Various foods have general healing qualities or help to overcome specific health problems. Foods high in enzymes and growth hormones improve our overall health. Sprouted seeds, grass juice and unheated lactic-acid fermented food fall in this categeory as do fresh edible flowers such as nasturtium and male pumpkin flowers. Flower petals are especially high in bioflavonoids, which help fight and prevent allergies and inflammations.

Bee pollen is one of the best foods or supplements there is, a raw food rich in enzymes and hormones in addition to vitamins and minerals. You may take one to three teaspoonfuls several times daily. For easier digestion dissolve the pollen in liquid some time before ingesting it. Also, the cell wall of pollen is somewhat difficult to break down. Someone with a weak digestion may in addition predigest the pollen by mixing it with food to be fermented or with a small amount of leaf or green skin of papaw and refrigerate it overnight or use it with other digestive enzymes. Due to its sweetness pollen may cause wind if taken after a meal high in fibre.

Foods high in sulphur may be increased to improve detoxification. Such foods include raw egg yolk, onion, horseradish, watercress, turnip or other raw foods of the cabbage family. Most of these are also helpful in treating digestive ulcers; horseradish can be used to help treat mucus complaints.

Bananas are good energy providers for those with weak digestion. However, ripe and especially overripe Cavendish bananas often cause digestive discomfort or allergies in sensitive individuals, while Ladyfinger bananas do not normally cause problems. Sensitive individuals generally should avoid overripe fruit. Acid citrus fruits are excellent for improving liver functions, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, cholesterol and fat levels.

Jerusalem artichoke in frequent small quantities is very beneficial for kidney functions and for those with diabetes. Eat about one the size of an egg every other day. Store Jerusalem artichokes in soil, not in the refrigerator. Also eating liver often helps those with diabetes and so does eating avocados and green beans. Fruit and vegetables grown in your own area are generally more health-giving than those grown far away.

SPROUTED SEEDS

Sprouted seeds and young shoots such as wheat grass provide a higher degree of vitality and rejuvenation than other foods. I recommend therefore that sprouted seeds become a mainstay of your diet. Most commonly used for sprouting are legumes such as lentils, peas, mung beans, fenugreek, alfalfa and chickpeas but the sprouting process can even be started with almonds, peanuts and sunflower kernels.

It is important to use seeds with a high germination power. Buy a small quantity for testing and if they sprout well buy a larger quantity and keep them in an airtight container. Lentils and mung beans are easy to start with.

Soak the seeds overnight and then rinse several times a day, drain well, spread out lightly and keep covered. Wash well again just before eating to remove any bacteria and fungi. If seeds are of poor quality and start rotting easily, use them when the germs just start to appear, otherwise wait until they are between 1 and 3 cm long, which is usually within three days.

Mung beans may retain hard pieces after soaking that can damage the teeth. This can be avoided by pouring some boiling water over the seeds initially and letting them soak in the cooling water. Peas and lentils, on the other hand, like it cool and sprouts easily deteriorate in hot conditions. Alfalfa seeds easily rot in wet conditions. They are best sprouted in an upturned jar that is covered with muslin held in place with a strong rubber band.

Alfalfa sprouts should be exposed to light after leaves have emerged while other sprouts usually taste better before leaves develop. Alfalfa sprouts are best avoided by those with an auto-immune disease or otherwise overactive immune system as well as cancer. Actually, it is safer to avoid growth hormones from sprouts with actively growing tumours.

Sprouted seeds may be refrigerated in a closed container after they have reached the desired length. Individuals who are rather sensitive to fungi and microbes may wash sprouted seeds in diluted hydrogen peroxide shortly before the meal. If you have difficulty chewing sprouted seeds or if they cause wind, try putting them through the juicer as part of your vegetable juice.

FERMENTED FOOD

The use of fermented food was widespread in former centuries. Well-known fermented foods are yoghurt, cheese, cottage cheese, beer, cider and cider vinegar, pickles, miso, sauerkraut and sourdough bread.

The advantages of fermenting are several: it makes minerals more easily available for the body to absorb; it increases the amount of vitamins in the food and creates an abundance of enzymes; it preserves the food and introduces delicious flavours; it makes food much more easily digestible, being essentially a predigested' food, suitable for those who have a debilitating condition and a weak digestive system.

Today most of these traditional fermented foods are commercially made by purely chemical means, for example, vinegar, pickles, cheese and cottage cheese, baking products, the new brands of beer and wine substitutes. Such misuse of the fermentation process in preparing our staple foods may well be a major contributing factor in the cause of chronic diseases.

It is most important in all fermentation that a desirable strain of bacteria develops. This depends on the bacteria already present or introduced as well as on the temperature during fermenting. Basically we want lactic-acid bacteria that convert glucose into lactic acid. In order to ensure the development of pure bacterial cultures, the food is often heat-treated and then inoculated with the desired strain.

Grains such as rye, oats, millet, wheat, brown rice, and vegetables such as cabbage are best fermented at a temperature between 200C and 260C, while cultures containing yoghurt or acidophilus bacteria are best incubated between 300C and 400C.

There is a distinction between the fermentation of yeast and that of lactic acid bacteria. Yeast fermentation is used in traditionally made beer, wine and bread. Due to the overuse of antibiotics in recent decades, many individuals are now allergic or sensitive to yeast. Therefore it is advisable for sensitive individuals to restrict yeast products and for others to abstain periodically or after antibiotic treatment and test for incompatibility.

When fermentation is uncontrolled, as it is for instance when making sauerkraut or rejuvelac (water in which grains have been soaked for several days), a mixture of lactic-acid bacteria and yeasts usually develops. These products are not a problem for many, but sensitive individuals need to watch out and may have to avoid them.

Lactic-acid fermentation is the preferred method that is widely used in making yoghurt, sour milk, sour cream and cheeses the natural way. However, due to the mucus-forming potential of lactose, these products should be used with caution, especially if made from cow's milk. The curd causes less problems than the whey and goat's milk less than cow's milk. The whey contains most of the lactose. Most commercial, fermented milk products are heat-treated, often very high in lactose and best avoided. On the other hand, as a health food seed yoghurt may be used. This is commonly made from oily seeds such as nuts, almonds or sunflower kernels by adding acidophilus culture to the soaked and blended seeds. The spread of yeasts can be minimised by washing the seeds in diluted hydrogen peroxide before blending, adding a large amount of starter and letting it ferment for only a short period. The same applies to sourdough baking, which is also recommended.

Do not use strongly fermenting products that have become very sour. You may discard the whey and wash the curd; this may make it acceptable. Nevertheless, do not use any fermented food that has a foul smell or taste. The water used for fermentation should be free of chlorine and fluoride as these will poison enzymes.

Fermenting or fermented products should not be kept in metal containers nor should a metal spoon be left immersed in the food as this may cause metal poisoning. Plastic containers are not recommended for fermenting either. Fermented foods may be refrigerated for up to a week. Part of the former batch may be used as a starter for a new lot but beware of contamination with yeasts. It is especially important to eat fermented foods during and after a course of antibiotics but also when one has cancer or another degenerative disease.

PURPLE FOOD

The colour pigment in purple foods belongs to the large group of bio-active natural chemicals called bioflavonoids. We find them as red, blue and purple pigments in a wide range of fruits and vegetables. Another important nutrient group are the carotenoids which form the yellow, orange and red colours in flowers and fruit. The pigments of purple foods are especially highly unsaturated and therefore are strong antioxidants. One important goup of purple pigments are the anthocyanins and proanthocyanins or PAC's. When many individual anthocyanin molecules are linked together they are also called oligo-proanthocyanins or OPC's. One such compound that is commercially extracted from pine bark is sold as pygnogenol. A cheaper product with similar qualities is sold as grape seed extract.

The OPC's have lost their purple colour but this may be restored when they are broken down into their individual components in the body. In nature these anthocyanins are bound to different sugars and they are then called anthocyanidins. During digestion the sugars are split off to release the anthocyanins for absorption. The term 'purple foods' as used here includes all foods that yield a purple juice when cooked or pressed with skin but that does not include eggplant.

The colour of black/purple/red grapes, blackberries, blueberries, red wine and red cabbage consists of anthocyanins, the individual molecules and active form of PACs. The pigment of beetroot belongs to a subgroup of anthocyanins, the betacyanins. Both groups have strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and improve the elasticity of blood vessels and skin. PACs, anthocyanins and betacyanins also help to restore normal oxidative metabolism or cell respiration. With this, they are important not only for normalising cancer cells but also with chronic fatigue and general lack of energy by taking the role of oxygen as electron acceptors. Furthermore, purple foods in sufficient amounts can improve the elasticity of skin and blood vessels. With this and in combination with other bioflavonoids they are beneficial with various diseases such as allergies, inflammation, infections, parasites, cancer, liver disease, vascular diseases, thrombosis (blood clotting), chemical toxicity and coronary artery disease.

Purple foods should generally be eaten with the skin as this is usually most strongly coloured. However, with purple onions the outer skins are not directly edible and you may utilise these as a tea. Grapes should be well rinsed before eating to remove fungi or moulds. Sensitive individuals and especially those with Candida may find it preferable in addition to soak the grapes for a while with some added hydrogen peroxide. When grapes are not in season, the juice of black grapes has reportedly been used with good success in the treatment of cancer. For this about 750 ml of juice should be sipped spaced out during the morning with no other food before lunch.

Beetroot

The vegetable that I most strongly recommend for general health improvement and especially for those with cancer is beetroot. The purple pigment has been shown to increase and normalise cell respiration - the oxygen-based energy production within cells. Thus beetroot is one of the key foods in preventing as well as curing cancer. It is equally important in the treatment of other degenerative diseases such as chronic fatigue syndrome that are all characterised by reduced cell respiration. .

The active ingredient in beetroot is called betacyanin with two carbonyl groups (C=0-). What happens when cellular energy is produced through the oxidation of nutrients is that electrons and hydrogen ions are transferred onto the inhaled oxygen to produce water and energy. In cancer cells and with chronic fatigue the respiratory enzymes that accomplish this transfer have been diminished or destroyed. The colour pigment in beetroot (and other purple food) strongly binds electrons and hydrogen and with this can reactivate the production of cellular oxidative energy. Seeger and others (1990) have shown that the respiration of cancer cells can be completely normalised by a combination of beetroot, raw fermented food and vitamin C. The multiplication of cancer cells would thus stop, and tumours become non-virulent. Clinical tests using beetroot with cancer patients revealed that often tumours regressed and disappeared.

Therefore use plenty of beetroot grated in salads, juiced and cooked; also the residue from juicing may be cooked. Occasionally a small root may leave an acrid aftertaste. Taste suspect roots before making salads or juice; cooking them is fine, and beet tops may be cooked also. Tinned beetroot has lost most of its pigments and is of little value.

Beetroot may be available only seasonally. You may store a larger quantity in moist sand. Keep the tops exposed in a cool, shaded place with just enough moisture to prevent drying out. After a good root system has developed you may also let them continue to grow in a sandy and well drained soil, neither too wet nor too dry to avoid rotting or mould development, check frequently.

RAW EGG

Fresh raw eggs, genuinely free-range from chooks fed on grains and greens, have health-giving and healing properties. However, egg allergy is widespread and eggs should be tested with habitual consumption. Raw egg yolk does not raise the cholesterol level; it is high in sulphur compounds that strengthen connective tissue and detoxify the liver.

Fresh raw egg yolk has long been known to enhance or rejuvenate the sexual energies that are required not only for having sex, but more importantly for creative activity in general and for physical fitness. Very fresh, raw, beaten egg white, on the other hand, has germicidal properties. A cure for leukaemia has been reported from eating only raw egg white regularly over a prolonged period.

The cell walls of lymphocytes (white blood cells) become more rigid with ageing, AIDS and viral infections, mainly due to increased cholesterol levels in cell walls. Lipids extracted from raw egg yolk have been reported to normalise rigid cell walls and fully restore immune functions. This has led to great improvements in AIDS patients treated with egg-yolk lipids.

LINSEED AND CYSTEINE

Lipoproteins are combinations of fatty acids and proteins. Of greatest importance for our metabolism are essential fatty acids combined with sulphur-rich proteins. These are concentrated in active tissue such as glands, liver, brain, muscles and skin and are needed for oxidative energy production or cellular respiration. Key enzymes formed from cysteine and essential fatty acids are deficient in those individuals with degenerative diseases and cancer; leukaemia; diabetes; heart, liver and kidney degeneration; and skin diseases. These and other diseases have reportedly been cured with high intakes of high-quality linseed oil and sulphur-rich proteins.

The linseed or flaxseed oil must be fresh and produced below 500C without light and oxygen, stored in a cool and dark place and refrigerated before and after opening. It should never be heated. High quality linseed oil is rather expensive and normally it will be sufficient and much cheaper to use freshly ground whole linseed instead or in addition. Linseed contains 35% linseed oil. Use several tablespoonfuls a day. Best grind it fresh in a coffee grinder. Alternatively use a blender, screen it through a strainer and add the coarse residue to the blender again with the next lot. Ground linseed may be refrigerated for a few days. For individuals with problems of malabsorption and for those wanting to improve their skin, linseed oil may also be rubbed into the skin. In addition to the linseed oil or ground linseed I recommend to use unheated extra virgin olive oil

The main sulphur amino acids are cysteine and methionine; eggs are a good source of these. Dr Budwig recommends quark or cottage cheese made from raw fermented skim milk as the main source of these sulphur amino acids in her famous cancer therapy. About 100 g of fermented milk protein or quark is mixed with 40 ml of fresh linseed/flaxseed oil. This basic oil-protein mixture may be added to meals or mixed with ground linseed, lemon juice, soya milk or goats' milk yoghurt or seed yoghurt, banana or other suitable food.