Before we discuss the science, truth and logic that supports a living foods lifestyle lets begin with the discussion of “What is Food”. What is Food? What does it mean to you? Whenever I ask this question in a talk I get a variety of answers: comfort, love, sharing, escape, pleasure, nourishment, interaction with the earth, connection, joy, family.
Beyond Food: The X Factor
Food is important and we are clearly "what we eat and assimilate". The caveat is that if we get stuck on food alone we are going to get into trouble. When we begin it is important that we do become passionate about our food, because we have given it so little attention in today's society. The shift in focus for me was inspired by Bruce Lipton in his book "The Biology of Belief" which discusses that the most important thing is the environment in which we place our cells and thus ourselves. We need to look at the other levels of nutrition, which is everything in which we immerse our mind, body and spirit. So what are the other vital areas that we require to nourish us Physically, Mentally, Emotionally and Spiritually. I call them "Beyond Food". When we incorporate these "beyond foods" on a daily basis, the physical form of food becomes less important and we are truly nourished.
Everything in the universe is made up of frequencies or vibrations of energy. Infinite potential energy resides in every atom of this universe. The closer we get to spirit the cleaner our energy.
“There is never enough food to feed the hungry soul” Gabriel Cousens M.D.
♥ Yah/ Divine/ God/ Spirit/ Universal Energy/ Source: The deepest connection is with our source, feeling this connection allows us a deep respect for all life. Knowing the oneness allows compassion for others. Our connection allows us to get out of the ego into the space that the ego is a spark or expression of the divine. From this space we open to the infinite energy of god.
♥ Cosmic Nature Energy: As we open ourselves to reconnect with all the elements and forces: the sun, moon, stars, water, nature we can receive deep nourishment. Modern lifestyles have inhibited this flow and it is essential to reconnect/ return to our relationship with this infinite source of energy and inspiration: the Mother Earth’s Nurturing Energy.
♥ Light: Allowing our bodies and eyes to be bathed in natural light is essential for our health and well being. The modern world shuts this off with offices, artificial light and fear of the sun.
♥ Air; Breath (prana): The power of breath is "inspiration". Take 5 deep breaths now. How does that feel? We can shift our whole physiology through breath, we can generate energy. In minutes without breath there is no life. Pranayama, QiGong breathing, regenerates and balances the whole body.
♥ The Energy of Laughter: When we laugh we charge our whole body with energy and deeply nourish all our inner organs. Laughter has been show to boost the immune system, release stress and release endorphins.
♥ Being Lived by Love: When we fall in love or feel loved completely, every cell of our body is nourished. Surrounding ourselves with loved ones, family, friends, and community allows us to open our hearts and be deeply intimate. Get our daily hug and eye connection quota to fulfill this category.
♥ Deep Inner Peace: In a place of peace and stillness when we quiet our mind and come into the heart space through meditation, chanting, being in nature, living our life purpose (dharma) we feel fulfilled completely.
When we clarify this essence we begin to clearly see that when it comes to choosing to put living foods in our bodies, it is the best and only choice.
“You Are What You Eat!” the statement that is known worldwide is essential for our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual evolution.
From my readings and personal experience it is clear that “everything” is food. Dr Bruce Lipton inspired the concept that connected the dots in his book the “The Biology of Belief” where he discusses the concept of the cellular environment. The genes are only the blueprint of the whole, rather than the dictating factor, the crucial factor is the environment that surrounds the cell. Keep the cellular fluid clean and we have and opportunity for longevity. Expand that out to the whole human being and live the above principles, and we begin to see the unlimited opportunity. This is rather like the student who chooses to be in the presence of a spiritual master or pure environment so that he/she may raise his/her own frequency.
I could at this point focus on what is a less than ideal situation, one that drains our energy and lowers our frequency (the Culture of Death) or in the spirit of what we focus on becomes who we are. I feel that in our hearts we know the truth of what is toxic to our spirits and needs no reinforcement.
A spiritual master needs little food and science shows that the less you eat the longer you live in the form of calorie restriction. If our life is rich and we feel deep peace and fulfillment then we will need little physical food. If we only focus on food, even if it is the highest quality food, we will probably be less than vibrantly healthy.
And God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.
Making Excellent Food Choices
From this space of peace, love and harmony that is encompassed by being lived by love, the six foundations and the sevenfold peace, we become clear to make excellent food choices on the physical plane.
In this time in history we are moving from a time of lack to one of plenty. Many people are sick due to nutritional deficiencies and lack of soul foods.
Living Vegan Plant Sourced Whole Foods are these high vibration foods, in their intact nature created state. These living foods contain abundant Living water, Chlorophyll, Enzymes, Phytonutrients, Antioxidants, B-Vitamins, Minerals, Volatile Organic Compounds and Essential Fatty Acids. These foods are created perfectly and contain frequencies of information lost in the cooking process.
At the highest level we have “Biogenic Foods” a term coined by Szekley in the Essene Gospel of Peace and expanded upon by Cousens in Spiritual Nutrition. Biogenic foods are the foods that have the highest level of potential energy. These foods are according to Cousens are life renewing, regenerating, revitalizing, reverse the aging process, turn on the longevity genes, increase the “subtle organizing energy fields” and enhance life force. In this category of foods we find:
♥ Fresh Spouts and their Juices.
♥ Foods picked & eaten fresh from the garden.
♥ Fresh Grass Juices (wheatgrass, barley grass, spelt).
♥ Fermented Foods such as Sauerkraut & Kim Chi.
♥ Certain Herbs and Superfoods: Retain their potential energy when dried. Examples include: goji berries, ginseng, medicinal mushrooms.
♥ Wild foods freshly picked and eaten.
♥ Bee Products
Gradually introducing more of these foods is a powerful approach until it becomes the very foundation of your physical nourishment. We can see that these foods are also very sustainable and available to everyone.
Below “Biogenic” Foods we have “Bioactive” foods. These foods are still powerful life sustaining foods. These foods are unprocessed, uncooked whole foods and due to freshness (transportation and storage), picking too early, hybridization, may lose some energy and nutrients. Some items do better than others: green leafy veggies and unripe fruits will lose more energy than nuts and seeds for example. More study in the transportation, storage and preservation is required and it is clear for now that when available “biogenic food” is the choice of champions.
Lower on the chain is “Biostatic” foods. These foods include whole, minimally processed foods. While providing some physical nutrition, they lack life force energy, are depleted in nutritional elements and thus deplete our energy, nutrients and qi in their assimilation. As noted in beyond food above it is the vibration that is key in nutrition and these food while calorically identical lack the living food “x” factor to nourish our living body.
As often quoted, and for good reason, Szekely states in the Essene Gospel of Peace:
"Kill neither men, nor beasts, nor yet the food which goes into your mouth. For if you eat living food, the same will quicken you, but if you kill your food, the dead food will kill you also. For life comes only from life, and from death comes always death. For everything, which kills your foods, kills your bodies also. And everything, which kills your bodies, kills your souls also. And your bodies become what your foods are, even as your spirits likewise become what your thoughts are. Therefore, eat not anything which fir, or frost, or water has destroyed. For burned, frozen and rotted foods will burn, freeze and rot your body also."
Lower on the scale we find “Bioacidic” foods. These are highly processed foods that significantly diminish our life force, leave behind toxic residue and are mycotoxic. The more processed and the more genetically altered (Genetically Modified Organisms) the more damage the do to our body, mind and connection to spirit. These foods degrade the physical body creating walking compost heaps.
What is Special about Living Foods
“If it aint broken… don’t fix it” Gabriel Cousens M.D.
When we heat, genetically alter and process natural living foods we detroy the sensitive elements and create new chemicals not found in the original food. This combination leads to degeneration, death and disease. (see Figure 1: Chronic Disease Cycle, Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine)
Fig 1: The Chronic Disease Cycle: Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine, Gabriel Cousens
1) Plant Volatile Compounds or Essential Oils
Walk into any kitchen cooking foods and the first sensory clue of something being lost from the food is one of smell. These essential oils are volatile and through the cooking process they are released from the foods into the air rather than our bodies. When we eat the cooked food we quickly notice the bland flavor. The power of these compounds has been noted for years by aromatherapists who use processes to capture the oils from the foods. Compare fresh garlic, basil, mint to their cooked counterparts and experience the true therapeutic value of these foods. Some examples high in these elements include: garlic, herbs, cinnamon, ginger, onions.
2) Phytonutrients
There are hundreds of phytonutrients in foods. What are they? “Antioxidants are found in Nature in compounds that are particularly rich in hydrogen and excess electrons. These hydrogen-rich and electron-rich compounds are usually visible to our eye as pigments of color in plants.” David Wolfe (www.sunfood.com/MyPages/understanding-antioxidants.aspx). These elements are sensitive to heat, light and processing of foods. Cook any food and watch it’s brightness (light) go to drab grey (dark). Examples of high phytonutrient foods include: berries, cacao, dark greens, green superfoods ripe fresh heirloom fruits and veggies grown in mineral rich soil. By powdering some of these herbal and superfood powerhouses in a low temperature way we can make the nutrients more bioavailable, this is useful in a time where we have abused our digestive systems, become deficient in nutrients and live in a polluted world where we are on free radical overload
3) Polysaccarides
These powerful elements are a newer scientific discovery with powerful immune boosting properties. “Polysaccharides or glyconutrients are one of the healthiest substances we can ingest especially when still found in their natural state in whole organic raw foods, superfoods, and herbs.” David Wolfe (http://www.sunfood.com/MyPages/essential-sugars.aspx). Again another essential element lost in the process of cooking. High polysaccharides foods include: medicinal mushrooms, goji berries, whole leaf aloe vera, bee pollen, and marine phyto plankton.
4) Ormus
Ormus is a powerful healing element in food that lacks mainstream research and has been used by shamans for all time. “Ormus atoms or "minerals" are a chemically identified separate-able class of substances, just like halogens or metals, except that Ormus atoms do not find placement on the two-dimensional Periodic Table of the Elements…. Ormus may be ten times more abundant in human tissues than all trace minerals (e.g. zinc, copper, iodine, chromium, etc.) combined. The implications become obvious. What if we have been deficient in Ormus minerals? What if we've been taking the wrong kind of mineral supplements?” David Wolfe (www.thebestdayever.com/content/view/558/119/) Again another element lost by heating, processing and tampering with our foods. Found in abundance in wild foods such as Whole Leaf Aloe Vera, Noni Fruits, Bee Products, Flowers and also concentrated in Spring Water, Dead Sea Salts and Ocean Water. For years this element has been misidentified, according to the research of David Wolfe as carbon or silica. Heat flips ormus back into its metallic element. David Wolfe and Nick Good discuss Ormus in Amazing Grace.
5) Living Water
We have a serious issue of chronic dehydration. Hydration or bringing more hydrogen into the body is the first step in creating vibrant health and wellness. Fresh alive foods contain an abundance of living water. When cooked this fresh living water is lost or degraded. The food becomes limp, shriveled and lifeless… here we can reflect upon the aging process
6) Bio-Photons
Bio-Photons are weak emissions of light emitted by all living organisms that pulse with from the DNA. When organisms are sick or die light energy is released. The healthier the organism, the more light potential it contains. Organic living foods and healthy animals are said to have high bio photon potential. When we cook and process food we are in effect killing the life energy of the plant. The bio photon field surrounding humans has been described as the living field where long term memory (information) is stored. I hypothesize that this would be the same in a plant and thus by cooking the plant we are in effect losing the opportunity to absorb this light/ information from the plant spirit matrix. (see research by Dr Albert Popp)
7) Kirlian Photograph
There is some controversy about Kirlian images and what is actually occurring. What is clear is that the images portrayed in Eating for Beauty by David Wolfe of living foods is beautiful and when compared to cooked foods quite a contrast. As an educational tool they really help us to visualize the difference in energy, electricity, light of cooked v living foods
Electrical Energy
All living organisms radiate electromagnetic energy, when life ends this radiation ends too. The amount of radiation from a living organism can be measured. The healthier an organisms the more electrical energy emitted. We can see the breakdown of healthy electrical charge when we look at live blood slides and see the blood cells sticking together, caused by stress, dehydration, low mineral diet. The right balance of mineral salts and water allow the flow of electrical energy. I hypothesize that the more mineralized, hydrated, unprocessed the food we take into our bodies the more electrical charge we will have and thus the stronger our immunity to deflect the positively charged microorganisms and toxins.
9) Nutrient Loss/ Disruption
The longer we cook, process, fractionate whole foods and the higher the temperature the more nutrients are lost. The amount of nutrients lost from food varies by type of food, the temperature and methods of cooking. Short steaming of broccoli does little damage as compared to boiling or baking the broccoli. It is clear that white flour, white sugar and processed junk is not food and does nothing to benefit health. Macrobiotic vegan is a much healthier choice because we are talking about whole foods and simple cooking methods. It is clear that the more fresh uncooked food we can consume the better. A USDA study showed 50% loss of nutrients such as B Vitamins when boiling vegetables. B Vitamins are essential for health especially in our stressful lifestyles. The longer proteins are cooked the more they are coagulated and less assimilable, I have read quotes of 50% of protein being degraded in cooking. When we get to higher heats the oils are degraded. Minerals can also be lost in the cooking water.
It is hard to find the detailed research and there are so many variables. There are discussions that some toxins are broken down (legumes) in the cooking process and some nutrients are more readily available (tough fibrous vegetables). Sprouts and Greens, Nuts and Seeds, Fruits are all perfect as they are and do not benefit by cooking and can be easily absorbed. They are also easy to come by and grow anywhere in the world. Legumes can be sprouted and then lightly steamed if you choose to eat them. Blending is a better choice to breaking down fiber and exposing more nutrients than exposing the food to heat.
10) Chemical Creation
When we heat food we inevitably create new chemicals. The creation of those chemicals depends on the temperature and length of cooking process. One study that was released in 2000 showed when carbohydrate rich foods are heated at high temperature high levels of the carcinogen Acrylamide. To me the scary issue is when we heat foods that have a variety pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, have been genetically modified we are playing chemical labs with out bodies and the results are unknown and untested. Scary Stuff!
11) Enzymes
Enzymes are a subtle aspect of foods, that help us to digest our foods, and are degraded by heat. Some enzymes can survive up to 160F while others are degraded as low as 115F. There exact action in digestion needs more research.
12) Subjective
We are the only animals on the planet that cooks and processes its food. We are the only animals that gets degenerative disease, wild animals that do get sick are ones influenced by human pollution.
Bibiography
Cousens, Gabriel. Why Living Foods
Cousens, Gabriel. Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine
Cousens, Gabriel. Spiritual Nutrition
Cousens, Gabriel. Conscious Eating
Cousens, Gabriel. Creating Peace by Being Peace
Wolfe, David. The Sunfood Diet Success System
Authors bio is coming up shortly. 
