My journey thus far....

[AgentX]

Hello my name is Don. I am 53 and live in the Pacific Northwest. I have learned about and dabbled with macrobiotics for a time now. I also learned about the Tibetan Rites (yoga exersizes). I am the "only" one in my family that wants to live a macrobiotic life. I do NOT use the microwave for "anything". I am stuck with a electric stove for now but plan to use a coleman stove on the kitchen counter till one day I can convert the kitchen to natural or propane gas.

I am a public servant, pastor, and webmaster. I have spent considerable time in front of my computer building web site and playing some sci fi video games. I have weaned myself from the games mostly and I make the time in front of my screen short and to the point pretty much. I use a flat screen monitor instead of a regular computer monitor.

I cant avoid using the computer totally as it is part of my living however I am adjusting my life to cut back to only neccesary use. My brother who lives in San Diego CA came down with "breast cancer". I understand its rare and when it runs in a family all members should be checked. I was checked last year and shown free of any cancer in my chest. However quite recently I have noticed a slightly painful soft mass so I am mindful that something might be wrong.

Recently I had been drinking a ton of coconut milk, and eating a half a coconut a day for quite some time. I also was drinking either grape juice (welches), pear juice (welches), or apple juice(motts), about two quarts daily for a very long time thinking that juice, specially fruit juice was good for me (you know bioflavenoids an all). WRONG. This practice was quite deadly. I have also spent the last 20 years eating an extreme Yin/Yang diet. I stopped immediately this practice and am now practicing from "the Macrobiotic Path to Total Health by Michio Kushi and Alex Jack.

I am on Diet # 3, treating myself for Vericose Viens, and Cancer. I have not gone to a allopath to get a diagnosis. Two reasons; 1. I dont like being diagonosed and treated for my syptomology. 2. If I am diagonosed with Cancer I will get lots of sympathetic attention from well meaning people, my family will demean my macrobiotic position, and I truly believe my health is "IN" my own hands to direct-no one elses. If I am to truly own my own health and it's results I must do my own thing.

I am a God fearing , people loving person with a very positive attitude.

The mass might be the start of cancer, it might be lymph nodes swelled, it could be lots of things. The fact is I probably have hardened artieries, or some slightly plugged. I could have been on the path to many illness's and I have decided to turn my entire life around and first help myself then help others who would be interested for their own futures.

I have much to learn, and new friends to make. I welcome inquiries, and ideas, God bless you all.

[Bruce Paine]

Don,

Instead of a Coleman stove which uses a very refined (white) gasoline which is both dangerous to use indoors (and will set off any smoke detectors in the room and down the hall!) and also probably consumes more oxygen than propane (which, also, should never be used in an enclosed space without plenty of open drafty windows), I suggest you get a butane stove which is quite safe and does not consume that much oxygen to run.

I posted the following more than a year ago:

"In the Macrobiotic Food and Cooking Series: Cooking for Health books http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/se...398174-7072641 by Aveline Kushi and various authors, all contain a certain message about electric as opposed to gas cooking:

"A. Electricity dissipates the molecular structure and strength of your food by causing electrons to bounce out of the atomic field and leaving the atom very unstable.

B. It's very hard to fine tune your cooking with electricity. It isa conductive heat which first warms the coils and then the pot and its contents from the bottom up. You can't change the temperature quickly when turning to high or low because it takes some time to cool or heat the pot. It's difficult to cook uniformly and it's possible that the bottom can burn while the top needs more cooking. A gas flame heats the air around it instead. The food is cooked more evenly and the temperature can be adjusted immediately (a pot of water will instantly stop boiling the moment you turn off the flame, for example) meals are more well cooked.

C. Because of the drawbacks in electric cooking, a person may not feel satisfied with the meal and may crave strong salt or animal food (to counter the yin and weakening effects) which in turn causes a craving for excessive sweets and other yin foods. In other words, it becomes more of a struggle to eat in a balanced manner and stay on the macrobiotic diet".

If one has to use electric cooking for some reason, then a pressure cooker with an Ohsawa Pot inside is a gentler modification of the energy but if for some reason one can't move to a new location with gas cooking, then cooking on a portable (butane or propane) gas stove is perferable in that otherwise electric kitchen.

A good butane stove is the iwatani http://www.iwatani.com/ and though the gas cannisters in marine/hardware stores (which last between 1.5 [high flame] to 3+ [simmering] hours each) cost as much as 5 dollars (U.S.) through a judicious search, one can find them for less than 1 dollar each (like in a Chinese food supermarket)."

Propane is cheaper but one must keep one's windows open sufficiently to allow keep the air you are breathing oxygen rich."

Hopefully, you will find it easier on your road to recovery using this equipment.

Thank you, very much.

_||_

Bruce Paine

[AgentX]

Dear Bruce, thank you very much for the info. I also plan on having more live plants in my home. We heat with small fan heaters in wall of each room secondarily but in Living Room we have a wood burning fireplace insert.

I do the Tibetan Rites exersizes as they keep my oxygen levels higher in my body.

[Bruce Paine]

Don,

Which part of the Northwest?

If you could cook on the wood burner, that would be the most grounding and healing heat that you could choose, far superior to gas but requires more of your attention.

Thank you, very much.

_||_

Bruce Paine

[AgentX]

I have a fairly empty well vented garage which I am thinking of turning into a extra mini-kitchen exersize area. Part of the magic of the macrobiotic life I am seeing is to make everything you do a pleasure.

Example: Years ago I recorded my favorite music videos onto one VCR tape, and I had a tv and exercycle in my bedroom. I would put on the tape, begin exersizing as I watched my favorites when I was done watching I was done with workout and I had rode the cycle for about an hour.

I am also looking at building a large computer (server) and have it in a room away from everyone else shielded and have small flat screen dumb stations in the house so radiation is further cut down.

The wood stove insert doesnt stick out far enough or I would have been cooking on it a long time ago. It is interted into a fireplace and sticks out only 4 inches out. LOL they make special tea pots for this type that are actually cut in half (a half round tea pot) that sits perfectly in the area sticking out.

I already use a 8 quart pressure cooker(stainless steel). I began several months ago making humungo sized meals, placing rest in fridge. It usually took me a week to eat the rest a little each day. This I feel was bad as the vitality of the food decreases with longer storage and reheating. I now use same size cooker and make much smaller meals. I will only make what I can eat in two days. This also gives greater variety and the end result is a much less narrow view of things emotionally with a more varied diet.

Question: Does anyone have a roasted veggie and barley soup (macrobiotic) recipe for Diet # 3? (extreme Yin/Yang)

[AgentX]

Don,

Which part of the Northwest?

I live in Castle Rock Washington up 50 miles from Portland Oregon, and South of Seattle by 150 miles.

Edited to correct direction...............

[Bruce Paine]

Don.

I think you mean South of Seattle http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?ad...w=1&name=&qty=

A good friend has a recumbent bike shop in Portland:

http://www.coventrycycle.com/

Please stop by and say hello for me, next time you are in S.E. Portland.

Thank you, very much.

Bruce Paine

[AgentX]

I will do.

In trying to understand damage of radiation from Computers, TVs, etc.. I have found a website that claims to; The Ch'i energy disc not only assists in making sitting close to a computer monitor safer - it also cancels out the vibrations from alternators in cars, fields from power lines, microwave ovens, televisions, hair dryers, and other electrical appliances.http://www.ozelink.com/natures_energies/discs.htm

Here is one on radiation safety
http://www.pc.ibm.com/ww/healthycomputing/vdt14.html

Video Display Terminals as a source of Radiation
http://www.noradcorp.com/3tutor.htm
"quote"
Average personal exposure annually to ionizing radiation.

Figure 2 is a comparison of the amount of ionizing radiation from CRT-type VDTs to other common sources of radiation. The total ionizing radiation of all wavelengths from the use of a VDT eight hours daily represents a very small portion of the radiation we receive from other consumer products, such as ceramics, combustion of natural gas and fossil fuels. In fact, the ionizing radiation a person absorbs from the rocks, masonry and construction materials in many buildings is generally orders of magnitude greater than any emissions from a VDT. Even our bodies are sources of minute traces of radiation which come from radioactive materials contained in the food we eat and the air we breathe.
"end quote"
Please view each site, any quote I have shown and any contradictions to these statements. I welcome all comments. After all this is "life" insurance to discover "truths" about this area.

[Bruce Paine]

Don,

My perception is that persons who are very yang from eating meat and dairy usually don't experience the subtle energies in the many miraculous devices that surround all of us in our daily lives, whereas many people who eat a wide diet of yin and yang, often experience other worldly and psychic phenomena, and many people who eat a simple macrobiotic diet have a variety of experiences based on a combination of things including their background, their state of health, their present orientation, and their dream or desire (of what they wish for the future).

If one is experiencing overwhelming energy from these electronic devices, maybe it has less to do with anything inherently negative with those devices and more to do with our own condition.

The interesting thing is that as the technology advances, the negative affecting devices are replaced by less negative affecting devices, so, for instance, the Cathode Radiation Tubes (CRTs) are being replaced by the Liquid Crystal (LCD) screens that have less effect on our nervous systems than the CRTs and the antennas on cellphones are being made to have less negative effects on our brains, so all we need to do is upgrade to these less harmful technologies, or at least that is what we are being led to believe.

What do you think or feel about that?

Thank you, very much.

_||_

Bruce Paine

[AgentX]

I believe the more information we can find (reliable), the more options we have to deal with or environment. I seek a harmonious environment with as many healing qualities to it as possible.

[AgentX]

I believe the more information we can find (reliable), the more options we have to deal with or environment. I seek a harmonious environment with as many healing qualities to it as possible.

From the above links I found on Computer screen radiation, I found that bricks in a building and porcelan toilets emit similar and higher radiation than a flat screen. Interesting to know. I will not build a brick house after learning that.

[AgentX]

Are positive ions bad? Please explain the positive negative ion thing a little better for me.

[Bruce Paine]

Don,

Maybe, this will help:

"Negative Ions Convert Free Radicals into Ordinary Oxygen.

When someone tells you that negative ions are good for you, you may think that they are something really special. But this is not so, because they are abundantly available like money, but some just don't have enough.

Negative ions are merely water particles that have been made small by forces such as winds. Among water particles, those small ones tend to attract electrons by nature and are more likely to become negatively charged. By contrast, larger water particles tend to become positively charged because their electrons are taken away by smaller particles. These small water particles are called negative-charged (negative) ions, whereas the larger ones are known as positive ions.

The most important question in our mind now may be why negative ions are good for us. The answer is that most of the illnesses inflicted on us as we age are believed to be due to the oxidation of the body caused by free radicals. Oxidation means that molecules lose electrons as they bind with oxygen. This means that in order for us to stay healthy and free from illnesses, it is important for us to keep our body in a state where it is difficult to lose electrons.

Negative ions can therefore convert free radicals into ordinary oxygen by uniting with them. When this happens inside our body, the supply of oxygen increases and our head becomes clearer. As a result, our body's antioxidant power works better. At the same time, the blood flow improves, so the body's function to flush out toxic substances stored inside cells from the body improves as well.

With the heightened antioxidant power, the body can prevent excess cholesterol and triglycerides from becoming lipids peroxide. Lipids peroxide that attach themselves to the blood vessels narrow the vessels, thus causing atherosclerosis and high blood pressure. However, excess cholesterol and triglyceride that are not converted into lipids peroxide are known to come to the surface of our body and become skin fat. When the skin fat increases, the moisture retaining function of the skin improves, so the skin becomes fresher.

2. How the Human Body Benefits from Negative Ions.

Blood cleansing effect - When a negative potential is applied to the entire human body, the ionization rates of calcium and sodium in the blood rise, making the blood slightly alkalized, a healthy state.

Cell activation effect - When the air around you has more negative ions than positive ones, the cell membranes in your body show greater electrical activity, thereby producing more active metabolism; moreover, the increase of calcium in your blood ensures greater activity of muscles, particularly the heart muscles, so your heart becomes stronger.

Immune system boosting effect - An increase in negative ions surrounding you means an increase in gamma globulins in your blood, which is known to raise your body's resistance to disease.

Autonomous nervous function regulating effect - The function of the autonomous nervous system that controls all the organs working without our consciousness is improved; because of this, negative ions help the body achieve calmness, sounder sleep, better control of the perspiration function, quicker fatigue recovery, etc.

We now summarize some specific effects of negative ions on the human body.

A greater amount of negative ions entering your body will cause

your blood vessels to expand;
your blood pressure to be normalized;
your blood to be alkalized;
your bones to become stronger;
your urination to be promoted so a greater amount of uric nitrogen is flashed out;
your breathing to become calmer and you to feel better;
your pulse rate to become slower;
your fatigue recover to be faster. "

From:
http://www.healthygourmetstore.com/s...l?charcoal.htm

Also check out:

http://pages.prodigy.net/unohu/negative.htm

Thank you, very much.

_||_

Bruce Paine

[AgentX]

a quote from you earlier says "in order for us to stay healthy and free from illnesses, it is important for us to keep our body in a state where it is difficult to lose electrons."

I know you ealier mentioned you used a long hose to spray down a area of a property with water to remove positive charged ions before the public showed up. What else do you do to accomplish the above state of the body? I would like to learn all of this to begin putting it in practice.

I bought a tiny simulated waterfall that trickles water and simulates wonderful sounds of nature. I had not set up yet as I was wondering if it was reallly of any value. It is only a foot tall and sits on a desk. Perhaps the tiny droplets of water passing across the fake rocks will create negative ions?

Where I live in Washington state, it rains a ton and it seems the outside is always wet or 5/6ths of the time it seems it is.

I am all ears (and eyes).

[AgentX]

quote begins here" HEALTH BENEFITS OF WASABI

Trace Amounts Go a Long Way to Prevent Cancer!



Wasabi

As has been known for centuries, wasabi has appetite-promoting as well as disinfecting powers, and now the latest studies have shown that it can also prevent cancer because of its hot sensation-creating ingredient called "isothiocyanate." This substance has been found to have 1.9 times as much cancer preventive power as broccoli, and 2.5 grams (about the size of a sugar cube) equal 50 grams (1.7 oz) of that famous vegetable in preventing cancer.
In addition, the efficacy of wasabi lasts 72 hours, so 2.5 grams of wasabi at least once every three days may protect you from getting cancer (needless to say, wasabi's power to prevent cancer does not apply equally to everyone).
Finally, the most effective partner of wasabi in cancer prevention is considered to be green tea. This may or may not be the reason why the Japanese have traditionally been eating wasabi chazuke which is a green tea soup with wasabi, vegetables, fish, and cooked rice. It is interesting to note here that researchers in Japan have conducted experiments in which the amount of wasabi was increased to see if its power would also increase, but they have discovered that 2.5 grams represent the best amount. " end quote

Here is another quote
"Binchotan and Bamboo Charcoal

Findings

· "A computer room will have roughly six times as many positive ions as negative ones at the end of the day even if the room was aired in the morning, unless it is aired frequently during the day.

· Binchotan and bamboo charcoals not only dissipate 'hazardous' electromagnetic waves from computer monitors but also generate negative ions. More accurately, the infrared rays emitted constantly from charcoals reduce moisture in the air into fine particles that naturally change into negative ions. This means that a certain amount of moisture must be present in the computer room if charcoal is used to increase the room's negative ion ratio. The ideal degree of humidity in computer rooms is between 45 and 55%. In winter, when houses are heated, the computer room tends to be too dry. Of course, we can install a humidifier capable of controlling the degree of humidity in the air, but a few wet towels may be sufficient.

· In order to keep a room 10 ft x 10 ft (3.2 m x 3.2 m) in an ideal ionic state, we need 9 lbs. (4 kg) of binchotan or 7 lbs. (3 kg) of bamboo charcoal [about $80 US]. According to our charcoal prices, it costs the same whether we use binchotan charcoal or bamboo charcoal.

· An important difference between binchotan charcoal and bamboo charcoal is that the latter tends to break easily as it is a lot more fragile.

· One important thing, however, is that once charcoal is placed in a room, it keeps working forever.""end of quote

In diet number #3 from Kushi, he asks for a person to stick to Twig Tea. Does this mean no Green Tea? Do the benefits fo Green Tea outweigh the dangers? I am looking to boost my diet to cover the effects of the world we live in.

Is there anyone on this forum who has used the charcoal mentioned in this article? Why this charcoal over any ordinary charcoal? I mostly use Kombu sea veggy, what is wrong with using Wakame or both in small amounts at same time?