Seventy-million Americans have inflammatory joint pain, and I think it’s largely dietary-related. I noticed that when people have arthritis, and they change their diet from a standard American diet to a plant-based vegan diet, the arthritis tends to go away.

Greetings, vibrant viewers, to another episode of Healthy Living. Today we present Part 1 of a two-part interview with vegan naturopath, herbalist, neuromuscular therapist, Doctor of Holistic Health and author from the United States, Dr. Steve Blake, who will provide expert advice on nutritionally sound eating and discuss the benefits of a whole foods, plant-based diet.

Dr. Blake devotes his life to teaching others about achieving optimal health through natural medicine and proper diet. For seven years he served as director of the Maui Holistic Health Center, and recently he and his wife Reverend Catherine Blake, who has an extensive background in herbal medicine, established the College of World Health in Hawaii, USA.

The institution’s goals are to inform others about the most effective approaches to natural nutrition, healing and health from around the world, and to become “the first place to look for understandable, accurate information about natural health.”

Dr. Blake has written a number of outstanding health books including “Vitamins and Minerals Demystified,” “Understanding Dietary Fats and Oils” and “Healing Medicine.” He has also produced a comprehensive nutrition software program called the “Diet Doctor,” which enables users to analyze their daily nutritional intake, and gives suggestions on improving their diets based on input about their meals.

Another of Dr. Blake’s remarkable programs is “GlobalHerb 2009,” an extensive database that suggests natural remedies for many health conditions. Dr. Blake says it is one of the largest databases of its kind, and features over 128,000 book and journal references from around the world.

We begin our discussion with Dr. Blake on the subject of bone health. Osteoporosis, an illness in which the bones become porous and weak, affects an estimated 200-million people worldwide. Respected US nutritional biochemist Dr. T. Colin Campbell has found that the condition is associated with the intake of meat and dairy products.

There is no doubt that dairy products have a lot of calcium in them; they’re very calcium rich. However, it’s interesting that countries with the highest consumption of dairy products also have the highest incidence of osteoporosis. Too much protein and too much salt increase your needs for calcium or deplete your bones if you’re not getting enough.

Most Americans on an American diet will eat a hundred grams too much protein each day and this is almost inevitable; if you eat a diet with animal products you’re going to be getting too much protein. Perhaps two- or three- hundred milligrams (of calcium) are depleted by that hundred grams of extra protein that Americans are eating.

Excess sodium also very much depletes calcium in the bones. Salt, excess sodium comes usually from processed foods, packaged foods that have sodium added in one form or another, and these packaged foods account for about 80 percent of the sodium that the Americans eat. So if you don’t eat the packaged foods you probably won’t be getting excesses of sodium.

So these are two factors that are also important besides your intake of calcium. You have to look at what’s depleting the calcium in your body, and depletion is much more important because it takes no time at all to take calcium out of bones. It happens instantly.

Our bloodstream must always be the same in calcium so that we have proper nerve and muscle action, however to rebuild the bones takes a lot of time. So, for instance, if a person were to eat a lot of bacon they can deplete their bones and then it could take months for them to resupply their bones with the calcium. And I think that the depletion over time is a much more important part of osteoporosis than just keeping the calcium up.

And calcium doesn’t work alone; magnesium is also important; keeping a high vegetable and fruit content in the diet increases potassium and lowers your loss of calcium through excess protein. Also vitamin K is very important.

It’s important if you’re vegan to eat plenty of green, leafy vegetables; beans are a wonderful source of minerals and nutrients; they have wonderful fats, wonderful protein and wonderful carbohydrates, and lots of calcium. Especially, for instance, tofu is set with calcium and is a very rich source of calcium, and nuts and seeds provide a lot of calcium too.

In addition to calcium, several other nutrients are required to maintain healthy bones, particularly vitamin D. Approximately 90% of the body’s supply of vitamin D comes from exposure to sunlight.

Phosphorous and calcium are both needed to make bones, and vitamin D, for instance, triggers the phosphorous and the calcium to be deposited into the bones. You have to get vitamin D. However, the body stores vitamin D for years, so you don’t necessarily have to get vitamin D every day.

If you’re getting some on your face and hands for 15 minutes, two or three times a week even in this latitude of 38 degrees, just through the spring, summer and fall, you should have enough calcium to make it through the whole year.

After these brief messages, we’ll return with more from our informative interview with Dr. Steve Blake of the College of World Health. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

Welcome back to Healthy Living on Supreme Master Television. Our program today features an interview with Dr. Steve Blake, a naturopath and doctor of holistic health from the United States.

Fatty acids are necessary for maintaining excellent health. Omega-3 long chain fatty acids with docosahexaenoic acid or “DHA” and eicosapentaenoic acid or “EPA” are especially beneficial to adults in maintaining a healthy heart and to fetuses and young children in facilitating brain development. The essential fatty acids are the linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acids; these are found in plants. Fish oils don’t contain any essential fatty acids. They are not essential for human health.

You’re going to need enough ALA in your diet. That’s the alpha linolenic acid, which is an omega-3 fatty acid. It’s the root of the family and it’s the only essential one in the omega-3 family. Two to four grams a day would be a good amount of alpha linolenic acid.

Research shows that omega-3 fatty acids are highly effective in controlling inflammation, which can cause arthritis, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. Dr. Blake says it’s necessary to have a balance of omega-3 and omega-6, such as linoleic acid in our systems because while omega-3 can help prevent inflammation, omega-6 fatty acids aggravate inflammation.

Inflammation can be relieved by lowering the amount, and it’s not only linoleic acid excesses that increase inflammation, but also arachidonic acids. Arachidonic acid is a direct precursor to eicosanoids, the inflammatory ones. It’s found only in meat and dairy products. So limiting your arachidonic acid and increasing your ALA (alpha-linolenic acid) is a good way to reduce inflammation in the body, and it works quickly and effectively without drugs.

The other important thing is to keep the amount of linoleic acid down. Most Americans eat 10 to 15 even 20 times as much of this essential fatty acid as the ALA. This overpowers it and makes it difficult for the ALA to get converted into EPA, which is quite easy if the balance is about right. The proper balance would be something like three to one; three times as much linoleic acid as alpha-linolenic acid.

The myth persists that fish and fish oil are good for heart health. However, in the famous DART-2 (Diet and Reinfarction Trial) study, heart patients with chest pains who consumed fish saw no reduction in mortality and those who took fish oil capsules were found to have an increased risk of cardiac arrest and sudden death.

People with diabetes have trouble making their own EPA and they may need to supplement with EPA directly and DHA as well. People who are smokers, they have trouble making their own EPA and DHA and they may need to supplement with EPA and DHA. For the rest of us it’s much healthier to make our own alpha-linolenic acid into EPA in our bodies.

Taking EPA externally, whether it’s in the form of fish or as fish oils, there are problems. One of the problems is excess bleeding. If you get too much EPA in the form of fish oils, your tendency to bleed increases. The other problem that’s very important is that it lowers your immune response when you take EPA.

If you’re eating fish or fish oils, the chance of there being contamination with DBT or PCBs, polychlorinated biphenyls, mercury and other environmental contaminants is quite great. It is also possible to get these made from algae because, after all, only algae makes EPA and DHA; fish don’t make it. They just eat it and concentrate it in their bodies, so you can get supplements made from algae that contain EPA and DHA in the same amounts that you might need.

Finally, Dr. Blake has some tips on obtaining essential omega-3 fatty acids from plant-based sources.

If you take whole flax seeds and you grind them up, for instance, in a coffee grinder or a blender, you can then add a tablespoon of that to a meal after it’s been cooked. This will be a wonderful supplement of ALA that will greatly enhance your ability to make EPA in your body and DHA also.

Walnuts are one of the very few nuts or seeds that have a large amount of alpha-linolenic acid. Also, chia seeds and perilla seeds are good sources. There’s a new oil out called echium oil that has stearidonic acid and stearidonic acid has the ability to be converted into EPA easier than alpha linolenic acid.

We sincerely thank Dr. Steve Blake for his insightful comments on how to stay healthy through intelligent eating, and applaud him for spreading the uplifting message about the invigorating, plant-based diet through the College of World Health and his other work.

Books and other media by Dr. Steve Blake are available at www.NaturalHealthWizards.com

Treasured viewers, please join us next Monday on Healthy Living for Part 2 of our program featuring Dr. Steve Blake’s sound advice on the role of oils and fats in our diet. Up next is Science and Spirituality after Noteworthy News. May we all enjoy the best of health and the highest of spirits.

The Animal Welfare League of Queensland in Gold Coast, Australia provides low-cost and free veterinary care so all dogs or cats in the community, whether they have a caregiver or not, can get the treatment they need.

We believe that every city and shire should be providing this service for its animals because why should animals miss out when humans don’t? There’s a public hospital for humans, there should be a public hospital or a community vet clinic for animals.

Learn how else the dedicated staff and volunteers of the Animal Welfare League of Queensland are helping animals and see the presentation of Shining World Compassion Award to the group on “Community Spirit: Compassion at the Animal Welfare League of Queensland – Parts 1 and 2” airing Thursday and Friday, April 29 and 30 on Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants.

We’re starting a College of World Health and with that we intend to teach all the best principles that we can find in the world.

She teaches cooking classes which is vitally important. I teach the principals of how to eat for health and she shows to people how to do it practically and this is very important.

Greetings, joyful viewers, and welcome to Healthy Living on Supreme Master Television.. Today we present Part 2 of a two-part interview with vegan naturopath, herbalist, neuromuscular therapist, Doctor of Holistic Health and author from the United States, Dr. Steve Blake, who will provide expert advice on nutritionally sound eating and discuss the benefits of a whole foods, plant-based diet.

Dr. Blake devotes his life to teaching others about achieving optimal health through natural medicine and proper diet. For seven years he served as director of the Maui Holistic Health Center, and recently he and his wife Reverend Catherine Blake, who has an extensive background in herbal medicine, established the College of World Health in Hawaii, USA.

The institution’s goals are to inform others about the most effective approaches to natural nutrition, healing and health from around the world, and to become “the first place to look for understandable, accurate information about natural health.”

Vitamins are abundant in vegetables and fruits. Dr. Blake now discusses some of the key vitamins we need.

There are several forms of vitamin A. A beta-carotene is the form found in fruits and vegetables. The orange or red pigment is also found in green vegetables, hidden by the chlorophyll, the green. Beta-carotene is the best form because it’s an antioxidant form of vitamin A.

In the body this is split in two to make retinol, one of the forms useful in the body for many purposes outside of its antioxidant function. This can be transformed inside the body to the other forms. Retinol and retinol palmitate is important for eyes and vision and also stored in the liver as retinol palmitate in humans.

Studies have found vitamin E slows aging caused by free radicals that come from such sources as radiation, pollution and excessive sun exposure. The vitamin has also been found to help protect against prostate cancer and a form of dementia called Alzheimer's disease.

Vitamin E is a fat soluble vitamin that is a powerful antioxidant that specifically protects the fats and oils in our bloodstream, so they don’t damage our arteries. As we all know atherosclerosis and resulting heart attacks and strokes are the major scourge not only in America but the world, with a million and half heart attacks a year in America.

Sunflower seeds are very rich in vitamin E. They’re one of the cheapest of all the nuts and seeds, and really a healthful product. Hazelnuts and almonds also have a nice amount. As you look at the amount in three ounces, you’ll see that all of these just about meet or exceed the amount that you need in a day.

The vast majority of vitamin E supplements increase slightly your risk of heart disease rather than decreasing it. This is because the form of most supplements is called either all-racemic vitamin E or on a vitamin label it would be, not the natural form but the synthetic form, which is called dl-alpha tocopherol. So my advice is don’t take the synthetic form of Vitamin E. I think it’s been proven that it’s not only ineffective, but dangerous.

The “Diet Doctor” is a computer program developed by Dr. Blake. By inputting what foods one consumed during each meal, the program can show how much of each type of nutrient was taken in and recommends foods to improve one’s health. There are over 7,500 types of food in the Diet Doctor’s database.

I designed a program that helps you analyze your diet. It’s called the Diet Doctor. This program allows you to plug in what you ate in a day. And then it analyzes it with 46 colored charts. So you can see at a glance, if the child or the adult is getting enough calcium, and which foods are providing it. So if the child, for instance, likes kale but doesn’t like broccoli, and they’re both providing a lot of calcium, then you can see that, and you can say, “Okay I’m going give this child what he likes.”

Children have different nutritional requirements than adults. For instance, they need more fat than adults do, and more calories. They need a lot of calcium to build their bones. Go through the nutrients, and make sure the child is getting enough protein, which is usually the case with adults. Children have higher protein needs, especially in adolescence years. So you need to make sure that they’re getting enough of each of the nutrients that they need.

During pregnancy a whole food, plant based diet provides wonderful nourishment for the baby growing in the womb.

We have a friend who has been a vegan for many years. She got pregnant and she’s a very wise vegan. She eats whole food. She is an excellent cook. And her baby came out as fat and healthy as any baby I’ve ever seen. And after a year, he is incredibly healthy and fat and very bright.

After these brief messages, we will return with more sound dietary advice from Dr. Steve Blake. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

Welcome back to Healthy Living on Supreme Master Television. Our show today features Dr. Steve Blake, co-founder of the College of World Health and a dietary expert who has written a number of outstanding health books including “Vitamins and Minerals Demystified,” “Understanding Dietary Fats and Oils” and “Healing Medicine.”

Another of Dr. Blake’s remarkable computer programs is “GlobalHerb 2009,” an extensive database that suggests natural remedies for many health conditions. Dr. Blake says it is one of the largest databases of its kind, and features over 128,000 book and journal references from around the world.

One chronic health condition that has rapidly increased in prevalence worldwide in recent years is cardiovascular disease. Saturated fats, which are primarily found in animal products, have been found to augment the risk of this disease. Dr. Blake has some recommendations with regards to oils in our diet so as to minimize the intake of such fats.

If it’s high heat oil, I recommend using very little coconut oil. If it’s medium or low heat oil, olive oil is probably one of the better choices if it’s extra-virgin olive oil, because it still retains its beta carotene and chlorophyll, it’s not genetically modified and it’s not heated during processing. Palm oil is also heavily saturated. Palm kernel oil is as saturated as coconut oil. I would probably recommend zero palm oil.

Dietary fats and oils, the best way to get them is inside intact food. So if you’re eating avocado, nuts and seeds, this is a very nice way to get your fats and oils. Also the fats and oils in these foods are intact and haven’t become rancid. Oils can easily become rancid, especially the essential fatty acids through light heat or oxygen and all of these things oils become exposed to after they’re open. So if you crack an avocado and eat them right away, then the essential fatty acids won’t be rancid. They’ll be fresh. The same goes for nuts and seeds if they’re raw.

The raw food diet is one where unprocessed and uncooked plant foods are consumed. Followers of this diet do not heat food above 46 degrees Celsius as they believe this destroys its enzymes. They also say that cooking decreases the nutritional value and “life force” of food.

Raw people are supposed to be 75% raw or more, and we’re probably hovering around 50 to 75% raw. We do love raw food. I feel like a good balance would be about one quarter of your food per day as fresh raw fruit, another quarter to a half of fresh raw vegetables, and the other quarter you are going to need some carbohydrates and maybe some heavier foods like beans or nuts and seeds. So that’s a few guidelines to being really healthy, losing weight, and getting all the nutrients that you need.

I’m growing more in the direction of raw food because I do believe that it gives me more lively stimulation nutritionally.

Protein is essential to a healthy body as it helps build and repair muscle tissue and performs many other functions such as acting as a source of energy and helping to transport oxygen throughout the body.

Protein is really not a problem for anyone. If you’re getting enough calories, you’re getting enough protein. I don’t really care what you're eating. You’re getting a high-quality protein. I’m a whole food vegan, and I get an average of 83 grams a day of protein; I only require 46. So I’m getting plenty without any meat and even a lot of beans or nuts. So it’s very difficult to get low protein.

Vitamin B12 is also a crucial nutrient as it assists in the creation of red blood cells and helps assure the health of our central nervous system. Our liver is where the body stores the vast majority of its supply of vitamin B12.

So, I am going to recommend that everyone, regardless if you’re vegan or non vegan, take a vitamin B12 supplement. It’s cheap, it’s safe, it’s vegan, and it’s very easy to take, and this sublingual tablet is a fine way to take it.

After the interview concluded, Catherine Blake had a kind message for Supreme Master Ching Hai.

I’m especially thankful to Supreme Master Ching Hai for her beautiful sharing and gracious gifts that she is sharing with us.

We presented the Blakes with a book called “Celestial Art” which shows the beautiful artwork created by Supreme Master Ching Hai over the years.

Oh, thank you so much, that’s beautiful.

That’s delightful.

Thank you very much.

We'll enjoy that quite a lot.

Thank you so much.

We sincerely thank Dr. Steve Blake for his insightful wisdom on how to obtain various necessary nutrients for our body and Catherine Blake for working towards the betterment of public health through the College of World Health. They are both to be applauded for setting a noble example by following a plant based diet and sharing the good news about this compassionate way of eating with many people.

Books and other media by Dr. Steve Blake are available at www.NaturalHealthWizards.com

Thank you for joining us on today’s Healthy Living on Supreme Master Television. Up next is Science and Spirituality after Noteworthy News. May Heaven bless all with everlasting vitality and well-being.