I am merely stating an obvious truth with no thought of malice. I wouldn't have thought that there was room for much humour in intentionally making oneself sick!! And , alas! no one is perfect...perfection is an illusion ...but I think we owe it to ourselves to be the best we can be!

Hi Ptree, I unfortunately feel the same way about chocolate, I LOVE IT. Particularly milk chocolate. And I have to have Sugar in it, I don't think I could be as brave as you to drink it with stevia. I think this is a very interesting conversation ya all are having. I have thought about this extensivley myself. Because I have seen some cultures that have been so healthy and vibrant people that have lived disease-free while still consuming chocolate or sugar. In fact there are some places in the world where eating sugarcane is a very huge part of the staple diet, and these people are known for having beautiful teeth. Also with dairy. I can't tell you the numerous stories I have read about where groups of peoples live eating tons of dairy and have been the healthiest groups of people around. I love the taste of dairy, I love milk, I love cream, I love eggs, I love sour cream, I love cream cheese...you get the idea. And I love what can be done with them. The beautiful pastries, layered cakes with the most delicate frostings, melt in your mouth pies and chocolate chip cookies made old fashioned style. It makes life exceptionally pleasureable and I don't know if there is anything better than having huge feasts with people, laughing while eating these gorgeous concoctions and listening to beautiful music and dancing. I have seen some very healthy people that do this, and I think a reason why is that they are enjoying life modestly (they don't do this all the time) but it makes them happy, they don't suppress their immune system, they enhance it by living life to the fullest. But with myself, I don't react well to dairy, I don't react well to chocolate, I believe I personally am at my best when I eat raw simple foods, but that is me and my body type. I just don't think it is healthy though to constantly deny yourself of what you find enjoyable in life. Most people have so much stress and misery in their lives and we don't live long anyways, why make your 'healthy' lives as miserable as everyone else's. But I don't think that everyone else can do well with what I find beneficial to me. So Ptree if you have great ideas on food that you find enjoyable to eat and make you feel good, why not share them. I always enjoy reading your posts as I do everyone else here :))SO please share share, I can use know I can use it all, if not just to sock away for future use. So live life to the fullest and "be happy, don't worry"...lol. All the best, Elaina

Absolutely not. I speak the truth! I am not ,and never would , bring anyone's character into question. I was just illustrating a point about fasting etc. being character building which is a necessary tool in the quest for real health , otherwise you are just kidding yourself. There is no such thing as lightening up where the quest for health is concerned.