“Beauty and vitality are gifts from Nature, for those who live by her laws.”

– Leonardo da Vinci

 

I like to visit and support animal sanctuaries where animals that were once sickly from being caged or mistreated are able to live in natural surroundings and reclaim their health by eating a natural diet. Many of the animals that I have visited on these sanctuaries were once on the brink of death and have truly been transformed into healthy beings with a zest for life.

 

Just as the animals that have been rescued from the horrible living and diet conditions of factory farms can become healthier through improved nutrition and more healthful surroundings, the human body that has been mistreated and/or neglected can also regain much of its luster and vigor. This is obvious in those who have gone from obesity to a healthy weight simply by changing their food choices, increasing their physical activity, improving their atmosphere and restructuring their thought processes to become more positive and successful.

 

“That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do; not that the nature of the thing itself is changed, but that our power to do is increased.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

The body works to generate health. The microscopic activities deep in the cells work toward health in the best way possible using whatever nutrients that are provided.

 

Health is something that comes from within. To assist this activity, the person should supply the body with the best form of nutrients available. Doing less than that is limiting the ability of the body to produce vibrant health.

 

Raw plant substances are what the body needs if a person desires to experience the best health.

 

Picture the colors on fruits and vegetables. Would you consider the unadulterated, undamaged, vibrant botanical colors to be nutrients? There is more than meets the eyes to the colors within plants that we eat.

 

The spectrum of botanical pigments existing inside plant cells contain molecules that absorb specific wavelengths of Sun light and energy. In turn the cells of the plant store and carry different levels of vibrational energy fields. These frequencies contained in the unheated substances of plants have a function when a person consumes them.

 

Your body wants and desires to be around certain colors of Nature. You automatically are attracted to the piece of fruit that has reached its peak level of ripeness, be it the radiant peach, the passionately red strawberry, the gleaming plumpness of melon, the practically glowing yellow of a ripe banana, or the rich green of fresh vegetables. Once fruits and vegetables have passed their prime and their colors have begun to fade, they don’t elicit the same response from us.

 

The pigments synthesized within plants often work as defense mechanisms for the plants much in the same way the immune system of the human body works to protect health. The plant chemicals have been described as “plant antibiotics.” They work to protect plants from the elements, such as fungi, bacteria, tissue damage, extreme temperatures, and ultraviolet light. It is understood that there is some interaction between the plant and a pathogen that will trigger the manufacture of certain chemicals within the plant to defend it against the pathogen. Plants will also manufacture certain chemicals when the plant is exposed to certain stresses, such as wind, temperatures, moisture, and dryness.

 

Plants that are not provided with sufficient nutrients and conditions through soil, light, water, and temperature become weak and do not produce the chemicals they need to protect themselves from pathogens and environmental stresses.

 

Amazingly, when humans consume plants, the very same chemicals that protect the plants have been found to protect human health. They lower cholesterol, prevent heart disease, regulate blood sugar, and function as antioxidants.

 

Similar to plants, a human body that is not provided with the right combination of nutrients and atmosphere will also fail to defend itself from pathogens and stresses. 

 

There are thousands of plant chemicals that benefit human health. Probably the most commonly known beneficial plant color is the beta-carotene that is found in apricots, cantaloupe, carrots, peaches, pumpkin, and spinach. There is also alpha-carotene that is found in carrots, red and yellow peppers, and in pumpkins. Lutein, a carotenoid that is found in avocado, corn, kale, and spinach, has been found to prevent cataracts. Zeaxanthin is a carotenoid that helps give color to corn and saffron, and has been found to protect age-related macular degeneration (age-related blindness). Then there is lycopene in pink grapefruit, guava, tomatoes, and watermelon, and many other plant colors. They are only a few of over 600 identified plant chemicals that give plants their colors. Many more are being discovered. With each new discovery comes research that looks into the health benefits of the phytochemical, how the chemical works with others, and how the enzymatic systems of the human organs metabolize them.

 

One plant chemical that is currently getting a lot of attention as an antioxidant is one given the tongue-twisting name pterostilbene (pronounced tero-still-bean). This chemical is present in colorful fruits like blueberries. It is sensitive to light and air, which means it is more present in fruits that have not been processed or heated.

 

Another plant chemical that is rightly touted as a health-enhancer is resveratrol. This chemical is present in the skin of grapes, cranberries, and in some berries. It has been shown to improve liver and neuron tissue health, and may contribute to a longer life among those who consume an abundance of plants that contain it.

 

Resveratrol survives the wine-making process, and is present in red wines, which is a raw food. (If you purchase wine, make sure it is organic and that the company does not use any animal by-products in their processing. Some wines will indicate on the label that they are “vegan.”)

 

Each edible plant consists of a different variety of healthful, natural chemicals that work as nutrients when consumed by humans. To gain the benefits of these chemicals, eat a variety of unheated, raw, organically grown vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, sea vegetables, and an occasional edible flower. Select from a variety of plants, allowing your diet to consist of a kaleidoscope of colors. The biological functions the colors play within the plants will also play a part in maintaining your health.

 

Remember that many nutrients are transported into the system by way of dietary fats. Carotenoids are fat-soluble. Including a little bit of quality oil in some part of a meal can aid in the assimilation of the nutrients. In this way, an oil, such as unheated, organically grown olive oil, hemp oil, or grapeseed oil, flax oil, or coconut oil, added to a salad is a perfect match. The oils in olives, avocado, and nuts in a salad also work to help the body absorb the nutrients of the foods accompanying those plant substances. Raw seeds, such as sesame or hemp, have a bit of quality oil and these work well in fruit salads (they can be ground first to increase the availability of the nutrients). This is also why we put a few drops of oil into the juices and smoothies that we make.

 

We know that humans respond both emotionally and physically to colors. Being around certain colors can trigger emotional responses, such as alarm or calm that illicit changes among the molecules within body tissues. When you consider that the molecules within living plants carry specific color ratios and that these are resonations of energy, you can understand that there is an interaction going on between the frequencies of the molecules within the plants and the molecules within your body.

 

The energy frequency of the foods you eat is reflected in your body tissues, from your skin to your bones. It becomes quite obvious who is eating a deadening diet consisting of cooked starches and heated oils with little to no fresh plant matter as much as it is obvious who is eating an abundantly nutritious diet that is rich in fresh, raw plant substances.

 

When you cook plants, the colors throughout the plant tissues change, the order of the molecules changes, and the energy fields die. When you are putting deadened plants inside a body that relies on living plants to bring in nutrients, you are not getting the benefit of the plants.

 

In other words, plants collect elements from the soil, air, atmosphere, and light and turn these into their structures, which nourish us when we eat them – if we eat them when they are unheated and fresh. The raw plant matter carries a resonating energy that is in tune with the quality of nourishment they received as they grew.

 

To experience vibrant health, partake of foods that contain their full spectrum of colors and living frequencies of energy. Eat vibrant, radiant, raw, living plant matter that has been organically grown in healthy soil. 

 

© 2009 John McCabe