Thought I would share a special moment for all who can attend!  Feel free to forward.  Much love, light and gratitude!  Smile.

Blissings, Ani


Happy Living Foods Year
Reconnect    Rebuild    Rejuvenate
Join us for the
Living Foods Lifestyle ®
 
2 Week Program
January 4 – 17, 2009

Restore Health and Longevity

Who should attend?
Our core two week program is for all students who will benefit in their individual journey toward health, peace, and harmony.
What does the program offer?

Enjoy the core Ann Wigmore Program where you will work with certified instructors educating you in learning the Living Foods Lifestyle ® and in preparing healthy living foods. This program provides students with health educational classes and hands-on living food preparation techniques, while experiencing the beauty of tropical Puerto Rico.
What is included in the program?

The program consists of the basics of the Living Foods Lifestyle® classes, accommodations and access to healing relaxation therapies.
•    Lodging at the Institute
•    All meals
o    The opportunity to access healing relaxation therapies like yoga, Reiki, myriad massages, chiropractic, psychological and colon therapy for an additional charge.  One therapy per participant ($65.00 US$ value) is offered free of charge.
•    Classes will include the basics of the Ann Wigmore Living Food Lifestyle®
•    Living foods food preparation interactive classes
•    Structured exercise and relaxation classes
•    Airport shuttle
•    Snacks
•    Wheatgrass juice
•    Use of the facilities

What is the cost of the 2 week program?
The Ann Wigmore Natural Health Institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to teaching wellness to as many people as possible. The two week core program fee range is $1715 - $2825 depending on your choice of accommodations. (Please see our rate page for specific accommodation rates.)

Call: 787.868.6307

An Open Letter to Hillary Clinton from Another Wellesley College Alumna

Dear Hillary,

By polling logic, I should be your supporter - Democrat, older woman, white, liberal. I was even in a dorm with you in college. I have pulled for you for years. But something this past summer fundamentally changed my responsibility to my children and grandchildren. In the time I have left in my life to protect them and others, I need to speak out.

I saw a News Hour piece on Maharastra, India, about farmers committing suicide. Monsanto, a US agricultural giant, hired Bollywood actors for ads telling illiterate farmers they could get rich (by their standards) from big yields with Monsanto's Bt (genetically engineered) cotton seeds. The expensive seeds needed expensive fertilizer and pesticides (Monsanto, again) and irrigation. There is no irrigation there. Crops failed. Farmers had larger debt than they'd ever experienced

And farmers couldn't collect seeds from their own fields to try again (true since time immemorial). Monsanto "patents" their DNA-altered seeds as "intellectual property." They have a $10 million budget and a staff of 75 devoted solely to prosecuting farmers. http://www.grist. org/comments/ food/2008/ 01/17./). Since the late 1990s (about when industrial agriculture took hold in India),166,000 Indian farmers have committed suicide and 8 million have left the land.

Farmers in Europe, Asia, Africa, Indonesia,South America, Central America and here, have protested Monsanto and genetic engineering for years.

What does this have to do with you?

You have connections to Monsanto through the Rose Law Firm where you worked and through Bill who hired Monsanto people for central food-related roles. Your Orwellian-named "Rural Americans for Hillary" was planned withTroutman Sanders, Monsanto's lobbyists.

Genetic engineering and industrialized food and animal production all come together at the Rose Law Firm, which represents the world's largest GE corporation (Monsanto), GE's most controversial project (DP&L's - now Monsanto's - terminator genes), the world's largest meat producer (Tyson), the world's largest retailer and a dominant food retailer (Walmart).

The inbred-ness of Rose's legal representation of corporations which own controlling interests in other corporations there and of corporate boards sharing members who are also shareholders of each other's corporations there, is so thorough that it is hard to capture. Jon Jacoby, senior executive of the Stephens Group - one of the largest institutional shareholders of Tyson Foods, Walmart, DP&L - is also Chairman of the Board of DP&L and arranged the Wal-Mart deal. Jackson Stephens' Stephens Group staked Sam Walton and financed Tyson Foods. Monsanto bought DP&L. All represented at Rose.

You didn't just work there, you made friends. That shows in the flow of favors then and since. You were invited onto Walmart's board, you were helped by a Tyson executive to make commodity trades (3 days before Bill became governor), netting you $100,000, Jackson Stephens strongly backed Bill for Governor, and then for President (donating $100,000). http://www.financialsense.com/ editorials/ engdahl/2006/ 0828.html

Food and friends, in Clinton terms:

Bill's appointed friend Mike Espy, Secretary of Agriculture, who immediately significantly weakened federal chicken waste and contamination standards, opening the door to major expansion of Tyson's chicken factory farms (www.financialsense .com/ editorials/engdahl/ 2006/0828. html). Espy resigned, indicted for accepting bribes, illegal contributions, money laundering, illegal dispersal of USDA subsidies, .... Tyson Foods was the largest corporate offender. http://www.engdahl. oilgeopolitics. net/GMO/Monsanto /monsanto. html

But what Bill did for Monsanto "genetic engineering" goes beyond inadequate concepts of giving corporate friends influence: He unleashed genetic engineering into the world. And then he helped close off people's escape from it.

Genetic engineering is many orders of magnitude different from "normal" (even polluting) business in its potential biologic ramifications. The warning myth of Pandora'a Box - letting irretrievable things rush out into nature - has become real. The harrowing change to the world from nuclear fission and fusion is the closest parallel.

What did Bill do?

1. Bill's put Monsanto people in at the FDA, as US Agricultural Trade Representatives, on International Biotechnology Consultive Forums, and more ... (http://www. commondreams. org/headlines/ 072600-03. htm) or http://www.monitor. net/monitor/ 9904b/monsantofd a.html or http://www.mindfully.org/GE/ Revolving- Door.htm

2. Bill's FDA gave Monsanto permission to market rBGH (a GE bovine growth hormone), the first genetically engineered product let loose on us (or did tomatoes with fish DNA get there first?).

3. Despite reports of bovine illness and death, Bill's FDA did not recall it or put warnings on it. Even "a very angry, very vocal nationwide consumer base" had no impact. " http://www.wafreepress.org/14/ Envirowatch. html

4. Bill's FDA wouldn't even label rBGH as "present" in milk.

5. When dairy farmers tried to label their own milk rBGH-free so the public could choose, Bill's USDA threatened all dairies that their products could be confiscated from stores. Michael Taylor, USFDA Deputy Commissioner, was formerly Monsanto's counsel.

6. How were consumers to protect their family, given Bill's FDA enforced public blindness, except to buy only organic? But Bill's FDA tried to close off that last escape, proposing to include in "organic" standards, "the dirty three" a : genetic engineering of plants and animals, use of irradiation in food processing and use of municipal sewage sludge as a fertilizer. (My emphasis.) The FDA backed down. http://query. nytimes.com/ gst/fullpage. html?res= 9C0DEED91E31F933 A1575AC0A96E9582 60

Had this gone through, Monsanto could have finally labeled rBGH milk ... as "organic." And animal waste from factory farms, a pollution nightmare for Tyson and others, could have been sold as fertilizer.

USDA head Dan Glickman: "This is probably the largest public response to an [Agriculture Department] rule in modern history." In fact the response was 20 times greater than anything ever before proposed by the USDA. http://www.orpheusweb.co.uk/ john.rose/ orglab.html

Personally, I resent years of effort to protect my children and now grandchildren, from that crap.

Politically, Bill sided against small farmers and against the public's right to know, and with Monsanto.

A snap shot of our food:

Oils: Sheep died in India after feeding on Bt cotton fields (http://btcotton. blogspot. com/). We feed our children Bt cotton, as cottonseed oil in peanut butter and cookies.

Grains: 49% of US corn acreage was planted in Bt corn in 2007. A French study proved Monsanto's GMO corn causes kidney and liver toxicity (http://www. organicconsumers .org/articles/ article_4790. cfm). Soft drinks and candy have highly concentrated Bt corn, in the form of high fructose Bt corn syrup. The US food system depends most on two crops, soy (90% GMO, 90% of traits owned by Monsanto) and corn, the largest crop (60% GMO, nearly 100% Monsanto traits). "[E]ssentially our entire food supply is genetically modified, to the benefit of one company." The Grocery Manufacturers of America in 2000 estimated that 70 percent of US food contains GM traits. http://www.organicc onsumers. org/articles/ article_9716. cfm

Meat: Steroids bulk up atheletes. Monsanto steroids bulk up animals - more weight, more profit. We feed our children steroids in meats. Is this why our children are fattening, like Hansel and Gretel?

Poultry: Bill's USDA weakened chicken waste and contamination standards and attempted to allow sewage sludge as fertilize crops. I will say more about disease from industrialized poultry farms waste, at the end of this letter.

Milk: Over 30 scientific publications have shown increased levels of IGF-1 in milk with rBGH increases risks of breast cancer by up to seven-fold, also increasing colon and prostate cancers risks. Canada, 29 European nations, Norway, Switzerland, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa ban U.S. rBGH dairy products. Bill's USFDA put no restrictions, no warning labels (not allowing labels at all). (My emphasis.) http://www.sustdev. org/index. php?option= com_content&task=view&id=2127&Itemid=35

American children eat that food and drink that milk, Hillary. Coincidentally, American children are increasingly fat and sick.

Here, Bill ignored pleas for labeling. Abroad, Bill ignored intense international objections over the same issue - unlabeled US food exports - badly straining trading relations. Monsanto's "good ole boy," he betrayed American families at the deepest levels conceivable - their family's health and their democratic right to know. He betrayed our rural life and American family farmers - backing corporation deceit and control, over honesty and clean farming.

Sarasota filmmaker's life-changing discovery

Rejuvenation with Raw Foods and Enzymes
Enzymes are protein molecules found in all living cells.  Enzymes are the spark of life that catalyze and regulate all bodily biochemical reactions.  Approximately 2,700 different enzymes in the human body can combine with co-enzymes to form approximately 100,000 biochemical substances that enable us to see, hear, feel, move, think, reproduce and digest our food.   Raw foods provide the most natural source of one of the most important elements of our well-being – enzymes.  All raw foods - vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, meat and dairy - provide in the very food itself, specific enzymes for the body to fully digest it.

Dr. Max Wolf of Columbia University who researched enzymes and hormones from the 1930's through the 1960's, concluded enzyme production in humans diminishes after age 27.  The vital force provided by an abundance of enzymes in a young person ensures recovery quick from illness and injuries and provides flexibility, agility and energy to accomplish great feats.  As we age, depending on our lifestyle, diet and inherent enzyme potential, digestive difficulties may develop, the immune system must work harder, degenerative diseases may appear, and strength, flexibility, endurance and mental acuity decrease.

There are three types of enzymes: digestive enzymes, metabolic or systemic enzymes produced by the body, and food enzymes which must be obtained from the live foods that we eat.  Digestive enzymes are secreted by the digestive system to break down food into nutrients that can be absorbed into the bloodstream.  They are also used to eliminate waste.  The human digestive system secretes the proteolytic protein-digesting enzymes protease, trypsin and pepsin, fat-digesting enzymes lipase and cholesterol esterase, and enzymes that break down carbohydrates, including amylase, sucrase, maltase, lactase, and ptyalin.  Humans don't produce cellulase, an enzyme necessary for digestion of fiber that is present in raw plant foods.  But micro-flora in the intestines can manufacture cellulase if enough of these beneficial bacteria have been established by eating fermented foods. 
Fermentation is a natural way to preserve food and substantially enhances the enzyme content of the food.  This is why most raw foodists eat plentiful quantities of fermented sauerkraut and other plant based fermented foods.

Nature did not design us to make all of the enzymes necessary for digestion, but intended us to ingest most of our enzymes from live, raw foods.  For thousands of years our ancestors ate mostly raw and fermented meats, dairy and plant foods and had few if any of the health problems we have today.   Even today, the native Eskimos who still eat this "primitive origin" diet are recognized as some of the healthiest people on Earth.
Heating food above 105 degrees F destroys the vital enzymes in food, forcing us to rely on our own enzyme reserves to complete the job of digestion.  This dietary situation presents a real problem for modern man, since cooked food dominates our eating.  Plant enzymes are most abundant in vine-ripened fruits and vegetables that are just picked.  In a matter of days after picking, natural enzyme levels typically drop by 50%.  Considering that most produce travels an average of 1,200 miles to get to our table and is often picked unripe to survive the trip, enzyme levels throughout even our organic food supply are deficient.

Systemic enzymes work throughout the body in every system and organ.  Delivering nutrients to the cells and tissues for nourishment and regeneration, they initiate and speed up chemical reactions within the cells for energy production and detoxification. Systemic enzymes provide the necessary energy we use to rebuild muscles, cells, nerves, tissues, bones and glands.  These enzymes also are instrumental in balancing our hormones, regulating our immune system and producing the neurotransmitters that modulate our emotions and enhance mental clarity. Systemic enzymes reduce inflammation, activate healing and relieve pain.  Enzymes clear our blood of undigested food particles and pathogens. And they also dissolve excess arterial plaque, strengthen blood vessels and prevent blood clots. These very same enzymes dissolve scar tissue, adhesions, tumors and cysts.  Finally they regulate metabolism to maintain optimum weight, and they rejuvenate aging muscles, joints and skin.  That's a lot of work to do everyday!!!!

Systemic enzymes are produced by every living cell. However, the liver, pancreas, gall bladder and other organs play a vital role in their production.  Some of the enzymes used for digestion also perform other important functions in the body. When we are deficient in any of these enzymes due to depleted reserves and insufficient dietary intake of raw foods, there are not enough enzymes available in the body for other functions.  Health problems ensue.  More than likely, there will not even be enough enzymes available to completely digest our everyday food.  By eating raw foods and/or taking digestive enzyme supplements with our meals and systemic enzymes between meals, many health conditions can be reversed and healed.

Enzymes and Raw Foods
All raw food enzymes are destroyed by heat.  Most raw food, like our body, is quite perishable. When raw foods are exposed to temperatures above 105 degrees F, they rapidly break down, just as our bodies would if we had a fever that high.  Enzymes, sensitive and yet powerful, help us digest our food, are proteins that break down as easily.  A three dimensional protein structure, enzymes, once they are heated much above 105 degrees F, structurally, molecularly change.

Once raw food enzymes are exposed to heat, they are no longer able to provide the function for which they were designed. Non raw foods contribute to chronic illness, because their enzyme content is damaged.  This damage requires the body to create enzymes to process the food. The digestion of cooked food uses valuable metabolic enzymes in order to help digest your food. Digestion of cooked food demands much more energy than the digestion of raw food. In general, raw food is so much more easily digested that it passes through the digestive tract in 1/2 to 1/3 of the time it takes for cooked food.

Eating dead foods places a burden on the pancreas and other organs, overworking them.  Eventually these organs become exhausted and disease progresses. Many people gradually impair their pancreas and progressively lose the ability to digest their food after a lifetime of ingesting processed foods.
In 1930, under the direction of Dr. Paul Kouchakoff, research was conducted at the Institute of Clinical Chemistry in Lausanne, Switzerland. The effect of food (cooked and processed versus raw and natural) on the immune system was tested and documented.

Dr. Kouchakoff's discovery concerned the leukocytes, or white blood cells. It was found that after a person eats cooked food, his/her blood responds immediately by increasing the number of white blood cells. This is a well-known phenomena called 'digestive leukocytosis', in which there is a rise in the number of leukocytes - white blood cells - after eating.  

Since digestive leukocytosis was always observed after a meal, it was considered to be a normal physiological response to eating. No one knew why the number of white cells rises after eating, since this appeared to be a stress response, as if the body was somehow reacting to something harmful such as infection, exposure to toxic chemicals or trauma. However, the Swiss researchers at the Institute of Clinical Chemistry made another remarkable discovery. They found that eating raw, unaltered food did not cause a reaction in the blood. In addition, they found that if a food had been heated beyond a certain temperature (unique to each food), or if the food was processed (refined, chemicals added, etc.); this always caused a rise in the number of white cells in the blood.

Kouchakoff's researchers renamed this reaction 'athological leukocytosis', since the body was reacting to highly altered food. They tested many different types of food.  Time and again Kouchakoff and his researchers found that if the foods were not refined or overheated, they caused no reaction. The body saw them as 'friendly foods'. However, these same foods, if heated at too high a temperature, caused a negative reaction in the blood, a reaction found only when the body is invaded by a dangerous pathogen or trauma.

Kouchakoff's researchers found the worst offenders of all, whether heated or not, were processed foods which had been refined (such as white flour and white rice), or pasteurized (a process in which milk is flash-heated to high temperatures to kill bacteria), or homogenized (also seen in milk where the fat in milk is subjected to artificial suspension), or preserved (chemicals are added to food to delay spoilage or to enhance texture or taste).

To ensure continued good health, raw foods gift the human body nutrients and enzymes it requires. For illnesses raw foods provide the human body the necessary nutrients and enzymes it requires for healing.   All raw foodists agree: when it comes to radiant health, de-aging and overall well-being, raw is the law!  If you must cook your food, the best way to cook food is to lightly steam, stew, or use a slow crock cooker. Eat as few over-processed and over-cooked foods as possible. The body has a difficult time digesting fried, pasteurized, barbecued, dried, and other over-processed and over-cooked foods which you find in boxed and processed foods.  Consume at least 50% of your food raw, living and enzyme rich. A good vegetable juicing program will easily help you reach the volume necessary to achieve the 50% raw foods percentage.

Blissed be, Ani 

For more information on how to begin your enzyme-rich, living foods life, please contact BodyByBliss ™  for your free consultation @ www.bodybybliss.com or Anne @ bodybybliss@gmail.com.

Howard Stern In Love With Raw Food, Sarma Melngailis

Shock jock Howard Stern has recently started taking a liking to the raw foods diet. Back in February, he visited the trendy NY restaurant Pure Food and Wine and fell in love with the food and owner. Yesterday on his radio show, he professed a return visit and again reiterated the tastiness of the cuisine. The owner, Sarma Melngailis, is in his opinion is “fucking hot.” How’s that for a compliment?

Melngailis is quickly growing as a major star in the raw foods circles — and not just because she’s an excellent cook or beautiful. What I enjoy about her personality is that she seems pretty open and laid back. My conclusions, granted, are based on her soul-baring blog posts, but they seem to paint a pretty clear picture. You can check out her website — and new book here!

Sarma actually joined Josh Dorfman today on The Lazy Environmentalist on Sirius Radio. If you missed the interview, you can pick it up again tonight at 11pm. For more good raw goodness and gossip, be sure to check out the site We Like It Raw!

Blissed be, Annie 

by Gabriel Cousens