PUSHING BACK AGE
tilled vinegar and a honey dispenser that is easy to use should
always be on the table. Bring these two items to your loved one
at the “home” if it cannot be provided regularly and reliably. Pop
in at mealtime to check up on it. Powdered vitamin C (¼ tsp.) is
another useful acid if the first two are not effective enough.
The lemon and honey habit, alone, can add years (healthier
years) to an elderly person. The extra acid taken with lunch and
supper (the stomach has its own best supply of acid in the
morning, for breakfast) improves overall digestion and helps
dissolve the calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, manganese, and
other minerals in the food so they can be absorbed.
The habit of using vinegar and honey in water as a beverage
was made famous by Dr. Jarvis in his book Folk Medicine, circa
- He recommended apple cider vinegar for its extra potas-
sium. In those days, vinegar was made of good apples. Now, all
the regular vinegars have mold in them. The toxin, patulin, in
moldy apples has been carefully studied by scientists. It taints the
vinegar as well as apple juice and concentrate made from them. I
have not tested patulin to see if it can be detoxified by vitamin C.
We must use only white distilled vinegar, even though it lacks
potassium, aroma and popularity. Using a variety of honeys can
make up for the need to vary the flavor. Get orange blossom,
linden blossom, buckwheat, wildflower, and sage honey, besides
clover blossom.
But honey is not perfect food. It usually has ergot mold, a
very serious toxin. To detoxify the ergot, you simply add vitamin
C to the honey as soon as it arrives from the supermarket. This
gives it plenty of time to react with the ergot before you eat it.
Bring your “fixed” honeys to the home.
If your elderly loved one has not tolerated milk in years, start
with the vinegar and honey beverage, or lemon and honey, and be
patient until that is accepted. Then add only ¼ cup milk to the
day's diet, (in the morning, on homemade cereal). Go up