In various psychic health readings Edgar Cayce frequently recommended sunlight, or artificial light (ultra violet and infra red), to help improve health. For example:
15. Each day, also, there should be at least three to thirty minutes – dependent upon the vitality of the body – of the Infra Red light given, that the very structural portion of the bone themselves may be enlivened, that the red blood corpuscles may become more active and more numerous in the system. These should be altered from the cerebrospinal – or with the body lying on the face, also with the body lying on the back – these changed about from day to day, that we may have the activity of same in ALL PORTIONS of the bone. The ribs, the neck, the head, the back, the hips, the lower portion of the limbs – ALL of these should have their portion of THIS activity.
Edgar Cayce (602-1, F-37)
I’ve previously used heat lamps and red LEDs. This is the prototype Red LED light I built for a friend:
Science Confirms the Rejuvenative Properties of Red Light
“Just three minutes of exposure to deep red light once a week, when delivered in the morning, can significantly improve declining eyesight, finds a pioneering new study by UCL researchers.”
The light used by these researchers was not especially powerful. You can get three minutes of red light for free from the sun: close your eyes and direct your face towards the sun. As the reports say, this is most effective when done in the morning. Heat lamps are an inexpensive source of red light, if you live somewhere where the sun is not available.
One aspect of “cold and flu season” is the changing amount of light we get with the seasons. Vitamin D comes in a pill. There is no pill form for the regenerative effects of red light on the mitochondria.
Quick update: I was asked about a ‘cyber monday’ special. Hmm… Sure? My coins aren’t very scientific, but I have my anecdotes, and lots of repeat customers. About 6.5 years ago I gave a ‘grounding coin’ to a woman I thought really needed it. She immediately noticed the effect. I’ve spent most of the last 6 years trying to protect this friend from the medical system, which is often more aspirational than effective. Sign up for my email list for my occasional emails – I think I’m about to have a decisive victory for natural health over the cruder types of medicine that are sort of like modern bloodletting.
SPECIAL: For December 2021: ‘Cold’ Grounding Coins are $2 off ($5/coin); Pendants are $1 off ($7/pendant). Use coupon code freeship2 for $3.50 off orders of at least $47. (I’m still not able to ship to Australian or New Zealand, but a customer found Ship7.com, which helps people to consolidate packages from the US to the rest of the world.)
All orders include a short report about how to be resilient during cold and flu season, including a bit about the seasonal use of light.
(UPDATE: Shipping to Australia / New Zealand has been resumed.)
I received an email from a customer in Australia on October 1 2021:
Thank you for the 2 [grounding] coins. I tried to buy a cold coin from [Official Supplier] last year but they wanted $70 to deliver it to Australia, and they wouldn’t move from that price. Mate, if you can, start selling more Edgar Cayce products. Thanks again, Good Wishes for the future!
Grounding Coins with Remnants
(My version of the Cayce ‘Coin that Prevents Colds’ are called Grounding Coins. I also sell Grounding Pendants, which have more metal than one coin but less than two.)
Edgar Cayce Grounding Pendant
Over the last 12+ years, I’m pretty sure I’ve sent more packages to Australia than to Canada. Maybe one of you knows how it is that Edgar Cayce gets more traction in Australia than England or Canada?
I think the main reason is there aren’t currently enough flights to Australia. UPS quoted me about $80 for shipping a small package to Australia. I’ve temporarily removed all shipping options for Australia and New Zealand. I’ll restore shipping to Australia and New Zealand as soon as I get notice the U.S. Postal Service has restored this service. If you need to order enough that $80-$100 in postage would work, please contact me at [email protected] and I’ll figure it out.
An important parts of Edgar Cayce’s readings was discussion of the ‘abdominal brain’, the nervous system that runs our digestive system. Cayce pointed out that the abdominal brain is much more important to our ability to manifest our desires than the jumble of nerves above our shoulders. While we think ‘logically’ with our heads, our abdominal brain gives us instant access to our intuitions.
Intuition is the process whereby we are able to receive non-logical ideas through our “gut feelings”. Recently I surprised myself by unconsciously following my gut feelings, which allowed me to find a great deal on something I was interested in.
The path for my find was through a box of old sheets and new and worn out clothes. I’d planned to donate these items to a thrift store that I knew had a deal with a textile recycler. The thrift store sells the clothes/etc that are in good shape and throw everything else into their textiles recycle bin (these are used for rags, upholstery and automotive stuffing, and insulation).
The box had sat around my house for months. I was apparently waiting for the right time to donate. Last week I loaded the box of textiles into my car, and proceeded to the thrift store my intuition had selected for these items.
Find at the Thrift Store
There was a yard of newly-donated stuff to pick through. While walking to the donation area I saw two tanks. I didn’t really need another carbon dioxide (CO2) tank, but my friend had expressed interest in a CO2 setup like mine, so I asked the employee how much for the CO2 tank. He didn’t know.
Carbon Dioxide and Metabolism
Carbon Dioxide is an important part of a healthy metabolism: our bodies are supposed to burn sugar/fat/protein with oxygen to make ATP and Carbon Dioxide (“aerobic metabolism”). When a body runs out of oxygen (or when a person gets stressed in other ways), it will partially switch to the backup “anaerobic metabolism”, where the body ferments sugar without oxygen to make a little bit of ATP and lactic acid. Aerobic metabolism produces about 15-times as much ATP as anaerobic metabolism.
While CO2 is a waste product of metabolism, it is also important for homeostasis. When a person hyperventilates, they blow off too much CO2 from their blood, becoming “hypocapnic”. The treatment for hyperventilation is putting a paper bag in front of their face, which allows the hyperventilator to recycle (inhale) some of the CO2 they just exhaled.
There are various approaches to using CO2 therapeutically. In a nutshell, supplemental CO2 (via baths or plastic bag breathing) helps stressed people switch back to aerobic metabolism. Edgar Cayce didn’t really recommend these treatments, so I won’t discuss them here (as this post is about “intuition”).
I made an offer for the silver CO2 tank. I thought my offer was more than the thrift store would have asked, but was still a good deal for me. My little e-shop pays for itself, but it doesn’t print money for me like the goliaths (Amazon / Walmart / etc), and I have to budget. The offer was accepted.
“And how much for the black tank?” I didn’t really care about that one because it’s for nitrogen, but it had a regulator and I thought it might be useful. The attendant said my accepted offer was for both tanks. Nice.
The CO2 tank still has gas, so it’s ready to use. The nitrogen tank was empty. My next stop was the local gas store, to inquire the cost of a nitrogen refill. This supplier had previously exchanged my co2 tank from another vendor for one of theirs.
The gas store employee noticed my black nitrogen tank was sold by his company, and said they’d take it regardless of its expiration date. (Compressed gas tanks are tested and certified, and need to be “requalified” every 10 years; cylinders are useless if no one will fill them). Furthermore, he’d be happy to trade my Nitrogen tank for a CO2 tank.
The next day I noticed my newly-purchased regulator had an adapter. Every gas has its own fitting, to prevent regulators from accidentally being used with the wrong gas. There are adapters so inert gasses can be used with regulators threaded for use with other inert gasses.
My nitrogen tank actually had a CO2 regulator on it. For the cost of a tank refill, I got two tanks and a regulator. I sort of made out like a bandit. .
A big part of manifestation is being in the right place at the right time, so we can meet someone particular, or pick up an item that’s been dropped off for us. We can also help ourselves by following our intuitions to help us search for the right set of keywords, to help us create whatever it is we’re working on.
Optimizing the digestive system is an important part of Edgar Cayce’s approach to health. If you’re not familiar with the Edgar Cayce material, sign up for my ‘free reports’ by putting your email address in the box on this link. I promise to only email occasionally, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Gut feelings are generally regarded as not modulated by conscious thought, but sometimes as a feature of intuition rather than rationality.
Intuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without recourse to conscious reasoning.
One of the core principles of Edgar Cayce’s dietary advice is eating a variety of foods to establish a balance between acids and alkalines. Dense proteins containing sulfur or phosphorus are acidic, whether they come from animal or plant sources. Dietary sources of Alkaline minerals are foods that have plenty of Calcium, Magnesium, and Potassium. The fourth alkaline mineral which we need in quantity is Sodium, which can be obtained through salt or baking soda, in addition to the amount contained in foods.
I’ve been trying to grow vegetables for many summers now. Every summer I’ve spent vastly more on my garden than I’ve harvested as food, but I think this is the summer I’ll break even.
To summarize this post in a nutshell: if you don’t know much about gardening, dandelion greens are the cheapest, most robust vegetable you can grow. They are forgiving, and come back by themselves year after year. I think dandelions would grow inside, if you don’t have an outside space. Dandelion greens should be well cooked. If you need seeds, sign up for my free reports email list, respond to the email with your address and I’ll send you some.
Green vegetables are a good source of magnesium and calcium. Cayce said some of these could be eaten raw (lettuce, celery), while other vegetables are best consumed after they’re cooked in their own juices. This means cooking with Patapar paper or another cooking method that doesn’t dilute the vegetable juices with water. Cooking makes vegetables more edible by deactivating the anti-nutrients which plants use to defend against their consumption. Root vegetables (potatoes), fruits (juices) and dairy products are good sources of potassium.
I’ve decided the easiest plants to grow myself are the ones that grow back from the roots every summer: rhubarb, dandelions, sunchokes, chard, strawberries,etc… Rhubarb was referred to as pie plant in the readings, and has an especially valuable type of fiber.
This summer I’m going to concentrate my gardening efforts on the following plants:
Dandelions – These grow back, and are robust. Good source of magnesium and many other nutrients. (Dandelions do get bitter, and some people can’t stomach bitter foods… just found a page with tips for using dandelions.)
rhubarb – grows back every summer, and is not eaten by gophers. I just figured out I could pull out the flower stalks and get them to root. See picture below.
Sunchokes (jerusalem artichokes) – The root tubers of this plant are a good source of the prebiotic fiber inulin, which helps feed friendly intestinal bacteria. Will spread everywhere, if you live where water falls from the sky.
Sweet potatoes are not as robust as regular potatoes, but they’re more expensive at the stores than regular potatoes, so I’m going to try them out.
Passionflower – harvest the flowers, dry for tea. Going into Earthbox #1. I will bring inside for the winter.
Passionfruit – Going into Earthbox #2.
Okra – saved a lot of seeds
Basil – saved a lot of seeds
Safflower – going to buy some seeds. The petals of this flower were recommended by Cayce as an herbal tea to coat the stomach. It’s relatively rare at the herb stores I’ve visited, and was sort of expensive when I did find it.
Growing on a rocky hillside
Plants need a place to spread their roots. The space I have is a rocky hillside with gophers and rabbits.
Four summers ago I bought a few bales of straw, for straw bale gardening. I had a nice tomato plant going, then the plant disappeared. The tunnel suggested gophers ate my tomato plant, but I never caught the perpetrator. I bought wire mesh to put underneath the straw bales, which stopped the plants from disappearing. I got about three summers out of those straw bales, and have been using the decomposed straw as a soil amendment in my raised beds.
I recently learned that straw bales can attract rodents. If you live in a city without predators to keep mice under control, straw bales might not be a good growing medium for you.
I’m also using raised beds. My raised beds have wire mesh underneath to keep gophers out, and chicken wire around the tops to keep rabbits out. I bought the lumber from the clearance racks at various lumber yards, which substantially reduced the cost. Because commercial wood stains usually have heavy metals, I’ve used plain vegetable oil, as drying oil, to hopefully get my beds to last longer.
One of the pictures below shows a white plastic growing container. This is an earthbox container gardening system. A water reservoir in the base that helps keep the plants watered. Earthboxes are vastly more expensive now than when I bought mine, maybe 15 years ago. The earthbox patent expired; generic earthboxes are now available. I found the brown generic earthbox at a yard sale for a few dollars last fall. One problem with the earthbox is that most the nutrients for plant growth have to be added as fertilizers. They work especially well for growing tomatoes.
(tap/click on these pictures for the enlarged version)
Dandelions are robust, and grow back every spring.
Passionfruit vine, started from seed, eaten by something, slowly coming back from the base
Asparagus tips were not recommended by Cayce
vegetable oil is a cheap stain to hopefully help preserve wood
Peas planted in raised bed, filled with compost and straw
rhubarb is not eaten by gophers
rhubarb flower stalks are rooting out. Also: okra seeds and celery
sweet potato starts. consulted with Youtube
jerusalem artichokes are robust, and come back year after year.
German doctors seem to be much better at helping their super-virus patients than doctors in most other countries. I’m not able to render an opinion on what they’re doing different, but thought this quote was helpful:
The other question that needs to be asked is whether there is something about Germany’s treatment of coronavirus victims that has resulted in a lower death rate. That is how Dr Thomas Voshaar, a lung specialist who runs a clinic in the town of Heinsberg in North Rhine-Westphalia sees it. In an interview with the Frankfurter Allegmeine, he speaks of how he has treated 29 patients without suffering a single death so far. It isn’t testing that makes the difference, he says – he doesn’t even bother with the tests because he finds them unreliable. Instead, he gives suspected Covid-19 patients a CT scan of their lungs in order to assess the extent of damage – and then treats them occasionally.
What he doesn’t do, he says, is rush to put patients on a ventilator. In fact, only one of his patients so far has been given this form of treatment. It is best avoided for as long as possible, he says, because the machines exert too much pressure on the lungs, and the air supplied is too rich in oxygen. That can lead to patients dying of collapsed lung. He says he was astounded at the extent to which ventilators have been used to treat patients in Italy.
Some of the stories out of Italy are of patients who go to the hospital with mild breathing problems and rapidly deteriorate. One theory is that oxygen therapy directly contributes to these patients’ deterioration.
My understanding is that patients are put on oxygen on the basis of their oxygen saturation levels, as measured by a finger meter. But the finger measurement doesn’t provide context for what’s actually going on in the rest of the patient, and it’s probably inappropriate to start treatment with pure oxygen solely on the basis of one of these devices.
My mom has a 96 year old friend who started hospice care after falling almost a year ago. She’d been prescribed oxygen years before, for reasons unknown to me, and had dutifully worn the hose from her oxygen concentrator every night. But after starting hospice care this 96 year old woman started to refuse her oxygen treatment, as she didn’t care about living anymore. Her oxygen saturation level didn’t change (as measured by the finger meter), and I suspect she may be doing better without the supplemental oxygen. I further suspect, but have no way to prove, that this woman’s oxygen therapy was always counter-productive.
Enough people seem to benefit from oxygen therapy that doctors must assume supplemental oxygen is usually helpful, and that none of their patients are harmed by a larger percentage of oxygen in their inhalations. But “the credibility of the evidence for [liberal use of oxygen] is unclear”:
[…] Interpretation In acutely ill adults, high-quality evidence shows that liberal oxygen therapy increases mortality without improving other patient-important outcomes. Supplemental oxygen might become unfavourable above an SpO2 range of 94–96%. These results support the conservative administration of oxygen therapy.
If you have any anecdotes about people being helped or harmed by oxygen therapy, please share them with me – sign up for my free reports emails, and send a response to that email, or comment on Edgar Cayce on Psychic Health (on facebook).
When a person had breathing problems related to an infection (tuberculosis, pneumonia, etc), Edgar Cayce frequently recommended inhaling the fumes of Apple Brandy as an antiseptic. This was before the first antibiotic drugs were developed. A partially-filled charred oak keg was used as an evaporation chamber. The charred oak keg filters impurities from the brandy, and also adds flavoring compounds from the oak. (If you want a keg with a spigot, I have those too.)
Brandy is made from distilled (concentrated) wine. European regulations require brandy to be made from grapes, but allow for fruit brandies if they are clearly labeled. I’ve noticed “apple-flavored brandy”, which is actually grape brandy with a little apple flavor. I don’t think Mr. Cayce would have suggested apple flavored grape brandy for treating the lungs.
Laird’s was the brand usually recommended by Cayce. This American company has been making Apple Brandy for over two hundred years. Only one of my local liquor stores had apple brandy in stock. The upscale liquor store had Laird’s full line of products:
The selections of Laird’s Apple Brandies. The bottle labeled “Applejack 86” is aged brandy, not the concentrated wine that ‘applejack’ usually refers to
Cayce pointed out in various readings that Applejack is not the same as distilled apple brandy. Applejack usually refers to fermented apple cider that has been concentrated through various methods. Apple Brandy is distilled apple cider/wine. The process of making brandy separates and concentrates alcohol and other volatile flavor compounds from apple wine, leaving behind many of the other components of apple wine including the color. The color in the aged brandy comes from time in a charred oak barrel, not the apple juice it was originally made from.
I wanted to know about other options, so I went to a less-upscale store and eventually spoke to the owner. He talked to his distributors and bought six bottles of Roner apple brandy. This was $5 cheaper than the cheapest of the Laird’s brandies at the other store.
At first I was a little disappointed that the Roner’s brandy was only 76 proof (38% alcohol by volume). Then I noticed it was a 1-Liter bottle, rather than the more-common 0.75L. I calculated that this bottle of Roner’s is 2/3 the price of the cheapest Laird’s apple brandy, and 1/2 the price of the most expensive.
Cost per liter of alcohol:
Roner Apple Brandy — $60.03 Laird’s Jersey Lightning Apple Brandy — $85.33 Laird’s Straight Applejack 86 — $86.82 Laird’s Straight Apple Brandy — $90.67 Laird’s Old Apple Brandy — $136.67 Laird’s Single Barrel — $108.30
The retail price of my bottle of Roner Apple Brandy was $22.81 + tax.
One of the key insights from the Edgar Cayce readings was self-reliance and self care. Cayce sought to teach us how to take care of ourselves using technology available before 1945.
Sometimes people need help, but families could be trained in how to provide a daily massage for their child, for example. Consistent efforts to improve health are usually better than one-off interventions.
A few weeks ago I wrote about this year’s virus, and how I was not concerned. Nothing has changed about our situation, except how silly politicians have succeeded at creating a crisis. California’s governor is telling people to “shelter in place”. Hrmph. I wonder if this was in the tabletop practice scenario the self-appointed do-gooders held last fall . (They are emphatic that theirs was not a prediction they just accidentally selected a corona virus for their scenario.)
As Spring progresses and people’s vitamin D levels go up, the virus is certainly going away, and the talking heads on TV will probably chatter about how we dodged a bullet with heroic interventions and how everyone needs to get vaccinated before COVID-19 comes around again next fall.
Edgar Cayce’s simple respiratory therapy was inhaling apple brandy fumes from a charred oak barrel. Charcoal absorbs impurities and contaminates. Ethanol (alcohol) is antiseptic, and kills bacteria and dismantles viruses.
I ordered two barrels from a supplier I found on a search for oak kegs. This was also discussed in the notes included in my latest report about viruses (included with all the recent grounding coin orders). The total cost for my two barrels with expedited shipping was 2/3 the cost of a single barrel sold by the ARE’s “official supplier”. I suggested the 5-liter barrel, as this is slightly larger than the gallon barrel Cayce recommended. But the 3L barrel is a little more economical, and should be adequate for our purposes. My barrels arrived yesterday:
The directions say to install the tap, then add water until the wood swells and the leaks go away. Then I’ll drain the water, add apple brandy, and use a plastic tube to inhale the fumes. I’ll let you know how it works.
If you’re watching your pennies, DO NOT BUY A BARREL. Go to an aquarium supply store and buy some activated charcoal (sold for the filters). Every hardware store should have plastic tube sold in 1-foot sections. Obtain a used 1/2 to 1 gallon container and pour in 1/2 cup of charcoal. Use water to rinse dust out of the charcoal, drain. Add a quart of apple brandy. Swirl the brandy, let it sit for a bit, then insert a tube and inhale the fumes.
Maybe there’s something in a charred oak keg that isn’t in my proposed alternative. If you have the capability of doing research, I encourage you to look into the matter.
The instructions that arrived with my barrel have cautions: new barrels have to be soaked promptly, then kept filled with liquor so the oak stays hydrated. If liquor isn’t an option, the barrel should be stored filled with water treated with citric acid (to inhibit mold production). This is going to be a high-maintenance barrel.
If you really want my extra barrel send an email to [email protected]. If you live outside the United States I would figure out shipping (probably $50+ to Canada), but you should really find a supplier in your own country, or fashion yourself something using a glass jug and activated charcoal.
In the next few weeks I intend to emerge from my little hobbit hole and make an effort to spread the good news about the actual laws health.
(If you’d be interested in having me send you charcoal and plastic tube, please send me an email at the address provided above. Tell me how you found this blog post, how far away you live from the nearest aquarium store, and your interest in the Cayce material.)
If you’ve been exposed to the media over the past month, you might’ve heard of the latest emerging threat to humanity: corona virus. I personally am much more worried about Corona beer than this ‘new’ virus, as I believe people who consume too much alcohol are much more likely to cause me harm than this latest viral menace.
Corona virus casualties are mostly among people who are already vulnerable – advanced age, immunocompromised, etc. If years past is any indication, we can expect this latest super-virus to fizzle out, just like Swine Flu and SARS and MERS.
Seasonal virus outbreaks are seasonal because of the Sun’s influence in promoting better health. Human skin produces Vitamin-D when exposed to ultraviolet radiation. Red light therapy refreshes the copper enzyme in our mitochondria, thereby allowing our metabolism to work better. When the sun goes away for the winter our vitamin D levels go down and our mitochondria become less efficient, thereby making people more vulnerable to viruses. Supplemental light — as UV light, and as Red Light (as a heat lamp or LED, either work) — can make a big difference for improving people’s health in the winter months.
The CDC has a page about Coronaviruses and COVID-19:
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are common in many different species of animals, including camels, cattle, cats, and bats. Rarely, animal coronaviruses can infect people and then spread between people such as with MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV, and now with this new virus (named SARS-CoV-2).
The SARS-CoV-2 virus is a betacoronavirus, like MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV. All three of these viruses have their origins in bats. The sequences from U.S. patients are similar to the one that China initially posted, suggesting a likely single, recent emergence of this virus from an animal reservoir.
If you’re on a budget, the cheapest foods that can help fortify your health against winter sickness are milk and orange juice. Orange juice is a good source of potassium, sugar and vitamin C. Synthetic vitamin C uses heavy metals to produce the end product of ascorbic acid. There’s a little vitamin C in milk too. The only people who really need a vitamin C supplement are those who are living on a diet of ramen noodles, and even then it’s much better to buy a lemon or lime than a pill.
The dairy cow is the most efficient way to convert the grass on a rocky hillside into human-usable food
I was initially led to believe that Edgar Cayce only recommended milk ‘with the heat of the cow’ (implying fresh raw milk, not refrigerated raw milk), but there are other readings where Cayce recommended dairy without this qualification. Organic milk has more vitamin A than mass-produced milks (visible as a slight orange tint), but all things considered even cheap milk is a generally-healthy food, because sick/malnourished cows don’t produce milk.
Dairy is a complete food, and a good source of calcium and potassium, protein, vitamins and trace minerals (including iodine). The only nutrient it lacks in quantity is iron, but in the modern world most people get too much iron anyways. Reduced fat milk has to be fortified with Vitamin A and Vitamin D. Some people can’t use certain milk products, usually on account of the cow’s diet. Switching brands might help.
Greek yogurts are
slightly better than less-strained yogurts. A little honey/sugar is
okay to use with yogurt, to help your liver with converting the
yogurt’s lactic acid back into sugar.
I realized years ago that a cheap cheese I’d been buying was causing itchy areas on my legs. I stopped eating cheap cheese and the itchies went away. This probably had something to do with the “vegetable enzymes” – old fashioned cheese makers used Rennet as a source of these enzymes. (Rennet is animal-sourced. By using ‘vegetable enzymes’ cheese makers can make their products acceptable to lacto-vegetarians, and reduce their costs, but the end product is not as good as properly-made cheese.)
If you aren’t
interested in dairy products, vegetable broths can also be useful for
getting adequate minerals. Broths aren’t nearly as
concentrated or convenient as dairy, but it’s an option.
Energetic grounding may help with nasal congestion/etc.
On account of the Coronavirus fearmongering, I’m offering free shipping on my grounding coins for the month of March 2020 – use the coupon code ‘freeshipping’ in checkout for $4 off (Coins are $7 each, U.S. shipping is $3.50). Energetic grounding can help people with chronic sinus problems. Not everyone needs to improve their body’s grounding, but those who do ‘instantly’ notice the grounding coin’s effects.
I’ve also written a new report about other simple interventions that can make a big difference for fortifying your health against wimpy viruses, including how to get some of the supplies you might want to have on hand for less than half the price of the A.R.E.’s “official supplier”. I’ll also include what else was going on in the early 20th century that contributed to the “Spanish Flu” and “Polio” epidemics. These factoids may be relevant for helping protect yourself from other wimpy viruses.
(Disclaimer: link to the Red Light Man’s site above is an affiliate link)
Over the Thanksgiving weekend I found myself shopping at a new grocery store, and looking at a different selection of food products than I usually consider.
Can of german potato salad
I noticed a can of German potato salad, which has potatoes, bacon and a vinegar-based dressing. I looked at the ingredients and decided against buying it, but I was reminded of a potato salad I’d made with balsamic vinegar and mustard for a potluck a while back.
I added baking soda to balsamic vinegar to make it less acidic, then I boiled it down. When it had thickened somewhat I added this to cooked sweet potato chunks with some mustard. The ‘salad’ was delicious. Then it occurred to me that I should see what Mr. Cayce had to say about vinegar.
Apple Cider Vinegar
I was a bit surprised to learn that the preferred administration of vinegar was as a topical rub with salt. The basic instructions were to wet salt with pure apple cider vinegar, warm it up, then rub into the joint or whatever area of the body needs help relaxing.
Cayce counseled a few dozen times against using vinegar-based condiments (mustard, etc), vinegar-preserved vegetables (pickles, etc), vinegar as a salad dressing, etc. Sometimes “wine vinegar” (balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, etc) was acceptable.
Plain white vinegar is usually made from bacteria that eat corn alcohol to produce acetic acid. Food-grade vinegar is diluted to a concentration of 5% Acetic Acid.
One of my searches found this information about ‘fraud’ in the vinegar industry, and the differences between types of vinegar:
[…] The most common fraudulent practice in the elaboration and commercialization of vinegar is the mixture of different proportions of wine vinegar and alcohol vinegar. These blends are sold under the denomination of wine vinegar as if they were a pure product. Another common type of fraud is the addition of acetic acid of a nonbiological origin to different types of vinegar in order to comply with vinegar industry regulations. These adulterated products do not represent any safety risk for human health, but they constitute a fraud for consumers and are unfair practices before other vinegar producers (Sáiz-Abajo et al., 2004). Besides that, every type of vinegar obtains specific markers. For example, wine vinegars are rich in ethyl acetate, glycerol, methanol, and tartaric acid, while glycerol and ethyl acetate signals are not detectable in alcohol/agrin vinegars. Apple vinegars are characterized by a high concentration of alaninewhile pineapple vinegar has a high content of tartaric acid. Both orange and rice vinegars possess a high content of lactic acid (Sobolev et al., 2016). –Vinegar (Science Direct)
I think one the difference between white vinegar and wine vinegar is that the wine vinegar still has many of the fruit’s other nutrients, whereas white vinegar has little besides acetic acid and water. Balsamic vinegar would certainly qualify as a wine vinegar, as it too is made from grapes.
Conclusion
Edgar Cayce didn’t really recommend vinegar, or vinegar-based condiments (mustard), or pickles preserved with vinegar. Sometimes people were told they could use pure wine vinegar on their salad, or as a seasoning. If you have a large supply of homemade pickled produce, perhaps try neutralizing the acid with baking soda before consuming them.
[257-234] (Q) For dinner – chicken, liver, lamb, salad with wine vinegar, watermelon, or fish with above – iced tea or coffee or occasionally Sauterne or red wine with dinner good for proper chemical reaction of the body? (A) These are very good if they are not combined with some others that are taken between, or some of the starches that become too much for the body to handle, or too much of sugars of certain characters or too much vinegar that has acetic acid in same. Wine vinegar is very good, provided it is pure wine vinegar.
[849-4 M 21] The diet will be those as have been outlined, abstaining from meats or butter, but as much of the vegetable forces as possible; especially tomatoes – these are WELL for the body, PROPERLY prepared. The fruit only when well ripened on the vine; not as gathered green and ripened afterward. That that is well ripened, seasoned with salt, pepper, and if vinegar is preferable – or sugar and vinegar – this would be well to use with same. Okra, beets, carrots, and such. These are well for the body. As also spinach. And as an ADDED condition, there may be taken Beef, Iron and Wine in its combination – Wyeth’s preferable.
[1498-1 F 37] Noons – preferably either green vegetables raw or soups or broths from vegetables, or meat stock; but not mixed. That is, do not have grease with the vegetables in the noon meal – whether cooked or raw; though salad dressing may be taken but not with vinegar.
[2991-2 M 15] (Q) To what extent may the diet be modified? (A) Just what the body will absorb, and not too much sweets. Never any preparations, as salads, carrying vinegar – unless wine vinegar is used.
[257-199 M 45] Refrain from the diets where great quantity of acid-producing foods are taken, as to produce their reaction; such as too great a quantity of any foods that have been canned, preserved, or made with quantities of acetic acid or too large quantities of this in any form for the body. These become stimulating to the very conditions that are aggravated by poisons not being eliminated from the system.
[275-45 F 25] Noons – such as vegetable juices, or combined with a little meat juices and a combination of raw vegetables; but not EVER any acetic acid or vinegar or the like with same – but oils, if olive oil or vegetable oils, may be used with same.
[303-42 F 57] But supply, besides the diet, the vital energies through taking each day a heaping teaspoonful of Kaldak. This will add iron and phosphorous and the other vitamins necessary for the body, provided sufficient soups or vegetable soups, raw vegetables in salads and cooked vegetables are taken. Do not take any quantity of foods having citric acid. Especially refrain from the use of acetic acid.
[ 379-7 F 56] EC: Yes, we have the body, [379]; this we have had before.
Conditions as we find are not so good. There is an acute condition that is a combination of those old disturbances in the gall duct area, as well as a sympathetic condition in the caecum or appendicial area.
As we find, MIND the temperature! So long as there is not more than a degree, then there may be those applications locally; otherwise the condition may become so acute as to necessitate operative measures.
This has been brought on, we find, by that which was eaten that contained too great a quantity of acetic acid – or produced same [vinegar]. Then this with the general condition in the gall duct and the poor eliminations makes for the acute conditions, the cramps, the nausea, the aching or cutting off of the circulation through the lower portions of the body; through the limbs, through the abdomen; and makes for an uneven or ununiform activity of the kidneys – sparse yet frequent, or the burning and feeling of sensation through the area.
[379-8 F 56] (Q) Does the information mean that I should always abstain from acetic acid foods? (A) These are only temporary; this is more where vinegars or the highly seasoned foods form a reaction. As has been indicated so often, it is combinations rather than any one particular condition. (Q) Please state specific acetic acid foods from which I should abstain? (A) Vinegar in any form, or those combinations that form same.
[427-2 M 14] Let the diet be not meats of the heavy or greasy nature. Much of the lentils, beans and food values of that nature. Much fruit, and little of vinegar or of those elements carrying acetic acid producing juices.That is, little tomatoes, no pickles unless it’s sweet.
[633-1 M 23] Hence, for an outline of the diet, we would rather give those things to BEWARE OF; and then the body may use any of those other things as the taste demands:
Beware of bananas; of apples (unless they be cooked – roasted, especially, would be well). Beware of berries, especially those that are out of season in the SURROUNDING territory in which the body resides; that is, don’t use shipped in strawberries, blackberries, or any of those fruits of that nature. Peaches, melons, when grown in the SURROUNDING country, would be very well; but not shipped fruit – for all fruits containing acid, that are gathered in a state that is not of the own RIPENING, maintain for such a condition as with this body very HARMFUL reactions; for the benzoates or the picric (?) or tetric (?) [tetracid – ? acetic?] or citric acids, that are accumulations from such, are harmful to the circulatory system. But the body should maintain each day at least ONE meal that is wholly of RAW vegetables, or if meats are desired eat the meats raw – but no cooked food for one meal each day. Citrus fruit juices, stewed fruits, especially raisins and grapes are well for the body – if WELL-RIPENED before they are used. Whether they are fresh or dried or packed, all of these are well for the body. As to meats, beware of fish or shell fish or any of the seafoods; for these are harmful to the body.
[1532-4 F 22] (Q) What is condition of teeth? (A) These need local attention, but are very well in the main.
(Q) What would be best diet for morning, noon and evening meals? (A) Keep close to an alkaline diet, though don’t overdo it. Leave off any of those preparations carrying acetic acid. Otherwise, have a regular well balanced diet, with plenty especially of Vitamins A, B-1 and G; these from re-inforced grains or flour, or ANY of the yellow foods, or especially fowl – the bony pieces, fish, and liver, pigs’ feet or pigs’ ears, but not the rest of the hog.
[1565-4 M 38] (Q) What diet should the body take to protect system from reoccurrence? (A) A plain diet, rather than highly seasoned foods or any quantity ever of foods carrying vinegar or the effects of acetic acid.
[1586-1 F 77] Noons – ONLY raw vegetables. These may be combined in many varied ways: Celery, lettuce, tomatoes, radish, peppers, cabbage, spinach, mustard, leeks, onions. Any or all of these may be combined. These may be taken with an oil or salad dressing, but not that which has very much of any vinegar or acetic acid in same.
Evenings – do not take fried foods morning, noon OR evening! especially not fried potatoes, nor fried ham, nor fried meats – even fried chicken! But the meats – if any are taken – should be preferably fish, fowl or lamb; and these boiled, broiled or baked. The vegetables should be cooked in their OWN salts, and these juices preserved – NOT thrown away! The broths or juices from the cooking of any of the vegetables in their own broths (or cooked in Patapar Paper) may be saved and taken as a portion of the noon meal, or as a change from the diet outlined for the noon meal. Do not cook the vegetables with meats to season them; only use a little butter, with pepper or salt or such. And preferably use the sea salt entirely, or iodized salt – this is preferable.
[1710-2 M 23] (Q) The pain in the right shoulder has never stopped. Why? (A) As has been indicated, this is part a muscular condition and part nerve pressure from lack of nutriment from the blood supply. But with this strain now, as we have indicated, the application of the salt and vinegar (apple vinegar; not just acetic acid but pure apple vinegar and the heavy salt), and the heat, will relax this area so that the adjustments may be made much better at the present time.
[2067-5 F 52] (Q) Since I am still out of work with very limited funds, what cheap foods are most beneficial for my present condition? (A) That must be according to the choices of the body itself, in keeping with the outlines indicated. Do not take too much acid-producing foods. These the body should know from experience, as well as the general outline for such; that is, not too much starches or meats, or peculiar combinations, or any foods preserved with acetic acid (or vinegar). Refrain from these. Use rather a fruit and vegetable diet, with meats in moderation.
[2186-3 F 30] Keep away from those foods that have acetic acid (or vinegar) in same. Do use a great deal of sea foods and chicken, and especially the bony pieces. Cook it like you would chicken and dumplings, but don’t eat the dumplings – feed these to the dogs! Eat the bony pieces – and the greases of same are good for the body.
Eat raw vegetables, and especially carrots.
[2653-6 M 35] Not too much sweets; and not ANY preparations where vinegar or pickles or any acetic acid products are used in the foods
[2994-1 M 35] Begin and, daily, eat beets, carrots. Eat these daily. Prepare them in varied forms, and with the beets eat the tops also – well cooked. These may be prepared in various ways and manners, but never take them with vinegar or acetic acid preparations.
[3316-1 F 53] In the diet, do have plenty of gelatin, plenty of carrots, beets, water cress. It would be well to prepare these with the gelatin, by juicing or scraping them. These should never be combined with any vinegar or acetic acid. To be sure, these would not be all the foods that should be taken, but have plenty of these vegetables. Use more of the leafy than the pod or bulbular nature. Use little of meats, though fish, fowl and lamb may be taken – but never any of these fried. Vegetable juices, soups or broths will be well. Wild game is excellent, when it is to be had.
[3335-1 M 72] (Q) Is there any particular food to be avoided? (A) Keep away from any acid-producing foods, or any large quantities of foods that carry acetic acid as a base – either in the flavoring or in the seasoning.
[5267-1 M 69] Do increase the amount of this character of foods: The raw vegetables that are oft combined with gelatin. Carrots, spinach, celery, lettuce, radishes, not too much but once a day have some of all of these; chard, cabbage but not with vinegar ever or any products of acetic acid.
[5682-2 F CHILD] Noons – sandwiches that carry lettuce, tomatoes, with a salad dressing, and milk – or those easily digested, but do not give at this meal any jams, preserves or the like; preferably as much green vegetables as possible, under the circumstance. There may be used the yolks of eggs, but not the white, in sandwiches. Hard boiled and mashed and mixed with dressings, but not with any acid dressing as of vinegar or acetic acid, or pickles. It would be well at this period for the body to take a small dose of olive oil, just before the meals.
I was given a steam cooker by my father’s elderly friend maybe 10 years ago. At first I didn’t know what to do with it, but then I realized it’d be useful to implement Edgar Cayce’s cooking instructions.
Cayce frequently told people that foods that need cooking should be cooked in their own juices, and frequently recommended using patapar paper for this purpose:
