Recipe for Wellness: Barbara Charis, 91 years young

HEADLINE HEALTH appreciates Barbara Charis allowing us to share her work with our readers. This post is a gold mine of information for anyone who wants to enjoy a longer, healthier life. 

What are the simple affordable ingredients one needs in order to find health in this day and age? I started thinking about what I use and would recommend for others. 

It starts with a food journal and I log into it daily. It is very important to know what you are doing in order to stay well. I used to break down all the foods I ate into calories, fat, carbs, fiber and protein for years, but it was taking too much time.

I use the same Diet Minder Personal Food and Fitness Journal, but keep a record of the ounces of food I consume daily, under breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner. I also put down the supplements I use.

I put in 3 columns at the top of the page 1: Fruit/Vegetables, total foods, and water. These items are important, because women need to eat at least 40 oz of fruit and vegetables daily (10 – 4 oz. servings), plus foods, other than fruit and vegetables, and water. Men would need more fruits and vegetables.

The first thing everyone should do in the morning is head to the bathroom, in order to have an elimination. It’s a most important ingredient to take one’s time and not rush. 

“Back in the 1990s, I heard a doctor on the radio talking about ‘Poop’ and what it should look like. I was shocked at first with his matter of fact words and talk …”

Many have no idea that the needle on the scale never moves downward, because food waste is being retained in their intestinal tract. If People were healthy they would have a bowel movement after every meal, but most people have broken their elimination system down from lack of bulk and fiber; and from not taking the time to go to the bathroom, when nature calls. Years ago, I asked my OB, “How many eliminations are we supposed to have? “ His answer floored me, because I knew it was wrong. He said, “Once a week was sufficient.”

I read some years back that Americans used 78 train boxcar loads of laxatives yearly. I remember my mother using chocolate Ex-Lax regularly and an aunt who used suppositories. In my teens, I did not have regular eliminations; and I went up to 150 pounds. I had no idea, it was caused by very irregular eliminations. I was not eating much food, but it was not the right food either. My mother and many others in the 1940s were not into nutrition. She served us Kraft Macaroni and Cheese right out of the package into boiling water; or fried potatoes and cabbage in Crisco. People were happy to have food on the table, after the Great Depression (1929-1942).

When I ate foods like chocolate cake and ice cream at gatherings, I would not eat for a couple days, but this never worked. I kept on gaining weight in my teens. 

I learned something which is very important. One meal helps to push the preceding meal forward in the intestinal tract. it is important to eat the right foods regularly; foods that contain bulk and fiber in order to keep the food in the intestines moving. This is why it is imperative to eat fruits and vegetables, as they contain the right kind of fiber that is essential for the human body Foods like, dairy, eggs, meat, poultry and fish have no fiber; and grains are heat-processed foods with questionable value.

There is a book, which I have mentioned many times previously, Dangerous Grains by James Braly, M.D. and Ron Hoggan, M.A. It is something everybody should read.

People are becoming aware that processed foods have little value, but few realize how dangerous grains are. This book states that 200 diseases are caused by grains. Most people have eaten them for a long period of time, then when they get ill they will run to a doctor who knows nothing about nutrition…and will be prescribed drugs. Grains cause both physical and mental problems, like schizophrenia, There are a number of other books on deadly grains, too. The first book I bought on the subject was Grain Damage by Doug Graham, D.C. twenty years ago.

Recently, I came across a product called Expel, which was formulated by Dr. Tim O’Shea, the author of Vaccination is NOT Immunization and I went to check it out.

If you are interested in seeing the ingredients to make sure they don’t contain items, like psyllium seeds or other non-safe items go to www.thedoctorwithin.com. I have been receiving his interesting newsletter for some years. Anyway, I took a look at the ingredients and they were 100% herbal..and I ordered some to try it myself. I was given a Positive, when I asked the Creator, whether it would be alright to use. For those who are having trouble losing weight, because they are retaining waste, this would be a great help.

There are more obese people in America today, than any other country in the world. It was not this way seventy years ago, before the Food Industry really took over.

America was at the top mentally and physically. Americans did not have the money to spend on much processed foods and most people ate at home. I don’t recall seeing any obese people years ago. Little was known about nutrition, but people were far healthier than they are today. People did not go to doctors regularly. Our family spent nothing on medical care, as none of us were ever that sick; even though we had all the childhood diseases; measles, mumps and chickenpox. None of us were overweight, as we ate very little and exercised a lot.

Another ingredient for health is exercise, and it is as Hippocrates said, “it is as important as eating the right food; without exercise food is not assimilated well.” 

My father was totally into exercise and as a small child, I was walked for miles. When I was six, my father put me on a full sized bike and it was scary, but I learned to ride it. This was the day of no helmets or regulations. I did a lot of bike-riding in my early years and participating in sports. We had little food, but lots of fresh air and sunshine, when we went to stay in the countryside outside of Pittsburgh, PA., every summer in the 1940s and early 1950s.

My grandmother was a Christian Scientist who believed in natural medicine and i learned quite a bit from her. There were no drugs in her country home or in ours. 

I remember how she treated me, when I got sick with a painful earache. She gave me a hot toddy with lemon, honey and whisky. It put me to sleep and when I woke up the earache was gone and I was better. (I gave my children, honey, lemon and GoldenSeal Root). She also taught me about eliminations, when I was about eight years old. She called me into the bathroom to look in the toilet, after my three year old brother had an elimination. She said that it should not be floating on top of the water like it was. She said that this indicated that my mother was feeding my brother too many starchy foods, like bread, macaroni and spaghetti.

My father took my youngest brother to my grandparent’s country home, because he developed rickets (bowed legs). My mother was feeding him chocolate pudding daily.

It was amazing, but the fresh air, sunshine and the removal of the chocolate pudding resulted in his legs, becoming straight. My parents were both ‘sugar-holics’, but my grandparents ate a bit more sensibly. My grandmother was pure Swede who had raised my father on donuts and coffee. However, when she got older, she became more aware of the danger of white sugar; she used honey. She also did not believe in white flour; and was misled by the advertising of whole wheat breads. She did not know that the Roman Meal Bread she bought contained caramel coloring to make it appear more wholesome.

Health Sanitariums in the past were into fresh air, sunshine and natural whole foods. It’s not the same today. I visited a vegetarian health resort twelve times. 

I did not go there for its food. Its food was not great. I took a look at menus for many health spas world wide; and they cater to their customer’s taste buds. The spas limit calories, but don’t serve enough unprocessed foods, which have enzymes and fiber. When I went to the health resort, I spent time climbing a small mountain twice a day, joining exercise groups, and sunbathing. I always had great results. Other women did not have the results I had.

It took time to learn how to eat right, because of all the misinformation that I followed in the health books I read. I didn’t achieve glowing and positive results. 

In fact, when I first got into nutrition, I gained weight and became fat, lethargic and unwell. My father had told me as a teenager not to believe everything I read; and I had to learn the hard way. I followed an author who had been a Registered dietitian (R,D,) and she promoted information, which stemmed directly from the Food Industry.

At the end of a couple years by following her health information, my small son and I wound up in the hospital having our tonsils out at the same time; because of all of the colds and sore throats we experienced. It was not until I was thirty-eight that I came across information that worked positively. I got into eating more unprocessed, uncooked food. It was difficult, because I was married to a man who wanted his meat and potatoes. Eventually, it led to an amicable parting of the ways.

Another “Ingredient” would be a tape measure, to record your measurements on a monthly basis, in order to see how you health and fitness program is coming along. 

It will inspire you to stay with the program and work towards a healthier future. Well over a year ago, I was appalled, when I measured my waist and saw that it was 5 inches larger than it had been the last time I measured it four years previously. I was only using my scale and had not gained weight; only inches from sitting too much. However, inches around the middle are very unhealthy, because it says that internally fat is building up around your inner organs.

It took four months of walking daily, before I got my waist back down to where it had been…28 inches. The smallest my waist has ever been, since I was 12 and weighed 90 pounds, was 27 inches in1981, after having had 4 children. I had been working out in a gym and running every other day; and doing my first marathon run in 1981.

The Right Amount of Deep Sleep is an ingredient that appears to be missing in the world of today. Two aids, which help are sufficient sunlight and daily exercise. 

I was having sleep problems, before I radically changed my health regime. I had been sleeping in every morning until ten. Then, I started waking up at 6 am to help take care of our chickens. The chickens and I got a lot more morning light. Many people live and work indoors all the time and don’t receive the light that affects the Circadian Rhythm in the body. This throws the body out of balance and causes sleep problems. I sleep very deeply, and after I awaken go non-stop for 15 hours or more. Enough sleep also affects the temperament. When people don’t get sufficient sleep, they are short-tempered. I feel very zen and rarely act irrationally.

The most Important Ingredients for one’s Health are the Right Natural Foods. People must think before putting anything in their mouths… will this provide health? 

Most people aren’t aware that their food choices will provide either health or illness. They eat foods that are silently destroying their internal organs, until it is too late. They have no idea that they are creating diseases, as they eat without the knowledge they need, in order to keep well. Every human being has different food requirements, even in the same family. I had no idea about this information, when i was feeding my children. When one of my children said that they didn’t like a food, I would say, “It is good for you.” I forced liver on a daughter in the 1960s…and later found out the liver detoxified items in the bloodstream and contained substances that were harmful.

No food is a good food, if it is wrong for your body. Nobody can tell you what’s right for your body. One must keep a food journal and write down any negative reactions. 

It is as Hippocrates, the Father of medicine said, “ If you are not your own doctor, you are a fool.” No medical doctor can observe you 24/7 and tell you what you are doing wrong, even if you paid the doctor a million dollars. You need to be observant about your own health yourself. I did write in one of my previous blogs that Mark Lovendale invented the Prime Test and taught a number of medical doctors and other professionals, how to use the Prime Test to determine foods, which are harming patient’s health.

The test demonstrated how the bloodstream reacted to a negative food. It was interesting that much of his information in his book Quality Longevity was similar to the information I received, when I did my Creator-guided consultations.

The ingredients for Health are relatively simple, not complicated; and people must take an active role in determining their own health results; not depend on others.

Health does not stem from a drug or a vaccine. No doctor has information that will contribute to your health. It comes from everything one is doing on a daily basis. Nobody else can contribute to your health, as It is a Do-It-Yourself Project. If you really want to be healthy, it depends on your willingness to give up the foods and actions, which are tearing your body down and setting up a regular health regime that will bring you the results you want. This will save you a great deal of money and guarantee you a healthy and long life.

Holistically Yours,

Barbara Charis

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