Excerpted from the text
“Healing Wise - A Wise Woman’s Herbal”
by Susun Weed
SEAWEED IS AN EVERYDAY MIRACLE
Seaweed is an everyday miracle. The benefits of including seaweed’s optimum nourishment into your daily diet are extensive: increased longevity, enhanced immune functioning, revitalization of the cardiovascular, endocrine, digestive, and nervous systems, and relief from minor aches and pains. No wonder seaweed has been part of the traditional diet of all coastal cultures, including the people of Japan, Korea, China, Iceland, Denmark, Wales, Scotland, Hawaii, and the South Pacific Islands, and all the people who had trading contacts with the coastal cultures.
All seaweeds are high in fiber. Those in the brown family supply large amounts of algin as well. Each seaweed contains a wide range of essential nutrients, including enzymes, nucleic acids, amino acids, minerals, trace elements, and A, B, C, D, E, and K vitamin complexes. Seaweeds offer us zest for life and the perfect medium for electrical nerve flow.
Benefits from a wise woman alliance with seaweed - glossier hair, more luminous skin, less digestive distress, renewed energy and stamina, rekindled sexual desires, and reawakened delight in life - will be noticeable in about 13 weeks.
SEAWEED IS AN ALLY WITH LOTS OF HEART
Seaweed is an ally with lots of heart. Dancing, singing seaweed strengthens circulation, balances blood pressure, lowers cholesterol, builds healthy blood, increases the veins and hearts contractile force, restores and increases cardiac efficiency, nourishes and prolongs the life of the heart muscle, and encourages rhythmical working of the heart in all its aspects: physical, emotional, and inspirational.
How can weeds with so much sodium (we all know salt raises blood pressure) be good for the heart and even hypotensive - that is, capable of lowering blood pressure~
DID YOU KNOW~
Sodium is not to blame for high blood pressure. Sodium chloride may be. Table salt may be. But table salt contains sugar, aluminum salts, and several other agents as well as sodium chloride. This is an unnatural salt solution and one that creates cardiovascular stress. The naturally occurring sodium in seaweeds (and garden weeds) bathes the inner being with rich salty nourishment, like the amniotic fluid of our original home. This sodium relieves tension in blood vessels made brittle by immersion in the wrong saline solution, table salt. (Note that commercial sea salt is usually as full of free flowing agents and other addenda as commercial table salt. Real evaporated seawater salt is pinkish in color. As usual, if it’s white, you can’t trust it.)
Seaweed is a wonderful green ally to use with other Wise Woman ways when healing those with problems of the heart and circulation including atherosclerosis, hypertension, chilly extremities, varicosities, heart infections, repressed feelings, and self blame.
SEAWEED IS A WAY TO GET YOUR JUICES FLOWING
Daily use of seaweed provides optimum nourishment for the hormonal, lymphatic, urinary, and nervous systems. The hormonal system uses minerals and trace elements so richly available from seaweed to repair tissue, build new cells, and create hormones responsible for regulating blood pressure, metabolism, fertility, sexuality, and reaction to allergens, to name but a few.
The lymphatic and immune systems are avid partakers of seaweed’s splendid feast of nutrients. Combined with this optimum nourishment, the communication enhancing effects of seaweed further enhance response time and strength in the immune system. This reduces opportunist bacterial and viral infections and helps prolong youth and vitality, not to mention joy and ease in life.
The urinary system gets a special boost from seaweed’s seeming excess of potassium and sodium. Those with cystitis, kidney weakness, gout diabetic kidney ills, and bladder weakness find health / wholeness / holiness with seaweed and Wise Woman Ways.
The nervous system relaxes in the presence of seaweed’s mineral abundance. Seaweed creates an inner environment where nerve signals flow more smoothly and where brain chemicals are produced as needed: to maintain alertness, increase memory, reduce pain, and provide a sense of buoyant bliss. (Envision the head sized floats of kelp bobbing on a gently undulating sea.)
SEAWEED IS A GUT GREASER
Seaweed provides a multitude of gifts to the digestive system: soothing, disinfecting, and nourishing distressed surfaces, helping out with the metabolism of lipids, and maintaining a healthy balance of digestive yeasts and bacteria in the intestines.
Seaweed is an exceptional ally to the wise woman healing those with gastric ulcers, duodenal ulcers, ulcerated colon, colitis, constipation, watery stools, and other intestinal ills, thanks to its bio-available nourishment, high algin content, mucilaginous fiber, and rhythmical resonation.
SEAWEED IS AN ALLY IN WOMEN’S MYSTERIES
Seaweed flows and shifts like the energy of a woman. Saline solutions of ocean and uterus rock in rhythm. Pulses of tide, menstruation, heartbeat, and fertility join seaweeds and wombs. Nourishing breast milk merges with waves of green fronds.
Seaweed eaten daily is a powerful ally to a wise woman for, prevention and healing herself or others with osteoporosis, breast cancer, mastitis, uterine cancer, irregular menstrual cycles, ovarian cancer, fibroids, ovarian cysts, infertility, fibro-cystic breast distress, and pre-menstrual / menopausal problems such as water retention, emotional freak-outs, chills and hot flashes, fatigue, lack of lubrication, loss of calcium and general irritability.
SEAWEED IS A GREAT WAY TO STAY IN SHAPE
By providing optimum nourishment to the thyroid, helping to regulate metabolism, and increasing the effectiveness of the digestive system, seaweed helps you get in shape and stay that way.
SEAWEED PROPERTIES AND USES
~ Protective - anti-radiation, anti-cancer, anti-oxidant, anti-toxic, anti-rheumatic, antibiotic, antibacterial, alterative.
~ Nutritive - trace mineral supplement, cardio-tonic, rejuvenative, aphrodisiac.
~ Mucilaginous - Emollient, demulcent, aperient, anti-constipative, diuretic.
~ Anti-stress- Analgesic, calmative, anti-pyretic.
Candida Albicans is an opportunistic fungus (or form of yeast) that is the cause of many undesirable symptoms ranging from fatigue and weight gain, to joint pain and gas.
The Candida yeast is a part of the gut flora, a group of microorganisms that live in your mouth and intestine. When the Candida population starts getting out of control it weakens the intestinal wall, penetrating through into the bloodstream and spreading throughout the body.
As it spreads it produces toxic by-products that cause damage to your body tissues and organs, wreaking havoc on your immune system. The major waste product of yeast cell activity is Acetaldehyde, a poisonous toxin that promotes free radical activity in the body. Acetaldehyde is also converted by the liver into ethanol (drinking alcohol). Some people even report feeling a drunk or hungover feeling along with debilitating fatigue from the high amounts of ethanol is their system.
Everyone has Candida, and a significant proportion of us may have Candidiasis, or an overgrowth of Candida. Candida starts to cause trouble when there is some change in your body that allows it to overgrow. This change could be anything from a few courses of antibiotics, a prolonged diet rich in carbohydrates and sugar, or even something as common as a lengthy period of stress at work.
So it's a tough call. The symptoms are so wide-ranging that Candidiasis can be misdiagnosed easier than it can even be diagnosed! How do you know if you have Candidiasis? Well, there are tests you can take (at-home), or there's always monitoring your body. Here's a little list of common symptoms, though note that these aren't always caused by Candida alone. There may be underlying issues.
-bloating/gas/cramping
-mood swings/depression
-headaches/migraines
-arthritis/joint pain
-recurring illness (colds, flu, stomach bugs...)
-asthma
-troubled skin/hair/nails (including inexplainable rashes/spots/blotches on the skin that can be pink, red/brown, or white)
-nail fungus
-allergies
-yeast infections
And that's the short list!!! It's common that most people might only think that females get it, as a yeast infection is the most well-known form of Candidiasis. But it can take many other forms in men, too. But to the ladies, I will say, by committing to the proper diet and treating the overgrowth, you will never have another yeast infection again! (unless you let things get out of hand in the future.....) I'm also experimenting on its effect on period regularity.
So now that we've covered a bit of what candida is, I'll explain the diet a bit.
*Disclaimer: This diet should preferably be a firmly-rooted commitment. This may become a total lifestyle change, if you find success. It is best to take your time, and that can mean you may even want to stick things out for the better part of one year.
I hope that doesn't make you stop reading. It's taken me several years to finally arrive at the point in my life when I'm ready for the "real deal." I've done 3-4 "candida cleanses" over the span of the last 5 years, and they were a month long each. I used the brand Renew Life's "Candida Cleanse" kit each time, and adjusted my diet to their guidelines. These work great, I felt wonderful, I noticed beneficial changes.... but I never committed to maintaining the routine. But each time I cleansed, I learned something new, whether it was a new recipe, a new mental approach, or a new fact as to why it was beneficial. I would strongly suggest a month-long cleanse of some sort to anyone approaching this diet. It will give you a window with which to view the basic scheme of things.
Step 1 is detoxing & killing the overgrowth. Step 1 can be a very difficult (but extremely rewarding) rite-of-passage into the success of healing your body. It's the step that will actually starve the yeast/fungus of all that it feeds on. This does not mean you have to starve your body! And there are many ways to achieve this step successfully. Want to know an easy way? Do a yeast cleanse like I mentioned above for one month, following it as strictly as you can. It gets a little grey in step 1, as there are so many approaches. Some websites & practitioners go so far as to recommend colonics (colon cleansing). My opinion? I wouldn't think someone would need to go that far unless they were a.)diagnosed with any severe disease(s), b.)severely overweight (a lot of "weight" is stored in the colon as broken-down matter from things you digest, or c.)if you are very regulary irregular (hahah sorry I love word-play) In other words, if constipation is a common issue in your life. If you already have a severe digestive disorder, colonics may not be for you. Your doctor should very likely be able to make that call, and if he/she can't, I think the colonic practitioners know enough about it to inform you.
The toughest part about Step 1 is creating new food habits. I give a link further down that offers FULLY-LOADED lists of foods to avoid and foods to consume. The second-toughest part is going through the "detox" bit. It, to me, seems to have many similarities to what people might go through when quitting smoking or actual drug detox. Thankfully, most of these symptoms seem to only hang around the first 24 hours or so. If they stick around for longer, it generally just means your body really needed the purge. Of course if you're on medications or really struggling, you'll want to be careful. Don't hurt yourself! But "hurt" is a different threshold for many, and many people are quickly defeated. I personally generally suffer a headache through the first day that subsides by the next day. More on that in my future posts of my experiences. You may get cravings for the things you are avoiding, you may be moody, you may be tired, you may become nauseous, etc. I can't stress enough that these are very common reactions. Our diets are poor. We don't eat enough fresh foods, and we drink, smoke, or eat fast foods far too often.
Step 2 is repopulating the good bacteria in your gut. You'd be staying on the strict diet here, but you can opt to reintroduce some foods that you avoided in Step 1. Another word for "good bacteria" is "probiotics." You've all likely heard of "ANTI-biotics." These save lives. They wipe out disease in ways we've never experienced before.... but they take all the "good guys" too! "Anti-Biotic" litereally means "anti-life." That's great when it means "anti-life of deathly diseases in my body," but it's horrible when it means "oops now all of my good bacteria was taken down too, and I have no immune system!!" Sad but true. So, yogurt is likely the first thing that comes to mind here. You know how some doctors tell you to eat yogurt when taking antibiotics? ....did they ever explain why? Yogurt is known to have "cultures" (probiotics) in it, naturally. And that's a good start. But the amount of probiotics in yogurt is tiny, compared to the amounts supplied in capsules that you can buy. You can take probiotics in Step 1 also, they really can't hurt you. If you're lactose-intolerant, you may want to watch that the probiotics you go to purchase are totally free of dairy. Oh and just a suggestion, you might not want to go to a GNC or Walgreens. You can get the real deal at a health food store.
Step 3 is just keeping up with the general rif-raf of the whole thing. Keep avoiding bad foods, eat lots of better-quality foods, and you can even continue taking probiotics just to keep things in check (esp. if you "cheat" a bit later on down the road and eat something really unhealthy.
For a way more in-depth description, check out this wicked site that I recently found: www.thecandidadiet.com It explains just about EVERYTHING!
You'll notice I changed the Steps 1, 2, & 3 around to my liking, because their "1" and "2" are basically the same thing.
Well! I think I've covered most of the basic explanations. It's really easy for me to "over-explain" things; I don't like to leave people guessing, and communication is important to me. If you find yourself reading this and have ANY QUESTIONS, please leave a comment that you've got a question (or more!), and I will contact you right away to help out!!
I will now be posting a weekly or bi-weekly blog charting and tracking my progress with the chosen course of following this diet! I'm excited about this and hope that it will even help my personal progress as something to keep me on track. Thanks so much for reading! I really truly hope it helps, even if only in educating people about their health.
