People have been sick or fighting the flu for a couple of weeks and will typically fight the flu until March. This is directly linked to the increased consumption of sweets from Halloween through Valentines day because sugar supresses the immune system. Many people excuse themselves from having to eat right during this holiday time because of the social aspect of food. However, I remember eating dinner with Ruth Mumby, who is treating her breast cancer naturally with treatment form the Hoxsy clinic. Since sugar feeds cancer, she didn't take even one bite of our desserts at the restaurant. She also had restricted choices because she couldn't have anything with tomato, vinegar or pork because it negated the effectiveness of her tonics. Feeling that her lifestyle was overly restrictive, I asked her if she found it hard to live this way all the time. She answered, "No, life means more to me than desserts and some food." I never questioned her choices again.
My husband was at Costco with our 5 year old son Daniel in the first week of October and Costco put out all the Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas goodies right after Labor Day. Daniel saw a woman with a huge bag of halloween candy. He said, in his ever loud, robust voice "Wow, that sure is a big bag of candy. Dad, do you see that huge bag of candy. That's a lot of candy!" Mark tried to shush him and move on. Later, as they were checking out, the woman was in the next line. Daniel didn't see her. Another customer asked the woman where she got the candy, which made Daniel perk up and focus all his attention on them. The woman said to the man, "just take this bag". The man said "no, I don't want to take your bag, just tell me where it is." She said "no, really, I'm so sick of seeing this candy, just take it, you'd be doing me a favor." Although my son didn't mean to make her feel bad, pointing out what a large amount of candy the woman had in her cart, made her reconsider the wisdom of buying it. Daniel loudly proclaimed "I'm so happy she didn't buy that." You see the stores drown us in treats and junk food at this time of year and make it seem okay to indulge. However, since we only buy one treat at a time for our kids, it was unfathomable to Daniel that someone would choose to buy that much junk food because it wasn't good for them.
How about you? Has this holiday season brainwashed you into thinking that eating processed sugar, dairy and meat in large amounts won't affect your weight and health? I've just finished watching a movie "Dying to Have Known" which you can watch on netflix or for free at http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/dying-to-have-known/ This movie pointed out the link between food and health and also between food and emotions.
We are bombarded with images of happy family gatherings centered around food during this time of year, but we opened our store on November 22nd of last year and most people were far from happy eating turkey dinners, ham roasts and copious amounts of desserts. As one of Jehovah's Witnesses, I don't celebrate the holidays and although the store was closed, I went into work on Christmas Day to catch up on stuff. At least three people came in for something to eat because they were alone and hungry and everything else was closed. I made them smoothies and shared the warmth of my heart and store with them. Many people don't realize that more suicides happen during the holidays than any other time of year. I know it's partially because of lonesomeness, but is it also partly because malnourished people make unwise choices? Although most people are eating far more food than usual, they take in far less nutrition then usual because they are indulging. Lack of nutrition is linked to depression.
Many of our customers admit to staying away from the cafe because they want to enjoy the holidays with their friends and family. They feel it's too hard to eat this way when the rest of America is absorbed in comfort foods. I have to admit, that in years past, junk food was a temptation for me too. Now though, I can make pumpkin pie, persimmon nog, pecan pie, sweet potato casserole, portabello steaks, falafels, pizza and truffles that are good for me. Most people indulge for two months and gain between 5-10 pounds and then spend January trying to work it off at the gym. Isn't it more logical to be an advocate for change? As you get invited to social gatherings, why not make love in the kitchen? Take a healthy dessert, salad, veggie platter with hummus, or entree with you. Use these invitations as an opportunity to introduce people to "real" food. The kind that cures cancer and other diseases. One of our challengers last month was supposed to take five shots a day for her diabetes. She went back to the doctor, after eating raw for 30 days and he couldn't believe her test results. He actually had to check that it was her chart he was holding.
Party food is like a one night stand, fun for a short while and then depressing in the morning. I don't know too many people who are impressed with a mate who is faithful 99% of the time, but our bodies are more forgiving. I'm not saying you can't indulge once or twice a week in a meal that isn't healthful-- but to eat junk food for an entire day, days, weeks or months because it's the holidays is punishment for your body. It can't defend itself against occasional processed food without a strong foundation of nutrition. More and more flu has been turning into pneumonia. The first sign that something was wrong for 25% of people that had a stroke, was the stroke that killed them. Don't let these holidays be the straw that broke the camels back. My show Ta-Raw which airs on Wednesdays at 4:00 p.m. on KGMC will show you how to make delicious, nutritious food that you can enjoy and share with others.
Don't trust your holidays to industrial food, take your health and your families health to heart, by making love in your kitchen.
Yours in health, truth and advocacy, every day
I remain,
Ta-raw Hamilton
www.organicfresno.com, 559.497-5085, Revive Cafe, 1807 Broadway Street, Fresno
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