We are all striving to have healthy and happy lives. Managing good lifestyle choices including the consumption of quality, fresh, organic plant-based foods, drinking plenty of pure water, exposing ourselves to a decent amount of daily fresh air and sunlight, incorporating sufficient daily exercise, enjoying plenty of good rest, being temperate in all things and trusting in the love and benevolence of God, all assist in improving our health and happiness.
However, in contrast, the world is experiencing a shocking rise in depression among adults and children. For example, according to a new international study, “…One in three first-year university-level students report symptoms of a mental health disorder” . Of these, “Major depression was the most common disorder...” See – https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/sep/13/one-in-three-freshers-show-symptoms-of-mental-health-disorder .
How can we spot signs of depression ?
“Psychological symptoms. The psychological symptoms of depression include:
“For over 70 years, traditional treatment for diabetes was a high fat, low carbohydrate diet with insulin by injection, or pills by mouth. Justification for prescribing the high fat diet was that it keeps the blood sugar from rising too much after a meal, and it prevents too much sugar from spilling into the urine. But the disadvantages of fatty diets far outweigh the advantages. This type of diet does not reduce blood sugar, nor the insulin requirement to handle the excess sugar. In fact, it tends to make the body less sensitive to insulin and induces resistance to it. Elevation of blood fats leads to hardening of the arteries. It promotes the accumulation of ketone bodies in the body tissue and fluids, and accelerates aging.
Other diets that have been used to control diabetes are high protein, high carbohydrate and high fiber diets. Protein diets seem to prevent a significant rise in blood sugar, but are “impractical, monotonous, expensive, promote kidney and liver failure and hardening of the arteries, and are usually high in fat,” hence not recommended.
Refined carbohydrate diets (sugar, white flour, white rice, etc.) are rapidly absorbed, elevating the blood sugar after meals, as well as increasing triglycerides. Such a diet is a detriment in treating diabetes, and is no treatment at all. However, when complex carbohydrates–whole grain bread and cereals, brown rice, bran, fruit, vegetables and no refined sugar–compose most of the meal, the disadvantages of a high carbohydrate diet disappear. The body better utilizes the carbohydrate and glucose in the food. When mildly diabetic persons switch from 45% refined carbohydrates to 85% complex carbohydrates, their glucose tolerance test improves.
After a low fiber meal (the typical American diet), blood sugar shoots up rapidly. This stimulates a spurt of insulin into the blood stream. The resulting overabundance of insulin sends the blood sugar down as rapidly as it ascended. With high fiber meals there is less rapid rise in blood sugar. Fiber slows the digestive process so that absorption of glucose proceeds more slowly. A high insulin level itself causes what we might call “irritation” of blood vessels and increases risks of hypertension, stroke, and heart attack.
Most Americans on a high meat diet eat between 14 and 20 grams of plant fiber every day. The ideal vegetarian diet provides 65-70 grams. Insulin must hook up on one side with sugar (glucose), and the other side must slide into insulin “docking sites” (receptors) on cells. For sugar to be properly utilized, the docking sites must be filled with insulin. Here is another advantage of a high fiber diet–the fiber increases the number of docking sites. Obese individuals have fewer insulin receptors, hence fewer sites for sugar-hooked insulin to slide into. Fasting for several days, until the blood glucose returns to normal, multiplies insulin docking sites. This usually takes three to five days, and should be done only in type II (or “adult onset”) diabetics. Type I diabetics should never fast. If the person is obese, fasting for a day or two a week, non-consecutively, can be very helpful for diabetic control.
In addition to decreasing the rapid rise of blood sugar after a meal and increasing the number of insulin docking sites on cells, a high fiber diet lowers blood fats, helping to carry cholesterol out of the body. It keeps the blood sugar at a lower level than a fiber-free meal. Triglycerides (blood fats) and cholesterol are also decreased, thus lessening the risk of coronary heart attack.
Exercise along with the diet is important and cannot be overemphasized. Exercise enhances the sensitivity of the tissues to insulin, increasing the number of insulin receptors. It helps decrease body fat, thus making people more sensitive to insulin.
We have found over the years that a total vegetarian diet, high in fiber and the unrefined carbohydrates, low in fats; coupled with a regular exercise program; and weight control is the very best to control diabetes and to prevent the serious complications of this disease. By far the majority of people stay on the program. They enjoy the food, for it is palatable, practical and attractive. The whole family can benefit from eating this food. Most of those who stay on the program never need to take pills or insulin again.
(For much more information, see our book entitled Diabetes and the Hypoglycemic Syndrome, available from Country Life Natural Food Store; phone 706-323-9194.)”
See source – https://www.ucheepines.org/diabetes-adult-type/
During the period of most active growth, the oil glands of the skin go through an extended period of development, along with other glands of the body. in some young people, these glands become clogged, swollen, and inflamed. They are prone to infection. The following suggestions may be helpful:
1. Keep hands clean, nails short, and never touch the face except with a clean tissue. Most people with acne have an unconscious habit of frequently touching the face, the eyes, or the lips.
2. Keep hair clean by frequent shampooing. Never allow hair to touch face or shoulders. Have a daily shower.
3. Drink enough water to keep the urine almost colorless, as good hydration keeps the secretions of the body more fluid. Spread a thin film of lotion on face after careful washing of both hands and face to prevent all dryness.
4. Be regular with mealtime, bedtime, arising time, planned water-drinking time, personal hygiene (including a BM after each meal, even if a cold water, single ear-syringe enema must be taken to obtain it), etc. Regularity in all things is essential.
5. Practice good posture, deep breathing, and daily exercise out-of-doors for one hour or more. Good circulation to the face is important.
6. Leave off all animal products until the condition is under control. Read labels to be sure. Milk is especially harmful.
7. Do not mix too many foods in one meal or a chemical warfare will occur inside you. Keep dishes and menus simple.
8. Fast one day weekly. Eat all meals at the same time daily, and nothing between meals.
9. Gas-forming foods should be used in small quantities and chewed well, taking small bites. These include: beans, corn, apples, raisins, bananas, prune juice, and apple juice. Spend 30-45 minutes on a meal, chewing food to a cream before swallowing it. Never overeat.
10. Use the following diet:
a. Avoid sugar and honey.
b. Restrict salt to 1/2 teaspoon daily.
c. Avoid, entirely, all chemicals that end in \\\”-ine,\\\” such as nicotine, caffeine (coffee, tea, and colas — and all other soft drinks), theobromine (chocolate), and all medicines that might contain them.
d. Get plenty of vitamin A from the daily use of an abundance of richly colored green and yellow foods.
e. Eat liberally of fruits and vegetables, moderately of grains, and sparingly of nuts (Yes. You may have a few unsalted nuts, but never between meals.)
11. Get some sun on the face each day the sun shines.
12. Put hot applications of golden seal tea on the most severely inflamed lesions.
