Dr. Gabriel Cousens is one of the world's foremost authorities
on living food nutrition, holistic lifestyle and complementary
medicine. He is Founder/director of the Tree of Life Rejuvenation
Center in Patagonia, Arizona. He received his M.D. degree
from Columbia Medical School in 1969 and completed his psychiatry
residency in 1973. He was the Chief Mental Health Consultant
for the Sonoma County Operation Head Start and a consultant
for the California State Department of Mental Health.
Dr. Cousens is a holistic medical doctor, a psychiatrist and
family therapist, and a licensed homeopathic physician in the
state of Arizona. He uses the modalities of live-food nutrition,
naturopathy, Ayurveda, homeopathy and acupuncture, blended with
spiritual awareness, in the healing of body, mind and spirit.
A best-selling author of Conscious Eating, Depression-Free for
Life, Spiritual Nutrition and the Rainbow Diet as well as several
other books. The following interview is based on
a film shoot that took place on February 1, 2000 at Dr. Cousen's
Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center in Patagonia, Arizona. The
interview was conducted by Eliot Jay Rosen, Los Angeles Times
best-selling author of the book, Experiencing the Soul.
Eliot Jay Rosen - Before we talk about E3Live ™, please
tell us a little about this beautiful sanctuary in southern
Arizona?
Dr. Gabriel Cousens - The purpose of the Tree
of Life Rejuvenation Center is to support the experience of
complete rejuvenation, to offer people a "menu of awakened
living," to become fully liberated from all limitations
so that they can live their lives fully and experience their
birthright of the sacred joy of living.
We focus on helping people absorb more of the vital forces
of nature through living food, sunlight, fresh air, clean
water, meditation, yoga and other practices. We encourage
people, whatever their orientation, to go inside and get in
touch with the part of their eternal self, so they can regenerate
from that point of enhanced awareness. That's our function
and that's our focus here.
Eliot Jay Rosen - You mentioned the term, "living
foods." Could you give a brief definition of what living
foods are?
Dr. Gabriel Cousens - Living foods are foods
that have not been altered by any particular process that
negatively changes its biochemical structure and energetic
charge in any way. Living foods are not subjected to heat.
They are uncooked and nothing essential is removed from the
food by way of processing. Living foods are truly whole foods
in that they still have their life-force intact. The best
living foods are organically grown because the full complement
of nutrients in the soil are essential to our health. As our
health depends to a great degree on the quality of the foods
we eat, eating as much living foods as feels right to the
body, is the direction we want to go.
Eliot Jay Rosen - As far as I know, you've been eating
and recommending Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (AFA), the cyanophyta
(nutritional algae) that grows in Klamath Lake, longer than
any other medical doctor in the world, almost 20 years, which
in my book, makes you an expert.
Dr. Gabriel Cousens - That's true. However, I
want to make clear from the very outset that throughout that
time, my commitment has been, and still is, only to the highest
quality AFA and not to any company. I have no affiliation
or financial interest in the company that is behind E3Live
™. In this way, I can have the cleanest, most scientific approach.
I can switch to better products and not compromise my integrity
when it comes to recommending what is best for my clients.
I've shared AFA with thousands of my clients throughout the
years. The reason I'm speaking with you today is because I've
experienced that E3Live ™ is a qualitative leap compared to
the other AFA coming out of Klamath Lake.
Eliot Jay Rosen - In the most general way, why is nutrition
so important to our health?
Dr. Gabriel Cousens - Nutrition is so vital to
health because eating is our main way of getting energy, besides
breathing and increasing our spiritual connection which fills
us with life-force. When we put nutrients in our body, we
are taking in a gift from God. We're taking in a gift from
the living planet. The sad thing is that most of the members
of our society don't eat naturally, and we have a consequent
degeneration physically, mentally, morally, AND spiritually.
People are mistaken if they think that you can pop a vitamin
or eat junk food and that's enough to keep healthy AND ALIVE.
When you take natural, live, organic, whole foods into the
body, foods that do not have pesticides and herbicides, it
makes a huge, huge difference in the quality of life, in the
quality of energy, in the quality of health. Eating a poor
diet is like taking a car and putting diluted or impure gasoline
into it and thinking that the car is going run the same as
if you put in premium grade. And when the car breaks down
because it's not getting the right fuel, some people, even
traditional medical doctors, still don't get the connection.
Superior nutrition specifically enhances our ability to excel
as human beings physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
Poor nutrition contributes to what I call a "biologically
altered brain" in which we function at an inferior level.
The result is increased drug addiction, alcoholism, increased
hyperactivity, increased attention deficit disorders, and
depression.
Do you know that there are 40 million people in the U.S. who
are clinically depressed? The above conditions are all as
a result of the biologically altered brain which comes as
result of poor nutrition and which is amplified by poor genetics.
E3Live ™ is specific for our nervous system, brain function
and the quality of our consciousness. E3Live ™ is specific
food for drug addiction, alcoholism, increased hyperactivity,
increased attention deficit disorders, and depression. More
than any other food, it enables us to make a paradigm shift
and enjoy a sense of well-being. There's a quality of joy
that's really subtle that many people experience with E3Live
™.
Eliot Jay Rosen - Perhaps when some people hear the
words "algae" and "food" in the same sentence,
it may be a new concept for them to think that certain cyanophyta
(algae), such as AFA are edible.
Dr. Gabriel Cousens - Not only are certain algae
edible, but they are truly superfoods. Algae has been eaten
by indigenous people for thousands of years. I don't know
if they are still working on the project, but the U.S. space
program, NASA, was at one time developing food growing systems
in space that used algae as a staple protein source. Today
more than ever, algae is thought of as a wholesome food in
wider and wider circles. It's not thought to be so unusual
anymore.
Eliot Jay Rosen - How does E3Live ™ compare to store
bought vitamins and minerals?
Dr. Gabriel Cousens - I don't see E3Live ™ as
a collection of vitamins and minerals. In nature, there are
certain energies that were given to us by God to use for our
human development. For instance, the herb milk thistle has
an affinity to the liver. Siberian ginseng is a specific for
the adrenals, etc.
In the same way, E3Live ™ has a unique energy that has an
affinity to improving brain function. We now have clinical
research showing AFA balances EEG readings and improves central
nervous system functioning. So I don't like to equate AFA
as just being a good source of certain vitamins and minerals.
Sure, it has the most reliable and plentiful amounts of B-12
than any other non-animal food I know, but this in itself
is just an added bonus to the gift that AFA really is in the
grand scheme of God's creation. But I think this algae is
so much more than that. To compare it to man-made supplements
is to minimize the value of AFA. And now that AFA is available
in its liquid, live form, this for me is really the exciting
part.
Eliot Jay Rosen - You were one of the first physicians
to recommend E3Live ™ frozen liquid even though you were already
using the powdered version of the same species of AFA?
Dr. Gabriel Cousens - That's correct. I'd been
eating AFA from Klamath Lake since 1982. I happened to be
at a Live Food Expo in San Francisco where I met the developers
of E3Live ™. My first experience with E3Live ™ was quite dramatic
and wonderful. I felt the difference immediately. I felt such
a paradigm shift compared to the other AFA I'd been using,
that I am now recommending E3Live ™ to my clients, and the
response has been wonderful for so many different health concerns.
Eliot Jay Rosen - Will people still benefit from using
E3Live ™ even though they may not want to improve their diet,
even if they know there is a better diet?
Dr. Gabriel Cousens - Yes, absolutely. E3Live
™ is going to help you whether or not you improve your diet.
Obviously, to get the most positive changes, you,ll want to
improve your diet and lifestyle. Yet there are many people
who just want something to make them feel better. That's OK
too. And yes, these people will also benefit. I wouldn't want
people to think that to take E3Live ™ one also has to adopt
an unfamiliar lifestyle or have to do things that are not
comfortable for them. Everybody has a choice as to what they
want to do, or not do. However, what seems to happen is that
when you begin using E3Live ™, you begin to feel a greater
sense of well-being, then you naturally start to get interested
in making improvements simply because you feel better.
Dr. Gabriel Cousens - I've had excellent results
using the algae with children who've been autistic. One of
the main characteristics of autism is the absence of verbal
talking. These children only make grunting and other such
noises. I remember one child case that began to talk in only
one month after beginning using the AFA. Unfortunately, if
you can believe this, the mother really didn't want the child
to talk. She started complaining the child was talking too
much, and made some excuse to stop giving the AFA to the child,
which is very sad when you think about it.
Eliot Jay Rosen - As a psychiatrist, do you sometimes
use more traditional treatments for depression such as Prozac®?
Dr. Gabriel Cousens - I've had people who've
been depressed for years and years, and literally, within
a few days after receiving AFA, their depression lifts. This
is because the AFA gets to the root of helping heal the addictive
brain chemistry which is behind a lot of depression. I discuss
this at length in my new book, Depression Free For Life.
People do not have a Prozac® deficiency. This approach doesn't
get to the root of the problem. My depression healing rate
using natural foods, including E3Live ™, nutritional supplements
and basic lifestyle changes, without the necessity of using
any pharmaceutical drugs, Prozac® or anything like that, is
over 90%. No drug can compete with that, period.
Eliot Jay Rosen - What about E3Live ™ and meditation?
It would seem to me if E3Live ™ is good for mental clarity
it might actually help people improve their focus in meditation.
Dr. Gabriel Cousens - In my first book, Spiritual
Nutrition and the Rainbow Diet, I was very focused on what
is the best diet for meditators. I found that an uncooked
live food diet is best, not that one cannot make spiritual
progress without it, just that the living food diet is extremely
helpful. Along with this I found that AFA was specific for
meditation. And now, with the new liquid form of AFA - "E3Live
™" its positive effect is even more pronounced. So yes,
I find that E3Live ™ is a specific food for enhancing one's
ability to focus in meditation. E3Live ™ helps keeps the mind
clear, light and joyful.
Eliot Jay Rosen - Could you compare the energetic and
nutritional differences between E3 AFA and say, Spirulina,
or Chlorella.
Dr. Gabriel Cousens - For those who know about
nutritional edible algae, there's a tendency to want to compare
algae in a competitive way. But this isn't the way I look
at it. Each of these algae have their proper roles. Chlorella
is very specific for getting mercury out of the system. Spirulina
is very good for hepatitis. Although Chlorella or Spirulina
may help mental functioning a little bit, it's nowhere near
the effect that AFA has on mental functioning. So Spirulina
works more on the physical body, and E3Live's ™ real gift
to humanity is that it works more on the mental, emotional
and spiritual levels, yet, still has tremendous effects physically,
as I've been mentioning. But it's the mental functioning where
people really feel the difference.
Eliot Jay Rosen - What about E3Live ™ and the immune
system?
Dr. Gabriel Cousens - A recent study showed that
AFA activates up to 40% more of the immune system's beneficial
natural killer cells. Natural killer cells hunt out viruses
and bacteria, even seeking them out deep in the body's tissues.
One of the nice things about AFA is something I've intuitively
known since 1982; it significantly enhances the immune system.
If I feel any kind of viral imbalance coming on, I take E3Live
and it always takes it away. I also use E3Live for my clients,
not only to get rid of symptoms of disease, but as a preventative
measure. I've actually known of two or three cases where people
took the AFA and healed their cancer. This is not to say that
AFA is the primary immune stimulant to use above any other
to fight cancer, but that this algae has some anti-cancer
qualities. Scientists already know that AFA has some anti-HIV
effects, but we need to do a lot more research in these areas.
Eliot Jay Rosen - Have you had any clients that have
responded to using E3Live ™ for weight loss and appetite control?
Dr. Gabriel Cousens - Yes, I have, but let me say that
in my practice, I don't focus on these issues in particular.
What I find is that when I help people improve their nutritional
intake, especially in the direction of a living food diet,
they naturally gravitate back to their natural, normal and
healthiest weight. Appetite control becomes much less of an
issue with most people because when people's bodies and brains
are well-nourished, when they self-regulate and normalize,
they no longer feel depressed and so they don't need to eat
compulsively as a result of depression. As E3Live balances
blood sugar levels, people are not eating to compensate for
low blood sugar.
Eliot Jay Rosen - Have you used E3Live ™ successfully
with alcohol and drug problems?
Dr. Gabriel Cousens - Yes. E3Live is an essential
part of my treatment program. Almost everyone I see, I put
on E3Live because it helps with the underlying depression
and helps heal the biologically altered, addictive brain aspects
behind these destructive behaviors. I believe E3 Live is God's
gift for people with a biologically altered brain because
of poor diet and poor genetics. These people suffer a lot
in this world. One way they cope with the suffering is alcoholism
and drugs. There are obviously better, less destructive ways
to cope.
In alcoholism and drug addiction, we find subtle and not so
subtle changes in brain chemistry and brain waves. In many
of these people, the pleasure centers of their brains, the
dopamine receptors, are not working correctly. We find that
by using E3Live along with other dietary changes and specific
amino acid supplementation, we can normalize the electroencephalogram
(EEG) readings and balance the central nervous system at the
root of the disorder.
For example, if someone's brain function is off, not dramatically
in the sense they are having epileptic seizures, but "sub-clinically"
and out of balance, their EEG isn't really quite right, and
we can normalize it with E3Live ™, proper nutrition and other
supplements. E3Live helps people eliminate the craving for
alcohol and drugs in part because blood sugar levels are being
normalized and the brain is also functioning better.
There's another hidden aspect in all this that very few people
know about. The hypothalamus is a vitally important gland
of the endocrine system. It is often not functioning properly
in drug addiction and alcoholism. It's very hard to heal the
endocrine system, which is almost always out of balance in
drug and alcohol addicted individuals. It turns out that E3Live
is the only vegetarian source I know that brings hypothalamic
function back to normal.
So as you can see, I'm particularly excited about E3Live ™.
It is clearly the best of all the algae on the market right
now for healing and bringing the hypothalamus back into normal
function.
Eliot Jay Rosen - Because E3Live ™ is perishable, it
has to be frozen. Is there a difference between freezing vegetables
and fruits and freezing AFA in terms of its maintaining its
nutritional and energetic properties?
Dr. Gabriel Cousens - This species of cyanophyta
is genetically prepared for extreme alterations in temperature.
In winter, parts of Klamath Lake freeze over, including the
live AFA growing in the water. But when the weather warms
up, the AFA comes out of its frozen dormancy phase and resumes
its active growth cycle. Its genetic structure protects it
from the effects of the cold, which is unlike fruits and vegetables,
which are destroyed in frost. This is because AFA is high
in lipids and Highly Un-saturated Fatty Acids (HUFA), which
protect it from crystallizing in low temperature conditions.
Bee pollen works the same way, you can freeze it and you don't
damage the nutritional value. So the good news about this
is that the AFA is significantly protected against the effects
of freezing.
Eliot Jay Rosen - The term "adaptogen," usually
refers to an herb which has many different ways of working
in the body. Could we apply this term to a food such as E3Live
™, as it's been reported to be effective for many different
health conditions?
Dr. Gabriel Cousens - Yes, I think it is very
appropriate to use the term "adaptogen" in connection
with E3Live ™. It's both a physical adaptogen as well as a
mental adaptogen. In my own life, sometimes I have to speak
for an entire day at conferences. I take E3Live as sort of
a mental adaptogen for the stress of putting out so much energy.
AFA is also a physical adaptogen in that it increases physical
energy. There are world-class athletes who eat E3Live because
they feel it gives them a "competitive edge."
Eliot Jay Rosen - Dr. Cousens, you've been incredibly
generous with your time. Do you have any last words for us
today?
Dr. Gabriel Cousens - The essence of my message
is this: it doesn't matter what our chronological age is,
we can be youthful at any age. But more important than staying
youthful is to understand that one-sided physical health will
never give us the lasting happiness and love we seek. We want
to draw into our lives anything and anyone that nourishes
supports and enhances our spiritual and overall growth. Life
is a great blessing. Health is a great blessing. True gifts
of God are a great blessing, and worthy of any effort or expense.
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