Re: Cure? or "Herbal Duct Tape Band-Aid"?: Appetite Supressant

Sofia,

****You won't beat them permanently with some minerals and cleanses.****

That statement couldn't be any 'righter'! A few cleanses and some minerals is NOT going to solve ANY weight issue (or major health issue) for anybody. It'll patch up a some 'oweees' here and there with some band-aids & a bit of duct tape, but it's not the whole picture, and it's not 'the cure' either.

Emotional eating is a major issue -- it's one I understand (sorrowfully) all too well. I've worked 'in & out' of the restaurant business since my teens, and one of my favorite hobbies is creating, cooking and eating wonderfully tasting foods. I've associated good food with money/income, self-esteem, pride, ego, praise from family & husband, creativity, and positive socialization for as long as I can remember. When the goin' got tough in my life, I always turned first to food. At one point in my life, the only way I could lose weight and stay away from food was by smoking marijuana. Even though it made me ravenously hungry, it dulled the hurt of my spirit & mind/soul and calmed my emotions, and so I didn't need the food to do that anymore. I do understand emotional eating.

My thinking is that people miss two major considerations:

The body is mind/soul, spirit and flesh -- when any of the three is 'out of kilter' the other two cannot function at their peak. Over and over we hear: "well, if you'd just 'believe'; if you'd just get your thinking right; if you'd be positive instead of negative all the time; if you 'resonated to the right frequency'; if you'd quit using food as an emotional crutch; if you'd balance your chakras; if you'd admit your problem to yourself; if you'd 'tune in to the Light'; blah, blah, blah..." --as though the body has nothing to do with mental strength, self control, power over thoughts & actions, or any other type of mental process.

But what if that's backwards? What if you CANNOT make your mind work right, have positive energy, or heal your emotional issues because your spirit & soul/mind cannot function because they are part of a body that is a toxic waste dump and that has hardly ever received the nutrition and energy it all needs to work? The 'energy' of the body, mind & spirit are no different than any other kind of energy - they can't flow right when the conditions are wrong. Acids & toxins are like rubber to electricity in our body - nothing works when there's no 'flow'.

Consider other examples: when a human body is suffering from enormous pain, what do the emotions & spirit exhibit? When a person is nauseated or feverish they don't seem very positive or 'full of light'. Can a child learn if their body is hungry? Can anyone even focus if their body is hungry and crying out for food? When we're bloated and cramping, how does that affect our emotions and soul? So, I think we might have it backwards...maybe, if we cleanse the body from everything that blocks flow while giving our body the air, water and nutrition it NEEDS to function --then the spirit, soul, emotions and mind will fall into line and start working as they were designed to work.

Which brings me to the second thing, and that is that it's almost impossible to phathom just how much the toxins and lack of nutrition are hurting our body, mind and spirit until we 'get halfway there' to see for ourselves how they really do all work together. I have an in-law in my life that I respect very much, but she and I are so much alike that we frequently 'bump heads'. I remember her excusing the actions of one her adult sons 'because he's so toxic and lives on coffee & Tylenol'. And I laughed, "get serious, he's an adult; he's completely in charge of his own emotions and actions, and for what he did there is simply no excuse!". And she grabbed my shoulders, looked square into my eyes and said, "You are dead wrong, young lady - and you have a lot to learn. You cannot think straight if your body is toxic & starving" . Hrrumpghf, whatever you say 'grandma'.

Finally one day a few years back me n' my husband decided it was time to get our act together, seriously. We both knew enough about healing and nutrition to patch ourselves up with the right herbs & vitamins and such (and I NEVER would have dreamed of cooking or feeding us anything like Hamburger Helper or prepackaged junk), but even tho we knew better, our diet basically sucked. We just didn't have the willpower to give up the white Sugar cookies and premium ice cream (along with lunch meat & hot dogs and wonderfully gooey cheese and deep-fried everything). Oh sure, there was always fruit to munch and vegetables with almost every meal...but we both kept getting fatter and sicker and older and 'tired-er'. So, we did a major "dump and burn" of the pantry and refrigerator and dropped a major amount of money on 100% organic groceries and produce (at that time, we still weren't able to fathom giving up meat and dairy, but we've almost entirely eliminated it now). I mean we ditched it ALL and got seriously serious, seriously fast (how serious? no mayo from the health food store because it was made from soy oil, so I make all my own mayonnaise, salad dressings, breads, etc...nothing canned, nothing frozen, no junk supplements, only 'superfood' and fish oil - things we can't get from organic food). And we embarked on a colon cleanse. The next weekend we decided we'd been 'really good' and thought we'd treat ourselves to one of our all time favorites...deep fried cheese balls from the local cafe. Within two hours we were both sicker than sick - gas pains, horrible sounds coming from our stomachs and liver, lower abdominal cramping, the works. We couldn't believe how quickly our bodies had adjusted to non-toxic foods and pure non-hydrogenated oils. The next week-end, I said "screw all this stuff, I want some good ice cream & cookies". So I had a handfull of vanilla cremes and about a cup of premium ice cream before falling off to sleep (or at least I thought I was going to fall asleep)...within a few minutes I had the bed spins like I was crazy drunk (from the Sugar rush) and my teeth were aching badly with sharp zinging pains shooting across the surface. Needless to say, the cleaner we ate, the more extreme the reaction as the days/weeks/months went by. I rarely have ANY temptation or desire to eat toxic food nowadays (and of course, the pounds have melted away faster and easier than they did 25 years ago).

Emotional eating? I can't even remember what it felt like. With everything I've learned and everything I've applied, I've completely cured myself from 20 years of MAJOR Depression and my emotions and soul seem to be functioning better than ever before in my life. The last year of our life has been filled with nightmares of family upheaval, deaths, major stress, and financial disasters...all back to back. Not ONCE did I ever turn to food - I didn't even THINK of turning to food. And I never once even tried to cure my emotional overeating and dependency upon food - it just went away by itself after we got our organs totally cleansed, our diet right, and our bodies fed with the nutrition and fuel it needed.

Of course, individual mileage may vary :)

As far as what to advise people and how to hook 'em in? Of course, I'll always recommend things like mega Vitamin C and Echinacea to cure colds and flu...that usually sets the hook real good. (Btw, we haven't used any myself for years, haven't needed them :) And I let the astonished looks on people's faces do the rest. Those that knew us before, can't believe how wonderfully healthy we are; those that don't know me can't believe I'm pushin' fifty (generally they guess the mid 30's). When someone asks me for something similar to a 'natural' appetite supressant or 'natural' anti-depressant, they get the truth before they get the recommendation. I always explain the difference between a symptom reliever and a true cure, and tell them without a real cure, they'll be stuck taking whatever symptom reliever they choose for their lifetime (while covering up their body's cries for help). Some listen, some don't - but nobody disbelieves me or thinks I'm yanking their chain. I'm living proof and I'm standing right there for them to see.

I sure didn't mean to be insulting to Molly (or you, or anyone else); when someone asks for an 'herbal symptom remover' (that really does no more than cover up symptoms and the body's cry for help), I always assume maybe they don't realize the difference between a true cure and a symptom cover-upper. It's so tough to really communicate on the www, and I'd rather give too much information to someone that already knows it, that leave out vital information that someone needs.

'Sorry for the delay in response time, but you seemed to be questioning sincerely and I couldn't figure out how to say what I wanted to say without spending a few hours putting this together. I hope there's something in it that adds to your knowledge base and is helpful to you.

Blessings,

FL