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Survival Doc Says
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Nervous System Pointers for Preppers
Keeping Your Sanity in a Post-Apocalyptic World
One thing you probably noticed from reading the Lesson on the Nervous System is the importance of good nutrition to mental health. Not only is it important to get all the nutrition you need for healthy nerve and brain function, it is also important to get the toxins out of the body that are poisoning the nervous system. The list of potential toxins is long, and include such things as mercury, lead and fluoride. Unfortunately, the powers that be like to add these things to our water supply. The first step to detoxifying is to stop putting toxins into your body, to the best of your ability. To do this we must choose our foods carefully, avoiding GMOs, pesticides, chemical preservatives, artificial flavors and colors, and chemical flavor enhancers like Monosodium Glutamate (MSG.) Eat a natural diet of organically grown foods as much as possible. Grow your own garden, and keep it organic. But even if you are not able to eat only organically-grown foods, you can still greatly improve your diet simply by avoiding junk foods, including highly processed foods that contain a lot of chemicals. Stay as close to nature as possible.
You should also pay particular attention to the water that you drink, and that you use to cook your food in. A good water filter should be used for all tap water before it is consumed. Most water filters are charcoal filters that don't remove all toxins, such as fluoride. Fluoride is dangerous for many reasons, not the least of which is it attacks the endocrine glands, particularly the thyroid gland. Many mental and emotional problems can be caused or aggravated by thyroid problems. You must get a water filter that removes fluoride, such as a high quality Reverse Osmosis water filter like Nature's Spring. For more on water, including why you must get fluoride out of your drinking and cooking water, see Natural Health School Lesson 15.
Once you have decreased the amount of toxins that you are putting into your body (remembering that this is a never-ending job that you must always be vigilant about), the next step for most of us will be to clean the toxins out of our body. This is where I recommend the Cleansing of the ABC+D Approach which I discussed in Lesson 5.
Trace Minerals Essential for Mental Health!
In lesson 9 we learned about the importance of trace minerals to mental health. Unfortunately, due to modern farming practices, our overworked soil no longer yields plants with sufficient amounts of trace minerals for optimum health. I recommend that survivalists and preppers stockpile trace mineral supplements. Minerals are literally rocks with an indefinite shelf life, regardless of any expiration dates that might appear on the labels. (If the mineral supplement contains vitamins as well as minerals the expiration date may apply, but only to the vitamins and other non-mineral ingredients and not to the "rocks" themselves. Liquids do not store as well as solids so for long term storage mineral tablets or pills will be better than liquids.
Organic farming and gardening practices go a long way in restoring trace minerals to the soil, so if you are able to grow your own food you should use these methods, which also reduce the amount of toxins in your food from pesticides. One way to add minerals back into the soil is to mix wood ashes into your soil. The amount of trace minerals in wood ashes depends on the amount of minerals in the wood that was burned to produce the ashes, which in turn depends on the amount of minerals in the soil that the wood grew in. So even though it helps, you are still not guaranteed to get all your trace minerals by adding wood ashes to your soil. Additionally, wood ash is 25% calcium carbonate , which means that it has a liming effect, so it will raise the pH of your soil making it less acidic. This may be undesirable for plants that love a high acid soil. So adding wood ashes to your soil should not be done indiscriminately without regard to the pH of your soil. I recommend that rather than adding the ashes to your soil, you add them in limited amounts to your compost pile that you will eventually work into your soil. This will dilute the acidity to some extent. But even then you shouldn't overdo it.
According to Purdue University, Acidic soils (pH less than 5.5) will likely be improved by the addition of wood ashes. Soils that are slightly acidic (pH 6.0 to 6.5) should not be harmed by the application of 20 pounds per 100 square feet annually, if the ash is worked into the soil about 6 inches or so. However, if your soil is neutral or alkaline (pH 7.0 or greater), find another way to dispose of wood ashes. If you don't know your soil's acidity or alkalinity level have it tested for pH. Crop tolerance to alkaline soil also should be considered. Some plants, such as asparagus and juniper, are more tolerant of slightly alkaline conditions than "acid-loving" plants, such as potatoes, rhododendrons and blueberries. Wood ash should never be used on acid-loving plants.
About Brown Rice and GABA Rice
In the beginning of lesson 9 I talked about making GABA rice by sprouting brown rice. It is unfortunate for preppers who put away food for long term storage that brown rice can not be stored for more than about 6 months, because the natural oils contained in the rice will go rancid. White rice on the other hand will store for a long time and is therefore the rice that is chosen for long term storage.. Unfortunately white rice is not suitable for making GABA rice.
Herbs
Many herbs were mentioned in lesson 9 for their beneficial effects for the nervous system. There are others that were not mentioned in this lesson. Many of these herbs can be grown in your garden, such as St. John's Wort, passion flower, hops and valerian. Start using these herbs, buying them commercially, to find out which are the most beneficial for you. Then acquire some seeds for your favorite herbs and begin growing your own, learning how to save your seeds so that you will always be able to grow your own medicines. At the same time you can discover which herbs grow wild in your area and learn how to identify, harvest and use these. This is a common theme throughout all the lessons of Natural Health School. As you can imagine, you have a huge learning curve ahead of you, so you must get to work now, before the collapse!
The Common Sense Approach
In summary, here are the 10 steps that you can take (roughly in this order) to regain your health and become your own doctor:
- Cleanse your body to remove the toxins that have been building up for a lifetime, regardless of how old you are. Start with a colon cleanse and then follow up with herbs to cleanse the liver, blood and other tissues. A good place to start is with the "C for Cleanse" step of the ABC+D Approach covered in Lesson 5.
- Overhaul your lifestyle to reduce the toxins you are voluntarily putting into your body. Eliminate as many chemical toxins as possible from your food and water. Eat organically grown foods to the extent possible and avoid junk foods, soft drinks, sugar, artificial sweeteners, processed foods, GMOs and foods that contain chemical additives.
- Stop poisoning your mind with television, spectator sports and other time and soul-destroying propaganda and filth from the controlled media. This should probably be #1. (Participating in sports yourself is good, as is supporting your children and other family members and friends.)
- Grow some of your own food—organically of course. Get back to the soil!
- Purify your water, being sure to use a water filter that will remove fluoride.
- Follow Natural Health School's Dietary Guidelines for an important healthy eating program that will help you reclaim your health and energy level. If you need to lose weight, these dietary guidelines will be your best friend.
- Start building your body's internal stores of vitamins and minerals by taking a high-quality complete multivitamin multimineral supplement and an ionic trace mineral supplement on a daily basis. This is the "B for Build" step in the ABC+D Approach of Lesson 5. Even if these become unavailable at some point in the future (and after your stockpile is depleted) you will be much better off going into a SHTF scenario with your body's internal stores fully stocked than if you start off like most people will—even most preppers—in an already depleted and deficient condition.
- If you are dependent on prescription drugs, see if you are able to improve your health, through time, to the point where you no longer need them, and find natural alternatives (the "D for Direct Aid" step in the ABC+D Approach) that you will be able to find during a societal collapse. (Seek council from your pharmacists or doctor before withdrawing yourself from your prescription drugs.) Note that this step comes after all of the above steps. That is for a reason; because for some, all of the above steps may be necessary in order to reach this point. However, some people will be able to eliminate useless medicines immediately, like cholesterol drugs!
- Once you have found natural alternatives, such as herbs, that are working for you, start thinking about how you are going to acquire them after a collapse, when the usual supply channels may not be available. This may include growing some of your own "medicines" and wildcrafting "medicines" from the wild.
- Locate the natural health practitioners (those who do not reply on the pharmaceutical industry) in your area and begin developing working relationships with the ones you trust. If you don't know any, begin by asking your friends for referrals. This may include herbalists, midwives, chiropractors, naturopaths, acupuncturists, traditional Chinese doctors, emergency medical technicians, nurses, massage therapists, pranic healers, faith healers, etc.—anyone who might know more than you and who might be able to help you after a collapse. Of course this can include medical doctors as well, and medical doctors will certainly be important when it comes to stitching you up, setting broken bones, digging bullets out of you, and handling other accidents and injuries. (This step could also be #1.)
(Note: The "Survival Doc Says" supplements are under construction and are not yet available for all lessons. I will add them as they are completed.)
Where to Next?
Complete the Self Evaluation for Lesson 9, or
Go to the Home Page and Click on Lesson 10.
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