9 of 2006: Your Mind and Food
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Some great news, we are now going to have a regular monthly talk at The Helderberg Christian Church in Somerset West one Thursday night a month and the first one is 4 May at 7 for 7.30pm contact Jason for directions and to book on 084 747 5999
Topic
“How to Boost your immune system naturally (and survive winter without flu & colds)”
This is a great opportunity to find out more about how your body works and how you and your family can take responsibility
We will also have our Mary-Ann’s products at special prices and I will be available afterwards to answer questions.
I will also be doing a series of talks in the Johannesburg/Pretoria/Midrand area from 8-13 June and will be sending out a notice shortly.
Here is some feedback from those who went to see “Yesterday Once More”
Hi Mary-Ann
On behalf of Cathy and I, and our partners, thanks for tickets to the show “Yesterday Once More”. We purchased e few more tickets and a group of us attended the show. I agree with you – it is a must see – mind blowing in every way. One would think that a show on just The Carpenters could be monotonous, but Adrian Poulson IS a genius, as were the performers, the lighting, the sound – everything!
And, at last I got around to subscribing for your Digimag DVD – I don’t have to keep borrowing them. I have watched them all. Even a Natural Way consultant needs to learn new things and to “be” with like minded people. I love wickedly sitting down with my lunch when nobody is home (peace and quiet) and watching a couple of segments of the DVD!
Regards
Bev Wium
Interesting stuff
Your Mind and Your Food (seriously abridged)
I am including this section on ‘your mind and your food’ because I am continually asked for information on depression and mental problems. For the full story read our book “Take Control” By Mark & Mary-Ann Shearer which covers in detail how diet and lifestyle affect your mind. This is available from most book stores or directly from the publisher on 021 712 5875
For most of my life I suffered from depression. As a child I was not aware that I was depressed as such, but I used to be filled with sad and morbid thoughts. I remember always feeling left out and telling my mother that no one wanted to play with me. I would cry for seemingly no real reason and always felt mournful – my family used to call me ‘Sad Sack’. As a teenager I started having thoughts of suicide and at times planned to take my own life in great detail.
I somehow grew to adulthood, met a wonderful man and we married a few years later. Mark has been an exceptional husband to me for nearly 30 years; very supportive and loving at all times. Yet despite this, early on in my marriage my depression became worse, to the point where I eventually collapsed and stayed in bed for some time, barely functional and unable to care about anything or anyone. I just wanted to die. My depression was punctuated by periods of frantic energy and activity - there were days when I would be quite hyped-up and I would want to take on the world. And then there were other days when my family was subjected to awful emotional outbursts where I would smash crockery to the floor in rage. I just thought I had inherited my father’s mood swings - my poor husband thought I had lost my mind! (Somehow he just hung in there; for which I am eternally grateful.)
Although I had made many improvements to my diet by avoiding all preservatives and trying to eat only unprocessed foods, I was still using brown sugar fairly regularly (mistakenly thinking that this was healthier than white sugar). I removed all refined sugar from my diet immediately and replaced it with fresh and dried fruit.
For a few days I experienced symptoms of withdrawal - extreme tiredness, headaches and irritability. In fact, these symptoms were nothing new as I had suffered from them most of the time in varying degrees. What was new though, was that I began to notice a certain lightness of mind - I was beginning to feel hopeful. I even began to feel that perhaps my life might have some meaning after all.
As a committed Christian, this was something that I had always wanted, yet much to my frustration a sense of my life’s purpose seemed to evade me. I had always believed that once my spiritual life was in order, everything else would fall into place. I came to realise that I had to take some responsibility too – I had to take proper care of my health in order to experience the unique joy in having peace of mind and tranquillity of spirit.
The effect of my diet (which at that stage was better than most people’s) on my mental state was profound to say the least. I am entirely convinced that diet is a major factor when it comes to achieving mental balance.
FOODS THAT HELP
The Right Fats
Carbohydrates
Key Vitamins and Minerals
FOODS THAT HARM
Refined Sugar
Refined Carbohydrates
Dairy Products
High Protein Diets
The Wrong Fats
Soy Products
DIET AND BRAIN DISORDERS
Brain Allergies
Agoraphobia (fear of open spaces), Hyperactivity, and Autism
Hyperactivity and Learning
Hypoglycaemia, Alcoholism and Other Behavioural Disorders
TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR MIND
- Remember that the food you eat can affect the way you behave and act
- The brain needs glucose, oxygen, vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and protein to operate efficiently
- Support brain function by eating correctly
- Strive for a high alkaline-forming diet – following the Five Steps will help you achieve this
- Fruit is brain food at its best – eat plenty of fresh, ripe fruit throughout the day
- Eat enough of the right fats – plant fats rich in essential fatty acids
- Take 2 tablespoons of cold-pressed flaxseed oil every day to boost your intake of essential fatty acids
- Eat the right kind of carbohydrates to boost brain function – fruit and unrefined, whole starches are best
- Eat foods that will supply the maximum vitamins and minerals to the brain
- Dark green leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds, and all raw fruit and vegetables are packed with the nutrients your brain needs
- For the ultimate brain boost, add two teaspoons of BarleyLife to your daily diet
- Other organic dried juices like Just Carrots and Redibeets are also very high in essential nutrients
- Avoid refined sugar and carbohydrates at all costs
- Lower your intake of animal protein and dairy products
- Avoid animal fats and all heated fats
- Eliminate all additives (like colourants and preservatives) from your diet
- Avoid stimulants that deplete the system of nutrients – alcohol, tea, coffee, chocolate and colas are bad new for brains
- If you do feel irritable, depressed and tired, look to your diet
- Knowing that you can control your diet will help you control your mind.
Barbara Reid-Stitt, author of Food and Behaviour, is the past chief probation officer in Ohio, USA. She has spent the last 30 years doing research with real live people in real live prisons and has seen for herself the effect that diet can have on the mind and the body. She sums up my thoughts on the subject perfectly:
‘The right molecules must be present in the right amounts before those delicate and still mysterious electrochemical reactions, the precursors of thought, may proceed normally. If something happens to disturb the delicate ecology of the brain … the mind will be disturbed. The proper molecules – as well as the improper ones – come largely from our diet. If our diet contains substances needed for proper brain function, then the brain will work normally; behaviour will be rational and constructive, lives will be full and fruitful. If however, the diet does not supply the proper nutrients, and if it contains harmful substances as well, then the brain malfunctions and anything from irritability to lunacy may result.’
Digimag
The Digimag is a monthly DVD sent out directly to you which is designed to encourage and help you in your quest for a healthier lifestyle.
Every month we do 2-4 recipes showing just how much fun and how easy it is to eat healthier, we interview someone who has benefitted from a change in diet, we cover a talk topic and we have one other article of interest. This is designed in such a way that it answers many of your questions and some that you had not even thought about.
We would love to focus on what you want so please feel free to send us the recipes or topics you would like us to cover in 2006. We are trying to make it more fun and easier to help you get healthy.
Digimag Deal
Many people have asked us if they can receive something for encouraging others to sign up for the Digimag. Mark and Jason have worked out that they can give a rebate of R20 per month for each person that you get to subscribe on a monthly basis. This will continue as long as they are paying for their subscription. So in fact all you have to do to receive your Digimag for free every month is get 7 others to subscribe.
The good news is that as more people subscribe so we can actually lower the cost of the Digimag to you and you will still receive the R20 on introducing your friends and family. Now imagine how much you can earn on an ongoing basis if you get to sign up 100 or 1000 people!\
Make sure you are in the draw every month by subscribing to the monthly Digimag
If you want to find out more about subscribing to our monthly DVD “Digimag” go to www.mary-anns.com) You can always share the cost with a friend and it makes a great gift to a health conscious friend.
P.S. Remember that that as a DVD subscriber you are entitled to a discount on our products if you order directly from our warehouse.
Talks
Check the talks schedule on www.mary-anns.com
Cookery Classes- see www.mary-anns.com
Consultants see www.mary-anns.com
If you wish to become a natural health consultant you first need to complete the Natural Health Course and then complete the Consultants Course, see www.mary-anns.com or contact Jason on 082 33 66 747
Thought for the week
Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisdom and instruction
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