The Benefits of OLIVES for blood pressure

According to Gaia Herbs, olives have been cultivated for at least 3,000 years, probably longer. They help us with...STRESS. Olive oil extract is said to lower blood pressure as it is anti-inflammatory.

Gaia Herbs / Olive Leaf Extract

Olive Leaf Tea


If I had the time, the next degree I would pursue would be in nutrition and herbology. Yep, returning to mother nature's medicine cabinet. Think about it. All of our medicines are from botanical chemistry.

Our botanists are studying in the Amazon now, looking for that cure for cancer, so they can replicate it in a lab, patent it, turn it into a product and we can pay $150. a pill. Ow. For the better good.

As our healthcare system grinds deeper and deeper into people's pockets, and into their minds with ever increasing fear-based marketing campaigns we have to wonder...medical is considered one of the safest job markets today. Ouch.

IS all this fear marketing...um...making us sick? Could it be? And what do we do about it?

I think it's about honoring our grandmothers and our great grandmothers. It's about coming back to simple and back to the earth. When a single pill can be invoiced at $250. you have to wonder what we are doing? What have we come to honor, and what do we fear?

I thought about my ancestors, and my little greek uncle Mike had olive trees, fig trees, date trees in his yard. We would go to visit, and he would take us into the back yard and pick from his trees and feed us. Olives. Figs. Dates. Staples to the Greek. Are they healthy for us? You bet!

And you know, an olive tree's leaves treat infections and are an anti-oxidant. (I wonder if someone has a recipe for olive leaf soup or something?) Olives are anti bacterial, anti-fungal, and immune boosting. They are anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory. Go Uncle Mike. BTW-He died in his sleep at 96. His brother was 97, and their father died at...ready...108.

MUCOID PLAQUE

Keeping it simple, dairy, cheese, anything fermented which means vinegars, malts, and alcohol as well as soy, are all mucus forming. Wheat, and corn are irritants for many if not most people. Pastas, sugars,flours, meat, also appearing in the foods to not eat list.

If you stick with the rawish, you are definitely going to start moving mucus. That means that you may feel MORE congested for awhile. Why? Because you have to move the mucus out! We're back to where we started. Gotta get it out. So, cleanse, exercise, sweat in the sauna.

Olive oil, quinoa, seaweeds, all your fresh-hey ok bananas are on the acid side, you know what? I figure fresh is best, and I leave it at that as to their acid alkaline lists. Man-we could make ourselves crazy. Oh wait. We DID!

Top of the list are all the things we have been eating- and raving about on our raw-ish quest...

Parsley, kiwi, mango, dates, figs, cantaloupe, cayenne, papaya, asparagus, raisins, pineapple, apples, garlic, avocados, celery, lettuce, raspberries, almonds, jerusalem artichokes, fresh coconut, miso, leafy herbs, leeks, mushrooms, tomatoes, olives, sesame seeds, lemons, cabbage, oranges, peas. We've had ALL these in our recipes.

Slightly acid are: blueberries, pistacheos, brazil nuts, kidney beans, pecans, plums and prunes, sunflower seeds, cashews, cranberries. SLIGHTLY acid.

Dr YOUNG ph miracle program if you want a reference.
 FREEDOM YOU Personally, my suggestion is to stick with what your body is telling you because so far...YOU ARE RIGHT ON!

Italian/Pizza Flax Crackers Recipe

Italian/pizza Flax Crackers:
3dozen

3/4 cup sun dried tomato powder (you can make this using dry sun dried tomatos put in high powered blender or cuisinart -- the drier they are the better)
1/2 cup purified water (additional water to thin too)
1 1/2 cups chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped onion
1-1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp italian seasoning
1 tsp crushed garlic
1/4 cup mixed fresh herbs
2 cups flaxseeds soaked 8-12 hours in 4 cups purified water (do not rinse or drain)
(you can mix golden flax and regular flax too...)

-combine sun dried tomato powder and water stir into paste
-combine sun dried tomato paste red bell pepper onion salt lemon juice italian seasoning and garlic in high powered blender or cuisinart
-blend or process mixture adding more water to thin if necessary
-transfer mixture to large mixing bowl add flazseeds and stir well to combine
-spread batter evenly on dehydrator tray lined with teflex sheets or other non-stick sheet (parchment paper works - but best with teflex) score the crackers into size shape you want
-dehydrate 105 degrees for 12 hours or until completely dry and crisp
-flip onto mesh dehydrator screens peel off teflex and continue to dehydrate for 24 hrs or until completely dry
-allow to cool store in sealed glass container for upto 3 months at room temp - refrigerator or freezer for up to 6 months.

(to flip trays you can put one tray on top of the other making a sandwich and flip around onto new tray---then you can easily peel of teflex backing)

List of what to Grow in Your Herb Garden

Growing an herb garden is easy even if you have a small space because they do great in pots.

Investing in fresh herb plants in the spring is also a small price compared to buying fresh in your grocery store, although it is NICE to have it available.

Outside in partial sun areas so they don't burn, or inside in a sunny window, north/south is often best, and you can have fresh herbs to cook with on a daily basis. I have a small pot of basil in a sunny kitchen window and I snip a few leaves every day.

Apartment dwellers with balconies or sunny windows can also have fresh herbs!

Here's what I plant every year-and some are perennial depending on your areas but not here in the mountains. Now that I am in the high mountains though, NONE of them are perennial. 1000 feet higher makes a huge growing difference.

BASIL-annual and very very sensitive to temperature changes. I lost 2 last year with sudden frosts. BUT cutting fresh basil is absolutely the best thing ever, and you can keep it in the kitchen in water.

GARLIC CHIVES-easy easy and plentiful. Snip a few here and there to add to things like eggs, and the purple and pink flower clusters are beautiful!

PARSLEY-easy to grow and beautiful. Will seed and regrow year after year in your garden. Lovely everywhere. Parsley isn't just decorative you know! Add it to your green juice for extra cleansing action.

SAGE - include several varieties. I like the purple sage. These are perennial and you will have an endless supply from these hardy plants.

MINT - lots of varieties available, and again you can plant several. Perennial and easy to grow. I like mint and if you like mojitos you will need PLENTY! Mint is hardy, and will take over if you plant it in the yard, but it's a great edible ground cover.

OREGANO - I like Italian - what can I say. There are usually several to plant. These are perennial and take a bit to establish but then are quite hardy.

CILANTRO - not so easy to find yet, but it should be available where you are

CURRY - yes it's a plant. It smells wonderful.

LAVENDER - oh so wonderful to pick and dry as well as use fresh, and the wonderful smell in your garden-wow.

I like to keep my herbs in pots so I can move them inside in the winter. Most will winter over inside without a problem, and I also keep them in pots on the deck so that I know the dog can't pee on them. Ew. But I have had them in the yard before and they do well for the most part.

Herbs love to be trimmed and remember, when you are cooking fresh it takes less to give your dish a kick!

These are my usual favorites and if you have some others, post them. Even Home Depot sells them now, so haapy herbing! Remember, herbs are for more than taste. They are mother earth's medicine cabinet.

GARLIC for life!

Being Greek, we love garlic. I don't find the smell offensive, I love the taste. But garlic has so many life enhancing, and health enhancing benefits you can't even imagine. I think that if you do nothing else but add garlic daily to your diet you will feel a difference.

But! I just did a radical self healing intervention, with great success and I want to share it.

Some history:

I've always seemed to have a bit of athelete's foot. I watch it, and control it, but it doesn't seem to go. Years and years if you know what I mean. But, since going to the east coast every month, and it being much more humid there than the high desert I am in normally, my feet are where I have noticed it the most! 

It's too hot to wear socks or nylons, and we are mandated to wear close toed shoes in the medical office. My feet have gotten so unhappy over this situation that I can't even tell you because it's gross.

In June I spent a month back in Utah, and I systematically tried it all. Aztec clay, bentonite clay masks, MMS multiple times a day, MMS and DMSO. MMS/DMSO and aztec clay. I did oregano oil, I did baking soda, I did epsom salts. I did Vitamin C, vitamin E, I added Alpha lipoic acid. I did sweats with niacin. I did ionic footbaths. I juiced green juice every day. By the end of a month of lots of work, they were clear and lovely.

Then I went back to the east coast and in just 3 weeks, they looked the same! So treating them from the outside, didn't help. I realized too that now my nose, eyes and throat and even inside my ears were feeling itchy. Did I have seasonal allergies? I never usually do, but that means that my immune system is low and the fungus is becoming systemic.

I decided to treat it from the inside. The fungus was a result of an imbalance in my intestinal system. Ok then I would treat my intestines and assist my liver in processing out the toxic buildup. And I only had a week to do it.

This time I did garlic. I was craving it when I got off the plane. I had a dream about garlic. I went to Costco and bought a HUGE container of peeled whole garlic cloves. Then I baked them at 350 degrees, uncovered, for 45 mins. bathed liberally in olive oil, balsamic, and various spices including lots of oregano, basil, thyme, sage, some cayenne, salt and pepper. Yum!

And then: I ate the whole pan over the course of 4 days. It was amazing. It not only tasted wonderful but my body craved it! I couldn't stop eating it. I'm talking about eating like 30 garlic cloves at a time! I wrapped them in leaves of bib lettuce, I ate them plain. I added them to crackers. I ate them and ate them.

Now the downside is you create some amazing gas! This is from the die off of the bad bacteria in the intestinal tract from the allicin. It's a good thing. But wow! 

Taking 1/4 - 1/2 tsp of baking soda in a glass of water a couple of hours after a meal will alkalize the intestinal tract that has been overly acid, without neutralizing your stomach acids which need to stay acid. And eating apples will help with smelling like garlic although it is really not bad at all. 

Remember: if you are belching: your stomach is too acidy.

If you fart: your intestinal tract is too acidy. And both are helped with a pinch of baking soda in your water. (plop plop fizz fizz) remember?

I had gas, but no diarrhea at all. Interestingly enough-garlic is a CURE for diarrhea. 

I also added 2,000 C a few times a day (with no intestinal upset by the way), and at night took 300 alpha lipoic acid to help my body with the release of the toxic die off. I also did a few sweats with niacin. I have done the ionic footbaths, and I don't have a juicer this time around so no juice.

The cooked garlic tastes amazing if I do say so myself! By the 2nd day the gas was down by half. By the 4th day the craving was down and there was no gas. AND the upside is my feet look beautiful! BETTER than before, without my doing anything to them. Yep, no fungal treatments, no medications. Just GARLIC and a lot of it.

You will read in other places that it has to be fresh, it has to be crushed, for the allicin and diallyl sulfides to be active...blah blah blah. I bet those are written by people that haven't actually ever taken it! EAT the real thing. The body knows what to do with the real substance. So don't confuse it. And start slowly and pay attention to your body. I happen to know mine, and I know that garlic agrees with me.

I'm also not afraid of a little gas and a little smell for a short time. I realize it means that there is a biochemical action happening inside my body! I think of it as an exorcism of a foreign invader-the fungus.

GARLIC is a natural antibiotic! It's antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial. It is good for the blood, and the immune system.

All I can tell you-it's great for my FEET! Today, day 4, my feet are beautiful, I've stopped sneezing, my eyes are no longer itchy, I can breathe easier, and while my nose is still a bit itchy, I have about 20 cloves left in the kitchen for tonight!

Type II Diabetes in Adults and Cinnamon!

Cinnamon may be the best thing to add to your diet if you are concerned about your blood sugar levels, according to Dr. Wright's Newsletter. Yep, all types of cinnamon have been proven to regulate glucose metabolism in his research team's experiments.

His suggestion is to boil cinnamon in water, pour it through cheescloth to separate off the fat soluble fractions and discard the solids.

You can also use a cinnamon dirivative, MHCP, in supplement form.

Are you prone to type II diabetes?
Possible signs of a tendency towards type II-

1. skin tags
2. weight gain
3. shin spots (brownish red or yellow discolorations on the shins)
4. curling of the fingers towards the palms
5. high blood pressure
6. elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels
7. a family history

Taking MCHP if on insulin should allow you to take less insulin.
Always consult with your doctor though!

Cumin

I was  curious about cumin since it isn't a spice I'm used to using. I DID have it in my cupboard though, in two forms; ground and whole seeds. I also have 3 different curry powders.

 The ancient Egyptians used cumin as did the Greeks, Lebanese and Romans. It's mentioned in the Bible, both old and new testaments and you could use it to pay your taxes!

*Cumin contains iron, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, thiamine, sodium, riboflavin, niacin, C and A.
*Cumin is good for: digestive issues.
*Here's a recipe for insomnia: mix a tsp of cumin powder with mashed banana and take at bedtime.
*Take cumin and ginger for sore throats.
*Cumin improves the memory so it must be good for the brain.

A Healer In Your Spice Rack

In your spice rack you have an array of healing medicines. They have no harmful side effects and for the most part, will play nicely with others. You can cook with them, make teas and infusions, and you can add them to just about anything to boost your health.

Our Grandmothers were practical. They kept things on hand to take care of minor health imbalances and knew what they had on hand to help ease their children. We've forgotten so much of that simple wisdom. There were practical reasons for spicing foods besides flavor.


1. Bay leaves help with muscle aches and migraines. You can make a simple bay leaf olive oil by steeping 25-30 bay leaves in a small bottle of virgin olive oil and leaving it in a sunny window for a month. Smooth on joints and muscles to relieve pain.

2. Pour hot water over cinnamon sticks to make a medicinal tea to soothe an upset stomach and it aids with diabetes as it lowers blood sugar levels.

3. Garlic can lower cholesterol and is anti viral and anti bacterial.

4. Basil, oregano are powerful antioxidants and anti-parasiticals. They help with digestion, gas and bloating. Basil also benefits the brain and the heart as it increases blood circulation.

5. Turmeric has the ability to detox and support the liver. Turmeric is also a blood thinner. Curcumin is in curry powder and turmeric, and it is being studied for its ability to reduce brain plaque which causes among other things, Alzheimer's.

6. Sage is good for psoriasis. Steep into a tea and then put in a spray bottle and spray on.

7. Ginger can be made into a tea as a remedy for nausea and motion sickness. It's great if you are pregnant.

8. Peppermint is another good herb for indigestion as it soothes and relaxes the stomach. Make peppermint tea for nausea. Peppermint is also good for heartburn and for headaches.

9. Thyme is for coughs as it breaks up mucus. Did you know it's an ingredient in Vick's vapo rub?

10. Honey and cinnamon has so many positive benefits. Best to keep it on hand and use it all the time. Insect bites, blood thinner, arthritis pain, helps the immune system, helps the stomach. Add it to any of the teas above. Let's put it this way-honey is medicinal and white sugar does nothing positive for us.

Explore the world of herbs and understand what you have available at your fingertips. Enjoy learning about this amazing world! And it's so tasty too :)

Turmeric and man feeding

I made the turmeric and cauliflower last night. It went over well, but I did saute it in olive oil, and we added some diced leftover chicken and some leftover rice. But he liked it!

Follow the links below for more on turmeric and cauliflower and the benefits of turmeric. We are now adding it to everything we can think of.

Success adding to scrambled eggs, tuna salad, and to salad dressings and marinades. It's wonderful on chicken of course, and any of your stir fry vegetables. I've also sprinkled it on avocados for a tasty change.





Benefits of Turmeric
Turmeric
Turmeric and Cauliflower for prostate cancer

Ask and Ye Shall Find-Olive Leaf Tea

Olive Leaf Tea

Wow-ask a question and you CAN find out the answer to ANYTHING. OMG!

Here's a YOUTUBE on how to pick olive leaves to make your tea...wow...



The olive tree of life...and it was off the top of my head...the question I mean...

Cannabis olive oil...oh boy! Now that's SALAD!

Now I'm not sure if Grandma is nervous, or if she's stoned?! Excuse me. CRONE. You take a look and let me know what you think.
This looks like jungle juice to me! LOL award anyone? There has to be fumes from the cooking of that 'bud leaf'.

Of course Dr. Diane only recommends this oil for medicinal use folks. she laughs.

She loves this stuff. She loves the smell "I'd make perfume of this if I could"
She loves the color. "I'd love to paint my car this color."
She loves the oil. "Let's rub it on our skin". She rubs it on her face daily.

And she warns you not to breathe it in or you can have a psycadelic experience. It's a different high than smoking it she says, so use it sparingly. Remember it's a medicine.

1/2 cup of cannabis olive oil is equal to 1 oz of herb.

MJ the biggest US crop

This is pretty interesting-and may be why they legalize it soon, although in a way-it is! Hey, if they are paying taxes, then it's legal. The general public just hasn't caught up.

Herbal Diuretics

If high blood pressure is brought down with a prescription diuretic, I wondered what herbs might do the same thing?

Dandelion-cleanses the liver, and the blood, improves kidenys, spleen, pancreas and stomach. Hmmmm. Not so bad for a weed.

Stinging Nettle-detoxifies the urinary system, and is another bothersome weed!

Pau d'Arco-used for pain and inflammation of the prostate, arthritis, ulcers, boils, and some cancers. Also is an antifungal, antibacterial, and antiviral.

Fennel, asparagus, parsley, borage, saw palmetto are all good for high blood pressure. Oh, stay away from rosemary as it raises blood pressure, and no on comfrey too as it blocks blood flow to the liver.

Guide4living.com

Another great Amazon herbal site:
Amazon Therapeutic Laboratories looks interesting, but I haven't ordered from them. Might want to keep it as a reference though. It's funded by the non profit institute of traditional amazon and andean medicine.

Cleansing inside and out

Baking soda is a natural cleaner. It acts as a neutralizer-it neutralizes acid. Acids are the medium in which bacteria thrive. So, if you brush your teeth with baking soda, it neutralizes bad breath.

It's inexpensive, and it is natural. It's good for us. SO, why aren't we using it more? You can use baking soda to clean with instead of expensive and toxic cleansers.

So that brings me to cellulite: which is an indicator of over acidity in the body. The body uses body fat to store toxins that it can't get rid of, and keep the blood ph levels remain constant. When acid is present in the blood, the body needs to neutralize it with an alkaline substance. If it can't be neutralized, the body stores the acid in ... you got it ... our fat cells.

So we've talked about the secondary gain of our fat, right? The body thinks it needs it ... the fat that is ... to store the acid. Acid, if it were an emotion, could be equated to anger, resentment, pain, grief. Makes sense so far, right? IF we clear the toxic emotions, that stress our system, we should lose fat.

That's in a perfect world.

Cellulite is excessive water in the upper layer of the skin. What causes this sort of water retention? Eating cooked proteins, salts and spices, foods that cause high blood sugars, constipation, imbalanced hormones and excessive grains!

Stimulate the kidneys with parsley and stimulate the liver with ginger. Use more herbs.
Balance the hormones.
Eat more raw!

Take hot baths with baking soda and epsom salts, and we begin to come into balance and become more alkaline.

Weight Loss This and That

I was reading health.msn.com and I found new 'to me' information.

The article was talking about one of the reasons why we gain back the weight after we have lost a lot of weight.

 It said that when you have lost considerable weight you've lost fat from fat cells, but the fat cells stilll remain in your body. These fat cells are programmed to be filled, since fat is the body's energy supply. So when weight is lost, energy preservation mechanisms kick in to attempt to restore the lost body fat. It's unclear how much weight loss triggers this phenomenon, but it appears that when weight loss starts to plateau, often after about six months of with loss, some biological triggers try to reverse the loss.

Biochemicals are released in your brain and body that may affect your tendency to regain weight in a varity of ways: You may feel less full after eating, you may crave snacks more often, you may crave more fattening foods, and or you may get hungrier sooner.

The weight loss hormone is LEPTIN, and it tells your brain to suppress hunger. Here's how to make the most of it. Leptin could be the master hormone for you appetite!

Elevated triglycerides in the blood, which prevent leptin from reaching the brain, allows hunger feelings to persist.

Fortunately, you can take steps to bathe your brain in leptin and quell appetite naturally:

Eat foods low in triglycerides: Dairy Fat
Get hooked on fish oil: It may lower triglycerides and facilitate leptin's passage to the brain.
Sleep about eight hours: Anything less is associated with lower levels of leptin in the blood and brain.
Exercise Often: Regular activity lowers triglycerides and helps the brain abosorb more leptin.

An additional bonus to maintaining robust levels of leptin in the brain: a flatter belly. When appetite(and, thus food intake) is suppressed by leptin, the body first turns to it most readily available source of body fat, which is stored around the belly, for fuel.

Thomas Crook, PH.D, a clinical psychologist , has conducted extensive research to improve our understanding of how the brain works. He is a former research program director at the National Institute of Mental Health and is CEO of Cognitive Research Corp.

Compassionate reform

What a cool idea! Compassionate reform...I love the term! it's coined by a group in Arkansas that is trying to get Marijuana legalized.

I'm not a pot smoker, never have been. But, the plant and its uses intrigues me. Especially since going raw. I have the belief that all our plants have use, and its up to us to find it. I didn't know that marijuana as a medicinal plant goes back 8000 years in China! Did you?

Queen Victoria sipped marijuana tea for menstral cramps. I didn't know that either! We have such an odd hangup on drugs in this country, and the belief that we know what's better for someone else.

Here is what medical research has found out:
Cannabis acts like an antioxidant that's better than C or E.
It is a great anti-inflammatory
It can help with Tourettes
It shorts out pain signals-and is less addictive than alot of those perscription painkillers

In Spain doctors injected inoperable brain tumorsTHC shrinks tumors with THC.

Marijuana seems to be effective in shrinking lung cancer tumors THC kills lung cancer tumors

Marijuana and prancreatic cancer THC halts pancreatic cancer growth

Very interesting what we villanize.

Another cudo for MJ

Marijuana May Fight Lung Tumors
Cannabis Compound Slows Cancer Spread in Mice, Researchers Say
By Charlene Laino
WebMD Medical News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

April 17, 2007 (Los Angeles) -- Cannabis may be bad for the lungs, but the active ingredient in marijuana may help combat lung cancer, new research suggests.
In lab and mouse studies, the compound, known as THC, cut lung tumor growth in half and helped prevent the cancer from spreading, says Anju Preet, PhD, a Harvard University researcher in Boston who tested the chemical.
While a lot more work needs to be done, “the results suggest THC has therapeutic potential,” she tells WebMD.
Moreover, other early research suggests the cannabis compound could help fight brain, prostate, and skin cancers as well, Preet says.
The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.
The finding builds on the recent discovery of the body’s own cannabinoid system, Preet says. Known as endocannabinoids, the natural cannabinoids stimulate appetite and control pain and inflammation.
THC seeks out, attaches to, and activates two specific endocannabinoids that are present in high amounts on lung cancer cells, Preet says. This revs up their natural anti-inflammatory properties. Inflammation can promote the growth and spread of cancer.
In the new study, the researchers first demonstrated that THC inhibited the growth and spread of cells from two different lung cancer cell lines and from patient lung tumors. Then, they injected THC into mice that had been implanted with human lung cancer cells. After three weeks, tumors shrank by about 50%, compared with tumors in untreated mice.
Preet notes that animals injected with THC seem to get “high,” showing signs of clumsiness and getting the munchies. “You would expect to see the same thing in humans, so if this work does pan out, getting the dose right is going to be all important,” she says.
Paul B. Fisher, PhD, a professor of clinical pathology at Columbia University, says that though the work is “interesting,” it’s still very early.
“The issue with using a drug of this type becomes the window of concentration that will be effective. Can you physiologically achieve what you want without causing unwanted effects?” he tells WebMD.

My Raw Evolution

I just ran across an interesting web page that you all may want to read: My Raw Evolution.

Marajuana the real cancer cure?

Here's some snippets from an article that says MJ may well be the cancer cure! Can you beat that? Wouldn't that just be too funny. We have had a major WAR on drugs with marajuana being touted as so bad for us, and we are busy RAISING awareness FOR Cancer. Turns out that the drug we are putting people in jail for illegal use and distribution of may well BE the cancer CURE. Too ironic? Read on:

Cannabinoids As Cancer Hope
exerpts from the article by Paul Armentano, Senior Policy Analyst

“Cannabinoids possess … anticancer activity [and may] possibly represent a new class of anti-cancer drugs that retard cancer growth, inhibit angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels) and the metastatic spreading of cancer cells.

So concludes a comprehensive review published in the October 2005 issue of the scientific journal Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry. Not familiar with the emerging body of research touting cannabis' ability to stave the spread of certain types of cancers? You're not alone.

For over 30 years, US politicians and bureaucrats have systematically turned a blind eye to scientific research indicating that marijuana may play a role in cancer prevention -- a finding that was first documented in 1974.

That year, a research team at the Medical College of Virginia (acting at the behest of the federal government) discovered that cannabis inhibited malignant tumor cell growth in culture and in mice. According to the study's results, reported nationally in an Aug. 18, 1974, Washington Post newspaper feature, administration of marijuana's primary cannabinoid THC, "slowed the growth of lung cancers, breast cancers and a virus-induced leukemia in laboratory mice, and prolonged their lives by as much as 36 percent."

Despite these favorable preclinical findings, US government officials dismissed the study (which was eventually published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in 1975), and refused to fund any follow-up research until conducting a similar –- though secret –- clinical trial in the mid-1990s. That study, conducted by the US National Toxicology Program to the tune of $2 million concluded that mice and rats administered high doses of THC over long periods experienced greater protection against malignant tumors than untreated controls.

In 2000, they reported in the journal Nature Medicine that injections of synthetic THC eradicated malignant gliomas (brain tumors) in one-third of treated rats, and prolonged life in another third by six weeks.

In 2003, researchers at the University of Milan in Naples, Italy, reported that non-psychoactive compounds in marijuana inhibited the growth of glioma cells in a dose dependent manner and selectively targeted and killed malignant cancer cells.

The following year, researchers reported in the journal of the American Association for Cancer Research that marijuana's constituents inhibited the spread of brain cancer in human tumor biopsies.

In a related development, a research team from the University of South Florida further noted that THC can also selectively inhibit the activation and replication of gamma herpes viruses. The viruses, which can lie dormant for years within white blood cells before becoming active and spreading to other cells, are thought to increase one's chances of developing cancers such as Karposis Sarcoma, Burkitts lymphoma, and Hodgkins disease.

More recently, investigators published pre-clinical findings demonstrating that cannabinoids may play a role in inhibiting cell growth of colectoral cancer, skin carcinoma, breast cancer, and prostate cancer, among other conditions.

THC proved far more beneficial – selectively decreasing the proliferation of malignant cells and inducing apoptosis more rapidly than its synthetic alternative while simultaneously leaving healthy cells unscathed.

US politicians have been little swayed by these results, and remain steadfastly opposed to the notion of sponsoring – or even acknowledging – this growing body of clinical research, preferring instead to promote the unfounded notion that cannabis use causes cancer."

Distilled Water...

Years ago, my friend's parents had a cheap Sears water distiller. They told me distilled water was the best, most healthy, water a person could drink. So... I bought one these units. I only had to use it once. The scale and urine smelling-looking yellow liquid left in the tank after distilling my own tap water convinced me that tap water is not for me. This is Murray tap water I'm talking about, which has a reputation for being pretty good water in this valley. As you all know by now, if you've been keeping up with the blog, I was boiling a lot of water to cook my beloved spaghetti. And scrubbing the little white dots off the bottom of the pot and the white ring from around the inside of the pot wasn't fun. But when I started boiling distilled water for my pasta, cool!, that became a thing of the past. Besides the disgusting crap in the bottom of the tank, this became another reason never to consume tap water. I've become a little bit of a water snob. I do drink tap water though, if it's offered to me at friend's houses because people get really offended if they think I think their water isn't good enough for me. Most of the time I tell them no thank you, I'm not thirsty.

Eventually distilling my own water became a royal pain in the ass. It took hours, it was loud and used a ton of electricity. The process took 5 or 6 hours and the resulting water was very hot and had to be cooled in the fridge before consuming it and it took lots of electricity and that tank was worse to clean than my spaghetti pot. I started buying my water at the grocery store and hauling it up the stairs to my condo. Carrying a 5 gallon water bottle up three flights isn't easy, but I did it anyway! To this day, I still buy my drinking water at the grocery store.

Glacier is name of the company that sells the reverse osmosis, ultra violet light, yada yada refillable water in the Albertson's and Smith's grocery stores. I don't know why I was looking for the Glacier water company online, but that Google search led me to a company of a similar name, but unrelated, that sells home water distiller units. If I had an extra thousand dollars laying around with nothing better to do, I'd buy one of these machines in a heart beat! The cool thing about these machines is they are the only water cooled distiller available on the market, which means they are quiet and take less electricity. All other distillers use air to cool the water, hence the noise and high electricity usage. Plus these machines are self cleaning (well, you do have to scale the machine once a year, twice if you have very bad tap water) but the woman I talked to in Lehi who has one of these machines, says that process isn't a big deal. They are small, they fit under most kitchen sinks, they are quiet and you have 10 gallons of distilled water per day, always available, and it can be hooked up to your refrigerator's water dispenser or ice maker or to a special spigot at the sink. You can have hot water on demand too, depending on your preferences. Its operation is automatic, the machine distills more water as water is used.

One question Joy asked was, but isn't distilled water bad for you? I come across this question too in my research. According to Dr. Andrew Weil, this is a myth perpetuated by the Internet, and companies selling water filters. Dr. Weil is fairly well known health and wellness expert, he's been on the Oprah show a bunch of times, written a bunch of books, he's a real M.D. and he makes a lot sense to me in what he preaches. He says, yes, distilling water does remove minerals but no one is certain the body can readily absorb minerals from water. He says, "We get our minerals from food, not water. By one manufacturer's estimate, you would have to drink 676 eight-ounce glasses of water to reach the RDA for calcium."

According to the Glacier people who want you to buy their Glacier machine, the answer is: "No, quite the opposite. If inorganic minerals (and other substances like chlorine, heavy metals, bacteria, etc.) are removed from tap water, by converting it into pure distilled water, the result is improved absorption of all nutrients, including minerals, and improved elimination of wastes at the cellular level. Well, that sounds like what we are trying to accomplish by going raw.

Here is the link to the FAQ at Glacier Water Treatment Systems:

http://www.distilledwater.ca/faq.html

At the bottom of the page are the links to Dr. Andrew Weil's newsletter PDF. You need an Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it.

Ask Dr. Weil - Is Distilled Water Dangerous?
He explains this answer so much better than I can paraphrase it, I highly recommend for you to click below.

http://www.distilledwater.ca/Is%20Distilled%20Water%20Safe.pdf

This post isn't a reflection of all that I've read and learned about distilled water, but this is where I ended up, this is where I landed on the issue. I always welcome contrasting points of view, challenges to my opinions and so on. So if anyone has any other info on this subject, or deeper research or better more reliable resources, please do share.