The angels have some strong opinions about how to take care of our bodies. For some time, I assumed that heaven focused solely on our spirits. I was surprised the first time I received dietary advice from angels, and actually thought I had misunderstood them. So I asked for the advice repeatedly, and kept getting the same food-related answers.

Those who follow the angels' advice find the experience quite different from going on a diet. Whereas a diet creates feelings of deprivation and hunger, people who follow the angels' dietary guidance usually don't have cravings. Many of my clients lose weight after the angels help them let go of foods and other substances. So my angel readings are becoming known as a weight-loss method among certain populations!

As I was an eating disorder therapist for many years, I've studied and written about food cravings. My books include Constant Craving, The Yo-Yo Diet Syndrome, and Losing Your Pounds of Pain. I've always used a positive and spiritual approach to healing food addictions.

Yet, I've discovered some even more exciting news about food cravings. Many of my clients and students report receiving Divine prescriptions to give up processed foods and beverages. They know, deep down, that they feel guided to eat lighter and healthier diets Some people tell me that they can no longer tolerate ingesting substances such as red meat, sugar, or caffeine.

The good news is that, when we follow our Divine guidance to alter our diet, we simultaneously lose our food cravings. For example, a student of mine named Sharon was guided to stop drinking alcohol. As soon as she committed to following this guidance, her cravings for wine subsided.

I've also found that setting our intentions in the morning regarding appetite really works well. In the morning during your meditation period (which we benefit from doing daily for at least five minutes), affirm with conviction, "My appetite is balanced and low in a healthy way today. I crave only healthful foods that are blessings to my overall well-being." The balance of the day, this intention sets your course. You'll find that you crave salads, fresh fruits, and whole grains. You'll get full quicker and desire junk foods less.

My own guidance has led me to eat an organic vegan (no animal products) diet. I no longer eat chocolate or drink caffeinated beverages. The miracle, though, is that I don't crave these substances at all. If I truly wanted to eat a piece of chicken or a candy bar, I would do so. But I don't want them, so without cravings, there are no feelings of deprivation associated with diets.

Just as our spiritual growth affects our relationships with people, so does it involve our diet. The spiritual path creates a more positive outlook about ourselves and life. This uplifted attitude makes us feel lighter and freer emotionally and physically.

Yet, no matter how much we work on ourselves spiritually, our diet also plays a significant role in how we feel. A heavy, chemical-laded diet can make the lightest spirit feel heavy. On the other hand, certain other types of meals can rapidly boost someone's spirit, mind, and heart. Many spiritually minded people receive intuitive messages to delete certain foods or beverages from their diet. Other people on the spiritual path lose their tolerance for low-frequency substances such as coffee or sugar. They develop sudden adverse reactions to ingesting these substances.

The angels explain that each food and beverage has a "frequency" according to how much "life force" is in it. Life force comes from the sunshine and air that the plant is grown in. Foods' life force also varies according to how it is processed before eating. Higher life-force foods compliment and uplift a person's spiritual growth. These foods help us to feel lighter, more energetic, and more aware of our Divine guidance.

The highest life-force foods are those grown above ground in high sunlight, such as the tropics. So, fresh pineapple, guava, mango, and papaya have a lot of life force in them. If you eat these foods frequently, you'll find that your sensitivity to spiritual intuitive abilities increases.

Foods grown in lower sunlight conditions have slightly lower amounts of life force, as do vegetables grown underground. Organic foods have higher life force frequencies, since pesticides carry the energy of killing, which lowers the vibration of foods. Cooking, canning, freezing, and other processing methods also lower or eliminate the life force in foods. Life cannot live in a freezer, and neither can the life- force in foods. The angels guide us to eat foods that are as close to their natural state as possible, such as fresh or lightly steamed organic vegetables.

Bread products made from "sprouted grains" (available in most grocery and health food stores) have a higher life force than those made from ground flour. Grinding kills the life force of grains, as does bleaching the flour.

Sugar, caffeine, and chocolate have no life force in them, and actually block your abilities to clearly receive Divine guidance. Meat, fowl, and other animal products (including dairy) also have no life force, as they are dead or inert. If the animal was cruelly treated during its life or its slaughter, the energy of the animal's pain is carried in its flesh and dairy products. The energy of pain lowers our body's frequency. For this reason, if you choose to eat meat, fowl, or dairy products, say grace or blessings to transmute the energy of pain. Or, choose only "free range" fowl and eggs or kosher meat products, to ensure that the animals were humanely treated and slaughtered with the least amount of pain possible.

The angels say that fish is a higher frequency source of protein than fowl or meat. The water in which fish swim creates electrochemical reactions that transmutes any energy of pain the fish feels upon its death. So, those on the spiritual path who are concerned about the energetic repercussions of diet may choose to become semi- vegetarians. Their meals may consist of fresh or lightly cooked vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and fish.

Life Force in Beverages

The angels say that we should drink water in "as natural state as possible." They wish we could all drink water freshly drawn from a river or a well. In the absence of this option, bottled water labeled as "spring water" or "artesian water" has a much higher life force than processed "drinking water" or "reverse osmosis water." The angels also ask us to avoid artificially carbonated beverages.

Juice has a high life force, provided it is consumed within twenty minutes of being squeezed from fresh fruits or vegetables. After twenty minutes, the spirit of the fruit or vegetable leaves, just as it would a body that had been pulverized in a blender. Frozen or condensed juice has no life force, nor does juice thirty minutes after being squeezed. Organic fruits and vegetables create a higher life force juice than non- organic juice.

Alcohol, coffee, sugared, chocolate-based and carbonated beverages have no life force at all. They also rob the body of life force consumed in other foods.

Doreen Virtue, Ph.D. is a metaphysical psychotherapist who works with the angelic realm. She is the author of "Divine Guidance" and her newest audiotape is "Healing Your Appetite, Healing Your Life" (Hay House, 1999). For information on Doreen's workshops, books, and tapes, please call 1-800-654-5126, ext. 0 or visit http://www.AngelTherapy.com.