"All that mankind needs for good health and healing is provided in nature ...

the challenge to science is to find it."

Paracelsus, the father of Phamacology

At Acorn to Oak our focus in helping people to attain optimum health and wellbeing is on all levels: spiritual, emotional, mental - and physical. We also know that given the right tools the body has an amazing capacity to heal itself. The basis of good physical health is nutrition - the food that we eat. We are encouraged to eat a varied diet, including plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. Unfortunately, however, many studies are showing that over the last 50-60 years the nutritional value of our food has declined significantly and the nutrients that we once were able to rely on are simply not there in sufficient quantities. An example of this is that in 1950 a woman could get her daily allowance of Vitamin A by eating 2 peaches - today that same woman would have to eat 53 peaches in order to get that quantity of Vitamin A! It is hard enough to imagine eating 53 peaches in one month, let alone in one day. The cost and quantity is simply prohibitive - and the number of calories consumed in order to get the nutrients is enormous. Read more ...

Healthy Cells = Healthy Bodies

The building blocks of our physical bodies are our cells. Cells need support and nourishment to be healthy and to function correctly. It is widely known that we need a variety of essential nutrients to provide this support and nourishment - in fact we need 26 vitamins, 72 trace minerals, numerous fatty acids and amino acids. We also need anti-oxidants to protect our cells from free radical attack - these are toxic elements which cause cells to deteriorate and have been linked to a number of disease processes, as well as premature aging. Our endocrine system needs support in order to maintain what is called homeostasis - the perfect state of hormonal balance - and for this our cells need a number of phytosterols (pre-cursors to hormone production which are found in plants). However, in addition to this nutritional support new information is now available about a radically different type of food supplement.

There is a growing awareness of the science behind a class of nutritional supplements called glyconutrients. Glyconutrients are also known as simple sugars, monosaccharides or carbohydrates. Research into cellular health over the last 20-25 years has shown that there are 8 essential sugars - or glyconutrients - which we all need to support our physical health at the cellular level. Their specific function is to combine with fats and proteins within the cells to form structures known as glycoforms which coat the surface of all cells. The function of glycoforms is to enable cells to (a) identify themselves, (b) recognise other cells and (c) communicate with other cells - and systems - of the body. The more of these tree-like structures coating the cells, the better the communication, the more efficient all our systems function - and the better our health. Read more ...

Acorn to Oak offer free talks on the science behind and the benefits of glyconutrient supplementation. Please see the Diary of Events for information about scheduled talks.

Intensive Farming Methods & a Toxic Planet ...

Modern, intensive farming methods have led to soil depletion, which means that the plants frown on that soil are not taking up the quantity of vitamins and minerals which are needed for optimum health.  Data published by the then Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries & Food (now DEFRA) in 1991 showed five decades of mineral depletion in our food (1940-1991) - giving, amongst others, examples of broccoli - 75% loss of calcium; carrots 75% loss of magnesium; spinach 60% loss of iron.  Bearing in mind that these measurements were on raw vegetables, there is even greater loss during cooking or processing.

Another factor influencing food quality and nutrient availability is the fact that most of our produce is harvested "green".  The process of ripening is crucial to the development of many nutrients in the plant.  A good example of this is lycopene in tomatoes.  The red colour of tomatoes is due to the presence of lycopene - a nutrient which is vital to eye health, deficiencies are linked to macular degeneration, and testicular health and the prevention of testicular cancer.  Green tomatoes do not contain lycopene.  Fruits and vegetables picked green are then gassed to artificially ripen them - this gassing does not aid the development of nutrients and may be toxic or detrimental to health.  We might joke that our fruit and vegetables have more airmiles than we do - but it is often the case that by the time produce reaches our fridge, it may be six months old and have travelled half way round the world to get there.

We live on an increasingly polluted and toxic planet which means that it is nigh on impossible to avoid chemical pollution.  Unfortunately even organic produce is affected by pollution - although generally the less intensive farming methods, crop rotation, lack of artificial hormones and fertilizers does mean that the quality of organic food is greater and the bioavailability of nutrients.

The Importance of Glyconutrients

Effective cellular communication is vital to health because if cells are unable to identify themselves and each other, what happens is one of a number of things.  Put simply a healthy cell may not recognise an unhealthy cell, bacteria or virus and allow it to proliferate, instead of mustering up the correct response by white blood cells and macrophages to destroy the unfriendly cell.  This leads to an overgrowth of toxic cells.  Conversely, healthy cells may not recognise other healthy cells and destroy them - this is the basis of auto-immune diseases.  It is an alarming fact that there have been around 80 new auto-immune diseases identified in the past 40 years.

For more information on this subject, please see "What are Glyconutrients" 

Or if you would like to start eating these nutrients to improve your general level of health, go to the Foundation site and check them out for yourself.  This site is hosted by one of the long-term members of Acorn to Oak, Kathleen Richards.  Any comission earned goes directly to Acorn to Oak Foundation and Anction Andrea