tends to continue fermenting in the intestines.

Food additives in the way of colourings, preservatives and flavourings, are a must to avoid. Many of these chemicals have very damaging effects on the health, as well as the appetite.

Another thing to be careful to avoid is herbicides and pesticides, as these can interfere with the body and brain functions in many ways which are damaging to health. The glyphosphate weedkiller such as RoundUp is very bad, and I believe that the world-wide use of this is one major cause of obesity. It damages the natural intestinal flora, killing off the beneficial bacteria and increasing others, such as candida albicans, which causes yeast infections.

Basically, RoundUp and many other agricultural chemicals alter the balance of organisms in the bowel. When candida gets out of control, it means you do not digest your food properly, your immune system is weakened, and you are likely to fall sick. Deficiencies in nutrients can arise, which can lead you to be continually hungry.

When these chemicals are sprayed continually around your environment, then you really are in trouble.

The other thing that some of these herbicides and pesticides do is alter the hormonal secretions: The pineal and pituitary glands, I find, are noticeably affected. These centres seem to become inflamed and disconnected from the brain after exposure to weed-killer such as glyphosphate-containing RoundUp. These important energy centres can get out of control, doing their own thing regardless of what the body needs. The disturbances in their normal functioning can cause a feeling of alienation from the world, as well as depression and appetite disturbances.

Last, but not least, meditation and yoga can help enormously to de-stress the body and brain. Yoga Nidra, an ancient practice of relaxation, is a wonderful technique which can relax the brain, allowing you to reprogramme yourself, devoid of the emotional clutter which prevents you from really enjoying your life.

Natural Remedies

Culpeper says of Sage that it ’causes the hair to become black’.

Garden sage has many therapeutic uses.

In the garden, its flowers provide medicine and nectar for the bees, as well as a herbal tonic to the neighbouring plants.

It is well-known as an aid to oral hygiene. It has strong antiseptic qualities and is supposed to whiten tooth enamel.

Sage is still used today in some tooth-pastes. It is reputedly one effective remedy for bleeding gums, and improving gum health: The crushed fresh leaves are massaged several times a day onto the gums and teeth.

The tea is gargled to relieve sore throats, colds and flu, and ulcers in the mouth.

It can be effective to reduce fevers, and has been used in the past for thyphoid fever. (see ‘Herbal Remedies and Homeopathy’ published by Geddes and Grosset.)

It is a valuable nerve medicine, and is a useful stomach remedy for improving a weak appetite.

Natural Herbal Hair Dye and Tonic: Sage can help restore healthy hair and improve the colour.

Strong sage tea encourages hair growth and darkens the hair, if it is used on a regular basis. Many herbalists describe it in their writings: see John Heinerman’s ‘Encyclopedia of Fruits Vegetables and Herbs’.

Rosemary is another wonderful herb which can help hair growth, but it does not have such a darkening effect on the hair, as sage does.

Recipe For Sage Hair Dye: Here is a simple, natural hair dye and tonic which you can try. It is perfectly safe to use, as it does not contain any harmful additives such as you might find in commercial dyes for darkening the hair.

Take two cups of fresh sage leaves and put into a stainless steel saucepan.

Add one cup of dry black tea leaves

Add half a cup of cider vinegar and eight cups of water.

Simmer very gently, with no lid, for one hour on a very low heat. You should have around half the original quantity of liquid left at the end of an hour. If you need to add a little more water, make sure you do so well before you finish simmering the brew. If you add more water at the end of the simmering, then your mixture will not keep so well.

Take off the heat after an hour of simmering. Set aside to cool.

Once your sage mixture has cooled properly, strain it off.

To the liquid remaining add the same amount of vodka.

Put into a bottle with a screw-top lid and store in a cool place.

Massage around a tablespoonful of the sage infusion into the hair each day. Use more or less, depending on how much hair you need to cover.

Massage the sage tonic well into the roots of the hair as well, so that it feeds the scalp and hair follicles. Massaging the scalp with the sage tonic will help the hair to grow again.

The oils in the sage leaves will put a natural shine to the hair.

Once the hair is sufficiently darkened, which may take several weeks, you can reduce the amount of applications each week. Once or twice a week may be enough to maintain the darker colour.

Sage is really very good for the hair in so many ways.

Alternative Sage Tonic Without Alcohol: You could make up your sage tea without the alcohol if you wish. Only, remember that your mixture will not keep for longer than a week, and it must be kept in the fridge. You could make up a lesser amount, enough to last a week, and then make up a fresh brew of tea for the following week.

My new book is available on Amazon:

Yoga Nidra Deep Relaxation

Soya For Weight Loss And Lowering Cholesterol

Castor Oil And Ginger For Weight Loss

March Against Monsanto Planned New York 23 May 2015

Soya Can Help Prevent Cancer And Heart Disease

Natural Remedies

Cancer Prevention: Soya Beans have enormous health benefits. They contain plenty of fibre and rich amounts of cancer-preventing phyto-chemicals. They also have good amounts of Co-Enzyme Q10. These factors have all been shown to reduce the risk of breast, colon and prostate cancers, as well as heart disease and Alzheimer’s.

Eating soya foods on a daily basis is also a preventative for obesity, osteroporosis, and for lowering cholesterol levels.

Soya oil is one of the richest foods in Co-Enzyme Q10. It has 9.2 milligrams per 100 grammes.

Amount Of Soy Needed To Help Prevent Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease:

25 grammes of soya each day is the recommended amount to give you the necessary phyto-oestrogens and co-Q10 to prevent or treat breast cancer, or prostate cancer. Two and a quarter cups of soya milk each day, which is one pint, will give you 25 grammes of soy protein.

Of course, if you were using other soya products such as tofu, or tempeh, then you would use a lesser amount of soya milk on those days.

The benefits of soya have long been known to the Japanese, where soy is eaten as the main source of protein. Soy protein is the ideal substitute for meat, as it contains all eight of the essential amino acids needed for a complete protein.

People in Japan have a lower incidence of all the above-mentioned cancers due to their exceptionally healthy diet. This includes soya products, fish, seaweeds, greens and fermented foods. These are all mineral and vitamin rich foods. The problematic foods of the West, wheat, sugar and dairy products, are not consumed widely in Japan, which accounts for the healthier condition of the average Japanese person. This may not always be the case, unfortunately, as reports indicate that the traditional diet is gradually becoming eroded with these unhealthy items which contribute to illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity and cancer in the UK and USA.

Organic, GE-Free, GMO-Free Soya Beans

Try to avoid buying soya products which are genetically modified. Monsanto developed the ‘RoundUp Ready’ soya bean seed which is resistant to the glyphosphate-containing RoundUp weedkiller. This means that the soya bean will survive the weedkiller, but the weedkiller chemicals will penetrate the bean, making it a threat to health. All GMO seeds should be avoided. Monsanto’s genetically modified seeds are proliferating all over the world, and farmers whose crops are accidentally cross-pollinated with Monsanto’s seeds are being sued for what is essentially Monsanto’s big ‘mistake’. A mistake which is very profitable to them. Read more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_soybean#Roundup_Ready_Soybean

“the World Health Organization has declared that glyphosate, the
active ingredient in Roundup, “probably” causes cancer in people.” And
therefore we suggest GMO Free/Organic Soy products.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/28/business/energy-environment/decades-after-monsantos-roundup-gets-an-all-clear-a-cancer-agency-raises-concerns.html?_r=0

Other Sources Of Information:
Ballentine, Rudolph, M.D.,’Diet and Nutrition, a holistic
approach’, published by The Himalayan International Institute of Yoga
Science, 1978.
Glenville, Marilyn, ‘Natural Alternatives To Dieting’, published by
Kyle Cathie Limited, London, 1999.
Holford, Patrick, & Burne, Jerome,’Food Is Better Than Medicine’,