Introduction to my third book, out soon

Sattvic Health Tips and Know-hows

For Body, Mind, Soul

Introduction/Synopsis

Firstly, I present the requisite disclaimer in tacit bold letters, that I am not a medical or health professional, as we know it. I am, however, an advocate for healthy lifestyle and therefore what I share in my coming book, are collections of tried and tested home remedies, summaries of advice I’ve received from medical and alternative health professionals and that of my own research spanning well over a two decades. Therefore, this book reflects largely how I live my life and my own personal experience with the contents, having grown up with a lot of things; such that, if there was to be no more internet, medical or health books, I would still be able to draw from my own inner resources, as the knowledge have become a part of me.

The contents doesn’t market products or discount them, but merely strengthening that which people are already aware of, or have walked passed in Ethnic, Asian, Oriental, regular supermarkets and health food shops, but may not know how to benefit from them, ultimately. The adage ‘prevention is better than cure’ is a timeless pocket philosophy, which seems to have lost its value, when practically the whole planet is drowning in a sea of illnesses and dis (eases), attributed a lot to lack of knowledge in how to properly combine foods and live healthy.

Of course, many will frown and say, ‘excuse me, I’m living a healthy life,’ as the default defense mechanism is stimulated, but what does that really mean? One person’s ‘healthy lifestyle,’ may be death on the face of it to another, which makes it a term as meaningful as the word ‘spiritual,’ often used in cases of taking mind-altering substances. Still, people are entirely at liberty to live how they choose to live. I’m not here to judge. We either have a life worth living or live a life worth having. This book is one from which inspiration can be drawn and apply what’s applicable. It surrounds everyday ailments and targets everyday people.

I feel confident to speak on many areas of health, because of my own experiences and results from different treatment protocols, as well as, I come from a family background of productive people, some of whom were medical professionals. With as much deftness and clarity my limited faculties prevails upon me, I present the information which I feel is accessible, without delving into areas that one would otherwise need to be under professional medical guidance.

Utilising my past experience as a qualified Chef, also, I incorporate few references on how to prepare things, germane to diet. This manual contains everything that matters to me and dotted with Vedic references, because I’ve been affiliated with that culture since 1998 and counting. What is your reason for creating this manual?’ someone might ask. Primarily, it is my hope that kindred spirits can gain from any of the contents, which could prevent a mild ailment turning into something more severe. Not least, (having traveled the world extensively in the past and visited countless health and medical practitioners because of my own ill health), I was fortunate to gain a potpourri of knowledge which I believe could help someone.

I feel satisfied that my book differs to others on the market, simply for the fact that it’s diverse in knowledge, which everyone including infants, can benefit from and it’s personalized, as opposed to mere research work on paper. I was encouraged over the years (by people who know  me and those with whom I have shared such knowledge), to make this manual available. But having fallen prey to unbearable distress with my head, so harrowing that it defies death, I didn’t have the motivation or brain power to undertake what presented itself to me, like an invitation to climb Mt. Everest.

In the back of my mind, I thought I would attempt it when I get better, but four years later, I still suffer from an unrelenting problem with my head, which haunts me 24 hours a day without as much as a few seconds break. Only recently, I finally found out by a comprehensive bioresonance test, that I’m afflicted with heavy metal toxemia. Now, I’m on an intensive heavy metal detox programme to eliminate them from every which part of my body they have lodge themselves… the journey continues. Yet, without falling back on the knowledge I’d gained throughout my life, I would be  far worse or perhaps two foot in the grave.

There is a saying ‘don’t put away for tomorrow what is behind you, for you can wake up tomorrow with what’s behind you, in front of you.’ This is in essence, what happened. All the bits and pieces of paper I had jot things down on, over the years, were glaring at me to tidy it all up into this presentation. Though the term ‘physician, heal thyself,’ has sprung to mind on several occasions of my passing on many health tips to others, when ironically, I am not able to cure myself with all the knowledge I’ve accumulated, I’m still convinced that others can make use of it. To me, it’s like writing a will. Just because I’m suffering, doesn’t mean all this knowledge should go to waste. Knowledge is meant to be shared and if this is my little contribution in giving something back, then I will feel I have not come into this world for absolutely no reason and then die uselessly. Had I known what I know now, I might have saved much of my health from deteriorating to the degree it has, now.

Finally, as my last write(ous) words of introduction:

Gone are the days in which we could address general ailments with simple home remedies, having been almost lost like a piece of diamond in snow. Fear has replaced one’s innate sense of judgement, so we now have medical practices and hospitals flooded with a simple cold, because God forbid, it could lead to the ticket to one’s next incarnation. Therefore ‘seek medical advice from your Doctor,’ for everything under the sun, is the pulse of the climate we live in. As a matter of principle, I’m obliged to echo that mood, though I’m not one to subscribe to fear in any shades of grey. Nothing I present in this book, (especially of herbs and supplements) is to replace professional medical advice, if you feel there is something more serious with your health.

Again, whatever I share is from my own experience and what I’ve gathered over the years from health and medical professionals I’ve consulted with. No amount of money can buy back your health when it’s gone. I’m a living testimony to this. Always be mindful of your health and listen to your body. Never neglect its warning signals, as I’m paying for this, bitterly. It’s not totally up to medical advisers to take care of your health; you are. They are only trained so far and will only do so much and I say this without reservation, as when I recently had an in-depth and privately funded bio-resonance done, I finally realized that the so called ‘mental illness’ I was diagnosed with by conventional doctors, was not in fact my condition, but rather something more organic was shown up in my skull.

Use your sense of discretion and spirit of discernment, to take advantage of all the resources at your disposal and maintain your well-being in the best way you can. Mind, Body, Soul; they go hand in hand and even as we are not quintessentially these bodies, we need our body in a healthy condition as our vehicle in which to carry out our respective duties. Not everyone will appreciate the contents of this book, but such is the nature of this world. It is better to do my own duty even imperfectly, than to try to do another’s, perfectly. Not everybody will like a person or what they represent, but we proceed with conviction, because we believe in what we set out to do.

This is my third and perhaps final book; yet, I live in hope. All photos are mine and some of them are from the time, years ago before I fell ill with my head, when I was living in Denmark, attempting to compile a healthy-living cook book. I felt spiritually guided to complete this book, when the words on pages mirrored the whisperings of my heart.

Part 1 talks about health and how to tackle general ailments and Part 2 presents how to do or how to make things related to food, in this book. It’s punctuated with tips throughout and contain hidden secrets about food items and how to combine them properly. With everything and anything from how to successfully detox heavy metal from even the brain, reduce if not get rid of tinnitus, uterine fibroid tumours etc. to how to make things like your own home-made coconut oil, (presented with high quality photos and illustrations), this book promises something for everyone, including infants. It is also composed with a sense of humour. Wishing you good health and well-being.

Please see a sample from the book under ‘Recent Posts’ and for those who are just seeing my site for the first time, you may view my other two books also under ‘Recent Posts.’ The pictures in the sample are not edited but they will be in the final product, at which point I will make another post about it. Thank you…

Wisdom from the Dalai Lama

“Man surprised me most about humanity. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

A sample from my third book

GOING BANANAS IN YOUR PYJAMAS FROM LACK OF SLEEP?

               

Ripe bananas                                                Unripe bananas

Bananas are one of the most widely eaten fruits, in my opinion, yet it appears that many people don’t know how to eat them. I’ve seen so much information on bananas and their health benefits, but unless bananas are ripened to the speckled stage in the picture above, they only create problems in the body, especially mucus in the intestines, indigestion and constipation, among a myriad of other ills. Bananas contain tryptophan, one of the twenty amino acids in protein needed as building blocks in the body. The more ripe a banana is and permeated with brown spots, the more tryptophan is present.

Metabolism of tryptophan to serotonin and melatonin: L-tryptophan converts into 5-HTP, which then readily converts into serotonin chemical, the feel-good factor in the brain. Once serotonin neurotransmitter is made, the pineal gland in the brain is able to convert it at night into melatonin, the sleep-inducing hormone. Serotonin starts its process in the gut and walking for up to 20 minutes a day helps in the transaction. A sedentary lifestyle doesn’t help.

Eat a banana a few hours away from your last meal and an hour before sleep, to get a good rest. A ripe banana eaten after meals, soothes an upset stomach of indigestion, acidity etc. Bananas (like organic inulin from chicory), helps to stimulate good bacteria in the gut, (especially after antibiotic treatments) but again, they have to be consumed in their ripened stage, as above. Probiotics, prebiotics and acidophilus do something, but only as a short term remedy. When my uncle (who is also qualified chef and he who initially introduced me to the catering world), recently told me that to this day, ripe bananas are being thrown away in the kitchens he works or has worked in, because they’ve gone speckled, I was astounded.

In my young adult years in my family, nobody eats  bananas unless they are ripened as above. Otherwise, they don’t benefit the body. Yet, on several occasions I’ve witnessed people eating bananas and giving it to young children and infants, when they are unfit to eat. Sometimes so unripe, that the skin breaks in the process of peeling. Such bananas are grainy in the mouth and full of stain. What is the world coming to, when we don’t even know how to properly eat a simple banana? Being pale-yellow and spotless in colour, as we see them in supermarkets, doesn’t mean they are ripe enough to eat. Matter of fact, I was told by a very senior Naturopathic practitioner with decades of experience, that they otherwise also cause or aggravate tinnitus – ringing in the ears. It would be extremely counter-productive for supermarkets to sell bananas or any fruits  in their very ripened state, but it doesn’t mean we can’t bring them home, wrap them in a bit of paper and patiently ripen them ourselves.

Eat foods such as cherries, chickpeas, romaine lettuce, almonds, spirulina, oats, etc. rich in tryptophan to increase serotonin in supporting melatonin, to help with insomnia. Counting sheep, alone, will not do. Rather, you will only lie there, wool-gathering. Rooibos tea selling everywhere, helps to aid sleep and there is a wonderfully clear 5 mins video on this link, which clearly and easily demonstrates how to prepare banana flower below, for eating: http://theindianvegan.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/all-about-banana-flower.html It can then be cooked in stews with coconut milk and butter beans to make a tasty dish, just to give you an idea if you ever come across it in Asian food shops

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Very green bananas                                          Banana flower

When I was traveling in India, a wise gentleman said to me to eat cooked green bananas in the photo above, as they are good for the stomach; those very green ones you find outside regular supermarkets. Cut off the top and bottom, boil in water with a squirt of lemon juice and a pinch of salt until the skins split or until they are soft. Mash with butter and enjoy.

Try using a shiatsu massager, especially the type which rolls up and down the subtle  channels of the spine and neck to increase circulation and aid sleep. A little pranayama of anuloma-viloma can help to relax the mind before sleep also. Sit up straight; close the right nostril with right thumb and inhale through left nostril, then immediately close the left nostril with the middle and ring finger and release the right thumb while breathing out. Again breathe in through right nostril then close with right thumb,  releasing the left nostril while breathing out. Repeat the process and continue alternate breathing like this for few minutes and increase daily for up to 5mins. You can do this any time of the day when stressed as well. It balances the left and right hemisphere of the brain and aids with other problems of the mind.

Tip:  For good feng shui, the foot of the bed should not be facing the doorway, as it is very inauspicious and said to almost bring death. It should be positioned so that the feet is stretched towards the right or left of the door.  The rhythm of melatonin production is strengthened by a daily routine of eating and exercising. Vigorous activities, like exercising at night, delays melatonin secretion, but done during the day or better in the morning, helps to regulate melatonin production. Avoid stimulants at night which interferes with melatonin. Light meals at night, or what I call moon foods. Daily place the inside part of banana skins on warts and suspend it with a sticking plaster to watch them go away. Refresh the peels everyday. Much more on sleep in my book out soon and a little addition from it, below.

A homage to the peculiarity of British cuisine

A ‘toad in the hole’ observes  a ‘Welsh rarebit,’ as the stomach ‘bubble and squeak’ for want of food. When a plate of ‘bangers and mash’ arrives, the senses begin ‘singing hinnies,’ so much so that they start to perceive ‘angels on horseback.’ The meal is then relished with a serving of ‘spotted dick,’ and tempered with the ‘flummery’ of a slender ‘bloody Mary,’ in all her ‘knickerbocker glory’ when it’s realized that it was just one of those ‘offal’ days of unrequited ‘love in disguise,’ from a bit of ‘crumpet.’ But all is well that ends well, with a ‘Bakewell tart’ or roll over in shock with a fat ‘roly poly.’ (For those who don’t know, that which is in quotation mark, are names of foods.)