Poised or Poisoned?

By LILLIAN R. CARQUE

There is no force in the world barring the air we breathe--that carries with it such a high rate of vital energy, and is such a potent disease-exterminator and health-producer as the radiations of the sun. Its salutary power destroys germs polluting the air, water and earth.

You probably know this. But you may not know that science has learned the secret of that mysterious phenomenon whereby solar energy is captured and locked up in a material form that is highly bactericidal, yielding to the human organism a devastating mechanism of defense against invading armies of disease- producing bacteria.

What is this miracle of Nature that is so closely linked with the secret of life itself? We all know that vegetable life craves sunlight, judging from the way it hungrily absorbs the deeply Penetrating radiance into the soil to make the seeds sprout.

Chlorophyll is the wonder worker that takes the carbon out of carbonic acid gas or carbon dioxide in the presence of water and transforms them into organic energy material. No life on this planet could survive save for this great fundamental process-the marriage of chlorophyll and carbon dioxide with water, the sun officiating in the ceremony. One moment we have carbon dioxide and water moving over the face of the "great deep" and the next instant, with oxygen set free by chlorophyll, starches and sugars speedily evolve out of inanimate life.

Whence comes the coal we find buried in the earth? It is the remains of layers of forests pressed together into a solid mass through the vicissitudes of time, the result of which is this valuable fuel. But coal, too, originally was synthesized by means of the magic work of sunlight, acting on carbon dioxide and water, with precious chlorophyll serving as the catalytic agent. Thus organic chemistry begins in the green leaves.

Lower forms of life, such as bacteria, have no chlorophyll and are therefore unable to assimilate carbon dioxide, sunshine and water and release oxygen. Nor is the low rate of vibration characteristic of their embryonic vehicles able to withstand the high degree of vitality permeating our basic life principles -oxygen and sunshine. Hence chlorophyll exerts powerful germicidal action on bacteria via the liberation of oxygen. When chlorophyll fluids are administered in surgery, Nature's attacking green magic sends forth a terrific barrage of anti-germ fire, and with speed and effectiveness annihilates any far-flung front of deeply seated infection which is threatening to attack.

"There are many virtues in leafy green vegetables, but their greatest therapeutic value lies in the bactericidal action locked up in Nature's green magic known as chlorophyll, since it subdues the food poisons you consume and keeps your body fit and well poised. . . . The accumulation of subtle pernicious poisons manufactured in the laboratory of the human body often can be traced back to emotional or mental blood poisoning."

Remember that green leafy vegetables--either fresh or dried and pulverized-are simply sunshine in altered guise, with plenty of chlorophyll thrown into that great bargain of nature. Appreciable quantities of iron are found in all green leaves. Iron being the most active element in the blood indicates the necessity of its replenishment more frequently than any other mineral element.

While green leafy vegetables contain only a small percentage of solid nourishment, they are rich in alkaline salts, especially sodium and calcium as well as iron, which from a hygienic point of view are highly important. The leaves, consisting of a framework of fibrous tissue, upon which the protoplasmic cells are elaborated, serve principally for the respiration and nutrition of the plant, by exposing the chlorophyll-bearing cells to the air and light. In addition, the leaves contain an appreciable quantity of organic acids and vitamins, which are essential factors in promoting the performance of the physiological functions of the body. 

That is why green leafy vegetables--fresh, dried or juiced-exert a salutary influence on the composition of the blood by increasing its alkalinity. Fresh green leafy vegetables are best consumed raw, for when they are boiled and drained of their fluids, they lose a large amount of soluble nutrients -5 to 10 percent protein; 30 to 50 percent of the carbohydrates; and about 50 percent of the organic salts. Where such vegetables are not relished in their natural state, vegetable concentrates may be used as a basis for broths, salad sprinkle or seasoning, as sandwich fillers or spreads, and in countless other culinary needs to contribute zest and alkalinity to otherwise bland and acid-reacting dishes.

Green leafy vegetables may also be steamed, baked or stewed in their own juices in covered vessels at moderate heat, just long enough to soften the cellulose. The protein in green vegetables is comparatively slight, but the smaller and younger the leaves, the richer they are in this food principle. Wholesome soup stocks can be made from the outer leaves of cabbage. lettuce and kale, the tops of celery, green onions, beets and other roots, spinach, chard, the tough parts of asparagus and cauliflower which are usually thrown away. Such vegetables are best chopped into small pieces by means of a food chopper and then steamed with the addition of a little water in a steam cooker for about twenty minutes or longer to soften the cellulose. Then the vegetables should be pressed through a potato ricer to extract the juice and to remove the tougher parts of the cellulose.

Yes, there are many virtues in leafy green vegetables, but their greatest therapeutic value lies in the bactericidal action locked up in Nature's green magic known as chlorophyll, since it subdues the food poisons you consume and keeps your body fit and well poised.

Yet it is idle to deny that the accumulation of subtle pernicious poisons manufactured in the laboratory of the human body often can be traced back to emotional or mental poisoning. The angry man, for example, sends a torrent of rage into his own cell-world, transforming every cell into aggressive entity ready to attack every other cell by its poisonous secretions. Thus the hater, the liar and the profligate give to the patterns of their creative thinking the directional impulse that destroys the orderly, rhythmic metabolic or functional processes of the bodily organism.

The poisonous secretions accruing dam up the avenues of excretion with increased waste products thus obstructing and retarding th eliminative effects of the organism. The body is suddenly turned into a vital chaos of strife and struggle where precious nerve and tissue structures, once pillars of vital strength, are reduced to ruin and ashes.

The precepts are plain enough, though the practice may be difficult: "Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another." Yet many actually believe charity and sympathy, tolerance and patience to be impotent, emasculated and feeble feelings, never realizing the positive reaction such emotions will produce in their bodies - as contrasted with the negative reaction of poisonous emotions which they consider more virile. Nonetheless, facts prove that all the permanent relationships of life are held together by deep, abiding feelings and affections positive emotions-rather than by the critical intellect which is always pointing out flaws.

In fact, the greatest barrier on the path that leads to the higher life is the intellectual but negative faculty of criticism which fails to recognize the perfect expression of divinity, however dormant, in those whom we contact - and whose inner divine flame fuses with that of our own, since all life is one, Charity will often disarm the cruel thought and the harsh judgment by its benevolent refusal to throw too cold a light upon the infirmities of men, because it sees the unfinished child of God housed in a physical structure that is still too embryonic for any but the most rudimentary expression of his essentially divine heritage.