This (updated) article explores the various components of the innate immune system and offers lists of foods and plant/fungal medicines that can help you keep your immune system in prime condition.
Another invaluable and informative gem, Gavin. I'm going to try some of those recipes.
Following one of the spore leads you gave me weeks ago - I have yet to order since it's just too hot here to start my first project, but I did order from them Chaga tea (I'm still waiting for it - according to tracking, it's hopping to and fro in the upper states - supposed to arrive second week of September). Anyway, regarding Reishi, according to one thing I read, its such a potent powerhouse I wonder if it should be used very sparingly so as not to always have the body's immune system in cancer-fighting mode. I've read something similar to echinacea, that it shouldn't be used daily but only when one is actually fighting something. Do I need to drink the Chaga tea sparingly as well?
Lastly, having read an article lately from fellow CR member on Substack's data-mining, I un-subscribed from all my subscriptions but re-subscribed via RSS feeds which is supposed to frustrate the meta-machine. Just so you know!
I am so glad you value what I shared. I would love to hear how the recipes turn out for you (and please let me know if you need any more details on preparation etc).
Those are some very astute and important observations you made about ingesting powerful healing foods in moderation. Thank you for asking that question as I should have shared my thoughts on that in the article above (so I will likely edit it in the future to reflect what I am about to share in this comment).
In my experience, there is wisdom behind using "potent powerhouse" plant and fungal medicines in moderation (and/or in cycles where one takes a break in between and/or switches to another plant/fungal medicine that can offer similar benefits). The practical reasons behind this wisdom are three fold.
Firstly some (but not all) of these powerful plant and fungal medicines do indeed activate specific cellular functions and put certain organs of the body on "high alert" that only need be activated when one is attempting to neutralize an infection, heal/dissolve an unwanted growth of cells and/or to regenerate specialized cells in key organs that need 'nutritional/phytochemical or myco-chemical encouragement' to be able to regenerate. Having said organs and cells on perpetual "high alert" status can indeed create it's own set of problems.
Secondly, some (but not all) of these powerful plant and fungal medicines can become less efficacious over time if taken regularly (due to the desensitization of specific receptor sites in organs and cells that intake the compounds these power plant/fungal medicines contain.
Thirdly, some (but not all) of these powerful plant/fungal medicines contain compounds/minerals that are benign when ingested in low concentrations but can cause cumulative damage and issues if the body is saturated with said compounds/minerals and is not given a chance to flush them out in between instances where one ingests the plant/fungus containing them. Chaga is one such superfood/medicine as is contains a high oxalate content (which can cause issues for the kidneys when taken in large amounts). One can avoid this by only ingesting Chaga (and other powerful medicine plants or fungi that contain similar compounds) sparingly/intermittently. Additionally if one feels they need to take large amounts of Chaga (or something similar) to treat a specific health issue for a sustained duration of time, one can mitigate the damage problematic compounds contained within may cuase (while still being able to access the powerful healing effects of taking the given fungi/plant in higher amounts) via drinking lots of good quality water (and in the case of something like Chaga via also consuming enough calcium rich foods, which binds to oxalates during digestion and helps flush them out).
In my study of human biology and nutrition I have found there are also ways to get around the challenge of natural medicines becoming less effective over time (due to desensitization via over stimulation of cellular receptor sites, or as some say "building resistance"). If one eats a rich diversity of medicinal plants and fungi and rotates through them (as to not over stimulate the particular cellular receptor cites that take in the active medicinal compounds found within said plants and/or fungi) this enables the medicine to remain potent and effective at relatively low concentrations via keeping our cells 'agile' through introducing a broad spectrum of phytochemicals (biological/epigenetic information and molecular building blocks/fuel). Thus, I do see immense value and wisdom in the practice of not consuming the most potent of the medicine plants and fungi everyday (day after day, week after week, month after month).
That being said, (as you know) we live on a world that has sprayed (and continues to be sprayed with) so much toxic chemicals (such as glyphosate and metallic nano-particulates) that these substances are now ubiquitous in the water cycles -rain, tap water, ground water-, soil and air (all while we are also being bombarded with a wide range of electromagnetic radiation from various devices from all directions). One can remove toxic foods from the diet but these larger dynamics are pervasive and unavoidable in many parts of the world for the vast majority (those of us that do not own a private jet, D.U.M.B. or other means of moving freely and/or hiding in sealed facilities and processing/purifying all water/food intake). Thus, I strive to emphasize the importance of understanding and utilizing food as medicine in our daily routine so that we can neutralize, expel and/or mitigate the damage these substances and/or forms of radiation are doing to our human biology. Pursuant to this, I incorporate powerful antioxidant rich foods, chelating foods and radioprotective foods into my diet each day (While also striving to grow/ have on hand at least three foods that serve the same medicinal functions so that I can rotate through them).
I hope this info is helpful to you.
That is very interesting regarding the data mining on substack, I appreciate the heads up.
Hope you have a wonderful Sunday and I look forward to hearing how those recipes turn out for you :)
Sorry to budge into someone else’s comment reply but after reading it, I felt compelled to encourage you to indeed, add some of this to the original post, as it is very valuable.
I also will indulge into adding my grain of salt to it. I feel that mentioning the body/mind/spirit’s ability to communicate to us what food/ compound we actually need, is, although more subtle, another angle into our relationship to our health. We’ve all have had intuition of our body’s need in the form of, for example, craving greens like mesclun, rapini or spinach. I know I surely have!
There are even people into “feeling” a food, by holding it, to see if the body needs it, something which I haven’t personally explored….
Anyway, I though that more subtle aspect of choosing nutrients was worth a mention.
I am glad you reminded me to add that material to the post above. It is now part of the main article. :) Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the intuitive facet of nurturing our body via tapping into the knowing of the spirit. This is something my wife recently spoke about to a group that was discussing nutrition and I do see truth and wisdom in developing those types of innate intuitive capacities and applying them (along side scientific human based ways of seeing) in every day life. One of my class mates in a permaculture design course spoke to this imperative of marrying the scientific with the spiritual and reverent in what I found to be a beautiful way by saying "the laboratory table must become an alter".
One a side note, reading that line to myself now ("the laboratory table must become an alter") brings to mind something I read recently where Charles Eisenstein speaks to the need for revitalizing our reverence, spiritual devotion and awe in the beauty of creation in a recent essay about "the energy crisis". Though the focus of his essay is "energy" this of course applies to nutrition as well, since that is one of the main ways we provide the energy our body needs to function and house our spirit. I think that essay has several threads that tie into this discussion. Here is a link to the essay https://charleseisenstein.substack.com/p/the-solution-to-the-energy-crisis
I suppose when I think of it, I likely engage in a sort of intuition based formulation of what my body needs when I am making seasonal fermented preserves like kimchi. Since there is so much room for creative variation in the ingredients added, I often just go through the garden and the pantry and go with what I feel guided to harvest and add in (often without any logical strategic thought being involved). The result is recipes that offer customized healing and revitalization/optimization of key cells for what my body needs to operate at it's highest potential (at least that is what it feels like to me when I eat them). Another wonderful side effect of this type of intuitive seasonal recipe making is we get to experience new flavors and poetry for the senses that also nourish the imagination and the soul :)
I like the idea of adding the concept of "feeling a food" (before eating it) and allowing our body/mind/spirit’s to communicate to us what food/ compound we actually need, as a more subtle angle into our relationship to our health to the article above, but I think it is already extremely long as it is (making it hard for some to digest, no pun intended) and I sense that I could write about intuition based herbalism/nutrition strategies in a way that deserves it's own seperate post at some future date.
Thanks again for the thoughtful comment, inspiration and kind words :)
Thank you Gavin. The amount of valuable info in this is amazing. Continue your loving mission. Looking forward to your book. Alain
Another invaluable and informative gem, Gavin. I'm going to try some of those recipes.
Following one of the spore leads you gave me weeks ago - I have yet to order since it's just too hot here to start my first project, but I did order from them Chaga tea (I'm still waiting for it - according to tracking, it's hopping to and fro in the upper states - supposed to arrive second week of September). Anyway, regarding Reishi, according to one thing I read, its such a potent powerhouse I wonder if it should be used very sparingly so as not to always have the body's immune system in cancer-fighting mode. I've read something similar to echinacea, that it shouldn't be used daily but only when one is actually fighting something. Do I need to drink the Chaga tea sparingly as well?
Lastly, having read an article lately from fellow CR member on Substack's data-mining, I un-subscribed from all my subscriptions but re-subscribed via RSS feeds which is supposed to frustrate the meta-machine. Just so you know!
I am so glad you value what I shared. I would love to hear how the recipes turn out for you (and please let me know if you need any more details on preparation etc).
Those are some very astute and important observations you made about ingesting powerful healing foods in moderation. Thank you for asking that question as I should have shared my thoughts on that in the article above (so I will likely edit it in the future to reflect what I am about to share in this comment).
In my experience, there is wisdom behind using "potent powerhouse" plant and fungal medicines in moderation (and/or in cycles where one takes a break in between and/or switches to another plant/fungal medicine that can offer similar benefits). The practical reasons behind this wisdom are three fold.
Firstly some (but not all) of these powerful plant and fungal medicines do indeed activate specific cellular functions and put certain organs of the body on "high alert" that only need be activated when one is attempting to neutralize an infection, heal/dissolve an unwanted growth of cells and/or to regenerate specialized cells in key organs that need 'nutritional/phytochemical or myco-chemical encouragement' to be able to regenerate. Having said organs and cells on perpetual "high alert" status can indeed create it's own set of problems.
Secondly, some (but not all) of these powerful plant and fungal medicines can become less efficacious over time if taken regularly (due to the desensitization of specific receptor sites in organs and cells that intake the compounds these power plant/fungal medicines contain.
Thirdly, some (but not all) of these powerful plant/fungal medicines contain compounds/minerals that are benign when ingested in low concentrations but can cause cumulative damage and issues if the body is saturated with said compounds/minerals and is not given a chance to flush them out in between instances where one ingests the plant/fungus containing them. Chaga is one such superfood/medicine as is contains a high oxalate content (which can cause issues for the kidneys when taken in large amounts). One can avoid this by only ingesting Chaga (and other powerful medicine plants or fungi that contain similar compounds) sparingly/intermittently. Additionally if one feels they need to take large amounts of Chaga (or something similar) to treat a specific health issue for a sustained duration of time, one can mitigate the damage problematic compounds contained within may cuase (while still being able to access the powerful healing effects of taking the given fungi/plant in higher amounts) via drinking lots of good quality water (and in the case of something like Chaga via also consuming enough calcium rich foods, which binds to oxalates during digestion and helps flush them out).
In my study of human biology and nutrition I have found there are also ways to get around the challenge of natural medicines becoming less effective over time (due to desensitization via over stimulation of cellular receptor sites, or as some say "building resistance"). If one eats a rich diversity of medicinal plants and fungi and rotates through them (as to not over stimulate the particular cellular receptor cites that take in the active medicinal compounds found within said plants and/or fungi) this enables the medicine to remain potent and effective at relatively low concentrations via keeping our cells 'agile' through introducing a broad spectrum of phytochemicals (biological/epigenetic information and molecular building blocks/fuel). Thus, I do see immense value and wisdom in the practice of not consuming the most potent of the medicine plants and fungi everyday (day after day, week after week, month after month).
That being said, (as you know) we live on a world that has sprayed (and continues to be sprayed with) so much toxic chemicals (such as glyphosate and metallic nano-particulates) that these substances are now ubiquitous in the water cycles -rain, tap water, ground water-, soil and air (all while we are also being bombarded with a wide range of electromagnetic radiation from various devices from all directions). One can remove toxic foods from the diet but these larger dynamics are pervasive and unavoidable in many parts of the world for the vast majority (those of us that do not own a private jet, D.U.M.B. or other means of moving freely and/or hiding in sealed facilities and processing/purifying all water/food intake). Thus, I strive to emphasize the importance of understanding and utilizing food as medicine in our daily routine so that we can neutralize, expel and/or mitigate the damage these substances and/or forms of radiation are doing to our human biology. Pursuant to this, I incorporate powerful antioxidant rich foods, chelating foods and radioprotective foods into my diet each day (While also striving to grow/ have on hand at least three foods that serve the same medicinal functions so that I can rotate through them).
I hope this info is helpful to you.
That is very interesting regarding the data mining on substack, I appreciate the heads up.
Hope you have a wonderful Sunday and I look forward to hearing how those recipes turn out for you :)
Sorry to budge into someone else’s comment reply but after reading it, I felt compelled to encourage you to indeed, add some of this to the original post, as it is very valuable.
I also will indulge into adding my grain of salt to it. I feel that mentioning the body/mind/spirit’s ability to communicate to us what food/ compound we actually need, is, although more subtle, another angle into our relationship to our health. We’ve all have had intuition of our body’s need in the form of, for example, craving greens like mesclun, rapini or spinach. I know I surely have!
There are even people into “feeling” a food, by holding it, to see if the body needs it, something which I haven’t personally explored….
Anyway, I though that more subtle aspect of choosing nutrients was worth a mention.
Keep up the great work!
I am glad you reminded me to add that material to the post above. It is now part of the main article. :) Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the intuitive facet of nurturing our body via tapping into the knowing of the spirit. This is something my wife recently spoke about to a group that was discussing nutrition and I do see truth and wisdom in developing those types of innate intuitive capacities and applying them (along side scientific human based ways of seeing) in every day life. One of my class mates in a permaculture design course spoke to this imperative of marrying the scientific with the spiritual and reverent in what I found to be a beautiful way by saying "the laboratory table must become an alter".
One a side note, reading that line to myself now ("the laboratory table must become an alter") brings to mind something I read recently where Charles Eisenstein speaks to the need for revitalizing our reverence, spiritual devotion and awe in the beauty of creation in a recent essay about "the energy crisis". Though the focus of his essay is "energy" this of course applies to nutrition as well, since that is one of the main ways we provide the energy our body needs to function and house our spirit. I think that essay has several threads that tie into this discussion. Here is a link to the essay https://charleseisenstein.substack.com/p/the-solution-to-the-energy-crisis
I suppose when I think of it, I likely engage in a sort of intuition based formulation of what my body needs when I am making seasonal fermented preserves like kimchi. Since there is so much room for creative variation in the ingredients added, I often just go through the garden and the pantry and go with what I feel guided to harvest and add in (often without any logical strategic thought being involved). The result is recipes that offer customized healing and revitalization/optimization of key cells for what my body needs to operate at it's highest potential (at least that is what it feels like to me when I eat them). Another wonderful side effect of this type of intuitive seasonal recipe making is we get to experience new flavors and poetry for the senses that also nourish the imagination and the soul :)
I like the idea of adding the concept of "feeling a food" (before eating it) and allowing our body/mind/spirit’s to communicate to us what food/ compound we actually need, as a more subtle angle into our relationship to our health to the article above, but I think it is already extremely long as it is (making it hard for some to digest, no pun intended) and I sense that I could write about intuition based herbalism/nutrition strategies in a way that deserves it's own seperate post at some future date.
Thanks again for the thoughtful comment, inspiration and kind words :)
Oh I read everything Charles write he is awesome!
Take care
Al