The cost of things.
Over the years, writing my book, MONEYLOVE, and doing seminars all around the world about the psychology of money and the difference between prosperity consciousness and poverty consciousness, I’ve been fascinated with the basic attitudes people have about money and the cost of things.
One situation that happened over and over and over again always tickled me. Someone would pick up my Nightingale-Conant MONEYLOVE cassette album and look at it’s $59.95 price tag and ask, “How long is it?” As if the length determined its value. Sometimes, in frustration, I would say, “ It’s three hours of brilliance compared to six hours of crap you might be able to find somewhere else. You make the choice.” Some folks even would pick a book to read based on its number of pages, as if the longer book was the better book. And many people would rather go to a restaurant and get a heaping plate full of mediocre food compared to more modest portions but much more delicious cuisine at a better restaurant. And I had to decide whether to risk alienating you with this next example, but decided to go for it, since it illustrates the same point.
Some years ago, I was playing blackjack at a casino in Reno, having traveled there with a good friend who lived in Nevada City, California and was playing the slot machines. I was lucky and ran $300 up to over $8,000. I said to my friend, “What do you want—I’m treating you to something special. Would you like a spa treatment, a full body massage, an elegant gourmet meal, a fancy new shirt?” He answered, “None of those, thanks, but there is a place about a forty minute drive from here called The Sagebrush Ranch.” He was referring, of course, to one of Nevada’s more than thirty legal brothels. So off we went. As we entered, the manager or madam announced, “It’s party time, girls.” And the prostitutes lined up to display themselves for the new customers. They were all very attractive, dressed in Victoria’s Secret type attire, but one stood out, in fact she stood head and shoulders above all the others. A young black woman, whose accent indicated she had recently emigrated from Africa. She was huge. A regular Amazon. Well over six feet tall, and probably over 250 pounds. But not an ounce of apparent fat. All beautifully proportioned. As the various working girls tried to entice us, she made eye contact with me and said, “Here you go, honey, more bang for the buck. The best bargain in Nevada, all this gorgeousness for no additional cost.” What happened next I’ll save for a memoir.
But she was right, on a dollar-per-pound basis, she was probably the biggest bargain in the entire state. But for someone who prefers their women petite, it wouldn’t be a bargain at all.
Let’s quickly switch from the seedy to the cacao seed. Here we have unheated, unfermented, unakalized pure dark chocolate, with the highest ORAC rating or antioxidant count of any food, and as an added bonus, the second highest natural source of antioxidants, the ACAI berry. Mixed together in delicious combination. And when people ask, “How much?” And I answer, “The wholesale cost is $110 for a box that will last a month or longer if you take the recommended amounts, depending on which of the three varieties you choose,” some people reel back and say, “$110 for those little squares of candy? You’ve got to be kidding!” Now here’s the tricky part. Because it is, after all, chocolate, and people are used to considering it a special treat, guilty pleasure, non-essential confection. Here’s where education comes in. This is not candy, no matter how good it tastes, it is a health food, some are calling it a superfood, and it offers tremendous health benefits, it may even prolong your life because of its high antioxidant content, the highest of any food in the world.
I have stated my opinion, after interviewing many longevity scientists for my earlier book, PSYCHOLOGICAL IMMORTALITY, and reading hundreds of research reports as I work on my new book on the health benefits of dark chocolate, that these small dark chocolate squares, taken on a daily basis, three per day, could just extend someone’s lifespan by three to five healthy years. And some of the scientists think that’s too conservative an estimate.
Let me ask one of those essential questions that reveal some of our core values. If you knew for certain that this healthy dark chocolate would extend your life by three to five years, and it cost $1000. a month, would you be willing to buy it? In fact, wouldn’t you do whatever it took to come up with that $1000 a month?
And what if it cost $100,000 a month and was only available to the very rich? Don’t you think there would still be a long line forming, probably with Bill Gates and Warren Buffet at the head of it? But there is no certainty about it. Just some strong indications from the research to date. And is there ever certainty about anything, especially life? You could be walking home with your supply of healthy dark chocolate and get hit by an ice cream truck. There goes your certainty, with a dash of irony.
All we can say for certain is that there is a lot of highly respected research that indicates some strong health benefits from eating Xocai healthy dark chocolate with Acai berry added. Oh, and by the way, as more and more research results are reported and more people find out, there will be a steamroller effect, an explosion, tremendous momentum…and you could get in on the ground floor of what promises to be one of the most prosperous businesses of this century. And do it with a modest initial investment, and then just eating and sharing this yummy dark chocolate.
And by the way, broke and just out of prison, I had to borrow the money to get involved in this business. So don’t talk to me about how tough things are and how much you’re struggling. I empathize but don’t sympathize. These kinds of economic times always offer the most economic opportunity for those who can come up with just a little vision, a modicum of imagination, just a tablespoon of intention, direction, and sense of purpose. A lot of us are going to make a lot of money having a lot of fun and a lot of superb taste experiences—and some surprising health benefits.
Jerry Gillies
Have I aroused your interest or curiosity? Contact me at jerrygillies@gmail.com or check out the videos posted by my friends and upline sponsors, Susannah Lippman at www.Alphasonics.com or Hope and Thom Kiah at www.darkchocolatebenefits.net.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
A RESEARCH REPORT THAT COULD PROLONG LIFE
I know it's a long article, and research papers are not always the most fun to read, but with all the talk about antioxidant
levels and ORAC ratings, I think it's important to know something about how and why the rating was developed by the
Dept. of Agriculture. The following comes from the USDA Agricultural Research Service and though originally published in 1999, it contained some information I hadn't seen up until now, and reading it may help extend your lifespan significantly.
************************************************************
Can Foods Forestall Aging?
Studies at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston suggest that consuming fruits and vegetables with a high-ORAC value may help slow the aging process in both body and brain. ORAC--short for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity--measures the ability of foods, blood plasma, and just about any substance to subdue oxygen free radicals in the test tube.
Early evidence indicates that this antioxidant activity translates to animals, protecting cells and their components from oxidative damage. Getting plenty of the foods with a high-ORAC activity, such as spinach, strawberries, and blueberries, has so far:
raised the antioxidant power of human blood,
prevented some loss of long-term memory and learning ability in middle-aged rats,
maintained the ability of brain cells in middle-aged rats to respond to a chemical stimulus, and
protected rats' tiny blood vessels—capillaries—against oxygen damage.
These results have prompted Ronald L. Prior to suggest that "the ORAC measure may help define the dietary conditions needed to prevent tissue damage."
Prior is coordinating this research with Guohua (Howard) Cao, James Joseph, and Barbara Shukitt-Hale at the Boston center.
Science has long held that damage by oxygen free radicals is behind many of the maladies that come with aging, including cardiovascular disease and cancer. There's firm evidence that a high intake of fruits and vegetables reduces risk of cancer and that a low intake raises risk. And recent evidence suggests that diminished brain function associated with aging and disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases may be due to increased vulnerability to free radicals, says Joseph, a neuroscientist.
Such evidence has spurred skyrocketing sales of antioxidant vitamin supplements in recent years.
But several large trials testing individual antioxidant vitamins have had mixed results. "It may be that combinations of nutrients found in foods have greater protective effects than each nutrient taken alone," says Cao, a chemist and medical doctor.
For example, foods contain more than 4,000 flavonoids. These constitute a major class of dietary antioxidants and appear to be responsible for a large part of the protective power of fruits and vegetables, Cao says.
By the year 2050, nearly one-third of the U.S. population is expected to be over age 65. If further research supports these early findings, millions of aging people may be able to guard against diseases or dementia simply by adding high-ORAC foods to their diets. This could save much suffering, as well as reduce the staggering cost of treating and caring for the elderly.
Cao developed the ORAC test while he was a visiting scientist at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore, Maryland. After joining Prior's group 5 years ago, the researchers assayed commonly eaten fruits, vegetables, and fruit juices with ORAC. [See "Plant Pigments Paint a Rainbow of Antioxidants," Agricultural Research, November 1996, pp. 4-8.]
"The ORAC value covers all the antioxidants in foods," says Cao. "You cannot easily measure each antioxidant separately," he adds. "But you can use the ORAC assay to identify which phytonutrients are the important antioxidants."
The researchers have been testing whether antioxidants other than vitamins are absorbed into the blood and protect the cells. And the results look promising.
Its in the Blood
Several laboratories have reported that people can absorb individual flavonoids thought to have protective powers. Prior and Cao now have good evidence that food antioxidants not only are absorbed, they boost the antioxidant power of the blood.
In an earlier study at the Boston center, 36 men and women ranging in age from 20 to 80 had doubled their fruit and vegetable intake. According to the participants' responses on a food frequency questionnaire, they averaged about five servings of fruits and vegetables daily during the year before the study. That intake was doubled to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables daily during the study.
To estimate ORAC intakes for the participants, the two researchers matched the questionnaire and the diet data with their own antioxidant values for each fruit and vegetable. Before the study, says Prior, the participants averaged 1,670 ORAC units daily. Increasing their fruit and vegetable intake to 10 a day raised the ORAC intake to between 3,300 and 3,500 ORAC units—or about twice the previous antioxidant capacity.
Based on the participants' blood samples, the antioxidants were absorbed. The ORAC value of blood plasma increased between 13 and 15 percent on the experimental diet. This supports results of a preliminary study in which Prior and Cao saw a 10- to 25-percent rise in serum ORAC after eight women ate test meals containing high-ORAC foods, red wine, or vitamin C. They tested red wine because it has a high ORAC value—higher than white wine—and has been associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
Ten ounces of fresh spinach produced the biggest rise in the women's blood antioxidant scores—even greater than was caused by 1,250 milligrams of vitamin C. An 8-ounce serving of strawberries was less effective than vitamin C but a little more effective than 9.6 ounces of red wine.
Prior says the increase in plasma ORAC can't be fully explained by increases in plasma levels of vitamin C, vitamin E, or carotenoids, so the body must be absorbing other components in these fruits and vegetables. The antioxidant capacity of the blood seems to be tightly regulated, he says. Still, "a significant increase of 15 to 20 percent is possible by increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables, particularly those high in antioxidant capacity."
The ORAC values of fruits and vegetables cover such a broad range, he adds, "you can pick seven with low values and get only about 1,300 ORAC units. Or, you can eat seven with high values and reach 6,000 ORAC units or more. One cup of blueberries alone supplies 3,200 ORAC units."
Based on the evidence so far, Prior and Cao suggest that daily intake be increased to between 3,000 and 5,000 ORAC units to have a significant impact on plasma and tissue antioxidant capacity.
Rats High on ORAC
Rat studies are yielding even more support for high-ORAC diets. The animals live only about 2 1/2 years total, so it's possible to follow the effects of high-ORAC foods on the aging process.
Joseph and Shukitt-Hale have been testing extracts of strawberry and spinach, along with vitamin E, in the rodents. And some of their results wouldn't surprise Popeye. A daily dose of spinach extract prevented some loss of long-term memory and learning ability normally experienced by middle-aged rats. And spinach was the most potent in protecting different types of nerve cells in various parts of the brain against the effects of aging.
The researchers started 6-month-old rats on four feeding regimens. Two groups got diets fortified with either strawberry or spinach extract, one ate the diet containing an extra 500 international units of vitamin E, while a fourth got the unfortified diet. Shukitt-Hale, a behavioral psychologist, had already put a group of rats through their paces to determine when they begin to falter in memory and motor function. She says the animals start to lose motor function around 12 months and memory at 15 months; the latter is equivalent to a 45- to 50-year-old human.
When the study rats reached 15 months, she had them doing gymnastics—such as walking on rods and planks and trying to stay upright on a rotating rod—all tests of motor function. She also had these excellent swimmers paddle around a deep pool until, using visual cues, they found a submerged platform on which they could rest. With this test, she measures changes in long- and short-term memory.
"None of the diets prevented motor loss," says Shukitt-Hale. The 15-month-old rats performed like middle-aged animals whether they got the extra antioxidants or not. But the spinach-fed rats had significantly better long-term memory than the animals getting the control diet or the strawberry-fortified diet. They remembered how to find the hidden platform better over time, she says, showing they retained more of their learning ability. The vitamin E-fed rats were somewhat less protected against memory loss than the spinach group.
"That's significant," she notes. "It's really difficult to effect a change in behavior."
Where Aging May Reside
Joseph looks for age-related changes in brain cell function, focusing on an area of the brain that controls both motor and cognitive function—the neostriatum. As people and animals age, the cells become sluggish in responding to chemical stimulation, he says. For 15-month-old rats, the striatal cells have lost 40 percent of their ability to respond to such signals.
Not so in the animals whose diets were fortified with spinach or strawberry extracts or vitamin E. Their striatal cells performed significantly better than those of rats on the control diet—especially the rats getting the spinach extract. That group scored twice as high as the control animals in Joseph's test.
The spinach group also scored best among the fortified diets in a test of nerve cells in the cerebellum, a part of the brain that maintains balance and coordination. The test was done by Paula Bickford, a collaborating pharmacologist with the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver.
Why spinach is more effective than strawberries is still a mystery. The researchers conjecture that it may be due to specific phytonutrients or a specific combination of them in the greens. While this research is still in its infancy, says Joseph, "the findings, so far, suggest that nutritional intervention with fruits and vegetables may play an important role in preventing the long-term effects of oxidative stress on brain function."
Prior and Cao also have early evidence that these foods protect other tissues. Subjecting rats to pure oxygen for 2 days normally damages cells lining the tiniest blood vessels, or capillaries, causing them to become leaky.
As a result, fluid accumulates in the rats' pleural cavity—the space surrounding the lungs. But that was minimized when the animals were fed blueberry extract for 6 weeks before the oxygen stress. Of all the fruits and vegetables tested with ORAC, blueberries are one of highest in antioxidant capacity.
In human terms, says Prior, the animals got the equivalent of 3,000 ORAC units. "If we can show some relationship between ORAC intake and health outcome in people, I think we may reach a point where the ORAC value will become a new standard for good antioxidant protection." —By Judy McBride, Agricultural Research Service Information Staff.
This research is part of Human Nutrition Requirements, Food Composition, and Intake, an ARS National Program described on at http://www.nps.ar s.usda.gov/programs/107s2.htm.
Ronald L. Prior, James A. Joseph, Guohua Cao, and Barbara Shukitt-Hale are at the USDA-ARS Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, 711 Washington St., Boston, MA 02111; phone (617) 556-3310, fax (617) 556-3299.
"Can Foods Forestall Aging?" was published in the February 1999 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.
***************************************************************
And huge amounts of research has been done in the ten years since this report was first issued. At that time, no way,
using natural foods, or even manufactured supplements, could anyone approach the very high ORAC ratings now possible
with XOCAI healthy dark chocolate. As you check the numbers in the article above, remember the small 6 gram X Power
dark chocolate square has an ORAC value of 3,582. And in the recommended three-per-day dosage, the X Power squares
have an astounding 1,008 of Total Flavonoids. And those three squares equal about two pounds of raw spinach in ORAC
value.
As a journalist and investigative broadcast reporter for NBC Radio and other media, I had to learn how to digest lots
of data and boil it down to the essential. As I read over the Dept. of Agriculture report above, do you know the one
sentence that lept out at me? Read it again and see if you can guess.
Okay, here it is:
"If further research supports these early findings, millions of aging people may be able to guard against diseases or dementia simply by adding high-ORAC foods to their diets."
And to get totally unscientific here, and offer my own personal opinion (isn't that, after all, what Blogs are all about?).
Taking into account the voluminous amount of research currently underway on antioxidants, and all I learned about the early
research while writing my book, PSYCHOLOGICAL IMMORTALITY, I don't think I'm going too far out on the limb to suggest
that consuming this high dose of antioxidants on a daily basis could reverse the aging process to the extent that it might
add three to five healthy years to our lifespan. And that is a conservative estimate. Read the data yourself, Google "Healthy Dark Chocolate" or "Antioxidant" and decide for yourself. All of this may account for the puzzled look on my face the next time someone suggests to me that about $100 is "too expensive" for a month's supply of XOCAI healthy dark chocolate.
Jerry Gillies
And by the way, I am now putting together a team of leaders to prosper and have a lot of fun eating and sharing this
healthy dark chocolate--as well as report back to me any health benefits for my next book. For more information, contact
me at jerrygillies@gmail.com And you can see some great videos on the blog of my friend and upline partner,
Hope Kiah, at www.darkchocolatebenefits.net, and check out the Chocolate For Health section on the website of my
closest friend and upline sponsor, Susannah Lippman, at Alphasonics.com.
levels and ORAC ratings, I think it's important to know something about how and why the rating was developed by the
Dept. of Agriculture. The following comes from the USDA Agricultural Research Service and though originally published in 1999, it contained some information I hadn't seen up until now, and reading it may help extend your lifespan significantly.
************************************************************
Can Foods Forestall Aging?
Studies at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston suggest that consuming fruits and vegetables with a high-ORAC value may help slow the aging process in both body and brain. ORAC--short for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity--measures the ability of foods, blood plasma, and just about any substance to subdue oxygen free radicals in the test tube.
Early evidence indicates that this antioxidant activity translates to animals, protecting cells and their components from oxidative damage. Getting plenty of the foods with a high-ORAC activity, such as spinach, strawberries, and blueberries, has so far:
raised the antioxidant power of human blood,
prevented some loss of long-term memory and learning ability in middle-aged rats,
maintained the ability of brain cells in middle-aged rats to respond to a chemical stimulus, and
protected rats' tiny blood vessels—capillaries—against oxygen damage.
These results have prompted Ronald L. Prior to suggest that "the ORAC measure may help define the dietary conditions needed to prevent tissue damage."
Prior is coordinating this research with Guohua (Howard) Cao, James Joseph, and Barbara Shukitt-Hale at the Boston center.
Science has long held that damage by oxygen free radicals is behind many of the maladies that come with aging, including cardiovascular disease and cancer. There's firm evidence that a high intake of fruits and vegetables reduces risk of cancer and that a low intake raises risk. And recent evidence suggests that diminished brain function associated with aging and disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases may be due to increased vulnerability to free radicals, says Joseph, a neuroscientist.
Such evidence has spurred skyrocketing sales of antioxidant vitamin supplements in recent years.
But several large trials testing individual antioxidant vitamins have had mixed results. "It may be that combinations of nutrients found in foods have greater protective effects than each nutrient taken alone," says Cao, a chemist and medical doctor.
For example, foods contain more than 4,000 flavonoids. These constitute a major class of dietary antioxidants and appear to be responsible for a large part of the protective power of fruits and vegetables, Cao says.
By the year 2050, nearly one-third of the U.S. population is expected to be over age 65. If further research supports these early findings, millions of aging people may be able to guard against diseases or dementia simply by adding high-ORAC foods to their diets. This could save much suffering, as well as reduce the staggering cost of treating and caring for the elderly.
Cao developed the ORAC test while he was a visiting scientist at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore, Maryland. After joining Prior's group 5 years ago, the researchers assayed commonly eaten fruits, vegetables, and fruit juices with ORAC. [See "Plant Pigments Paint a Rainbow of Antioxidants," Agricultural Research, November 1996, pp. 4-8.]
"The ORAC value covers all the antioxidants in foods," says Cao. "You cannot easily measure each antioxidant separately," he adds. "But you can use the ORAC assay to identify which phytonutrients are the important antioxidants."
The researchers have been testing whether antioxidants other than vitamins are absorbed into the blood and protect the cells. And the results look promising.
Its in the Blood
Several laboratories have reported that people can absorb individual flavonoids thought to have protective powers. Prior and Cao now have good evidence that food antioxidants not only are absorbed, they boost the antioxidant power of the blood.
In an earlier study at the Boston center, 36 men and women ranging in age from 20 to 80 had doubled their fruit and vegetable intake. According to the participants' responses on a food frequency questionnaire, they averaged about five servings of fruits and vegetables daily during the year before the study. That intake was doubled to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables daily during the study.
To estimate ORAC intakes for the participants, the two researchers matched the questionnaire and the diet data with their own antioxidant values for each fruit and vegetable. Before the study, says Prior, the participants averaged 1,670 ORAC units daily. Increasing their fruit and vegetable intake to 10 a day raised the ORAC intake to between 3,300 and 3,500 ORAC units—or about twice the previous antioxidant capacity.
Based on the participants' blood samples, the antioxidants were absorbed. The ORAC value of blood plasma increased between 13 and 15 percent on the experimental diet. This supports results of a preliminary study in which Prior and Cao saw a 10- to 25-percent rise in serum ORAC after eight women ate test meals containing high-ORAC foods, red wine, or vitamin C. They tested red wine because it has a high ORAC value—higher than white wine—and has been associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
Ten ounces of fresh spinach produced the biggest rise in the women's blood antioxidant scores—even greater than was caused by 1,250 milligrams of vitamin C. An 8-ounce serving of strawberries was less effective than vitamin C but a little more effective than 9.6 ounces of red wine.
Prior says the increase in plasma ORAC can't be fully explained by increases in plasma levels of vitamin C, vitamin E, or carotenoids, so the body must be absorbing other components in these fruits and vegetables. The antioxidant capacity of the blood seems to be tightly regulated, he says. Still, "a significant increase of 15 to 20 percent is possible by increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables, particularly those high in antioxidant capacity."
The ORAC values of fruits and vegetables cover such a broad range, he adds, "you can pick seven with low values and get only about 1,300 ORAC units. Or, you can eat seven with high values and reach 6,000 ORAC units or more. One cup of blueberries alone supplies 3,200 ORAC units."
Based on the evidence so far, Prior and Cao suggest that daily intake be increased to between 3,000 and 5,000 ORAC units to have a significant impact on plasma and tissue antioxidant capacity.
Rats High on ORAC
Rat studies are yielding even more support for high-ORAC diets. The animals live only about 2 1/2 years total, so it's possible to follow the effects of high-ORAC foods on the aging process.
Joseph and Shukitt-Hale have been testing extracts of strawberry and spinach, along with vitamin E, in the rodents. And some of their results wouldn't surprise Popeye. A daily dose of spinach extract prevented some loss of long-term memory and learning ability normally experienced by middle-aged rats. And spinach was the most potent in protecting different types of nerve cells in various parts of the brain against the effects of aging.
The researchers started 6-month-old rats on four feeding regimens. Two groups got diets fortified with either strawberry or spinach extract, one ate the diet containing an extra 500 international units of vitamin E, while a fourth got the unfortified diet. Shukitt-Hale, a behavioral psychologist, had already put a group of rats through their paces to determine when they begin to falter in memory and motor function. She says the animals start to lose motor function around 12 months and memory at 15 months; the latter is equivalent to a 45- to 50-year-old human.
When the study rats reached 15 months, she had them doing gymnastics—such as walking on rods and planks and trying to stay upright on a rotating rod—all tests of motor function. She also had these excellent swimmers paddle around a deep pool until, using visual cues, they found a submerged platform on which they could rest. With this test, she measures changes in long- and short-term memory.
"None of the diets prevented motor loss," says Shukitt-Hale. The 15-month-old rats performed like middle-aged animals whether they got the extra antioxidants or not. But the spinach-fed rats had significantly better long-term memory than the animals getting the control diet or the strawberry-fortified diet. They remembered how to find the hidden platform better over time, she says, showing they retained more of their learning ability. The vitamin E-fed rats were somewhat less protected against memory loss than the spinach group.
"That's significant," she notes. "It's really difficult to effect a change in behavior."
Where Aging May Reside
Joseph looks for age-related changes in brain cell function, focusing on an area of the brain that controls both motor and cognitive function—the neostriatum. As people and animals age, the cells become sluggish in responding to chemical stimulation, he says. For 15-month-old rats, the striatal cells have lost 40 percent of their ability to respond to such signals.
Not so in the animals whose diets were fortified with spinach or strawberry extracts or vitamin E. Their striatal cells performed significantly better than those of rats on the control diet—especially the rats getting the spinach extract. That group scored twice as high as the control animals in Joseph's test.
The spinach group also scored best among the fortified diets in a test of nerve cells in the cerebellum, a part of the brain that maintains balance and coordination. The test was done by Paula Bickford, a collaborating pharmacologist with the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver.
Why spinach is more effective than strawberries is still a mystery. The researchers conjecture that it may be due to specific phytonutrients or a specific combination of them in the greens. While this research is still in its infancy, says Joseph, "the findings, so far, suggest that nutritional intervention with fruits and vegetables may play an important role in preventing the long-term effects of oxidative stress on brain function."
Prior and Cao also have early evidence that these foods protect other tissues. Subjecting rats to pure oxygen for 2 days normally damages cells lining the tiniest blood vessels, or capillaries, causing them to become leaky.
As a result, fluid accumulates in the rats' pleural cavity—the space surrounding the lungs. But that was minimized when the animals were fed blueberry extract for 6 weeks before the oxygen stress. Of all the fruits and vegetables tested with ORAC, blueberries are one of highest in antioxidant capacity.
In human terms, says Prior, the animals got the equivalent of 3,000 ORAC units. "If we can show some relationship between ORAC intake and health outcome in people, I think we may reach a point where the ORAC value will become a new standard for good antioxidant protection." —By Judy McBride, Agricultural Research Service Information Staff.
This research is part of Human Nutrition Requirements, Food Composition, and Intake, an ARS National Program described on at http://www.nps.ar s.usda.gov/programs/107s2.htm.
Ronald L. Prior, James A. Joseph, Guohua Cao, and Barbara Shukitt-Hale are at the USDA-ARS Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, 711 Washington St., Boston, MA 02111; phone (617) 556-3310, fax (617) 556-3299.
"Can Foods Forestall Aging?" was published in the February 1999 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.
***************************************************************
And huge amounts of research has been done in the ten years since this report was first issued. At that time, no way,
using natural foods, or even manufactured supplements, could anyone approach the very high ORAC ratings now possible
with XOCAI healthy dark chocolate. As you check the numbers in the article above, remember the small 6 gram X Power
dark chocolate square has an ORAC value of 3,582. And in the recommended three-per-day dosage, the X Power squares
have an astounding 1,008 of Total Flavonoids. And those three squares equal about two pounds of raw spinach in ORAC
value.
As a journalist and investigative broadcast reporter for NBC Radio and other media, I had to learn how to digest lots
of data and boil it down to the essential. As I read over the Dept. of Agriculture report above, do you know the one
sentence that lept out at me? Read it again and see if you can guess.
Okay, here it is:
"If further research supports these early findings, millions of aging people may be able to guard against diseases or dementia simply by adding high-ORAC foods to their diets."
And to get totally unscientific here, and offer my own personal opinion (isn't that, after all, what Blogs are all about?).
Taking into account the voluminous amount of research currently underway on antioxidants, and all I learned about the early
research while writing my book, PSYCHOLOGICAL IMMORTALITY, I don't think I'm going too far out on the limb to suggest
that consuming this high dose of antioxidants on a daily basis could reverse the aging process to the extent that it might
add three to five healthy years to our lifespan. And that is a conservative estimate. Read the data yourself, Google "Healthy Dark Chocolate" or "Antioxidant" and decide for yourself. All of this may account for the puzzled look on my face the next time someone suggests to me that about $100 is "too expensive" for a month's supply of XOCAI healthy dark chocolate.
Jerry Gillies
And by the way, I am now putting together a team of leaders to prosper and have a lot of fun eating and sharing this
healthy dark chocolate--as well as report back to me any health benefits for my next book. For more information, contact
me at jerrygillies@gmail.com And you can see some great videos on the blog of my friend and upline partner,
Hope Kiah, at www.darkchocolatebenefits.net, and check out the Chocolate For Health section on the website of my
closest friend and upline sponsor, Susannah Lippman, at Alphasonics.com.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
A SOCIALLY SECURE EXPERIENCE
“My name is Marche, pronounced “mar-shay,” it’s French.” With that introduction, I knew I wasn’t facing a typical government worker/bureaucrat. She’s an imposing black woman (I’m sorry, that just seems more accurate than an imposing "African-American" woman..there’s a history, maybe just in white consciousness, of such figures in movies, sometimes, in bygone years, they would play the maid or housekeeper, but you knew they ran the whole operation and were a lot smarter and more competent than their employers—Queen Latifah or Oprah Winfrey would play the roles today--and I just reminded myself to talk about my early appearance on OPRAH in a future posting.)
I was broke and just out of prison, I desperately needed some kind of positive response about collecting Social Security benefits, and she immediately set my mind at ease with her calm, compassionate, and highly efficient presence. Her fingers flew over the keyboard of her computer as she talked to me in a way that left me awestruck, having been forcibly removed from the cyber world for twelve years, and she, or at least her nimble fingers, seemed superhuman.
I had several problems or obstacles. For one, I did not have the one document considered absolutely essential, a birth certificate. For all I knew, it was floating around somewhere in the labyrinth of the Folsom mail system. I had been trying to get a copy for over a year, with the help of several friends on the outside. It took literally months to find the right place to contact and get the right form to fill out. But my copy never came, and I was paroled. (it showed up weeks later, forwarded to my parole agent’s office from Folsom). But Marche tossed that problem aside as if were a gnat flying harmlessly around. She did the same with the fact that I didn’t have a driver’s license or California I.D. I had been told I needed one of the other. In fact, it is the one solitary thing the Department of Corrections pays for when an inmate paroles. So I had gone that first day of freedom to the DMV and applied. They took my picture and fingerprints and then told me it would take a couple of weeks. In what I now have to regard as “the good old days” before 9/11, you would get your I.D. or license a few minutes after getting your picture taken. So much for a more efficient era called the computer age.
None of this daunted Marche, who plowed through the red tape with her fingers on the keyboard, and told me I would be paid for the month of August, even though it was the end of that month, and would receive my first benefits check very shortly, in early September. She told what materials I would have to eventually get to her, like an address when I found a place to live, and a copy of that elusive birth certificate, and sent me merrily on my way.
And I really mean merrily. I don’t know if I have the descriptive skills to accurately convey what such an oasis in a mostly uncaring world feels like to an emerging ex-convict, being forced to live in a county where he doesn’t know a soul, without family or assets, and only the pair of pants and one shirt he paroled with. I was floating as freely as Marche’s fingers over that keyboard. She had not only made my day, she had reinforced my belief in the basic kindness of my fellow human beings, and the basic abundance of the universe I was now re-entering. I felt kinship with FDR, who invented Social Security, and whom my mother had worked for in several of his election campaigns. I even remembered how the first time I had ever seen her cry was the day he died. It was a very special moment, thanks to Marche, filled with hope and the awakening of new possibilities.
Flash forward a couple of months, and I am now very involved in my new life. Working on my literary agent’s suggestion that I submit a book proposal on the health benefits of one of my true passions, dark chocolate. And surprisingly involved in marketing a specific brand of such chocolate that appears to be the single healthiest and most nutritious product on the planet, and whose taste is described by a young friend as “The Bomb.” One of my goals is to enroll really strong leaders in this business with me, and assist them in becoming financially independent as well as a lot healthier, while having lots of fun eating and sharing dark chocolate. And I immediately thought of Marche, thinking to myself, “I wonder if she would possibly be interested, if she could use some extra income, or has any health issues, or—most importantly—loves dark chocolate.” I don’t know the answers yet, as I haven’t figured out how to approach her. Wait a minute, maybe I can send her a note and suggest she check out this posting..Aha!
Jerry Gillies
And if you want to find out why this company, MXI, is called "The Company With A Heart", contact me via e-mail
at jerrygillies@gmail.com This is a team operation, as such you can also check out the blog of Hope and Thom Kiah at
www.darkchocolatebenefits.net. And do any of this only if you love dark chocolate and like to have fun
earning a great income. If you prefer milk chocolate and are the serious type, don't bother, this isn't for you. We still
think you're a great person and wish you lots of luck, we just don't want to work with you.
I was broke and just out of prison, I desperately needed some kind of positive response about collecting Social Security benefits, and she immediately set my mind at ease with her calm, compassionate, and highly efficient presence. Her fingers flew over the keyboard of her computer as she talked to me in a way that left me awestruck, having been forcibly removed from the cyber world for twelve years, and she, or at least her nimble fingers, seemed superhuman.
I had several problems or obstacles. For one, I did not have the one document considered absolutely essential, a birth certificate. For all I knew, it was floating around somewhere in the labyrinth of the Folsom mail system. I had been trying to get a copy for over a year, with the help of several friends on the outside. It took literally months to find the right place to contact and get the right form to fill out. But my copy never came, and I was paroled. (it showed up weeks later, forwarded to my parole agent’s office from Folsom). But Marche tossed that problem aside as if were a gnat flying harmlessly around. She did the same with the fact that I didn’t have a driver’s license or California I.D. I had been told I needed one of the other. In fact, it is the one solitary thing the Department of Corrections pays for when an inmate paroles. So I had gone that first day of freedom to the DMV and applied. They took my picture and fingerprints and then told me it would take a couple of weeks. In what I now have to regard as “the good old days” before 9/11, you would get your I.D. or license a few minutes after getting your picture taken. So much for a more efficient era called the computer age.
None of this daunted Marche, who plowed through the red tape with her fingers on the keyboard, and told me I would be paid for the month of August, even though it was the end of that month, and would receive my first benefits check very shortly, in early September. She told what materials I would have to eventually get to her, like an address when I found a place to live, and a copy of that elusive birth certificate, and sent me merrily on my way.
And I really mean merrily. I don’t know if I have the descriptive skills to accurately convey what such an oasis in a mostly uncaring world feels like to an emerging ex-convict, being forced to live in a county where he doesn’t know a soul, without family or assets, and only the pair of pants and one shirt he paroled with. I was floating as freely as Marche’s fingers over that keyboard. She had not only made my day, she had reinforced my belief in the basic kindness of my fellow human beings, and the basic abundance of the universe I was now re-entering. I felt kinship with FDR, who invented Social Security, and whom my mother had worked for in several of his election campaigns. I even remembered how the first time I had ever seen her cry was the day he died. It was a very special moment, thanks to Marche, filled with hope and the awakening of new possibilities.
Flash forward a couple of months, and I am now very involved in my new life. Working on my literary agent’s suggestion that I submit a book proposal on the health benefits of one of my true passions, dark chocolate. And surprisingly involved in marketing a specific brand of such chocolate that appears to be the single healthiest and most nutritious product on the planet, and whose taste is described by a young friend as “The Bomb.” One of my goals is to enroll really strong leaders in this business with me, and assist them in becoming financially independent as well as a lot healthier, while having lots of fun eating and sharing dark chocolate. And I immediately thought of Marche, thinking to myself, “I wonder if she would possibly be interested, if she could use some extra income, or has any health issues, or—most importantly—loves dark chocolate.” I don’t know the answers yet, as I haven’t figured out how to approach her. Wait a minute, maybe I can send her a note and suggest she check out this posting..Aha!
Jerry Gillies
And if you want to find out why this company, MXI, is called "The Company With A Heart", contact me via e-mail
at jerrygillies@gmail.com This is a team operation, as such you can also check out the blog of Hope and Thom Kiah at
www.darkchocolatebenefits.net. And do any of this only if you love dark chocolate and like to have fun
earning a great income. If you prefer milk chocolate and are the serious type, don't bother, this isn't for you. We still
think you're a great person and wish you lots of luck, we just don't want to work with you.
Friday, December 19, 2008
IT WORKS IF YOU WORK IT!
O.K., I confess, I cannot resist checking out my book MONEYLOVE by Googling it. The first item this time led me to
Amazon.com and the following review by Wanda Christine:
By Wandachristine (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews
Last summer I found myself in a used book store in Los Angeles, as I was browsing on one of the shelves I found a tattered copy of Jerry Gillies book "Money-love....". Later that day I showed it to my girlfriend who quickly begged me to give it to her; but I told her that it was meant for me; but I would try to find another copy for her. Well I went home that night and started reading it and I could NOT put it down. I have read many prosperity books thoughout the years; but this one really made a difference and it still does to this day. When I started applying the techniques from the book my career changed and so did my finances and when I lost interest and focused on other things; my career went nowhere and my money became funny. So now I've picked my tattered copy back up again and I've applied myself this time; I mean I am "working it"! He gives a very simple diagramed plan on how to save for various pleasures and essentials. I made a diagram of his plan for myself when I first read the book; but I never really applied it; well a few weeks ago I went back and pulled that old diagram out and updated it and guess what IT'S WORKING! All I needed to do was to have patience, which is very hard for me. I want to see results and I want to see them right away and when I don't I stop. Not this time my plan is working. As soon as Amazon has some copies that show up on their website I will be buying one for my girlfriend. I will never give up my copy and you won't either once you've read and applied the principals in your own life. Like I said, "It works if you work it".
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I hope she doesn't think I'm stalking her, but curiosity led me to try WandaChristine.com, and it turns out she's a quite
stunning and accomplished actress. She's appeared on many TV shows, including one of the ones I really enjoyed when I was in prison, Judging Amy. She also wrote and performed in a one-woman show, I'M A WOMAN AND I'M BAD. How could anyone resist a title like that? So I went one step further and tried to e-mail her. So far, no response, but I've enjoyed the proactive approach, which is somewhat new for me.
In addition to my prison memoir, and my book on the healthy benefits of dark chocolate, I am working on a seventh
self-help book, THE GREAT ESCAPE: 12 Essential Freedoms From An Imprisoned Self-Help Author. In it, I will discuss and illustrate the techniques I've learned from some great mentors and taught and used to make a terrible experience--prison--a joyful, creative, triumphant segment in my life. One of the freedoms is THE FREEDOM TO DECIDE. What I discovered many years ago was that it is important to be able to make decisions, as quickly as is possible and appropriate to the situation.
And the success isn't necessarily tied to the results of that decision, but to the making of it. So it doesn't matter if WandaChristine gets in touch with me. My success and feeling good has to do with doing the deciding to reach out. If she does get back to me, that's an additional triumph, frosting on the cake so to speak. We need to separate the decisions we make from the results they produce, realizing they are two separate events. And making decisions is like exercising, instead of building muscle, it builds the decision-making parts of our brain.
WandaChristine's review speaks directly to this aspect of making decisions. She says that the concepts in MONEYLOVE worked until she lost interest and focused on other things. But she was able to decide to go back and try again, and it really worked for her this time. And understand this, it doesn't matter what the ideas contained in my book were, what is most important for WandaChristine's success was her willingness to make the decision to apply some new ideas to her life. You see, another truth about decision-making is that it is always about taking action. And the ability to take action in this way is a
success in and of itself, no matter how it turns out. You either learn by it turning out to be a mistake, or you learn by it being
a good decision that works for you. In other words, it works if you work it. But even if it doesn't work, your working it is
the real success story, and you have learned how to work it some more and better and faster.
Enjoy the process. Jerry Gillies
(if you'd like to find out more about the healthy dark chocolate business I am now working, and how I want to assemble a group of people to work it and have health, wealth, and a lot of fun doing so, contact me at: jerrygillies@gmail.com
and to get a sample of the kind of people I'm working with, check out Hope and Thom's blog at darkchocolatebenefits.net)
Amazon.com and the following review by Wanda Christine:
By Wandachristine (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews
Last summer I found myself in a used book store in Los Angeles, as I was browsing on one of the shelves I found a tattered copy of Jerry Gillies book "Money-love....". Later that day I showed it to my girlfriend who quickly begged me to give it to her; but I told her that it was meant for me; but I would try to find another copy for her. Well I went home that night and started reading it and I could NOT put it down. I have read many prosperity books thoughout the years; but this one really made a difference and it still does to this day. When I started applying the techniques from the book my career changed and so did my finances and when I lost interest and focused on other things; my career went nowhere and my money became funny. So now I've picked my tattered copy back up again and I've applied myself this time; I mean I am "working it"! He gives a very simple diagramed plan on how to save for various pleasures and essentials. I made a diagram of his plan for myself when I first read the book; but I never really applied it; well a few weeks ago I went back and pulled that old diagram out and updated it and guess what IT'S WORKING! All I needed to do was to have patience, which is very hard for me. I want to see results and I want to see them right away and when I don't I stop. Not this time my plan is working. As soon as Amazon has some copies that show up on their website I will be buying one for my girlfriend. I will never give up my copy and you won't either once you've read and applied the principals in your own life. Like I said, "It works if you work it".
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I hope she doesn't think I'm stalking her, but curiosity led me to try WandaChristine.com, and it turns out she's a quite
stunning and accomplished actress. She's appeared on many TV shows, including one of the ones I really enjoyed when I was in prison, Judging Amy. She also wrote and performed in a one-woman show, I'M A WOMAN AND I'M BAD. How could anyone resist a title like that? So I went one step further and tried to e-mail her. So far, no response, but I've enjoyed the proactive approach, which is somewhat new for me.
In addition to my prison memoir, and my book on the healthy benefits of dark chocolate, I am working on a seventh
self-help book, THE GREAT ESCAPE: 12 Essential Freedoms From An Imprisoned Self-Help Author. In it, I will discuss and illustrate the techniques I've learned from some great mentors and taught and used to make a terrible experience--prison--a joyful, creative, triumphant segment in my life. One of the freedoms is THE FREEDOM TO DECIDE. What I discovered many years ago was that it is important to be able to make decisions, as quickly as is possible and appropriate to the situation.
And the success isn't necessarily tied to the results of that decision, but to the making of it. So it doesn't matter if WandaChristine gets in touch with me. My success and feeling good has to do with doing the deciding to reach out. If she does get back to me, that's an additional triumph, frosting on the cake so to speak. We need to separate the decisions we make from the results they produce, realizing they are two separate events. And making decisions is like exercising, instead of building muscle, it builds the decision-making parts of our brain.
WandaChristine's review speaks directly to this aspect of making decisions. She says that the concepts in MONEYLOVE worked until she lost interest and focused on other things. But she was able to decide to go back and try again, and it really worked for her this time. And understand this, it doesn't matter what the ideas contained in my book were, what is most important for WandaChristine's success was her willingness to make the decision to apply some new ideas to her life. You see, another truth about decision-making is that it is always about taking action. And the ability to take action in this way is a
success in and of itself, no matter how it turns out. You either learn by it turning out to be a mistake, or you learn by it being
a good decision that works for you. In other words, it works if you work it. But even if it doesn't work, your working it is
the real success story, and you have learned how to work it some more and better and faster.
Enjoy the process. Jerry Gillies
(if you'd like to find out more about the healthy dark chocolate business I am now working, and how I want to assemble a group of people to work it and have health, wealth, and a lot of fun doing so, contact me at: jerrygillies@gmail.com
and to get a sample of the kind of people I'm working with, check out Hope and Thom's blog at darkchocolatebenefits.net)
Saturday, December 13, 2008
COMPLIMENTS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
If you just logged in for the first time and want to know the answer to the question: WHERE IN THE WORLD IS JERRY GILLIES? just click on the archived posting with that exact title. In the meantime, on with my life as an ex-convict and parolee.
One of the most debilitating, dehumanizing things about prison is that you almost never receive any positive feedback in the form of compliments or acknowledgements. No, "Good job mopping that floor, Gillies," or: "We really appreciate your not stabbing your cellmate." Seriously though, I kept going for twelve years because there were people out there who would write and say nice things about me and the impact my friendship, seminars, books, or tapes had on their lives. And from time to time someone would send me a quote of mine from this strange new thing called The Internet. Not much opportunity or space to have a Compliment Bulletin Board, one of the strategies I created wherein anytime someone pays you a nice
compliment that lifts your spirits, you ask them to put it in writing and put it up on your board. One of my favorite ones
came from Linda Gray, the actress who played J.R.s wife, Sue-Ellen on DALLAS. Afer someone gifted her with my affirmation series of cards, Seminar-In-A-Package, she wrote to me saying: "You have made a positive dent in my life!"
This coming from a beautiful actress reportedly making $60,000 a week and whom everyone said was a delightful, insightful, spiritually evolved person, was a blessing I will never forget. And when someone like Louise Hay or Alan Cohen would mention me or my book, MONEYLOVE, in one of their books, it reminded me of something positive and productive I had accomplished.
So here we come to the point of this rambling exposition. The other day, as I had done on several previous occasions since my release, I went online to Amazon.com and typed in my name. It showed my six books, but this time I did something differentlly. I had noticed before that there were a bunch of self-help books listed after mine and figured it was just a
marketing ploy by Amazon. But this time I looked more closely and found, to my amazement, that every one of the 38 books
listed, published between 1988 and 2008, quoted me or mentioned me in some positive way. Wow! I was stunned and couldn't even react for a few minutes. Then I was incredibly moved. Here, while I had been stuck in prison, people were writing books and acknowledging that I or my writings had somehow impressed them, so much so they felt the need to share this with their readers. And just to give you an idea of the eclectic collection of books and authors involved, here is that list, (which you are free to skip over if you find it completely uninteresting):
ACTS OF FAITH by Iyania Vanzant (1993)
MAKING A LIVING WITHOUT A JOB: Winning Ways for Creating Work That You Love by Barbara Winter (1993)
A DEEP BREATH OF LIFE: DAILY INSPIRATION FOR HEART-CENTERED LIVING by Alan Cohen (1996)
I HAD IT ALL THE TIME: When Self-Improvement Gives Way to Ectasy by Alan Cohen (1994)
THE HANDS-OFF MANAGER: How to Mentor People & Allow Them to be Successful by Steve Chandler and Duane Black (2007)
MIND MAGIC TECHNIQUES FOR TRANSFORMING YOUR LIFE by Marta Hiatt, Ph.D. (2001)
DARE TO WIN by Jack Canfield (1996)
SUNBEAMS: Sages, Saints and Lovers Celebrate the Human Heart by Sy Safransky (1993)
THE BACKDOOR GUIDE TO SHORT-TERM JOB ADVENTURES: Internships, Summer Jobs, Seasonal Work, Volunteer Vacations,
and Transitions Abroad by Michael Landes (2005)
LIVING THE LAW OF ATTRACTION: Real Stories of People Manifesting Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Rich German and
Robin Hoch (2008)
SECRETS OF SELF-EMPLOYMENT: Working From Home by Paul Edwards and Sarah Edwards (1996)
THE PRACTICAL DREAMSER'S HANDBOOK: FINDING THE TIME, MONEY, AND ENERGY TO LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT TO LIVE
by Paul Edwards and Sarah Edwards (2001)
HIKE YOUR OWN HIKE: 7 LIFE LESSONS FROM BACKPACKING ACROSS AMERICA (Wanderlearn) by Francis Tapon (2006)
FEEL THE FEAR AND DO IT ANYWAY by Susan Jeffers (1988)
CORAZON DE MUJER (HEART OF A WOMAN) Spanish Edition by Sheryl L. Roush (2008)
THE POWER OF RISK: How Intelligent Choices Will Make You Very Successful by Jim McCormick (2008)
INQUIRE WITHIN by Mary Engelbreit (2003)
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO SUCCEED AFTER COLLEGE by Gayle Kimball (1993)
THE SUBCONSCIOUS DIET by Hugh B. Sanders (2005)
FROM THE FILES OF A SEX THERAPIST: Bedroom Secrets Teach Keys to Success by Carole Altman (1998)
FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS GIFT BOOK: You Can If You Think You Can by Meiji Steward (2000)
DAILY RICHES: A Journal of Gratitude and Awareness by Jane Bluestein, Judy Lawrence and S. J. Sanchez (1998)
THE PROSPERITY AEROBICS by Cary Bayer and Margaret Tanzosh (2006)
THE TRADE-OFF: My Husband/Your Wife by Robert H. Rimmer (2000)
LIVING AT THE SPEED OF LIFE: Staying In Control In A World Gone Bonkers by Cher Holton (1999)
75 PRINCIPLES OF CONSCIOUS LEADERSHIP: Inspired Skills For 21st Century Business by Michael Shantz (2008)
BRINGING FORTH THE MAN: A Handbook For Single Moms Raising Teenage Boys by Richard V. Eastman (2006)
IGNITING THE SPIRIT AT WORK: Daily Reflections by Marilyn Mason (2001)
SUCCESS: Quotational Living by Wayne Klausing (2006)
DESIGN THE LIFE OF YOUR DREAMS: Using The Unique Energy of Each Month To Expand The Twelve Areas of
Your Life by Winnie Shows (2006)
HERE WE ARE AGAIN by Robert H. Rimmer (2001)
THE MONEY ADVENTURE by Egbert Sukop and Egbert Sukop (1998)
365 DAILY DOSES OF COURAGE: Inspiration To Help You Take Leaps In Your Life by Jim McCormick (2003)
AT THE HEART OF YOUR LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP: Love Deeply, Live Fully, and Grow Closer Together From
Near Or Far by Catherine Day (2002)
SECRETS OF THE WORLD'S TOP SALES PERFORMERS by Christine Harvey (1990)
A COLLECTION OF WISDOM by Rodney Ohebsion (2004)
MARKETING MASSAGE: How to Build Your Dream Practice by Monica Roseberry (2001)
VIRTUAL REFLECTIONS by Brenda K. Wiederhold (2004)
So many things come up when I look at the above list, like how some of these authors thought to include a quote from me, a mention of me or my work, or a recommendation to read one or more of my books, and yet they probably had no idea
that I was in prison. And they are still doing this now in 2008, when no one other than close friends has even heard from me in twelve years and all of my books are out-of-print. Another thought is that I'd really love to have all these books in a pile in front of me--maybe I'll go to the large main library in San Francisco and pull them all and cart them to a long table--what a mind-boggling trip that would be! And it all makes me realize how world-altering The Internet has become, since this list
couldn't or wouldn't have been compiled without it. I know this is an ego trip on my part, but I hope you'll allow me one once in a while--they've been few and far between in the past twelve years.
Jerry Gillies
If you want join me, and I mean directly join with me, in my next big thing, the healthy dark chocolate adventure,
contact me at jerrygillies@gmail.com
One of the most debilitating, dehumanizing things about prison is that you almost never receive any positive feedback in the form of compliments or acknowledgements. No, "Good job mopping that floor, Gillies," or: "We really appreciate your not stabbing your cellmate." Seriously though, I kept going for twelve years because there were people out there who would write and say nice things about me and the impact my friendship, seminars, books, or tapes had on their lives. And from time to time someone would send me a quote of mine from this strange new thing called The Internet. Not much opportunity or space to have a Compliment Bulletin Board, one of the strategies I created wherein anytime someone pays you a nice
compliment that lifts your spirits, you ask them to put it in writing and put it up on your board. One of my favorite ones
came from Linda Gray, the actress who played J.R.s wife, Sue-Ellen on DALLAS. Afer someone gifted her with my affirmation series of cards, Seminar-In-A-Package, she wrote to me saying: "You have made a positive dent in my life!"
This coming from a beautiful actress reportedly making $60,000 a week and whom everyone said was a delightful, insightful, spiritually evolved person, was a blessing I will never forget. And when someone like Louise Hay or Alan Cohen would mention me or my book, MONEYLOVE, in one of their books, it reminded me of something positive and productive I had accomplished.
So here we come to the point of this rambling exposition. The other day, as I had done on several previous occasions since my release, I went online to Amazon.com and typed in my name. It showed my six books, but this time I did something differentlly. I had noticed before that there were a bunch of self-help books listed after mine and figured it was just a
marketing ploy by Amazon. But this time I looked more closely and found, to my amazement, that every one of the 38 books
listed, published between 1988 and 2008, quoted me or mentioned me in some positive way. Wow! I was stunned and couldn't even react for a few minutes. Then I was incredibly moved. Here, while I had been stuck in prison, people were writing books and acknowledging that I or my writings had somehow impressed them, so much so they felt the need to share this with their readers. And just to give you an idea of the eclectic collection of books and authors involved, here is that list, (which you are free to skip over if you find it completely uninteresting):
ACTS OF FAITH by Iyania Vanzant (1993)
MAKING A LIVING WITHOUT A JOB: Winning Ways for Creating Work That You Love by Barbara Winter (1993)
A DEEP BREATH OF LIFE: DAILY INSPIRATION FOR HEART-CENTERED LIVING by Alan Cohen (1996)
I HAD IT ALL THE TIME: When Self-Improvement Gives Way to Ectasy by Alan Cohen (1994)
THE HANDS-OFF MANAGER: How to Mentor People & Allow Them to be Successful by Steve Chandler and Duane Black (2007)
MIND MAGIC TECHNIQUES FOR TRANSFORMING YOUR LIFE by Marta Hiatt, Ph.D. (2001)
DARE TO WIN by Jack Canfield (1996)
SUNBEAMS: Sages, Saints and Lovers Celebrate the Human Heart by Sy Safransky (1993)
THE BACKDOOR GUIDE TO SHORT-TERM JOB ADVENTURES: Internships, Summer Jobs, Seasonal Work, Volunteer Vacations,
and Transitions Abroad by Michael Landes (2005)
LIVING THE LAW OF ATTRACTION: Real Stories of People Manifesting Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Rich German and
Robin Hoch (2008)
SECRETS OF SELF-EMPLOYMENT: Working From Home by Paul Edwards and Sarah Edwards (1996)
THE PRACTICAL DREAMSER'S HANDBOOK: FINDING THE TIME, MONEY, AND ENERGY TO LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT TO LIVE
by Paul Edwards and Sarah Edwards (2001)
HIKE YOUR OWN HIKE: 7 LIFE LESSONS FROM BACKPACKING ACROSS AMERICA (Wanderlearn) by Francis Tapon (2006)
FEEL THE FEAR AND DO IT ANYWAY by Susan Jeffers (1988)
CORAZON DE MUJER (HEART OF A WOMAN) Spanish Edition by Sheryl L. Roush (2008)
THE POWER OF RISK: How Intelligent Choices Will Make You Very Successful by Jim McCormick (2008)
INQUIRE WITHIN by Mary Engelbreit (2003)
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO SUCCEED AFTER COLLEGE by Gayle Kimball (1993)
THE SUBCONSCIOUS DIET by Hugh B. Sanders (2005)
FROM THE FILES OF A SEX THERAPIST: Bedroom Secrets Teach Keys to Success by Carole Altman (1998)
FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS GIFT BOOK: You Can If You Think You Can by Meiji Steward (2000)
DAILY RICHES: A Journal of Gratitude and Awareness by Jane Bluestein, Judy Lawrence and S. J. Sanchez (1998)
THE PROSPERITY AEROBICS by Cary Bayer and Margaret Tanzosh (2006)
THE TRADE-OFF: My Husband/Your Wife by Robert H. Rimmer (2000)
LIVING AT THE SPEED OF LIFE: Staying In Control In A World Gone Bonkers by Cher Holton (1999)
75 PRINCIPLES OF CONSCIOUS LEADERSHIP: Inspired Skills For 21st Century Business by Michael Shantz (2008)
BRINGING FORTH THE MAN: A Handbook For Single Moms Raising Teenage Boys by Richard V. Eastman (2006)
IGNITING THE SPIRIT AT WORK: Daily Reflections by Marilyn Mason (2001)
SUCCESS: Quotational Living by Wayne Klausing (2006)
DESIGN THE LIFE OF YOUR DREAMS: Using The Unique Energy of Each Month To Expand The Twelve Areas of
Your Life by Winnie Shows (2006)
HERE WE ARE AGAIN by Robert H. Rimmer (2001)
THE MONEY ADVENTURE by Egbert Sukop and Egbert Sukop (1998)
365 DAILY DOSES OF COURAGE: Inspiration To Help You Take Leaps In Your Life by Jim McCormick (2003)
AT THE HEART OF YOUR LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP: Love Deeply, Live Fully, and Grow Closer Together From
Near Or Far by Catherine Day (2002)
SECRETS OF THE WORLD'S TOP SALES PERFORMERS by Christine Harvey (1990)
A COLLECTION OF WISDOM by Rodney Ohebsion (2004)
MARKETING MASSAGE: How to Build Your Dream Practice by Monica Roseberry (2001)
VIRTUAL REFLECTIONS by Brenda K. Wiederhold (2004)
So many things come up when I look at the above list, like how some of these authors thought to include a quote from me, a mention of me or my work, or a recommendation to read one or more of my books, and yet they probably had no idea
that I was in prison. And they are still doing this now in 2008, when no one other than close friends has even heard from me in twelve years and all of my books are out-of-print. Another thought is that I'd really love to have all these books in a pile in front of me--maybe I'll go to the large main library in San Francisco and pull them all and cart them to a long table--what a mind-boggling trip that would be! And it all makes me realize how world-altering The Internet has become, since this list
couldn't or wouldn't have been compiled without it. I know this is an ego trip on my part, but I hope you'll allow me one once in a while--they've been few and far between in the past twelve years.
Jerry Gillies
If you want join me, and I mean directly join with me, in my next big thing, the healthy dark chocolate adventure,
contact me at jerrygillies@gmail.com
Friday, December 12, 2008
THE LONG QUEST FOR LONGEVITY
Life is really amazing, sometimes downright unbelievable in the ways everything comes together or comes full circle.
Take antioxidants and longevity. I actually was one of the very first laymen to write about free radicals and how they could be countered by antioxidants. This came from the many prominent scientists I interviewed for my 1981 book, PSYCHOLOGICAL IMMORTALITY. This was about using your mind to extend your life, but the first third of the book was devoted to the science of longevity. My premise was that people were not going to be able to take advantage of the biological opportunities science would bring if they kept telling themselves they would be old at 65 and dead by 80.
Among the scientists I interviewed is one whose name prominently appears in some of the XOCAI literature.
The interesting thing, and maybe not surprising, is that many of these longevity researchers are still going strong almost thirty years later. Dr. Richard Cutler was, in 1980, doing his research at the Gerontology Research Center, which came\
under the jurisdiction of the National Institute on Aging. This is what I wrote in 1981:
"Free radicals is the term applied to a specific type of molecules. As Dr. Richard Cutler mentioned, free radicals are a by-product of the metabolism of oxygen. They are called free radicals because they are unattached and unstable fragments which zip around the body tissue, entering into reactions with other chemical compounds. These free radicals are thought to be responsible for a lot of so-called cellular garbage. Dr. Denham Harman of the University of Nebraska believes the critical factor in aging may be lipid peroxidation, which involves the formation of certain nonfunctional molecules when free radicals react with unsaturated fatty acids. This results in lipofuscin being produced, a fatty pigment which can take up over 30 percent of the cellular space, leading to an unstable and not very healthy situation. Dr. Harman contends that compounds called antioxidants, which inhibit free radical damage, may be able to slow the aging process. Studies have shown that high doses of antioxidants given to laboratory mice may protect them against cancer and certain aging processes. It apparently will be several years before any sort of antioxidant drugs will be available for humans in the high doses that seem necessary for results."
I can't even begin to imagine what I would have thought back in 1981 if someone had told me that approaching the second decade of the next millenium, I would be talking about and marketing those necessary high doses of antioxidants in the form of three small squares of exquisite-tasting dark chocolate. As I said, life is amazing. And let me clarify something here. I was not the prescient one, mentioning free radicals and antioxidants so many years ago. I hadn't heard of either before interviewing the longevity scientists. They were definitely ahead of their time, and probably still are. Just as those of us involved in sharing the healthy dark chocolate story are ahead of the wave that is surely coming, when everyone will wonder why they didn't know about and start taking this astoundingly delicious health food jam-packed with all the high doses of antioxidants any longevity scientist could ask for.
Jerry Gillies
(For more on this healthy dark chocolate and how you can get a taste and get
involved with my prosperity team, contact me at: jerrygillies@gmail.com)
Take antioxidants and longevity. I actually was one of the very first laymen to write about free radicals and how they could be countered by antioxidants. This came from the many prominent scientists I interviewed for my 1981 book, PSYCHOLOGICAL IMMORTALITY. This was about using your mind to extend your life, but the first third of the book was devoted to the science of longevity. My premise was that people were not going to be able to take advantage of the biological opportunities science would bring if they kept telling themselves they would be old at 65 and dead by 80.
Among the scientists I interviewed is one whose name prominently appears in some of the XOCAI literature.
The interesting thing, and maybe not surprising, is that many of these longevity researchers are still going strong almost thirty years later. Dr. Richard Cutler was, in 1980, doing his research at the Gerontology Research Center, which came\
under the jurisdiction of the National Institute on Aging. This is what I wrote in 1981:
"Free radicals is the term applied to a specific type of molecules. As Dr. Richard Cutler mentioned, free radicals are a by-product of the metabolism of oxygen. They are called free radicals because they are unattached and unstable fragments which zip around the body tissue, entering into reactions with other chemical compounds. These free radicals are thought to be responsible for a lot of so-called cellular garbage. Dr. Denham Harman of the University of Nebraska believes the critical factor in aging may be lipid peroxidation, which involves the formation of certain nonfunctional molecules when free radicals react with unsaturated fatty acids. This results in lipofuscin being produced, a fatty pigment which can take up over 30 percent of the cellular space, leading to an unstable and not very healthy situation. Dr. Harman contends that compounds called antioxidants, which inhibit free radical damage, may be able to slow the aging process. Studies have shown that high doses of antioxidants given to laboratory mice may protect them against cancer and certain aging processes. It apparently will be several years before any sort of antioxidant drugs will be available for humans in the high doses that seem necessary for results."
I can't even begin to imagine what I would have thought back in 1981 if someone had told me that approaching the second decade of the next millenium, I would be talking about and marketing those necessary high doses of antioxidants in the form of three small squares of exquisite-tasting dark chocolate. As I said, life is amazing. And let me clarify something here. I was not the prescient one, mentioning free radicals and antioxidants so many years ago. I hadn't heard of either before interviewing the longevity scientists. They were definitely ahead of their time, and probably still are. Just as those of us involved in sharing the healthy dark chocolate story are ahead of the wave that is surely coming, when everyone will wonder why they didn't know about and start taking this astoundingly delicious health food jam-packed with all the high doses of antioxidants any longevity scientist could ask for.
Jerry Gillies
(For more on this healthy dark chocolate and how you can get a taste and get
involved with my prosperity team, contact me at: jerrygillies@gmail.com)
XOCAI DARK CHOCOLATE--MIRACLE SUPERFOOD?
With so much hype in the world, so many false claims, so many expectations pumped up and then suddenly deflated, I have been reluctant to say much about the health benefits of this dark chocolate, XOCAI, I've found myself involved in talking about and marketing.
But when people you know tell you about their results and the results of people they know, it is hard to resist the possibility that this stuff may just be the healthiest health food ever to emerge, or should I say "re-emerge", since in its purest unheated, unprocessed form, it has to be pretty close to the stuff the Aztecs and Mayans worshipped in sacred ceremonies and only allowed their rulers to have.
I guess in terms of marketing, we're lucky it tastes so fantastic and that so many people love dark chocolate and want it just on those terms. We talk about it having this potent antioxidant content, where three of these small X Power dark chocolate squares are equal to almost two pounds of raw spinach, but it is still hard to imagine something that tastes so good is so good for us, until the stories start coming in. Like this one that was sent to my new friend Juliana, who
sponsored Hope, who sponsored my dear friend Susannah, who sponsored me. It's from an associate priest in the
Santa Fe Catholic church, Carol Calvert:
"Here is my testimonial so far:
I have been on the Xocai faithfully since 9/21. When I began my blood pressure was fairly high, often above 155 over 107. The other day it was 126 over 78, which to me was thrilling.. Other things I have personally noticed which are very interesting....mood elevation, more consistent energy, very rarely am I plagued with hot flashes, which BC (before chocolate) were a big annoyance, and a very interesting pain relieving quality. I woke up one night with a sore throat and had a square, it helped significantly. Yesterday morning, I had severe back pain, lower right radiating to the front, which was reminiscent of kidney stone type pain. I was waiting for a friend to come out of getting a colonoscopy so could not leave. I took a square and to my delight within a short time the pain subsided....It returned in the afternoon, and I took another square...the pain left again. A few hours later it returned and again I chased it away with chocolate!
Love,
CC"
In an earlier posting, I talked about taking lots of ephedra for weight loss and energy, back in the early 1990s, when it was legal and thought safe. And how it led to the behavior that got me sentenced to 12 years in prison. What I didn't mention was that it may also have had something to do with my diagnosis in prison of atrial fibrillation, which necessitated my being put on several medications. These include the very potent blood-thinning drug Warfarin. I once asked a prison doctor what would happen if I didn't take it. He said I could suddenly "stroke out." So I've been pretty faithfully taking my 5 milligrams a day.
Well, earlier this week, I went for my monthly blood test, and my doctor, Julia Yin Yin Myint (really! She's from Burma and seems very competent.) contacted me to let me know she wanted me to cut down on my Warfarin, down to 4 milligrams
a day. The test showed a positive change. I asked if increased antioxidant consumption could affect this, and her answer was that I should make sure I am taking consistant amounts of whatever I am taking. She had read some of the literature on dark chocolate and on the Acai berry. So now I am being a little more conscious of how much chocolate I am eating every day, wanting to keep it as consistant as possible. Perhaps this is just a small result compared to some of the ones others have reported, but its a beginning. And exciting to me, because I've wanted to get off Warfarin ever since I saw an episode of CSI where it was used to kill the victim.
And by the way, the example is often given that three small squares of the XOCAI X Power chocolate is equal in its
ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) rating to almost two pounds of raw spinach. No one is suggesting that we stop eating spinach. Frankly, I love the stuff and have since childhood, when my mother cooked it with sliced hard-boiled eggs.
One of my all-time favorites! I couldn't understand, watching the Popeye cartoons, why his friend, Wimpy, preferred hamburger (which I didn't like as a kid) to spinach, Popeye's miracle food. My longtime friend, Susannah, and new friend, Hope, both living in Sante Fe, actually went to the store and bought two pounds of raw spinach to take pictures of for
Hopes blog (check it out, lots of neat information at: www.darkchocolatebenefits.net) and it's a lot of spinach, eight full plates' worth. But I must admit when I saw it on the blog, all I could think of was how much I'd enjoy some cooked up with hard-boiled eggs! Though eight plates might be a bit much every day even for a spinach lover like me. And it cost Hope and Susannah over twelve dollars compared to $2.65 for the three X Power Squares.
Anyway, I don't know how much I'm going to talk to people about the health benefits. The literature is out there, and lots more will be coming out, especially when the University of Utah researchers finish their XOCAI-specific study. And I wouldn't want to build up hopes and expectations for people with serious medical problems, like high blood pressure and diabetes
(though diabetics love the fact this dark chocolate is safe for them to eat). My approach to people who have medical issues and want to try this new health food is to just start eating it on a regular basis and see what happens. Meanwhile, enjoy the taste, the sheer non-guilt-ridden joy of it.
And speaking of guilt, the most recent cartoon I wrote the caption for that was drawn by Ed Blais and sold to The Sun shows a judge speaking to a defendant at his trial: "I'm sorry, I can't accept a plea of Not-So-Guilty."
And if you want to check out the taste for yourself and explore not only the joy, but the income possibilities, do get
in touch with me as I build my healthy dark chocolate prosperity team. jerrygillies@gmail.com
Jerry Gillies
But when people you know tell you about their results and the results of people they know, it is hard to resist the possibility that this stuff may just be the healthiest health food ever to emerge, or should I say "re-emerge", since in its purest unheated, unprocessed form, it has to be pretty close to the stuff the Aztecs and Mayans worshipped in sacred ceremonies and only allowed their rulers to have.
I guess in terms of marketing, we're lucky it tastes so fantastic and that so many people love dark chocolate and want it just on those terms. We talk about it having this potent antioxidant content, where three of these small X Power dark chocolate squares are equal to almost two pounds of raw spinach, but it is still hard to imagine something that tastes so good is so good for us, until the stories start coming in. Like this one that was sent to my new friend Juliana, who
sponsored Hope, who sponsored my dear friend Susannah, who sponsored me. It's from an associate priest in the
Santa Fe Catholic church, Carol Calvert:
"Here is my testimonial so far:
I have been on the Xocai faithfully since 9/21. When I began my blood pressure was fairly high, often above 155 over 107. The other day it was 126 over 78, which to me was thrilling.. Other things I have personally noticed which are very interesting....mood elevation, more consistent energy, very rarely am I plagued with hot flashes, which BC (before chocolate) were a big annoyance, and a very interesting pain relieving quality. I woke up one night with a sore throat and had a square, it helped significantly. Yesterday morning, I had severe back pain, lower right radiating to the front, which was reminiscent of kidney stone type pain. I was waiting for a friend to come out of getting a colonoscopy so could not leave. I took a square and to my delight within a short time the pain subsided....It returned in the afternoon, and I took another square...the pain left again. A few hours later it returned and again I chased it away with chocolate!
Love,
CC"
In an earlier posting, I talked about taking lots of ephedra for weight loss and energy, back in the early 1990s, when it was legal and thought safe. And how it led to the behavior that got me sentenced to 12 years in prison. What I didn't mention was that it may also have had something to do with my diagnosis in prison of atrial fibrillation, which necessitated my being put on several medications. These include the very potent blood-thinning drug Warfarin. I once asked a prison doctor what would happen if I didn't take it. He said I could suddenly "stroke out." So I've been pretty faithfully taking my 5 milligrams a day.
Well, earlier this week, I went for my monthly blood test, and my doctor, Julia Yin Yin Myint (really! She's from Burma and seems very competent.) contacted me to let me know she wanted me to cut down on my Warfarin, down to 4 milligrams
a day. The test showed a positive change. I asked if increased antioxidant consumption could affect this, and her answer was that I should make sure I am taking consistant amounts of whatever I am taking. She had read some of the literature on dark chocolate and on the Acai berry. So now I am being a little more conscious of how much chocolate I am eating every day, wanting to keep it as consistant as possible. Perhaps this is just a small result compared to some of the ones others have reported, but its a beginning. And exciting to me, because I've wanted to get off Warfarin ever since I saw an episode of CSI where it was used to kill the victim.
And by the way, the example is often given that three small squares of the XOCAI X Power chocolate is equal in its
ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) rating to almost two pounds of raw spinach. No one is suggesting that we stop eating spinach. Frankly, I love the stuff and have since childhood, when my mother cooked it with sliced hard-boiled eggs.
One of my all-time favorites! I couldn't understand, watching the Popeye cartoons, why his friend, Wimpy, preferred hamburger (which I didn't like as a kid) to spinach, Popeye's miracle food. My longtime friend, Susannah, and new friend, Hope, both living in Sante Fe, actually went to the store and bought two pounds of raw spinach to take pictures of for
Hopes blog (check it out, lots of neat information at: www.darkchocolatebenefits.net) and it's a lot of spinach, eight full plates' worth. But I must admit when I saw it on the blog, all I could think of was how much I'd enjoy some cooked up with hard-boiled eggs! Though eight plates might be a bit much every day even for a spinach lover like me. And it cost Hope and Susannah over twelve dollars compared to $2.65 for the three X Power Squares.
Anyway, I don't know how much I'm going to talk to people about the health benefits. The literature is out there, and lots more will be coming out, especially when the University of Utah researchers finish their XOCAI-specific study. And I wouldn't want to build up hopes and expectations for people with serious medical problems, like high blood pressure and diabetes
(though diabetics love the fact this dark chocolate is safe for them to eat). My approach to people who have medical issues and want to try this new health food is to just start eating it on a regular basis and see what happens. Meanwhile, enjoy the taste, the sheer non-guilt-ridden joy of it.
And speaking of guilt, the most recent cartoon I wrote the caption for that was drawn by Ed Blais and sold to The Sun shows a judge speaking to a defendant at his trial: "I'm sorry, I can't accept a plea of Not-So-Guilty."
And if you want to check out the taste for yourself and explore not only the joy, but the income possibilities, do get
in touch with me as I build my healthy dark chocolate prosperity team. jerrygillies@gmail.com
Jerry Gillies
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