60 The Complete Home Guide to Herbs, Natural Healing, and Nutrition
dane, an organochloride insecticide related to DDT. Fourteen other coun-
tries have banned lindane, with its use being restricted in still more. In Brit-
ain, however, lindane continues to contaminate our milk and put women at risk
of breast cancer — the biggest killer of women between the ages of thirty-
five and fifty-four in Britain. Search out organic milk perhaps.
Dairy products are generally consumed to add calcium and magnesium
to the diet, but common foods and herbs are also sources of these nutrients.
The recommended daily allowance of calcium is 800 mg to 1,200 mg, with
suffi cient sunshine or other sources of vitamin D to aid proper absorption
of the calcium. The recommended daily allowance for magnesium is 350
mg to 450 mg.
Calcium-rich herbs and foods include valerian root, pau d’arco inner
bark, kelp, wakame and hijiki seaweeds, nettle leaf, raw almonds (soak over-
night and remove the outer skin before eating), dried fi gs, walnuts, rasp-
berry leaf tea, boneset tea, fresh parsley, carrot juice, and sunfl ower seeds.
Magnesium-rich foods include all of the above as well as Irish moss, oat
straw, and turmeric.
All three recipes below are rich in calcium and magnesium:
- Coconut Milk — 1 cup grated coconut meat, 2 cups water, honey to
taste if desired; blend and strain into a glass. - Almond Milk — 1 ⁄ 2 cup almonds (remove the skins and presoak in the
refrigerator), 4 cups water; blend and strain into a glass. - Cashew Milk — 1 cup cashews, 3^1 ⁄ 2 cups water; blend and strain into
a glass.
Eggs
Eggs, like milk and cheese, are often alternatives to eating meat for
vegetarians. Like milk and cheese, they are very mucus-forming, and
cooked eggs deposit inorganic sulfur in the bowel. Therefore, if you wish
to eat eggs, confi ne yourself to two free-range eggs a week. Eggs contain
protein, but so do vegetables, grains, beans, nuts, and seeds in their
correct combinations, while the B vitamins often missed when not eating
meat can be obtained from vegetables, herbs, and yeasts.
Eggs are potential causes of diseases like arthritis, gallstones, and
kidney stones, so if you suffer from any of these or have a tendency
toward them, avoid eggs altogether. It is not advisable for women with
gynecological problems such as menstrual diffi culties or abnormalities of
the womb or ovaries to eat eggs, as their consumption exacerbates this
type of problem.
Eggs and fl our are frequently the traditional binding elements in
foods. Rice, corn, potato, and lentil fl ours can replace wheat fl our. Other
food and nutrition 60