On arrival, a Hispanic cab driver picks me up and asks me where we’re headed. “The Tree of Life” I tell him. He’s got a strong accent and an attitude. His cab looks like something out of an old Western movie. As I ride along the winding road to Patagonia Arizona, alongside my musings about whether I’d ever seen so many cactus trees in my life, I start thinking about the four weeks ahead.

I arrive at around three o’clock in the afternoon. It’s a remarkably simple place; red stone buildings set amongst the scenic Arizona desert. The weather in summer was hot, but dry. Thankfully, there was plenty of reverse osmosis water to go around, and a pool to cool off in.

The next few weeks were a download of nutritional and lifestyle information which was nothing less than sensational. The experience of being amongst health and spiritual enthusiasts from all around the world, having the chance to do my first seven-day juice fast and detox program all set the scene for what was to be a life-changing experience.

The intensive four week program, a requirement of the Masters Program in “Raw & Living Food and Spiritual Nutrition” offered through the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Centre and the University of Integrated Science was my first real contact with Dr. Gabriel Cousens and the start of an inspiring friendship.

The point of difference that has impressed me the most about Dr. Cousens’ work is that he successfully integrates the most cutting edge nutritional information into a strong spiritual framework where the divine element within all beings is at the centre of a truly holistic model of health.

What Dr. Cousens promotes is the idea that what we eat and how we live is not just about longevity, feeling great or looking good – it’s about using the physical body as an optimal vehicle for working towards spiritual liberation; something spoken about by the adepts of all spiritual traditions throughout the ages.

Ultimately, we cannot separate the mind, body and soul; we cannot separate our connection with the physical body or our connection with the living planet – to do so both diminishes and depletes us, both individually and collectively.

Dr. Cousens promotes the idea that both personal and planetary enlightenment is attainable, necessary and a responsibility that we can all actively participate in and provides a rationale and practical model for how this can be achieved in his inspiring books titled “Spiritual Nutrition” and “Conscious Eating”.

Dr Gabriel Cousens will be speaking on the topic of “Spiritual Nutrition” and the effects of food on mind, body and spirit in Brisbane on Thursday December 1st at 6.30pm.

Book your place.

The ayurvedic medicine tradition is an ancient system of health care from India, and is based on the works of Charaka and Sushruta. It is based on nurturing one’s individual consistitution and living a life of balance with one’s season, constitution, lifestyle and food choices.
Here are my picks of some of the top herbs from this tradition:

1) Tulsi – also known as sacred Basil, tulsi is a strong antioxidant. It helps fight and neutralize free radicals which come through pollution, radiation and stress in the body. It is also an adaptogen, which helps us to combat the effects of stress, or increased demands on our daily routine.

2) Ginger – ginger is known as adarak (grated root) or sunthi (powder) in the Ayurvedic system. Ginger is also a powerful anti-oxidant, helps with nausea, and sooths digestion for those with low appetite. Topically powdered ginger can help with joint or muscle pains or headaches.

3) Turmeric – a very important anti-inflammatory herb which has been shown to switch off anti-ageing genes. It also has very powerful antioxidant qualities. It is the yellow pigment in many curries and can be purchased as a root, similar to ginger in appearance.

4) Shilajit – an important rejuvenative herb which contains fulvic and humic acids, important solvents which help neutralize toxic compounds in the body. Shilajit is also considered to be a powerful antioxidant and is helpful in a variety of disorders, including pain, nervous system problems and impotence.

5) Shatavari – also known as Indian asparagus, is another important rejuvenative herb, Shatavari is considered a tonic for most female reproductive disorders and increases breast milk production in nursing mothers as well as digestive fire in both males and females.

Research cited in “The China Study” by T. Colin Cambell, PhD, the largest human epidemiological study ever conducted, suggests that animal protein consumption has a direct association with cancer. The most striking association with cancer was with casein, a protein found in cow’s milk and other cow dairy products. This association was also reproduced amongst other categories of chronic disease, such as heart disease, diabetes and obesity. Vegetable proteins were not associated with increased chronic disease at all in this study.

Research published in Diabetes Care in 1988 showed that cooked animal protein is just as potent a stimulator of insulin as is pure glucose in type 2 diabetes. Insulin is the hormone released by the pancreas in response to a high sugar meal, and high levels are implicated in type 2 diabetes, obesity and a variety of other disoreders. This information combined with epidemiological data suggesting a direct correlation between intake of animal protein and incidence of diabetes and other insulin disturbances points to a significant role of cooked animal products in the causation of these disorders.

This information is in direct contrast to that provided by proponents of the many high animal protein diets currently available. Certainly, most holistic physicians would advocate the exclusion of refined carbohydrates such as white sugar and refined grains as part of the journey to wellness. Furthermore, certain people have a constitution with a greater need for protein and fat (eg fast oxidizer and parasympathetic metabolic types) than others, however experienced clinicians such as Dr Gabriel Cousens M.D. in Arizona, USA, have found that using concentrated plant-based protein superfoods such as spirulina, chlorella, bee pollen, hemp protein and fermented rice proteins (which are up to 80% complete protein) can provide the effect needed to balance their metabolism, without the higher rates of cancer and chronic disease.

Dr Joel Fuhrmann in his book “The Eat to Live Diet” quotes the nutrient density of various commonly eaten foods according to their concentration of health-promoting nutrients. On a scale of 1 to 1000, almost all animal-based foods rated in the 1 to 100 bracket, while dark green vegetables like kale rating over 900 on the scale.

In addition, a multitude of spiritual traditions from around the world, including the yogic, Buddhist and Essene traditions have described the plant-based diet as the most beneficial diet for personal spiritual evolution.

Recent data on Greenhouse gases has also suggested that methane as well as nitrous oxide from animal agriculture not only plays a very significant part in Global Warming, but in effect may be more significant than carbon dioxide production, as backed up by research from James Hansen, the pre-eminent researcher in the field.

The message is simple: consider a plant-based diet for health, spiritual, ecological and ethical reasons.