of us will probably recall childhood berry-picking expeditions with pleasure—even if we did sometimes end up being chased by bees! At the time it was our taste buds that drove us outdoors to search for some of nature’s more exotic sweets. Now it seems that the little morsels are good for us too.
Referring to berries in general as “nature’s sugars,” the Edgar Cayce readings recommended them for various reasons: to provide the diet with “. . . as much of iron as possible . . .” (4889-1), to “. . . not only . . . purify but clarify general conditions for the body” (1179-7), to serve as a food that is “. . . very high in the adding of B complex . . .” (3285-1), or to “. . . lend energy to nerve building forces and those that give to the blood force the eliminating properties . . .” (4730-1)
Statements such as these are fascinating enough, but when Cayce goes on to mention certain kinds of berries, the jam really thickens. Consider the following rather futuristic comment about blueberries found in reading 3118-1:
In the diet—keep to those things that heal within and without . . . and especially use the garden blueberry. (This is a property which someone, some day, will use in its proper place!)
Exactly which healing properties the readings have in mind here are not known, but the health benefits of blueberries are definitely in the news these days. The discovery some years ago of truly stunning antioxidant properties has received the most publicity. In a study conducted by the US Department of Agriculture’s Center for Aging at Tufts University of the antioxidant content of more than forty fruits and vegetables, blueberries soared above the rest.13 This is important because antioxidants are believed to help slow the aging process by destroying free radicals produced during metabolism. Free radicals are responsible for cellular damage associated with cancer, heart disease, arthritis, and the aging process.
The study, which used aging rats as subjects, noted improvements in balance, coordination, and short-term memory. The daily dosage would be the human equivalent of about half a cup—an amount with an antioxidant punch of 1,771 International Units of Vitamin E (about sixty times the RDA) and 1270 milligrams of Vitamin C (more than twenty-one times the RDA.)
The primary antioxidants in blueberries and their close cousin, bilberries, are anthocyanins, the flavonoid compounds that give them their color. This means that while blue is good, bluer is better. So, as the neutraceutical importance of cultivated berries grows, it seems that the darker wild berries will retain the most antioxidant properties.
For those who need still more encouragement to head for the produce department or better yet, a sunny meadow, other studies point to many additional health benefits. These claim that blueberries are strongly anticarcinogenic, promote urinary tract health, improve eyesight, and may also assist in cases of arthritis, angina, and diarrhea.
With blueberries winning the healthy produce prize, what are its strongest contenders? Interestingly enough, second place goes to Cayce-recommended Concord grape juice, with about two-thirds the antioxidant activity, followed by garlic, kale, strawberries, and spinach. All are great ways to chase the doldrums away, but by far the best is to find one’s own special source of scrumptious dark “blues.”
Fat: The Good, the Bad, and the Really Ugly—Part I
Like spaghetti westerns, dietary fats tend to inspire delight, disdain, or both at the same time. We either hate to love them or love to hate them. This ambivalence is fueled by understandable confusion. Some diets avoid all fats like the plague, while others are virtuously low in fat and still others include surprisingly large amounts. Staples like milk, meat, and eggs keep swinging in and out of favor; the once-lauded hydrogenated oils are now evil trans-fats, and bad cholesterol is gaining acceptance as a disease.
While controversy may be stimulating food for thought, it doesn’t digest so well. We need a place of harmony and balance for the fat in our food and in our flesh. The meal plans laid out in the Edgar Cayce readings have helped many to find this happy “middle” ground.
The best way to start is to look at the sources of fat in our diets. Very broadly, all are of either animal or vegetable origin. Most menu outlines found in the readings include items from both of these groups. Exceptions point to special, usually temporary, health considerations.
This installment will focus on animal fat. Cayce’s preferred sources are certain types of dairy products, egg yolks, and fish oils. It goes without saying that these should be organic so that the nutritional benefits are not outweighed by the risks.
In the readings, milk in moderate amounts is generally regarded as a body builder and an easily digested food so long as it is not added to coffee or tea or combined with citrus juices at a meal. This is especially true for children and those who need to gain weight and stamina as part of their recovery:
Now the body only needs rest, plenty of food . . . that digests well with the system. Milk, olive oil, and any condition that builds fat tissue in the system without taxing the digestive organism, or overtaxing liver or kidneys, see?
137-85
As that ideal weight is regained, the fat content in the milk can be reduced:
Whole milk isn’t always the best! It is best if you want to keep fat! That’s what they give their pigs—usually! But keep down calories and too much of fats.
257-240
In many cases, buttermilk and yogurt (Bulgarian milk) are preferred for their digestibility and other intestinal benefits:
Also we would add Yogurt in the diet as an active cleanser through the colon and intestinal system. This would be most beneficial, not only purifying the alimentary canal but adding the vital forces necessary to enable those portions of the system to function in the nearer normal manner.
1542-1
. . . Milk—this in some manners is taboo for the body, yet in others is excellent. Those of the Bulgarian milk, or of the buttermilk would be the better for the system. This is acid in its reaction, to be sure, in some cases. Not so here! for the bacilli as is created in system through same will produce effects such that we will have a cleansed colon by the use of same.
5525-1
Cheese is more problematical as it is often high in fat and may not combine well with carbohydrates. However, the path of caution lies in moderate amounts:
. . . A great deal of fats will be hard on the body, as indicated by the lack of ability for digesting greases in the present. Butter fats and cheeses and such are well to be taken in moderation.
1409-9
Approval is also given to butter, advised in small amounts in numerous readings:
In the diets, keep away from fats of most any nature, though butter—to be sure—or milk, may be taken in moderation.
189-7
Mornings—citrus fruits with little else, unless brown toast and butter, or coffee and toast and butter, or rice cakes, or the like.
265-7
Some readings clearly propose butter as a substitute for meat fat when preparing various foods:
Coddled
