Guest guest Posted March 8, 2004 Report Share Posted March 8, 2004 >But a healthy person with an unjaded appetite would find a herb >unpleasant in taste from the start and then would refrain from >eating the herb. So... I am attracted to this herb, lettuce. I taste the evil weed and it tastes delicious! I then eat most of the leaves off of the poisonous weed and enjoy every bite. Does this mean that I am toxic and unable to know to avoid this toxin? Actually, I do appreciate the post Robert, and understand the theory, but it's not quite what I was talking about. I wasn't referring to an attempt to eliminate a symptom. I was just saying that I believed that if I was drawn to an herb and found it to taste good (by itself) that it is something my body wants. I do understand there may be a situation where someone extremely toxic may have no idea. I agree with you there. I also agree that most herbs may taste nasty by themselves and I certainly would not eat a whole bowl. But what of an herb I come across that, even in a very small amount my body tells me tastes wonderful. Is it possible my body actually wants that herb at that moment? Thanks, Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 8, 2004 Report Share Posted March 8, 2004 <<< " Does this mean that I am toxic and unable to know to avoid this toxin? " Hi Jeff, Robert left for parts south this morning so I'll respond to your post. I'm not sure if you're serious with the above question but in any case the answer is " no " , it would mean that what you're eating is food. There can be no question that lettuce is food because we can eat all we like and it only produces good effects. I'm sure Robert realized you weren't talking about suppressing symptoms with herbs. He just thought it would be a good opportunity to point out the erroneous thinking that goes along with the taking of herbs. If you were a natural human living a natural life and you came across an unfamiliar plant you were inspired to eat for some reason, you might taste it but you would listen closely to the signals your taste buds sent you. You wouldn't have previous teachings telling you that even if something tastes bad, it might still be good for you. If the thing tasted bitter or " off " in any way, you wouldn't proceed to chew and swallow it. If it tasted good, you'd eat a bunch of it and feel good because, by definition, it would be food. Most likely what would be the case is that you would live in a community or with a tribe of other humans, and it would be common knowledge which plants are food and which are not. This would be based on unchanging truth, and since people living healthfully and naturally have no need to experiment to see if what their elders tell them is truth, like we do in our culture, the information would be respected and heeded. It might be helpful to do a bit of reading about the differences between our culture and indigenous ones. I've found books like " Ishmael " and " The Continuum Concept " and even " Mutant Messenger " to be helpful (although the latter has a bit of nonsense in it too), plus there are lots of others. One warning, though -- there is the danger of realizing how far off track our culture is when you read what life is really supposed to be like. What happens is that we train our thoughts to align with our teachings, so that when we eat a leaf of basil or parsley rather than being able to listen to our senses, we let our thoughts lead us instead. It's not original thinking or creative thinking, it's only habitual thinking. Over and over in our lives, thousands of times, we've eaten things and had the thought " Well, it might taste bad but my mother (doctor, friend, nutritionist, etc.) told me it's good for me " . That's a habit that is very firmly in place. It's a bad mental habit that needs to be changed. If you manage to lose those mental habits and are then able to allow your body to lead you, there is never any question about whether or not you should eat something. Thanks for the interesting discussion. Enjoy the sun!! Nora Jeff Rogers wrote: > >But a healthy person with an unjaded appetite would find a herb > >unpleasant in taste from the start and then would refrain from > >eating the herb. > > So... I am attracted to this herb, lettuce. I taste the evil weed and > it tastes delicious! I then eat most of the leaves off of the > poisonous weed and enjoy every bite. Does this mean that I am toxic > and unable to know to avoid this toxin? > > Actually, I do appreciate the post Robert, and understand the theory, > but it's not quite what I was talking about. I wasn't referring to an > attempt to eliminate a symptom. I was just saying that I believed > that if I was drawn to an herb and found it to taste good (by itself) > that it is something my body wants. I do understand there may be a > situation where someone extremely toxic may have no idea. I agree > with you there. I also agree that most herbs may taste nasty by > themselves and I certainly would not eat a whole bowl. But what of an > herb I come across that, even in a very small amount my body tells me > tastes wonderful. Is it possible my body actually wants that herb at > that moment? > > Thanks, > > Jeff > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 8, 2004 Report Share Posted March 8, 2004 Hello! Did any of you read the book " Wild Health " by Cindy Engel? and if yes, I would like to know how you perceive human intuition and how much attribute to learning, this topic is quite fascinating, Thanks, Helena Search - Find what you’re looking for faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 8, 2004 Report Share Posted March 8, 2004 Nora, Thanks for the reply! That first question was in humor. While some foods may be " herbs " by definition, they are considered food. I just don't like to hear all or nothing explanations, like all herbs are bad. I prefer keeping some room for other possibilities. Regarding parsley, I remember a time I was hungry and went into PCC (not quite a natural setting) and walked around the produce section. The one thing that jumped out at me and attracted me was the parsley. I bought a bunch and munched on it and enjoyed it. It hit the spot. That has also happened for me with cilantro. This has never happened to me for things like ginger or garlic. They would not pass the " bowl " test. It sounds like you would treat these two herbs as something to avoid, yet it seems like, at least in those instances, my body treated them as foods. What are your thoughts on that? Thanks, Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 9, 2004 Report Share Posted March 9, 2004 Hi Jeff, Before you can let your body make eating decisions for you, it has to be qualified. It takes a few years of not eating spicy, bitter or salty things before you can trust that what is driving you to eating something isn't either a craving or a habituated " belief " that it's good for you. Until that happens, it helps to use the knowledge we have about the chemical constituents of foods and their effects on our bodies. It might seem unnatural for us to know that cilantro and parsley have chemicals in them that are not healthy, since our ancestors could not have had this information. But they didn't need it because their palates were unperverted and their intuitions trustworthy, unlike ours. One good thing to do is to pay close attention to the signals you get from your taste buds. If a substance has a bite to it, that means there are chemicals in it that have unhealthful effects on our bodies. The best way to get back to a place where you can trust your senses is to eat mono fruit meals and simple salads (no more than 3 ingredients) for a year or so. No salt, no herbs, nothing spicy or bitter. Then, go back and eat a leaf of cilantro or basil. You'll know then that they are not foods. Nora Jeff Rogers wrote: > Nora, > > Thanks for the reply! That first question was in humor. While some > foods may be " herbs " by definition, they are considered food. I just > don't like to hear all or nothing explanations, like all herbs are > bad. I prefer keeping some room for other possibilities. > > Regarding parsley, I remember a time I was hungry and went into PCC > (not quite a natural setting) and walked around the produce section. > The one thing that jumped out at me and attracted me was the parsley. > I bought a bunch and munched on it and enjoyed it. It hit the spot. > That has also happened for me with cilantro. This has never happened > to me for things like ginger or garlic. They would not pass the > " bowl " test. It sounds like you would treat these two herbs as > something to avoid, yet it seems like, at least in those instances, > my body treated them as foods. What are your thoughts on that? > > Thanks, > > Jeff > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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