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In his Guest Editor letter to our readers,
Canadian nutritionist Udo Erasmus talks about life,
and how to know if we are living up to its potential.
The LIFECO ARTICLES Index

Natural health expert Udo Erasmus reflects on
floral scent as an expression of health,
finding knowledge through meditation,
and one of his many passions: macro photography.
A rainbow. I like it especially when broken through a water drop. If I move around the drop, I can see each color in its purest form, in sequence from the deepest red to the most regal violet. It’s pure brilliance.
Health has many aspects, and the colors of the rainbow reflects them all.
The richness of gardenias, the freshness of lilacs, the muted dampness of roses, the calm of lavender, the sweetness of jasmine. The fragrances of nature are the scents of health.
 I sleep until I wake up naturally. I spend an hour finding and re-connecting to the feeling of life in my core. I breathe the feeling of gratitude for the gift of life. Then I get up.
The sun is shining after a night’s rain. The air is fresh, clean, and crisp on a spring morning. There are water drops on the plants, and I get to take macro photographs of the beauty of buds, leaves, and flowers.
Drinking tea or water (without ice) in a café garden under a huge tree, with the light breaking through the leaves, and a soft breeze carrying the scent of coffee (which I don’t drink).
A gathering of people - adults and children - over dinner, each bringing something, preparing the food together, and eating together outdoors. After dinner, heart-to-heart conversation and dialogue as the light fades, talking into the night without turning on the lights. Candles would be okay.
Now. It’s a matter of maturity and discipline. I am mature (old) enough to understand the nature of health and the nature of the world. I am disciplined enough to make choices for health without feeling that I should do what others do without offending them.
I define health as wholeness. Wholeness is not physical. In fact, wholeness is a feeling embedded in life that is not affected by our physical condition, the condition of the planet, or our thoughts, beliefs, emotions, cultures, religions, political systems, and other social parameters. The feeling of wholeness is beyond and more basic than body, mind, emotion, social group, and environment. Wholeness translates to physical, mental, emotional, social, and environmental principles and components.
Energy healing, Reiki, massage, reflexology, and others that involve loving touch. I love them all.
 Egg. There’s a whole chicken in there: beak, feathers, brain, eyeballs, bones, muscles, inner organs, glands, and everything. They’re not visible, but they’re there. We don’t even have to add water to get a chicken out of an egg. We just have to add warmth.
Yeast is the plant protein most closely fulfilling our protein needs. Yeast can be grown with high levels of minerals and vitamins.
The right kinds of seeds and nuts, containing the right kinds of essential fatty acids (these days, especially omega 3s that are too low in the foods eaten by most people) are also superfoods.
Knowledge—the know-how to bring my awareness inside and what I come to know when I do that.
Peace is the only cure for stress. Cold showers and intense physical activity provide short-term relief.
Deep breathing and a mind not filled with things I should have done but didn’t do.
I stopped eating fried foods and using processed oils. I had arthritis in my knees at 38 years old. Now, at 66, my joints are completely free of inflammation except when I injure them by careless physical activities.
My biggest health-related challenge is to find larger audiences who want to master all [six aspects of] health.
The LIFECO ARTICLES Index
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