by admin on April 25, 2009
The Doctrine of Signatures says that we can tell what a food is good for by looking at its color, shape, or some characteristic that reminds us of a healthy organ.
Merriam Webster’s carries a reference to this doctrine in the definition of signature, (with an obvious slam): “a feature in the appearance or qualities of a natural object formerly held to indicate its utility in medicine.” [My emphasis.]
Except for the gratuitous, skeptical dismissal of the concept, that’s a good definition of what is a signature.
My skepticism [caution, sarcasm ahead] is that the Intelligent Designer of the cosmos would make it so easy to find good foods to strengthen a weakness. Come on, now. Life should be a struggle and a challenge. Only expert, licensed health care practitioners should know anything about healing.
I’ve watched many Dr. House episodes. It’s possible that you, just like me, have had the urge to call someone a moron. Maybe you, too, hesitate because you don’t want to hurt their feelings. Dr. House doesn’t pause for a moment. Go House!
Dr. House would be the avatar of invalidation when it comes to the Doctrine of Signatures, or any other subtle energy concept.
It’s the materialistic assumption at work.
The last year I was in grad school I saw this so much. It was as though the materialistic, mechanistic nature of reality was so obvious, no one could even doubt it.
Whereas, I left this behind with my atheism forty years ago. We’uns not on the same page.
The item that prompted these musings on the Doctrine of Signatures was an innocent comment in Twitter by a person I follow.
“Walnuts look like mini brains,” tweeted @efacc. I replied with a reference to doc of sig, [for short.]
Got me to thinkin’. Here’s a little more of the story.
Signature comes from a fine old Latin root. It’s the sign of your nature. The way you write your name shows you in graphic format. Your autograph shows your self in a few lines.
In email your signature conveys the essential message you wish to publish.
The Doctrine of Signatures holds that the essential being of plants is represented by some appearance or quality that indicates the place of that plant in Divine Order.
Kidney beans and cashews are good for your kidneys. Men should eat grapes and women do well with pomegranate.
Just saying.
The primary proponent of this idea is Don Tolman in his The Look Doctrine.
The classic exposition in this area is by Paracelsus, The Doctrine of Signatures.
[Don't order this. See my update.]
by admin on April 11, 2009
Coming Full Circle with Back Yard Gardens
The Food Revolution is now upon us. We have come full circle. Starting from family farms and back yard gardens, we first evolved to the Green Revolution.
Who remembers the Green Revolution? It wasn’t a revolution in the sense of the lower overthrowing the higher. It was really a further concentration of wealth and control from the hands of the many to the fists of the few.
Pushed by Big Ag chemical fertilizer and pesticides, we found ourselves supplied with food by factory farms. The torch of questionable progress is now held by GMO seeds, “Frankenseeds.” These are produced by the same companies.
If we collectively fall for this one, the game is over. It’s totally rigged with a complete lack of ethics.
The good news is the Food Revolution, as written about by Janet K. Keeler of the St. Petersburg Times in her article, Who’s Who in the Food Revolution.
She tells us that folks are choosing to work their own gardens. People are buying more produce grown locally, much of it organically grown.
Clearly, we have come full circle by this trend.
Some of the players in this arena include:
1. Wendell Berry
2. Alice Waters
3. Michael Pollan
They all are in favor of getting our food from nearby farmers, or growing it ourselves. They favor sustainable farming. That usually implies organic or biodynamic farming.
If Michelle Obama can dig it, we can dig it, too.
by admin on April 1, 2009
I’ve always thought of superfoods as those whole foods that are very high in bioavailable nutrients.
Another way to say it is, you can live on superfoods.
Here’s what Wikipedia says:
Superfood is a term sometimes used to describe food with high phytonutrient content that some may believe confers health benefits as a result. For example, blueberries are often considered a superfood (or superfruit) because they contain significant amounts of antioxidants, anthocyanins, vitamin C, manganese, and dietary fiber. [1] However, the term is not in common currency amongst dieticians and nutritional scientists, many of whom dispute the claims made that consuming particular foodstuffs can have a health benefit[2] There is no legal definition of the term and it has been alleged that this has led to it being over-used as a marketing tool.[3]
That’s what I call faint praise indeed. I suspect that the definition was shaped by Big Ag and the Pharmaceutical Industry.
The purpose of their definition is to invalidate or cast doubt. I don’t know if that is really a fair approach.
Here is what Graci and Diamond say:
Superfood the most nutrient-rich and completely absorbable food in any classification of protein, carbohydrates, fat or fiber;
contains powerful antioxidants, disease-preventing phytochemicals, and a wide range of colors;
allows the body a supply of balanced energy and supports accellerated healing;
examples are …spirulina, phosphatidyl choline, alfalfa, barley, and wheat grasses, milk thistle, and …green tea.
I don’t know about phosphatidyl choline, but I’ve eaten all the other items.
by admin on March 26, 2009
This list is from The Power of Superfoods by Sam Graci and Harvey Diamond.
I just culled it from the index, leaving out the non-vegetarian items. The list is not all one kind of thing. What it means to me is, a good place to start.
acerola berries acidophilus alfalfa apple apple cider vinegar apricots
bananas barley beans bee products bentonite clay bilberry
blue-green algae blueberries bran fiber broccoli burdock butter
cabbage carrots chard cheese chicory root chlorella chlorophyll
chromium picolinate cinnamon coffee collards cottage cheese
cranberries dandelion greens dulse enzymes essential fatty acids
fiber fructo-oligosaccharides fruits garlic ginger ginseng
grains, organic, whole grape grapefruit-seed extract grasses honey
herbs Indian berry iodine iron juices kale kelp lactobacillus acidophilus
legumes lettuce licorice magnesium maple syrup milk
milk thistle minerals miso molasses, blackstrap mushrooms
mustard greens nuts oils olive oil omega EFAs onions orange juice
organic foods parsley peaches peas pectin peppers, red potassium
rapini rice royal jelly salt sea vegetables seeds soy spinach spirulina
sprouts squash strawberries sunflower seeds tea, green, herbal
tofu tomatoes water watercress wheat grass whey yams yogurt zinc
Here is a link to the book itself:
by admin on March 13, 2009
At this time of year in Palm Harbor, the oak trees are in full battle cry. People speak of pollen and sinus, signified by sigh-ness.
I saw a micro photo of oak pollen. The working end of the medieval weapon called the morning star had nothing on the dangerous look of this little beast.
You can well imagine how this spiky marvel of the oak tree can irritate sensitive membranes. And yet, many people are oblivious to this pollen. And, yes, I am among their number.
Two people told me recently of the sinus challenge presented by this oak pollen. I told them the story of my student Jeannie Horrell. She is Gary Horrell’s mom.
Gary did the video for The Money Tunes, and some other productions. Included is his cut of the Orange Blossom Special on YouTube that I did with the Green Grass Boys. There are links to these on his web site where he documents Florida Folk on video.
When Jeannie talked about her sinus problems from oak pollen, I simply recounted what I’ve heard. “Taking bee pollen acts as an inoculation against tree pollen.”
Bee pollen is one of my favorite superfoods. It’s easy to take. I like the taste of it.
Not all health food nuts like bee pollen. We who do are a minority of a minority.
I was drawn to it because of all the superfoods that I knew of at the time, it was tasty and easy to find. I was informed when I started that bee pollen is a good source of minerals, including trace minerals.
Bee pollen also has analogs of hormones that help balance the endocrine system, or so I have read.
It’s been a regular part of my diet for decades. Nowadays, several times a week, not every day.
And, finally, it’s inexpensive. This would not be so if bee pollen was popular. If the 4% of the population who shop at health food stores all got bee pollen, the price would take off like a rocket.
Recommending bee pollen to Jeannie was natural for me. She took the effort to get some at a health food store.
At the next fiddle lesson she told me that it really made a difference with her sinuses. It was a big improvement.
Now I’m waiting for my new people to say how it went for them.
