A few years ago in Japan, a radiation disaster occurred that is still continuing to this day. Radiation is still being released from the nuclear power plants in Fukishima. There is a possibility of greater releases of radiation from this site or other places from future accidents. It is best to be prepared or at least, to be aware of what you can do in the case of an exposure to dangerous radiation.

Potassium iodide pills were sold out by many of the American distributors after the disaster in Fukishima. Potassium iodide pills protect a person from the harmful effects of radioactive iodine by blocking it’s uptake into the thyroid. One possible serious effect of exposure to large doses of radioactive iodine is thyroid cancer.

There are some natural foods that will protect you from radiation. Here is a list with some explanations.

1. Leafy greens: This will stimulate the colon and will help the liver discharge radiation from the body. Have in 1 cup servings. Excessive amounts of green vegetables can slow the thyroid and metabolism so eat in the amounts recommended here.
2. Fermented foods: They will have the same effect as leafy greens. These include miso and pickles like sauerkraut. Pickles should be prepared without vinegar, sugar or additives. This type of pickle is found in the refrigerated section of your natural foods store. It can be made at home as a long or short time fermented vegetable.
3. Avoid refined sugars. These will ferment in your gut and interfere with elimination
4. Avoid excessive amounts of whole wheat flour products. The excess fiber will interfere with gut bacteria, hampering elimination.
5. Avoid uncooked roasted grain such as granola. This type of food puts a strain on digestion which affects the colon’s elimination function.
6. Eat grains, cooked vegetables, small amounts of beans regularly, wild fish or naturally raised beef, lamb or poultry daily, along with some cooked fruit, healthy fats and natural seasonings. The amino acids in animal protein support liver detoxification.
7. Limit raw foods. Raw fiber is harder to digest and will hamper elimination.
8. Saturated fats in the form of natural butter, avocado, and coconut oil block the toxicity of radioactive ions. Increase these in times of a nuclear disaster.
9. Fatty fish; Fat soluble vitamins in fatty fish like wild salmon or sardines aid elimination. Eat these more often in a disaster.
10. Take kelp tablets from cleaner waters or kombu powder made from kombu from cleaner waters. The natural iodine can replace the potassium iodine pills. Take a pill every 1-2 hours if exposed to radiation. North American Herb and Spice Company has good quality kelp under the name, PureKelp.
11. Miso: Miso has a substance that will remove radiation from the body. Prepare soups and season with a strong taste of miso if there is nuclear disaster. Drink 3 cups per day.
12. Umeboshi Plums: Take 1-2 daily. This will stimulate the liver and colon to eliminate radiation.
13. Supplements for Radiation disasters:   Selenium - take 200 micrograms of selenomethionine every hour for one week then 600 micrograms daily. Vitamin E - 400 IU every hour for 1-2 days, then 2400 IU daily for a month.  Buy Vitamin E as mixed tocopherols and/or tocotrienols.
14. North American Herb and Spice Company has a product that combines herbs, supplements and potassium iodine. It is called NukeProtect.
15. Eat regular meals with adequate volume of foods. It is important to not skip meals or eat too little.  A lack of calories will cause the metabolism to drop. This will slow the elimination of toxins such as radiation.

A crisis of worldwide proportions is affecting millions of people throughout the world.  Every developed nation is involved. All aspects of people's lives are touched
This crisis hasn’t made the headlines No panel of experts have been seen discussing this on television. Everyone is touched by this silent yet palpable crisis to some degree and yet, not many recognize the extent and existence of the problem before us. No one speaks of it

The crisis that I speak of is the health crisis; the epidemic of degenerative diseases and poor health that is in progress in the United States, and all other developed countries throughout the world. Cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, diabetes, kidney and other diseases are the leading players in this dangerous situation.

Degenerative diseases such as the aforementioned don't appear overnight. Many years of poor health is the prelude to serious illnesses. Today even the young complain of poor health. Complaints such as tiredness, mental fog, aches, pains, and a host of others are commonplace among all ages. Blotchy and pasty skin, dull and lack luster hair, excessive weight gain, chronic fatigue, poor concentration and a loss of physical and mental flexibility eventually follow suit. Symptoms of poor health make life a struggle, cutting down the quality and enjoyment of life.

There seems to be something drastically wrong. Chronic or degenerative sickness and poor health are not things we need to suffer through. As with other members of the animal kingdom, health and well-being is the normal state of human existence. There are steps that can be taken to return to vibrant health.

Human beings were not made to suffer with debilitating diseases. There is enough evidence that suggests that the way that we live is the key to sickness or health. Surviving traditional people, who were studied within 20th and 21st centuries, were found to be free of most of the degenerative diseases that plague modern people. All of the groups surveyed were doing the same things that prevented degenerative diseases and created excellent health. The common factor was that people ate and lived in manner that was drastically different than people living in modern countries.

There is a system of healthy living which combines the ancient wisdom of traditional cultures with a modern understanding of the body and nutrition. This method is called 'macrobiotics' or the macrobiotic approach. I do not mean a diet. I refer to an approach to diet based on the principles of balance. This is quite different from what you will read in most books on macrobiotics from George Oshawa’s time forward with the exception of progressive ones like the Energetics of Food by Steve Gagne.

'Macrobiotics' is a word culled from the ancient Greek language. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, first mentioned it. Hippocrates used this word to describe people who had longevity and good health by following the laws of nature.

There are two ways that can be used to explain the meaning of the term, ' macrobiotics'. First, 'Macrobiotics' is the way of life that creates health and longevity by living in harmony with nature or the environment. Some form of ’Macrobiotics’ was practiced throughout the world by most traditional people. Secondly, the word.' macrobiotic', describes a way of seeing the world or of looking at anything from a greater perspective. The word macrobiotic as an adjective means seeing the 'big picture' of any situation.

Macrobiotics, then, is a way of life in harmony with the laws of nature or a view of life from a larger perspective. In combination, and most importantly for the crisis at hand, macrobiotics is the way of life to create or re-create health by broadening our perspective to take into account and practice the most fundamental elements of health.

The power of food is central to macrobiotic teaching. In traditional cultures, there were common patterns of eating that ensured good health and freedom from disease. To create good health, to prevent disease, and recover health, it is important to adopt these eating habits. Adjustments in the teachings of diet also need to differ from those of traditional people because of stresses that we have to contend with today, such as industrial pollution, overpopulated areas, and lack emotional and psychological support systems. Adjustments in the teaching of diet have to take into account the poor eating habits that most people have followed since childhood. Modern nutritional wisdom is used in progressive contemporary macrobiotic approaches to encompass a greater perspective of what to eat for health.  Macrobiotic dietary recommendations center on natural foods such as whole grains, vegetables, beans, seeds, nuts, wild fish, eggs, poultry, natural dairy products, a variety of naturally raised animal foods, fruit and other natural foods.

Ways of life suggestions are the next cornerstone of the macrobiotic approach to health. Two areas are important, what to incorporate in your daily lifestyle to support health and how to minimize the negative effects of modern technology. Such practices as exercise, regular eating patterns and chewing are examples of macrobiotic lifestyle suggestions.

The third cornerstone of macrobiotic health involves how to recover from minor and major illnesses through dietary adjustments, natural remedies and healing techniques. Around the planet, the same tried and tested principles have been used successfully in natural healing methods. These principles have appeared under different names.  Modern macrobiotics uses the well-known oriental terms of yin and yang or the philosophy of balance to understand illness and health.

Using the principles of yin and yang in regards to understanding illness means understanding the dance of opposites involved in the body's operation and how the body became unbalanced. Modern and progressive macrobiotic healthcare approaches have developed into effective systems of healing through food, lifestyle, natural remedies and body therapies such as exercise, palm healing and massage. The basic goal of these healing strategies is to return the body and mind to a balanced state.

All phenomena can be seen from a bigger or macrobiotic view.  Although the macrobiotic lens can be used to enhance our understanding of all aspects of life, urgent health crises calls for a solution that progressive macrobiotic approaches can ably address.

Anyone can benefit from balanced macrobiotic approaches to health and healing. If you are suffering from a chronic or serious disease, progressive macrobiotic approaches offer effective and powerful self-healing techniques for you to use. If you would like to restore your level of vitality or feel and look better mentally and physically, adopting a macrobiotic eating pattern and lifestyle will let you achieve this goal. Whether you are a health conscious eater or a fast foods fan, a full spectrum macrobiotic way of eating and food selection can help to better balance your eating and in the process create health and prevent disease.

My macrobiotic approach to diet reflects the latest information about diet from the findings of progressive modern nutritional studies combined with the real way healthy traditional people ate around the world. I do not recommend the overly restrictive dietary plans outlined in many macrobiotic books on the market today. These diets are best for short term use, if at all, but many of these books do feature wonderful natural foods that can be individually incorporated into a healthy balanced diet. The principles of balance, as mentioned, can also have far reaching benefits that can be applied to all areas of life.

I have been teaching people about the macrobiotic way for 38 years. My teaching and counseling travels have brought me throughout the U.S, to South America and the Far East. I am personally driven by a dream.  I dream of a planet full of people who are happy, healthy and free of degenerative diseases. I envision more peaceful and productive cultures of these healthy people that will be of benefit to nature and humanity. I believe that through the spread of this simple and elegant philosophy of health that this dream can be a possibility. Healthy eating alone will not bring about a peaceful world but it will ensure sound health as a foundation for better thinking in order to address the challenges that humanity faces.
©jkozinski2014

Most of the modern illness that plagues western societies, and many in developed countries, result from weaknesses in the immune system. Diseases such as, Cancer, Ulcers, AIDS, Colitis, Candidiasis, Heart disease, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Colds, Flus and infectious diseases are examples of some of the problems caused by years of immune system weakness.
 
There are natural approaches that boost our immunity. Utilizing these methods will help us to avoid many of these illnesses that are all too common.
 
The immune system is the most complex and fascinating system in the human body. Its primary functions are to protect us from infections and repair damage to the body cells, tissues, and organs. If functioning well, the immune system keeps us free of the above diseases and slows down the aging process.
 
Here are the 7 top things that you can do to strengthen your immune system.
 

1. Eat a healthy diet. There is much confusion about this. Around the world, the basic healthy diets are, and always were, macrobiotic in principle; that is they all followed the ancient principles of balance in the selection of daily foods. They centered on grains and vegetables with regular and moderate amounts of natural animal foods, beans, legumes, natural fats, seasonings, seasonal fruits, nuts, seeds and mild herbal teas. This way of eating, along with the proper cooking of the foods, ensures a base of healthy nutrients to bolster the immune function. The principles of balance show up in the awareness of the specific effects of foods on the functions of our body and mind. Certain foods cool down the body or metabolism in modern terms. Other foods heat up or stimulate the metabolism. For example, foods with lots of water slow the metabolism. Nature supplies watery foods in hot climates to make balance.
2. Avoid or limit white flour products, refined sugar, and other nutrient deficient foods. After eating a large amount of refined sugar, the white blood cell count is lowered for the next 5 hours. White blood cells are the pillars of the immune system. White flour products such as bagels and pasta have similar effects. Avoid chemicals, additives and preservatives in foods. Be careful of the packaged foods you eat, and as much as possible, avoid poor quality food at fast food restaurants.
3. Avoid or limit factory farmed meats and poultry. These products contain high amounts of fats, pesticides and antibiotics which weaken the immune system. Consume naturally raised animal foods such as fish, lamb, beef, chicken and eggs. Eat them weekly or daily in moderation. Many Americans eat too many animal products.  Overeating protein slows your metabolism and interferes with digestion. Instead of being digested, it may rot in the intestines causing a patch of glands in the lower abdomen to produce white blood cells to counteract the bad bacteria. Since 70% of your immune cells are in the gut, these cells are diverted from repairing the sores in your arteries that lead to heart disease and from repairing damage to the DNA that can lead to cancer.
4. Supplement your diet with vitamins, minerals and herbs.  For years, the medical establishment and some natural food diet promoters have told people that supplements are not needed; just eat a balanced diet we are told while more people get sick every year. For most people, the extreme stresses and toxins of modern living can’t be offset by healthy eating and lifestyle alone. Supplementing with Vitamin C has been proven to lower the incidence of both cancer and heart disease. Vitamin E has been shown to slow the effects of aging and boost the immune system. B vitamin supplementation counters the stresses of modern living on our nervous system. Selenium supplementation lowers the incidence of prostate cancer and heart disease. Learn about the benefits of supplements from reliable sources such as Linus Pauling, Abram Hoffer, Ewan Cameron, Wilfred and Evan Shute, Roger J Williams and Andrew Saul.
5. Do stress reducing exercises. Because of our modern lifestyle, many of us run in the stress mode where the sympathetic nervous system is running in overdrive. Over time, this will break down your immune function leading to disease. Certain types of exercises, originally from the East, will switch your mode from the excessive burnout mode of the sympathetic nervous system to the restorative function of the parasympathetic nervous system. Learn and practice any of these exercises regularly for stress relief; gentle yoga, yogic or qigong breathing, qigong or tai chi exercises. Over time, by practicing these exercises, you train your mind and body to handle stress better.
6. Get enough sleep. Sleep is the greatest balancer. In modern lifestyles, we value activity, but too much activity leads to imbalance in the body and mind. The greatest restorative practice is getting adequate sleep. If we don’t sleep at least 7 hours per night, our body operates in the stress mode. This mode eventually knocks down the immune system
7. Learn about current, progressive and integrated natural and macrobiotic health approaches. Not those that are a rehash in modern books of what was thought to be good for your health in the 1960’s and 70’s natural health movement. There have been many cases of people diagnosed with nutritional deficiencies, stokes, alcoholism and other debilitating diseases among those stringently adhering to restricted natural diet dogmas. Some have lost their lives to cancer, the very disease the restricted natural diets were supposed to prevent or heal. Learn from real experts what has been proven to work and what has not. An expert is defined as having a minimum of 10,000 hours of a certain kind of deliberate practice in his or her field by Forbes senior editor Geoff Colvin in Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else. Modern diet and lifestyle experts, and traditional cultures, follow diets, lifestyles, and healing practices according to the principles of balance, not dietary dogma.
   

 
Traditional wisdom about the principles of balance still holds true. In order to stay healthy, we have to create a state of balance between tension and relaxation, under or over activity, strength and flexibility, and other opposites in our bodies and mind,
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Times have changed. We are dealing with circumstances that the ancients never dreamed of, but the principle of balance doesn’t change. Because of changing times our food, lifestyle, and remedies have to be adapted to today’s world as new information is coming to light through modern research or findings. Interpreting new information can help us to update outdated ideas that seemed to be true in the past, but are found to be obsolete in the light of greater knowledge.
 
Read widely about natural health practices, but I would encourage you to evaluate them according to the principle of balance. The above suggestions will get you started in the right direction. The
discovery of the truth of anything begins with our desire to learn the answers. I suggest that you don’t accept easy answers, but delve deeper into the truths of health.

©jkozinski2014