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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/4343-0.txt b/4343-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..65accdf --- /dev/null +++ b/4343-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10862 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW AND WHEN TO BE YOUR OWN +DOCTOR *** + + + + +How and When to Be Your Own Doctor + +by Dr. Isabelle A. Moser with Steve Solomon + +Steve Solomon, June, 1997. + + + + +Table of Contents + +Forward by Steve Solomon +Chapter One: How I Became a Hygienist +Chapter Two: The Nature and Cause of Disease +Chapter Three: Fasting +Chapter Four: Colon Cleansing +Chapter Five: Diet and Nutrition +Chapter Six: Vitamins and Other Food Supplements +Chapter Seven: The Analysis of Disease States--Helping the Body +Recover +Appendices + + + + + + +Forward + +_Tis a gift to be simple +Tis a gift to be free, +Tis a gift to come down +Where we ought to be. +And when we find ourselves +In a place just right, +It will be in the valley +Of love and delight._ + +Old Shaker Hymn + +Favorite of Dr. Isabelle Moser + + + + + +I was a physically tough, happy-go-lucky fellow until I reached my +late thirties. Then I began to experience more and more off days +when I did not feel quite right. I thought I possessed an iron +constitution. Although I grew a big food garden and ate mostly +"vegetablitarian" I thought I could eat anything with impunity. I +had been fond of drinking beer with my friends while nibbling on +salty snacks or heavy foods late into the night. And until my health +began to weaken I could still get up the next morning after several +homebrewed beers, feeling good, and would put in a solid day's work. + +When my health began to slip I went looking for a cure. Up to that +time the only use I'd had for doctors was to fix a few traumatic +injuries. The only preventative health care I concerned myself with +was to take a multivitamin pill during those rare spells when I felt +a bit run down and to eat lots of vegetables. So I'd not learned +much about alternative health care. + +Naturally, my first stop was a local general practitioner/MD. He +gave me his usual half-hour get-acquainted checkout and opined that +there almost certainly was nothing wrong with me. I suspect I had +the good fortune to encounter an honest doctor, because he also said +if it were my wish he could send me around for numerous tests but +most likely these would not reveal anything either. More than +likely, all that was wrong was that I was approaching 40; with the +onset of middle age I would naturally have more aches and pains. +'Take some aspirin and get used to it,' was his advice. 'It'll only +get worse.' + +Not satisfied with his dismal prognosis I asked an energetic old guy +I knew named Paul, an '80-something homesteader who was renowned for +his organic garden and his good health. Paul referred me to his +doctor, Isabelle Moser, who at that time was running the Great Oaks +School of Health, a residential and out-patient spa nearby at +Creswell, Oregon. + +Dr. Moser had very different methods of analysis than the medicos, +was warmly personal and seemed very safe to talk to. She looked me +over, did some strange magical thing she called muscle testing and +concluded that I still had a very strong constitution. If I would +eliminate certain "bad" foods from my diet, eliminate some generally +healthful foods that, unfortunately, I was allergic to, if I would +reduce my alcohol intake greatly and take some food supplements, +then gradually my symptoms would abate. With the persistent +application of a little self-discipline over several months, maybe +six months, I could feel really well again almost all the time and +would probably continue that way for many years to come. This was +good news, though the need to apply personal responsibility toward +the solution of my problem seemed a little sobering. + +But I could also see that Dr. Moser was obviously not telling me +something. So I gently pressed her for the rest. A little shyly, +reluctantly, as though she were used to being rebuffed for making +such suggestions, Isabelle asked me if I had ever heard of fasting? +"Yes," I said. "I had. Once when I was about twenty and staying at a +farm in Missouri, during a bad flu I actually did fast, mainly +because I was too sick to take anything but water for nearly one +week." + +"Why do you ask?" I demanded. + +"If you would fast, you will start feeling really good as soon as +the fast is over." she said. + +"Fast? How long?" + +"Some have fasted for a month or even longer," she said. Then she +observed my crestfallen expression and added, "Even a couple of +weeks would make an enormous difference." + +It just so happened that I was in between set-up stages for a new +mail-order business I was starting and right then I did have a +couple of weeks when I was virtually free of responsibility. I could +also face the idea of not eating for a couple of weeks. "Okay!" I +said somewhat impulsively. "I could fast for two weeks. If I start +right now maybe even three weeks, depending on how my schedule works +out." + +So in short order I was given several small books about fasting to +read at home and was mentally preparing myself for several weeks of +severe privation, my only sustenance to be water and herb tea +without sweetener. And then came the clinker. + +"Have you ever heard of colonics?" she asked sweetly. + +"Yes. Weird practice, akin to anal sex or something?" + +"Not at all," she responded. "Colonics are essential during fasting +or you will have spells when you'll feel terrible. Only colonics +make water fasting comfortable and safe." + +Then followed some explanation about bowel cleansing (and another +little book to take home) and soon I was agreeing to get my body +over to her place for a colonic every two or three days during the +fasting period, the first colonic scheduled for the next afternoon. +I'll spare you a detailed description of my first fast with +colonics; you'll read about others shortly. In the end I withstood +the boredom of water fasting for 17 days. During the fast I had +about 7 colonics. I ended up feeling great, much trimmer, with an +enormous rebirth of energy. And when I resumed eating it turned out +to be slightly easier to control my dietary habits and appetites. + +Thus began my practice of an annual health-building water fast. Once +a year, at whatever season it seemed propitious, I'd set aside a +couple of weeks to heal my body. While fasting I'd slowly drive +myself over to Great Oaks School for colonics every other day. By +the end of my third annual fast in 1981, Isabelle and I had become +great friends. About this same time Isabelle's relationship with her +first husband, Douglas Moser, had disintegrated. Some months later, +Isabelle and I became partners. And then we married. + +My regular fasts continued through 1984, by which time I had +recovered my fundamental organic vigor and had retrained my dietary +habits. About 1983 Isabelle and I also began using Life Extension +megavitamins as a therapy against the aging process. Feeling so much +better I began to find the incredibly boring weeks of prophylactic +fasting too difficult to motivate myself to do, and I stopped. Since +that time I fast only when acutely ill. Generally less than one week +on water handles any non-optimum health condition I've had since +'84. I am only 54 years old as I write these words, so I hope it +will be many, many years before I find myself in the position where +I have to fast for an extended period to deal with a serious or +life-threatening condition. + +I am a kind of person the Spanish call _autodidactico,_ meaning that +I prefer to teach myself. I had already learned the fine art of +self-employment and general small-business practice that way, as +well as radio and electronic theory, typography and graphic design, +the garden seed business, horticulture, and agronomy. When Isabelle +moved in with me she also brought most of Great Oak's extensive +library, including very hard to obtain copies of the works of the +early hygienic doctors. Naturally I studied her books intensely. + +Isabelle also brought her medical practice into our house. At first +it was only a few loyal local clients who continued to consult with +her on an out-patient basis, but after a few years, the demands for +residential care from people who were seriously and sometimes +life-threateningly sick grew irresistibly, and I found myself +sharing our family house with a parade of really sick people. True, +I was not their doctor, but because her residential clients became +temporary parts of our family, I helped support and encourage our +residents through their fasting process. I'm a natural teacher (and +how-to-do-it writer), so I found myself explaining many aspects of +hygienic medicine to Isabelle's clients, while having a first-hand +opportunity to observe for myself the healing process at work. Thus +it was that I became the doctor's assistant and came to practice +second-hand hygienic medicine. + +In 1994, when Isabelle had reached the age of 54, she began to think +about passing on her life's accumulation of healing wisdom by +writing a book. She had no experience at writing for the popular +market, her only major writing being a Ph.D. dissertation. I on the +other hand had published seven books about vegetable gardening. And +I grasped the essentials of her wisdom as well as any +non-practitioner could. So we took a summer off and rented a house +in rural Costa Rica, where I helped Isabelle put down her thoughts +on a cheap word-processing typewriter. When we returned to the +States, I fired-up my "big-mac" and composed this manuscript into a +rough book format that was given to some of her clients to get what +is trendily called these days, "feedback." + +But before we could completely finish her book, Isabelle became +dangerously ill and after a long, painful struggle with abdominal +cancer, she died. After I resurfaced from the worst of my grief and +loss, I decided to finish her book. Fortunately, the manuscript +needed little more than polishing. I am telling the reader these +things because many ghost-written books end up having little direct +connection with the originator of the thoughts. Not so in this case. +And unlike many ghost writers, I had a long and loving +apprenticeship with the author. At every step of our colaboration on +this book I have made every effort to communicate Isabelle's +viewpoints in the way she would speak, not my own. Dr. Isabelle +Moser was for many years my dearest friend. I have worked on this +book to help her pass her understanding on. + +Many people consider death to be a complete invalidation of a +healing arts practitioner. I don't. Coping with her own dicey health +had been a major motivator for Isabelle's interest in healing +others. She will tell you more about it in the chapters to come. +Isabelle had been fending off cancer since its first blow up when +she was 26 years old. I view that 30 plus years of defeating Death +as a great success rather than consider her ultimate defeat as a +failure. + +Isabelle Moser was born in 1940 and died in 1996. I think the +greatest accomplishment of her 56 years was to meld virtually all +available knowledge about health and healing into a workable and +most importantly, a simple model that allowed her to have amazing +success. Her "system" is simple enough that even a generally +well-educated non-medico like me can grasp it. And use it without +consulting a doctor every time a symptom appears. + +Finally, I should mention that over the years since this book was +written I have discovered contains some significant errors of +anatomical or psysiological detail. Most of these happened because +the book was written "off the top of Isabelle's head," without any +reference materials at hand, not even an anatomy text. I have not +fixed these goofs as I am not even qualified to find them all. Thus, +when the reader reads such as 'the pancreas secreates enzymes into +the stomach,' (actually and correctly, the duodenum) I hope they +will understand and not invalidate the entire book. + + + + + + +Chapter One + +How I Became a Hygienist + + + + + +From The Hygienic Dictionary + +Doctors. [1] In the matter of disease and healing, the people have +been treated as serfs. The doctor is a dictator who knows it all, +and the people are stupid, dumb, driven cattle, fit for nothing +except to be herded together, bucked and gagged when necessary to +force medical opinion down their throats or under their skins. I +found that professional dignity was more often pomposity, sordid +bigotry and gilded ignorance. The average physician is a +fear-monger, if he is anything. He goes about like a roaring lion, +seeking whom he may scare to death. _Dr. John. H. Tilden, Impaired +Health: Its Cause and Cure, Vol. 1, 1921._ [2] Today we are not only +in the Nuclear Age but also the Antibiotic Age. Unhappily, too, this +is the Dark Age of Medicine--an age in which many of my colleagues, +when confronted with a patient, consult a volume which rivals the +Manhattan telephone directory in size. This book contains the names +of thousands upon thousands of drugs used to alleviate the +distressing symptoms of a host of diseased states of the body. The +doctor then decides which pink or purple or baby-blue pill to +prescribe for the patient. This is not, in my opinion, the practice +of medicine. Far too many of these new "miracle" drugs are +introduced with fanfare and then reveled as lethal in character, to +be silently discarded for newer and more powerful drugs. _Dr. Henry +Bieler: Food is Your Best Medicine; 1965._ + +I have two reasons for writing this book. One, to help educate the +general public about the virtues of natural medicine. The second, to +encourage the next generation of natural healers. Especially the +second because it is not easy to become a natural hygienist; there +is no school or college or licensing board. + +Most AMA-affiliated physicians follow predictable career paths, +straight well-marked roads, climbing through apprenticeships in +established institutions to high financial rewards and social +status. Practitioners of natural medicine are not awarded equally +high status, rarely do we become wealthy, and often, naturopaths +arrive at their profession rather late in life after following the +tangled web of their own inner light. So I think it is worth a few +pages to explain how I came to practice a dangerous profession and +why I have accepted the daily risks of police prosecution and civil +liability without possibility of insurance. + +Sometimes it seems to me that I began this lifetime powerfully +predisposed to heal others. So, just for childhood warm-ups I was +born into a family that would be much in need of my help. As I've +always disliked an easy win, to make rendering that help even more +difficult, I decided to be the youngest child, with two older +brothers. + +A pair of big, capable brothers might have guided and shielded me. +But my life did not work out that way. The younger of my two +brothers, three years ahead of me, was born with many health +problems. He was weak, small, always ill, and in need of protection +from other children, who are generally rough and cruel. My father +abandoned our family shortly after I was born; it fell to my mother +to work to help support us. Before I was adolescent my older brother +left home to pursue a career in the Canadian Air Force. + +Though I was the youngest, I was by far the healthiest. +Consequently, I had to pretty much raise myself while my single +mother struggled to earn a living in rural western Canada. This +circumstance probably reinforced my constitutional predilection for +independent thought and action. Early on I started to protect my +"little" brother, making sure the local bullies didn't take +advantage of him. I learned to fight big boys and win. I also helped +him acquire simple skills, ones that most kids grasp without +difficulty, such as swimming, bike riding, tree climbing, etc. + +And though not yet adolescent, I had to function as a responsible +adult in our household. Stressed by anger over her situation and the +difficulties of earning our living as a country school teacher +(usually in remote one-room schools), my mother's health +deteriorated rapidly. As she steadily lost energy and became less +able to take care of the home, I took over more and more of the +cleaning, cooking, and learned how to manage her--a person who feels +terrible but must work to survive. + +During school hours my mother was able to present a positive +attitude, and was truly a gifted teacher. However, she had a +personality quirk. She obstinately preferred to help the most able +students become even more able, but she had little desire to help +those with marginal mentalities. This predilection got her into no +end of trouble with local school boards; inevitably it seemed the +District Chairman would have a stupid, badly-behaved child that my +mother refused to cater to. Several times we had to move in the +middle of the school year when she was dismissed without notice for +"insubordination." This would inevitably happen on the frigid +Canadian Prairies during mid-winter. + +At night, exhausted by the day's efforts, my mother's positiveness +dissipated and she allowed her mind to drift into negative thoughts, +complaining endlessly about my irresponsible father and about how +much she disliked him for treating her so badly. These emotions and +their irresponsible expression were very difficult for me to deal +with as a child, but it taught me to work on diverting someone's +negative thoughts, and to avoid getting dragged into them myself, +skills I had to use continually much later on when I began to manage +mentally and physically ill clients on a residential basis. + +My own personal health problems had their genesis long before my own +birth. Our diet was awful, with very little fresh fruit or +vegetables. We normally had canned, evaporated milk, though there +were a few rare times when raw milk and free-range fertile farm eggs +were available from neighbors. Most of my foods were heavily salted +or sugared, and we ate a great deal of fat in the form of lard. My +mother had little money but she had no idea that some of the most +nutritious foods are also the least expensive. + +It is no surprise to me that considering her nutrient-poor, +fat-laden diet and stressful life, my mother eventually developed +severe gall bladder problems. Her degeneration caused progressively +more and more severe pain until she had a cholecystectomy. The +gallbladder's profound deterioration had damaged her liver as well, +seeming to her surgeon to require the removal of half her liver. +After this surgical insult she had to stop working and never +regained her health. Fortunately, by this time all her children were +independent. + +I had still more to overcome. My eldest brother had a nervous +breakdown while working on the DEW Line (he was posted on the Arctic +Circle watching radar screens for a possible incoming attack from +Russia). I believe his collapse actually began with our childhood +nutrition. While in the Arctic all his foods came from cans. He also +was working long hours in extremely cramped quarters with no leave +for months in a row, never going outside because of the cold, or +having the benefit of natural daylight. + +When he was still in the acute stage of his illness (I was still a +teenager myself) I went to the hospital where my bother was being +held, and talked the attending psychiatrist into immediately +discharging him into my care. The physician also agreed to refrain +from giving him electroshock therapy, a commonly used treatment for +mental conditions in Canadian hospitals at that time. Somehow I knew +the treatment they were using was wrong. + +I brought my brother home still on heavy doses of thorazine. The +side effects of this drug were so severe he could barely exist: +blurred vision, clenched jaw, trembling hands, and restless feet +that could not be kept still. These are common problems with the +older generation of psycho tropic medications, generally controlled +to some extent with still other drugs like cogentin (which he was +taking too). + +My brother steadily reduced his tranquilizers until he was able to +think and do a few things. On his own he started taking a lot of B +vitamins and eating whole grains. I do not know exactly why he did +this, but I believe he was following his intuition. (I personally +did not know enough to suggest a natural approach at that time.) In +any case after three months on vitamins and an improved diet he no +long needed any medication, and was delighted to be free of their +side effects. He remained somewhat emotionally fragile for a few +more months but he soon returned to work, and has had no mental +trouble from that time to this day. This was the beginning of my +interest in mental illness, and my first exposure to the limitations +of 'modern' psychiatry. + +I always preferred self-discipline to being directed by others. So I +took every advantage of having a teacher for a mother and studied at +home instead of being bored silly in a classroom. In Canada of that +era you didn't have to go to high school to enter university, you +only had to pass the written government entrance exams. At age 16, +never having spent a single day in high school, I passed the +university entrance exams with a grade of 97 percent. At that point +in my life I really wanted to go to medical school and become a +doctor, but I didn't have the financial backing to embark on such a +long and costly course of study, so I settled on a four year nursing +course at the University of Alberta, with all my expenses paid in +exchange for work at the university teaching hospital. + +At the start of my nurses training I was intensely curious about +everything in the hospital: birth, death, surgery, illness, etc. I +found most births to be joyful, at least when everything came out +all right. Most people died very alone in the hospital, terrified if +they were conscious, and all seemed totally unprepared for death, +emotionally or spiritually. None of the hospital staff wanted to be +with a dying person except me; most hospital staff were unable to +confront death any more bravely than those who were dying. So I made +it a point of being at the death bed. The doctors and nurses found +it extremely unpleasant to have to deal with the preparation of the +dead body for the morgue; this chore usually fell to me also. I did +not mind dead bodies. They certainly did not mind me! + +I had the most difficulty accepting surgery. There were times when +surgery was clearly a life saving intervention, particularly when +the person had incurred a traumatic injury, but there were many +other cases when, though the knife was the treatment of choice, the +results were disastrous. + +Whenever I think of surgery, my recollections always go to a man +with cancer of the larynx. At that time the University of Alberta +had the most respected surgeons and cancer specialists in the +country. To treat cancer they invariably did surgery, plus radiation +and chemotherapy to eradicate all traces of cancerous tissue in the +body, but they seemed to forget there also was a human being +residing in that very same cancerous body. This particularly +unfortunate man came into our hospital as a whole human being, +though sick with cancer. He could still speak, eat, swallow, and +looked normal. But after surgery he had no larynx, nor esophagus, +nor tongue, and no lower jaw. + +The head surgeon, who, by the way, was considered to be a virtual +god amongst gods, came back from the operating room smiling from ear +to ear, announcing proudly that he had 'got all the cancer'. But +when I saw the result I thought he'd done a butcher's job. The +victim couldn't speak at all, nor eat except through a tube, and he +looked grotesque. Worst, he had lost all will to live. I thought the +man would have been much better off to keep his body parts as long +as he could, and die a whole person able to speak, eating if he felt +like it, being with friends and family without inspiring a gasp of +horror. + +I was sure there must be better ways of dealing with degenerative +conditions such as cancer, but I had no idea what they might be or +how to find out. There was no literature on medical alternatives in +the university library, and no one in the medical school ever hinted +at the possibility except when the doctors took jabs at +chiropractors. Since no one else viewed the situation as I did I +started to think I might be in the wrong profession. + +It also bothered me that patients were not respected, were not +people; they were considered a "case" or a "condition." I was +frequently reprimanded for wasting time talking to patients, trying +to get acquainted. The only place in the hospital where human +contact was acceptable was the psychiatric ward. So I enjoyed the +rotation to psychiatry for that reason, and decided that I would +like to make psychiatry or psychology my specialty. + +By the time I finished nursing school, it was clear that the +hospital was not for me. I especially didn't like its rigid +hierarchical system, where all bowed down to the doctors. The very +first week in school we were taught that when entering a elevator, +make sure that the doctor entered first, then the intern, then the +charge nurse. Followed by, in declining order of status: graduate +nurses, third year nurses, second year nurses, first year nurses, +then nursing aids, then orderlies, then ward clerks, and only then, +the cleaning staff. No matter what the doctor said, the nurse was +supposed to do it immediately without question--a very military sort +of organization. + +Nursing school wasn't all bad. I learned how to take care of all +kinds of people with every variety of illness. I demonstrated for +myself that simple nursing care could support a struggling body +through its natural healing process. But the doctor-gods tended to +belittle and denigrate nurses. No wonder--so much of nursing care +consists of unpleasant chores like bed baths, giving enemas and +dealing with other bodily functions. + +I also studied the state-of-the-art science concerning every +conceivable medical condition, its symptoms, and treatment. At the +university hospital nurses were required to take the same pre-med +courses as the doctors--including anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, +and pharmacology. Consequently, I think it is essential for holistic +healers to first ground themselves in the basic sciences of the +body's physiological systems. There is also much valuable data in +standard medical texts about the digestion, assimilation, and +elimination. To really understand illness, the alternative +practitioner must be fully aware of the proper functioning of the +cardiovascular/pulmonary system, the autonomic and voluntary nervous +system, the endocrine system, plus the mechanics and detailed +nomenclature of the skeleton, muscles, tendons and ligaments. Also +it is helpful to know the conventional medical models for treating +various disorders, because they do appear to work well for some +people, and should not be totally invalidated simply on the basis of +one's philosophical or religious viewpoints. + +Many otherwise well-meaning holistic practitioners, lacking an +honest grounding in science, sometimes express their understanding +of the human body in non-scientific, metaphysical terms that can +seem absurd to the well-instructed. I am not denying here that there +is a spiritual aspect to health and illness; I believe there are +energy flows in and around the body that can effect physiological +functioning. I am only suggesting that to discuss illness without +hard science is like calling oneself a abstract artist because the +painter has no ability to even do a simple, accurate +representational drawing of a human figure. + +Though hospital life had already become distasteful to me I was +young and poor when I graduated. So after nursing school I buckled +down and worked just long enough to save enough money to obtain a +masters degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of British +Columbia. Then I started working at Riverview Hospital in Vancouver, +B.C., doing diagnostic testing, and group therapy, mostly with +psychotic people. At Riverview I had a three-year-long opportunity +to observe the results of conventional psychiatric treatment. + +The first thing I noticed was the 'revolving door' phenomena. That +is, people go out, and then they're back in, over and over again, +demonstrating that standard treatment--drugs, electroshock and group +therapy--had been ineffective. Worse, the treatments given at +Riverside were dangerous, often with long term side effects that +were more damaging than the disease being treated. It felt like +nursing school all over again; in the core of my being I somehow +knew there was a better way, a more effective way of helping people +to regain their mental health. Feeling like an outsider, I started +investigating the hospital's nooks and crannies. Much to my +surprise, in a back ward, one not open to the public, I noticed a +number of people with bright purple skins. + +I asked the staff about this and every one of the psychiatrists +denied these patients existed. This outright and widely-agreed-upon +lie really raised my curiosity. Finally after pouring through the +journals in the hospital library I found an article describing +psycho tropic-drug-induced disruptions of melanin (the dark skin +pigment). Thorazine, a commonly used psychiatric drug, when taken in +high doses over a long period of time would do this. Excess melanin +eventually was deposited in vital organs such as the heart and the +liver, causing death. + +I found it especially upsetting to see patients receive electroshock +treatments. These violent, physician-induced traumas did seem to +disrupt dysfunctional thought patterns such as an impulse to commit +suicide, but afterwards the victim couldn't remember huge parts of +their life or even recall who they were. Like many other dangerous +medical treatments, electroshock can save life but it can also take +life away by obliterating identity. + +According the Hippocratic Oath, the first criteria of a treatment is +that it should do no harm. Once again I found myself trapped in a +system that made me feel severe protest. Yet none of these +specialists or university professors, or academic libraries had any +information about alternatives. Worse, none of these mind-doctor-gods +were even looking for better treatments. + +Though unpleasant and profoundly disappointing, my experience as a +mental hospital psychologist was, like being in nursing school, also +very valuable. Not only did I learn how to diagnose, and evaluate +the severity of mental illness and assess the dangerousness of the +mentally ill, I learned to understand them, to feel comfortable with +them, and found that I was never afraid of them. Fearlessness is a +huge advantage. The mentally ill seem to have a heightened ability +to spot fear in others. If they sense that you are afraid they +frequently enjoy terrorizing you. When psychotic people know you +feel comfortable with them, and probably understand a great deal of +what they are experiencing, when they know that you can and intend +to control them, they experience a huge sense of relief. I could +always get mentally ill people to tell me what was really going on +in their heads when no one else could get them to communicate. + +A few years later I married an American and became the Mental Health +Coordinator for Whatcom County, the northwestern corner of +Washington State. I handled all the legal proceedings in the county +for mentally ill people. After treatment in the state mental +hospital I supervised their reentry into the community, and +attempted to provide some follow up. This work further confirmed my +conclusions that in most cases the mentally ill weren't helped by +conventional treatment. Most of them rapidly became social problems +after discharge. It seemed the mental hospital's only ethically +defensible function was incarceration--providing temporary relief +for the family and community from the mentally ill person's +destructiveness. + +I did see a few people recover in the mental health system. +Inevitably these were young, and had not yet become +institutionalized, a term describing someone who comes to like being +in the hospital because confinement feels safe. Hospitalization can +mean three square meals and a bed. It frequently means an +opportunity to have a sex life (many female inmates are highly +promiscuous). Many psychotics are also criminal; the hospital seems +far better to them than jail. Many chronically mentally ill are also +experts at manipulating the system. When homeless, they deliberately +get hospitalized for some outrageous deed just before winter. They +then "recover" when the fine weather of spring returns. + +After a year as Mental Health Co-ordinator, I had enough of the +"system" and decided that it was as good a time as any to return to +school for a Ph.D., this time at University. of Oregon where I +studied clinical and counseling psychology and gerontology. While in +graduate school I became pregnant and had my first child. Not +surprisingly, this experience profoundly changed my consciousness. I +realized that it had perhaps been all right for me to be somewhat +irresponsible about my own nutrition and health, but that it was not +okay to inflict poor nutrition on my unborn child. At that time I +was addicted to salty, deep-fat fried corn chips and a diet pop. I +thought I had to have these so-called foods every day. I tended to +eat for taste, in other words, what I liked, not necessarily what +would give me the best nutrition. I was also eating a lot of what +most people would consider healthy food: meat, cheese, milk, whole +grains, nuts, vegetables, and fruits. + +My constitution had seemed strong and vital enough through my +twenties to allow this level of dietary irresponsibility. During my +early 20s I had even recovered from a breast cancer by sheer will +power. (I will discuss this later.) So before my pregnancy I had not +questioned my eating habits. + +As my body changed and adapted itself to it's new purpose I began +visiting the libraries and voraciously read everything obtainable +under the topic of nutrition--all the texts, current magazines, +nutritional journals, and health newsletters. My childhood habit of +self-directed study paid off. I discovered alternative health +magazines like Let's Live, Prevention, Organic Gardening, and Best +Ways, and promptly obtained every back issue since they were first +published. Along the way I ran into articles by Linus Pauling on +vitamin C, and sent away for all of his books, one of these was +co-authored with David Hawkins, called The Orthomolecular Approach +to Mental Disorders. + +This book had a profound effect on me. I instantly recognized that +it was Truth with a capital "T", although the orthomolecular +approach was clearly in opposition to the established medical model +and contradicted everything I had ever learned as a student or +professional. Here at last was the exciting alternative approach to +treating mental disorders I had so long sought. I filed this +information away, waiting for an opportunity to use it. And I began +to study all the references in The Orthomolecular Approach to Mental +Disorders dealing with correcting the perceptual functioning of +psychotic people using natural substances. + +In the course of delving through libraries and book stores, I also +came across the Mokelumne Hill Publishing Company (now defunct). +This obscure publisher reprinted many unusual and generally crudely +reproduced out-of-print books about raw foods diets, hygienic +medicine, fruitarianism, fasting, breathairianism, plus some works +discussing spiritual aspects of living that were far more esoteric +than I had ever thought existed. I decided that weird or not, I +might as well find out everything potentially useful. So I spent a +lot of money ordering their books. Some of Mokelumne Hill's material +really expanded my thoughts. Though much of it seemed totally +outrageous, in every book there usually was one line, one paragraph, +or if I was lucky one whole chapter that rang true for me. + +Recognizing capital "T" Truth when one sees it is one of the most +important abilities a person can have. Unfortunately, every aspect +of our mass educational system attempts to invalidate this skill. +Students are repeatedly told that derivation from recognized +authority and/or the scientific method are the only valid means to +assess the validity of data. But there is another parallel method to +determine the truth or falsehood of information: Knowing. We Know by +the simple method of looking at something and recognizing its +correctness. It is a spiritual ability. I believe we all have it. +But in my case, I never lost the ability to Know because I almost +never attended school. + +Thus it is that I am absolutely certain How and When to Be Your Own +Doctor will be recognized as Truth by some of my readers and +rejected as unscientific, unsubstantiated, or anecdotal information +by others. I accept this limitation on my ability to teach. If what +you read in the following pages seems True for you, great! If it +doesn't, there is little or nothing I could do to further convince. + +I return now to the time of my first pregnancy. In the face of all +these new Truths I was discovering concerning health and nutrition, +I made immediate changes in my diet. I severely reduced my animal +protein intake and limited cooked food in general. I began taking +vitamin and mineral supplements. I also choose a highly atypical +Ph.D. dissertation topic, "The Orthomolecular Treatment of Mental +Disorders." This fifty cent word, orthomolecular, basically means +readjusting the body chemistry by providing unusually large amounts +of specific nutrient substances normally found in the human body +(vitamins and minerals). Orthomolecular therapy for mental disorders +is supported by good diet, by removal of allergy-producing +substances, by control of hypoglycemia, plus counseling, and +provision of a therapeutic environment. + +My proposed dissertation topic met with nothing but opposition. The +professors on my doctoral committee had never heard of the word +orthomolecular, and all of them were certain it wasn't an accepted, +traditional area of research. Research in academia is supposed to be +based on the works of a previous researchers who arrived at +hypothesis based on data obtained by strictly following scientific +methodology. "Scientific" data requires control groups, matched +populations, statistical analysis, etc. In my case there was no +previous work my dissertation committee would accept, because the +available data did not originate from a medical school or psychology +department they recognized. + +Due to a lot of determination and perseverance I finally did succeed +in getting my thesis accepted, and triumphed over my doctoral +committee. And I graduated with a dual Ph.D. in both counseling +psychology and gerontology. My ambition was to establish the +orthomolecular approach on the west coast. At that time I knew of +only two clinics in the world actively using nutritional therapy. +One was in New York and the other, was a Russian experimental +fasting program for schizophrenics. Doctors Hoffer and Osmond had +used orthomolecular therapy in a Canadian mental hospital as early +as 1950, but they had both gone on to other things. + +The newly graduated Dr. Isabelle Moser, Ph.D. was at this point +actually an unemployed mother, renting an old, end-of-the-road, +far-in-the-country farmhouse; by then I had two small daughters. I +strongly preferred to take care of my own children instead of +turning them over to a baby sitter. My location and my children made +it difficult for me to work any place but at home. So naturally, I +made my family home into a hospital for psychotic individuals. I +started out with one resident patient at a time, using no +psychiatric drugs. I had very good results and learned a tremendous +amount with each client, because each one was different and each was +my first of each type. + +With any psychotic residing in your home it is foolhardy to become +inattentive even for one hour, including what are normally +considered sleeping hours. I have found the most profoundly ill +mentally ill person still to be very crafty and aware even though +they may appear to be unconscious or nonresponsive. Psychotics are +also generally very intuitive, using faculties most of us use very +little or not at all. For example one of my first patients, +Christine, believed that I was trying to electrocute her. Though she +would not talk, she repeatedly drew pictures depicting this. She +had, quite logically within her own reality, decided to kill me with +a butcher knife in self-defense before I succeeded in killing her. I +had to disarm Christine several times, hide all the household +knives, change my sleeping spot frequently, and generally stay +sufficiently awake at night to respond to slight, creaky sounds that +could indicate the approach of stealthily placed small bare feet. + +With orthomolecular treatment Christine improved but also became +more difficult to live with as she got better. For example, when she +came out of catatonic-like immobility, she became extremely +promiscuous, and was determined to sleep with my husband. In fact +she kept crawling into bed with him with no clothes on. Either we +had to forcefully remove her or the bed would be handed over to +her--without a resident man. Christine then decided (logically) that +I was an obstacle to her sex life, and once more set out to kill me. +This stage also passed, eventually and Christine got tolerably well. + +Christine's healing process is quite typical and demonstrates why +orthomolecular treatment is not popular. As a psychotic genuinely +improves, their aberrated behavior often becomes more aggressive +initially and thus, harder to control. It seems far more convenient +for all concerned to suppress psychotic behavior with stupefying +drugs. A drugged person can be controlled when they're in a sort of +perpetual sedation but then, they never get genuinely well, either. + +Another early patient, Elizabeth, gave me a particularly valuable +lesson, one that changed the direction of my career away from curing +insanity and toward regular medicine. Elizabeth was a catatonic +schizophrenic who did not speak or move, except for some waxy +posturing. She had to be fed, dressed and pottied. Elizabeth was a +pretty little brunette who got through a couple of years of college +and then spent several years in a state mental hospital. She had +recently run away from a hospital, and had been found wandering +aimlessly or standing rigidly, apparently staring fixedly at +nothing. The emergency mental health facility in a small city nearby +called me up and asked if I would take her. I said I would, and +drove into town to pick her up. I found Elizabeth in someone's back +yard staring at a bush. It took me three hours to persuade her to +get in my car, but that effort turned out to be the easiest part of +the next months. + +Elizabeth would do nothing for herself, including going to the +bathroom. I managed to get some nutrition into her, and change her +clothes, but that was about all I could do. Eventually she wore me +down; I drifted off for an hour's nap instead of watching her all +night. Elizabeth slipped away in the autumn darkness and vanished. +Needless to say, when daylight came I desperately searched the +buildings, the yard, gardens, woods, and even the nearby river. I +called in a missing person report and the police looked as well. We +stopped searching after a week because there just wasn't any place +else to look. Then, into my kitchen, right in front of our round +eyes and gaping mouths, walked a smiling, pleasant, talkative young +woman who was quite sane. + +She said, "Hello I'm Elizabeth! I'm sorry I was such a hassle last +week, and thank you for trying to take care of me so well. I was too +sick to know any better." She said she had gone out our back door +the week before and crawled under a pile of fallen leaves on the +ground in our back yard with a black tarp over them. We had looked +under the tarp at least fifty times during the days past, but never +thought to look under the leaves as well. + +This amazing occurrence made my head go bong to say the least; it +was obvious that Elizabeth had not been 'schizophrenic' because of +her genetics, nor because of stress, nor malnutrition, nor +hypoglycemia, nor because of any of the causes of mental illness I +had previously learned to identify and rectify, but because of food +allergies. Elizabeth was spontaneously cured because she'd had +nothing to eat for a week. The composting pile of leaves hiding her +had produced enough heat to keep her warm at night and the heap +contained sufficient moisture to keep her from getting too +dehydrated. She looked wonderful, with clear shiny blue eyes, clear +skin with good color, though she was slightly slimmer than when I +had last seen her. + +I then administered Coca's Pulse Test (see the Appendix) and quickly +discovered Elizabeth was wildly intolerant to wheat and dairy +products. Following the well known health gurus of that time like +Adelle Davis, I had self-righteously been feeding her home-made +whole wheat bread from hand-ground Organic wheat, and home-made +cultured yogurt from our own organically-fed goats. But by doing +this I had only maintained her insanity. Elizabeth was an +intelligent young woman, and once she understood what was causing +her problems, she had no trouble completely eliminating certain +foods from her diet. She shuddered at the thought that had she not +come to my place and discovered the problem, she would probably have +died on the back ward of some institution for the chronically +mentally ill. + +As for me, I will always be grateful to her for opening my eyes and +mind a little wider. Elizabeth's case showed me why Russian +schizophrenics put on a 30 day water fast had such a high recovery +rate. I also remembered all the esoteric books I had read extolling +the benefits of fasting. I also remembered two occasions during my +own youth when I had eaten little or nothing for approximately a +month each without realizing that I was "fasting." And doing this +had done me nothing but good. + +Once when I was thirteen my mother sent my "little" brother and I to +a residential fundamentalist bible school. I did not want to go +there, although my brother did; he had decided he wanted to be a +evangelical minister. I hated bible school because I was allowed +absolutely no independence of action. We were required to attend +church services three times a day during the week, and five services +on Sunday. As I became more and more unhappy, I ate less and less; +in short order I wasn't eating at all. The school administration +became concerned after I had dropped about 30 pounds in two months, +notified my mother and sent me home. I returned to at-home +schooling. I also resumed eating. + +I fasted one other time for about a month when I was 21. It happened +because I had nothing to do while visiting my mother before +returning to University except help with housework and prepare +meals. The food available in the backwoods of central B.C. didn't +appeal to me because it was mostly canned vegetables, canned milk, +canned moose meat and bear meat stews with lots of gravy and greasy +potatoes. I decided to pass on it altogether. I remember rather +enjoying that time as a fine rest and I left feeling very good ready +to take on the world full force ahead. At that time I didn't know +there was such a thing as fasting, it just happened that way. + +After Elizabeth went on her way, I decided to experimentally fast +myself. I consumed only water for two weeks. But I must have had +counter intentions to this fast because I found myself frequently +having dreams about sugared plums, and egg omelets, etc. And I +didn't end up feeling much better after this fast was over (although +I didn't feel any worse either), because I foolishly broke the fast +with one of my dream omelets. And I knew better! Every book I'd ever +read on fasting stated how important it is to break a fast +gradually, eating only easy-to-digest foods for days or weeks before +resuming one's regular diet. + +From this experiment I painfully learned how important it is to +break a fast properly. Those eggs just didn't feel right, like I had +an indigestible stone in my belly. I felt very tired after the +omelet, not energized one bit by the food. I immediately cut back my +intake to raw fruits and vegetables while the eggs cleared out of my +system. After a few days on raw food I felt okay, but I never did +regain the shine I had achieved just before I resumed eating. + +This is one of the many fine things about fasting, it allows you to +get in much better communication with your own body, so that you can +hear it when it objects to something you're putting in it or doing +to it. It is not easy to acquire this degree of sensitivity to your +body unless you remove all food for a sufficiently long period; this +allows the body to get a word in edgewise that we are willing and +able to listen to. Even when we do hear the body protesting, we +frequently decide to turn a deaf ear, at least until the body starts +producing severe pain or some other symptom that we can't ignore. + +Within a few years after Elizabeth's cure I had handily repaired +quite a few mentally ill people in a harmless way no one had heard +of; many new people were knocking at my door wanting to be admitted +to my drug free, home-based treatment program. So many in fact that +my ability to accommodate them was overwhelmed. I decided that it +was necessary to move to a larger facility and we bought an old, +somewhat run-down estate that I called Great Oaks School of Health +because of the magnificent oak trees growing in the front yard. + +At Great Oaks initially I continued working with psychotics, +employing fasting as a tool, especially in those cases with obvious +food allergies as identified by Coca's Pulse Test, because it only +takes five days for a fasting body to eliminate all traces of an +allergic food substance and return to normal functioning. If the +person was so severely hypoglycemic that they were unable to +tolerate a water fast, an elimination diet (to be described in +detail later) was employed, while stringently avoiding all foods +usually found to be allergy producing. + +I also decided that if I was going to employ fasting as my primary +medicine, it was important for me to have a more intense personal +experience with it, because in the process of reviewing the +literature on fasting I saw that there were many different +approaches, each one staunchly defended by highly partisan +advocates. For example, the capital "N" Natural, capital "H" +Hygienists, such a Herbert Shelton, aggressively assert that only a +pure water fast can be called a fast. Sheltonites contend that juice +fasting as advocated by Paavo Airola, for example, is not a fast but +rather a modified diet without the benefits of real fasting. Colon +cleansing was another area of profound disagreement among the +authorities. Shelton strongly insisted that enemas and colonics +should not be employed; the juice advocates tend to strongly +recommend intestinal cleansing. + +To be able to intelligently take a position in this maze of conflict +I decided to first try every system on myself. It seems to me that +if I can be said to really own anything in this life it is my own +body, and I have the absolute right to experiment with it as long as +I'm not irresponsible about important things such as care of my +kids. I also feel strongly that it was unethical to ask anyone to do +anything that I was not willing or able to do myself. Just imagine +what would happen if all medical doctors applied this principal in +their practice of medicine, if all surgeons did it too! + +I set out to do a complete and fully rigorous water fast according +to the Natural Hygiene model--only pure water and bed rest (with no +colon cleansing) until hunger returns, something the hygienists all +assured me would happen when the body had completed its +detoxification process. The only aspect of a hygienic fast I could +not fulfill properly was the bed rest part; unfortunately I was in +sole charge of a busy holistic treatment center (and two little +girls); there were things I had to do, though I did my chores and +duties at a very slow pace with many rest periods. + +I water fasted for 42 days dropping from 135 pounds to 85 pounds on +a 5' 7" frame. At the end I looked like a Nazi concentration camp +victim. I tended to hide when people came to the door, because the +sight of all my bones scared them to death. Despite my assurances +visitors assumed I was trying to commit suicide. In any case I +persevered, watching my body change, observing my emotions, my +mental functioning, and my spiritual awareness. I thought, if Moses +could fast for 42 days so can I, even though the average length of a +full water fast to skeletal weight for a person that is not +overweight is more in the order of 30 days. I broke the fast with +small amounts of carrot juice diluted 50/50 with water and stayed on +that regimen for two more weeks. + +After I resumed eating solid food it took six weeks to regain enough +strength to be able to run the same distance in the same time I had +before fasting, and it took me about six months to regain my +previous weight. My eyes and skin had become exceptionally clear, +and some damaged areas of my body such as my twice-broken shoulder +had undergone considerable healing. I ate far smaller meals after +the fast, but food was so much more efficiently absorbed that I got +a lot more miles to the gallon from what I did eat. I also became +more aware when my body did not want me to eat something. After the +fast, if I ignored my body's protest and persisted, it would +immediately create some unpleasant sensation that quickly persuaded +me to curb my appetite. + +I later experimented with other approaches to fasting, with juice +fasts, with colon cleansing, and began to establish my own eclectic +approach to fasting and detoxification, using different types of +programs for different conditions and adjusting for psychological +tolerances. I'll have a lot more to say about fasting. + +After my own rigorous fasting experience I felt capable of +supervising extended fasts on very ill or very overweight people. +Great Oaks was gradually shifting from being a place that mentally +ill people came to regain their sanity to being a spa where anyone +who wanted to improve their health could come for a few days, some +weeks or even a few months. It had been my observation from the +beginning that the mentally ill people in my program also improved +remarkably in physical health; it was obvious that my method was +good for anyone. Even people with good health could feel better. + +By this time I'd also had enough of psychotic people anyway, and +longed for sane, responsible company. + +So people started to come to Great Oaks School of Health to rest up +from a demanding job, to drop some excess weight, and generally to +eliminate the adverse effects of destructive living and eating +habits. I also began to get cancer patients, ranging from those who +had just been diagnosed and did not wish to go the AMA-approved +medical route of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, to those with +well-advanced cancer who had been sent home to die after receiving +all of the above treatments and were now ready to give alternative +therapies a try since they expected to die anyway. I also had a few +people who were beyond help because their vital organs had been so +badly damaged that they knew they were dying, and they wanted to die +in peace without medical intervention, in a supportive hospice cared +for by people who could confront death. + +Great Oaks School was intentionally named a "school" of health +partially to deflect the attentions of the AMA. It is, after all, +entirely legal to teach about how to maintain health, about how to +prevent illness, and how to go about making yourself well once you +were sick. Education could not be called "practicing medicine +without a license." Great Oaks was also structured as a school +because I wanted to both learn and teach. Toward this end we started +putting out a holistic health newsletter and offering classes and +seminars to the public on various aspects of holistic health. From +the early 1970s through the early 1980s I invited a succession of +holistic specialists to reside at GOSH, or to teach at Great Oaks +while living elsewhere. These teachers not only provided a service +to the community, but they all became my teachers as well. I +apprenticed myself to each one in turn. + +There came and went a steady parade of alternative practitioners of +the healing arts and assorted forms of metapsychology: +acupuncturists, acupressurists, reflexologists, polarity therapists, +massage therapists, postural integrationists, Rolfers, Feldenkries +therapists, neurolinguistic programmers, biokinesiologists, +iridologists, psychic healers, laying on of handsers, past life +readers, crystal therapists, toning therapists in the person of +Patricia Sun, color therapy with lamps and different colored lenses +a la Stanley Bourroughs, Bach Flower therapists, aroma therapists, +herbalists, homeopaths, Tai Chi classes, yoga classes, Arica +classes, Guergieff and Ouspensky fourth-way study groups, EST +workshops, Zen Meditation classes. Refugee Lamas from Tibet gave +lectures on The Book of the Dead and led meditation and chanting +sessions, and we held communication classes using Scientology +techniques. There were anatomy and physiology classes, classes on +nutrition and the orthomolecular approach to treating mental +disorders (given by me of course); there were chiropractors teaching +adjustment techniques, even first aid classes. And we even had a few +medical doctors of the alternative ilk who were interested in life +style changes as an approach to maintaining health. + +Classes were also offered on colon health including herbs, clays, +enemas, and colonics. So many of my client at Great Oaks were +demanding colonics in conjunction with their cleansing programs, +that I took time out to go to Indio, Calif. to take a course in +colon therapy from a chiropractor, and purchase a state of the art +colonic machine featuring all the gauges, electric water solenoids +and stainless steel knobs one could ask for. + +During this period almost all alternative therapists and their +specialties were very interesting to me, but I found that most of +the approaches they advocated did not suit my personality. For +example, I think that acupuncture is a very useful tool, but I +personally did not want to use needles. Similarly I thought that +Rolfing was a very effective tool but I did not enjoy administering +that much pain, although a significant number of the clients really +wanted pain. Some of the techniques appealed to me in the beginning, +and I used them frequently with good results but over time I decided +to abandon them, mostly because of a desire to simplify and lighten +up my bag of tricks. + +Because of my enthusiasm and successes Great Oaks kept on growing. +Originally the estate served as both the offices of the Holt +Adoption Agency and the Holt family mansion. The Holt family had +consisted of Harry and Bertha Holt, six of their biological +children, and eight adopted Korean orphans. For this reason the ten +thousand square foot two story house had large common rooms, and +lots and lots of bedrooms. It was ideal for housing spa clients and +my own family. The adjoining Holt Adoption Agency office building +was also very large with a multitude of rooms. It became living +space for those helpers and hangers-on we came to refer to as +"community members." My first husband added even more to the +physical plant constructing a large, rustic gym and workshop. + +Many "alternative" people visited and then begged to stay on with +room and board provided in exchange for their work. A few of these +people made a significant contribution such as cooking, child care, +gardening, tending the ever-ravenous wood-fired boiler we used to +keep the huge concrete mansion heated, or doing general cleaning. +But the majority of the 'work exchangers' did not really understand +what work really was, or didn't have sufficient ethical presence to +uphold the principle of fair exchange, which is basically giving +something of equal value for getting something of value and, perhaps +more importantly, giving in exchange what is needed and asked for. + +I also found that community members, once in residence, were very +difficult to dislodge. My healing services were supporting far too +much dead wood. This was basically my own fault, my own poor +management. + +Still, I learned a great deal from all of this waste. First of all +it is not a genuine service to another human being to give them +something for nothing. If a fair exchange is expected and received, +positive ethical behavior is strengthened, allowing the individual +to maintain their self-respect. I also came to realize what an +important factor conducting one's life ethically is in the +individual healing process. Those patients who were out exchange in +their relationships with others in one or more areas of their life +frequently did not get well until they changed these behaviors. + +Toward the end of 1982, after providing a decade of services to a +great many clients, many of these in critical condition, I reached +to point where I was physically, mentally, and spiritually drained. +I needed a vacation desperately but no one, including my first +husband, could run Great Oaks in my absence much less cover the +heavy mortgage. So I decided to sell it. This decision stunned the +community members and shocked the clientele who had become dependent +on my services. I also got a divorce at this time. In fact I went +through quite a dramatic life change in many areas--true to pattern, +a classic mid-life crisis. All I kept from these years was my two +daughters, my life experiences, and far too many books from the +enormous Great Oaks library. + +These changes were however, necessary for my survival. Any person +who works with, yes, lives on a day-to-day basis with sick people +and who is constantly giving or outflowing must take time out to +refill their vessel so that they can give again. Failure to do this +can result in a serious loss of health, or death. Most healers are +empathic people who feel other peoples' pains and stresses and +sometimes have difficulty determining exactly what is their own +personal 'baggage' and what belongs to the clients. This is +especially difficult when the therapy involves a lot of 'hands on' +techniques. + +After leaving Great Oaks it took me a couple of years to rest up +enough to want to resume practicing again. This time, instead of +creating a substantial institution, Steve, my second husband and my +best friend, built a tiny office next to our family home. I had a +guest room that I would use for occasional residential patients. +Usually these were people I had known from Great Oaks days or were +people I particularly liked and wanted to help through a life +crisis. + +At the time I am writing this book over ten years have passed since +I sold Great Oaks. I continue to have an active outpatient practice, +preferring to protect the privacy of my home and family life since I +was remarried by limiting inpatients to a special few who required +more intensive care, and then, only one at a time, and then, with +long spells without a resident. + + + + + + +Chapter Two + +The Nature and Cause of Disease + + + + + +From The Hygienic Dictionary + +Toxemia. [1] "Toxemia is the basic cause of all so-called diseases. +In the process of tissue-building (metabolism), there is +cell-building (anabolism) and cell destruction (catabolism). The +broken-down tissue is toxic. In the healthy body (when nerve energy +is normal), this toxic material is eliminated from the blood as fast +as it is evolved. But when nerve energy is dissipated from any cause +(such as physical or mental excitement or bad habits) the body +becomes weakened or enervated. When the body is enervated, +elimination is checked. This, in turn, results in a retention of +toxins in the blood--the condition which we speak of as toxemia. +This state produces a crisis which is nothing more than heroic or +extraordinary efforts by the body to eliminate waste or toxin from +the blood. It is this crisis which we term disease. Such +accumulation of toxin when once established, will continue until +nerve energy has been restored to normal by removing the cause. +So-called disease is nature's effort to eliminate toxin from the +blood. All so-called diseases are crises of toxemia." _John H. +Tilden, M.D., Toxemia Explained._ [2] Toxins are divided into two +groups; namely exogenous, those formed in the alimentary canal from +fermentation and decomposition following imperfect or faulty +digestion. If the fermentation is of vegetables or fruit, the toxins +are irritating, stimulating and enervating, but not so dangerous or +destructive to organic life as putrefaction, which is a fermentation +set up in nitrogenous matter--protein-bearing foods, but +particularly animal foods. Endogenous toxins are autogenerated. They +are the waste products of metabolism. _Dr. John. H. Tilden, Impaired +Health: Its Cause and Cure, 1921._ + +Suppose a fast-growing city is having traffic jams. "We don't like +it!" protest the voters. "Why are these problems happening?" asks +the city council, trying to look like they are doing something about +it. + +Experts then proffer answers. "Because there are too many cars," +says the Get A Horse Society. The auto makers suggest it is because +there are uncoordinated traffic lights and because almost all the +businesses send their employees home at the same time. Easy to fix! +And no reason whatsoever to limit the number of cars. The asphalt +industry suggests it is because the size and amount of roads is +inadequate. + +What do we do then? Tax cars severely until few can afford them? +Legislate opening and closing hours of businesses to stagger to'ing +and fro'ing? Hire a smarter municipal highway engineer to +synchronize the traffic lights? Build larger and more efficient +streets? Demand that auto companies make cars smaller so more can +fit the existing roads? Tax gasoline prohibitively, pass out and +give away free bicycles in virtually unlimited quantities while +simultaneously building mass rail systems? What? Which? + +When we settle on a solution we have simultaneously chosen what we +consider the real, underlying cause of the problem. If our chosen +reason was the real reason. then our solution results in a real +cure. If we picked wrongly, our attempt at solution may result in no +cure, or create a worse situation than we had before. + +The American Medical Association style of medicine (a philosophy I +will henceforth call allopathic) has a model that explains the +causes of illness. It suggests that anyone who is sick is a victim. +Either they were attacked by a "bad" organism--virus, bacteria, +yeast, pollen, cancer cell, etc.--or they have a "bad" organ--liver, +kidney, gall bladder, even brain. Or, the victim may also have been +cursed by bad genes. In any case, the cause of the disease is not +the person and the person is neither responsible for creating their +own complaint nor is the victim capable of making it go away. This +institutionalized irresponsibility seems useful for both parties to +the illness, doctor and patient. The patient is not required to do +anything about their complaint except pay (a lot) and obediently +follow the instructions of the doctor, submitting unquestioningly to +their drugs and surgeries. The physician then acquires a role of +being considered vital to the survival of others and thus obtains +great status, prestige, authority, and financial remuneration. + +Perhaps because the sick person is seen to have been victimized, and +it is logically impossible to consider a victimizer as anything but +something evil, the physician's cure is often violent, +confrontational. Powerful poisons are used to rejigger body +chemistry or to arrest the multiplication of disease bacteria or to +suppress symptoms; if it is possible to sustain life without them, +"bad," poorly-functioning organs are cut out. + +I've had a lot of trouble with the medical profession. Over the +years doctors have made attempts to put me in jail and keep me in +fear. But they never stopped me. When I've had a client die there +has been an almost inevitable coroner's investigation, complete with +detectives and the sheriff. Fortunately, I practice in rural Oregon, +where the local people have a deeply-held belief in individual +liberty and where the authorities know they would have had a very +hard time finding a jury to convict me. Had I chosen to practice +with a high profile and had I located Great Oaks School of Health in +a major market area where the physicians were able to charge top +dollar, I probably would have spent years behind bars as did other +heroes of my profession such as Linda Hazzard and Royal Lee. + +So I have acquired an uncomplimentary attitude about medical +doctors, a viewpoint I am going to share with you ungently, despite +the fact that doing so will alienate some of my readers. But I do so +because most Americans are entirely enthralled by doctors, and this +doctor-god worship kills a lot of them. + +However, before I get started on the medicos, let me state that one +area exists where I do have fundamental admiration for allopathic +medicine. This is its handling of trauma. I agree that a body can +become the genuine victim of fast moving bullets. It can be +innocently cut, smashed, burned, crushed and broken. Trauma are not +diseases and modern medicine has become quite skilled at putting +traumatized bodies back together. Genetic abnormality may be another +undesirable physical condition that is beyond the purview of natural +medicine. However, the expression of contra-survival genetics can +often be controlled by nutrition. And the expression of poor +genetics often results from poor nutrition, and thus is similar to a +degenerative disease condition, and thus is well within the scope of +natural medicine. + +Today's suffering American public is firmly in the AMA's grip. +People have been effectively prevented from learning much about +medical alternatives, have been virtually brainwashed by clever +media management that portrays other medical models as dangerous +and/or ineffective. Legislation influenced by the allopathic +doctors' union, the American Medical Association, severely limits or +prohibits the practice of holistic health. People are repeatedly +directed by those with authority to an allopathic doctor whenever +they have a health problem, question or confusion. Other types of +healers are considered to be at best harmless as long as they +confine themselves to minor complaints; at worst, when naturopaths, +hygienists, or homeopaths seek to treat serious disease conditions +they are called quacks, accused of unlicensed practice of medicine +and if they persist or develop a broad, successful, high-profile and +(this is the very worst) profitable practice, they are frequently +jailed. + +Even licensed MDs are crushed by the authorities if they offer +non-standard treatments. So when anyone seeks an alternative health +approach it is usually because their complaint has already failed to +vanish after consulting a whole series of allopathic doctors. This +highly unfortunate kind of sufferer not only has a degenerative +condition to rectify, they may have been further damaged by harsh +medical treatments and additionally, they have a considerable amount +of brainwashing to overcome. + +The AMA has succeeded at making their influence over information and +media so pervasive that most people do not even realize that the +doctors' union is the source of their medical outlook. Whenever an +American complains of some malady, a concerned and honestly caring +friend will demand to know have they yet consulted a medical doctor. +Failure to do so on one's own behalf is considered highly +irresponsible. Concerned relatives of seriously ill adults who +decline standard medical therapy may, with a great show of +self-righteousness, have the sick person judged mentally incompetent +so that treatment can be forced upon them. When a parent fails to +seek standard medical treatment for their child, the adult may well +be found guilty of criminal negligence, raising the interesting +issue of who "owns" the child, the parents or the State. + +It is perfectly acceptable to die while under conventional medical +care. Happens all the time, in fact. But holistic alternatives are +represented as stupidly risky, especially for serious conditions +such as cancer. People with cancer see no choice but to do +chemotherapy, radiation, and radical surgery because this is the +current allopathic medical approach. On some level people may know +that these remedies are highly dangerous but they have been told by +their attending oncologist that violent therapies are their only +hope of survival, however poor that may be. If a cancer victim +doesn't proceed immediately with such treatment their official +prognosis becomes worse by the hour. Such scare tactics are common +amongst the medical profession, and they leave the recipient so +terrified that they meekly and obediently give up all +self-determinism, sign the liability waiver, and submit, no +questions asked. Many then die after suffering intensely from the +therapy, long before the so-called disease could have actually +caused their demise. I will later offer alternative and frequently +successful (but not guaranteed) approaches to treating cancer that +do not require the earliest-possible detection, surgery or poisons. + +If holistic practitioners were to apply painful treatments like +allopaths use, ones with such poor statistical outcomes like +allopaths use, there would most certainly be witch hunts and all +such irresponsible, greedy quacks would be safely imprisoned. I find +it highly ironic that for at least the past twenty five hundred +years the basic principle of good medicine has been that the +treatment must first do no harm. This is such an obvious truism that +even the AMA doctors pledge to do the same thing when they take the +Hippocratic Oath. Yet virtually every action taken by the allopath +is a conscious compromise between the potential harm of the therapy +and its potential benefit. + +In absolute contrast, if a person dies while on a natural hygiene +program, they died because their end was inevitable no matter what +therapy was attempted. Almost certainly receiving hygienic therapy +contributed to making their last days far more comfortable and +relatively freer of pain without using opiates. I have personally +taken on clients sent home to die after they had suffered everything +the doctors could do to them, told they had only a few days, weeks, +or months to live. Some of these clients survived as a result of +hygienic programs even at that late date. And some didn't. The +amazing thing was that any of them survived at all, because the best +time to begin a hygienic program is as early in the degenerative +process as possible, not after the body has been drastically +weakened by invasive and toxic treatments. Later on, I'll tell you +about some of these cases. + +Something I consider especially ironic is that when the patient of a +medical doctor dies, it is inevitably thought that the blessed +doctor did all that could be done; rarely is any blame laid. If the +physician was especially careless or stupid, their fault can only +result in a civil suit, covered by malpractice insurance. But let a +holistic practitioner treat a sick person and have that person +follow any of their suggestions or take any natural remedies and +have that person die or worsen and it instantly becomes the natural +doctor's fault. Great blame is placed and the practitioner faces +inquests, grand juries, manslaughter charges, jail time and civil +suits that can't be insured against. + +Allopathic medicine rarely makes a connection between the real +causes of a degenerative or infectious disease and its cure. The +causes are usually considered mysterious: we don't know why the +pancreas is acting up, etc. The sick are sympathized with as victims +who did nothing to contribute to their condition. The cure is a +highly technical battle against the illness, whose weapons are +defined in Latin and far beyond the understanding of a layperson. + +Hygienic medicine presents an opposite view. To the naturopath, +illness is not a perplexing and mysterious occurrence over which you +have no control or understanding. The causes of disease are clear +and simple, the sick person is rarely a victim of circumstance and +the cure is obvious and within the competence of a moderately +intelligent sick person themselves to understand and help +administer. In natural medicine, disease is a part of living that +you are responsible for, and quite capable of handling. + +Asserting that the sick are pitiable victims is financially +beneficial to doctors. It makes medical intervention seem a vital +necessity for every ache and pain. It makes the sick become +dependent. I'm not implying that most doctors knowingly are +conniving extortionists. Actually most medical doctors are genuinely +well-intentioned. I've also noticed that most medical doctors are at +heart very timid individuals who consider that possession of a MD +degree and license proves that they are very important, proves them +to be highly intelligent, even makes them fully qualified to +pontificate on many subjects not related to medicine at all. + +Doctors obtain an enormous sense of self-importance at medical +school, where they proudly endured the high pressure weeding out of +any free spirit unwilling to grind away into the night for seven or +more years. Anyone incapable of absorbing and regurgitating huge +amounts of rote information; anyone with a disrespectful or +irreverent attitude toward the senior doctor-gods who arrogantly +serve as med school professors, anyone like this was eliminated with +especial rapidity. When the thoroughly submissive, homogenized +survivors are finally licensed, they assume the status of junior +doctor-gods. + +But becoming an official medical deity doesn't permit one to create +their own methods. No no, the AMA's professional oversight and +control system makes continued possession of the license to practice +(and the high income that usually comes with it) entirely dependent +on continued conformity to what is defined by the AMA as "correct +practice." Any doctor who innovates beyond strict limits or uses +non-standard treatments is in real danger of losing their livelihood +and status. + +Not only are licensed graduates of AMA-sanctioned medical schools +kept on a very tight leash, doctors of other persuasions who use +other methods to heal the sick or help them heal themselves are +persecuted and prosecuted. Extension of the AMA's control through +regulatory law and police power is justified in the name of +preventing quackery and making sure the ignorant and gullible public +receives only scientifically proven effective medical care. + +Those on the other side of the fence view the AMA's oppression as an +effective way to make sure the public has no real choices but to use +union doctors, pay their high fees and suffer greatly by +misunderstanding of the true cause of disease and its proper cure. +If there are any actual villains responsible for this suppressive +tragedy some of them are to be found in the inner core of the AMA, +officials who may perhaps fully and consciously comprehend the +suppressive system they promulgate. + +Hygienists usually inform the patient quite clearly and directly +that the practitioner has no ability to heal them or cure their +condition and that no doctor of any type actually is able to heal. +Only the body can heal itself, something it is eager and usually +very able to do if only given the chance. One pithy old saying among +hygienists goes, "if the body can't heal itself, nothing can heal +it." The primary job of the hygienic practitioner is to reeducate +the patient by conducting them through their first natural healing +process. If this is done well the sick person learns how to get out +of their own body's way and permit its native healing power to +manifest. Unless later the victim of severe traumatic injury, never +again will that person need obscenely expensive medical procedures. +Hygienists rarely make six figure incomes from regular, repeat +business. + +This aspect of hygienic medicine makes it different than almost all +the others, even most other holistic methods. Hygiene is the only +system that does not interpose the assumed healing power of a doctor +between the patient and wellness. When I was younger and less +experienced I thought that the main reason traditional medical +practice did not stress the body's own healing power and represented +the doctor as a necessary intervention was for profit. But after +practicing for over twenty years I now understand that the last +thing most people want to hear is that their own habits, especially +their eating patterns and food choices, are responsible for their +disease and that their cure is to only be accomplished through +dietary reform, which means unremittingly applied self-discipline. + +One of the hardest things to ask of a person is to change a habit. +The reason that AMA doctors have most of the patients is they're +giving the patients exactly what they want, which is to be allowed +to continue in their unconscious irresponsibility. + +The Cause Of Disease + +Ever since natural medicine arose in opposition to the violence of +so-called scientific medicine, every book on the subject of hygiene, +once it gets past its obligatory introductions and warm ups, must +address The Cause of Disease. This is a required step because we see +the cause of disease and its consequent cure in a very different +manner than the allopath. Instead of many causes, we see one basic +reason why. Instead of many unrelated cures, we have basically one +approach to fix all ills that can be fixed. + +A beautiful fifty cent word that means a system for explaining +something is paradigm, pronounced para-dime. I am fond of this word +because it admits the possibility of many differing yet equally true +explanations for the same reality. Of all available paradigms, +Natural Hygiene suits me best and has been the one I've used for +most of my career. + +The Natural Hygienist's paradigm for the cause of both degenerative +and infectious disease is called the Theory of Toxemia, or +"self-poisoning." + +Before explaining this theory it will help many readers if I digress +a brief moment about the nature and validity of alternative +paradigms. Not too many decades ago, scientists thought that reality +was a singular, real, perpetual--that Natural Law existed much as a +tree or a rock existed. In physics, for example, the mechanics of +Newton were considered capital "T" True, the only possible paradigm. +Any other view, not being True, was False. There was capital "N" +natural capital "L" law. + +More recently, great uncertainty has entered science; it has become +indisputable that a theory or explanation of reality is only true +only to the degree it seems to work; conflicting or various +explanations can all work, all can be "true." At least, this +uncertainty has overtaken the hard, physical sciences. It has not +yet done so with medicine. The AMA is convinced (or is working hard +to convince everyone else) that its paradigm, the allopathic +approach, is Truth, is scientific, and therefore, anything else is +Falsehood, is irresponsibility, is a crime against the sick. + +But the actual worth or truth of any paradigm is found not in its +"reality," but in its utility. Does an explanation or theory allow a +person to manipulate experience and create a desired outcome. To the +extent a paradigm does that, it can be considered valuable. Judged +by this standard, the Theory of Toxemia must be far truer than the +hodgepodge of psuedoscience taught in medical schools. Keep that in +mind the next time some officious medical doctor disdainfully +informs you that Theory of Toxemia was disproven in 1927 by Doctors +Jeckel and Hyde. + +Why People Get Sick + +This is the Theory of Toxemia. A healthy body struggles continually +to purify itself of poisons that are inevitably produced while going +about its business of digesting food, moving about, and repairing +itself. The body is a marvelous creation, a carbon, oxygen +combustion machine, constantly burning fuel, disposing of the waste +products of combustion, and constantly rebuilding tissue by +replacing worn out, dead cells with new, fresh ones. Every seven +years virtually every cell in the body is replaced, some types of +cells having a faster turnover rate than others, which means that +over a seven year period several hundred pounds of dead cells must +be digested (autolyzed) and eliminated. All by itself this would be +a lot of waste disposal for the body to handle. Added to that waste +load are numerous mild poisons created during proper digestion. And +added to that can be an enormous burden of waste products created as +the body's attempts to digest the indigestible, or those tasty items +I've heard called "fun food." Add to that burden the ruinous effects +of just plain overeating. + +The waste products of digestion, of indigestion, of cellular +breakdown and the general metabolism are all poisonous to one degree +or another. Another word for this is toxic. If these toxins were +allowed to remain and accumulate in the body, it would poison itself +and die in agony. So the body has a processing system to eliminate +toxins. And when that system does break down the body does die in +agony, as from liver or kidney failure. + +The organs of detoxification remove things from the body's system, +but these two vital organs should not be confused with what +hygienists call the secondary organs of elimination, such as the +large intestine, lungs, bladder and the skin, because none of these +other eliminatory organs are supposed to purify the body of toxins. +But when the body is faced with toxemia, the secondary organs of +elimination are frequently pressed into this duty and the +consequences are the symptoms we call illness. + +The lungs are supposed to eliminate only carbon dioxide gas; not +self-generated toxic substances. The large intestine is supposed to +pass only insoluble food solids (and some nasty stuff dumped into +the small intestine by the liver). Skin eliminates in the form of +sweat (which contains mineral salts) to cool the body, but the skin +is not supposed to move toxins outside the system. But when toxins +are flowed out through secondary organs of elimination these areas +become inflamed, irritated, weakened. The results can be skin +irritations, sinusitis or a whole host of other "itises" depending +on the area involved, bacterial or viral infections, asthma. When +excess toxemia is deposited instead of eliminated, the results can +be arthritis if toxins are stored in joints, rheumatism if in muscle +tissues, cysts and benign tumors. And if toxins weaken the body's +immune response, cancer. + +The liver and the kidneys, the two heroic organs of detoxification, +are the most important ones; these jointly act as filters to purify +the blood. Hygienists pay a lot of attention to these organs, the +liver especially. + +In an ideal world, the liver and kidneys would keep up with their +job for 80 years or more before even beginning to tire. In this +ideal world, the food would of course, be very nutritious and free +of pesticide residues, the air and water would be pure, people would +not denature their food and turn it into junk. In this perfect world +everyone would get moderate exercise into old age, and live +virtually without stress. In this utopian vision, the average +healthy productive life span would approach a century, entirely +without using food supplements or vitamins. In this world doctors +would have next to no work other than repairing traumatic injuries, +because everyone would be healthy. But this is not the way it is. + +In our less-than-ideal world virtually everything we eat is +denatured, processed, fried, salted, sweetened, preserved; thus more +stress is placed on the liver and kidneys than nature designed them +to handle. Except for a few highly fortunate individuals blessed +with an incredible genetic endowment that permits them to live to +age 99 on moose meat, well-larded white flour biscuits, coffee with +evaporated milk and sugar, brandy and cigarettes (we've all heard of +someone like this), most peoples' liver and kidneys begin to break +down prematurely. Thus doctoring has become a financially rewarding +profession. + +Most people overburden their organs of elimination by eating +whatever they feel like eating whenever they feel like it. Or, they +irresponsibly eat whatever is served to them by a mother, wife, +institution or cook because doing so is easy or expected. Eating is +a very habitual and unconscious activity; frequently we continue to +eat as adults whatever our mother fed us as a child. I consider it +unsurprising that when people develop the very same disease +conditions as their parents. they wrongly assume the cause is +genetic inheritance, when actually it was just because they were +putting their feet under the same table as their parents. + +Toxemia also comes about from following the wrongheaded +recommendations of allopathic-inspired nutritional texts and +licensed dietitians. For example, people believe they should eat one +food from each of the four so-called basic food groups at each meal, +thinking they are doing the right thing for their health by having +four colors of food on every plate, when they really aren't. What +they have actually done is force their bodies to attempt the +digestion of indigestible food combinations, and the resulting +indigestion creates massive doses of toxins. I'll have a lot more to +say about that later when I discuss the art of food combining. + +Table 1: The Actual Food Groups + +Starches Proteins Fats Sugars Watery Vegetables +bread meats butter honey zucchini +potatoes eggs oils fruit green beans +noodles fish lard sugar tomatoes +manioc/yuca most nuts nuts molassas peppers +baked goods dry beans avocado malt syrup eggplant +grains nut butters maple syrup radish +winter squash split peas dried fruit rutabaga +parsnips lentils melons turnips +sweet potatoes soybeans carrot juice Brussels sprouts +yams tofu beet juice celery +taro root tempeh cauliflower +plantains wheat grass juice broccoli +beets "green" drinks okra + spirulina lettuce + algae endive + yeast cabbage + dairy carrots + +Standard dietitians divide our foods into four basic food groups +and recommend the ridiculous practice of mixing them at every meal. +This guarantees indigestion and lots of business for the medical +profession. This chart illustrates the actual food groups. It is +usually a poor practice to mix different foods from one group with +those from another. + +The Digestive Process + +After we have eaten our four-color meal--often we do this in a +hurry, without much chewing, under a lot of stress, or in the +presence of negative emotions--we give no thought to what becomes of +our food once it has been swallowed. We have been led to assume that +anything put in the mouth automatically gets digested flawlessly, is +efficiently absorbed into the body where it nourishes our cells, +with the waste products being eliminated completely by the large +intestine. This vision of efficiency may exist in the best cases but +for most there is many a slip between the table and the toilet. Most +bodies are not optimally efficient at performing all the required +functions, especially after years of poor living habits, stress, +fatigue, and aging. To the Natural Hygienist, most disease begins +and ends with our food; most of our healing efforts are focused on +improving the process of digestion. + +Digestion means chemically changing the foods we eat into substances +that can pass into the blood stream and circulate through the body +where nutrition is used for bodily functions. Our bodies use +nutritional substances for fuel, for repair and rebuilding, and to +conduct an incredibly complex biochemistry. Scientists are still +busily engaged in trying to understand the chemical mysteries of our +bodies. But as bewildering as the chemistry of life is, the +chemistry of digestion itself is actually a relatively simple +process, and one doctors have had a fairly good understanding of for +many decades. + +Though relatively straightforward, a lot can and does go wrong with +digestion. The body breaks down foods with a series of different +enzymes that are mixed with food at various points as it passes from +mouth to stomach to small intestine. An enzyme is a large, complex +molecule that has the ability to chemically change other large, +complex molecules without being changed itself. Digestive enzymes +perform relatively simple functions--breaking large molecules into +smaller parts that can dissolve in water. + +Digestion starts in the mouth when food is mixed with ptyalin, an +enzyme secreted by the salivary glands. Pylatin converts insoluble +starches into simple sugars. If the digestion of starchy foods is +impaired, the body is less able to extract the energy contained in +our foods, while far worse from the point of view of the genesis of +diseases, undigested starches pass through the stomach and into the +gut where they ferment and thereby create an additional toxic burden +for the liver to process. And fermenting starches also create gas. + +As we chew our food it gets mixed with saliva; as we continue to +chew the starches in the food are converted into sugar. There is a +very simple experiment you can conduct to prove to yourself how this +works. Get a plain piece of bread, no jam, no butter, plain, and +without swallowing it or allowing much of it to pass down the +throat, begin to chew it until it seems to literally dissolve. +Pylatin works fast in our mouths so you may be surprised at how +sweet the taste gets. As important as chewing is, I have only run +into about one client in a hundred that actually makes an effort to +consciously chew their food. + +Horace Fletcher, whose name has become synonymous with the +importance of chewing food well (Fletcherizing), ran an experiment +on a military population in Canada. He required half his +experimental group to chew thoroughly, and the other half to gulp +things down as usual. His study reports significant improvement in +the overall health and performance of the group that persistently +chewed. Fletcher's report recommended that every mouthful be chewed +50 times for half a minute before being swallowed. Try it, you might +be very surprised at what a beneficial effect such a simple change +in your approach to eating can make. Not only will you have less +intestinal gas, if overweight you will probably find yourself +getting smaller because your blood sugar will elevate quicker as you +are eating and thus your sense of hunger will go away sooner. If you +are very thin and have difficulty gaining weight you may find that +the pounds go on easier because chewing well makes your body more +capable of actually assimilating the calories you are consuming. + +A logical conclusion from this data is that anything that would +prevent or reduce chewing would be unhealthful. For example, food +eaten when too hot tends to be gulped down. The same tends to happen +when food is seasoned with fresh Jalapeno or habaneo peppers. +People with poor teeth should blend or mash starchy foods and then +gum them thoroughly to mix them with saliva. Keep in mind that even +so-called protein foods such as beans often contain large quantities +of starches and the starch portion of protein foods is also digested +in the mouth. + +Once the food is in the stomach, it is mixed with hydrochloric acid, +secreted by the stomach itself, and pepsin, an enzyme. Together +these break proteins down into water-soluble amino acids. To +accomplish this the stomach muscles agitate the food continuously, +somewhat like a washing machine. This extended churning forms a kind +of ball in the stomach called a bolis. + +Many things can and frequently do go wrong at this stage of the +digestive process. First, the stomach's very acid environment +inactivates pylatin, so any starch not converted to sugar in the +mouth does not get properly processed thereafter. And the most +dangerous misdigetion comes from the sad fact that cooked proteins +are relatively indigestible no matter how strong the constitution, +no matter how concentrated the stomach acid or how many enzymes +present. It is quite understandable to me that people do not wish to +accept this fact. After all, cooked proteins are so delicious, +especially cooked red meats and the harder, more flavorful fishes. + +To appreciate this, consider how those enzymes that digest proteins +work. A protein molecule is a large, complex string of amino acids, +each linked to the next in a specific order. Suppose there are only +six amino acids: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. So a particular (imaginary) +protein could be structured: 1, 4, 4, 6, 2, 3, 5, 4, 2, 3, 6, 1, 1, +2, 3, etc. Thus you should see that by combining a limited number of +amino acids there can be a virtually infinite number of proteins. + +But proteins are rarely water soluble. As I said a few paragraphs +back, digestion consists of rendering insoluble foods into +water-soluble substances so they can pass into the blood stream and +be used by the body's chemistry. To make them soluble, enzymes break +down the proteins, separating the individual amino acids one from +the other, because amino acids are soluble. Enzymes that digest +proteins work as though they are mirror images of a particular amino +acid. They fit against a particular amino acid like a key fits into +a lock. Then they break the bonds holding that amino acid to others +in the protein chain, and then, what I find so miraculous about this +process, the enzyme is capable of finding yet another amino acid to +free, and then yet another. + +So with sufficient churning in an acid environment, with enough time +(a few hours), and enough enzymes, all the recently eaten proteins +are decomposed into amino acids and these amino acids pass into the +blood where the body recombines them into structures it wants to +make. And we have health. But when protein chains are heated, the +protein structures are altered into physical shapes that the enzymes +can't "latch" on to. The perfect example of this is when an egg is +fried. The eggwhite is albumen, a kind of protein. When it is +heated, it shrivels up and gets hard. While raw and liquid, it is +easily digestable. When cooked, largely indigestable. + +Stress also inhibits the churning action in the stomach so that +otherwise digestible foods may not be mixed efficiently with +digestive enzymes. For all these reasons, undigested proteins may +pass into the gut. + +Along with undigested starches. When starches convert best to sugars +under the alkaline conditions found in the mouth. Once they pass +into the acid stomach starch digestion is not as efficient. If +starches reach the small intestine they are fermented by yeasts. The +products of starch fermentation are only mildly toxic. The gases +produced by yeast fermentations usually don't smell particularly +bad; bodies that regularly contain starch fermentation usually don't +smell particularly bad either. In otherwise healthy people it can +take many years of exposure to starch fermentation toxins to produce +a life-threatening disease. + +But undigested proteins aren't fermented by yeasts, they putrefy in +the gut (are attacked by anaerobic bacteria). Many of the waste +products of anaerobic putrefaction are highly toxic and evil +smelling; when these toxins are absorbed through the small or large +intestines they are very irritating to the mucous membranes, +frequently contributing to or causing cancer of the colon. Protein +putrefaction may even cause psychotic symptoms in some individuals. +Meat eaters often have a very unpleasant body odor even when they +are not releasing intestinal gasses. + +Adding a heavy toxic burden from misdigested foods to the normal +toxic load a body already has to handle creates a myriad of +unpleasant symptoms, and greatly shortens life. But misdigestion +also carries with it a double whammy; fermenting and/or putrefying +foods immediately interfere with the functioning of another vital +organ--the large intestine--and cause constipation. + +Most people don't know what the word constipation really means. Not +being able to move one's bowels is only the most elementary type of +constipation. A more accurate definition of constipation is "the +retention of waste products in the large intestine beyond the time +that is conducive to health." Properly digested food is not sticky +and exits the large intestine quickly. But improperly digested food +(or indigestible food) gradually coats the large intestine, making +an ever-thicker lining that interferes with the intestine's +functioning. Far worse, this coating steadily putrefies, creating +additional highly-potent toxins. Lining the colon with undigested +food can be compared to the mineral deposits filling in the inside +of an old water pipe, gradually choking off the flow. In the colon, +this deposit can become rock-hard, just like water pipe scale. + +Since the large intestine is also an organ that removes moisture and +water-soluble minerals from the food and moves them into the blood +stream, when the large intestine is lined with putrefying undigested +food waste, the toxins of this putrefaction are also steadily moved +into the bloodstream and place an even greater burden on the liver +and kidneys, accelerating their breakdown, accelerating the aging +process and contributing to a lot of interesting and unpleasant +symptoms that keep doctors busy and financially solvent. I'll have +quite a bit more to say about colon cleansing later. + +The Progress Of Disease: Irritation, Enervation, Toxemia + +Disease routinely lies at the end of a three-part chain that goes: +irritation or sub-clinical malnutrition, enervation, toxemia. +Irritations are something the person does to themselves or something +that happens around them. Stresses, in other words. + +Mental stressors include strong negative emotional states such as +anger, fear, resentment, hopelessness, etc. Behind most diseases it +is common to find a problematic mind churning in profound confusion, +one generated by a character that avoids responsibility. There may +also be job stress or ongoing hostile relationships, often within +the family. + +Indigestible foods and misdigestion are also stressful irritations, +as are mild recreational poisons such as "soft" drugs, tobacco and +alcohol. Opiates are somewhat more toxifying, primarily because they +paralyze the gut and induce profound constipation. Stimulants like +cocaine and amphetamines are the most damaging recreational drugs; +these are highly toxic and rapidly shorten life. + +Repeated irritations and/or malnutrition eventually produce +enervation. The old-time hygienists defined enervation as a lack of +or decline in an unmeasurable phenomena, "nerve energy." They viewed +the functioning of vital organs as being controlled by or driven by +nerve force, sometimes called life force or elan vital. +Whatever this vital force actually is, it can be observed and +subjectively measured by comparing one person with another. Some +people are full of it and literally sparkle with overflowing energy. +Beings like this make everyone around them feel good because they +somehow momentarily give energy to those endowed with less. Others +possess very little and dully plod through life. + +As vital force drops, the overall efficiency of all the body's +organs correspondingly decline. The pancreas creates less digestive +enzymes; the thymus secretes less of its vital hormones that +mobilize the immune system; the pituitary makes less growth hormone +so the overall repair and rebuilding of cells and tissues slows +correspondingly; and so forth. It does not really matter if there is +or is not something called nerve energy that can or cannot be +measured in a laboratory. Vital force is observable to many people. +However, it is measurable by laboratory test that after repeated +irritation the overall functioning of the essential organs and +glands does deteriorate. + +Enervation may develop so gradually that it progresses below the +level of awareness of the person, or times of increased enervation +can be experienced as a complaint--as a lack of energy, as +tiredness, as difficulties digesting, as a new inability to handle a +previously-tolerated insult like alcohol. + +Long-term consumption of poor-quality food causes enervation. The +body is a carbon/oxygen engine designed to run efficiently only on +highly nutritious food and this aspect of human genetic programming +cannot be changed significantly by adaptation. Given enough +generations a human gene pool can adapt to extracting its nutrition +from a different group of foods. For example, a group of isolated +Fijians currently enjoying long healthy lives eating a diet of +seafoods and tropical root crops could suddenly be moved to the +highlands of Switzerland and forced to eat the local fare or starve. +But most of the Fijians would not have systems adept at making those +enzymes necessary to digest cows milk. So the transplanted Fijians +would experience many generations of poorer health and shorter life +spans until their genes had been selected for adaptation to the new +dietary. Ultimately their descendants could become uniformly healthy +on rye bread and dairy products just like the highland Swiss were. + +However, modern industrial farming and processing of foodstuffs +significantly contributes to mass, widespread enervation in two +ways. Humans will probably adjust to the first; the second will, I'm +sure, prove insurmountable. First, industrially processed foods are +a recent invention and our bodies have not yet adapted to digesting +them. In a few more generations humans might be able to accomplish +that and public health could improve on factory food. In the +meanwhile, the health of humans has declined. Industrially farmed +foods have also been lowered in nutritional content compared to what +food could be. I gravely doubt if any biological organism can ever +adapt to an overall dietary that contains significantly lowered +levels of nutrition. I will explain this more fully in the chapter +on diet. + +Secondary Eliminations Are Disease + +However the exact form the chain from irritation or malnutrition to +enervation progresses, the ultimate result is an increased level of +toxemia, placing an eliminatory burden on the liver and kidneys in +excess of their ability. Eventually these organs begin to weaken. +Decline of liver and/or kidney function threatens the stability and +purity of blood chemistry. Rather than risk complete incapacitation +or death from self-poisoning, the overloaded, toxic body, guided by +its genetic predisposition and the nature of the toxins (what was +eaten, in what state of stress), cleverly channels surplus toxins +into its first line of defense--alternative or secondary elimination +systems. + +Most non-life-threatening yet highly annoying disease conditions +originate as secondary eliminations. For example, the skin was +designed to sweat, elimination of fluids. Toxemia is often pushed +out the sweat glands and is recognized as an unpleasant body odor. A +healthy, non-toxic body smells sweet and pleasant (like a newborn +baby's body) even after exercise when it has been sweating heavily. +Other skin-like organs such as the sinus tissues, were designed to +secrete small amounts of mucus for lubrication. The lungs eliminate +used air and the tissues are lubricated with mucus-like secretions +too. These secretions are types of eliminations, but are not +intended for the elimination of toxins. When toxins are discharged +in mucus through tissues not designed to handle them, the tissues +themselves become irritated, inflamed, weakened and thus much more +subject to bacterial or viral infection. Despite this danger, not +eliminating surplus toxins carries with it the greater penalty of +serious disability or death. Because of this liability, the body, in +its wisdom, initially chooses secondary elimination routes as far +from vital tissues and organs as possible. Almost inevitably the +skin or skin-like mucus membranes such as the sinuses, or lung +tissues become the first line of defense. + +Thus the average person's disease history begins with colds, flu, +sinusitis, bronchitis, chronic cough, asthma, rashes, acne, eczema, +psoriasis. If these secondary eliminations are suppressed with drugs +(either from the medical doctor or with over the counter remedies), +if the eating or lifestyle habits that created the toxemia are not +changed, or if the toxic load increases beyond the limits of this +technique, the body then begins to store toxins in fat or muscle +tissues or the joint cavities, overburdens the kidneys, creates +cysts, fibroids, and benign tumors to store those toxins. If toxic +overload continues over a longer time the body will eventually have +to permit damages to vital tissues, and life-threatening conditions +develop. + +Hygienic doctors always stress that disease is remedial effort. +Illness comes from the body's best attempt to lighten its toxic load +without immediately threatening its survival. The body always does +the very best it can to remedy toxemia given its circumstances, and +it should be commended for these efforts regardless of how +uncomfortable they might be to the person inhabiting the body. +Symptoms of secondary elimination are actually a positive thing +because they are the body's efforts to lessen a dangerously toxic +condition. Secondary eliminations shouldn't be treated immediately +with a drug to suppress the process. If you squelch the bodies best +and least-life-threatening method to eliminate toxins, the body will +ultimately have to resort to another more dangerous though probably +less immediately uncomfortable channel. + +The conventional medical model does not view disease this way and +sees the symptoms of secondary elimination as the disease itself. So +the conventional doctor takes steps to halt the body's remedial +efforts, thus stopping the undesirable symptom and then, the symptom +gone, proclaims the patient cured. Actually, the disease is the +cure. + +A common pattern of symptom suppression under the contemporary +medical model is this progression: treat colds with antihistamines +until the body gets influenza; suppress a flu repeatedly with +antibiotics and eventually you get pneumonia. Or, suppress eczema +with cortisone ointment repeatedly, and eventually you develop +kidney disease. Or, suppress asthma with bronkiodialators and +eventually you need cortisone to suppress it. Continue treating +asthma with steroids and you destroy the adrenals; now the body has +become allergic to virtually everything. + +The presence of toxins in an organ of secondary elimination is +frequently the cause of infection. Sinuses and lungs, inflamed by +secondary eliminations, are attacked by viruses or bacteria; +infectious diseases of the skin result from pushing toxins out of +the skin. More generalized infections also result from toxemia; in +this case the immune system has become compromised and the body is +overwhelmed by an organism that it normally should be able to resist +easily. The wise cure of infections is not to use antibiotics to +suppress the bacteria while simultaneously whipping the immune +system; most people, including most medical doctors, do not realize +that antibiotics also goose the immune system into super efforts. +But when one chooses to whip a tired horse, eventually the exhausted +animal collapses and cannot rise again no matter how vigorously it +is beaten. The wise cure is to detoxify the body, a step that +simultaneously eliminates secondary eliminations and rebuilds the +immune system. + +The wise way to deal with the body's eliminative efforts is to +accept that disease is an opportunity to pay the piper for past +indiscretions. You should go to bed, rest, and drink nothing but +water or dilute juice until the condition has passed. This allows +the body to conserve its vital energy, direct this energy toward +healing the disordered body part, and catch up on its waste +disposal. In this way you can help your body, be in harmony with its +efforts instead of working against it which is what most people do. + +Please forgive another semi-political polemic here, but in my +practice I have often been amazed to hear my clients complain that +they have not the time nor the ability to be patient with their +body, to rest it through an illness because they have a job they +can't afford to miss or responsibilities they can't put down. This +is a sad commentary on the supposed wealth and prosperity of the +United States. In our country most people are enslaved by their +debts, incurred because they had been enthralled by the illusion of +happiness secured by the possession of material things. Debt slaves +believe they cannot miss a week of work. People who feel they can't +afford to be sick think they can afford to live on pills. So people +push through their symptoms by sheer grit for years on end, and keep +that up until their exhausted horse of a body breaks down totally +and they find themselves in the hospital running up bills to the +tune of several thousand dollars a day. But these very same people +do not think they can afford the loss of a few hundred dollars of +current income undertaking some virtually harmless preventative +maintenance on their bodies. + +Given half a chance the body will throw off toxic overburdens and +cleanse itself. And once the body has been cleansed of toxemia, +disagreeable symptoms usually cease. This means that to make +relatively mild but unwanted symptoms lessen and ultimately stop it +is merely necessary to temporarily cut back food intake, eating only +what does not cause toxemia. These foods I classify as cleansing, +such as raw fruits and vegetables and their juices. If the symptoms +are extreme, are perceived as overwhelming or are actually +life-threatening, detoxification can be speeded up by dropping back +to only dilute raw juices or vegetable broth made only from greens, +without eating the solids. In the most extreme cases hygienists use +their most powerful medicine: a long fast on herb teas, or just +water. I will have a lot to say about fasting, later. + +When acutely ill, the most important thing to do is to just get out +of the body's way, and let it heal itself. In our ignorance we are +usually our own worst enemy in this regard. We have been very +successfully conditioned to think that all symptoms are bad. But I +know from experience that people can and do learn a new way of +viewing the body, an understanding that puts them at cause over +their own body. It allows you to be empowered in one more area of +life instead of being dependent and at the mercy of other peoples +decisions about your body. + +Finally, and this is why natural medicine is doubly unpopular, to +prevent the recurrence of toxemia and acute disease states, person +must discover what they are doing wrong and change their life. Often +as not this means elimination of the person's favorite +(indigestible) foods and/or (stress-producing) bad habits. +Naturally, I will have a lot more to say about this later, too. + + + + + + +Chapter Three + +Fasting + + + + + +From The Hygienic Dictionary + +Cure. [1] There is no "cure" for disease; fasting is not a cure. +Fasting facilitates natural healing processes. Foods do not cure. +Until we have discarded our faith in cures, there can be no +intelligent approach to the problems presented by suffering and no +proper use of foods by those who are ill. _Herbert Shelton, The +Hygienic System, v. 3, Fasting and Sunbathing._ [2] All cure starts +from within out and from the head down and in reverse order as the +symptoms have appeared._ Hering's Law of Cure._ [3] Life is made up +of crises. The individual establishes a standard of health +peculiarly his own, which must vary from all other standards as +greatly as his personality varies from others. The individual +standard may be such as to favor the development of indigestion, +catarrh, gout, rheumatic and glandular inflammations, tubercular +developments, congestions, sluggish secretions and excretions, or +inhibitions of various functions, both mental and physical, wherever +the environmental or habit strain is greater than usual. The +standard of resistance may be opposed so strenuously by habits and +unusual physical agencies--that the body breaks down under the +strain. This is a crisis. Appetite fails, discomfort or pain forces +rest, and, as a result of physiological rest (fasting) and physical +rest (rest from daily work and habits), a readjustment takes place, +and the patient is "cured." This is what the profession and the +people call a cure, and it is for the time being--until an unusual +enervation is brought on from accident or dissipation; then another +crisis. These crises are the ordinary sickness of all communities-- +all catalogued diseases. When the cold is gone or the hay-fever +fully relieved, it does not mean the patient is cured. Indeed, he +is as much diseased as before he suffered the attack--the +crisis--and he never will be cured until the habits of life that keep +up toxin poisoning are corrected. To recover from a crisis is not a +cure; the tendency is back to the individual standard; hence all +crises are self-limited, unless nature by maltreatment is prevented +from reacting. All so-called healing systems ride to glory on the +backs of self-limited crises, and the self-deluded doctors and their +credulous clients, believe, when the crises are past, that a cure +has been wrought, whereas the real truth is that the treatment may +have delayed reaction. This is largely true of anything that has +been done except rest. A cure consists in changing the manner of +living to such a rational standard that full resistance and a +balanced metabolism is established. I suppose it is not quite human +to expect those of a standardized school of healing to give +utterance to discovered truth which, if accepted by the people, +would rob them of the glory of being curers of disease. Indeed, +nature, and nature only, cures; and as for crises, they come and go, +whether or not there is a doctor or healer within a thousand miles. +_Dr. John. H. Tilden, Impaired Health: Its Cause and Cure, 1921._ + +The accelerated healing process that occurs during fasting can +scarcely be believed by a person who has not fasted. No matter how +gifted the writer, the experiential reality of fasting cannot be +communicated. The great novelist Upton Sinclair wrote a book about +fasting and it failed to convince the multitudes. But once a person +has fasted long enough to be certain of what their own body can do +to fix itself, they acquire a degree of independence little known +today. Many of those experienced with fasting no longer dread being +without health insurance and feel far less need for a doctor or of +having a regular checkup. They know with certainty that if something +degenerates in their body, their own body can fix it by itself. + +Like Upton Sinclair and many others who largely failed before me, I +am going to try to convince you of the virtues of fasting by urging +you to try fasting yourself. If you will but try you will be changed +for the better for the rest of your life. If you do not try, you +will never Know. + +To prompt your first step on this health-freedom road, I ask you to +please carefully consider the importance of this fact: the body's +routine energy budget includes a very large allocation for the daily +digestion and assimilation of the food you eat. You may find my +estimate surprising, but about one-third of a fairly sedentary +person's entire energy consumption goes into food processing. Other +uses for the body's energy include the creation or rebuilding of +tissues, detoxification, moving (walking, running, etc.), talking, +producing hormones, etc. Digestion is one aspect of the body's +efforts that we can readily control, it is the key to having or +losing health. + +The Effort Of Digestion + +Digestion is a huge, unappreciated task, unappreciated because few +of us are aware of its happening in the same way we are aware of +making efforts to use our voluntary muscles when working or +exercising. Digestion begins in the mouth with thorough chewing. If +you don't think chewing is effort, try making coleslaw in your own +mouth. Chew up at least half a big head of cabbage and three big +carrots that have not been shredded. Grind each bit until it +liquefies and has been thoroughly mixed with saliva. I guarantee +that if you even finish the chore your jaw will be tired and you +will have lost all desire to eat anything else, especially if it +requires chewing. + +Making the saliva you just used while chewing the cabbage is by +itself, a huge and unappreciated chemical effort. + +Once in the stomach, chewed food has to be churned in order to mix +it with hydrochloric acid, pepsin, and other digestive enzymes. +Manufacturing these enzymes is also considerable work! Churning is +even harder work than chewing but normally, people are unaware of +its happening. While the stomach is churning (like a washing +machine) a large portion of the blood supply is redirected from the +muscles in the extremities to the stomach and intestines to aid in +this process. Anyone who has tried to go for a run, or take part in +any other strenuous physical activity immediately after a large meal +feels like a slug and wonders why they just can't make their legs +move the way they usually do. So, to assist the body while it is +digesting, it is wise to take a siesta as los Latinos do instead of +expecting the blood to be two places at once like los +norteamericanos. + +After the stomach is through churning, the partially digested food +is moved into the small intestine where it is mixed with more +pancreatin secreted by the pancreas, and with bile from the gall +bladder. Pancreatin further solubilizes proteins. Bile aids in the +digestion of fatty foods. Manufacturing bile and pancreatic enzymes +is also a lot of effort. Only after the carbohydrates (starches and +sugars), proteins and fats have been broken down into simpler water +soluble food units such as simple sugars, amino acids and fatty +acids, can the body pass these nutrients into the blood thorough the +little projections in the small intestines called villi. + +The leftovers, elements of the food that can't be solubilized plus +some remaining liquids, are passed into the large intestine. There, +water and the vital mineral salts dissolved in that water, are +extracted and absorbed into the blood stream through thin permeable +membranes. Mucous is also secreted in the large intestine to +facilitate passage of the dryish remains. This is an effort. +(Intestinal mucous can become a route of secondary elimination, +especially during fasting. While fasting, it is essential to take +steps to expel toxic mucous in the colon before the poisons are re +adsorbed.) The final residue, now called fecal matter, is squeezed +along the length of the large intestines and passes out the rectum. + +If all the digestive processes have been efficient there now are an +abundance of soluble nutrients for the blood stream to distribute to +hungry cells throughout the body. It is important to understand the +process at least on the level of oversimplification just presented +in order to begin to understand better how health is lost or +regained through eating, digestion, and elimination. And most +importantly, through not eating. + +How Fasting Heals + +Its an old hygienic maxim that the doctor does not heal, the +medicines do not heal, only the body heals itself. If the body can't +heal then nothing can heal it. The body always knows best what it +needs and what to do. + +But healing means repairing damaged organs and tissues and this +takes energy, while a sick body is already enervated, weakened and +not coping with its current stressors. If the sick person could but +somehow increase the body's energy resources sufficiently, then a +slowly healing body could heal faster while a worsening one, or one +that was failing or one that was not getting better might heal. + +Fasting does just that. To whatever degree food intake is reduced +the body's digestive workload is proportionately reduced and it will +naturally, and far more intelligently than any physician could +order, redirect energy to wherever it decides that energy is most +needed. A fasting body begins accessing nutritional reserves +(vitamins and minerals) previously stored in the tissues and starts +converting body fat into sugar for energy fuel. During a time of +water fasting, sustaining the body's entire energy and nutritional +needs from reserves and fat does require a small effort, but far +less effort than eating. I would guess a fasting body used about +five percent of its normal daily energy budget on nutritional +concerns rather than the 33 percent it needs to process new food. +Thus, water fasting puts something like 28 percent more energy at +the body's disposal. This is true even though the water faster may +feel weak, energyless. + +I would worry if sick or toxic fasters did not complain about their +weakness. They should expect to feel energyless. In fact, the more +internal healing and detoxification the body requires, the tireder +the faster feels because the body is very hard at work internally. A +great deal of the body's energy will go toward boosting the immune +system if the problem is an infection. Liberated energy can also be +used for healing damaged parts, rebuilding failing organs, for +breaking down and eliminating deposits of toxic materials. Only +after most of the healing has occurred does a faster begin to feel +energetic again. Don't expect to feel anything but tired and weak. + +The only exception to this would be a person who has already +significantly detoxified and healed their body by previous fasting, +or the rare soul that has gone from birth through adulthood enjoying +extraordinarily good nutrition and without experiencing the +stressors of improper digestion. When one experienced faster I know +finds himself getting "run down" or catching a cold, he quits eating +until he feels really well. Instead of feeling weak as most fasters +do, as each of the first four or five days of water fasting pass, he +experiences a resurgence of more and more energy. On the first +fasting day he would usually feel rotten, which was why he started +fasting in the first place. On the second fasting day he'd feel more +alert and catch up on his paper work. By his third day on only water +he would be out doing hard physical chores like cutting the grass, +splitting wood or weeding his vegetable garden. Day four would also +be an energetic one, but if the fast extended beyond that, lowering +blood sugar would begin to make him tired and he'd feel forced to +begin laying down. + +After a day of water fasting the average person's blood sugar level +naturally drops; making a faster feel somewhat tired and "spacey," +so a typical faster usually begins to spend much more time resting, +further reducing the amount of energy being expended on moving the +body around, serendipitously redirecting even more of the body's +energy budget toward healing. By the end of five or six days on +water, I estimate that from 40 to 50 percent of the body's available +energy is being used for healing, repair and detoxification. + +The amount of work that a fasting body's own healing energy can do +and what it feels like to be there when it is happening is +incredible. But you can't know it if you haven't felt it. So hardly +anyone in our present culture knows. + +As I mentioned in the first chapter, at Great Oaks School I +apprenticed myself to the traveling masters of virtually every +system of natural healing that existed during the '70s. I observed +every one of them at work and tried most of them on my clients. +After all that I can say with experience that I am not aware of any +other healing tool that can be so effective as the fast. + +Essentials of a Successful, Safe Fast + +1. Fast in a bright airy room, with exceptionally good ventilation, +because fasters not only need a lot of fresh air; their bodies give +off powerfully offensive odors. 2. Sun bathe if possible in warm +climates for 10 to 20 minutes in the morning before the sun gets too +strong. 3. Scrub/massage the skin with a dry brush, stroking toward +the heart, followed by a warm water shower two to four times a day +to assist the skin in eliminating toxins. If you are too weak to do +this, have an assisted bed bath. 4. Have two enemas daily for the +first week of a fast and then once daily until the fast is +terminated. 5. Insure a harmonious environment with supportive +people or else fast alone if you are experienced. Avoid well-meaning +interference or anxious criticism at all cost. The faster becomes +hypersensitive to others' emotions. 6. Rest profoundly except for a +short walk of about 200 yards morning and night. 7. Drink water! At +least three quarts every day. Do not allow yourself to become +dehydrated! 8. Control yourself! Break a long fast on diluted +non-sweet fruit juice such as grapefruit juice, sipped a teaspoon at +a time, no more than eight ounces at a time no oftener than every 2 +or 3 hours. The second day you eat, add small quantities of fresh +juicy fruit to the same amount of juice you took the day before no +oftener than every 3 hours. By small quantities I mean half an apple +or the equivalent. On the third day of eating, add small quantities +of vegetable juice and juicy vegetables such as tomatoes and +cucumbers. Control yourself! The second week after eating resumed +add complex vegetable salads plus more complex fruit salads. Do not +mix fruit and vegetables at meals. The third week add raw nuts and +seeds no more than 1/2 ounce three times daily. Add 1/4 avocado +daily. Fourth week increase to 3 ounces of raw soaked nuts and seeds +daily and 1/2 avocado daily. Cooked grains may also be added, along +with steamed vegetables and vegetable soups. + +The Prime Rules Of Fasting + +Another truism of natural hygiene is that we dig our own graves with +our teeth. It is sad but true that almost all eat too much quantity +of too little quality. Dietary excesses are the main cause of death +in North America. Fasting balances these excesses. If people were to +eat a perfect diet and not overeat, fasting would rarely be +necessary. + +There are two essential rules of fasting. If these rules are ignored +or broken, fasting itself can be life threatening. But if the rules +are followed, fasting presents far less risk than any other +important medical procedure with a far greater likelihood of a +positive outcome. And let me stress here, there is no medical +procedure without risk. Life itself is fraught with risk, it is a +one-way ticket from birth to death, with no certainty as to when the +end of the line will be reached. But in my opinion, when handling +degenerative illness and infections, natural hygiene and fasting +usually offer the best hope of healing with the least possible risk. + +The first vital concern is the duration of the fast. Two eliminatory +processes go on simultaneously while fasting. One is the dissolving +and elimination of the excess, toxic or dysfunctional deposits in +the body, and second process, the gradual exhaustion of the body's +stored nutritional reserves. The fasting body first consumes those +parts of the body that are unhealthy; eventually these are all gone. +Simultaneously the body uses up stored fat and other reserve +nutritional elements. A well-fed reasonably healthy body usually has +enough stored nutrition to fast for quite a bit longer than it takes +to "clean house." + +While house cleaning is going on the body uses its reserves to +rebuild organs and rejuvenate itself. Rebuilding starts out very +slowly but the repairs increase at an ever-accelerating rate. The +"overhaul" can last only until the body has no more reserves. +Because several weeks of fasting must pass by before the "overhaul" +gets going full speed, it is wise to continue fasting as long as +possible so as to benefit from as much rejuvenation as possible. + +It is best not to end the fast before all toxic or dysfunctional +deposits are eliminated, or before the infection is overcome, or +before the cause for complaint has been healed. The fast must be +ended when most of the body's essential-to-life stored nutritional +reserves are exhausted. If the fast goes beyond this point, +starvation begins. Then, fasting-induced organic damage can occur, +and death can follow, usually several weeks later. Almost anyone not +immediately close to death has enough stored nutrition to water fast +for ten days to two weeks. Most reasonably healthy people have +sufficient reserves to water fast for a month. Later I will explain +how a faster can somewhat resupply their nutritional reserves while +continuing to fast, and thus safely extend the fasting period. + +The second essential concern has to do with adjusting the intensity +of the fast. Some individuals are so toxic that the waste products +released during a fast are too strong, too concentrated or too +poisonous for the organs of elimination to handle safely, or to be +handled within the willingness of the faster to tolerate the +discomforts that toxic releases generate. The highly-toxic faster +may even experience life-threatening symptoms such as violent asthma +attacks. This kind of faster has almost certainly been dangerously +ill before the fast began. Others, though not dangerously sick prior +to fasting, may be nearly as toxic and though not in danger of +death, they may not be willing to tolerate the degree of discomfort +fasting can trigger. For this reason I recommend that if at all +possible, before undertaking a fast the person eat mostly raw foods +for two months and clean up all addictions. This will give the body +a chance to detoxify significantly before the water fast is started, +and will make water fasting much more comfortable. Seriously, +dangerously ill people should only fast with experienced guidance, +so the rapidity of their detoxification process may be adjusted to a +lower level if necessary. + +A fast of only one week can accomplish a significant amount of +healing. Slight healing does occur on shorter fasts, but it is much +more difficult to see or feel the results. Many people experience +rapid relief from acute headache pain or digestive distress such as +gas attacks, mild gallbladder pain, stomach aches, etc., after only +one day's abstention from food. In one week of fasting a person can +relieve more dangerous conditions such as arthritic pain, +rheumatism, kidney pain, and many symptoms associated with allergic +reactions. But even more fasting time is generally needed for the +body to completely heal serious diseases. That's because eliminating +life-threatening problems usually involve rebuilding organs that +aren't functioning too well. Major rebuilding begins only after +major detoxification has been accomplished, and this takes time. + +Yes, even lost organ function can be partially or completely +restored by fasting. Aging and age-related degeneration is +progressive, diminishing organ functioning. Organs that make +digestive enzymes secrete less enzymes. The degenerated immune +system loses the ability to mobilize as effectively when the body is +attacked. Liver and kidney efficiency declines. The adrenals tire, +becoming incapable of dumping massive amounts of stress-handling +hormones or of repeating that effort time after time without +considerable rest in between. The consequences of these +inter-dependent deterioration's is a cascade of deterioration that +contributes to even more rapid deterioration's. The name for this +cascading process is aging. Its inevitable result--death. + +Fasting can, to a degree, reverse aging. Because fasting improves +organ functioning, it can slow down aging. + +Fasters are often surprised that intensified healing can be +uncomfortable. They have been programmed by our culture and by +allopathic doctors to think that if they are doing the right thing +for their bodies they should feel better immediately. I wish it +weren't so, but most people have to pay the piper for their dietary +indiscretions and other errors in living. There will be aches and +minor pains and uncomfortable sensations. More about that later. A +rare faster does feel immediately better, and continues to feel ever +better by the day, and even has incredible energy while eating +nothing, but the majority of us folks just have to tough it out, +keeping in mind that the way out is the way through. It is important +to remind yourself at times that even with some discomfort and +considering the inconvenience of fasting that you are getting off +easy--one month of self-denial pays for those years of indulgence and +buys a regenerated body. + +Length Of The Fast + +How long should a person fast? In cases where there are serious +complaints to remedy but where there are no life threatening disease +conditions, a good rule of thumb is to fast on water for one +complete day (24 hours) for each year that the person has lived. If +you are 30 years old, it will take 30 consecutive days of fasting to +restore complete health. However, thirty fasting days, done a few +days here and a few there won't equal a month of steady fasting; the +body accomplishes enormously more in 7 or l4 days of consecutive +fasting, than 7 or 14 days of fasting accumulated sporadically, such +as one day a week. This is not to say that regular short fasts are +not useful medicine. Periodic day-long fasts have been incorporated +into many religious traditions, and for good reason; it gives the +body one day a week to rest, to be free of digestive obligations, +and to catch up on garbage disposal. I heartily recommend it. But it +takes many years of unfailingly regular brief fasting to equal the +benefits of one, intensive experience. + +Fasting on water much longer than fifteen consecutive days may be +dangerous for the very sick, (unless under experienced supervision) +or too intense for those who are not motivated by severe illness to +withstand the discomfort and boredom. However, it is possible to +finish a healing process initiated by one long water fast by +repeating the fast later. My husband's healing is a good example of +this. His health began to noticeably decline about age 38 and he +started fasting. He fasted on water 14 to 18 days at a time, once a +year, for five consecutive years before most of his complaints and +problems entirely vanished. + +The longest fast I ever supervised was a 90 day water fast on an +extraordinarily obese woman, who at 5' 2" weighed close to 400 +pounds. She was a Mormon; generally members of the LDS Church eat a +healthier diet than most Americans, but her's included far too much +of what I call "healthfood junkfood," in the form of whole grain +cakes and cookies, lots of granola made with lots of honey, oil, and +dried fruit, lots of honey heaped atop heavily buttered whole grain +bread. (I will explain more about the trap of healthfood junkfood +later on.) A whole foods relatively meatless diet is far superior to +its refined white flour, white sugar and white grease (lard) +counterpart, but it still produced a serious heath problem in just +30 years of life. Like many women, she expressed love-for-family in +the kitchen by serving too-much too-tasty food. The Mormons have a +very strong family orientation and this lady was no exception, but +she was insecure and unhappy in her marriage and sought consolation +in food, eaten far in excess of what her body needed. + +On her 90 day water fast she lost about 150 pounds, but was still +grossly overweight when the fast ended. Toward the end it became +clear that it was unrealistic to try to shrink this woman any closer +to normal body weight because to her, fat represented an invaluable +insulation or buffer that she was not prepared to give up. As the +weight melted away on the fast and she was able to actually feel the +outline of a hip bone her neurosis became more and more apparent, +and the ability to feel a part of her skeleton was so upsetting to +her that her choice was between life threatening obesity and +pervasive anxiety. + +Her weight was still excessive but the solace of eating was even +more important. This woman needed intensive counseling not more +fasting. Unfortunately, at the end she choose to remain obese. Fat +was much less frightening to her than confronting her emotions and +fears. The positive side was that after the fast she was able to +maintain her weight at 225 instead of 375 which was an enormous +relief to her exhausted heart. + +Another client I fasted for 90 days was a 6' 1" tall, chronic +schizophrenic man who weighed in at 400 pounds. He was so big he +could barely get through my front door, and mine was an +extraordinarily wide door in what had been an upper-class mansion. +This man, now in his mid twenties, had spent his last seven years in +a mental institution before his parents decided to give him one last +chance by sending to Great Oaks School. The state mental hospitals +at that time provided the mentally ill with cigarettes, coffee, and +lots of sugary treats, but none of these substances were part of my +treatment program so he had a lot of immediate withdrawal to go +through. The quickest and easiest way to get him through it was to +put him on a water fast after a few days of preparation on raw food. + +This was not an easily managed case! He was wildly psychotic, on +heavy doses of chloropromazine, with many bizarre behaviors. Besides +talking to himself continuously in gibberish, he collected bugs, +moss, sticks, piles or dirt, and switched to smoking oak leaves +instead of cigarettes. He was such a fire hazard that I had to move +him to a downstairs room with concrete floor. Even in the basement +he was a fire hazard with his smoking and piles of sticks and other +inflammables next to his bed, but all of this debris was his +"precious." I knew that I was in for trouble if I disturbed his +precious, but the insects and dirt piles seemed to be expanding +exponentially. + +One day the dirt exceeded my tolerance level. To make a long story +short he caught me in the act of cleaning up his precious. Was he +furious! All 350 pounds of him! (By this time he had lost 50 +pounds.) He barreled into me, fists flying, and knocked me into the +pipes next to the furnace and seemed ready to really teach me what +was what. I prefer to avoid fights, but if they are inevitable, I +can really get into the spirit of the thing. I'd had lots of +childhood practice defending myself because I was an incurable +tomboy who loved to wrestle; I could usually pin big boys who +considered themselves tough. So I began using my fists and what +little martial arts training I had to good use. After I hurt him a +bit he realized that I was not going to be easily intimidated, and +that in fact he was in danger of getting seriously damaged. So he +called a truce before either of us were badly beaten up. He had only +a few bruises and welts, nothing serious. + +After that he refrained from collecting things inside the building +(he continued to collect outside). This compromise was fine with me, +and the incident allowed me to maintain the authority I needed to +bully him into co-operating with the program: taking his vitamins, +and sticking to his fast until he finally reached 200 pounds. After +90 days on water he actually looked quite handsome, he no longer +smoked, he was off psychotropic medication, and his behaviors were +within an acceptable range as long as your expectations were not too +high. + +He was well enough to live outside a hospital and also clear-headed +enough to know that if he let too many people know how well he +really was, he might have to give up his mental disability pension +and actually become responsible for himself. No way, Jose! This +fellow knew a good thing when he saw it. So he continued to pull +bizarre stunts just often enough in front of the right audience to +keep his disability checks coming in, while managing to act sane +enough to be allowed to live comfortably at home instead of in the +hospital. By keeping to my program he could stay off mind-numbing +psychotropic medication if he kept up his megavitamins and minerals. +This compromise was tolerable from his point of view, because there +were no side effects like he experienced from his tranquilizers. + +It is very rare for a mentally ill person who has spent more than a +few months in a mental hospital to ever usefully return to society +because they find "mental illness" too rewarding. + +My Own 56 Day Long Fast + +Fasters go through a lot of different emotional states, these can +get intense and do change quite rapidly. The physical body, too, +will manifest transitory conditions. Some can be quite +uncomfortable. But, I don't want to leave the reader with the +impression that fasting is inevitably painful. So I will now recount +my own longest fast in detail. + +When I did my own 42 day water fast followed by two weeks on carrot +juice diluted 50/50 with water, which really amounted to 56 +consecutive days, my predominant sensation for the first three days +was a desire to eat that was mostly a mental condition, and a lot of +rumbling and growling from my stomach. This is not real hunger, just +the sounds the stomach likes to make when it is shrinking. After +all, this organ is accustomed to being filled at regular intervals, +and then, all of a sudden, it gets nothing, so naturally the stomach +wants to know what is going on. Once it realizes it is on temporary +vacation, the stomach wisely decides to reduce itself to a size +suitable for a retired organ. And it shuts up. This process usually +takes three to five days and for most people, no further "hunger +pangs" are felt until the fast is over. + +Real hunger comes only when the body is actually starving. The +intense discomforts many people experience upon missing a meal are +frequently interpreted as hunger but they aren't. What is actually +happening is that their highly toxic bodies are taking the +opportunity presented by having missed a meal or two to begin to +cleanse. The toxins being released and processed make assorted +unpleasant symptoms such as headaches and inability to think +clearly. These symptoms can be instantly eliminated by the intake of +a bit of food, bringing the detox to a screeching halt. + +Two weeks into the fast I experienced sharp abdominal pains that +felt like I imagine appendicitis feels, which compelled me toward +the nearest toilet in a state of great urgency where I productively +busied myself for about half an hour. As I mentioned earlier, I was +experimentally adhering to a rigid type of fast of the sort +recommended by Dr. Herbert Shelton, a famous advocate of the Natural +Hygiene school. Shelton was such a powerful writer and personality +that there still exists a Natural Hygiene Society that keeps his +books in print and maintains his library. The words "Natural +Hygiene" are almost owned by the society like a trademark and they +object when anyone describes themselves as a hygienist and then +advocates any practice that Dr. Shelton did not approve of. + +Per Dr. Shelton, I was going to fast from the time hunger left until +the time it returned and I was not going to use any form of colon +cleansing. Shelton strongly opposed bowel cleansing so I did no +enemas nor colonics, nor herbs, nor clays, nor psyllium seed +designed to clean the bowel, etc. Obviously at day 14 the bowel +said, enough is enough of this crap, and initiated a goods house +cleaning session. When I saw what was eliminated I was horrified to +think that I had left that stuff in there for two weeks. I then +started to wonder if the Sheltonites were mistaken about this aspect +of fasting. Nonetheless, I persevered on the same regimen because my +hunger had not returned, my tongue was still thickly coated with +foul-smelling, foul-tasting mucus and I still had some fat on my +feet that had not been metabolized. + +Shelton said that cleansing is not complete until a skeletal +condition is reached--that is, absolutely no fat reserves are left. +Up until that time I did not even know that I had fat on my feet, +but much to my surprise, as the weeks went on, not only did my +breasts disappear except for a couple of land marks well-known to my +babies, but my ribs and hip bones became positively dangerous to +passersby, and my shoes would not stay on my feet. This was not all +that surprising because I went from 135 pounds down to 85 on a 5' 7" +frame with substantial bone structure. + +Toward the end of the fast my eyes became brighter and clearer blue, +my skin took on a good texture, my breath finally became sweet, my +tongue cleared up and became pink, my mind was clear, and my +spiritual awareness and sensitivity was heightened. In other words, +I was no longer a walking hulk of stored-up toxemia. I also felt +quite weak and had to rest for ten minutes out every hour in +horizontal position. (I should have rested much more.) I also +required very little sleep, although it felt good to just lie +quietly and rest, being aware of what was going on in various parts +of my body. + +During the last few weeks on water I became very attentive to my +right shoulder. Two separate times in the past, while flying head +first over the handlebars of my bicycle I had broken my shoulder +with considerable tearing of ligaments and tendons. At night when I +was totally still I felt a whole crew of pixies and brownies with +picks and shovels at work in the joint doing major repair work. This +activity was not entirely comfortable, but I knew it was +constructive work, not destructive, so I joined the work crew with +my mind's eye and helped the work along. + +It seemed my visualizations actually did help. Ever since, I've had +the fasters I supervised use creative imagery or write affirmations +to help their bodies heal. There are lots of books on this subject. +I've found that the techniques work far better on a faster than when +a person is eating normally. + +After breaking the fast it took me six weeks to regain enough +strength that I could run my usual distance in my regular time; it +took me six months to regain my full 135 pound weight because I was +very careful to break the fast slowly and correctly. Coming off +water with two weeks on dilute carrot juice I then added small +portions of raw food such as apples, raw vegetables, sprouts, +vegetable juices, and finally in the fourth week after I began +drinking dilute carrot juice, I added seven daily well-chewed +almonds to my rebuilding diet. Much later I increased to 14 almonds, +but that was the maximum amount of such highly concentrated fare my +body wanted digest at one time for over one year. I found I got a +lot more miles to the gallon out of the food that I did eat, and did +not crave recreational foods. Overall I was very pleased with my +educational fast, it had taught me a great deal. + +If I had undertaken such a lengthy fast at a time when I was +actually ill, and therefore had felt forced into it, my experience +could have been different. A positive mental attitude is an +essential part of the healing process so fasting should not be +undertaken in a negative, protesting mental state. The mind is so +powerful that fear or the resistance fear generates can override the +healing capacity of the body. For that reason I always recommend +that people who consider themselves to be healthy, who have no +serious complaints, but who are interested in water fasting, should +limit themselves to ten consecutive days or so, certainly never more +than 14. Few healthy people, even those with a deep interest in the +process, can find enough personal motivation to overcome the extreme +boredom of water fasting for longer than that. Healthy people +usually begin protesting severely after about two weeks. If there is +any one vital rule of fasting, one never should fast over strong, +personal protest. Anytime you're fasting and you really desire to +quit, you probably should. Unless, of course, you are critically +ill. Then you may have no choice--its fast or die. + +Common Fasting Complaints And Discomforts + +The most frequently heard complaints of fasters are headaches, dry, +cracked lips, dizziness, blurred vision with black spots that float, +skin rashes, and weakness in the first few days plus what they think +is intense hunger. The dizziness and weakness are really real, and +are due to increased levels of toxins circulating in the blood and +from unavoidably low blood sugar which is a natural consequence of +the cessation of eating. The blood sugar does reestablish a new +equilibrium in the second and third week of the fast and then, the +dizziness may cease, but still, it is important to expect dizziness +at the beginning. + +It always takes more time for the blood to reach the head on a fast +because everything has slowed down, including the rate of the heart +beat, so blood pressure probably has dropped as well. If you stand +up very quickly you may faint. I repetitively instruct all of my +clients to stand up very slowly, moving from a lying to a sitting +position, pausing there for ten or twenty seconds, and then rising +slowly from a sitting to a standing position. They are told that at +the first sign of dizziness they must immediately put their head +between their knees so that the head is lower than the heart, or +squat/sit down on the floor, I once had a faster who forgot to obey +my frequent warnings. About two weeks into a long fast, she got up +rapidly from the toilet and felt dizzy. The obvious thing to do was +to sit back down on the toilet or lie down on the bath rug on the +floor, but no, she decided that because she was dizzy she should +rush back to her bed in the adjoining room. She made it as far as +the bathroom door and fainted, out cold, putting a deep grove into +the drywall with her pretty nose on the way down. We then had to +make an unscheduled visit to a nose specialist, who calmly put a +tape-wrapped spoon inside her bent-over nose and pried it back to +dead center. This was not much fun for either of us; it is well +worthwhile preventing such complications. + +Other common complaints during the fast include coldness, due to low +blood sugar as well as a consequence of weight loss and slowed +circulation due to lessened physical activity. People also dislike +inactivity which seems excruciatingly boring, and some are upset by +weight loss itself. Coldness is best handled with lots of clothes, +bedding, hot water bottles or hot pads, and warm baths. Great Oaks +School of Health was in Oregon, where the endlessly rainy winters +are chilly and the concrete building never seemed to get really +warm. I used to dream of moving my fasters to a tropical climate +where I could also get the best, ripest fruits to wean them back on +to food. + +If the fast goes on for more than a week or ten days, many people +complain of back discomfort, usually caused by over-worked kidneys. +This passes. Hot baths or hot water bottles provide some relief. +Drinking more fluids may also help a bit. Nausea is fairly common +too, due to toxic discharges from the gall bladder. Drinking lots of +water or herbal tea dilutes toxic bile in the stomach and makes it +more tolerable. + +Very few fasters sleep well and for some reason they expect to, +certainly fasters hope to, because they think that if they sleep all +night they will better survive one more deadly dull day in a state +of relative unconsciousness. They find out much to their displeasure +that very little sleep is required on a fast because the body is at +rest already. Many fasters sleep only two to four hours but doze +frequently and require a great deal of rest. Being mentally prepared +for this change of habit is the best handling. Generalized low-grade +aches and pains in the area of the diseased organs or body parts are +common and can often be alleviated with hot water bottles, warm but +not hot bath water and massage. If this type of discomfort exists, +it usually lessens with each passing day until it disappears +altogether. + +Many fasters complain that their vision is blurred, and that they +are unable to concentrate. These are really major inconveniences +because then fasters can't read or even pay close attention to +video-taped movies, and if they can't divert themselves some fasters +think they will go stir crazy. They are so addicted to a hectic +schedule of doingness, and/or being entertained that they just can't +stand just being with themselves, forced to confront and deal with +the sensations of their own body, forced to face their own thoughts, +to confront their own emotions, many of which are negative. People +who are fasting release a lot of mental/emotional garbage at the +same time as they let go of old physical garbage. Usually the +psychological stuff contributed greatly to their illness and just +like the physical garbage and degenerated organs, it all needs to be +processed. + +One of the most distressing experiences that happen occasionally is +hair loss. Deprived of adequate nutrition, the follicles can not +keep growing hair, and the existing hair dies. However, the +follicles themselves do not die and once the fast has ended and +sufficient nutrition is forthcoming, hair will regrow as well or +better than before. + +There are also complaints that occur after the fast has been broken. +Post-fast cravings, even after only two weeks of deprivation, are to +be expected. These may take the form of desires for sweet, sour, +salt, or a specific food dreamed of while fasting, like chocolate +fudge sundays or just plain toast. Food cravings must be controlled +at all costs because if acted upon, each indulgence chips away the +health gains of the previous weeks. A single indulgence can be +remedied by a day of restricting the diet to juice or raw food. +After the repair, the person feels as good as they did when the fast +ended. Repeated indulgences will require another extended bout of +fasting to repair. It is far better to learn self-control. + +The Healing Crisis And Retracing + +Certain unpleasant somatics that occur while fasting (or while on a +healing diet) may not be dangerous or "bad." Two types, the healing +crisis, and retracing, are almost inevitable. A well-educated faster +should welcome these discomforts when they happen. The healing +crisis (but not retracing) also occurs on a healing diet. + +The healing crisis can seem a big surprise to a faster who has been +progressing wonderfully. Suddenly, usually after a few days of +noticeably increased well-being, they suddenly experience a set of +severe symptoms and feel just awful. This is not a setback, not +something to be upset or disappointed about, but a healing crisis, +actually a positive sign + +Healing crises always occur after a period of marked improvement. As +the vital force builds up during the healing process, the body +decides it now has obtained enough energy to throw off some +accumulated toxins, and forcefully pushes them out through a typical +and usually previously used route of secondary elimination, such as +the nose, lungs, stomach, intestines, skin, or perhaps produces a +flu-like experience with fever chills, sweat, aches and pains, etc. +Though unpleasant, this experience is to be encouraged; the body has +merely accelerated its elimination process. Do not attempt to +suppress any of these symptoms, don't even try to moderate fever, +which is the body's effective way to burn out a virus or bacteria +infection, unless it is a dangerously high fever (over 102 degree +Fahrenheit). Fever can be lowered without drugs by putting the +person into a cool/cold bath, or using cold towel wraps and cold +water sponge baths. The good news is that healing crises usually do +not last long, and when they are past you feel better than you did +before the crisis. + +Asthmatics seem to have the worst crises. I have had asthmatics +bring up a quart of obnoxious mucous from their lungs every night +for weeks. They have stayed awake all night for three nights +continuously coughing and choking on the material that was being +eliminated. After that clearing-out process they were able to breath +much more freely. Likewise I have had people who have had sinusitis +have nothing but non-stop pussy discharge from their sinuses for +three weeks. Some of this would run down the throat and cause +nausea. All I could say to encourage the sufferer was that it needed +to come out and to please stand aside and let the body work its +magic. These fasters were not grateful until the sinus problem that +had plagued them since childhood disappeared. + +The interesting thing about healing crises are that the symptoms +produced retrace earlier complaints; they are almost never something +entirely unknown to the patient. Usually they are old, familiar +somatics, often complaints that haven't bothered the faster for many +years. The reason the symptom is familiar but is not currently a +problem is because as the body degenerates it loses vital force; +with less vital force it loses the ability to create such acute +detoxification episodes in non-life-threatening secondary +elimination routes. The degenerated body makes less violent efforts +to cleanse, efforts that aren't as uncomfortable. The negative side +of this is that instead of creating acute discomfort in peripheral +systems, the toxemia goes to more vital organs where it hastens the +formation of life-threatening conditions. + +There is a very normal and typical progress for each person's fatal +illness. Their ultimate disease starts out in childhood or +adolescence as acute inflammations of skin-like organs, viral or +bacterial infections of the same. Then, as vital force weakens, +secondary eliminations are shifted to more vital organs. Allergies +or colds stop happening so frequently; the person becomes rheumatic, +arthritic or experience weakness in joints, tendons, ligaments, or +to have back pains, or to have digestive upsets. These new symptoms +are more constant but usually less acute. Ultimately, vital organs +begin to malfunction, and serious disease develop. But a hygienist +sees the beginning of fatal diseases such as cancer in adolescent +infections and allergies. + +Retracing is generally seen only on water fasts, not on extended +cleansing diets. The body begins to repair itself by healing +conditions in the reverse order to that which they occurred +originally. This means that the body would first direct healing +toward the lungs if the most recently serious illness was an attack +of pneumonia six months previously. In this case you would expect to +quickly and intensely experience a mini-case of pneumonia while the +body eliminates residues in the lungs that were not completely +discharged at the time. Next the body might take you through a +period of depression that you had experienced five years in the +past. The faster may be profoundly depressed for a few days and come +out of it feeling much better. You could then reexperience +sensation-states like those caused by recreational drugs you had +playfully experimented with ten years previously along with the +"trippiness" if it were a hallucinogen, speediness if it was "speed" +or the dopiness if it was heroin. Retracing further, the faster +might then experience something similar to a raging attack of +tonsillitis which you vaguely remember having when you were five +years old, but fortunately this time it passes in three days (or +maybe six hours), instead of three weeks. This is retracing. + +Please do not be surprised or alarmed if it happens to you on a +fast, and immediately throw out the baby with the bath water +thinking that you are doing the wrong thing because all those old +illnesses are coming back to haunt you. It is the body's magnificent +healing effort working on your behalf, and for doing it your body +deserves lots of "well done", "good body" thoughts rather than +gnashing of teeth and thinking what did I do to deserve this. The +body won't tell you what you did to deserve this, but it knows and +is trying its darndest to undo it. + +The Unrelenting Boredom Of Fasting + +Then there's the unrelenting boredom of fasting. Most people have +been media junkies since they were kids; the only way they believe +they can survive another day of fasting is by diverting their minds +with TV. This is far from ideal because often the emotions of a +faster are like an open wound and when they resonate with the +emotions portrayed on most TV shows, the faster gets into some very +unpleasant states that interfere with healing. And the emotions many +movies prompt people to sympathetically generate are powerful ones, +often highly negative, and contrary to healing. Especially unhelpful +are the adrenaline rushes in action movies. But if TV is the best a +faster can do, it is far better that someone fast with television +programming filling their minds than to not fast at all. I keep a +library of positive VHS tapes for these addicts--comedies, stories of +heroic over-comings, depiction's of humans at their best. + +Boredom is probably the most limiting factor to fasting a long time. +That is because boredom is progressive, it gets worse with each +slowly-passing day. But concurrently, the rate of healing is +accelerating with each slowly-passing day. Every day the faster gets +through does them considerably more good than the previous day. +However, fasters rarely are motivated enough to overcome boredom for +more than two weeks or so, unless they started the fast to solve a +very serious or life-threatening condition. For this reason, +basically well people should not expect to be able to fast for more +than a couple of weeks every six months or year, no matter how much +good a longer fast might do. + +Exercise While Fasting + +The issue of how much activity is called for on a fast is +controversial. Natural Hygienists in the Herbert Shelton tradition +insist that all fasters absolutely must have complete bed rest, with +no books, no TV, no visitors, no enemas, no exercise, no music, and +of course no food, not even a cup of herb tea. In my many years of +conducting people through fasts, I have yet to meet an individual +that could mentally tolerate this degree of nothingness. It is too +drastic a withdrawal from all the stimulation people are used to in +the twentieth century. I still don't know how Shelton managed to +make his patients do it, but my guess is that he must have been a +very intimidating guy. Shelton was a body builder of some renown in +his day. I bet Shelton's patients kept a few books and magazines +under their mattress and only took them out when he wasn't looking. +If I had tried to enforced this type of sensory deprivation, I know +my patients would have grabbed their clothes and run, vowing never +to fast again. I think it is most important that people fast, and +that they feel so good about the experience that they want to do it +again, and talk all their sick friends into doing the same thing. + +In contrast to enforced inactivity, Russian researchers who +supervised schizophrenics on 30 day water fasts insisted that they +walk for three hours every day, without stopping. I would like to +have been there to see how they managed to enforce that. I suspect +some patients cheated. I lived with schizophrenics enough years to +know that it is very difficult to get them to do anything that they +don't want to do, and very few of them are into exercise, especially +when fasting. + +In my experience both of these approaches to activity during the +fast are extremes. The correct activity level should be arrived at +on an individual basis. I have had clients who walked six miles a +day during an extended water fast, but they were not feeling very +sick when they started the fast, and they were also physically fit. +In contrast I have had people on extended fasts who were unable to +walk for exercise, or so weak they were unable to even walk to the +bathroom, but these people were critically ill when they started +fasting, and desperately needed to conserve what little vital force +they had for healing. + +Most people who are not critically ill need to walk at least 200 +yards twice a day, with assistance if necessary, if only to move the +lymph through the system. The lymphatic system is a network of ducts +and nodes which are distributed throughout the body, with high +concentrations of nodes in the neck, chest, arm pits, and groin. Its +job is to carry waste products from the extremities to the center of +the body where they can be eliminated. The blood is circulated +through the arteries and veins in the body by the contractions of +the heart, but the lymphatic system does not have a pump. Lymphatic +fluid is moved by the contractions of the muscles, primarily those +of the arms and legs. If the faster is too weak to move, massage and +assisted movements are essential. + +Lymph nodes are also a part of our immune system and produce white +blood cells to help control invading organisms. When the lymph is +overloaded with waste products the ducts and nodes swell, and until +the source of the local irritation is removed, are incapable of +handling further debris. If left in this condition for years they +become so hard they feel like rocks under the skin. Lumps in the +armpits or the groin are prime sites for the future development of a +cancer. Fasting, massage, and poultices will often soften overloaded +lymph nodes and coax them back into operation. + +The Stages Of Fasting + +The best way to understand what happens when we fast is to break up +the process into six stages: preparation for the fast, loss of +hunger, acidosis, normalization, healing, and breaking the fast. + +A person that has consumed the typical American diet most of their +life and whose life is not in immediate danger would be very wise to +gently prepare their body for the fast. Two weeks would be a minimum +amount of time, and if the prospective faster wants an easier time +of it, they should allow a month or even two for preliminary +housecleaning. During this time, eliminate all meat, fish, dairy +products, eggs, coffee, black tea, salt, sugar, alcohol, drugs, +cigarettes, and greasy foods. This de-addiction will make the +process of fasting much more pleasant, and is strongly recommended. +However, eliminating all these harmful substances is withdrawal from +addictive substances and will not be easy for most. I have more to +say about this later when I talk about allergies and addictions. + +The second stage, psychological hunger, usually is felt as an +intense desire for food. This passes within three or four days of +not eating anything. Psychological hunger usually begins with the +first missed meal. If the faster seems to be losing their resolve, I +have them drink unlimited quantities of good-tasting herb teas, +(sweetened--only if absolutely necessary--with nutrisweet). Salt-free +broths made from meatless instant powder (obtainable at the health +food store) can also fend off the desire to eat until the stage of +hunger has passed. + +Acidosis, the third stage, usually begins a couple of days after the +last meal and lasts about one week. During acidosis the body +vigorously throws off acid waste products. Most people starting a +fast begin with an overly acid blood pH from the typical American +diet that contains a predominance of acid-forming foods. Switching +over to burning fat for fuel triggers the release of even more +acidic substances. Acidosis is usually accompanied by fatigue, +blurred vision, and possibly dizziness. The breath smells very bad, +the tongue is coated with bad-tasting dryish mucus, and the urine +may be concentrated and foul unless a good deal of water is taken +daily. Two to three quarts a day is a reasonable amount. + +Mild states of acidosis are a common occurrence. While sleeping +after the last meal of the day is digested bodies normally work very +hard trying to detoxify from yesterday's abuses. So people routinely +awaken in a state of acidosis. Their tongue is coated, their breath +foul and they feel poorly. They end their brief overnight fast with +breakfast, bringing the detoxification process to a screeching halt +and feel much better. Many people think they awaken hungry and don't +feel well until they eat. They confuse acidosis with hunger when +most have never experienced real hunger in their entire lives. If +you typically awaken in acidosis, you are being given a strong sign +by your body that it would like to continue fasting far beyond +breakfast. In fact, it probably would enjoy fasting long beyond the +end of acidosis. + +Most fasters feel much more comfortable by the end of the first +seven to ten days, when they enter the normalization phase; here the +acidic blood chemistry is gradually corrected. This sets the stage +for serious healing of body tissues and organs. Normalization may +take one or two more weeks depending on how badly the body was out +of balance. As the blood chemistry steadily approaches perfection, +the faster usually feels an increasing sense of well-being, broken +by short spells of discomfort that are usually healing crises or +retracings. + +The next stage, accelerated healing, can take one or many weeks +more, again depending on how badly the body has been damaged. +Healing proceeds rapidly after the blood chemistry has been +stabilized, the person is usually in a state of profound rest and +the maximum amount of vital force can be directed toward repair and +regeneration of tissues. This is a miraculous time when tumors are +metabolized as food for the body, when arthritic deposits dissolve, +when scar tissues tend to disappear, when damaged organs regain lost +function (if they can). Seriously ill people who never fast long +enough to get into this stage (usually it takes about ten days to +two weeks of water fasting to seriously begin healing) never find +out what fasting can really do for them. + +Breaking the fast is equally or more important a stage than the fast +itself. It is the most dangerous time in the entire fast. If you +stop fasting prematurely, that is, before the body has completed +detoxification and healing, expect the body to reject food when you +try to make it eat, even if you introduce foods very gradually. The +faster, the spiritual being running the body, may have become bored +and want some action, but the faster's body hasn't finished. The +body wants to continue healing. + +By rejection, I mean that food may not digest, may feel like a stone +in your stomach, make you feel terrible. If that happens and if, +despite that clear signal you refuse to return to fasting, you +should go on a juice diet, take as little as possible, sip it slowly +(almost chew it) and stay on juice until you find yourself digesting +it easily. Then and only then, reintroduce a little solid raw food +like a green salad. + +Weaning yourself back on to food should last just as long as the +fast. Your first tentative meals should be dilute, raw juices. After +several days of slowly building up to solid raw fruit, small amounts +of raw vegetable foods should be added. If it has been a long fast, +say over three weeks, this reintroduction should be done gingerly +over a few weeks. If this stage is poorly managed or ignored you may +become acutely ill, and for someone who started fasting while +dangerously ill, loss of self control and impulsive eating could +prove fatal. Even for those fasting to cure non-life-threatening +illnesses it is pointless to go through the effort and discipline of +a long fast without carefully establishing a correct diet after the +fast ends, or the effort will have largely been wasted. + +Foods For Monodiet, Juice or Broth Fasting + +zucchini, garlic, onion, green beans, kale, celery, beet greens and +root, cabbage, carrot, wheat grass juice, alfalfa juice, barley +green juice, parsley juice, lemon/lime juice, grapefruit juice, +apples (not juice, too sweet), diluted orange juice, diluted grape +juice + +Less-Rigorous-Than-Water Fasts + +There are gradations of fasting measures ranging from rigorous to +relatively casual. Water fasting is the most rapid and effective +one. Other methods have been created by grasping the underlying +truth of fasting, namely whenever the digestive effort can be +reduced, by whatever degree, whenever the formation of the toxins of +misdigestion can be reduced or prevented, to that extent the body +can divert energy to the healing process. Thus comes about assorted +famous and sometimes notorious monodiet semi-fasts like the grape +cure where the faster eats only grapes for a month or so, or the +lemon cure, where the juice of one or more lemons is added to water +and nothing else is consumed for weeks on end. Here I should also +mention the "lemon juice/cayenne pepper/maple syrup cure," the +various green drink cures using spirulina, chlorella, barley green +or wheat grass, and the famous Bieler broths--vegetable soups made of +overcooked green beans or zucchini. + +I do not believe that monodiets work because of some magical +property of a particular food used. They work because they are +semi-fasts and may be extremely useful, especially for those +individuals who can not or will not tolerate a water fast. + +The best foods for monodiet fasting are the easiest ones digest: +juices of raw fruits and nonstarchy vegetables with all solids +strained out. Strained mineral broths made of long-simmered +non-starchy vegetables (the best of them made of leafy green +vegetables) fall in the same category. So if you are highly partial +to the flavor of grapes or lemons or cayenne and (highly diluted) +maple syrup, a long fast on one of these would do you a world of +good, just not quite as much good as the same amount of time spent +on water alone. If you select something more "solid" for a long +monodiet fast, like pureed zucchini, it is essential that you not +overeat. Dr. Bieler gave his fasting patients only one pint of +zucchini soup three or four times a day. The way to evaluate how +much to eat is by how much weight you are losing. When fasting, you +must lose weight! And the faster the better. + +Pure absolute water fasting while not taking any vitamins or other +nutritional supplementation has a very limited maximum duration, +perhaps 45 days. The key concept here is nutritional reserves. Body +fat is stored, surplus energy fuel. But energy alone cannot keep a +body going. It needs much more than fuel to rebuild and repair and +maintain its systems. So the body in its wisdom also stores up +vitamins and minerals and other essential substances in and +in-between all its cells. Bodies that have been very well nourished +for a long time have very large reserves; poorly nourished ones may +have very little set aside for a rainy day. And it is almost a +truism that a sick person has, for quite some time, been a poorly +nourished one. With low nutritional reserves. This fact alone can +make it difficult for a sick person to water fast for enough time to +completely heal their damaged organs and other systems. + +Obese people have fat reserves sufficient to provide energy for long +periods, but rarely can any body, no matter how complete its +nutrition was for years previously, contain sufficient nutritional +reserves to support a water fast of over six weeks. To water fast +the very obese down to normal weight can take months but to make +this possible, rather diverse and concentrated nutrition containing +few calories must be given. It is possible to fast even a very slim +a person for quite a bit longer than a month when their body is +receiving easily assimilable vitamins and minerals and small amounts +of sugars or other simple carbohydrates. + +I estimate that fasting on raw juices and mineral broths will result +in healing at 25 to 75 percent of the efficiency of water fasting, +depending on the amount of nutrition taken and the amount the juices +or broths are diluted. But juice fasting can permit healing to go on +several times longer than water might. + +Fasting on dilute juice and broth can also save the life of someone +whose organs of elimination are insufficiently strong to withstand +the work load created by water fasting. In this sense, juices can be +regarded as similar to the moderators in a nuclear reactor, slowing +the process down so it won't destroy the container. On a fast of +undiluted juice, the healing power drops considerably, but a person +on this regimen, if not sick, is usually capable of working. + +Duration of juice fasts can vary greatly. Most of the time there is +no need to continue fasting after the symptoms causing concern have +been eliminated, and this could happen as quickly as one week or +take as long as 60 days if the person is very obese. Fasters also +lose their motivation once the complaint has vanished. But feeling +better is no certain indication that the need to fast has ended. +This points up one of the liabilities of juice fasting; the person +is already eating, their digestive system never shut down and +consequently, it is much easier for them to resume eating. The thing +to keep in mind is that if the symptoms return, the fast was not +long enough or the diet was not properly reformed after the fast. + +During a long fast on water or dilute juice, if the body has used up +all of it's reserves and/or the body has reached skeletal condition, +and the condition or symptoms being addressed persists the fast +should be ended, the person should go on a raw food healing diet. If +three to six months on raw food don't solve the complaint then +another spell of water or dilute juice fasting should be attempted. +Most fasters are incapable of persisting until the body reserves +have been used up because social conditioning is telling them their +emaciated-looking body must be dying when it is actually far from +death, but return of true hunger is the critical indicator that must +not be ignored. True hunger is not what most people think of when +they think they are hungry. Few Americans have ever experienced true +hunger. It is not a rumbling in the stomach or a set of +uncomfortable sensations (caused by the beginning of detoxification) +you know will go away after eating. True hunger is an animal, +instinctual feeling in the back of one's throat (not in the stomach) +that demands you eat something, anything, even grass or shoe +leather. + +Seriously ill people inevitably start the cleansing process with a +pre-existing and serious mineral deficiencies. I say inevitably +because they likely would not have become ill had they been properly +nourished. Sick fasters may be wise to take in minerals from thin +vegetable broths or vitamin-like supplements in order to prevent +uncomfortable deficiency states. For example calcium or magnesium +deficiencies can make water fasters experience unpleasant symptoms +such as hand tremors, stiff muscles, cramps in the hands, feet, and +legs, and difficulty relaxing. I want to stress here that fasting +itself does not create deficiencies. But a person already deficient +in minerals should watch for these symptoms and take steps to remedy +the deficiencies if necessary. + +Raw Food Healing Diets + +Next in declining order of healing effectiveness is what I call a +raw food healing diet or cleansing diet. It consists of those very +same watery fruits and nonstarchy vegetables one juices or makes +into vegetable broths, but eaten whole and raw. Heating food does +two harmful things: it destroys many vitamins, enzymes and other +nutritional elements and it makes many foods much harder to digest. +So no cooked vegetables or fruits are allowed because to maintain +health on this limited regimen it is essential that every possible +vitamin and enzyme present in the food be available for digestion. +Even though still raw, no starchy or fatty vegetables or fruits are +allowed that contain concentrated calories like potatoes, winter +squash, avocados, sweet potatoes, fresh raw corn, dates, figs, +raisins, or bananas. And naturally, no salad dressings containing +vegetable oils or (raw) ground seeds are allowed. Nor are raw grains +or other raw concentrated energy sources. + +When a person starts this diet they will at first experience +considerable weight loss because it is difficult to extract a large +number of calories from these foods (though I have seen people +actually gain weight on a pure melon diet, so much sugar do these +fruits have, and well-chewed watermelon seeds are very nourishing). +Eating even large quantities of only raw fruit and raw non-starchy +vegetables results in a slow but steady healing process about 10 to +20 percent as rapid as water fasting. + +A raw food cleansing diet has several huge advantages. It is +possible to maintain this regimen and regularly do non-strenuous +work for many months, even a year or more without experiencing +massive weight loss and, more important to some people, without +suffering the extremes of low blood sugar, weakness and loss of +ability to concentrate that happen when water fasting. Someone on a +raw food cleanse will have periods of lowered energy and strong +cravings for more concentrated foods, but if they have the +self-discipline to not break their cleansing process they can +accomplish a great deal of healing while still maintaining more or +less normal (though slower paced) life activities. However, almost +no one on this diet is able to sustain an extremely active +life-style involving hard physical labor or competitive sports. And +from the very beginning someone on a raw food cleanse must be +willing and able to lie down and rest any time they feel tired or +unable to face their responsibilities. Otherwise they will +inevitably succumb to the mental certainty that their feelings of +exhaustion or overwhelm can be immediately solved by eating some +concentrated food to "give them energy." Such low-energy states +will, however, pass quickly after a brief nap or rest. + +Something else gradually happens to a body when on such a diet. Do +you recall that I mentioned that after my own long fast I began to +get more "mileage" out of my food. A cleansed, healed body becomes +far more efficient at digestion and assimilation; a body that is +kept on a raw food cleansing diet will initially lose weight +rapidly, but eventually weight loss slows to virtually nothing and +then stabilizes. However, long-term raw fooders are usually thin as +toothpicks. + +Once starchy vegetables like potatoes or winter squash, raw or +cooked, or any cereals, raw or cooked, are added to a cleansing +diet, the detoxification and healing virtually ceases and it becomes +very easy to maintain or even gain weight, particularly if larger +quantities of more concentrated foods like seeds and nuts are eaten. +Though this diet has ceased to be cleansing, few if any toxins from +misdigestion will be produced and health is easy to maintain. + +"Raw fooders" are usually people who have healed themselves of a +serious diseases and ever after continue to maintain themselves on +unfired food, almost as a matter of religious belief. They have +become convinced that eating only raw, unfired food is the key to +extraordinarily long life and supreme good health. When raw fooders +wish to perform hard physical work or strenuous exercise, they'll +consume raw nuts and some raw grains such as finely-ground oats +soaked overnight in warm water or deliciously sweet "Essene bread," +made from slightly sprouted wheat that is then ground wet, made into +cakes, and sun baked at temperatures below about 115 degrees +Fahrenheit. Essene bread can be purchased in some health food +stores. However, little or no healing or detoxification can happen +once concentrated energy sources are added to the diet, even raw +ones. + +During my days at Great Oaks School I was a raw fooder for some +years, though I found it very difficult to maintain body heat on raw +food during chilly, rainy Oregon winters and eventually struck a +personal compromise where I ate about half my diet raw and the rest +fired. I have listed some books by raw fooders in the Bibliography. +Joe Alexander's is the most fun. + +Complete Recovery Of The Seriously Ill + +Its a virtual certainty that to fully recover, a seriously ill +person will have to significantly rebuild numerous organs. They have +a hard choice: to accept a life of misery, one that the medical +doctors with drugs and surgery may be able to prolong into an +interminable hell on earth, or, spend several years working on +really healing their body, rotating between water fasting, juice or +broth fasting, extended periods on a cleansing raw food diet, and +periods of no-cleansing on a more complete diet that includes +moderate amounts of cooked vegetables and small quantities of cooked +cereals. And even after recovery someone who was quite ill may have +to live the rest of their life on a rather restricted regimen. + +It is unrealistic to expect one fast to fix everything. The body +will heal as much as it can in the allotted time, but if a dangerous +illness has not been fully remedied by the first intense fast, a raw +food diet must be followed for three to six months until weight has +been regained, nutritional reserves have been rebuilt and it is safe +to undertake another extended fast. More than two water or juice +fasts a year of thirty continuous days are not recommended nor +should they be necessary unless the life is in imminent danger and +there is no other option. + +The story of Jake's catastrophic illness and almost-cure is a good +example of this type of program. Jake was from back East. He phoned +me because he had read a health magazine article I had written, his +weak voice faintly describing a desperate condition. He was in a +wheelchair unable to walk, unable to control his legs or arms very +well, was unable to control his bladder and required a catheter. He +had poor bowel control, had not the strength to talk much or loudly +and most frightening to him, he was steadily losing weight although +he was eating large amounts of cooked vegetables and grains. Jake +had wasted away to 90 pounds at 5' 10" and looked pathetic when I +first saw him wheeled off an airplane at my local airport. + +Jake had seen a lot of medical doctors and had variously been +diagnosed as having chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic (whatever that +is) meningitis, and multiple sclerosis. He had been treated by +virtually every medical expert and many famous alternative +practitioners, utilizing a host of old and new techniques, all to no +avail. He had even tried intravenous chelation therapy and colonics. +It had also been suggested that he enter a hospital for the +treatment of eating disorders and/or see a psychiatrist. He had +tried to gain admittance to a number of holistic fasting +institutions back east, but they all refused him because they +considered the risk was too high to fast a person at such a low body +weight. But I had previously fasted emaciated people like Jake, and +there was something I liked about his telephone presence. Perhaps +this is why I foolishly decided I knew better than the other +experts. + +People commonly waste away and die while eating large amounts of +food. Obviously they are unable to digest or assimilate nutrients or +they wouldn't be wasting. Eating further increases their toxic +burden from undigested meals, further worsening their already +failing organs. The real solution is to stop feeding them altogether +so that their digestive functions can heal. In Jake's case, his +body's nutritional reserves had already become sadly depleted due to +poor absorption over such an extended period, so I could not fast +him on water. I immediately put Jake on a rich mineral broth +prepared from everything left alive in our garden at the end of +winter--leaves of kale, endive plants, whole huge splitting Savoy +cabbages, garlic, huge leeks including their green tops, the whole +stew fortified with sea weed. It did not matter too much what +vegetables I used as long as there were lots of leafy greens +containing lots of chlorophyll (where the most concentrated mineral +nutrition is located). + +Jake was given colonics every day, but had to be carried to the +colonic table because he could not support his own weight. Whoever +had given him colonics previously had not accomplished much for I +must say that Jake had the most foul smelling discharges that I had +ever encountered in administering over 6,000 colonics over many +years. It was as if his body was literally rotting from the inside +out. + +After 30 days on mineral broth Jake, who really did weigh 90 pounds +when he arrived, was only down to 85! When a person already close to +skeletal weight starts fasting, to conserve vital tissue the body +goes rapidly into a state of profound rest so it uses very little +energy, thus it loses very little weight each day. This degree of +resting also helps heal abnormal body parts earlier. After one month +on mineral broth Jake began to show signs of mineral deficiencies in +the form of a fine tremor of the hands, and cramps in the feet, so I +put him on mineral supplements too. + +Jake was in my house for a long time. At the end of the second month +on broth he started two weeks on raw carrot juice with a lot of +chlorophyll added from sources such as algae (spirulina), wheat +grass juice, alfalfa, etc.. This was followed by two more weeks on +small quantities of raw fruits and vegetables, and then followed by +two weeks with added steamed vegetables, and finally, he achieved a +diet which included small amounts of grain, cooked legumes and raw +nuts, plus the fruits and vegetables previously mentioned. Jake +health steadily improved. He gained control of his bladder, bowels, +speech, hands, and legs. He began to exercise in the living room on +a stationary bike, and walked slowly up and down our long driveway, +picking daffodils in the beautiful spring weather. + +Sadly, though I could help his body to heal it was next to +impossible to stem the tides of Jake's appetites or to pleasantly +withstand his tantrums when he was denied; he always wanted more in +terms of quantity, more in terms of variety, and at more frequent +intervals. Though his organs had healed significantly, his digestive +capacity was not nearly as large as he remembered himself enjoying +before he got sick. And never would be. Jake was not happy about the +dietary restrictions necessary for him to retain his newly attained +health, and unwilling to stay within the limits of his digestive +system's ability to process foods. He had gained weight and was back +up to 120 pounds. It was time for him to go home before I lost my +good humor. + +Jake left with a lot of "good lucks" and stern admonitions to stick +to his stringent diet and supplement program. It was a big moment +for Jake. He had arrived in a wheelchair three months before. Now he +walked unaided to the airplane, something he had not been able to do +for two years. + +Back at home Jake had no one courageous enough to set limits for +him. His immediate family and every one of his brow beaten +associates were compelled to give him everything that he wanted. So +his appetite and lack of personal discipline got the better of him. +He started eating lots of dates and figs. These had been eliminated +from his diet because he was unable to process foods which such a +high sugar content. He also ate larger and larger quantities of +grains, nuts and avocados, although I had warned him of specific +quantity limits on rich foods. Most sadly, he returned to enjoying +spaghetti with lots of cheese grated on top. Within months of +leaving my care his paralysis and weakness returned, except that +unfortunately for him, he still retained the ability to assimilate +food and maintain his body weight. Ironically, the only ultimate +benefit of his fasting with me was to permit him to suffer a far +longer existence in a wheelchair without wasting away and escaping +into death. + +I would be failing my readers if I did not explain why Jake became +ill in the first place. Jake had started what grew to become a very +successful chain of spaghetti restaurants with a unique noodles and +sauces made to his own formula. He ate a lot of his own spaghetti +over the years, and had been reared in a good Italian family with +lots of other kinds of rich food. Jake had a reputation for being +able to outeat everybody in terms of quantity and in the amount of +time spent eating. In childhood, this ability had made his Italian +mother very happy because it showed appreciation for her great +culinary skill. + +Secondly, Jake the adult was still at his core, Jake the spoiled +brat child, with a bad, unregulated temper. He was in the habit of +dumping his temper on other people whether they needed a helping of +his angry emotions or not. A lot of people in his employ and in his +extended family tiptoed around Jake, always careful of triggering +his wrath. At my place as Jake began to get well he began to use his +increased energy and much stronger voice to demonstrate his poor +character. At meal times Jake would bang the table with a fork hard +enough to leave dents in the wood table top while yelling for more, +complaining loudly about the lack of rich sauces and other culinary +delights he craved. This was a character problem that Jake could not +seem to overcome, even with a lot of intervention from the local +minister on his behalf and my counseling. Jake was a Catholic who +went to church regularly, but acted like a Christian only while he +was in church. On some level Jake knew that he was not treating +others fairly, but he would not change his habitual responses. His +negative thoughts and actions interfered with his digestive capacity +to the extent that his gluttonous eating habits produced illness, a +vegetative paralyzing illness, but not death. To me this seems +almost a form of karmic justice. + +It is common for people who have been very ill for extended periods +of time to realize what a wonderful gift life is and arrive at a +willingness to do almost anything to have a second chance at doing +"life" right. Some succeed with their second chance and some don't. +If they don't succeed in changing their life and relationships, they +frequently relapse. + +Luigi Cornaro's left the world his story of sickness and +rejuvenation. His little book may be the world's first alternative +healing text. It is a classic example of the value of +abstentousness. Had Jake taken this story to heart he would have +totally recovered. Cornaro was a sixteenth century Venetian +nobleman. He, like Jake the spaghetti baron, was near death at the +young age of forty. (Jake was also in his early 40s when he broke +down.) Cornaro's many doctors were unable to cure him. Finally he +saw a doctor who understood the principles of natural healing. This +wise physician determined that this illness was caused by a mismatch +between Cornaro's limited digestive capacity and the excessive +amount of food he was eating. So Cornaro was put on a diet of only +12 ounces of solid food and fourteen ounces of liquid a day. Any +twelve ounces of any solids he wanted and any fourteen ounces of +liquid. It could be meat and wine, salad or orange juice, no matter. + +Cornaro soon regained his health and he continued to follow the diet +until the age of 78. His health was so outstanding during this +period that people who were much younger in terms of years were +unable to keep up with him. At 78 his friends, worried about how +thin he was (doesn't it always seem that it is your so-called +friends who always ruin a natural cure) persuaded him to increase +his daily ration by two ounces a day. His delicate and weak +digestive system, which had operated perfectly for many years, was +unable to deal with the additional two ounces, and he became very +ill after a very short period of over eating. + +Worse, his recent indulgence had even further damaged the organs of +digestion and to survive Cornaro had to cut his daily ration to +eight ounces of solid food and eleven of liquids. On this reduced +dietary he again regained his health and lived to be 100. Cornaro +wrote four books on the value of abstinence or "sober living" as he +called it, writing the last and perhaps the most interesting at 96 +years of age. Had my patient Jake been able to confine his food +intake to the level of his body's ability to digest, he might still +be walking and enjoying life. But try as I might I could not make +him understand. Perhaps he enjoys doing penance in his wheel chair +more than he would enjoy health and life. + +Tissue Losses at Death By Starvation + +Fat 97% +Muscles 31 +Blood 27 +Liver 54 +Spleen 67 +Pancreas 17 +Skin 21 +Intestines 18 +Kidneys 26 +Lungs 18 +Testes 40 +Heart 3 +Brain and Spinal Cord 3 +Nerves 3 +Bone 14 + +From Keys, Ancel, Joseph Brozek, Austin Henchel, Olaf Mickelson +and Henry L. Taylor, (1950)_ The Biology of Human Starvation._ Two +Vols. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. + +Starvation + +It is true that ethical medical doctors use the least-risky +procedure they are allowed to use. But this does not mean there are +no risks to allopathic treatment. The medical doctor justifies +taking the risks by saying that the risk/reward ratio is the best +possible. Any sick person is already at risk. Life comes with only +one guarantee: that none of us gets out of it alive. + +Compared to the risks of allopathic medicine, fasting is a far safer +method of treating disease. The oft-repeated scare stories medical +doctors and their allies circulate about fasting are not true, and +it is important to remember that none of these people portraying +fasting as evil and dangerous have ever fasted themselves--I'll put +money on that one. Or, on the slim possibility that someone telling +fasting horror stories did actually not eat for 24 hours (probably +because some accident or acute illness prevented them), they had a +terrible experience because they didn't understand the process, were +highly toxic, and were scared to death the whole time. + +Or worse yet they fasted for a short period with an "open mind"--a +very dangerous state in which to approach anything new. I have found +through considerable experience with people professing to have open +minds that the expression "I'm open minded" usually means that +someone has already made up their mind and new data just passes +straight through their open mind--in one ear and out the other. Or +sometimes, the phrase "open mind" means a person that does not +believe any information has reality and is entirely unable to make +up their mind. + +The most commonly leveled criticism of fasting is that in its +efforts to survive self-imposed starvation the body metabolizes +vital tissue, not just fat, and therefore, fasting is damaging, +potentially fatally damaging. People who tell you this will also +tell you that fasters have destroyed their heart muscle or ruined +their nervous system permanently. But this kind of damage happen +only when a person starves to death or starves to a point very close +to death, not when someone fasts. + +There is a huge difference between fasting and starvation. Someone +starving is usually eating, but eating poorly and inadequately, +eating scraps of whatever is available such as sugar, white flour, +rancid grease, shoe leather, or even dirt. Frequently a starving +person is forced to exercise a great deal as they struggle to +survive and additionally is highly apprehensive. Or someone starving +to death is confined to a small space, may become severely +dehydrated too and is in terror. Fear is very damaging to the +digestive process, and to the body in general; fear speeds up the +destruction of vital tissue. People starve when trekking vast +distances through wastelands without food to eat, they starved in +concentration camps, buried in mind disasters, they starve during +famines and starve while being tortured in prisons. + +Until water fasting goes on past the point where all fatty tissues +and all abnormal deposits have been burned for fuel and recycled for +the nutritional elements they contain, vital muscle tissues and +organs are not consumed. And as long as the body contains sufficient +nutritional reserves, vital organs and essential tissues are rebuilt +and maintained. In fact the body has a great deal of intelligence +that we don't give it credit for. It knows exactly which cells are +essential to survival, which ones are not. The body knows which +cells are abnormal deposits, and it goes to work to metabolize them +first. For example, the body recognizes arthritic deposits, cysts, +fibroids, and tumors as offensive parts of the landscape, and +obligingly uses them for foods in preference to anything else. A +starving (not fasting) body also knows precisely in what order of +priority body cells should be metabolized to minimize risk of death +or permanent disability. + +After a starving body has reached skeletal condition, or where some +small amount of fat remains but nutritional reserves (vitamins and +minerals) are exhausted and there is insufficient nourishment +forthcoming, the body begins to consume nutrient-rich muscle and +organ tissue in a last-ditch effort to stay alive. Under these dire +circumstances, the least essential muscles and organs from the +standpoint of survival are metabolized first. For example, muscles +in the arms and legs would be consumed early in the process, the +heart muscle used only toward the very end. The very last part of +the body to be metabolized when one is starving and as has come very +close to death would be the brain and the nervous system. + +Starvation begins where fasting ends, which is when real hunger +begins. If the return of hunger is ignored whenever it takes place, +whether it is in 30, 60, or 90 days depending upon body weight and +type of fast, at that point exactly, not a day before, starvation +begins very slowly. Usually it takes a considerable period of time +after that before death occurs. It is important to note that this +discussion applies only to the abstention from food, not water. +Death takes place very quickly in the absence of water. + +The chart on the previous page shows numerically the phenomenal +ability of the body to protect the most essential tissues of the +body right up to the time of death. If a person fasted for 30 days, +the average time it takes for the return of hunger in a person that +is not overweight, and then ignored the return of hunger, and +continued to abstain from food--if the person could avoid forced +exercise, keep warm, and had enough hydration, it could take as much +as an additional 20 to 60 days to die of starvation! At death the +body would have experienced losses of 40 to 60 percent of its +starting body weight. (Ancel Keys et al, 1950) A emaciated person +can not afford to lose nearly as much weight as an obese person, and +death under conditions of starvation will occur earlier. In all +cases of starvation the brain, nerves, heart, lungs, kidneys and +liver remain largely intact and functional to the very end. During a +fast, it is almost impossible to damage essential organs, unless of +course the person creates the damage by fears about the process, or +by internalizing the fears of others. If those fears are present, +the fast should not be attempted. + +Weight Loss By Fasting + +Loss of weight indicates, almost guarantees, that detoxification and +healing is occurring. I can't stress this too much. Of all the +things I find my patients seem to misunderstand or forget after +being told, it is that they can't heal in a rapid manner without +getting smaller. This reality is especially hard for the family and +friends of someone who is fasting, who will say, "you're looking +terrible dear, so thin. Your skin is hanging on your bones. You're +not eating enough protein or nutrient food to be healthy and you +must eat more or you're going to develop serious deficiencies. You +don't have any energy, you must be getting sicker. You're doing the +wrong thing, obviously. You have less energy and look worse every +day. Go and see a doctor before it is too late." To succeed with +friends like this, a faster has to be a mighty self-determined +person with a powerful ability to disagree with others. + +Medical personnel claim that rapid weight loss often causes +dangerous deficiencies; these deficiencies force the person to +overeat and regain even more weight afterward. This is largely +untrue, though there is one true aspect to it: a fasted, detoxified +body becomes a much more efficient digester and assimilator, +extracting a lot more nutrition from the same amount food is used to +eat. If, after extended fasting a person returns to eating the same +number of calories as they did before; they will gain weight even +more rapidly than before they stated fasting. When fasting for +weight loss, the only way to keep the weight off is to greatly +reform the diet; to go on, and stay on, a diet made up largely of +non-starchy, watery fruits and vegetables, limited quantities of +cooked food, and very limited amounts of highly concentrated food +sources like cereals and cooked legumes. Unless, of course, after +fasting, one's lifestyle involves much very hard physical labor or +exercise. I've had a few obese fasters become quite angry with me +for this reason; they hoped to get thin through fasting and after +the fast, to resume overeating with complete irresponsibility as +before, without weight gain. + +People also fear weight loss during fasting because they fear +becoming anorexic or bulimic. They won't! A person who abstains from +eating for the purpose of improving their health, in order to +prevent or treat illness, or even one who fasts for weight loss will +not develop an eating disorder. Eating disorders mean eating +compulsively because of a distorted body image. Anorexics and +bulimics have obsessions with the thinner-is-better school of +thought. The anorexic looks at their emaciated frame in the mirror +and thinks they are fat! This is the distorted perception of a very +insecure person badly in need of therapy. A bulimic, on the other +hand stuffs themselves, usually with bad food, and then purges it by +vomiting, or with laxatives. Anorexics and bulimics are not +accelerating the healing potential of their bodies; these are life +threatening conditions. Fasters are genuinely trying to enhance +their survival potential. + +Occasionally a neurotic individual with a pre-existing eating +disorder will become obsessed with fasting and colon cleansing as a +justification to legitimize their compulsion. During my career while +monitoring hundreds of fasters, I've known two of these. I +discourage them from fasting or colon cleansing, and refuse to +assist them, because they carry the practices to absurd extremes, +and contribute to bad press about natural medicine by ending up in +the emergency ward of a hospital with an intravenous feeding tube in +their arm. + +Cases Beyond The Remedy Of Fasting + +Occasionally, very ill people have a liver that has become so +degenerated it cannot sustain the burden of detoxification. This +organ is as vital to survival as the brain, heart and lungs. We can +get along with only one kidney, we can live with no spleen, with no +gallbladder, with only small parts of the stomach and intestines, +but we can not survive without a liver for more than a day or so. +The liver is the most active organ in the body during +detoxification. To reach an understanding of detoxification, it +helps to know just what the liver does for us on an ongoing basis. + +The liver is a powerful chemical filter where blood is refined and +purified. The liver passes this cleansed blood out through the +superior vena cava, directly to the heart. The blood is then pumped +into general and systemic circulation, where it reaches all parts of +the body, delivering nutrition and oxygen at a cellular level. On +its return flow, a large proportion of the depleted blood is +collected by the gastric, splenic and superior and inferior +mesenteric veins that converge to form the large portal vein which +enters the liver. Thus a massive flow of waste from all the cells of +the body is constantly flowing into the liver. The huge hepatic +artery also enters the liver to supply oxygen and nutrients with +which to sustain the liver cells themselves. + +The liver is constantly at work refining the blood. It is +synthesizing, purifying, renovating, washing, filtering, separating, +and detoxifying. It works day and night without stopping. Many +toxins are broken down by enzymes and their component parts are +efficiently reused in various parts of the body. Some impurities are +filtered out and held back from the general circulation. These +debris are collected and stored in the gall bladder, which is a +little sack appended to the liver. After a meal, the contents of the +gall bladder (bile) are discharged into the duodenum, the upper part +of the small intestine just beyond the stomach. This bile also +contains digestive enzymes produced by the liver that permit the +breakdown of fatty foods in the small intestine. + +Sometimes a large flow of bile finds its way into the stomach by +pressure or is sucked into the stomach by vomiting. Excessive +biliary secretion and excretion can also result from overeating, +which overcrowds the area. Sometimes colonics or massage can also +stimulate a massive flow of bile. Extremely bitter and irritating, +when bile gets into the stomach the person either vomits or wishes +they could. And after vomiting and experiencing the taste of bile, +wishes they hadn't. + +When no food at all enters the system, the blood keeps right on +passing through the liver/filter just as it does when we are eating. +When the liver does not have to take care of toxins generated by the +current food intake, each passage through the liver results in a +cleaner blood stream, with the debris decreasing in quantity, +viscosity, and toxicity, until the blood becomes normalized. During +fasting, debris from the gall bladder still pass through the small +intestine and into the large intestine. However, if the bowels do +not move the toxins in the bile are readsorbed into the blood stream +and get recirculated in an endless loop. This toxic recycling makes +a faster feel just terrible, like they had a flu or worse! + +The bowels rarely move while fasting. During fasting only enemas or +colonics permit elimination from the large intestine. If done +effectively and frequently, enemas will greatly add to the well +being and comfort of the faster. Many times when a faster seems to +be retracing or experiencing a sudden onset of acute discomfort or +symptoms, these can be almost immediately relieved by an enema or +colonic. + +A person with major liver degeneration inevitably dies, with or +without fasting, with or without traditional medicine. Significantly +impaired kidney function can also bring about this same result. +Mercifully, death while fasting is usually accomplished relatively +free of pain, clear of mind and with dignity. That often can not be +said of death in a hospital. There are much worse experiences than +death. + +Fasting is not a cure-all. There are some conditions that are beyond +the ability of the body to heal. Ultimately, old age gets us all. + +Dr. Linda Hazzard, one of the greats of natural hygiene, who +practiced Osteopathic medicine in the 1920s, had a useful way of +categorizing conditions that respond well to fasting. These she +labeled "acute conditions," and "chronic degenerative conditions." A +third classification, "chronic conditions with organic damage," does +not respond to fasting. Acute conditions, are usually inflammations +or infections with irritated tissue, with swelling, redness, and +often copious secretions of mucous and pus, such as colds, flu, a +first time case of pneumonia, inflamed joints as in the early stages +of arthritis, etc. These acute conditions usually remedy in one to +three weeks of fasting. Acute conditions are excellent candidates +for self-doctoring. Chronic degenerative conditions are more serious +and the patient usually requires supervision. These include +conditions such as cancer, aids, chronic arthritis, chronic +pneumonia, emphysema and asthma. Chronic degenerative conditions +usually respond within a month to three months of fasting. The +fasting should be broken up into two or three sessions if the +condition has not been relieved in one stint of supervised fasting. +Each successive fast will produce some improvement and if a light, +largely raw-food diet is adhered to between fasts the patient should +not worsen and should be fairly comfortable between fastings. + +If there has been major functional damage to an organ as a result of +any of these degenerative conditions, healing will not be complete, +or may be impossible. By organic damage, I mean that a vital part of +the body has ceased to function due to some degenerative process, +injury, or surgery--so badly damaged that the cells that make up the +organ can not be replaced. + +I once had a twenty five year old man come to my spa to die in peace +because he had been through enough diagnostic procedures in three +hospitals to know that his liver was beyond repair. He had been +working on an apple farm in between terms at university when he was +poisoned several times with insecticide from an aerial spray on the +whole orchard. He absorbed so much insecticide that his liver +incurred massive organic damage. + +When he came to me his body had reached the point where it was +incapable of digesting, and because of lack of liver function, it +was incapable of healing while fasting, a condition in which death +is a certainty. He was a Buddhist, did not fear death and did not +want to be kept alive in agony or in prolonged unconsciousness by +any extraordinary means, nor did he want to die with tubes in every +orifice. I was honored to be a supportive participant in his +passing. He died fasting, in peace, and without pain, with a clear +mind that allowed him to consciously prepare for the experience. He +was not in a state of denial or fear, and made no frantic attempts +to escape the inevitable. He went quietly into that still dark night +with a tranquil demeanor and a slight smile. + +Fortunately, in my many years of practice I had the pleasure of +seeing the majority of the people totally regain their health or at +least greatly improve it by means of the fasting and healing diets. +Many cancer patients watched with amazement as their tumors +disappeared before their eyes, many arthritics regained their +function, serious skin conditions such as psoriasis disappeared, +mental conditions improved, addictions vanished, fatigue was +replaced by energy, and fat dissolved revealing the hidden sculpture +beneath. I will talk more about procedures and the particular +reasons bodies develop specific conditions in later chapters. + +Social/Cultural/Psychological Obstacles To Fasting + +Numerous attitudes make it difficult to fast or to provide moral +support to friends or loved ones that are fasting. Many people +harbor fears of losing weight because they think that if times were +really tough, if there was a famine or they became ill and lost a +lot of weight they would have no reserves and would certainly +perish. These people have no idea how much fat can be concealed on +an even skinny body, nor of how slowly a skinny body loses weight +while fasting. Substantial fat reserves are helpful as +heat-retaining insulation in those rare accidents when someone is +dropped into a cold ocean and must survive until the rescue boat +arrives. Being fat might keep a person alive longer who is lost in +the wilderness awaiting rescue with no supplies, no means of +procuring food, and no means of keeping warm. On the other hand, fat +people would have a far harder time walking out of the wilderness. +And extensive fat deposits are merely fuel and do not contain +extensive nutritional reserves. An obese person fasting without +significant nutritional supplementation would begin starving long +before they became really skinny. On the balance, carrying excess +weight is a far greater liability than any potential prosurvival +aspects it might have. + +There are other attitudes associated with weight loss that make it +difficult for people to fast. People hold rather stereotypical +notions about what constitutes an attractive person; usually it +involves having some meat on ones bones. Hollywood and Hugh Hefner +have both influenced the masses to think that women should have +hourglass figures with large, upthrust, firm breasts. Since breasts +are almost all useless fatty tissue supporting some milk-producing +glands that do not give a breast much volume except when engorged, +most women fasters loose a good percentage of their breast mass. If +the fast is extensive, there should also develop an impressive +showing of ribs and hip bones; these are not soft and cuddly. +Husbands, lovers, parents, and friends frequently point out that you +don't look good this way and exhort you to put on weight. Most +people think pleasantly plump is healthy. + +Skinny men, especially those who had lost a lot of weight during an +illness, are pressured by associates to put on weight to prove that +they are healthy. I had a client who was formerly a college varsity +football player. Before his illness he had lifted weights and looked +like a hunk. His family and friends liked to see him that way and +justifiably so. Then he got seriously ill. On a long extended +healing diet he lost a significant amount of weight and seemed down +right skinny, causing all who knew him well and cared about him to +tempt him with all kinds of scrumptious delicacies from the best of +kitchens. But this case was like Luigi Cornaro, a man who never +again could look like a hunk. His "friends" made an absolutely +necessary change in life style and appearance far more difficult +than it was already. My client was torn between a desire to please +others, and a desire to regain and retain his health. This problem a +sick person doesn't need. + +If you have the independence to consider following an alternative +medical program in a culture that highly values conformity and +agreement, you are also going to have to defend your own course of +self-determined action based on the best available data that you +have. But fasters are usually in fragile emotional condition, so I +advise my clients who are subjected to this kind of pressure to beg +their friends and associates to refrain from saying anything if they +can't support the course of action you have chosen. After this, if +friends or relatives are still incapable of saying nothing (even +non-verbally), it is important to exclude them from your life until +you have accomplished your health goals, have regained some weight +and have returned to eating a maintenance diet, rather than getting +skinnier on a healing one. + +The very worst aspect of our culture's eating programming is that +people have been wrongfully taught that when ill they must eat to +keep up their strength. Inherent in this recommendation is an +unstated belief that when the body is weakened by a disease state, +the weakness can somehow be overcome with food, and that the body +needs this food to kill the virus, bacteria, or invading yeast, and +uses the protein to heal or rebuild tissue. Sadly, the exact +opposite is the case. Disease organisms feed and multiply on the +toxic waste products of misdigestion, and the body is unable to +digest well when it is weak or ill. + +There's an old saying about this: "feed a cold, starve a fever." +Most people think this saying means you should eat when you have a +cold. What the saying really means is if you feed a cold then you +will soon have to starve a fever. Protein foods especially are not +digested by a diseased body, and as mentioned before, the waste +products of protein indigestion are especially poisonous. That is +all the body needs when it is already down, another load of poison +which it can't eliminate due to weakness and enervation. + +Weight loss is usually associated with illness, as it should be! In +times of acute illness an otherwise healthy body loses its appetite +for food because it is prosurvival to stop eating. It is very hard +to coax a sick animal to eat. Their bodies, not controlled by a mind +full of complex learned responses and false ideas, automatically +know that fasting is nature's method of healing. Contrary to popular +understanding, digestion, assimilation, and elimination require the +expenditure of considerable energy. This fact may contradict the +reader's experience because everyone has become tired when they have +worked a long time without eating, and then experienced the lift +after eating. But an ill body cannot digest efficiently so instead +of providing energy extracted from foods, the body is further +burdened by yet another load of toxic material produced by fermented +and putrefied food. This adds insult to injury in a sick body that +is already drowning in its own garbage. + +Worse, during illness most available vital force is already +redirected into healing; it is not available for digestion. It is +important to allow a sick body to proceed with healing and not to +obstruct the process with unnecessary digestion or suppress the +symptoms (which actually are the healing efforts) with drugs. If you +have an acute illness, and you stop all food intake except for pure +water and herb teas, and perhaps some vegetable broth, or dilute +non-sweet juice, you have relieved your body of an immense effort. +Instead of digesting, the body goes to work on catching up on +healing. The body can and will almost inevitably heal itself if the +sick person will have faith in it, cooperate with the body's efforts +by allowing the symptoms of healing to exist, reduce or eliminate +the intake of food to allow the body to marshal its energies, +maintain a positive mental attitude and otherwise stay out of the +way. + +Many people intensely dread missing even one meal. These folks +usually are and have been so toxic that their bodies had been +stashing uneliminated toxins in their fat for years. They are +usually so addicted to caffeine, cigarettes, alcohol, and so forth, +that when they had fasted, even briefly, their bodies were forced to +dip into highly-polluted fat reserves while simultaneously the body +begins withdrawal. People like this who try to fast experience +highly unpleasant symptoms including headache, irritability, +inability to think or concentrate, blurred vision, profound fatigue, +aches, etc. Most of these symptoms come from low blood sugar, but +combined with the toxins being released from fat and combined with +going through multiple addictive withdrawals, the discomforts are +more than most people are willing to tolerate. Fasting on juice is +much more realistic for cases like this. It is little wonder that +when a hygienist suggests a fast to improve health, this type of +case asserts positively that fasting is quite impossible, they have +tried it, it is absolutely terrible and know that they can't do it. + +This rejection is partly due to a cultural expectation (one +reinforced by western medicine) that all unpleasant symptoms should +be avoided or suppressed. To voluntarily experience unpleasant +sensations such as those mentioned above is more than the ordinary +timid person will subject themselves to, even in order to regain +health. They will allow surgery, drugs with violent and dangerous +side effects, painful and invasive testing procedures and +radiation--all unpleasant and sometimes extremely uncomfortable. +These therapies are accepted because someone else with authority is +doing it to them. And, they have been told that it they don't submit +they will not ever feel better and probably will die in the near +future. Also people think that they have no alternative, that the +expert in front of them knows what is best, so they feel relieved to +have been relieved of the responsibility for their own condition and +its treatment. + +Preventative Fasting + +During the years it takes for a body to degenerate enough to prompt +a fast, the body has been storing up large quantities of unprocessed +toxins in the cells, tissues, fat deposits, and organs. The body in +its wisdom will always choose to temporarily deposit overwhelming +amounts of toxins somewhere harmless rather than permit the blood +supply to become polluted or to use secondary elimination routes. A +body will use times when the liver is less burdened to eliminate +these stored toxic debris. The hygienists' paradigm asserts that the +manifestation of symptoms or illness are all by themselves, +absolute, unassailable proof that further storage of toxic wastes in +the cells, tissues, fat deposits, and organs is not possible and +that an effort toward elimination is absolutely necessary. Thus the +first time a person fasts a great quantity of toxins will normally +be released. Being the resident of a body when this is happening can +be quite uncomfortable. For this reason alone, preventative fasting +is a very wise idea. + +Before the body becomes critically ill, clean up your reserve fuel +supply (fat deposits) by burning off some accumulated fat that is +rich in toxic deposits and then replace it with clean, non-toxic fat +that you will make while eating sensibly. If you had but fasted +prophylactically as a preventative or health-creating measure before +you became seriously ill, the initial detoxification of your body +could have been accomplished far more comfortably, while you were +healthy, while your vital force was high and while your body +otherwise more able to deal with detoxification. + +Each time you fast, even if it is only one day, you allow your body +to go through a partial detox, and each time it becomes easier and +more comfortable than the last time. The body learns how to fast. +Each time you fast it, your body slips into a cleansing mode more +quickly, and each time you fast you lighten the load of stored +toxins. Perhaps you have already eliminated the caffeine your body +had stored, which frequently causes severe headaches on withdrawal, +not to mention fatigue. It certainly helps to have this behind you +before you go on to the elimination of other irritating substances. +Many people have gone through alcohol or tobacco withdrawal, and +understand that it is very unpleasant, and also that it must be done +in the pursuit of health. Why not withdraw from the rest of the +irritating and debilitating substances we take into our system on an +ongoing basis, and why not grit your way through the eliminative +process, withdraw, from food addictions such as sugar or salt, and +from foods that you may be allergic to like wheat, dairy products or +eggs. + +It is very wise to invest in your own insurance plan by +systematically detoxifying while you are still healthy. Plan it into +your life, when it is convenient, such as once a week on Sunday, or +even once a month on a quiet day. Take a few days of vacation, go to +a warm, beautiful place and devote part or all of it to cleansing. +Treat yourself by taking an annual trip to Hawaii, fasting at a +hotel on the beach--do whatever it takes to motivate yourself. And +consider this: vacations are enormously cheaper when you stay out of +restaurants. + +If you have accustomed your body to 24 hour fasts, then you can work +on 48 hour fasts, and over time work up to 72 hour fasts, all on a +continuum. You may find it becoming increasingly comfortable, +perhaps even pleasant, something you look forward to. Fasting a +relatively detoxified body feels good, and people eventually really +get into the clean, light, clear headed, perhaps spiritually aware +state that goes along with it. + +By contrast, fasting when you are sick is much more difficult +because your vitality or vital force is very low, you already have +no energy, and probably have unpleasant symptoms that must be dealt +with at the same time. There may be the added stress of being forced +into a cleanse because you are too nauseous to eat. Most people let +their health go until they are forced into dealing with it; they are +too busy living, so why bother. + +The truth is that our body does age, and over time becomes less able +to deal with insults; the accumulated effect of insults and aging +eventually leads most of us to some serious degenerative illness. +Normally this begins happening around age 50 if not sooner. Some of +us that were gifted with good genes or what I call "a good start" +may have reached the age of 60 or 75 or even 90 without serious +illness, but those people are few and far between. Why not tip the +scales in your favor by preventing or staving off health problems +with systematic detoxification at your own convenience. + +Climb into the drivers seat and start to take control and gain +confidence in your own ability to deal with your body, your own +health, and your own life. When it gets right down to the bottom +line, there is really only one thing in the world that is really +yours, and that is your life. Take control and start managing it. +The reward will be a more qualitative life. + + + + + + +Chapter Four + +Colon Cleansing + + + + + +From The Hygienic Dictionary + +Autointoxication. [1] the accumulations on the bowel wall become a +breeding ground for unhealthy bacterial life forms. The heavy mucus +coating in the colon thickens and becomes a host for putrefaction. +The blood capillaries to the colon begin to pick up the toxins, +poisons and noxious debris as it seeps through the bowel wall. All +tissues and organs of the body are now taking on toxic substances. +Here is the beginning of true autointoxication on a physiological +level. _Bernard Jensen, Tissue Cleansing Through Bowel Management._ +[2] All maladies are due to the lack of certain food principles, +such as mineral salts or vitamins, or to the absence of the normal +defenses of the body, such as the natural protective flora. When +this occurs, toxic bacteria invade the lower alimentary canal, and +the poisons thus generated pollute the bloodstream and gradually +deteriorate and destroy every tissue, gland and organ of the body. +_Sir Arbuthnot Lane. _[3] The common cause of gastro-intestinal +indigestion is enervation and overeating When food is not digested, +it becomes a poison. Dr. John.H. Tilden, Impaired Health: Its Cause +and Cure, 1921. [4] a clogging up of the large intestine by a +building up (on) the bowel wall to such an extent that feces can +hardly pass through. autointoxication is a direct result of +intestinal constipation. Faulty nutrition is a major underlying +factor in constipation. The frequency or quantity of fecal +elimination is not an indication of the lack of constipation in the +bowel._ Bernard Jensen, Tissue Cleansing Through Bowel Management._ + +I am not a true believer in any single healing method or system. I +find much truth in many schools and use a wide variety of +techniques. The word for my inclination is eclectic. + +The most effective medicine in my arsenal is water fasting followed +closely in potency by other, less rigorous detoxifying diets. Colon +cleansing ranks next in healing power. In fact it is difficult to +separate colon cleansing from fasting because detoxification +programs should always be accompanied by colon cleansing. Further +down the scale of efficatiousness comes dietary reform to eliminate +allergic reactions and to present the body with foods it is capable +of digesting without creating toxemia. Last, and usually least in +effectiveness in my arsenal, are orthotropic substances (in the form +of little pills and capsules) commonly known as vitamins or food +supplements. + +Interestingly, acceptance of these methods by my clients runs in +exact opposition to their effectiveness. People prefer taking +vitamins because they seem like the allopaths' pills, taking pills +demands little or no responsibility for change. The least popular +prescription I can write is a monodiet of water for several weeks or +a month. Yet this is my most powerful medicine. + +It is possible to resolve many health complaints without fasting, +simply by cleansing the colon and regaining normal lower bowel +function. Colonics take little personal effort and are much easier +to get people to accept than fasting. So I can fully understand how +perfectly honest and ethical naturopaths have developed obsessions +with colon cleansing. Some healers have loudly and repeatedly (and +wrongly) proclaimed that constipation is the sole cause of disease, +and thus, the only real cure for any illness is colon cleansing. + +Even though it is possible to have a lot of successes with the +simple (though unpleasant to administer) technique of colon +cleansing, degenerated lower bowels are the only cause of disease. I +prefer to use bowel cleansing as an adjunct to more complete healing +programs. However, old classics of hygiene and even a few new books +strongly make the case for colonics. Some of these books are +entirely one-sided, single-cause single-cure approaches, and sound +convincing to the layperson. For this reason, I think I should take +a few paragraphs and explain why some otherwise well-intentioned +health professionals have overly-advocated colonics (and other +practices as well). + +Most Diseases Cure Themselves + +If you ask any honest medical doctor how they cure diseases, they +will tell you that most acute disease conditions and a smaller, +though significant percentage (probably a majority) of chronic +disease conditions are self-limiting and will, given time, get +better all by themselves. So for most complaints, the honest +allopathic doctor sees their job as giving comfort and easing the +severity of the symptoms until a cure happens. + +This same scenario, when viewed from a hygienist's perspective, is +that almost all acute and many chronic conditions are simply the +body's attempt to handle a crisis of toxemia. For two reasons the +current crisis will probably go away by itself. The positive reason +is that the toxic overload will be resolved: the person changes +their dietary habits or the stressor that temporarily lowered their +vital force and produced enervation is removed, then digestion +improves and the level of self-generated toxins is reduced. The +negative reason for a complaint to "cure" itself is that the +suffering person's vital force drops below the level that the +symptom can be manifested and the complaint goes away because a new, +more serious disease is developing. + +I view this second possibility as highly undesirable because strong, +healthy bodies possessing a high degree of vital force are able to +eliminate toxins rather violently, frequently producing very +uncomfortable symptoms that are not life-threatening. However, as +the vital force drops, the body changes its routes of secondary +elimination and begins using more centrally located vital organs and +systems to dispose of toxemia. This degeneration producing less +unpleasant symptoms, but in the long run, damages essential organs +and moves the person closer to their final disease. + +A young vigorous body possessing a large degree of vital force will +almost always route surplus toxins through skin tissues and +skin-like mucus membranes, producing repeated bouts of sinusitis, or +asthma, or colds, or a combination of all these. Each acute +manifestation will "cure" itself by itself eventually. But +eventually the body's vital force can no longer create these +aggressive cleansing phenomena and the toxemia begins to go deeper. +When the allopathic doctor gets a patient complaining of sinusitis, +they know they will eventually get a cure. The "cure" however, might +well be a case of arthritis. + +This unfortunate reality tends to make young, idealistic physicians +become rather disillusioned about treating degenerative conditions +because the end result of all their efforts is, in the end, death +anyway. The best they can do is to alleviate suffering and to a +degree, prolong life. The worst they can do is to prolong suffering. + +Thus, the physicians main job is to get the patient to be patient, +to wait until the body corrects itself and stops manifesting the +undesired symptom. Thus comes the prime rule of all humane medicine: +first of all, do no harm! If the doctor simply refrains from making +the body worse, it will probably get better by itself. But the +patient, rarely resigned to quiet suffering, comes in demanding fast +relief, demanding a cure. In fact, if the patient were resigned to +quiet suffering they would not consult a doctor. So if the doctor +wants to keep this patient and make a living they must do something. +If that something the doctor must do does little or no harm and +better yet, can also alleviate the symptoms, the doctor is +practicing good medicine and will have a very high cure rate and be +financially successful if they have a good bedside manner. This kind +of doctor may be allopathic and/or "natural," may use herbs or +practice homeopathy. + +The story of Dr. Jennings, a very successful and famous or infamous +(depending on your viewpoint) physician, who practiced in +Connecticut in the early 1800s exemplifies this type of approach. + +Dr. Jennings had his own unique medicines. Their composition was of +his own devising, and were absolutely secret. He had pills and +colored bitter drops of various sorts that were compounded himself +in his own pharmacy. Dr. Jennings' patients generally recovered and +had few or no complications. This must be viewed in contrast to the +practices of his fellow doctors of that era, whose black bags were +full of mercury and arsenic and strychnine, whose practices included +obligatory bleeding. These techniques and medicines "worked" by +poisoning the body or by reducing its blood supply and thus lowering +its vital force, ending the body's ability to manifest the +undesirable symptom. If the poor patient survived being victimized +by their own physician, they were tough enough to survive both their +disease and the doctor's cure. Typically, the sick had many, lengthy +complications, long illnesses, and many "setbacks" requiring many +visits, earning the physician a great living. + +Dr. Jennings operated differently. He would prescribe one or two +secret medicines from his black bag and instruct the patient to stay +in bed, get lots of rest, drink lots of water, eat little and +lightly, and continue taking the medicine until they were well. His +cure rate was phenomenal. Demand they might, but Dr. Jennings would +never reveal what was in his pills and vials. Finally at the end of +his career, to instruct his fellow man, Dr. Jennings confessed. His +pills were made from flour dough, various bitter but harmless herbal +substances, and a little sugar. His red and green and black +tinctures, prescribed five or ten drips at a time mixed in a glass +of water several times daily, were only water and alcohol, some +colorant and something bitter tasting, but harmless. Placebos in +other words. + +Upon confessing, Dr. Jennings had to run for his life. I believe he +ended up retiring on the western frontier, in Indiana. Some of his +former patients were extremely angry because they had paid good +money, top dollar for "real" medicines, but were given only flour +and water. The fact that they got better didn't seem to count. + +If the physicians curative procedure suppresses the symptom and/or +lowers the vital force with toxic drugs or surgery, (either result +will often as not end the complaint) the allopathic doctor is +practicing bad medicine. This doctor too will have a high cure rate +and a good business (if they have an effective bedside manner) +because their drugs really do make the current symptoms vanish very +rapidly. Additionally, their practice harmonizes with a common but +vicious dramatization of many people which goes: when a body is +malfunctioning, it is a bad body and needs to be punished. So lets +punish it with poisons and if that don't work, lets really punish it +by cutting out the offending part. + +However, if the physician can do something that will do no harm but +raises the vital force and/or lowers the level of toxemia, this +doctor will have a genuine cure rate higher than either of the two +techniques. Why does raising the vital force help? Because it +reduces enervation, improves the digestion, lowers the creation of +new toxins and improves the function of the organs of elimination, +also reducing the toxic overload that is causing the complaint. + +Techniques that temporarily and quickly raise the vital force +include homeopathy, chiropractic, vitamin therapy, massage, +acupuncture and acupressure and many more spiritually oriented +practices. Healers who use these approaches and have a good bedside +manner can have a very good business, they can have an +especially-profitable practice if they do nothing to lower the level +of toxemia being currently generated. Their patients do experience +prompt relief but must repeatedly take the remedy. This makes for +satisfied customers and a repeat business. + +The best approach of all focuses on reducing the self-generated +level of toxemia, cleansing to remove deposits of old toxemia, +rebuilding the organs of elimination and digestion to prevent the +formation of new toxemia, and then, to alleviate the current +symptoms and make it easier for the patient to be patient while +their body heals, the healer raises artificially and temporarily the +vital force with vitamins, massage, acupressure, etc. This wise and +benevolent physician is going to have the highest cure rate among +those wise patients who will accept the prescription, but will not +make as much money because the patients permanently get better and +no longer need a physician. There's not nearly as much repeat +business. + +Colonics are one of the best types of medicine. They clean up +deposits of old toxemia (though there are sure to be other deposits +in the body's tissues colonics do not touch). Colon cleansing +reduces the formation of new toxemia from putrefying fecal matter +(but dietary reform is necessary to maximize this benefit). Most +noticeable to the patient, a colonic immediately alleviates current +symptoms by almost instantly reducing the current toxic load. A +well-done enema or colonic is such a powerful technique that a +single one will often make a severe headache vanish, make an +onsetting cold go away, end a bout of sinusitis, end an asthmatic +attack, reduce the pain of acute arthritic inflammation, reduce or +stop an allergic reaction. Enemas are also thrifty: they are +self-administered and can prevent most doctor's visits seeking +relief for acute conditions. + +Diseases of the colon itself, including chronic constipation, +colitis, diverteculitis, hemorrhoids, irritable bowel syndrome, and +mucous colitis, are often cured solely by an intensive series of +several dozen colonics given close together. Contrary to popular +belief, many people think that if they have dysentery or other forms +of loose stools that a colonic is the last thing they need. +Surprisingly, a series of colonics will eliminate many of these +conditions as well. People with chronic diarrhea or loose stools are +usually very badly constipated. This may seem a contradiction in +terms but it will be explained shortly. + +A century ago there was much less scientific data about the +functioning of the human body. Then it was easy for a +hygienically-oriented physician to come to believe that colonics +were the single best medicine available. The doctor practicing +nothing but colonics will have a very high rate of cure and a lot of +very satisfied clients. Most importantly, this medicine will have +done no harm. + +The Repugnant Bowel + +I don't know why, but people of our culture have a deep-seated +reluctance to relate to the colon or it's functions. People don't +want to think about the colon or personally get involved with it by +giving themselves enemas or colonics. They become deeply embarrassed +at having someone else do it for them. People are also shy about +farts, and most Americans have a hard time not smiling or reacting +in some way when someone in their presence breaks wind, although the +polite amongst us pretend that we didn't notice. Comedians usually +succeed in getting a laugh out of an audience when they come up with +a fart or make reference to some other bowel function. People don't +react the same way to urinary functions or discharges, although +these also may have an unpleasant odor and originate from the same +"private" area. + +When I first mention to clients that they need a minimum of 12 +colonics or many more enemas than 12 during a fasting or cleansing +program they are inevitably shocked. To most it seems that no one in +their right mind would recommend such a treatment, and that I must +certainly be motivated by greed or some kind of a psychological +quirk. Then I routinely show them reproductions of X-rays of the +large intestine showing obvious loss of normal structure and +function resulting from a combination of constipation, the effects +of gravity, poor abdominal muscle tone, emotional stress, and poor +diet. In the average colon more than 50% of the hastrum (muscles +that impel fecal matter through the organ) are dysfunctional due to +loss of tone caused by impaction of fecal matter and/or constriction +of the large intestine secondary to stress (holding muscular tension +in the abdominal area) and straining during bowel movement. + +A typical diseased colon + +The average person also has a prolapsed (sagging) transverse colon, +and a distorted misplaced ascending and descending colon. I took a +course in colon therapy before purchasing my first colonic machine. +The chiropractor teaching the class required all of his patients +scheduled for colonics to take a barium enema followed by an X-ray +of their large intestine prior to having colonics and then make +subsequent X-rays after each series of 12 colonics. Most of his +patients experienced so much immediate relief they voluntarily took +at least four complete series, or 48 colonics, before their X-rays +began to look normal in terms of structure. It also took about the +same number, 48 colonics, for the patients to notice a significant +improvement in the function of the colon. In reviewing over 10,000 +X-rays taken at his clinic prior to starting colonics, the +chiropractor had seen only two normal colon X-rays and these were +from farm boys who grew up eating simple foods from the garden and +doing lots of hard work. + +The X-rays showed that it took a minimum of 12 colon treatments to +bring about a minimal but observable change in the structure of the +colon in the desired direction, and for the patient to begin to +notice that bowel function was improving, plus the fact that they +started to feel better. + +A Healthy Colon + +From my point of view the most amazing part of this whole experience +was that the chiropractor did not recommend any dietary changes +whatsoever. His patients were achieving great success from colonics +alone. I had thought dietary changes would be necessary to avoid +having the same dismal bowel condition return. I still think +colonics are far more effective if people are on a cleansing diet +too. However, I was delighted to see the potential for helping +people through colonics. + +For me, the most interesting part of this colonic school was that I +personally was required to have my own barium enema and X-ray. I was +privately certain that mine would look normal, because after all, I +had been on a raw food diet for six years, and done considerable +amount of fasting, all of which was reputed to repair a civilized +colon. Much to my surprise my colon looked just as mangled and +dysfunctional as everyone else's', only somewhat worse because it +had a loop in the descending colon similar to a cursive letter "e" +which doctors call a volvulus. Surgeons like to cut volvululii out +because they frequently cause bowel obstructions. It seemed quite +unfair. All those other people with lousy looking colons had been +eating the average American diet their whole life, but I had been so +'pure!' + +On further reflection I remembered that I had a tendency toward +constipation all through my childhood and young adulthood, and that +during my two pregnancies the pressure of the fetus on an already +constipated bowel had made it worse resulting in the distorted +structure seen in the X-ray. This experience made it very clear that +fasting, cleansing diets, and corrected diet would not reverse +damage already done. Proper diet and fasting would however, prevent +the condition of the colon from getting any worse than it already +was. + +I then realized that I had just purchased the very tool I needed to +correct my own colon, and I was eager to get home to get started on +it. I had previously thought that I was just going to use this +machine for my patients, because they had been asking for this kind +of an adjunct to my services for some time. I ended up giving myself +over a hundred colonics at the rate of three a week over many +months. I then out of curiosity had another barium enema and X-ray +to validate my results. Sure enough the picture showed a colon that +looked far more 'normal' with no vulvulus. That little "e" had +disappeared. + +What Is Constipation? + +Most people think they are not constipated because they have a bowel +movement almost every day, accomplished without straining. I have +even had clients tell me that they have a bowel movement once a +week, and they are quite certain that they are not constipated. The +most surprising thing to novice fasters is that repeated enemas or +colonics during fasting begins to release many pounds of undeniably +real, old, caked fecal matter and/or huge mucus strings. The +first-time faster can hardly believe these were present. These old +fecal deposits do not come out the first time one has enemas or +necessarily the fifth time. And all of them will not be removed by +the tenth enema. But over the course of extended fasting or a long +spell of light raw food eating with repeated daily enemas, amazing +changes do begin to occur. It seems that no one who has eaten a +civilized diet has escaped the formation of caked deposits lining +the colon's walls, interfering with its function. This material does +not respond to laxatives or casually administered enemas. + +Anyone who has not actually seen (and smelled) what comes out of an +"average" apparently healthy person during colonics will really +believe it could happen or can accurately imagine it. Often there +are dark black lumpy strings, lumps, or gravel, evil smelling discs +shaped like sculpted hemispheres similar to the pockets lining the +wall of the colon itself. These discs are rock-hard and may come out +looking like long black braids. There may also be long tangled +strings of gray/brown mucous, sheets and flakes of mucous, and worse +yet, an occasional worm (tape worm) or many smaller ones. Once +confronted however, it is not hard to imagine how these fecal rocks +and other obnoxious debris interfere with the proper function of the +colon. They make the colon's wall rigid and interfere with +peristalsis thus leading to further problems with constipation, and +interfere with adsorption of nutrients. + +Our modern diet is by its "de-"nature, very constipating. In the +trenches of the First World War, cheese was given the name 'chokem +ass' because the soldiers eating this as a part of their daily +ration developed severe constipation. Eaten by itself or with other +whole foods, moderate amounts of cheese may not produce health +problems in people who are capable of digesting dairy products. But +cheese when combined with white flour becomes especially +constipating. White bread or most white-flour crackers contain a lot +of gluten, a very sticky wheat protein that makes the bread bind +together and raise well. But white flour is lacking the bran, where +most of the fiber is located. And many other processed foods are +missing their fiber. + +In an earlier chapter I briefly showed how digestion works by +following food from the mouth to the large intestine. To fully grasp +why becoming constipated is almost a certainty in our civilization a +few more details are required. Food leaving the small intestine is +called chyme, a semi-liquid mixture of fiber, undigested bits, +indigestible bits, and the remains of digestive enzymes. Chyme is +propelled through the large intestine by muscular contractions. The +large intestine operates on what I dub the "chew chew train" +principle, where the most recent meal you ate enters the large +intestine as the caboose (the last car of a train) and helps to push +out the train engine (the car at the front that toots), which in a +healthy colon should represent the meal eaten perhaps twelve hours +earlier. The muscles in the colon only contract when they are +stretched, so it is the volume of the fecal matter stretching the +large intestine that triggers the muscles to push the waste material +along toward the rectum and anus. + +Eating food lacking fiber greatly reduces the volume of the chyme +and slows peristalsis. But moving through fast or slow, the colon +still keeps on doing another of its jobs, which is to transfer the +water in the chime back into the bloodstream, reducing dehydration. +So the longer chime remains in the colon, the dryer and harder and +stickier it gets. That's why once arrived at the "end of the tracks" +fecal matter should be evacuated in a timely manner before it gets +to dry and too hard to be moved easily. Some constipated people do +have a bowel movement every day but are evacuating the meal eaten +many days or even a week previously. + +Most hygienists believe that when the colon becomes lined with +hardened fecal matter it is permanently and by the very definition +of the word itself, constipated. This type of constipation is not +perceived as an uncomfortable or overly full feeling or a desire to +have a bowel movement that won't pass. But it has insidious effects. +Usually constipation delays transit time, increasing the adsorption +of toxins generated from misdigestion of food; by coating and +locking up significant portions of colon it also reduces the +adsorption of certain minerals and electrolytes. + +Sometimes, extremely constipated people have almost constant runny +bowels because the colon has become so thickly and impenetrably +lined with old fecal matter that it no longer removes much moisture. +This condition is often misinterpreted as diarrhea. The large +intestine's most important task is to transfer water-soluble +minerals from digested food to the blood. When a significant part of +the colon's surface becomes coated with impermeable dried rigid +fecal matter or mucus it can no longer assimilate effectively and +the body begins to experience partial mineral starvation in the +presence of plenty. It is my observation from dozens of cases that +when the colon has been effectively cleansed the person has a +tendency to gain weight while eating amounts of food that before +only maintained body weight, while people who could not gain weight +or who were wasting away despite eating heavily begin to gain. And +problems like soft fingernails, bone loss around teeth or porous +bones tend to improve. + +The Development Of My Own Constipation + +The history of my own constipation, though it especially relates to +a very rustic childhood, is typical of many people. I was also +raised on a very constipating diet which consisted largely of +processed cheese and crackers. Mine was accelerated by shyness, +amplified by lack of comfortable facilities. + +I spent my early years on the Canadian prairies, where everybody had +an outhouse. The fancy modern versions are frequently seen on +construction sites. These are chemical toilets, quiet different than +the ones I was raised with because somebody or something +mysteriously comes along, empties them and installs toilet paper. +The ones I'm familiar with quickly developed a bad-smelling steaming +mound in the center--or it was winter when the outhouse was so cold +that everything froze almost before it hit the ground in the hole +below. (And my rear end seemed to almost freeze to the seat!) The +toilet paper was usually an out of season issue of Eatons mail order +catalogue with crisp glossy paper. Perhaps it is a peculiarity of +the north country, but at night there are always monsters lurking +along the path to the outhouse, and darkness comes early and stays +late. + +When nature called and it was daylight, and there was no blizzard +outside, the outhouse received a visit from me. If on the other +hand, when it was dark (we had no electricity), and there was a cold +wind creating huge banks of snow, I would 'just skip it,' because +the alternative--an indoor chamber pot, white enamel with a lid--was +worse. This potty had to be used more or less publicly because the +bedrooms were shared and there was no indoor bathroom. I was always +very modest about my private parts and private functions, and +potty's were only used in emergencies, and usually with considerable +embarrassment. No one ever explained to me that it was not good for +me to retain fecal matter, and I never thought about it unless my +movements became so hard that it was painful to eliminate. + +Later in life, I continued this pattern of putting off bowel +movements, even though outhouses and potties were a thing of the +past. As a young adult I could always think of something more +interesting to do than sitting on a pot, besides it was messy and +sometimes accompanied by embarrassing sound effects which were +definitely not romantic if I was in the company of a young man. +During two pregnancies the tendency to constipation was aggravated +by the weight of the fetus resting on an already sluggish bowel, and +the discomfort of straining to pass my first hard bowel movement +after childbirth with a torn perineum I won't forget. + +Rapid Relief From Colon Cleansing + +During fasting the liver is hard at work processing toxins released +from fat and other body deposits. The liver still dumps its wastes +into the intestines through the bile duct. While eating normally, +bile, which contains highly toxic substances, is passed through the +intestines and is eliminated before too much is reabsorbed. (It is +the bile that usually makes the fecal matter so dark in color.) +However, reduction of food bulk reduces or completely eliminates +peristalsis, thus allowing intestinal contents to sit for extended +periods. And the toxins in the bile are readsorbed, forming a +continuous loop, further burdening the liver. + +The mucus membranes lining the colon constantly secrete lubricants +to ease fecal matter through smoothly. This secretion does not stop +during fasting; in fact, it may increase because intestinal mucus +often becomes a secondary route of elimination. Allowed to remain in +the bowel, toxic mucus is an irritant while the toxins in it may be +reabsorbed, forming yet another closed loop and further burdening +the liver. + +Daily enemas or colonics administered during fasting or while on +cleansing diets effectively remove old fecal material stored in the +colon and immediately ease the livers load, immediately relieve +discomfort by allowing the liver's efforts to further detoxify the +blood, and speed healing. Fasters cleansing on juice or raw food +should administer two or three enemas in short succession every day +for the first three days to get a good start on the cleansing +process, and then every other day or at very minimum, every few +days. Enemas or colonics should also be taken whenever symptoms +become uncomfortable, regardless of whether you have already cleaned +the colon that day or not. Once the faster has experienced the +relief from symptoms that usually comes from an enema they become +more than willing to repeat this mildly unpleasant experience. + +Occasionally enemas, by filling the colon and making it press on the +liver, induce discharges of highly toxic bile that may cause +temporary nausea. Despite the induced nausea it is still far better +to continue with colonics because of the great relief experienced +after the treatment. If nausea exists or persists during colon +cleansing, consider trying slight modifications such as less or no +massage of the colon in the area of the gall bladder (abdominal area +close to the bottom of the right rib cage), and putting slightly +less water in the colon when filling it up. It also helps to make +sure that the stomach is empty of any fluid for one hour prior to +the colonic. Resume drinking after the colonic sessions is +completed. If you are one of these rare people who 'toss their +bile', just keep a plastic bucket handy and some water to rinse out +the mouth after, and carry on as usual. + +Enemas Versus Colonics + +People frequently wonder what is the difference between a colonic +and an enema. + +First of all enemas are a lot cheaper because you give them to +yourself; an enema bag usually costs about ten dollars, is available +at any large drug store, and is indefinitely reusable. Colonics cost +anywhere from 30 to 75 dollars a session. + +Chiropractors and naturopaths who offer this service hire a colonic +technician that may or may not be a skilled operator. It is a good +idea to find a person who has a very agreeable and professional +manner, who can make you feel at ease since relaxation is very +important. It is also beneficial to have a colonic therapist who +massages the abdomen and foot reflexes appropriately during the +session. + +Enemas and colonics can accomplish exactly the same beneficial work. +But colonics accomplish more improvement in less time than enemas +for several reasons. During a colonic from 30 to 50 gallons of water +are flushed through the large intestines, usually in a repetitive +series of fill-ups followed by flushing with a continuous flow of +water. This efficiency cannot even be approached with an enema. But +by repeating the enema three times in close succession a +satisfactory cleanse can be achieved. Persisted with long enough, +enemas will clean the colon every bit as well as a colonic machine +can. + +Enemas given at home take a lot less time than traveling to receive +a colonics at someone's clinic, and can be done entirely at you own +convenience--a great advantage when fasting because you can save +your energy for internal healing. But colonics are more appropriate +for some. There are fasters who are unable to give themselves an +enema either because their arms are too short and their body is too +long and they lack flexibility, or because of a physical handicap or +they can't confront their colon, so they let someone else do it. +Some don't have the motivation to give themselves a little +discomfort but are comfortable with someone else doing it to them. +Some very sick people are too weak to cleanse their own colon, so +they should find someone to assist them with an at-home enema or +have someone take them to a colonic therapist. + +Few people these days have any idea how to properly give themselves +an enema. The practice has been discredited by traditional medical +doctors as slightly dangerous, perhaps addictive and a sign of +psychological weirdness. Yet Northamericans on their civilized, low +fiber, poorly combined diets suffer widely from constipation. One +proof of this is the fact that chemical laxatives, with their own +set of dangers and liabilities, occupy many feet of drug store shelf +space and are widely advertised. Is the medical profession's +disapproval of the enema related to the fact that once the initial +purchase of an enema bag has been made there are no further expenses +for laxatives? Or perhaps it might be that once a person discovers +they can cure a headache, stop a cold dead in its tracks with an +enema, they aren't visiting the M.D.s so often. + +The enema has also been wrongly accused of causing a gradual loss of +colon muscle tone, eventually preventing bowel movements without the +stimulation of an enema, leading finally to flaccidity and +enlargement of the lower bowel. This actually can happen; when it +does occur it is the result of frequent administration of small +amounts of water (fleet enemas) for the purpose of stimulating a +normal bowel movement. The result is constant stretching of the +rectum without sufficient fluid to enter the descending colon. A +completely opposite, highly positive effect comes from properly +administered enemas while cleansing. + +The difference between helpful and potentially harmful enemas lies +in the amount of water injected and the frequency of use. Using a +cup or two of water to induce a bowel movement may eventually cause +dependency, will not strengthen the colon and may after years of +this practice, result in distention and enlargement of the rectum or +sigmoid colon. However, a completely empty average-sized colon has +the capacity of about a gallon of water. When increasingly larger +enemas are administered until the colon is nearly emptied of fecal +matter and the injection of close to a gallon of water is achieved, +beneficial exercise and an increase in overall muscle tone are the +results. + +Correctly given, enemas (and especially colonics) serve as +strengthening exercises for the colon. This long tubular muscle is +repeatedly and completely filled with water, inducing it to +vigorously exercise while evacuating itself multiple times. The +result is a great increase in muscle tone, acceleration of +peristalsis and eventually, after several dozens of repetitions, a +considerable reduction of transit time. Well-done enemas work the +colon somewhat less effectively and do not improve muscle tone quite +as much as colonics. + +Injecting an entire gallon of water with an enema bag is very +impractical when a person is eating normally. But on a light +cleansing diet or while fasting the amount of new material passing +into the colon is small or negligible. During the first few days of +fasting if two or three enemas are administered each day in +immediate succession the colon is soon completely emptied of +recently eaten food and it becomes progressively easier to introduce +larger amounts of water. Within a few days of this regimen, +injecting half a gallon or more of water is easy and painless. + +Probably for psychological reasons, some peoples' colons allow water +to be injected one time but then "freeze up" and resist successive +enemas. For this reason better results are often obtained by having +one enema, waiting a half hour, another enema, wait a half hour, and +have a final enema. + +A colonic machine in the hands of an expert operator can administer +the equivalent of six or seven big enemas in less than one hour, and +do this without undue discomfort or effort from the person receiving +the colonic. However, the AMA has suppressed the use of colonics; +they are illegal to administer in many states. Where colonics are +legal, the chiropractors now consider this practice messy and not +very profitable compared to manipulations. So it is not easy to find +a skilled and willing colonic technician. + +Anyone who plans to give themselves therapeutic enemas while fasting +would be well advised to first seek out a colonic therapist and +receive two or three colonics delivered one day apart while eating +lightly and then immediately begin the fast. Three colonics given on +three successive days of a light, raw food diet are sufficient to +empty all recently eaten food even from a very constipated, +distended and bloated colon, while acquainting a person with their +own bowel. Having an empty colon is actually a pleasant and to most +people a thoroughly novel experience. A few well-delivered colonics +can quickly accustom a person to the sensations accompanying the +enema and demonstrate the effect to be achieved by oneself with an +enema bag, something not quickly discoverable any other way. + +How To Give Yourself An Enema + +Enemas have been medically out of favor for a long time. Most people +have never had one. So here are simple directions to self-administer +an effective enema series. + +The enema bag you select is important. It must hold at least two +quarts and be rapidly refillable. The best American-made brand is +made of rubber with about five feet of rubber hose ending in one of +two different white hard plastic insertion tips. The bag is designed +for either enemas or vaginal douches. It hangs from a detachable +plastic "S" hook. When filled to the brim it holds exactly one-half +gallon. The maker of this bag offers another model that costs about +a dollar more and also functions as a hot water bottle. A good +comforter it may make, but the dual purpose construction makes the +bag very awkward to rapidly refill. I recommend the inexpensive +model. + +The plastic insertion tips vary somewhat. The straight tubular tip +is intended for enemas; the flared vaginal douche tip can be useful +for enemas too, in that it somewhat restrains unintentional +expulsion of the nozzle while filling the colon. However, its four +small holes do not allow a very rapid rate of flow. + +To give yourself an enema, completely fill the bag with tepid water +that does not exceed body temperature. The rectum is surprisingly +sensitive to heat and you will flinch at temperatures only a degree +or two higher than 98 Fahrenheit. Cooler water is no problem; some +find the cold stimulating and invigorating. Fasters having +difficulty staying warm should be wary of cold water enemas. These +can drop core body temperature below the point of comfort. + +Make sure the flow clamp on the tube is tightly shut and located a +few inches up the tube from the nozzle. Hang the filled bag from a +clothes or towel hook, shower nozzle, curtain rod, or other +convenient spot about four to five feet above the bathroom floor or +tub bottom. The higher the bag the greater the water pressure and +speed of filling. But too much pressure can also be uncomfortable. +You may have to experiment a bit with this. + +Various body positions are possible for filling the colon. None is +correct or necessarily more effective than another. Experiment and +find the one you prefer. Some fill their colon kneeling and bending +forward in the bathtub or shower because there will likely be small +dribbles of water leaking from around the nozzle. Usually these +leaks do not contain fecal matter. Others prefer to use the bathroom +floor. For the bony, a little padding in the form of a folded towel +under knees and elbows may make the process more comfortable. You +may kneel and bend over while placing your elbows or hands on the +floor, reach behind yourself and insert the nozzle. You may also lie +on your back or on your side. Some think the left side is preferable +because the colon attaches to the rectum on the left side of the +body, ascends up the left side of the abdomen to a line almost as +high as the solar plexus, then transverses the body to the right +side where it descends again on the right almost to the groin. The +small intestine attaches to the colon near its lower-right +extremity. In fact these are the correct names given for the parts +of the colon: Ascending, Descending and Transverse Colon along with +the Sigmoid Colon or Rectum at the exit end. + +As you become more expert at filling your colon with water you will +begin to become aware of its location by the weight, pressure and +sometimes temperature of the water you're injecting. You will come +to know how much of the colon has been filled by feel. You will also +become aware of peristalsis as the water is evacuated vigorously and +discover that sensations from a colon hard at work, though a bit +uncomfortable, are not necessarily pain. + +Insertion of the nozzle is sometimes eased with a little lubricant. +A bit of soap or KY jelly is commonly used. If the nozzle can be +inserted without lubricant it will have less tendency to slip out. +However, do not tear or damage the anus by avoiding necessary +lubrication. After insertion, grip the clamp with one hand and open +it. The flow rate can be controlled with this clamp. Keeping a hand +on the clamp also prevents the nozzle from being expelled. + +Water will begin flowing into the colon. Your goal is to empty the +entire bag into the colon before sensations of pressure or urgency +to evacuate the water force you to remove the nozzle and head for +the toilet. Relaxation of mind and body helps achieve this. You are +very unlikely to achieve a half-gallon fill up on the first attempt. +If painful pressure is experienced try closing the clamp for a +moment to allow the water to begin working its way around the +obstacle. Or, next time try hanging the bag lower, reducing its +height above the body and thus lowering the water pressure. Or, try +opening the clamp only partially. Or, try panting hard, so as to +make the abdomen move rapidly in and out, sort of shaking the colon. +This last technique is particularly good to get the water past a +blockage of intestinal gas. + +It is especially important for Americans, whose culture does not +teach one to be tolerant of discomfort, to keep in mind that pain is +the body's warning that actual damage is being done to tissues. +Enemas can do no damage and pose no risk except to that rare +individual with weak spots in the colon's wall from cancers. When an +enema is momentarily perceived unpleasantly, the correct name for +the experience is a sensation, not pain. You may have to work at +increasing your tolerance for unpleasant sensations or it will take +you a long time to achieve the goal of totally filling the colon +with water. Be brave! And relax. A wise philosopher once said that +it is a rough Universe in which only the tigers survive--and +sometimes they have a hard time. + +Eventually it will be time to remove the nozzle and evacuate the +water. Either a blockage (usually fecal matter, an air bubble, or a +tight 'U' turn in the colon, usually at either the splenetic, or +hepatic flexures located right below the rib cage) will prevent +further inflow (undesirable) or else the bag will completely empty +(good!) or the sensation of bursting will no longer be tolerable. Go +sit on the toilet and wait until all the water has passed. Then +refill the bag and repeat the process. Each time you fill the colon +it will allow more water to enter more easily with less +unpleasantness. Fasters and cleansers should make at least three +attempts at a complete fill-up each time they do an enema session. + +Water and juice fasters will find that after the first few enemas, +it will become very easy to inject the entire half-gallon of water. +That is because there is little or no chime entering the colon. +After a few days the entire colon will seem (this is incorrect) to +be empty except when it is filled with water. This is the point to +learn an advanced self-administered enema technique. An average +colon empty of new food will usually hold about one gallon of water. +That is average. A small colon might only hold 3/4 gallon, a large +one might accept a gallon and a half, or even more. You'll need to +learn to simultaneously refill the bag while injecting water, so as +to achieve a complete irrigation of the whole colon. There are +several possible methods. You might try placing a pitcher or +half-gallon mason jar of tepid water next to the bag and after the +bag has emptied the first time, stand up while holding the tube in +the anus, refill the bag and then lie down again and continue +filling. You might have an assistant do this for you. You might try +hanging the bag from the shower head and direct a slow, continuous +dribble of lukewarm water from the shower into the bag while you +kneel or lie relaxed in the tub. This way the bag will never empty +and you stop filling only when you feel fullness and pressure all +the way back to the beginning of the ascending colon. Of course, +hanging from a slowly running shower head the bag will probably +overflow and you will get splashed and so will the bathroom floor +when your wet body moves rapidly from the tub to the toilet. I've +imagined making an enema bag from a two gallon plastic bucket with a +small plastic hose barb glued into a hole drilled in the bottom or +lower edge. If I were in the business of manufacturing enema bags +I'd make them hold at least one gallon. + +A word of caution to those folks who have a pattern of overdoing it, +or tend to think that more is better. This is not true when it comes +to colon cleansing. Do not make more than three attempts to fill and +clean the colon with an enema bag. Usually the colon begins to +protest and won't accept any more fill-ups. When having colonics on +a colonic machine it is a good idea to continue until the water +comes back reasonably clear for that session. It is not a good idea +for a faster to have colonics that last more than three-quarters of +an hour to an hour maximum, or it will be too tiring. Even +non-fasters find colonics tiring. After all, the colon is basically +a big muscle that has become very lazy on a low-fiber diet. + +I've personally administered over five thousand colonics, taught +several dozen fasters to self-administer their own and stood by +while they gave themselves one until they were quite expert. In all +that experience I've only seen one person have a seriously bad +result. This was a suicidally depressed water faster that I +(mistakenly) allowed to administer their own colonics with my +machine. This person not only took daily colonics, but allowed water +to flow through their colon for as long as two hours at a time. +Perhaps they were trying to wash out their mind? After several weeks +of this extreme excess, the faster became highly confused and +disoriented due to a severe electrolyte imbalance. They had to be +taken off water fasting immediately and recovered their mental +clarity in a few days. The loss of blood electrolytes happened +because during colonics there occurs a sort of low-grade very slow +reverse osmosis. + +Curing With Enemas + +It is not wise to continue regular colonics or enemas once a +detoxification program has been completed and you have returned to a +maintenance diet. The body should be allowed its regular +functioning. + +But because enemas immediately lower the toxic load on the liver, I +do recommend people use them for prevention of an acute illness (you +feel like you are coming down with something), and for the treatment +of acute illnesses such as a cold. I also like to take one if I have +been away traveling for extended periods, eating carelessly. But do +not fall into a pattern of bingeing on bad food, and then trying to +get rid of it through colonics or laxative. This is bulimia, the +eating disorder discussed earlier. + +The Sheltonite capital "N" Natural capital "H" Hygienists do not +recommend any colon cleansing, ever! They think that the colon will +spontaneously cleanse itself on a long water fast, but my experience +learned from monitoring hundreds of fasters is that it doesn't +really. Herbert Shelton also considered colon cleansing enervating +and therefore undesirable. Colon cleansing does use the faster's +energy but on the balance, colon cleansing saves more work on the +part of an overburdened liver than it uses up. + + + + + + +Chapter Five + +Diet and Nutrition + + + + + +From The Hygienic Dictionary + +Food. [1] Life is a tragedy of nutrition. In food lies 99.99% of the +causes of all diseases and imperfect health of any kind. _Prof. +Arnold Ehret, Mucusless Diet Healing System._ [2] But elimination +will never heal perfectly just so long as you fail to discontinue +the supply of inside waste caused by eating and "wrong" eating. You +may clean and continue to clean indefinitely, but never with +complete results up to a perfect cleanliness, as long as the intake +of wrong or even too much right foods, is not stopped._ Prof. Arnold +Ehret, Mucusless Diet Healing System._ [3] Cooked food favors +bacterial, or organized, ferment preponderance, because cooking +kills the unorganized and organized ferments, and both are needed to +carry on the body's digestion. Raw foods--fruits and vegetables--favor +unorganized ferment digestion, because these foods carry vitamins, +which are unorganized ferments--enzymes. _Dr. John. H. Tilden, +Impaired Health: Its Cause and Cure, 1921._ + +Recently, my younger (adult) daughter asked my advice choosing +between a root canal or having a bridge made. This led to a +discussion of her eating habits in general. Defending her currently +less-than-optimum diet against my gentle criticism, she threw me a +tough riposte. "Why," she asked, when I was raised so perfectly as a +child, "when I ate only Organic food until I was ten and old enough +to make you send me to public school where I could eat those lousy +school lunches" (her unfeeling, heartless mother home-schooled her), +"why even at that young age, (before she spent her adolescent +rebellion eating junk food) why at that point did I still have a +mouthful of cavities?" And she did. At age ten my daughter needed +about ten fillings. + +This beautiful daughter of a practicing naturopath had received +what, at the time, I considered virtually perfect nutrition. She +suckled hugely at her mother's abundant breast until age two. During +this time her mother ate a natural foods diet. After weaning my +daughter got only whole grains, a little fresh goat's milk from my +goat, fruits and lots of Organic vegetables. I started my spa when +my daughter was about five years old and from that point she was, +like it or not, a raw fooder. And all that raw food was Organic and +much of it from Great Oaks School's huge vegetable garden. + +For my daughter to develop cavities on this diet is reminiscent of +Woody Allen's joke in his movie "Sleeper." Do you recall this one, +made about 1973? The plot is a take off on Rip Van Winkle. Woody +goes into the hospital for minor surgery. Unexpectedly he expires on +the operating table and his body is frozen in hopes that someday he +can be revived. One hundred and fifty years later he is revived. + +The priceless scene I always think of takes place in his hospital +room immediately after he comes to consciousness. The doctor in +charge of his case is explaining to Woody what has happened. Woody +refuses to believe he died and was frozen, asserting that the whole +story is a put on. Woody insists that the 'doctor' is clearly an +actor hired by his friends! It absolutely can't be the year 2123. +'Oh, but it really is 2123,' insists the doctor. 'And it is no put +on by his friends; all his friends are long dead; Woody knows no one +at all in 2123 and had better prepare himself to start a new life.' + +Woody still insists it is a put on. "I had a healthfood store," he +says, "and all my friends ate brown rice. They can't be dead!" + +And my perfectly nourished daughter couldn't have developed +cavities! But she did. And if she cheated on her perfect diet, bad +food could not have amounted to more than two percent of her total +caloric intake from birth to age ten. I was a responsible mom and I +made sure she ate right! Now my daughter was demanding to know why +she had tooth decay. Fortunately, I now know the answer. The answer +is rather complex, but I can give a simplified explanation. + +The Confusions About Diets and Foods + +Like my daughter, many people of all ages are muddled about the +relationship between health and diet. Their confusions have created +a profitable market for health-related information. And equally, +their confusions have been created by books, magazine articles, and +TV news features. This avalanche of data is highly contradictory. In +fact, one reason I found it hard to make myself write my own book is +that I wondered if my book too would become just another part of the +confusion. + +Few people are willing to tolerate very much uncertainty. Rather +than live with the discomfort of not knowing why, they will create +an explanation or find some answer, any answer, and then ever after, +assert its rightness like a shipwrecked person clings to a floating +spar in a storm. This is how I explain the genesis of many +contemporary food religions. + +Appropriately new agey and spiritual, Macrobiotics teaches the way +to perfect health is to eat like a Japanese whole foods +vegetarian--the endless staple being brown rice, some cooked +vegetables and seaweeds, meanwhile balancing the "yin" and "yang" of +the foods. And Macrobiotics works great for a lot of people. But not +all people. Because there's next to nothing raw in the Macrobiotic +diet and some people are allergic to rice, or can get allergic to +rice on that diet. + +Linda Clark's Diet for a Small Planet also has hundreds of thousands +of dedicated followers. This system balances the proportions of +essential amino acids at every, single meal and is vegetarian. This +diet also works and really helps some people, but not as well as +Macrobiotics in my opinion because obsessed with protein, Clark's +diet contains too many hard-to-digest soy products and makes poor +food combinations from the point of digestive capacity. + +Then there are the raw fooders. Most of them are raw, Organic +fooders who go so far as to eat only unfired, unground cereals that +have been soaked in warm water (at less than 115 degrees or you'll +kill the enzymes) for many hours to soften the seeds up and start +them sprouting. This diet works and really helps a lot of people. +Raw organic foodism is especially good for "holy joes," a sort of +better-than-everyone-else person who enjoys great self-righteousness +by owning this system. But raw fooding does not help all people nor +solve all diseases because raw food irritates the digestive tracts +of some people and in northern climates it is hard to maintain body +heat on this diet because it is difficult to consume enough +concentrated vegetable food in a raw state. And some raw fooders eat +far too much fruit. I've seen them lose their teeth because of +fruit's low mineral content, high sugar level and constant fruit +acids in their mouths. + +Then there are vegetarians of various varieties including vegans +(vegetarians that will not eat dairy products and eggs), and then, +there are their exact opposites, Atkins dieters focusing on protein +and eating lots of meat. There's the Adelle Davis school, people +eating whole grains, handfuls of vitamins, lots of dairy and brewers +yeast and wheat germ, and even raw liver. Then there's the Organic +school. These folks will eat anything in any combination, just so +long as it is organically produced, including organically raised +beef, chicken, lamb, eggs, rabbit, wild meats, milk and diary +products, natural sea salt in large quantities and of course, +organically grown fruits, vegetables grains and nuts. And what is +"Organic?" The word means food raised in compliance with a set of +rules contrived by a certification bureaucracy. When carefully +analyzed, the somewhat illogical rules are not all that different in +spirit than the rules of kashsruth or kosher. And the Organic +certification bureaucrats aren't all that different than the rabbis +who certify food as being kosher, either. + +There are now millions of frightened Americans who, following the +advice of mainstream Authority, have eliminated red meat from their +diets and greatly reduced what they (mistakenly) understand as +high-cholesterol foods. + +All these diets work too--or some--and all demonstrate some of the +truth. + +The only area concerning health that contains more confusion and +contradictory data than diet is vitamins. What a rats nest that is! + +The Fundamental Principle + +If you are a true believer in any of the above food religions, I +expect that you will find my views unsettling. But what I consider +"good diet" results from my clinical work with thousands of cases. +It is what has worked with those cases. My eclectic views +incorporate bits and pieces of all the above. In my own case, I +started out by following the Organic school, and I was once a raw +food vegetarian who ate nothing but raw food for six years. I also +ate Macrobiotic for about one year until I became violently allergic +to rice. + +I have arrived at a point where I understand that each person's +biochemistry is unique and each must work out their own diet to suit +their life goals, life style, genetic predisposition and current +state of health. There is no single, one, all-encompassing, correct +diet. But, there is a single, basic, underlying Principle of +Nutrition that is universally true. In its most simplified form, the +basic equation of human health goes: Health = Nutrition / Calories. +The equation falls far short of explaining the origin of each +individuals diseases or how to cure diseases but Health = Nutrition +/ Calories does show the general path toward healthful eating and +proper medicine. + +All animals have the exact same dietary problem: finding enough +nutrition to build and maintain their bodies within the limits of +their digestive capacity. Rarely in nature (except for predatory +carnivores) is there any significant restriction on the number of +calories or serious limitation of the amount of low-nutrition foods +available to eat. There's rarely any shortage of natural junk food +on Earth. Except for domesticated house pets, animals are sensible +enough to prefer the most nutritional fare available and tend to +shun empty calories unless they are starving. + +But humans are perverse, not sensible. Deciding on the basis of +artificially-created flavors, preferring incipid textures, we seem +to prefer junk food and become slaves to our food addictions. For +example, in tropical countries there is a widely grown root crop, +called in various places: tapioca, tavioca, manioc, or yuca. This +interesting plant produces the greatest tonnage of edible, +digestible, pleasant-tasting calories per acre compared to any other +food crop I know. Manioc might seem the answer to human starvation +because it will grow abundantly on tropical soils so infertile +and/or so droughty that no other food crop will succeed there. +Manioc will do this because it needs virtually nothing from the soil +to construct itself with. And consequently, manioc puts next to +nothing nourishing into its edible parts. The bland-tasting root is +virtually pure starch, a simple carbohydrate not much different than +pure corn starch. Plants construct starches from carbon dioxide gas +obtained the air and hydrogen obtained from water. There is no +shortage ever of carbon from CO2 in the air and rarely a shortage of +hydrogen from water. When the highly digestible starch in manioc is +chewed, digestive enzymes readily convert it into sugar. +Nutritionally there is virtually no difference between eating manioc +and eating white sugar. Both are entirely empty calories. + +If you made a scale from ideal to worst regarding the ratio of +nutrition to calories, white sugar, manioc and most fats are at the +extreme undesirable end. Frankly I don't know which single food +might lie at the extreme positive end of the scale. Close to perfect +might be certain leafy green vegetables that can be eaten raw. When +they are grown on extremely fertile soil, some greens develop 20 or +more percent completely digestible balanced protein with ideal +ratios of all the essential amino acids, lots of vitamins, tons of +minerals, all sorts of enzymes and other nutritional elements--and +very few calories. You could continually fill your stomach to +bursting with raw leafy greens and still have a hard time sustaining +your body weight if that was all you ate. Maybe Popeye the Sailorman +was right about eating spinach. + +For the moment, lets ignore individual genetic inabilities to digest +specific foods and also ignore the effects stress and enervation can +have on our ability to extract nutrition out of the food we are +eating. Without those factors to consider, it is correct to say +that, to the extent one's diet contains the maximum potential amount +of nutrition relative to the number of calories you are eating, to +that extent a person will be healthy. To the extent the diet is +degraded from that ideal, to that extent, disease will develop. +Think about it! + +Lessons From Nutritional Anthropology + +The next logical pair of questions are: how healthy could good +nutrition make people be, and, how much deviation from ideal +nutrition could we allow ourselves before serious disease appears? +Luckily, earlier in this century we could observe living answers to +those questions (before the evidence disappeared). The answers are: +we could be amazingly healthy, and, if we wish to enjoy excellent +health we can afford to cut ourselves surprisingly little slack. + +Prior to the Second World War there were several dozen sizable +groups of extraordinarily healthy humans remaining on Earth. Today, +their descendants are still in the same remote places, are speaking +the same languages and possess more or less the same cultures. Only +today they're watching satellite TV. wearing jeans, drinking +colas--and their superior health has evaporated. + +During the early part of this century, at the same era vitamins and +other basic aspects of nutrition were being discovered, a few +farsighted medical explorers sought out these hard-to-reach places +with their legendarily healthy peoples to see what caused the +legendary well-being they'd heard of. Enough evidence was collected +and analyzed to derive some very valid principles. + +First lets dismiss some apparently logical but incorrect +explanations for the unusually good health of these isolated +peoples. It wasn't racial, genetic superiority. There were +extraordinarily healthy blacks, browns, Orientals, Amerinds, +Caucasians. It wasn't living at high altitude; some lived at sea +level. It wasn't temperate climates, some lived in the tropics, some +in the tropics at sea level, a type of location generally thought to +be quite unhealthful. It wasn't a small collection of genetically +superior individuals, because when these peoples left their isolated +locale and moved to the city, they rapidly began to lose their +health. And it wasn't genetics because when a young couple from the +isolated healthy village moved to town, their children born in town +were as unhealthy as all the other kids. + +And what do I mean by genuinely healthy? Well, imagine a remote +village or a mountain valley or a far island settlement very +difficult to get to, where there lived a thousand or perhaps ten +thousand people. Rarely fewer, rarely more. Among that small +population there were no medical doctors and no dentists, no drugs, +no vaccinations, no antibiotics. Usually the isolation carried with +it illiteracy and precluded contact with or awareness of modern +science, so there was little or no notion of public hygiene. And +this was before the era of antibiotics. Yet these unprotected, +undoctored, unvaccinated peoples did not suffer and die from +bacterial infections; and the women did not have to give birth to 13 +children to get 2.4 to survive to breeding age--almost all the +children made it through the gauntlet of childhood diseases. There +was also virtually no degenerative disease like heart attacks, +hardening of the arteries, senility, cancer, arthritis. There were +few if any birth defects. In fact, there probably weren't any +aspirin in the entire place. Oh, and there was very little mortality +during childbirth, as little or less than we have today with all our +hospitals. And the people uniformly had virtually perfect teeth and +kept them all till death, but did not have toothbrushes nor any +notion of dental hygiene. Nor did they have dentists or physicians. +(Price, 1970) + +And in those fortunate places the most common causes of death were +accident (trauma) and old age. The typical life span was long into +the 70s and in some places quite a bit longer. One fabled place, +Hunza, was renowned for having an extraordinarily high percentage of +vigorous and active people over 100 years old. + +I hope I've made you curious. "How could this be?" you're asking. +Well, here's why. First, everyone of those groups lived in places so +entirely remote, so inaccessible that they were of necessity, +virtually self-sufficient. They hardly traded at all with the +outside world, and certainly they did not trade for bulky, +hard-to-transport bulk foodstuffs. Virtually everything they ate was +produced by themselves. If they were an agricultural people, +naturally, everything they ate was natural: organic, whole, +unsprayed and fertilized with what ever local materials seemed to +produce enhanced plant growth. And, if they were agricultural, they +lived on a soil body that possessed highly superior natural +fertility. If not an agricultural people they lived by the sea and +made a large portion of their diets sea foods. If their soil had not +been extraordinarily fertile, these groups would not have enjoyed +superior health and would have conformed to the currently +widely-believed notion that before the modern era, people's lives +were brutish, unhealthful, and short. + +What is common between meat-eating Eskimos, isolated highland Swiss +living on rye bread, milk and cheese; isolated Scottish island Celts +with a dietary of oat porridge, kale and sea foods; highland central +Africans (Malawi) eating sorghum, millet tropical root crops and all +sorts of garden vegetables, plus a little meat and dairy; Fijians +living on small islands in the humid tropics at sea level eating sea +foods and garden vegetables. What they had in common was that their +foods were all were at the extreme positive end of the Health = +Nutrition / Calories scale. The agriculturists were on very fertile +soil that grew extraordinarily nutrient-rich food, the sea food +gatherers were obtaining their tucker from the place where all the +fertility that ever was in the soil had washed out of the land had +been transported--sea foods are also extraordinarily nutrient rich. + +The group with the very best soil and consequently, the best health +of all were, by lucky accident, the Hunza. I say "lucky" and +"accident" because the Hunza and their resource base unknowingly +developed an agricultural system that produced the most nutritious +food that is possible to grow. The Hunza lived on what has been +called super food. There are a lot of interesting books about the +Hunza, some deserving of careful study. (Wrench, 1938; Rodale, 1949) + +Finding Your Ideal Dietary + +Anyone that is genuinely interested in having the best possible +health should make their own study of the titles listed in the +bibliography in the back of this book. After you do, award yourself +a BS nutrition. I draw certain conclusions from this body of data. I +think they help a person sort out the massive confusion that exists +today about proper diet. + +First principle: Homo Sapiens clearly can posses extreme health +while eating very different dietary regimens. There is no one right +diet for humans. + +Before the industrial era almost everyone on Earth ate what was +produced locally. Their dietary choices were pretty much restricted +to those foods that were well adapted and productive in their +region. Some places grew rye, others wheat, others millet, others +rice. Some places supported cows, others goats, others had few on no +domesticated animals. Some places produced a lot of fruits and +vegetables. Others, did not. Whatever the local dietary, during +thousands of years of eating that dietary natural selection +prevailed; most babies that were allergic to or not able to thrive +on the available dietary, died quickly. Probably of childhood +bacterial infections. The result of this weeding out process was a +population closely adapted to the available dietary of a particular +locale. + +This has interesting implications for Americans, most of whose +ancestors immigrated from somewhere else; many of our ancestors also +"hybridized" or crossed with immigrants from elsewhere. Trying to +discover what dietary substances your particular genetic endowment +is adapted to can be difficult and confusing. If both your parents +were Italian and they were more or less pure Italian going way back, +you might start out trying to eat wheat, olives, garlic, fava beans, +grapes, figs, cow dairy. If pure German, try rye bread, cow dairy, +apples, cabbage family vegetables. If Scottish, try oats, mutton, +fish, sheep dairy and cabbage family vegetables. If Jewish, try goat +dairy, wheat, olives and citrus. And certainly all the above ethnic +derivations will thrive on many kinds of vegetables. Afro-Americans, +especially dark-complexioned ones little mixed with Europeans, might +do well to avoid wheat and instead, try sorghum, millet or tropical +root crops like sweet potatoes, yams and taro. + +Making it even more difficult for an individual to discover their +optimum diet is the existence of genetic-based allergies and worse, +developed allergies. Later in this chapter I will explain how a body +can develop an allergy to a food that is probably irreversible. A +weakened organ can also prevent digestion of a food or food group. + +One more thing about adaptation to dietaries. Pre-industrial humans +could only be extraordinarily healthy on the dietary they were +adapted to if and only if that dietary also was extraordinarily high +in nutrients. Few places on earth have naturally rich soil. Food +grown on poor soil is poor in nutrition; that grown on rich soil is +high in nutrition. People do not realize that the charts and tables +in the backs of health books like Adelle Davis's Lets Cook It Right, +are not really true. They are statistics. It is vital to keep in +mind the old saying, "there are lies, there are damned lies, and +then there are statistics. The best way to lie is with statistics." + +Statistical tables of the nutrient content of foods were developed +by averaging numerous samples of food from various soils and +regions. These tables basically lie because they do not show the +range of possibility between the different samples. A chart may +state authoritatively that 100 grams of broccoli contains so many +milligrams of calcium. What it does not say is that some broccoli +samples contain only half that amount or even less, while other +broccoli contains two or three times that amount. Since calcium is a +vital nutrient hard to come by in digestible form, the high calcium +broccoli is far better food than the low calcium sample. But both +samples of broccoli appear and taste more or less alike. Both could +even be organically grown. Yet one sample has a very positive ratio +of nutrition to calories, the other is lousy food. (Schuphan, 1965) +Here's another example I hope will really dent the certainties the +Linda Clarkites. Potatoes can range in protein from eight to eleven +percent, depending on the soil that produced them and if they were +or were not irrigated. Grown dry (very low yielding) on semiarid +soils, potatoes can be a high-protein staff of life. Heavily +irrigated and fertilized so as to produce bulk yield instead of +nutrition, they'll produce two or three times the tonnage, but at 8 +percent protein instead of 11 percent. Not only does the protein +content drop just as much as yield is boosted, the amino acid ratios +change markedly, the content of scarce nutritional minerals drops +massively, and the caloric content increases. In short, subsisting +on irrigated commercially-grown potatoes, or on those grown on +relatively infertile soils receiving abundant rainfall will make you +fat and sick. They're a lot like manioc. + +Here's another. Wheat can range from 7 to 19 percent protein. Before +the industrial era ruined most wheat by turning it into white flour, +wheat-eating peoples from regions where the cereal naturally +contains abundant protein tended to be tall, healthy and long-lived. +Wheat-eating humans from regions that produce low protein grain +tended to be small, sickly and short-lived. (McCarrison, 1921, 1936, +1982; Albrecht, 1975) + +Even cows have to pay attention to where their grass is coming from. +Some green grass is over 15 percent protein and contains lots of +calcium, phosphorus and magnesium to build strong bodies. Other +equally or even better looking green grass contains only six or +seven percent protein and contains little calcium, phosphorus or +magnesium. Cows forced to eat only this poor type of grass can +literally starve to death with full bellies. And they have a hard +time breeding successfully. The reason for the difference: different +soil fertility profiles. (Albrecht, 1975) + +When people ate local, those living on fertile soils or getting a +significant portion of their diet from the sea and who because of +physical isolation from industrial foods did not make a practice of +eating empty calories tended to live a long time and be very +healthy. But those unfortunates on poor soils or with unwise +cultural life-styles tended to be short-lived, diseased, small, +weak, have bad teeth, and etc. The lesson here is that Homo Sapiens +can adapt to many different dietaries, but like any other animal, +the one thing we can't adapt to is a dietary deficient in nutrition. + +So here's another "statistic" to reconsider. Most people believe +that due to modern medical wonders, we live longer than we used to. +Actually, that depends. Compared to badly nourished populations of a +century ago, yes! We do. Chemical medicine keeps sickly, poorly +nourished people going a lot longer (though one wonders about the +quality of their dreary existences.) I hypothesize that before the +time most farmers purchased and baked with white flour and sold +their whole, unground wheat, many rural Americans (the ones on good +soil, not all parts of North America have rich soil) eating from +their own self-sufficient farms, lived as long or even longer than +we do today. You also have to wonder who benefits from promulgating +this mistaken belief about longevity. Who gets rich when we are +sick? And what huge economic interests are getting rich helping make +us sick? + +The Human Comedy + +I know most of my readers have been heavily indoctrinated about food +and think they already know the truth about dietetics. I also know +that so much information (and misinformation) is coming out about +diet that most of my readers are massively confused about the +subject. These are two powerful reasons many readers will look with +disbelief at what this chapter has to say and take no action on my +data, even to prove me wrong. + +Let me warn you. There is a deep-seated human tendency to put off +taking responsibilities, beautifully demonstrated by this old joke. + +A 14 year old boy was discovered masturbating by his father, who +said, "son, you shouldn't do that! If you keep it up you'll +eventually go blind!" + +"But father," came the boy's quick reply. "It feels good. How about +if I don't quit until I need to wear glasses?" + +The Organic Versus Chemical Feud + +Now, regrettably, and at great personal risk to my reputation, I +must try to puncture the very favorite belief of food religionists, +the doctrine that organically grown food is as nutritious as food +can possibly be, Like Woody Allen's brown-rice-eating friends, +people think if you eat Organic foods, you will inevitably live a +very long time and be very healthy. Actually, the Organic vs. +chemical feud is in many ways false. Many (not all) samples of +organically grown food are as low or lower in nutrition as foods +raised with chemical fertilizers. Conversely, wisely using chemical +fertilizers (not pesticides) can greatly increase the nutritional +value of food. Judiciously used Organic fertilizing substances can +also do that as well or better. And in either case, using chemical +fertilizers or so-called organic fertilizers, to maximize nutrition +the humus content of the soil must be maintained. But, raising soil +organic matter levels too high can result in a massive reduction in +the nutritional content of the food being grown--a very frequent +mistake on the part of Organic devotees. In other words, growing +nutrition is a science, and is not a matter of religion. + +The food I fed to my daughter in childhood, though Organic according +to Rodale and the certification bureaucrats, though providing this +organic food to my family and clients gave me a feeling of +self-righteousness, was not grown with an understanding of the +nutritional consequences of electing to use one particular Organic +fertilizing substance over another. So we and a lot of regional +Organic market gardeners near us that we bought from, were raising +food that was far from ideally nutritious. At least though, our food +was free of pesticide residues. + +The real dichotomy in food is not "chemical" fertilizer versus +"Organic," It is between industrial food and quality food. What I +mean by industrial food is that which is raised with the intention +of maximizing profit or yield. There is no contradiction between +raising food that the "rabbis" running Organic certification +bureaucracies would deem perfectly "kosher" and raising that same +food to make the most possible money or the biggest harvest. When a +farmer grows for money, they want to produce the largest number of +bushels, crates, tons, bales per acre. Their criteria for success is +primarily unit volume. Many gardeners think the same way. To +maximize bulk yield they build soil fertility in a certain direction +(organically or chemically) and choose varieties that produce +greater bulk. However, nature is ironic in this respect. The most +nutritious food is always lower yielding. The very soil management +practices that maximize production simultaneously reduce nutrition. + +The real problem we are having about our health is not that there +are residues of pesticides in our food. The real problem is that +there are only residues of nutrition left in our foods. Until our +culture comes to understand this and realizes that the health costs +of accepting less than optimum food far exceeds the profits made by +growing bulk, it will not be possible to frequently find the +ultimate of food quality in the marketplace, organically grown or +not. It will not be possible to find food that is labeled or +identified according to its real nutritional value. The best I can +say about Organic food these days is that it probably is no less +nutritious than chemically-grown food while at least it is free of +pesticide residues. + +The Poor Start + +For this reason it makes sense to take vitamins and food +supplements, to be discussed in the next chapter. And because our +food supply, Organic or "conventional," is far from optimum, if a +person wants to be and remain healthy and have a life span that +approaches their genetic potential (and that potential, it seems, +approaches or exceeds a century), it is essential that empty +calories are rigorously avoided. + +An accurate and quick-to-respond indicator of how well we are doing +in terms of getting enough nutrition is the state of our teeth. One +famous dentally-oriented nutritional doctor, Melvin Page, suggested +that as long as overall nutrition was at least 75 percent of +perfection, the body chemistry could support healthy teeth and gums +until death. By healthy here Page means free of cavities, no bone +loss around the teeth (no wobblers), no long-in-the-teeth mouths +from receding gums, no gum diseases at all. But when empty calories +or devitalized foods or misdigestion cuts our nutrient intake we +begin experiencing tooth decay, gum disease and bone loss in the +jaw. How are your teeth? + +I suppose you could say that I have a food religion, but mine is to +eat so that the equation Nutrition = Health / Calories is strongly +in my favor. + +Back to my daughter's teeth. Yes, I innocently fed her less than +ideally nutritious food, but at that time I couldn't buy ideal food +even had I known what I wanted, nor did I have any scientific idea +of how to produce ideal food, nor actually, could I have done so on +the impoverished, leached-out clay soil at Great Oaks School even +had I known how. The Organic doctrine says that you can build a +Garden of 'Eatin with large quantities of compost until any old clay +pit or gravel heap produces highly nutritious food. This idea is not +really true. Sadly, what is true about organic matter in soil is +that when it is increased very much above the natural level one +finds in untilled soil in the climate you're working with, the +nutritional content of the food begins to drop markedly. I know this +assertion is shocking and perhaps threatening to those who believe +in the Organic system; I am sorry. + +But there is another reason my daughter's teeth were not perfect, +probably could not have been perfect no matter what we fed her, and +why she will probably have at least some health problems as she ages +no matter how perfectly she may choose to eat from here on. My +daughters had what Dr. G.T. Wrench called "a poor start." Not as +poor as it could have been by any means, but certainly less than +ideal. + +You see, the father has very little to do with the health of the +child, unless he happens to carry some particularly undesirable +gene. It is the mother who has the job of constructing the fetus out +of prepartum nourishment and her own body's nutritional reserves. +The female body knows from trillenia of instinctual experience that +adequate nutrition from the current food supply during pregnancy can +not always be assured, so the female body stores up very large +quantities of minerals and vitamins and enzymes against that very +possibility. When forming a fetus these reserves are drawn down and +depleted. It is virtually impossible during the pregnancy itself for +a mother to extract sufficient nutrition from current food to build +a totally healthy fetus, no matter how nourishing the food she is +eating may be. Thus a mother-to-be needs to be spending her entire +childhood and her adolescence (and have adequate time between +babies), building and rebuilding her reserves. + +A mother-to-be also started out at her own birth with a vitally +important stock of nutritional reserves, reserves put there during +her own fetal development. If that "start" was less than ideal, the +mother-to-be (as fetus) got "pinched" and nutritionally shortchanged +in certain, predictable ways. Even minor mineral fetal deficiencies +degrade the bone structure: the fetus knows it needs nutritional +reserves more than it needs to have a full-sized jaw bone or a wide +pelvic girdle, and when deprived of maximum fetal nourishment, these +non-vital bones become somewhat smaller. Permanently. If mineral +deficiencies continue into infancy and childhood, these same bones +continue to be shortchanged, and the child ends up with a very +narrow face, a jaw bone far too small to hold all the teeth, and in +women, a small oven that may have trouble baking babies. More +importantly, those nutrient reserves earmarked especially for making +babies are also deficient. So a deficient mother not only shows +certain structural evidence of physiological degeneration, but she +makes deficient babies. A deficient female baby at birth is unlikely +to completely overcome her bad start before she herself has +children. + +So with females, the quality of a whole lifetime's nutrition, and +the life-nutrition of her mother (and of her mother's mother as +well) has a great deal to do with the outcome of a pregnancy. The +sins of the mother can really be visited unto the third and fourth +generation. + +This reality was powerfully demonstrated in the 1920s by a medical +doctor, Francis Pottenger. He was not gifted with a good bedside +manner. Rather than struggling with an unsuccessful clinical +practice, Dr. Pottenger decided to make his living running a medical +testing laboratory in Pasadena, California. Dr. Pottenger earned his +daily bread performing a rather simple task, assaying the potency of +adrenal hormone extracts. At that time, adrenaline, a useful drug to +temporarily rescue people close to death, was extracted from the +adrenal glands of animals. However, the potency of these crude +extracts varied greatly. Being a very powerful drug, it was +essential to measure exactly how strong your extract was so its +dosage could be controlled. + +Quantitative organic chemistry was rather crude in those days. +Instead of assaying in a test tube, Dr. Pottenger kept several big +cages full of cats that he had adrenalectomized. Without their own +adrenals, the cats could not live more than a short time By finding +out how much extract was required to keep the cats from failing, he +could measure the strength of the particular batch. + +Dr. Pottenger's cats were economically valuable so he made every +effort to keep them healthy, something that proved to be +disappointingly difficult. He kept his cats clean, in airy, bright +quarters, fed them to the very best of his ability on pasteurized +whole milk, slaughterhouse meat and organs (cats in the wild eat +organ meats first and there are valuable vitamins and other +substances in organ meats that don't exist in muscle tissue). The +meat was carefully cooked to eliminate any parasites, and the diet +was supplemented with cod liver oil. However, try as he might, +Pottenger's cats were sickly, lived short and had to be frequently +replaced. Usually they bred poorly and died young of bacterial +infections, there being no antibiotics in the 1920s. I imagine Dr. +Pottenger was constantly visiting the animal shelter and perhaps +even paid quarters out the back door to a steady stream of young +boys who brought him cats in burlap sacks from who knows where, no +questions asked. + +Dr. Pottenger's assays must have been accurate, for his business +grew and grew. Eventually he needed more cats than he had cages to +house, so he built a big, roofed, on-the-ground pen outdoors. +Because he was overworked, he was less careful about the feeding of +these extra animals. They got the same pasteurized milk and +cod-liver oil, but he did not bother to cook their slaughterhouse +meat. Then, a small miracle happened. This poorly cared for cage of +cats fed on uncooked meat became much healthier than the others, +suffering far fewer bacterial infections or other health problems. +Then another miracle happened. Dr. Pottenger began to meditate on +the first miracle. + +It occurred to him that cats in the wild did not cook their food; +perhaps cats had a digestive system that couldn't process or +assimilate much out of cooked food. Perhaps the problem he had been +having was not because the cats were without adrenal glands but +because they were without sustenance, suffering a sort of slow +starvation in the midst of plenty. So Dr. Pottenger set up some cat +feeding experiments. + +There were four possible combinations of his regimen: raw meat and +unpasteurized milk; raw meat and pasteurized milk; cooked meat and +raw milk; cooked meat and pasteurized milk, this last one being what +he had been feeding all along. So he divided his cats into four +groups and fed each group differently. The first results of +Pottenger's experiments were revealed quickly though the most +valuable results took longer to see. The cats on raw meat and raw +milk did best. The ones on raw meat and pasteurized milk did okay +but not as well. The ones on cooked meat and raw milk did even less +well and those on all cooked food continued to do as poorly as ever. + +Clearly, cats can't digest cooked food; all animals do better fed on +what they can digest. A lot of people have taken Pottenger's data +and mistakenly concluded that humans also should eat only raw food. +This idea is debatable. However, the most important result of the +cat experiments took years to reveal itself and is not paid much +attention to, probably because its implications are very depressing. +Dr. Pottenger continued his experiments for several generations. It +was the transgenerational changes that showed the most valuable +lesson. Over several generations, the cats on all raw foods began to +alter their appearance. Their faces got wider, their pelvic girdles +broader, bones solider, teeth better. They began to breed very +successfully. + +After quite a few generations, the healthiest group, the one on all +raw foods, seemed to have improved as much as it could. So Dr. +Pottenger took some of these cats and began feeding them only cooked +food to study the process of nutritional degeneration. After three +"de"generations on cooked fodder the group had deteriorated so much +that the animals could barely breed. Their faces had become narrow, +their teeth crooked, their pelvic girdles narrow, their bones and +body structure very small, and their dispositions poor. Mothers +wouldn't nurse their young and sometimes became cannibalistic. They +no longer lived very long. + +Before the degenerating group completely lost the ability to breed, +Pottenger began to again feed them all raw food. It took four +generations on a perfect, raw food diet before some perfect +appearing individuals showed up in the group. It takes longer to +repair the damage than it does to cause it and it takes generations +of unflagging persistence. + +I think much the same process has happened to humans in this +century. With the invention of the roller mill and the consequent +degradation of our daily bread to white flour; with the birth of +industrial farming and the generalized lowering of the nutritional +content of all of our crops; our overall ratio of nutrition to +calories worsened. Then it worsened again because we began to have +industrial food manufacturing and national brand prepared food +marketing systems; we began subsisting on devitalized, processed +foods. The result has been an even greater worsening of our ratio of +nutrition to calories. + +And just like Pottenger's cats, we civilized humans in so-called +advanced countries are losing the ability to breed, our willingness +(or the energy) to mother our young; we're losing our good humor in +the same way Pottenger's degenerated cats became bad tempered. As a +group we feel so poorly that we desperately need to feel better +fast, and what better way to do that than with drugs. Is it any +wonder that the United States, the country furthest down the road of +industrial food degeneration, spends 14 percent of its gross +domestic product on medical services. Any wonder that so many babies +are born by Cesarean, any wonder that so many of our children have +crooked teeth needing an orthodontist? The most depressing aspect of +this comes into view when considering that Pottenger's cats took +four generations on perfect food to repair most of the nutritional +damage. + +In the specific case of my daughter, I know somethings about the +nutritional history of her maternal ancestors. My daughter's +grandmother grew up on a Saskatchewan farm. Though they certainly +grew their own rich wheat on virgin semi-arid prairie soil, I'm sure +the family bought white flour at the store for daily use. Still, +there was a garden and a cow producing raw milk and free-range +fertile eggs and chicken and other animals. There probably were lots +of canned vegetables in winter, canned but still highly nutritious +because of the fertility of their prairie garden. My mother +consequently had perfect teeth until the Great Depression forced her +to live for too many years on lard and white bread. + +During this time of severe malnutrition she had her three babies. +The first one got the best of her nutritional reserves. The second, +born after the worst of the malnutrition, was very small and weak +and had a hard time growing up. Fortunately for me, for a few years +before I (the last child) was born, the worst of the economic times +had past and the family had been living on a farm. There were +vegetables and fresh raw milk and fruit. My mother had two good +years to rebuild her nutritional reserves. But "Grannybell" did not +managed to replace enough. Shortly after I was born my mother lost +every one of her teeth all at once. The bone just disappeared around +them. + +Thus, I was born deficient. And my childhood and adolescent +nutrition was poor too: soda crackers, pasteurized processed +artificial cheese, evaporated milk from cans, hotdogs and canned +beans, hotdogs and cabbage. It wasn't until I was pregnant with my +first baby that I started to straighten up my diet. I continued +eating very well after my first daughter, so my youngest daughter +had another three years of good diet to draw on. Thus both my own +daughters got a somewhat better start than I had had. + +My teeth were not as good as my mother's had been before those years +of malnutrition took them all. Instead of perfect straight undecayed +teeth like a healthy farm girl should have, mine were somewhat +crowded, with numerous cavities. My jaw bone had not received enough +minerals to develop to its full size. My pelvic girdle also was +smaller than my mother's was. I had had a poor start. + +My daughters did better. The older one (the first child typically +gets the best of the nutritional reserves) has such a wide jaw that +there are small spaces between her teeth. My second daughter has +only one crooked tooth, she has wider, more solid hips, stronger +bones and a broader face than I do. If my younger daughter will but +from this point in her life, eat perfectly and choose her food +wisely to responsibly avoid empty calories and maximize her ratio of +nutrition to calories, her daughter (if she gives us granddaughters +as her older sister already has done) may exhibit the perfect +physiology that her genes carry. + +Along the lines of helping you avoid empty calories I will give you +some information about various common foods that most people don't +know and that most books about food and health don't tell, or +misunderstand. + +Butter, Margarine and Fats in General. + +Recently, enormous propaganda has been generated against eating +butter. Its been smeared in the health magazines as a saturated +animal fat, one containing that evil substance, cholesterol. Many +people are now avoiding it and instead, using margarine. + +Composition of Oils + + Saturated Monosaturated Unsaturated +Butter 66% 30% 4% +Coconut Oil 87% 6% 2% +Cottonseed Oil 26% 18% 52% +Olive Oil 13% 74% 8% +Palm Oil 49% 37% 9% +Soybean Oil 14% 24% 58% +Sunflower Oil 4% 8% 83% +Safflower Oil 3% 5% 87% +Sesame Oil 5% 9% 80% +Peanut Oil 6% 12% 76% +Corn Oil 3% 7% 84% + +This is a major and serious misunderstanding. First of all, +margarine is almost indigestible, chemically very much like +shortening--an artificially saturated or hydrogenated vegetable fat. +Hydrogenated fats can't be properly broken down by the body's +digestive enzymes, adding to the body's toxic load. Margarine, being +a chemically-treated vegetable oil with artificial yellow color and +artificial flavorings to make it seem like butter, also releases +free radicals in the body that accelerate aging. So, to avoid the +dangers of eating cholesterol-containing butter, people eat +something far worse for them! + +There are severe inconsistencies with the entire +"cholesterol-is-evil" theory. Ethnic groups like the Danes, who eat +enormous quantities of cholesterol-containing foods, have little +circulatory disease. Actually, the liver itself produces +cholesterol; it's presence in the blood is an important part of the +body chemistry. Cholesterol only becomes a problem because of +deranged body chemistry due to the kind of overall malnutrition +Americans usually experience on their junk food diets. Avoiding +cholesterol in foods does little good, but eating a low-fat, +low-sugar, complex-carbohydrate (whole foods) diet high in minerals +does lower blood cholesterol enormously. + +Actually, high quality fresh (not rancid) butter in moderate +quantities is about the finest fat a person could eat. But high +quality butter is almost unobtainable. First of all, it has to be +raw, made from unpasteurized cream. Second, butter can contain very +high levels of fat-soluble vitamins, but doesn't have to. +Vitamin-rich butter's color is naturally bright yellow, almost +orange. This color does not come from a test tube. Pale yellow +butter as is found in the commercial trade was probably almost white +before it was artificially tinted. Butter from grass-pastured cows +naturally changes from yellow-orange to white and back again through +the year as the seasons change. Spring grass, growing in the most +intense sunlight of the year contains very high levels of +chlorophyll and vitamins. Cows eating this grass put high levels of +vitamins A and D into their cream, evidenced by the orange color of +vitamin A. By July, natural butter has degraded to medium-yellow in +color. By August, it is pale yellow. Industrial dairy cows fed +exclusively on hay or artificial, processed feeds (lacking in these +vitamins), produce butterfat that is almost white. + +I prefer to obtain my butter from a neighbor who has several dairy +cows grazing on fertile bottom land pasture. We always freeze a +year's supply in late spring when butter is at its best. +Interestingly, that is also the time of year when my neighbor gets +the most production from her cows and is most willing to part with +25 pounds of extra butter. + +In general, fats are poor foods that should be avoided. Their ratio +of nutrition to calories is absolutely the worst of all food types, +except perhaps for pure white sugar, which is all calories and +absolutely no nutrition (this is also true for other forms of sugar. +Honey, too, contains almost no nutrition.). Gram for gram, fats +contain many more calories than do sugars or starches. Yet gram for +gram, fats contain virtually no nutrition except for small +quantities of essential fatty acids. + +The perverse reason people like to eat fats is that they are very +hard to digest and greatly slow the digestive action of the stomach. +Another way of saying that is that they have a very high satiety +value. Fats make a person feel full for a long time because their +presence in the stomach makes it churn and churn and churn. Fats +coat proteins and starches and delay their digestion, often causing +them to begin fermenting (starches) or putrefying (proteins) in the +digestive tract. + +The best fats contain high levels of monosaturated vegetable oils +that have never been exposed to heat or chemicals--like virgin olive +oil. Use small quantities of olive oil for salad dressing. +Monosaturated fats also have far less tendency to go rancid than any +other type. Vegetable oils with high proportions of unsaturated +fats, the kind that all the authorities push because they contain no +cholesterol, go rancid rapidly upon very brief exposure to air. The +danger here is that rancidity in vegetable oil is virtually +unnoticeable. Rancid animal fat on the other hand, smells "off." +Eating rancid oil is a sure-fire way to accelerate aging, invite +degenerative conditions in general, and enhance the likelihood of +cancer. I recommend that you use only high-quality virgin olive oil, +the only generally-available fat that is largely monosaturated. +(Pearson and Shaw, 1983) + +When you buy vegetable oil, even olive oil, get small bottles so you +use them up before the oil has much time being exposed to air (as +you use the oil air fills the bottle) or, if you buy olive oil in a +large can to save money, immediately upon opening it, transfer the +oil to pint jars filled to the very brim to exclude virtually all +air, and seal the jars securely. In either case, keep now-opened, +in-use small bottles of oil in the refrigerator because rancidity is +simply the combination of oil with oxygen from the air and this +chemical reaction is accelerated at warmer temperatures and slowed +greatly at cold ones. + +Chemical reactions typically double in speed with every 10 degrees +C. increase in temperature. So oil goes rancid about six times +faster at normal room temperature than it does in the fridge. If +you'll think about the implications of this data you'll see there +are two powerful reasons not to fry food. One, the food is coated +with oil and gains in satiety value at the expense of becoming +relatively indigestible and productive of toxemia. Secondly, if +frying occurs at 150 degrees Centigrade and normal room temperature +is 20 degrees Centigrade, then oil goes rancid 2 to the 13th power +faster in the frying pan, or about 8,200 times faster. Heating oil +for only ten minutes in a hot skillet induces as much rancidity as +about 6 weeks of sitting open and exposed to air at room +temperature. Think about that the next time you're tempted to eat +something from a fast food restaurant where the hot fat in the deep +fryer has been reacting with oxygen all day, or even for several +days. + +Back to butter, where we started. If you must have something +traditionally northern European on your bread, you are far better +off to use butter, not margarine. However, Mediterranean peoples +traditionally dip their bread in high-quality extra-virgin olive oil +that smells and tastes like olives. Its delicious, why not try it. +But best yet, put low-sugar fruit preserves on your toast or develop +a taste for dry toast. Probably the finest use for butter is melted +over steamed vegetables. This way only small quantities are needed +and the fat goes on something that is otherwise very easy to digest +so its presence will not produce as many toxins in the digestive +tract. + +Milk, Meat, And Other Protein Foods + +Speaking of butter, how about milk? The dairy lobby is very powerful +in North America. Its political clout and campaign contributions +have the governments of both the United States and especially that +of Canada eating out of its hand (literally), providing the dairy +industry with price supports. Because of these price supports, in +Canada cheese costs half again more than it does in the United +States. The dairy lobby is also very cozy with the medical +profession so licensed nutritionists constantly bombard us with +"drink milk" and "cheese is good for you" propaganda. + +And people naturally like dairy foods. They taste good and are +fat-rich with a high satiety value. Dairy makes you feel full for a +long time. Dairy is also high in protein; protein is hard to digest +and this too keeps one feeling full for a long time. But many +people, especially those from cultures who traditionally +(genetically) didn't have dairy cows, particularly Africans, Asians +and Jews, just do not produce the enzymes necessary to digest cows +milk. Some individuals belonging to these groups can digest goats +milk. Some can't digest any kind except human breast milk. And some +can digest fermented milk products like yogurt and kiefer. Whenever +one eats a protein food that is not fully digestible, it putrefies +in the digestive tract, with all the bad consequences previously +described. + +But no one, absolutely no one can fully digest pasteurized cows +milk, which is what most people use because they have been made to +fear cow-transmitted diseases and/or they are forced to use +pasteurized dairy products by health authorities. I suspect drinking +pasteurized milk or eating cheese made from pasteurized milk is one +of the reasons so many people develop allergic reactions to milk. +Yet many states do not allow unpasteurized dairy to be sold, even +privately between neighbors. To explain all this, I first have to +explain a bit more about protein digestion in general and then talk +about allergies and how they can be created. + +Proteins are long, complex molecules, intricate chains whose +individual links are amino acids. Proteins are the very stuff of +life. All living protoplasm, animal or plant, is largely composed of +proteins. There are virtually an infinite number of different +proteins but all are composed of the same few dozen amino acids +hooked together in highly variable patterns. Amino acids themselves +are highly complex organic molecules too. The human body +custom-assembles all its proteins from amino acids derived from +digesting protein foods, and can also manufacture small quantities +of certain of its own amino acids to order, but there are eight +amino acids it cannot make and these are for that reason called +essential amino acids. Essential amino acids must be contained in +the food we eat. . + +Few proteins are water soluble. When we eat proteins the digestive +apparatus must first break them down into their water-soluble +components, amino acids, so these can pass into the blood and then +be reassembled into the various proteins the body uses. The body has +an interesting mechanism to digest proteins; it uses enzymes. An +enzyme is like the key for a lock. It is a complex molecule that +latches to a protein molecule and then breaks it apart into amino +acids. Then the enzyme finds yet another protein molecule to free. +Enzymes are efficient, reusable many many times. + +Enzymes that digest proteins are effective only in the very acid +environment of the stomach, are manufactured by the pancreas and are +released when protein foods are present. The stomach then releases +hydrochloric acid and churns away like a washing machine, mixing the +enzymes and the acid with the proteins until everything has +digested. + +So far so good. That's how its supposed to be. But. Dr. Henry +Bieler, who wrote Food Is Your Best Medicine, came up with the +finest metaphor I know of to explain how protein digestion goes +wrong. He compared all proteins to the white of an egg (which is +actually a form of protein). When raw and liquid, the long chains of +albumen (egg white) proteins are in their natural form. However, +cook the egg and the egg white both solidifies and becomes smaller. +What has happened is that the protein chains have shriveled and +literally tied themselves into knots. Once this happens, pancreatic +enzymes no longer fit and cannot separate all the amino acids. +Cooked proteins may churn and churn and churn in the presence of +acid and pancreatic enzymes but they will not digest completely. +Part becomes water soluble; part does not. + +But, indigestible protein is still subject to an undesirable form of +consumption in the gut. Various bacteria make their home in our +airless, warm intestines. Some of these live on protein. In the +process of consuming undigested proteins, they release highly toxic +substances. They poison us. + +What is true of the white of an egg is also true of flesh foods and +dairy. Raw meat and raw fish are actually easily digestible foods +and if not wrongly combined will not produce toxemia in a person +that still has a strong pancreas. However, eating raw meat and fish +can be a dicey proposition, both for reasons of cultural sensibility +(people think it is disgusting) and because there may be living +parasites in uncooked flesh that can attack, sicken and even kill +people. It has been argued that a healthy stomach containing its +proper degree of acidity provides an impenetrable barrier to +parasites. Perhaps. But how many of us are that healthy these days? +Cooked flesh and fish seems more delicious to our refined, civilized +sensibilities, but are a poor food. + +In my household we have no moral objection to eating meat. We do +have an ethical objection in that meat eating does not contribute to +our health. But still, we do eat it. A few times a year, for +traditional celebrations we may invite the children over and cook a +turkey. A few times for Thanksgiving when the children were going +through their holier-than-thou vegetarian stage, I purchased the +largest, thickest porterhouse steak I could find at the natural meat +store and ate it medium-rare, with relish. It was delicious. It made +me feel full for hours and hours and hours. I stayed flat on the +couch and groggily worked on digesting it all evening. After that +I'd had enough of meat to last for six months. + +When milk is pasteurized, the proteins in it are also altered in +structure. Not so severely as egg white is altered by cooking +because pasteurization happens at a lower temperature. But altered +none the less. And made less digestible. Pasteurizing also makes +milk calcium far less assimilable. That's ironic because so many +people are drinking milk because they fear they need more calcium to +avoid osteoporosis and to give their children good teeth. What +pasteurized milk actually does to their children is make them +calcium deficient and makes the children toxic, provoking many +colds, ear infections, sinusitis, inflammations of the tonsils and +lung infections, and, induces an allergy to milk in the children. + +The Development Of Allergies + +There are three ways a body can become allergic. (1) It can have a +genetic predisposition for a specific allergy to start with. (2) It +can be repeatedly exposed to an irritating substance such as pollen +when, at the same time, the body's mechanism for dealing with +irritations is weakened. Generally weak adrenals causes this because +the adrenal's job is to produce hormones that reduce inflammation. +Once the irritating substance succeeds at producing a significant +inflammation, a secondary reaction may be set up, called an allergy. +Once established, an allergy is very hard to get rid of. + +(3) in a way very similar to the second, but instead of being +irritated by an external substance, it is irritated by repeatedly +failing to properly, fully digest something. Pasteurized milk for +example, basically impossible to completely digest even in its +low-fat form, often sets up an allergy that applies to other forms +of cows milk, even raw, unpasteurized cows milk or yogurt. Eating +too much white flour can eventually set off a wheat allergy. My +husband developed a severe allergy to barley after drinking too much +home-brewed beer; he also became highly intolerant to alcohol. Now +he has allergic reactions to both alcohol and barley. And gets far +sicker from drinking beer (two separate allergies) than from wheat +beer, hard liquor or wine (only one allergy). + +Eating too much of any single food, or repeatedly eating too much of +an otherwise very good food at one time, can eventually overwhelm +the body's ability to digest it fully. Then, the finest whole food +products may set up an allergic reaction. Worse, this allergic +reaction itself subsequently prevents proper digestion even when +only moderate quantities are eaten. + +An allergy may not be recognized as an allergy because it may not +manifest as the instant skin rash or stuffy nose or swollen glands +or sticky eyes. that people usually think of when they think +"allergic reaction." Food allergies can cause many kinds of +symptoms, from sinusitis to psychosis, from asthma to arthritis, +from hyperactivity to depression, insomnia to narcolepsy--and +commonly the symptoms don't manifest immediately after eating. +Frequently, allergic reactions are so low grade as to be +unnoticeable and may not produce an observable condition until many +years of their grinding down the vital force has passed. When the +condition finally appears it is hard to associate it with some food +that has been consumed for years, apparently with impunity. + +Thus it is that many North Americans have developed allergies to +wheat, dairy, soy products (because many soy foods are very hard to +digest), corn and eggs. These are such common, widespread, +frequently found allergies that anyone considering a dietary cause +of their complaints might just cut all these foods out of the diet +for a few weeks just to see what happens. And individuals may be +allergic to anything from broccoli to bacon, strawberries to bean +sprouts. Unraveling food allergies sometimes requires the deductions +of a Sherlock Holmes. + +However, food allergies are very easy to cure if you can get the +suffered to take the medicine. Inevitably, allergic reactions vanish +in about five days of abstinence. Anyone with sufficient +self-discipline to water fast for five days can cure themselves of +all food allergies at one step. Then, by a controlled, gradual +reintroduction of foods, they can discover which individual items +cause trouble. See Coca's Pulse Test in the Appendix where you'll +find step-by-step instructions for allergy testing that are less +rigorous, not requiring a preliminary fast. + +Flour, And Other Matters Relating To Seeds + +One of the largest degradations to human health was caused by the +roller mill. This apparently profitable machine permitted the miller +to efficiently separate wheat flour into three components: bran, +germ and endosperm. Since bread made without bran and germ is +lighter and appears more "upper class" it became instantly popular. +Flour without germ and bran also had an industrial application--it +could be stored virtually forever without being infested by insects +because white flour does not contain enough nutrition to support +life. Most health conscious people are aware that white flour +products won't support healthful human life either. + +Essentially, white flour's effect on humans is another demonstration +of Health = Nutrition / Calories. When the bran and germ are +discarded, remaining are the calories and much of the protein, +lacking are many vitamins and minerals and other vital nutritional +substances. + +Whole wheat bread has been called the staff of life. In ages past, +healthy cultures have made bread the predominant staple in their +diet. Does that mean you can just go to the bakery and buy whole +grain bread, or go to the healthfood store and buy organically grown +whole wheat flour, bake your own, and be as healthy as the ancients? +Sorry, the answer is almost certainly no. There are pitfalls, many +of them, waiting for the unwary. + +White flour has one other advantage over whole wheat flour. It not +only remains free of insect infestation, it doesn't become stale +(meaning rancid). In the wheat germ (where the embryo resides) there +is considerable oil, containing among other things, about the best +natural source of vitamin E. This oil is highly unsaturated and once +the seed is ground the oil goes rancid in a matter of days. Whole +wheat flour kept on the unrefrigerated shelf of the store is almost +certainly rancid. A lot of its other vitamin content has been +oxidized too. If the wheat flour had flowed directly from the +grinder into an airtight sack and from there directly to the +freezer, if it had been flash frozen and kept extremely cold, it +might have a storage life of some months. Of course that was not the +case. Maybe you're lucky and your healthfood store is one of the +very few that has its own small-scale flour mill and grinds daily. +Probably not. + +How about your baker's whole wheat bread? Where does the baker get +flour? From the wholesaler's or distributor's warehouse! In fifty +pound kraftpaper sacks! How much time had elapsed from milling to +wholesaler to baker to baking? The answer has to be in the order of +magnitude of weeks. And it might be months. Was the flour stored +frozen? Or airtight? Of course not. + +If you want bread made from freshly ground flour you are almost +certainly have to grind and bake it yourself. Is it worth the +trouble? You bet. Once you've tasted real bread you'll instantly see +by comparison what stale, rancid whole wheat flour tastes like. +Freshly ground flour makes bread that can be the staff of life and +can enormously upgrade your health--if the wheat you use is any good. + +But before we talk about wheat quality, a more few words of warning. +If you think wheat goes rancid rapidly, rye is even worse. Rye flour +goes bad so fast that when you buy it in the store it usually is the +rye equivalent of white wheat flour. The germ has been removed. The +bag may not say so. But it probably has. If you are going to make +rye breads, even more reason to grind your own. Corn meal from the +grocery store has usually been degerminated too. If it hasn't been, +the oil in the seed's germ has probably gone rancid. + +Grinding flour at home is easy these days. There is an abundance of +at-home milling products and no shortage of hype about them. You'll +find staunch advocates of stone mills. These produce the +finest-textured flour, but are costly. The sales pitch is that +stones grind at low temperature and do not damage the oils (remember +the development of rancidity is a function of temperature) or the +vitamins, which are also destroyed at high temperature. This +assertion is half true. If you are going to store your flour it is +far better to grind it cool. However, if you are, as we do, going to +immediately bake your flour, what difference does it make if it gets +a little warm before baking. That only accelerates the action of the +yeast. + +On the negative side, stone mills grind slowly and are very fussy +about which grains they will grind. If the cereal is a bit moist or +if the seed being ground is a little bit oily, the mill becomes +instantly blocked. + +Steel burr mills grind fast and coarsely and are inexpensive. Coarse +flour makes heavy bread. The metal grinding faces tend to wear out +and have to be replaced occasionally--if they can be replaced. Breads +on the heavy side are still delicious; for many years I made bread +with an inexpensive steel burr mill attachment that came with my +juicer. + +Some steel burr mills will also grind oily seed like sesame and +sunflower. However, oily seeds can be ground far more easily +half-a-cup at a time in a little inexpensive electric spice/coffee +mill, the sort with a single fast-spinning propeller. + +I currently think the best compromise are hammermills. The grain +dribbles into a chamber full of fast-spinning teeth that literally +pound the grain into powder. Since air flows through with the grain +the flour is not heated very much. This type of mill is small, very +fast, intermediate in price between steel mills and stone mill, +lasts a long time, but when grinding, sounds like a Boeing 747 about +to take off. It is essential to wear hearing protectors when using +it. + +Awareness of bread quality is growing. One excellent new U.S. +business, called Great Harvest Bakery is a fast-growing national +franchise chain. They bake and sell only whole grain breads; all +their wheat flour is freshly ground daily on the premises in the +back. Unfortunately, as of the writing of this book, they do not +grind their rye flour but bring it in sacks. I can't recommend their +rye breads. The founder of Great Harvest is a knowledgeable buyer +who fully understands my next topic, which is that wheat is not +wheat. + +There are great differences between hard bread wheats; being +organically grown is no cure all for making good or nutritious +bread. Great Harvest understands this and uses top quality grain +that is also Organic. + +When I first stated making my own bread from my own at-home-ground +flour I was puzzled by variations in the dough. Sometimes the bread +rose well and was spongy after baking like I wanted it to be. +Sometimes it kneaded stickily and ended up flat and crumbly like a +cake. Since I had done everything the same way except that I may +have bought my wheat berries from different healthfood stores, I +began to investigate the subject of wheat quality. + +The element in the cereal that forms the rubbery sponge in risen +bread so it doesn't crumble and rises high without collapsing, is +gluten. The word glue derives from gluten. The gluten content of +various wheats varies. Bread bakers use "hard wheat" because of its +high gluten content. Gluten is a protein and gluten comprises most +of the protein in bread wheat; the protein content and the gluten +content are almost identical. + +Try this. Ask your healthfood store buyer or owner what the protein +content is of the hard red wheat seeds they're selling. You'll +almost certainly get a puzzled look and your answer will almost +certainly be, "we have Organic and conventional." Demand that the +store buyer ask this question of their distributor/wholesaler and +then report back to you. If the distributor deigns to answer, the +answer will be the same--I sell Organic or conventional hard red +wheat. Period. When I got these non-answers I looked further and +discovered that hard bread wheats run from about 12 percent protein +to about 19 percent and this difference has everything to do with +the soil fertility (and to an extent the amount of rainfall during +the season), and almost nothing to do with Organic or conventional. + +This difference also has everything to do with how your dough +behaves and how your bread comes out. And how well your bread +nourishes you. Thirteen percent wheat will not make a decent +loaf--fourteen percent is generally considered #2 quality and +comprises the bulk of cheap bread grain. When you hear in the +financial news that a bushel of wheat is selling for a certain +price, they mean #2. Bakers compete for higher protein lots and pay +far higher prices for more protein. + +We prefer our bread about 25% rye, but rye contains no gluten at +all. Mix any rye flour into fourteen percent wheat flour and the +dough becomes very heavy, won't rise, and after baking, crumbles. So +I kept looking for better grain and finally discovered a +knowledgeable lady that sold flour mills and who also was a serious +baker herself. She had located a source of quality wheat with an +assayed protein content and sold it by the 50 pound sack. When I +asked her if her wheat was Organic she said it was either sixteen or +seventeen percent protein depending on whether you wanted hard red +spring wheat or hard white spring wheat. Organic or conventional? I +persisted. No, she said. High protein! + +So, I said to myself, since protein content is a function of soil +fertility and since my body needs protein, I figured I am better off +eating the best quality wheat, pesticide/herbicide residues (if +there are any) be damned. Think about it! The difference between +seventeen percent and fourteen percent protein is about 25 percent. +That percentage difference is the key threshold of nutritional +deficiency that makes teeth fall out. We can't afford to accept 25% +degradations in our nutritional quality in something that we eat +every day and that forms the very basis of our dietary. + +Please understand here that I am not saying that high protein wheats +can't be grown organically. They certainly can. The founder of Great +Harvest Bakery performs a valuable service locating and securing +high-protein lots of organically grown wheats for his outlets. But +often as not Organic products are no more nourishing than those +grown with chemicals. Until the buyers at Organic whole food +wholesalers get better educated about grain, obtaining one's +personal milling stock from them will be a dicey proposition. + +Sometimes Organic cereal can be far worse than conventional. To make +a cereal Organic is a negative definition; if it hasn't had +chemicals, then its Organic. Grain is one of the few foods that will +still produce economic yields of low quality seed on extremely +infertile soil or when half-smothered in weeds because herbicides +weren't used for reasons of ideological purity. Vegetables will +hardly produce anything under those conditions; carelessly grown +fruits and vegetables are inevitably small, misshapen, unmarketable. +But seed cleaning equipment can remove the contamination of weed +seeds in cereal grains (at a cost.) + +The price the farmer receives for Organic cereal grain is much +higher, so it is possible to accept rather low yields or expend more +money for cleaning out high levels of weed seeds from the field-run +harvest, and still make a good profit. A lousy Organic cereal crop +like this might even make a higher profit because the farmer has +been spared the expense of fertilization, of rotation, of weed +control. I remember once I bought a sack of Organic whole oats that +were the smallest, most shriveled, bitterest oats I've ever tried to +eat. We ended up throwing out that tiny, light (lacking density) +seed in favor of using the "conventional" whole oats that were +plump, heavy and sweet. + +Wheat is not the only cereal that is damaged by industrial milling. +So are oats. Most consumers have never seen whole oats; they look +very much like wheat berries. But rolled oats become rancid and +stale on the shelf much like wheat flour on the shelf. + +Another pitfall about using whole grains is that to be nutritious +they must still be fresh enough to sprout vigorously. A seed is a +package of food surrounding an embryo. The living embryo is waiting +for the right conditions (temperature and moisture) to begin +sprouting. Sprouting means the embryo begins eating up stored food +and making a plant out of it. All foods are damaged by exposure to +oxygen, so to protect the embryo's food supply, the seed is +surrounded by a virtually airtight seed coat that permits only +enough oxygen to enter for the embryo's respiration (yes, seed +breaths slowly). Often the embryo is located at the edge of the seed +and has its own air intake port. When the seed coat is removed or +damaged, the innards are exposed to air and begin deteriorating +rapidly. In the case of oats, especially rapidly, because oats are +the only grass-based cereal that contains large quantities of +oil--five percent oil, more or less. That's why oats "stick to your +ribs." Rolled oats become stale and lose their flavor (and +nutritional content) and perhaps become rancid very rapidly. So we +make porridge from whole oat groats that we coarsely grind to grits +(steel-cut oats) in an electric seed/spice mill just before cooking. + +It is not easy to cook oat grits. They take a lot longer than rolled +oats and if not done exactly to the recipe I'm about to give you, +will almost inevitably stick to the pot badly and may also froth +over and mess the stove. Here's how to cook them. Coarsely grind +(like corn meal) your whole oats until you have one cup of oat +grits. Bring exactly four cups of water (no salt) to a very hard +boil at your highest heat. You may add a handful of raisins. Light +or turn on a second, small-sized burner on the stove and set it as +low as possible. Into the fast boiling water, slowly pour the ground +oats, stirring continuously. Take about 30 seconds to pour it all or +you'll make clumps. Keep on the high heat until the water again +boils vigorously. Suddenly, the mixture will begin rising in the pot +and will try to pour all over the stove. This means it is all at +boiling temperature again. Quickly move the pot to the low burner; +that instantly stops the frothing. Then cover. Let the porridge cook +for 30 minutes, stirring once or twice to prevent sticking. Then, +keeping it covered, turn off the heat. They can be eaten at this +point but I think it is better to let the oats finish soaking on the +stove for at least two to four hours. Then reheat in a double +boiler, or warm in a microwave. + +We usually start a pot of oats at bedtime for the next morning. See +why people prefer the convenience of using rolled oats? But once +you've eaten oats made right, you'll never prefer the flavor of +rolled oats again. And if the human body has any natural method of +assaying nutritional content, it is flavor. + +Nutritionally, millet is almost the same story as oats. Millet seed +is protected by a very hard hull. Cooking unhulled millet is almost +impossible. After hours of boiling the small round seeds will still +be hard and the hulls remain entirely indigestible. Worse, the +half-round hulls (they split eventually) stick in your teeth. But +prehulled millet, sitting in the sack for weeks and months, loses a +lot of nutrition and tastes very second-rate compared to +freshly-hulled millet. It is possible to buy unhulled millet, +usually by special order from the health food distributor--if you'll +take a whole sack. Millet can be hulled at home in small batches. +Here's how we figured out how to do it. There probably are better +ways. + +Using a cheap steel-burr flour mill, set the burrs just far enough +apart that the seed is ground to grits, but not flour. This pops the +hulls loose. An old mill with worn-out burrs works great for this +job. Then you have to get some hand seed cleaning screens just large +enough to pass the grits but not pass the hulls (most of them). +Window screen or other hardware cloths won't work. Seed cleaning +screens come in increments of 1/128 inch; we use a 6/64" round +screen. Other batches of millet might work better with a screen one +step larger or smaller. It will take you a little ingenuity to find +hand-held screens. They're used by seed companies and farmers to +clean small batches of seed for inspection and are usually about one +square foot in size with a quality wooden frame. Larger frames made +of the same screening material are used in big seed cleaning +machines. (The hulls could also be winnowed out by repeatedly +pouring the grit/hulls mixture back and forth between two buckets in +a gentle breeze.) + +After you've screened out most of the hulls, the rest will rinse +out, floating off as you wash the grain prior to cooking. We never +hull more than enough millet for two or three meals and keep the +uncooked (unwashed) millet in the freezer in an airtight jar. It is +interesting how people will accept poor nutrition and its consequent +sickness as the price of convenience. + +If you eat much buckwheat you should also figure out how to hull +(sometimes called groating) it yourself. Someone should write a +thorough book on the home milling of cereals. And perhaps sell the +equipment by mail. Probably would be a good little homestead +business. + +Something else you need to keep in mind about seed. Even though the +embryo's food supply is protected by the seed coat, it still slowly +deteriorates, steadily oxidizing and losing nutritional value. +Eventually old seed looses the ability to sprout. The decline in +germination ability matches a decline in nutritional quality. Any +seed you are going to use for eating should possess the ability to +sprout, strongly and rapidly. (After you've comparatively sprouted a +few grain samples, you'll know what I mean by this.) Fortunately, +cereal grains usually sprout well for quite a few years after +harvest if they have been stored cool and dry. Eating dead or +near-dead seeds will help move you closer to the same condition +yourself. + +Finally, one more warning about buying store bread. Salt-free bread +tastes "funny" to most people. It bakes fine, salt is not necessary +to the leavening process, but no bakery could stay in business +without salting their bread. The standard level of salt is two +percent by weight. That is quite a lot! Two percent equals one +teaspoonful per pound. I'll have more to say about the evils of salt +later on. + +I imagine some of my readers are feeling a little overwhelmed by all +these warnings and "bewares ofs," and intricacies. They are used to +taking no responsibility for securing their own food supply quality +and have come to expect the "system" to protect them. I believe it +is not because of lack of government intervention, but because of +government intervention itself, our food system is very perverse. +Until our mass consciousness changes, if you wish to make yourself +and your family truly healthy, you are going to have to take charge +and become quite a discriminating shopper. Unconscious consumers are +on a rapid road to the total unconsciousness of death. + +And again, let me remind you here that this one small book cannot +contain everything you should know. The bibliography at the end of +should become your guide to earning your post-graduate education in +nutritional health. + +Freshness Of Fruits And Vegetables + +Most people do not realize the crucial importance of freshness when +it comes to produce. In the same way that seeds gradually die, +fruits and vegetables go through a similar process as their +nutritional content gradually oxidizes or is broken down by the +vegetables own enzymes, but vegetables lose nutrition hundreds of +times more rapidly than cereals. Produce was recently part of a +living plant. It was connected to the vascular system of a plant and +with few exceptions, is not intended by nature to remain intact +after being cut. A lettuce or a zucchini was entirely alive at the +moment of harvest, but from that point, its cells begin to die. Even +if it is not yet attacked by bacteria, molds and fungi, its own +internal enzymes have begun breaking down its own substances. + +Vegetables, especially leafy vegetables, are far more critical in +this respect than most ripe fruits. All, however, deteriorate much +like radioactive material; they have a sort of half-life. The +mineral content is stable, but in respect to the vitamins and +enzymes and other complex organic components, each time period or +"half life" results in the loss of half the nutrition. Suppose a +lettuce has a half life of 48 hours, two days after harvest only 50 +percent of the original nutrition remains. After two more days, half +the remaining half is gone and only 25 percent is left. After two +more days half of that 25 percent is lost. Thus six days after +harvest and a lettuce contains only bout 12 percent of its original +nutrition. A two day half-life is only hypothetical. Those types of +produce I classify as very perishable probably do have a half-life +of from 36 to 48 hours. Moderately perishable produce has a half +life of about 72 hours; durable types of produce have half lives of +96 hours or longer. + +Vegetable Storage Potential + +Very Perishable Moderately Perishable Durable +lettuce zucchini apple +spinach eggplant squash +Chinese cabbage sweet peppers oranges +kale broccoli cabbage +endive cauliflower carrot +peaches apricots lemons +parsley beets + +The half life of produce can be lengthened by lowering its +temperature. For that reason, sophisticated produce growers usually +use hydrocooling. This process dumps a just-cut vegetable into icy +water within minutes of being harvested, lowering core temperature +to a few degrees above freezing almost immediately. When cut +vegetables are crated up at field temperatures, and stacks of those +crates are put in a cooler, it can take the inside of the stack 24 +hours, or longer, to become chilled. Home gardeners should also +practice hydrocooling. Fill your sink with cold water and wash/soak +your harvest until it is thoroughly chilled before draining and +refrigerating it. Or, harvest your garden early in the morning when +temperatures are lowest. + +Still, when you buy produce in the store it may have been sitting at +room temperature for hours or possibly days. + +The bottom line here: fresh is equally as important as unsprayed or +organically grown! + +The Real Truth About Salt And Sugar + +First, let me remind certain food religionists: salt is salt is salt +is salt and sugar is sugar is sugar. There are no good forms of salt +and no good forms of sugar. Salt from a mine and salt from the sea +both have the same harmful effect; white sugar, natural brown sugar, +honey, molasses, corn syrup, maple syrup, whatever sweet have you. +All are sugars and all have the similar harmful effects. I know of +no harmless salt substitute that really tastes salty. Nutrisweet is +basically harmless to most people and can be used as a very +satisfactory replacement for sugars. A few people are unable to +tolerate nutrisweet, causing the anti-chemicalists to circulate much +anti-nutrisweet propaganda, but you should carefully consider this +thought before dismissing nutrisweet--there is almost no food +substance that some people are not allergic to or unable to digest. +The fact that nutrisweet is made in a chemical vat and the fact that +some cannot handle nutrisweet does not make it "of the devil." + +And its not all black and white with the other items either. Sea +salt does have certain redeeming qualities not found in mined salt +and under certain very special conditions, eating small quantities +of salt may be acceptable. Similarly, some forms of sugar are not +quite as harmful as other forms, though all are harmful. + +The primary health problem caused by table salt is not that it +contributes to high blood pressure in people with poor kidneys, +though it does that. It is not that eating salt ruins the kidneys; +salt probably does not do that. The real problem with salt is that +sodium chloride is an adrenal stimulant, triggering the release of +adrenal hormones, especially natural steroids that resist +inflammation. When these hormones are at high levels in the blood, +the person often feels very good, has a sense of well-being. Thus +salt is a drug! And like many drugs of its type, salt is a +habituating drug. However, we are so used to whipping our adrenals +with salt that we don't notice it. What we do notice is that we +think we like the taste of salted food and consider that food tastes +flat without it. But take away a person's salt shaker and they +become very uncomfortable. That's because the addict isn't getting +their regular dose. + +What's wrong with repetitive adrenal whipping is that adrenal +fortitude is variable; many people's adrenals eventually fail to +respond to the prod of salt and the body begins to suffer from a +lack of adrenal hormones. Often those inheriting weak adrenals +manifest semi-failure in childhood. The consequence is that +ordinary, irritating substances begin causing severe irritation. The +person becomes allergic to pollen, dust, foods, animal danders, etc. +We see asthma, hay fever, sinusitis, etc. Though one can then +discover specific allergens and try to remove them from the +environment or diet, often this case can be solved far more easily +by complete withdrawal from all salt. This rests the adrenals and +they may recover their full function; almost certainly their +function will improve. The asthma, allergies and etc., gradually +vanish. + +Most of us don't need to eat salt as a nutrient. There's enough +sodium in one dill pickle to run a human body for a year. There's +enough natural sodium in many types of vegetables to supply normal +needs without using table salt. Perhaps athletes or other hard +working people in the tropics eating deficient food grown on +leached-out depleted soils, people that sweat buckets day after day +may need a little extra sodium. Perhaps. Not having practiced in the +humid tropics myself, I have no definitive answer about this. + +Unfortunately, the average American is entirely addicted to salt and +thinks food tastes lousy without it. To please the average consumer, +almost all prepared foods contain far too much salt for someone +suffering from exhausted adrenals. Interestingly, Canadians do not +like their foods nearly as salty as Americans, and prepared foods +like soups and the like in cans and packages that look just like the +ones in American supermarkets (though with French on the back panel) +have to be reformulated for our northern neighbors. I've observed +that Canadians are generally healthier than Americans in many +respects. + +We would all be far better off consuming no salt at all. Those with +allergies or asthma should completely eliminate it for a month or +two and discover if that simple step doesn't pretty much cure them. +The trouble is that bakery bread is routinely two percent salt by +weight. Cheese is equally salted or even more so. Canned and frozen +prepared food products are all heavily salted. Restaurant meals are +always highly salted in the kitchen. If you want to avoid salt you +almost have to prepare everything yourself, bake your own bread, +abstain from cheese (though there are unsalted cheeses but even I +don't like the flavor of these), and abstain from restaurants. My +family has managed to eliminate all salt from our own kitchen except +for that in cheese, and we eat cheese rather moderately. + +Sugar is a high-caloric non-food with enormous liabilities. First, +from the viewpoint of the universal formula for health, no form of +non-artificial sweetener carries enough nutrients with it to justify +the number of calories it contains, not even malt extract. White +refined sugar contains absolutely no nutrients at all; the "good" or +"natural" sweets also carry so little nutrition as to be next to +useless. Sweets are so far over on the bad end of the Health = +Nutrition / Calories scale that for this reason alone they should be +avoided. + +However, healthy people can usually afford a small amount of sin; +why not make it sweets? In small quantity, sugars are probably the +easiest indiscretion to digest and the least damaging to the organ +systems. Although, speaking of sin, as Edgar Guest, the peoples' +poet, once so wisely quipped, (and my husband agrees) "Candy is +dandy, but liquor is quicker." Sugar is a powerful drug! People who +abuse sweets set up a cycle of addiction that can be very hard to +break. It starts when the body tries to regulate blood sugar. Kicked +up to high levels by eating sugar, the pancreas releases insulin. +But that is not the end of the chain reaction. Insulin regulates +blood sugar levels but also raises brain levels of an amino acid +called tryptophan. Tryptophan is the raw material the brain uses to +manufacture a neurotransmitter called serotonin. And serotonin plays +a huge role in regulating mood. Higher brain levels of serotonin +create a feeling of well-being. Eating sugar gives a person a +chemical jolt of happiness. Heavy hits of high-glycemic index starch +foods are also rapidly converted to sugar. So don't give your kids +sweets! Or huge servings of starch to mellow them out. It is wise +not to start out life a happiness addict with a severe weight +problem. + +Now that the chemistry of sugar addiction is understood, there +currently is a movement afoot to cast the obese as helpless victims +of serotonin imbalances and to "treat" them with the same kinds of +serotonin-increasing happy drugs (like Prozac) that are becoming so +popular with the psychiatric set. This promises to be a multiple +billion dollar business that will capture all the money currently +flowing into other dieting systems and bring it right back to the +AMA/drug company/FDA nexus. The pitch is that when serotonin levels +are upped, the desire to eat drops and so is weight. This approach +is popular with the obese because it requires no personal +responsibility other than taking a pill that really does make them +feel happy. However, the same benefit can be had by strict adherence +to a low-fat, low-carbohydrate diet. Eventually, the brain chemistry +rebalances itself and serotonin levels stabilize. + +Glycemic Index + +(compared to glucose, which is 100) + +Grains +all bran 51 +brown rice 66 +buckwheat 54 +cornflakes 80 +oatmeal 49 +shred. wheat 67 +muesli 66 +white rice 72 +white spagetti 50 +whole wheat spagetti 42 +sweet corn 59 + +Fruits +apples 39 +bananas 62 +cherries 23 +grapefruit 26 +grapes 45 +orange juice 46 +peach 29 +orange 40 +pear 34 +plum 25 +raisins 64 + +Vegetables + +baked beans 40 +beets 64 +black-eyed peas 33 +carrots 92 +chic peas 36 +parsnips 97 +potato chips 51 +baked potato 98 +sweet potato 48 +yams 51 +peas 51 + +Baked Goods +pastry 59 +sponge cake 46 +white bread 69 +w/w bread 72 +whole rye bread 42 + +Sugars +fructose 20 +glucose 100 +honey 87 +maltose 110 +sucrose 59 + +Nuts +peanuts 13 + +Meats +sausage 28 +fish sticks 38 + +Dairy Products +yogurt 36 +whole milk 34 +skim milk 32 + +Remember, the pancreas has another major service to perform for the +body: secreting digestive enzymes to aid in the digestion of +proteins. When the diet contains either too much protein or too much +sugar and/or high-glycemic index starch foods, the overworked +pancreas begins to be less and less efficient at maintaining both of +these functions. + +Sometimes a stressed-out pancreas gets overactive and does too good +a job lowering the blood sugar, producing hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia +is generally accompanied by unpleasant symptoms such as fatigue, +dizziness, blurred vision, irritability, confusion, headache, etc. +This condition is typically alleviated by yet another hit of sugar +which builds an addiction not only to sugar, but to food in general. +If the hypoglycemic then keeps on eating sugar to relieve the +symptoms of sugar ingestion, eventually the pancreas becomes +exhausted, producing an insulin deficiency, called diabetes. Medical +doctors treat diabetes with insulin supplements either oral or +intramuscular plus a careful diet with very low and measured amounts +of sugar and starch for the remainder of the persons inevitably +shortened and far less pleasant life. However, sometimes diabetes +can be controlled with diet alone, though medical doctors have not +had nearly as much success with this approach as talented +naturopaths. Sometimes, long fasting can regenerate a pancreas. It +is far better to avoid creating this disease! + +The dietary management of hypoglycemia requires that not only +refined but also unrefined sugars and starches with a high glycemic +index be removed from the diet. (The glycemic index measures the +ease with which the starch is converted into glucose in the body, +and estimates the amount of insulin needed to balance it out.) This +means no sugar, no honey, no white flour, no whole grains sweetened +with honey, no sweet fruits such as watermelons, bananas, raisins, +dates or figs. Potatoes are too readily converted into sugar. +Jerusalem artichokes are a good substitute. + +People with hypoglycemia can often control their symptoms with +frequent small meals containing vegetable protein every two hours. +When a non-sweet fruit is eaten such as an apple, it should be eaten +with some almonds or other nut or seed that slows the absorption of +fruit sugar. Hypoglycemics can improve their condition with vitamins +and food supplements. See the next chapter. + +Allergies to foods and environmental irritants are frequently +triggered by low blood sugar. Mental conditions are also triggered +by low blood sugar levels, frequently contributing to or causing a +cycle of acting out behavior accompanied by destruction of property +and interpersonal violence, as well as psychosis and bouts of +depression. It is not possible to easily deal with the resulting +behavior problems unless the hypoglycemia is controlled. +Unfortunately most institutions such as mental hospitals and jails +serve large amounts of sugar and starch and usually caffeinated +beverages, with a high availability of soda pop, candy, and +cigarettes at concessions. If the diet were drastically improved, +the drugs given to control behavior in mental hospitals would be +much more effective at a lower dose, or unnecessary. + +The insulin-cycle overworked pancreas may eventually not be able to +secrete enough enzymes to allow for the efficient digestion of foods +high in protein. As stated earlier, poor protein digestion leads to +a highly toxic condition from putrefied protein in the intestines. +This condition is alleviated by eliminating animal proteins from the +diet and taking digestive aids such as pancreatin pills with meals +to assist in the digestion of vegetable proteins. + +Food Combining And "Healthfood Junkfood." + +This brings us to a topic I call healthfood junkfood. Many people +improve their diet, eliminating meat and chemicalized food in favor +of whole grains and organically grown foods, but they then proceed +to make these otherwise good foods into virtual junkfood by +preparing them incorrectly. In my travels, I've noticed this same +thing happens everywhere on Earth. What should be health-producing +dietaries are ruined by frying, salting and sugaring. + +Healthfood junkfoods include organically grown potato chips deep +fried in cold pressed organic unsaturated canola oil (made rancid by +frying) sprinkled with natural sea salt; organically grown oat and +nut granola roasted with cold-pressed unsaturated oil (made rancid +by roasting) hideously sweetened with honey; carrot cake made with +rancid whole wheat flour, cold pressed unsaturated oil (made rancid +by baking), honey, and cream cheese (salted); whole wheat cookies +(stale, rancid flour) sweetened with honey, made with vegetable oil +baked at high heat (rancid); whole wheat pizza vegetarian style with +lots of soy cheese; whole wheat pizza vegan style with lots of real +raw milk cheese; organically grown corn chips deep fried in cold +pressed vegetable oil with or without natural sea salt, yogurts made +from powdered milk without an active culture of beneficial bacteria +and covered with highly sugared fruits, etc. These foods may well +represent an improvement over the average American diet, but they +still are not healthy foods, and should never be used in a diet for +a sick person. Nor are they worthy of a person attempting to +maximize health. + +The problem with healthfood junkfoods is not their major +ingredients, but how they were combined and processed and +adulterated. Remember, fats, animal or vegetable, subjected to high +heat become indigestible and toxic and make anything they're cooked +with indigestible; salt is a toxic drug; cheese, hard enough to +digest as it is, when raised to high temperatures as it is when +making pizza, becomes virtually indigestible and cheese inevitably +contains a lot of butterfat which, though saturated animal fat, when +raised to high temperatures, still becomes slightly rancid. And all +these foods represent indigestible combinations. + +My clients almost never believe me when I first explain the idea of +food combining. They think if it goes in one end, comes out the +other, and they don't feel any unpleasant symptoms in between, then +it was digested. But bad food combinations have a cumulative +degenerative effect over a long period of time. When the symptoms +arrive the victim never associates the food combination with the +symptom because it seems to them that they've always been eating the +food. + +Mainstream nutritionists have brainwashed the public into thinking +that we should have a representative serving from each of the "four +basic food groups" at each and every meal, plus a beverage and a +desert. Or, as my husband Steve is fond of quipping, a "balanced +meal" has four colors on every plate: something red, something +green, something white and something yellow. But the balanced meal +is a gastronomic catastrophe that can only be processed by the very +young with high digestive vitality, the exceptionally vital of any +age, people with cast iron stomachs which usually refers to their +good heredity, and those who are very physically active. + +Few seem to realize that each type of food requires specific and +different digestive enzymes in the mouth, stomach, and intestine. +Carbohydrates, fats, proteins--each requires differing acid or +alkaline environments in order to be digested. Proteins require an +acid environment. Starch digestion requires an alkaline environment. +When foods in complex combinations are presented to the stomach all +together, like a meal with meat, potatoes, gravy, vegetables, bread, +butter, a glass of milk, plus a starchy sweet desert, followed by +coffee or tea, the stomach, pancreas, liver and small intestine are +overwhelmed, resulting in the fermentation of the sugars and +starches, and the putrefaction of the proteins, and poor digestion +of the whole. It is little wonder that most people feel so tired +after a large meal and need several cups of strong coffee to be able +to even get up from the table. They have just presented their +digestive tract with an immensely difficult and for some an +impossible task. + +For the most efficient digestion, the body should be presented with +one simple food at a time, the one bowl concept, easily achieved by +adherence to the old saying, "one food at a meal is the ideal." An +example of this approach would be eating fruits for breakfast, a +plain cereal grain for lunch, and vegetables for supper. If you +can't eat quite that simply, then proper food combining rules should +be followed to minimize digestive difficulty, maximize the +adsorption of nutrients from your food, and reduce or eliminate the +formation of toxemia, and of course foul gas. + +In general, fruit should be eaten alone unless you happen to be +hypoglycemic or diabetic in which case fruit should be eaten with +small quantities of a vegetable protein such as nuts, or yogurt +and/or cheese if able to digest dairy. Starches should be eaten with +vegetables, which means that a well combined meal would include a +grain such as rice, millet, buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa, corn, +wheat, rye, oats, spelt, potatoes, or starchy winter squash combined +with raw or cooked vegetables. Protein foods such as meat, eggs, +beans, lentils, tofu, split peas, should be combined with +vegetables, raw or cooked. But protein should never be combined with +starches. The most popular North American snacks and meals always +have a starch/protein combination, for example: meat and potatoes, +hamburger in a bun, hot dog with bun, burrito with meat or cheese, +meat sandwiches, etc. It is little wonder that intestinal gas is +accepted as normal, and that over time these hard to digest +combinations eventually cause health problems that demand attention. + +Another sure fire way to ruin any food, including the very best +available is to eat in the presence of negative emotions generated +by yourself or others. Negative emotions include fear, anger, +frustration, envy, resentment, etc. The digestive tract is +immediately responsive to stress and or negative thoughts. It +becomes paralyzed in negative emotional states; any foods eaten are +poorly digested, causing toxemia. + +It is natural for a person who has lost a loved one or suffered a +great loss of any kind to lose their appetite for a period of time. +This reaction is pro-survival, because while grieving, the body is +griped by powerful negative emotions. There are people who, under +stress or when experiencing a loss, eat ravenously in an attempt to +comfort themselves. If this goes on for long the person can expect +to create a serious illness of some kind. + +Individual sensitivity to this type of overeating is dependent upon +genetics and personality and who is generating the negative +emotions. Self generated negative emotions are very difficult to +avoid. If you are unable to change your own emotional tone or that +of others around you, then it is important to eat very lightly, eat +only easily digested foods such as raw fruits and vegetables, raw +juices, steamed vegetables, and small servings of whole grains, nuts +and seeds. + +Diets To Heal The Critically Ill + +A critically ill person is someone who could expire at any moment; +therapeutic interventions are racing against death. Can the body +repair itself enough before some essential function ceases +altogether? If there already exists too much damage to vital organs +the person will die. If there remains sufficient organ function to +support life, enough vital force to power those functions, and a +will to live, the body may heal itself if helped by the correct +therapeutic approach. But the therapy does not do the healing; the +body does that by itself--if it can. This reality is also true of +allopathic medicine. + +I believe fasting is the therapy that almost invariably gives a +critically ill person their very best chance of recovery. If a +patient dies while fasting they almost certainly would have died +anyway, and if death comes while fasting, it will be more +comfortable, with less pain, and with more mental clarity. + +Critically ill people may have, among other things, any of the +following diagnoses: advanced cancer, advanced aids, heart failure, +very high blood pressure, kidney failure, advanced liver disease, +advanced emphysema, pneumonia or other catastrophic infections, +especially those that seem unresponsive to antibiotics, strokes, +emboli, sclerotic vessels as found in arteriosclerosis, severe nerve +degeneration interfering with nerve transmission to vital organs. + +Treating the critically ill does not have to be an all or nothing, +ideological choice between holistic medicine and AMA style medicine. +It is important for the critically ill and their families to know +that if they use standard medical treatment such as drugs or +surgery, these measures can and should be combined with natural +healing methods. It is always desirable to quit all addicting +substances, start a whole foods diet, (as light as possible), and +add meganutrition (supplements) to the medical doctor's treatments. +Few medical doctors are so arrogantly partisan as to assert that +natural measures will do any harm as long as the MD is still allowed +to prescribe as they please. + +Holistic support will not only lessen the side effects of the +medical treatments but will speed up healing and often reduce the +required dose of prescribed drugs. I have had several clients with +cancer who chose to have surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, but +stayed on a raw food diet and took high doses of supplements +throughout the treatment. These people amazed the attending +physician by feeling good with little if any fatigue, no hair loss, +or flu symptoms. The same can be true of other conditions. + +Food In The Order Of Digestive Difficulty + +Individual digestive weaknesses and allergies are not taken into +account in this list. + +Hard To Digest: Meat, fish, chicken, eggs (if cooked), all legumes +including soy products, peanuts and peanut butter, beans, split +peas, lentils, chick peas, dairy products such as cheese, milk, +butter milk, nuts and seeds and their butters. + +Intermediate: all grains--quinoa, amaranth, millet, spelt, rye, +wheat, oats, barley. + +Fairly Easy: Brussels sprouts, green beans, green peas, broccoli, +cauliflower, raw cultured milk products, asparagus, cabbage, sprouts +especially bean sprouts, kale, other leafy greens. + +Very Easy: fruits, vegetable juices, fruit juices, broth (clear). + +No Effort: herb tea, water. + +Ethyl always comes to my mind when I think of how much healing power +can still be left in a dying body. She (accompanied by her husband +for support) came to Great Oaks School with terminal cancer, heart +failure, advanced diabetes, extreme weakness, and complete inability +to digest. Any food ingested just came back up immediately. Ethyl +had large tumors taking over the breast, sticking out from her +skull, and protruding from her body in general. The largest was the +one in the left breast which was the size of a big man's fist. + +She did have one crucial thing going for her, Ethyl was a feisty +Irish red head who still had a will to live, and a reason to do so. +She and her husband, who had just retired, had dreamed their whole +life of touring the US and Canada in their own RV the minute he +retired. The time had finally arrived but Ethyl was too ill to +support her own weight (only 90 pounds) and to top it off was blind +from diabetic retinopathy. The doctors had done everything they +could to her, and now judged her too weak to withstand any more +surgery (she had already had her right breast removed). Radiation or +chemotherapy were also considered impossible due to heart failure. +They sent Ethyl home to die, giving her a few days to a month at +most. + +Any sensible hygienist trying to stay out of jail would have refused +to take on this type of case because it was a cancer case where +death was likely. Treatment of this highly lucrative disease is +considered the AMA's exclusive franchise, even when the medical +doctors have given up after having done everything to a body the +family can pay for or owe for. Whenever a person dies under the care +of any person who is not a licensed M.D. there must be an autopsy +and a criminal investigation in search of negligence. If the person +dies under the care of an M.D. the sheriff's assumption is that the +doctor most assuredly did everything he could and should have done +and death was inevitable. By accepting Ethyl I had a reasonable +likelihood of ending up in trouble; but being foolish, brave and +(stupidly) feeling relatively immune to such consequences (I was +under 40 at the time), it seemed important to try to help her. So, +undaunted by the task, regardless of the outcome, I proceeded +logically, one step at a time. Today, with more experience and a +modest net worth I wouldn't want to have to defend in a lawsuit, and +at age 55. possessing no spare five to ten years to give to the +State to "pay" for my bravery, I would probably refuse such a case. +Fortunately I have not been confronted with this problem lately. + +Since Ethyl was unable to digest anything given by mouth, she was +fed rectally with wheat grass juice implants three times a day. She +was carried to the colonic table for a daily colonic. Wheat grass +and clay poultices were applied to her tumors three times a day. She +received an acupressure massage and reflexology treatments during +the day, plus a lot of tender loving care. This program continued +for a month during which the tumors were being reabsorbed by the +body, including the large, extremely hard tumor sticking out the +flesh of the right breast. + +Ethyl complained of severe pain as the large tumor in her breast +shrank. While it had been getting larger and pressing ever harder on +all the nerves, she had little or no sensation, but as it shrank, +the nerves were reactivated. Most people think that a growing tumor +would cause more pain than a shrinking one. Often the opposite is +true. Pain can be a good sign that the body is winning, an indicator +to proceed. + +By the second month, Ethyl, gradually gaining strength, was able to +take wheat grass and carrot juice orally, and gradually eased into +raw foods, mostly sprouts and leafy greens such as sunflower and +buckwheat greens grown in trays. She started to walk with assistance +up and down the halls, no longer experiencing the intense pain +formerly caused by a failing heart, and most surprising of all, her +eyesight returned, at first seeing only outlines, and then details. + +The third month Ethyl enlarged her food intake to include raw foods +as well as the carrot and wheat grass juice and sprouts, plus +vitamin and mineral supplements to help support her immune system +and the healing process. All the tumors had been reabsorbed by her +body and were no longer visible, her heart was able to support +normal activity such as walking, and nonstrenuous household chores, +and her diabetes had corrected itself to the point that she no +longer required insulin and was able to control her blood sugar with +diet. + +Her husband was then instructed in her maintenance and they went +home to continue the program. The last I heard from them they had +made two lengthy trips around the US in their RV and were enjoying +their retirement together after all. + +My treatment worked because the most important factor in the healing +of the critically ill person is not give them more nourishment than +their body is able to process. The moment the digestive capacity of +the sick person is exceeded, the condition will be exacerbated and +in a critically illness, the person is likely to die. If the body +still has sufficient organ integrity and vital force to heal itself, +it will do so only if given the least possible nourishment that will +support life--provided no essential organs are hopelessly damaged. If +the liver and kidneys are functional, and the person has done some +previous dietary improvement and/or cleansing, success is likely, +especially if the person wants to live. + +A person in critical condition does not have time to ease into +fasting by first spending a month or two on a raw foods diet. This +means that the person who is taking care of the critically ill +person must be experienced enough to adjust the intensity of the +body's healing efforts and accurately assess the ability of the +person to process toxic waste products clamoring for removal so the +ailing body is not drowned in it's own poisons. It is often +necessary to use clear vegetable broth, vegetable and wheat grass +juices, and fruits juices, or whole sprouts to slow down the +cleansing gradient and sometimes, to resupply the tissue's exhausted +nutritional reserves. + +I wish all cases of critical illness had such a positive outcome as +Ethyl's, but unfortunately they don't. I had Marge on the same +program at the same time. She also had cancerous tumors all over her +body and had similarly been sent home to die. In some ways Marge's +body was a more likely candidate for survival than Ethyl's. Marge +did not have heart failure or diabetes and was still able on arrival +to at least take small amount of water orally and walk to the +bathroom. Put on a similar program, her tumors also shrunk and were +reabsorbed and she too went home. + +But Marge did not really have a strong reason to live. Although her +husband was by her side throughout the treatment program, Marge was +deeply upset because she was estranged from one of her sons who she +had not seen for over 10 years. When she went home from Great Oaks, +the son finally consented to see his mother, went to the effort of +trying to work things out with her, and finally confessed that under +it all he still loved her. + +At that point Marge died in peace. She had accomplished the last +thing she wanted to take care of and her will to live did not extend +beyond that point. Had she died several months earlier as predicted +by the medical profession, Marge would have been unable to resolve +this relationship. This was what Marge's life was pivoting on at the +end. I was glad to assist her in doing what she needed to do. Her +husband and other family members found it difficult to understand, +and they were hurt that Marge did not wish to continue her life with +them. + +Diet For The Chronically Ill. + +The chronically ill person has a long-term degenerative condition +that is not immediately life threatening. This condition usually +causes more-or-less continuous symptoms that are painful, perhaps +unsightly, and ultimately will be disabling or eventually capable of +causing death. To qualify as "chronic" the symptoms must have been +present a minimum of six months, with no relief in sight. People +with these conditions have usually sought medical assistance, +frequently have had surgery, and have taken and probably are taking +numerous prescription drugs. + +Some examples of chronic conditions are: arthritis, rheumatism, +diabetes, early onset of cancer and aids, asthma, colitis, +diverticulitis, irritable bowel syndrome, some mental disorders, +arterial deposit diseases, most of the itises (inflammations). + +Before fasting, the chronically ill often do have time to prepare +the way with limited dietary reform, and frequently begin to feel +relief quite quickly. Before actually fasting they should limit +their diet to raw foods and eliminate all toxic foods like alcohol, +coffee, tea, salt, sugar and recreational drugs for two months if +they have been following a typical American diet. + +If the chronically ill had been following a vegetarian diet, perhaps +a diet including with eggs and dairy, if they had been using no +addicting substances, then one month on raw foods is sufficient +preparation for fasting. If the person had water or juice fasted for +at least a week or two within the last two years, and followed a +healthy diet since that time, one or two weeks on raw foods should +be a sufficient runway. + +During preparation for a fast, I never recommend that a chronically +ill person quit taking prescription medicines because doing so can +seriously disrupt their homeostasis. However, if their symptoms +lessen or vanish during the pre-fasting clean up, the person might +try tapering off medications. + +The length and type of fast chosen to resolve a chronic illness +depends largely on available time, finances, availability of support +people, work responsibilities, and mental toughness. If you are one +of those fortunate people 'rich' enough to give their health first +priority, long water fasting is ideal. If on the other hand you +can't afford to stop working, have no one to take care of you and +assist with some household chores, and/or you are not mentally tough +enough to deal with self-denial, compromise is necessary. + +Ideally the chronically ill person would fast for an extended period +under supervision until their symptoms were gone or greatly +improved, with a fall-back plan to repeat the whole process again in +three to six months if necessary. If you are not able to do that, +the next best program is to fast for a short period, like one or two +weeks, with a plan to repeat the process as often as possible until +you are healed. + +I have had clients with potentially life-threatening conditions such +as obesity with incipient heart failure, or who came to me with +cancer, that were unable to stop work for financial reasons, or who +could not afford a residential fasting program, or who felt +confident in their own ability to deal with detoxification in their +own home. These people have fasted successfully at home, coming to +see me once a week. Almost inevitably, successful at-home fasters +had already done a lot of research on self healing, believed in it, +and had the personal discipline to carry it out properly, including +breaking the fast properly without overeating. + +Foods To Heal Chronic Illness + +Sprouts Baby Greens Salad Juices Fruit +alfalfa sunflower lettuce beet grapefruit +radish buckwheat celery celery lemon +bean zucchini zucchini lime lime +clover kale kale orange orange +fenugreek endive radish parsley apple +wheat tomato tomato raspberries +cabbage cabbage cabbage blueberries + carrot carrot grapes + spinach apple peaches + parsley grapefruit apricots + sweet pepper lemon strawberry + +Fruits should be watery and lower in sugar. Some examples of poor +fruit choices would be pineapple, ripe mango, bananas, dates, +raisins, figs. Fruits should not be combined with vegetables. + +Vegetables should not be starchy, packed-full of energy. Poor +vegetable choices would be potato, parsnip, turnip, corn, sweet +potato, yam, beet, winter squash. Sprouts and baby greens are +vegetables and may be included in salads. + +Juices should not be extremely sweet. Apple, orange, beet and carrot +juice should be diluted with 50% water. Fruit juices should not be +mixed with vegetable juices or with vegetables at the same meal. + +Salads should include no fruit. Salad dressings should be lemon or +lime juice, very small quantities of olive oil, and herbs. No salt, +soy sauce nor black pepper. Cayenne can be okay for some. + +I have also helped chronically ill people that were not mentally +prepared to water fast, but were able to face the long-term +self-control and deprivation of a raw food cleansing diet that +included careful food combining. These people also regained their +health, but it took them a year at minimum, and once well they had +to remain on a diet tailor-made to their digestive capacity for the +rest of their life, usually along with food supplements. + +Jim was such a case. He was 55 years old, very obese, had +dangerously high blood pressure poorly controlled with medication, +and was going into congestive heart failure. He was on digitalis and +several other heart medications plus diuretics, but in no way was +his condition under control. He had severe edema in the feet and +legs with pitting, and fluid retention in the abdominal region +caused a huge paunch that was solid to the touch not soft and +squishy like fatty tissue. + +Jim had dreamed of having his own homestead with an Organic garden, +now he had these things but was too sick to enjoy them or work in +his garden without severe heart pain and shortness of breath. Jim +had retired early in order to enjoy many years without the stresses +of work, and he was alarmed to realize that he was unlikely to +survive a year. + +The day Jim came to see me the first time I would have classified +his condition as critically ill because his life was in immediate +danger; but he responded so quickly to his detox program that he was +very soon out of danger and would be more accurately described as a +chronically ill person. Jim was not prepared to water fast. He was +attached to having his food and he was aware that at his extreme +weight he was going to have stay on a dietary program for a long, +long time. He also wanted to choose a gradient that he could manage +by himself at home with little assistance from his wife. He had been +on a typical American diet with meat, coffee, etc., so that in spite +of his dangerous condition it did not seem wise to me to add the +heavy eliminatory burden of a water fast to a body that was already +overwhelmed with fluids and waste products. + +Jim immediately went on a raw food cleansing diet, with no +concentrated foods like nuts, seeds, or avocados, and with one day +each week fasting on vegetable juice and broth. He did enemas daily +even though it wasn't his favorite thing. In one month he had lost +30 pounds, his eyes had started to sparkle, and his complexion was +rosy. The swelling had disappeared from his feet and legs, and he +had to buy new pants. + +Starting the second month he gradually withdrew from prescription +medications. From the beginning I had put Jim on a program of +nutritional supplements including protomorphogens (see chapter on +vitamins and food supplements) to help the body repair it's heart +and the kidneys. In only four months he had returned his body to +glowing health, and looked great for his age, though he was still +overweight. At the end of one year he had returned to a normal +weight for his height, and only cheated on the diet a couple of +times when attending a social event, and then it was only a baked +potato with no dressing. + +He was probably going to have many qualitative years working his +garden and living out his dreams. The local intensive care ward lost +a lot of money when they failed to get Jim. + +Diet For The Acutely Ill + +The acutely ill person experiences occasional attacks of distressing +symptoms, usually after indiscretions in living or emotional upsets. +They have a cold, or a flu, or sinusitis, or a first bout of +pneumonia, or a spring allergy attack. The intense symptoms knock +them flat and force them to bed for a few days or a week. If they +are sick more often than that, they are moving toward the +chronically ill category. + +People who are acutely ill should stop eating to whatever extent +that they are able until the symptoms are gone. During an acute +illness, the appetites is probably pretty dull anyway, so why not +give a brief fast on water or fruit juice a try. + +Most acute conditions are short in duration, usually not lasting +more than a week. Allergy attacks, some types of flu, and a first +bout of pneumonia may well last for three weeks or a month. The +general rule is to eat as little as possible until the symptoms have +passed, self-administer colon cleansing, even if you have a horror +of such things, and take vitamin supplements, including megadoses of +Vitamin C, bioflavinoids, and zinc. (See the chapter on vitamins.) +Those having a little experience with natural medicine make teas of +echinacea, fenugreek seeds and red clover and quit eating. Eating as +little as possible can mean only water and herb teas, only vegetable +broth, only vegetable juice or non-sweet fruit juice, even only +cleansing raw foods. If you eat more than this you have not relieved +your system of enough digestive effort. + +After your symptoms are gone it is very important to change your +life-style and improve your diet so that you aren't so toxic and +don't have to experience an acute illness several times a year when +your body is forced to try an energetic detox. + +Diet For A Healthy Person + +I doubt that it is possible to be totally healthy in the twentieth +century. Doctors Alsleben and Shute in their book How to Survive the +New Health Catastrophes state that in-depth laboratory testing of +the population at large demonstrated four universally present +pathological conditions: heavy metal poisoning, arteriosclerosis, +sub-clinical infections, and vitamin/mineral deficiencies. Those of +us who consider ourselves healthy, including young people, are not +really healthy, and at the very least would benefit from nutritional +supplementation. In fact the odds against most people receiving +adequate vitamin and mineral nutrition without supplements are very +poor as demonstrated by the following chart. + +Problem Nutrients in America + +Nutrient Percent Receiving Less than the RDA +B-6 80% +Magnesium 75 +Calcium 68 +Iron 57 +Vitamin A 50 +B-1 45 +C 41 +B-2 36 +B-12 36 +B-3 33 + +A genuinely healthy person almost never becomes acutely ill, and +does not have any disturbing or distracting symptoms; nothing +interferes with or handicaps their daily life or work. A healthy +person has good energy most of the time, a positive state of mind, +restful sleep, good digestion and elimination. + +Healthy people do not have to live simon-pure lives to remain that +way. Healthy people can afford 10% dietary indiscretions by calorie +count--eating or drinking those things that they know are not good +for them but that are fun to eat or are "recreational foods or +beverages." Such "sinning" could mean a restaurant bash twice a +month, having a pizza, French bread, beer or wine in moderation, ice +cream, cookies, cake, turkey for festive occasions, etc. The key +concept of responsible sinning is keeping within that ten percent +limit. + +A diet for a healthy person that wants to remain healthy should not +exceed the digestive capacity of the individual, either in terms of +quantity or quality. All foods that can not be efficiently digested +should be removed from the regular diet and relegated to the "sin" +category, including those you are allergic to and those for which +you have inadequate digestive enzymes. I have encountered very few +people that can efficiently digest cooked meat, chicken, or fish, +but some can, and some can with the assistance of digestive enzyme +supplements. In order to digest meats, the stomach must be +sufficiently acid, there must be enough pepsin, pancreatin, and +bile, etc., and the meat should be eaten on the extremely rare side +(not pork), in small quantities (not more than five or six ounces), +and not combined with anything except nonstarchy vegetables. If you +must include meat in your dietary, it should represent a very small +percentage of your total caloric intake, be eaten infrequently, with +the bulk of the calories coming from complex carbohydrates such +grains, legumes and nuts, as well as large quantities of vegetables +and fruits. + +The healthy person that wants to stay that way for many, years is +advised to fast one day a week, to give the organs of elimination a +chance to catch up on their internal housecleaning. If water fasting +seems impossible, try a day of juicing it; if that is too rigorous, +try a day on raw foods. A similar technique, though less beneficial +than even a one day each week on raw foods, is delaying breaking +your overnight fast for as long as possible each day. Try giving up +breakfast altogether or postponing breaking your overnight fast, +because from the time you stop eating at the end of one day to the +time you start eating the next is actually a brief, detoxifying +fast. + +Eggs, milk, cheese and yogurt can be assimilated by some healthy +people with or without digestive aids. It is possible to take +lactase to break down the milk sugars for example; sometimes aids +such as hydrochloric acid, pepsin, and pancreatin help. If you can +buy it or are willing to make it raw milk yogurt containing +lactobacillus bulgaris or acidophilus may be digested more readily, +especially if it prepared from healthy cows or goats fed on +unsprayed food, and served very fresh. Eggs should come from +chickens that run around outside, eating weeds, and scratching bugs. +The yokes of those eggs will be intense orange, not yellow. Few +people these days have ever eaten a real egg. Surprisingly, for +those of you who fear cholesterol, the healthy way to eat eggs is +use just the raw yolk from fertile eggs. It is enjoyed by many +people in a smoothie--fresh fruit blended up with water or milk. Eggs +contain lecithin, a nutrient that naturally prevents the body from +forming harmful fatty deposits in the arteries. + +Sea weeds are a wonderful source of minerals and should be eaten in +soups and salads. Other invaluable fortifying foods are algae of all +kinds (such as chlorella and spirulina), lecithin, brewers yeast, +and fresh bakers yeast. Many people have had very unpleasant +experiences trying to eat living bakers yeast and so use brewers +yeast instead. But brewers yeast is cooked and the proteins it +contains are not nearly as assimilable as those in raw yeast. Raw +yeast is so powerful, it feels like pep pills! + +It takes a special technique to eat raw yeast because in the stomach +and intestines the yeast does the job it is supposed to do: convert +sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide gas. The entire digestive +tract then bloats with gas and the person will feel very +uncomfortable for some time. However, raw yeast is a marvelous +source of B vitamins and proteins and can make someone feel very +energetic--if they know how to use it. The secret is to eat live +yeast very first thing in the morning on an empty stomach and then, +not eat anything at all for about two hours, giving the stomach +acids and enzymes time to kill the yeasts and digest them before +adding sugars from another meal. Some like to eat yeast in fresh +cake form, buying it from a bakery. Others prefer dry granular +baker's yeast blended with water into a sort of "shake." This is not +a bad place to put your raw egg yoke either. If you need it +sweetened to drink it, use an artificial or herbal sweetener like +nutrisweet or stevia. Live yeast cannot consume milk sugars very +well. So if you can handle dairy, try one or two tablespoons of +granulated live yeast, an egg yoke and a little raw milk or yogurt, +well whizzed. + +Wheat germ is also a great, rich food, but is usually rancid unless +it is taken out of the refrigerated display; unless it is +refrigerated, in a dated package and fresh, don't eat it. Herb teas +and roasted grain beverages are healthy beverages, along with +mineral and distilled water avoiding where possible chlorinated and +fluoridated water. + +Diet Is Not Enough + +Those isolated, long-lived peoples discovered by Weston A. Price had +to do hard physical labor to eat, had to walk briskly up and down +steep terrain to get anywhere. But today, few North Americans output +very much physical energy in process of daily life or work. Not only +cars, but all of our modern conveniences make it possible to live +without ever breaking into a sweat. We pay for this ease; it costs +us a significant degree of health. + +Exercise has many benefits when combined with excellent nutrition. +It creates an overall feeling of well-being that can not be created +by diet alone. Exercising temporarily makes the heart beat faster, +increasing blood circulation throughout the body right out to the +tips of your fingers and toes. This short-term elevated flow of +blood flow brings increased supplies of oxygen and nutrients to all +parts of the body, facilitating healing and repair. Without revving +up your engine every day many of the body's systems never get the +sludge burned out of them and never perform optimally. + +Exercise also changes the metabolic rate so your body burns more +calories--not only while you are exercising, but also for a 24 hour +period following exercise. This maintains a healthful body weight +into old age, or helps to lose weight. Most people find that +exercise in moderation does not increase appetite, so that it is +possible to consistently burn more calories in a day, and gradually +reduce weight if that is desirable. It is necessary to burn 3,500 +calories to lose a pound of weight. Most forms of exercise allow you +to burn 300 to 600 calories per hour at a moderate pace which would +be achieved by doubling the resting pulse. Without even considering +the weight-loss benefit of achieving a raised metabolism, an hour of +daily exercise continued for a week or two dependent upon the type +of exercise and pace should lead to one pound of weight loss if the +caloric intake is held constant. + +The flip side of having a higher metabolism is rarely appreciated +but is extremely important. Recall the basic equation of health: +Health = Nutrition / Calories. Exercise permits a person to eat +somewhat more while not gaining weight. If the food is nutrient +rich, the body has a chance to extract more vitamins, more minerals, +more amino acids. The person who remains slender by rigidly reducing +their food intake to near starvation levels may lack vital, +health-building nutrition. + +And only exercise moves lymphatic fluid. The blood is pumped through +the body by the heart, but the lymphatic system, lacking a heart, +requires muscular contractions to move from the extremities of the +body to the central cavity. The lymphatic system picks up cellular +waste products and conducts these toxins to disposal. Frequently, +people with rheumatic aches and pains or other generalized muscular +discomforts physicians like to give Latin diagnostic names to can +give up taking pain pills if they will but begin exercising +regularly. Only when they begin moving their lymph can they begin to +detoxify properly. + +There is another benefit from exercise which is not to be ignored, +and that is that it gives the person a chemical sense of well being. +It actually will help to emotionally boost up people who are +chronically depressed and make them smile. After a good workout, +especially one done outside, everything seems brighter, more +positive; whatever was bothering you somehow just doesn't seem like +that big of a deal now. I am not making pro-exercise propaganda. +This is not a figment of the imagination. An exercising body really +does make antidepressant neurochemicals called endorphins, but only +after about 45 minutes to an hour of aerobic workout. + +Endorphins are powerful, with painkilling and euphoric effects equal +to or greater than heroin, but without any undesirable side effects. +If chemists could learn to cheaply synthesize endorphins I'm sure +that millions of people would want to become addicted to them. +Because I make such a point of getting in my workout every day, my +husband has accused me of being an endorphin junkie, and he is +right! I admit it, I'm really hooked on the feeling of well being I +consistently get from any sustained exercise. I defend my addiction +staunchly because it is the healthiest addiction I know of. + +I have also been accused of carrying exercise to extremes, and I +admit to that also. For a few years I trained for Ironman +triathlons. I now think doing ironman distances is immoderate and +except for a few remarkable individuals with "iron" constitutions, +training that hard can only lead to a form of exhaustion that is not +health promoting. I have become much more sensible in my "old" age, +and in recent years have limited my participation to the Olympic +distance triathlons. I was on the Canadian team at the World +Championship in 1992, and intend to do it again in 1995. I do not +find the Olympic distance exhausting, in fact I think it is great +fun and truly exhilarating. I get to see all these wonderful age +group competitors from all over the world who look and feel +fantastic. It does my soul good to see a group of people aging so +gracefully, not buying into the popular notion that old age is +inevitably disabling, depressing, and ugly. Sport brings a degree of +balance to my life after spending so much time in the presence of +the sick. I plan to maintain my athletic activities into old age, +barring accident or other unforeseen obstacles to fitness. + +To maintain basic fitness it does not matter so much what form of +exercise is chosen, as long as it is not damaging to the skeletal +system or connective tissues. Many people are unable to run due to +foot, knee, hip, or back problems, but almost everyone can walk. +Walking outside is better than inside on a treadmill, and walking +hills is better than walking on flat ground. Exercise machines such +as stationary bikes, cross country ski machines, and stair steppers +work well for a lot of people who live in the city, especially in +the winter, or for those who hate exercise. Whatever you choose to +do, it is important to at least double the resting pulse for 30 +minutes no less than four days a week. This is the absolute minimum +required to maintain the health and function of the +cardiovascular-pulmonary system. If your resting pulse is 70, you +must walk, jog, ski, bike, swim or what have you, fast enough to +keep the pulse at 140 beats per minute for at least 30 minutes. + +I have a strong preference to exercising outside in isolated places +where there is only me and the forest, or only me and the river. +Running along logging roads in the hilly back country, or swimming +in the green unpolluted water of a forest river is a spiritual +experience for me. It is a time to meditate, to commune with nature, +and to clear my mind and create new solutions. The repetitive action +of running or walking or swimming, along with the regular deep +breathing in clean air, with no distractions except what nature +provides is truly health promoting. Sharing these activities with +friends or family can also be great fun and some of the best in +social interactions. It is one of my favorite ways of visiting with +people. I don't expect other people to be as enthusiastic about +exercise as I am, but I do hope that everyone will make an effort to +be minimally fit as an ongoing part of their health program into old +age. + +Diet For A Long, Long Life + +Some people not only want to be healthy, but they want to live in +good health long past the normal life span projected by statistical +tables for Homo Sapiens. Dr. Roy Walford, a well-respected medical +research gerontologist who has been actively studying longevity for +many years, is one of those. He has scientifically demonstrated with +accepted studies that a qualitative life span up to at least 115 +years of age is reasonably attainable by the average person if they +start working on it no later than about 50 years of age, though +earlier is much better. + +Walford's principles of extending life are very simple. All you have +to do is restrict your caloric intake to about 1,500 per day, and +water fast two days a week. Or alternatively, reduce your caloric +intake to 1,200 per day and fast only one day a week on water. And +make sure that every single bit of food you do eat is packed with +nutrition, every single calorie, without exception. You continue +this program for the rest of your life along with moderate daily +exercise and high but reasonable dosages of vitamins, minerals, and +also take a few exotic food supplements. The supplement program is +not particularly expensive nor extreme, Walford's supplement program +is more moderate than the life extension program I recommend for all +middle-aged and older people. The best foods for this type of +program is a largely raw food diet (80%) with a predominance of +sprouts and baby greens, some cooked vegetables, and raw nuts and +seeds. And make sure you get 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise +every other day. + +While Dr. Walford's focus is on caloric reduction while maintaining +sufficient nutrition, most other life extensionists focus on +increasing the nutrition side of the equation for health without +bothering to reduce caloric intake. This approach is much easier +because essentially, it involves gobbling nutritional supplements by +the handfuls without requiring self-discipline, though it can get +quite expensive. I'll have more to say about this approach in the +next chapter, which is about vitamins. + +In this book I can't explain all the aspects of prolongation of life +through conscious life-style choice. Those who are interested are +referred to the Bibliography. + + + + + + +Chapter Six + +Vitamins and Other Food Supplements + + + + + +From The Hygienic Dictionary + +Vitamins. [1] The staple foods may not contain the same nutritive +substances as in former times. . . . Chemical fertilizers, by +increasing the abundance of the crops without replacing all the +exhausted elements of the soil, may have indirectly contributed to +change the nutritive value of cereal grains and of vegetables. . . . +Hygienists have not paid sufficient attention to the genesis of +diseases. Their studies of conditions of life and diet, and of their +effects on the physiological and mental state of modern man are +superficial, incomplete, and of too short duration. They have, thus, +contributed to the weakening of our body and our soul. _Alexis +Carrel, Man the Unknown._ + +I have already explained the hygienist's view of why people get +sick. The sequence of causation goes: enervation, toxemia, +alternative elimination, disease. However, there is one more link in +this chain, a precursor to enervation that, for good and +understandable reasons, seemed unknown to the earlier hygienists. +That precursor is long term sub-clinical malnutrition. Lack of +nutrition effects virtually everybody today. Almost all of us are +overfed but undernourished. + +I have already explained that one particular head of broccoli does +not necessarily equal another head of broccoli; the nutritional +composition of apparently identical foods can be highly variable. +Not only do different samples of the same type of food differ wildly +in protein content, amino acid ratios and mineral content, their +vitamin and vitamin-like substances also vary according to soil +fertility and the variety grown. + +These days, food crop varieties are bred for yield and other +commercial considerations, such as shipability, storage life, and +ease of processing. In pre-industrial times when each family +propagated its own unique open-pollinated varieties, a natural +selection process for healthy outcomes prevailed. If the family's +particular, unique varieties carried genes for highly nutritious +food, and if the family's land was fertile enough to allow those +genes to manifest, and if the family kept up its land's fertility by +wise management, their children tended to survive the gauntlet of +childhood illness and lived to propagate the family's varieties and +continue the family name. Thus, over time, human food cultivars were +selected for their nutritional content. + +But not any longer! These days, farming technology with its focus on +bulk yield and profit, degrades the nutritional content of our +entire food supply. Even commercial organically grown food is no +better in this respect. + +Sub-clinical, life-long, vitamin and mineral deficiencies contribute +to the onset of disease; the malnourished body becomes increasingly +enervated, beginning the process of disease. Vitamin supplements can +increase the body's vital force, reversing to a degree the natural +tendency towards degeneration. In fact, some medical gerontologists +theorize that by using vitamins it might be possible to restore +human life span to its genetically programmed 115 years without +doing anything else about increasing nutrition from our degraded +foods or paying much attention to dietary indiscretions. Knowing +what I do about toxemia's effects I doubt vitamins can allow us to +totally ignore what we eat, though supplements can certainly help. + +More than degraded nutritional content of food prompts a thinking +person to use food supplements. Our bodies and spirits are +constantly assaulted and insulted by modern life in ways our +genetics never intended us to deal with. Today the entire +environment is mildly toxic. Air is polluted; water is polluted; our +food supply contains traces of highly poisonous artificial molecules +that our bodies have no natural ability to process and eliminate. +Our cities and work places are full of loud, shocking noises that +trigger frequent adrenaline rushes and other stress adaptations. Our +work places are full of psychological stresses that humans never had +to deal with before. + +Historically, humans who were not enslaved have been in control of +determining their own hour to hour, day to day activities, living on +their own largely self-sufficient farms. The idea of working for +another, at regular hours, without personal liberty, ignoring or +suppressing one's own agenda and inclinations over an entire +lifetime is quite new and not at all healthy. It takes continual +subconscious applications of mental and psychic energies to protect +ourselves against the stresses of modern life, energies that we +don't know we're expending. This is also highly enervating. Thus to +remain healthy we may need nutrition at levels far higher than might +be possible through eating food; even ideal food might not contain +enough vitamins to sustain us against the strains and stresses of +this century. + +And think about Dr. Pottenger's cats. Our bodies are at the poorer +end of a century-long process of mass degeneration that started with +white flour from the roller mill. Compared to my older clients I +have noticed that my younger patients seem to possess less vital +force on the average, show evidence of poorer skeletal development, +have poorer teeth, less energy, have far more difficulty breeding +and coping with their family life, and are far more likely to +develop degenerative conditions early. Most of my younger patients +had a poor start because they were raised on highly refined, +devitalized, deficient foods, and grew up without much exercise. +Their parents had somewhat better food. Some of their grandparents +may have even grown up on raw milk and a vegetable garden, and +actually had to walk, not owning cars when they were young. Their +great grandparents had a high likelihood of enjoying decent +nutrition and a healthful life-style. + +Unfortunately, most of my patients like the idea of taking vitamins +too much for their own good. The AMA medical model has conditioned +people to swallow something for every little discomfort, and taking +a pill is also by far the easiest thing to do because a pill +requires no life-style changes, nor self-discipline, nor personal +responsibility. But vitamins are much more frugal than drugs. +Compared to prescriptions, even the most exotic life extension +supplements are much less expensive. I am saddened when my clients +tell me they can't afford supplements. When their MD prescribes a +medicine that costs many times more they never have trouble finding +the money. + +I am also saddened that people are so willing to take supplements, +because I can usually do a lot more to genuinely help their bodies +heal with dietary modification and detoxification. Of all the tools +at my disposal that help people heal, last in the race comes +supplements. + +One of the best aspects of using vitamins as though they were +healing agents is that food supplements almost never have harmful +side effects, even when they are taken in what might seem enormous +overdoses. If someone with a health condition reads or hears about +some vitamin being curative, goes out and buys some and takes it, +they will at very least have followed the basic principle of good +medicine: first of all do no harm. At worst, if the supplements did +nothing for them at all, they are practicing the same kind of +benevolent medicine that Dr. Jennings did almost two centuries ago. +Not only that, but having done something to treat their symptoms, +they have become patients facilitating their own patience, giving +their body a chance to correct its problem. They well may get +better, but not because of the action of the particular vitamin they +took. Or, luckily, the vitamin or vitamins they take may have been +just what was needed, raising their body's vital force and +accelerating the body's ability to solve its problem. + +One reason vitamin therapies frequently do not work as well as they +might is that, having been intimidated by AMA propaganda that has +created largely false fears in the public mind about harmful effects +of vitamin overdoses, the person may not take enough of the right +vitamin. The minimum daily requirements of vitamins and minerals as +outlined in nutrition texts are only sufficient to prevent the most +obvious forms of deficiency diseases. If a person takes supplements +at or near the minimum daily requirement (the dose recommended by +the FDA as being 'generally recognized as safe') they should not +expect to see any therapeutic effect unless they have scurvy, beri +beri, rickets, goiter, or pellagra. + +In these days of vitamin-fortified bread and iodized salt, and even +vitamin C fortified soft drinks, you almost never see the kind of +life-threatening deficiency states people first learned to +recognize, such as scurvy. Sailors on long sea voyages used to +develop a debilitating form of vitamin C deficiency that could kill. +Scurvy could be quickly cured by as little as one lime a day. For +this reason the British Government legislated the carrying of limes +on long voyages and today that is why British sailors are still +called limeys. A lime has less than 30 milligrams of vitamin C. But +to make a cold clear up faster with vitamin C a mere 30 mg does +absolutely nothing! To begin to dent an infection with vitamin C +takes 10,000 milligrams a day, and to make a life threatening +infection like pneumonia go away faster might require 25,000 to +150,000 milligrams of vitamin C daily, administered intravenously. +In terms of supplying that much C with limes, that's 300 to 750 of +them daily--clearly impossible. + +Similarly, pellagra can be cured with a few milligrams of vitamin +B3, but schizophrenia can sometimes be cured with 3,000 milligrams, +roughly a thousand times as much as the MDR. + +There are many many common diseases that the medical profession does +not see as being caused by vitamin deficiencies. Senility and many +mental disorders fall in this category. Many old people live on +extremely deficient diets comprised largely of devitalized starches, +sugars, and fats, partly because many do not have good enough teeth +to chew vegetables and other high roughage foods, and they do not +have the energy it takes to prepare more nourishing foods. Virtually +all old people have deficiency diseases. As vital force inevitably +declines with age, the quantity and quality of digestive enzymes +decreases, then the ability to breakdown and extract soluble +nutrients from food is diminished, frequently leading to serious +deficiencies. These deficiencies are inevitably misdiagnosed as +disease and as aging. + +Suppose a body needs 30 milligrams a day of niacin to not develop +pellagra, but to be fully healthy, needs 500 milligrams daily. If +that body receives 50 milligrams per day from a vitamin pill, to the +medical doctor it could not possibly be deficient in this vitamin. +However, over time, the insidious sub-clinical deficiency may +degrade some other system and produce a different disease, such as +colitis. But the medical doctor sees no relationship. Let me give +you an actual example. Medical researchers studying vitamin B5 or +pantothenic acid noticed that it could, in what seemed to be +megadoses (compared to the minimum daily requirement) largely +reverse certain degenerative effects of aging. These researchers +were measuring endurance in rats as it decreased through the aging +process. How they made this measurement may appear to some readers +to be heartless, but the best way to gauge the endurance of a rat is +to toss it into a five gallon bucket of cold water and see how long +it swims before it drowns. Under these conditions, the researcher +can be absolutely confident that the rat does its very best to stay +alive. + +Young healthy rats can swim for 45 minutes in 50 degree Fahrenheit +water before drowning. Old rats can only last about 15 minutes. And +old rats swim differently, less efficiently, with their lower bodies +more or less vertical, sort of dog paddling. But when old rats were +fed pantothenic acid at a very high dose for a few weeks before the +test, they swam 45 minutes too. And swam more efficiently, like the +young rats did. More interestingly, their coats changed color (the +gray went away) and improved in texture; they began to appear like +young rats. And the rats on megadoses of B5 lived lot longer--25 to +33 percent longer than rats not on large doses of B5. Does that mean +"megadoses" of B5 have an unknown drug-like effect? Or does that +mean the real nutritional requirement for B5 is a lot higher than +most people think? I believe the second choice is correct. To give +you an idea of how much B5 the old rats were given in human terms, +the FDA says the minimum daily requirement for B5 is about 10 +milligrams but if humans took as much B5 as the rats, they would +take about 750 milligrams per day. Incidentally, I figure I am as +worthy as any lab rat and take over 500 milligrams daily. + +My point is that there is a big difference between preventing a +gross vitamin deficiency disease, and using vitamins to create +optimum functioning. Any sick person or anyone with a health +complaint needs to improve their overall functioning in any way that +won't be harmful over the long term. Vitamin therapy can be an +amazingly effective adjunct to dietary reform and detoxification. + +Some of the earlier natural hygienists were opposed to using +vitamins. However, these doctors lived in an era when the food +supply was better, when mass human degeneration had not proceeded as +far as it has today. From their perspective, it was possible to +obtain all the nutrition one needed from food. In our time this is +unlikely unless a person knowingly and intelligently produces +virtually all their own food on a highly fertile soil body whose +fertility is maintained and adjusted with a conscious intent to +maximize the nutritive content of the food. Unfortunately, ignorance +of the degraded nature of industrial food seems to extend to +otherwise admirable natural healing methods such as Macrobiotics and +homeopathy because these disciplines also downplay any need for food +supplementation. + +Vitamins For Young Persons And Children + +Young healthy people from weaning through their thirties should also +take nutritional supplements even though young people usually feel +so good that they find it impossible to conceive that anything could +harm them or that they ever could become seriously sick or actually +die. I know this is true because I remember my own youth and +besides, why else would young people so glibly ride motorcycles or, +after only a few months of brainwashing, charge up a hill into the +barrel of a machine gun. Or have unsafe sex in this age of multiple +venereal diseases. Until they get a little sense, vitamin +supplements help to counteract their inevitable and unpreventable +use of recreational foods. Vitamins are the cheapest long life and +health insurance plan now available. Parents are generally very +surprised at the thought that even their children need nutritional +supplements; very few healthy children receive them. A few are given +extra vitamin C when acutely ill, when they have colds or +communicable diseases such as chicken pox. + +Young people require a low dose supplement compared to those of us +middle-aged or older, but it should be a broad formula with the full +range of vitamins and minerals. Some of the best products I have +found over 25 years of research and experimentation with young +people are Douglas Cooper's "Basic Formula" (low dose and excellent +for children) and "Super T Formula" (double the dose of Basic +Formula, therefore better for adolescents and young adults), also +from Douglas Cooper Company; Bronson's "Vitamin and Mineral Formula +for Active Men and Women" and Bronson's "Insurance Formula." +"Vitamin 75 Plus;" and "Formula 2" from Now Natural Foods are also +good and less costly. + +Healthy very small children who will swallow pills can take these +same products at half the recommended dose. If they won't swallow +pills the pills can be blended into a fruit smoothie or finely +crushed and then stirred into apple sauce. There are also +"Children's Chewable Multi-Vitamins + Iron" (1-5 years old) from +Douglas Cooper that contains no minerals except iron, Bronson's +"Chewable Vitamins" (make sure it is the one for small children, +Bronson makes several types of chewables) and a liquid vitamin +product from Bronson called Multivitamin Drops for Infants. These +will be a little more costly than cutting pills in half. + +There is also an extraordinarily high quality multivitamin/mineral +formula for children called "Children's Formula Life Extension Mix" +from Prolongevity, Ltd. (the Life Extension Foundation), it is in +tablet form, and slightly more expensive. + +I hope that my book will be around for several generations. The +businesses whose vitamin products I recommend will not likely exist +in twenty years. Even sooner than that the product names and details +of the formulations will almost certainly be altered. So, for future +readers discovering this book in a library or dusty shelve of a used +book store, if I, at my current level of understanding, were +manufacturing a childrens and young adults vitamin formula myself, +this is what it would contain. Any commercial formulation within 25 +percent of these figures plus or minus would probably be fine as +long as the vitamins in the pills were of high quality. + +Vitamin C 500 mg B-1 30 mg +Vitamin E 50 iu B-2 30 mg +Vitamin A 500 iu B-3 niacinamide 100 mg +Vitamin D 25 iu B-5 50 mg +Magnesium 100 mg B-6 30 mg +Calcium 400 mg B-12 30 mcg +Selenium 10 mcg Chromium 20 mcg +Manganese 2 mcg Biotin 30 mg +Zinc 5 mg Iodine (as kelp) 5 mg +PABA 20 mg Bioflavinoids 100 mg + +Vitamins For An Older Healthy Person + +Someone who is beyond 35 to 40 years of age should still feel good +almost all of the time. That is how life should be. But enjoying +well-being does not mean that no dietary supplementation is called +for. The onset of middle age is the appropriate time to begin +working on continuing to feel well for as long as possible. Just +like a car, if you take very good care of it from the beginning, it +is likely to run smoothly for many years into the future. If on the +other hand you drive it hard and fast with a lot of deferred +maintenance you will probably have to trade it in on a new one after +a very few years. Most people in their 70s and older who are +struggling with many uncomfortable symptoms and low energy lament, +'if I'd only known I was going to live so long I would have taken +better care of myself.' But at that point it is too late for the old +donkey; time for a trade in. + +Gerontologists refer to combating the aging process as "squaring the +curve." We arrive at the peak of our physical function at about age +eighteen. How high that peak level is depends on a person's genetic +endowment, the quality of the start they received through their +mother's nutritional reserves, and the quality of their childhood +nutrition and life experience. From that peak our function begins to +drop. The rate of drop is not uniform, but is a cascade where each +bit of deterioration creates more deterioration, accelerating the +rate of deterioration. If various aging experiences were graphed, +they would make curves like those on the chart on this page. + +Because deterioration starts out so slowly, people usually do not +begin to notice there has been any decline until they reach their +late 30s. A few fortunate ones don't notice it until their 40s. A +few (usually) dishonest ones claim no losses into their 50s but they +are almost inevitably lying, either to you or to themselves, or +both. Though it might be wisest to begin combating the aging process +at age 19, practically speaking, no one is going to start spending +substantial money on food supplements until they actually notice +significant lost function. For non-athletes this point usually comes +when function has dropped to about 90 percent of what it was in our +youth. If they're lucky what people usually notice with the +beginnings of middle age is an increasing inability for their bodies +to tolerate insults such as a night on the town or a big meal. Or +they may begin to get colds that just won't seem to go away. Or they +may begin coming home after work so tired that they can hardly stay +awake and begin falling asleep in their Lazy Boy recliner in front +of the TV even before prime time. If they're not so lucky they'll +begin suffering the initial twinges of a non-life-threatening +chronic condition like arthritis. + +The thinnest line demonstrates the worst possible life from a purely +physical point of view, where a person started out life with +significantly lowered function, lost quite a bit more and then hung +on to life for many years without the mercy of death. + +If one can postpone the deterioration of aging, they extend and +hopefully square the curve (retard loss of function until later and +then have the loss occur more rapidly). Someone whose lifetime +function resembled a "square curve"(the thickest, topmost line) +would experience little or no deterioration until the very end and +then would lose function precipitously. At this point we do not know +how to eliminate the deterioration but we do know how to slow it +down, living longer and feeling better, at least to a point close to +the very end. + +Vitamin supplements can actually slow or even to a degree, reverse, +the aging process. However, to accomplish that task, they have to be +taken in amounts far greater than so-called minimum daily +requirements, using vitamins as though they were drugs, a +therapeutic approach to changing body chemistry profiles and making +them resemble a younger body. For example, research gerontologists +like Walford reason that if pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), in fairly +substantial (but quite safe) doses can extend the life and improve +the function of old rats, there is every indication that it will do +a similar job on humans. Medical researchers and research +gerontologists have noticed that many other vitamin and vitamin-like +substances have similar effects on laboratory animals. + +Some will object that what helps rats and mice is in no way proven +to cause the same result on humans. I agree. Proven with full +scientific rigor, no. In fact, at present, the contention is +unprovable. Demonstrable as having a high likelihood's of being so, +yes! So likely so as to be almost incontrovertible, yes! But +provable to the most open-minded, scientific sort--probably not for a +long time. However, the Life Extension Foundation is working hard to +find some quantifiable method of gauging the aging process in humans +without waiting for the inarguable indicator, death. Once this is +accomplished and solidly recognized, probably no rational person +will be able to doubt that human life span can be increased. + +Experiments work far better with short-lived laboratory animals for +another reason; we can not control the food and supplement intakes +of humans as we can with caged mice. In fact, there are special +types of laboratory mice that have been bred to have uniformly short +life spans, especially to accelerate this kind of research. With +mice we can state accurately that compared to a control group, +feeding such and such a dose of such and such a supplement extended +the life-span or functional performance by such and such a percent. + +A lot of these very same medical gerontologists nourish their own +bodies as thoroughly as the laboratory animals they are studying, +taking broad mixes of food supplements at doses proportional to +those that extend the life spans of their research animals. This +approach to using supplementation is at the other end of the scale +compared to using supplements to prevent gross deficiencies. In the +life extension approach, vitamins and vitamin-like substances are +used as a therapy against the aging process itself. + +Will it work? Well, some of these human guinea pigs have been on +heavy vitamin supplementation for over thirty years (as of 1995) and +none seem to be suffering any damage. Will they live longer? It is +impossible to say with full scientific rigor? To know if life +extension works, we would have to first determine "live longer than +what?" After all, we don't know how long any person might have lived +without life extending vitamin supplements. Though it can't be +"proven," it makes perfect sense to me to spend far less money on an +intensive life extension vitamin program than I would certainly lose +as a result of age-related sickness. + +Besides, I've already observed from personal use and from results in +my clinical practice that life extension vitamin programs do work. +Whether I and my clients will ultimately live longer or not, the +people who I have put on these programs, including myself and my +husband, usually report that for several years after starting they +find themselves feeling progressively younger, gradually returning +to an overall state of greater well-being they knew five or ten or +fifteen years ago. They have more energy, feel clearer mentally, +have fewer unwanted somatic symptoms. + +Sometimes the improvements seem rather miraculous. After a few +months on the program one ninety year old man, an independent-minded +Oregonian farmer, reported that he began awakening with an erection +every morning; unfortunately, his 89 year old cranky and somewhat +estranged wife, who would not take vitamins, did not appreciate this +youthfulness. A few months later (he had a small farm) he planted a +holly orchard. Most of you won't appreciate what this means without +a bit of explanation, but in Oregon, holly is grown as a high-priced +and highly profitable ornamental for the clusters of leaves and +berries. But a slow-growing holly orchard takes 25 years to began +making a profit! + +A few older clients of mine reported that they noticed nothing from +the life extension program, but these are unique people who have +developed the ability to dominate their bodies with their minds and +routinely pay their bodies absolutely no attention, driving them +relentlessly to do their will. Usually they use their energies to +accomplish good, Christian works. Eventually, these dedicated and +high-toned people break down and die like everyone else. Will they +do so later on life extending vitamins than they would have +otherwise? I couldn't know because I can't know how long they might +have lived without supplementation and since they refuse to admit +the vitamins do them any good, they won't pay for them. + +Many on life extension programs experience a reverse aging process +for awhile. However, after the full benefit of the supplementation +has worked itself through their body chemistry, they again begin to +experience the aging process. I believe the process will then be +slowed by their vitamins compared to what it would have been without +supplements. But I can't prove it. Maybe we will have some idea if +the program worked 20 to 40 years from now. + +At this time I know of only two companies that make top quality life +extension vitamin supplement formulas. One is Prolongevity (Life +Extension Foundation), the other, Vitamin Research Products. I +prefer to support what I view as the altruistic motives behind +Prolongevity and buy my products from them. Unfortunately, these +vitamin compounders can not put every possibly beneficial substance +in a single bottle of tablets. The main reason they do not is fear +of the power-grabbing Food and Drug Administration. This agency is +threatening constantly to remove certain of the most useful +life-extending substances from the vitamin trade and make them the +exclusive property of prescription-writing medical doctors. So far, +public pressure has been mobilized against the FDA every time action +was threatened and has not permitted this. If some product were +included in a mix and that product were prohibited, the entire +mixed, bottled and labeled batch that remained unsold at that time +would be wasted, at enormous cost. + +Were I manufacturing my own life extension supplement I would +include the following. By the way, to get this all in one day, it is +necessary to take 6 to 12 large tablets daily, usually spread +throughout the day, taken a few at a time with each meal. If you +compare my suggested formulation to another one, keep in mind that +variations of 25 percent one way or another won't make a significant +difference, and adding other beneficial substances to my +recommendations probably is only helpful. However, I would not want +to eliminate anything in the list below, it is the minimum: + +Beta-Carotene 25,000 iu Selenium 100 mcg + +Vitamin A 5,000 iu Taurine 500 mg + +B-1 250 mg Cyctine 200 mg + +B-2 50 mg Gluthaianone 15 mg + +B-3 niacinamid 850 mg Choline 650 mg + +B-5 750 mg Inositol 250 mg + +B-6 200 mg Flavanoids 500 mg + +B-12 100 mcg Zinc 35 mg + +PABA 50 mg Chromium 100 mcg + +Folic Acid 500 mcg Molybdenum 123 mg + +Biotin 200 mcg Manganese 5 mg + +Vitamin C 3,000 mg Iodine (as kelp) 10 mg + +Vitamin E 600 iu Co-Enzyme Q-10 60 mg + +Magnesium 1,000 mg DMAE 100 mg + +Potassium 100 mg Ginko biloba 120 mg + +Calcium 1,000 mg Vitamin D-3 200 iu + +Please also keep in mind that there are many other useful substances +not listed above. For example, every day I have a "green drink," an +herbal preparation containing numerous tonic substances like ginseng +and also various forms of algae and chlorophyll extracts. My green +drink makes my body feel very peppy all day, so it certainly +enhances my life and may extend it. It costs about $25,00 a month to +enjoy that. I also use various pure amino acids at times. +Phenylalyanine will make me get more aggressive whenever I am +feeling a little lackluster; this nutrient has also been used as an +effective therapy against depression. Melatonin taken at bedtime +really does help me get to sleep and may have remarkable +life-extending properties. Other amino acids help my body +manufacture growth hormones and I use them from the time I begin +training seriously in spring through the end of the summer triathlon +competition season. Pearson and Shaw's book (see Bibliography) is a +good starting point to begin learning about this remarkably useful +subject. + +The Future Of Life Extension + +I beg the readers indulgence for a bit of futurology about what +things may look like if the life extension movement continues to +develop. + +Right now, a full vitamin and vitamin-like substance life extension +program costs between $50 and $100 dollars per month. However, +pharmaceutical researchers occasionally notice that drugs meant to +treat and cure diseases, when tested on lab animals for safety, make +these animals live quite a bit longer and function better. Though +the FDA doesn't allow any word of this to be printed in official +prescribing data, the word does get around to other researchers, to +gerontologists and eventually to that part of the public that is +eagerly looking for longer life. Today there are numerous people who +routinely take prescription medicines meant to cure a disease they +do not have and plan to take those medicines for the rest of their +long, long life. + +These drugs being patented, the tariff gets a lot steeper compared +to taking vitamins. (Since they are naturally-occurring substances, +vitamins can't be patented and therefore, aren't big-profit items. +Perhaps that's one reason the FDA is so covertly opposed to +vitamins.) Right now it would be quite possible to spend many +hundred dollars per month on a life extension program that included +most of these potentially beneficent prescription drugs. + +As more of life-extending substances are discovered, the cost of +participating in a maximally effective life extension program will +escalate. However, those who can afford chemically enhanced +functioning will enjoy certain side-benefits. Their productive, +enjoyable life spans may measure well over a century, perhaps +approaching two centuries or more. Some of these substances greatly +improve intelligence so they will become brighter and have faster +reaction times. With more time to accumulate more wisdom and +experience than "short livers" these folks will become wiser, too. +They will have more time to compound their investment assets and +thus will become far more wealthy. They will become an obvious and +recognizable aristocracy. This new upper class will immediately +recognize each other on the street because they will look entirely +different than the short-lived poorer folk and will probably run the +political economic system. + +And this new aristocratic society I see coming may be far more +pleasant than the one dominated by the oligarchy we now have +covertly running things. For with greater age and experience does +really come greater wisdom. I have long felt that the biggest +problem with Earth is that we did not live long enough. As George +Bernard Shaw quipped when he was 90 (he lived to 96), "here I am, 90 +years old, just getting out of my adolescence and getting some +sense, and my body is falling apart as fast as it can." + +Vitamin Program For The Sick + +No matter which way you look at it or how well insured you may be +against it, being sick is expensive (not to mention what it does to +one's quality of life), and by far the best thing to do is to +prevent it from happening in the first place. However, most people +do not do anything about their health until forced to by some +painful condition. If you are already sick there are a number of +supplements you can take which have the potential to shorten the +duration and severity of the illness, and hopefully prevent a +recurrence. + +The sicker you are, the more supplements you will require; as health +is regained, the dosage and variety of substances can be reduced. In +chronic illness, megadoses of many nutrients are usually beneficial. +Any sick adult should begin a life extension vitamin program unless +they are highly allergic to so many things already that they can not +tolerate many kinds of vitamins as well. In addition to the life +extension program, vitamin C should be taken by the chronically ill +at a dose from 10 to 25 grams daily, depending on the severity of +the condition. + +Many people want to know whether or not they should take their +regular food supplements during a fast. On a water fast most +supplements in a hard tablet form will not be broken down at all, +and often can be seen floating by in the colonic viewing tube +looking exactly like it did when you swallowed it. This waste can be +avoided by crushing or chewing (yuck) the tablets, before +swallowing. Encapsulated vitamins usually are absorbed, but if you +want to make sure, open the capsule and dump it in the back of your +mouth before swallowing with water. Powdered vitamins are well +absorbed. + +On a water fast the body is much more sensitive to any substance +introduced, so as a general rule it is not a good idea to take more +than one half your regular dose of food supplements. Most fasters do +fine without any supplements. Many people get an upset stomach from +supplements on an empty stomach, and these people should not take +any during a water fast unless they develop symptoms of mineral +deficiencies (usually a pre-existing condition) such as leg cramps +and tremors, these symptoms necessitate powdered or well-chewed-up +mineral supplement. Minerals don't taste too bad to chew, just +chalky. + +The same suggestions regarding dosage of supplements for a water +fast are also true for a juice fast or vegetable broth fast. On a +raw food cleansing diet the full dose of supplements should be taken +with meals. + +There exists an enormous body of data about vitamins; books and +magazine articles are always touting some new product or explaining +the uses of an old one. If you want to know more about using +ordinary vitamins you'll find leads in the bibliography to guide +your reading. However, there is one "old" vitamin and a few newer +and relatively unknown life extending substances that are so useful +and important to handling illness that I would like to tell you more +about them. + +Vitamin C is not a newly discovered vitamin, but was one of the +first ever identified. If you are one of those people that just hate +taking vitamins, and you were for some reason willing to take only +one, vitamin C would be your best choice. Vitamin C would be the +clear winner because it helps enormously with any infection and in +invaluable in tissue healing and rebuilding collagen. If I was going +on a long trip and didn't want to pack a lot of weight, my first +choice would be to insure three to six grams of vitamin C for daily +use when I was healthy (I'd take the optimum dose--ten grams a day--if +weight were no limitation). I'd also carry enough extra C to really +beef up my intake when dealing with an unexpected acute illness or +accident. + +When traveling to far away places, exposed to a whole new batch of +organisms, frequently having difficulty finding healthy foods, going +through time zones, losing nights of sleep, it is easy to become +enervated enough to catch a local cold or flu. If I have brought +lots of extra vitamin C with me I know that my immune system will be +able to conquer just about anything--as long as I also stop eating +and can take an enema. I also like to have vitamin C as a part of my +first aid kit because if I experience a laceration, a sprain, broken +bone, or a burn, I can increase my internal intake as well as apply +it liberally directly on the damaged skin surface. Vitamin C can be +put directly in the eye in a dilute solution with distilled water +for infections and injuries, in the ear for ear infections, and in +the nose for sinus infections. If you are using the acid form of C +(ascorbic acid) and it smarts too much, make a more dilute solution, +or switch to the alkaline form of C (calcium ascorbate) which can be +used as a much more concentrated solution without a stinging +sensation. Applied directly on the skin C in solution makes a very +effective substitute for sun screen. It doesn't filter out +ultraviolet, it beefs up the skin to better deal with the insult. + +I believe vitamin C can deal with a raging infection such as +pneumonia as well or better than antibiotics. But to do that, C is +going to have to be administered at the maximum dose the body can +process. This is easily discoverable by a 'bowel tolerance test' +which basically means you keep taking two or three grams of C each +hour, (preferably in the powdered, most rapidly assimilable form) +until you get a runny stool (the trots). The loose stool happens +when there is so much C entering the small intestine that it is not +all absorbed, but is instead, passed through to the large intestine. +At that point cut back just enough that the stool is only a little +loose, not runny. At this dose, your blood stream will be as +saturated by vitamin C as you can achieve by oral ingestion. + +It can make an important difference which type of vitamin C is taken +because many people are unable to tolerate the acid form of C beyond +8 or 10 grams a day, but they can achieve a therapeutic dose without +discomfort with the alkaline (buffered) vitamin C products such as +calcium ascorbate, sodium ascorbate, or magnesium-potassium +ascorbates. + +Vitamin C also speeds up the healing of internal tissues and damaged +connective tissue. Damaged internal tissues might include stomach +ulcers (use the alkaline form of vitamin C only), bladder and kidney +infections (acid form usually best), arthritic disorders with damage +to joints and connective tissue (alkaline form usually best). Sports +injuries heal up a lot faster with a therapeutic dose of vitamin C. +As medicine, vitamin C should be taken at the rate of one or two +grams every two hours (depending on the severity of the condition), +spaced out to avoid unnecessary losses in the urine which happens if +it were taken ten grams at a time. If you regularly use the acid +form of vitamin C powder, which is the cheapest, be sure to use a +straw and dissolve it in water or juice so that the acid does not +dissolve the enamel on your teeth over time. + +And this is as good a point as any to mention that just like +broccoli is not broccoli, a vitamin is not necessarily a vitamin. +Vitamins are made by chemical and pharmaceutical companies. To make +this confusion even more interesting, the business names that appear +on vitamin bottles are not the real manufacturers. Bronson's +Pharmaceuticals is a distributor and marketer, not a manufacturer. +The same is true of every vitamin company I know of. These companies +buy bulk product by the barrel or sack; then encapsulate, blend and +roll pills, bottle and label, advertise and make profit. The point +of all this is that some actual vitamin manufacturers produce very +high quality products and others shortcut. Vitamin distributors must +make ethical (or unethical) choices about their suppliers. + +It is beyond the scope of this book to be a manual for going into +the vitamin business. However, there are big differences in how +effective vitamins with the same chemical name are and the +differences hinge on who actually brewed them up. + +For example, there are at least two quality levels of vitamin C on +the market right now. The pharmaceutical grade is made by Roche or +BASF. Another form, it could be called "the bargain barrel brew," is +made in China. Top quality vitamin C is quite a bit more costly; as +I write this, the price differential is about 40 percent between the +cheap stuff and the best. This can make a big difference in bottle +price and profit. Most of the discount retail vitamin companies use +the Chinese product. + +There's more than a price difference. The vitamin C from China +contains measurable levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, iron and other +toxic metals. The FDA allows this slightly contaminated product to +be sold in the US because the Recommended Daily Allowance for +vitamin C is a mere 60 milligrams per day. Taken at that level, the +toxic metals would, as the FDA sees it, do no harm. However, many +users of vitamin C take 100--200 times the RDA. The cheap form of C +would expose them to potentially toxic levels of heavy metal +poisons. The highly refined top-quality product removes impurities +to a virtually undetectable level. + +I buy my C from Bronson who ethically gives me the quality stuff. I +know for a fact that the vitamin C sold by Prolongevity is also top +quality. I've had clients who bought cheaper C than Bronson's and +discovered it was not quite like Bronson's in appearance or taste. +More importantly, it did not seem to have the same therapeutic +effect. + +The distributors I've mentioned so far, Bronson, NOW, Cooper, +Prolongevity and Vitamin Research Products are all knowledgeable +about differences between actual manufacturers and are ethical, +buying and reselling only high quality products. Other distributors +I believe to be reputable include Twin Labs, Schiff and Plus. I know +there are many other distributors with high ethic levels but I can +not evaluate all their product lines. And as I've mentioned earlier, +businesses come and go rather quickly, but I hope my book will be +read for decades. I do know that I would be very reluctant to buy my +vitamins at a discount department store or supermarket; when +experimenting with new suppliers I have at times been severely +disappointed. + +Co-enzyme Q-10. This substance is normally manufactured in the human +body and is also found in minuscule amounts in almost every cell on +Earth. For that reason it is also called "ubiquinone." But this +vitamin has been only recently discovered, so as I write this book +Co-enzyme Q-10 is not widely known. + +Q-10 is essential to the functioning of the mitochondria, that part +of the cell that produces energy. With less Q-10 in heart cells, for +example, the heart has less energy and pumps less. The same is true +of the immune system cells, the liver cells, every cell. As we age +the body is able to make less and less Q-10, contributing to the +loss of energy frequently experienced with age, as well as the +diminished effectiveness of the immune system, and a shortened life +span. + +Q-10 was first used for its ability to revitalize heart cells. It +was a prescription medicine in Japan. But unlike other drugs used to +stimulate the heart, at any reasonable dose Q-10 has no harmful side +effects. It also tends to give people the extra pick up they are +trying to get out of a cup of coffee. But Q-10 does so by improving +the function of every cell in the body, not by whipping exhausted +adrenals like caffeine does. Q-10 is becoming very popular with +athletes who measure their overall cellular output against known +standards. + +Besides acting as a general tonic, when fed to lab animals, +Co-Enzyme Q-10 makes them live 33 to 45 percent longer! + +DMAE is another extremely valuable vitamin-like substance that is +not widely known. It is a basic building material that the body uses +to make acetylcholine, the most generalized neurotransmitter in the +body. Small quantities of DMAE are found in fish, but the body +usually makes it in a multi-stage synthesis that starts with the +amino acid choline, arrives at DMAE at about step number three and +ends up finally with acetylcholine. + +The body's nerves are wrapped in fatty tissue that should be +saturated with acetylcholine. Every time a nerve impulse is +transmitted from one nerve cell to the next, a molecule of +acetylcholine is consumed. Thus acetylcholine has to be constantly +replaced. As the body ages, levels of acetylcholine surrounding the +nerves drop and in consequence, the nerves begin to deteriorate. +DMAE is rapidly and easily converted into acetylcholine and helps +maintain acetylcholine levels in older people at a youthful level. + +When laboratory rats are fed DMAE they solve mazes more rapidly, +remember better, live about 40 percent longer than rats not fed DMAE +and most interestingly, when autopsied, their nervous systems +resemble those of a young rat, without any evidence of the usual +deterioration of aging. Human nervous systems also deteriorate with +age, especially those of people suffering from senility. It is +highly probable that DMAE will do the same thing to us. DMAE also +smoothes out mood swings in humans and seems to help my husband, +Steve, when he has a big writing project. He can keep working +without getting 'writers block', fogged out, or rollercoastering. + +DMAE is a little hard to find. Prolongevity and VRP sell it in +powder form. Since the FDA doesn't know any MDR and since the +product is not capped up, the bottle of powder sagely states that +one-quarter teaspoonful contains 333 milligrams. Get the hint? DMAE +tastes a little like sour salt and one-quarter teaspoonful dissolves +readily in water every morning before breakfast, or anytime for that +matter. DMAE is also very inexpensive considering what it does. A +year's supply costs about $20. + +Lecithin is a highly tonic and inexpensive food supplement that is +underutilized by many people even though it is easily obtainable in +healthfood stores. It is an emulsifier, breaking fats down into +small separate particles, keeping blood cholesterol emulsified to +prevent arterial deposits. Taken persistently, lecithin partially +and slowly eliminates existing cholesterol deposits from the +circulatory system. + +In our cholesterol-frightened society lecithin should be a far more +popular supplement than it currently is. It is easy to take either +as a food in the granular form or when encapsulated. Lecithin +granules have very little flavor and can be added to a home-made +vinegar and oil salad dressing, where they emulsify the oil and make +it blend with the vinegar, thickening the mixture and causing it to +stick to the salad better. Lecithin can also be put in a fruits +smoothie. A scant tablespoon a day is sufficient. Try to buy the +kind of lecithin that has the highest phosphatidyl choline content +because this substance is the second benefit of taking lecithin. +Phosphatidyl choline is another precursor used by the body to build +acetylcholine and helps maintain the nervous system. + +Algae. Spirulina or sun dried chlorella are also great food +supplements. Both make many people feel energized, pepped-up. It is +possible to fast on either product and still maintain sufficient +energy levels to take of minimal work responsibilities. Algae +reduces appetite and as a dietary supplement can assist in weight +loss. It contains large amounts of highly-assimilable protein due to +it's high chlorophyll content, as well as a large amount of beta +carotene. It also assists in detoxification of the lymphatic system. +It can be purchased as tablets or powder. Take a heaping teaspoon +daily, or at least six tablets. + + + + + + +Chapter Seven + +The Analysis of Disease States: Helping the Body Recover + + + + + +From the Hygienic Dictionary + +Diagnosis. [1] In the United States, making a diagnosis implies that +you are a doctor duly licensed to engage in diagnostic function.... +The making of a diagnosis is reserved only for doctors.... The +term "analysis" does not have such an explicit legal definition. +Thus, it is the term of choice of iridologists and the one most +often used by them. It is essential for the survival and promotion +of iridology that those who choose to engage in its practice avoid +naming any disease condition. As we have seen, to do so is to +infringe on rights reserved exclusively for doctors and can land the +iridologist, sooner or later, in a snarl of legal troubles. + +It is better for the iridologist to refrain from suggesting to a +person that he has any particular disease, letting such diagnostics +remain the province of licensed doctors. In so doing, the +iridologist will avoid transgressing the law and stepping on the +toes of those who are legally qualified to diagnose. + +It is indeed unfortunate that one of the greatest pitfalls awaiting +the iridologist is the temptation to name diseases. The feelings of +satisfaction and power resulting from conferring a name are deeply +rooted in the human psyche. For example, the Bible tells us that +man's first task on Earth was to name the animals, thus giving him +power and dominion over them. + +Strong is the temptation to name diseases because nearly everyone +has come to expect that his malady has a name. Patients have come to +expect, and doctors have been trained to make, a diagnosis. . . . +"After all," the patient may reason, "how can you hope to deal with +my condition if you aren't knowledgeable enough to call it by name?" + +It is not necessary to name diseases in order to exercise dominion +over them. _Dr. Bernard Jensen, Visions of Health._ + +In self defense, I must make it very clear from the first word that +hygienists and most other naturopaths of various persuasions, and +especially I myself, have never in the past, never!, and do not now, +diagnose, treat or offer to cure, disease or illness. Diagnosis and +curing are sole, exclusive privileges of certified, duly-licensed +medical doctors and may only be done with a grant of Authority to do +so from the State. Should an unlicensed person diagnose, offer to +treat or attempt to cure disease or illness, they will have +committed a felonious act. With big penalties. Therefore, I do not +do it. + +When one of my clients comes to me and says that a medical doctor +says they have some disease or other, I agree that the medical +doctor says they have some disease or other, and I never dare say +that they don't. Or even confirm on my own authority that I think +they do have some disease or other. + +What I can legally do for a client is to analyze the state of their +body and its organs, looking for weaknesses and apparent allergies. +I can lawfully state that I think their liver tests weak, the +pancreas appears not to be functioning well in terms of handling +meat digestion, that the kidney is having a hard time of it. I can +say I see a lump sticking out of their body when one is obviously +sticking out of their body; I can not say that lump is cancerous but +I can state that the cells in that lump test overly strong and that +if I myself had a mass of growing cells testing overly strong and if +I believed in the standard medical model, then I would be rushing my +overly strong testing cells to an oncologist. But I don't dare say +the person has a cancer. Or diabetes. Or is getting close to kidney +failure. That is a diagnosis. + +To me, diagnosis is a form of magic rite in which the physician +discovers the secret name of the devil that is inhabiting one's body +and then, knowing that secret name, performs the correct rite and +ritual to cast that demon out. I don't know why people are made so +happy knowing the name of their condition! Does it really matter? +Either the body can heal the condition or it can't. If it can, you +will recover (especially if you give the body a little help). If the +body can't heal a condition you will die or live a long time being +miserable. No "scientific" medical magic can do better than that. + +By describing a disease in terms of its related organ weaknesses, +instead of pinning a Latin name on it, I am able to assist the body +to achieve recovery in a superior way that the physician rarely +does. By discovering that the body with the lump of overly strong +cells also has a weak spleen, liver and thymus gland, I can take +actions to strengthen the spleen, liver and thymus. If the body can +strengthen its spleen, liver and thymus, then the overly strong +cells miraculously vanish. But of course I and what I did did not +cure any disease. Any improvements that happen I assign (correctly) +to the body's own healing power. + +The way I analyze the organic integrity of the body is through a +number of related methods, including the general appearance of the +body, the patient's health history, various clues such as body and +breath odor, skin color and tone, and especially, biokinesiology, +the applied science of muscle testing. Biokinesiology can be used to +test the strength or weakness of specific organs and their function. +A weak latissimus dorsi muscle indicates a weak pancreas, for +example. Specific acupuncture points can be tested in conjunction +with muscle strength to indicate the condition of specific organs or +glands. The strength of the arm's resistance to downward pressure +could be calibrated with a spring scale and precisely gauged, but +experienced practitioners have no need for this bother, because they +are able to pick up subtle changes in the arms resistance that are +not apparent to the testee. Thus muscle testing becomes an art +form, and becomes as effective as the person using it is sensitive +and aware. + +Biokinesiology works because every organ and gland in the body is +interconnected with other parts of the body through nerve pathways +and nerve transmissions, which are electrical and can be measured +through muscle testing. This may seem too esoteric for the +"scientific" among you, but acupuncture points and energy +manifestations around and in the body--are now accepted phenomena, +their reality demonstrated by special kinds of photography. +Acupuncturists, who heal by manipulating the body's energy field +with metal needles, are now widely accepted in the western +hemisphere. Kinesiology utilizes the same acupuncture points (and +some others too) for analytic purposes so it is sometimes called +"contact reflex analysis." + +I have studied and used Kinesiology for 25 years with the majority +of my clients with very good success. There are some few people who +are very difficult to test because they are either too debilitated, +lack electrical conductivity, or their state of mind is so skeptical +and negative about this type of approach that they put up an +impenetrable mental barrier and/or hold their body so rigidly that I +can hardly determine a response. A skilled can overcome the obstacle +of a weak body that can barely respond, but the person who is +mentally opposed and determined to prove you wrong should not be +tested. If you proceed it is sure to have an unsatisfactory outcome +for all concerned. For even if I manage to accurately analyze the +condition of a skeptical client, they will never believe the +analysis and will not follow suggestions. + +The "scientific," open-minded, "reasonable" client can be better +approached using an academic-like discussion based on published +literature that demonstrates how people with similar symptoms and +complaints do very well on a particular dietary regimen and +supplements. This type of person will sometimes follow dietary +recommendations to the last letter, because their scientific +background has trained them to be obedient. + +When a client comes to me, I like to take a real good look at who is +sitting in front of me. I take my leisure to find out all about +their history, their complaints, their motivation to change, their +experience with natural healing, their level of personal +responsibility, whether or not they have to work, whether or not +they can take time out to heal, will they fast or take supplements, +do they have sufficient finances to carry a program through to a +successful completion, do they have people closely connected to them +that are strongly opposed to alternative approaches, can they +withstand some discomfort and self-denial, do they have toxic +relationships with other people that are contributing to their +condition, are they willing to read and educate themselves in +greater depth about natural healing, etc. I need to know the answers +to these questions in order to help them choose a program which is +most likely to succeed. + +Even though fasting is the most effective method I know of, it is +not for people who are compelled to keep up a work schedule, nor is +it for people who are very ill and do not have anyone to assist them +and supervise them. Nor is it for people who do not understand +fasting and are afraid of it. People who have associates that are +opposed to it, and people who do not have a strongly-functioning +liver or kidneys should not fast either. Seriously ill people that +have been on a meat-heavy diet with lots of addicting substances +need a long runway into a fast so as to not overwhelm their organs +of elimination. Does the person in front of me have an eating +disorder, or an otherwise suicidal approach to fasting, etc. Clearly +fasting is not for everyone, and if I recommend it to the wrong +person, the result will be a bad reputation for a marvelous tool. + +Given that many clients can not fast without a lot of preparation, +the majority of my clients start out with a gentle detox program +that takes considerably more time, but works. These gradients have +been outlined under the healing programs for the chronically ill, +acutely ill, etc. + +To help rebuild poorly functioning organs, I sometimes use a +specialized group of food supplements called protomorphogens. These +are not readily available to the general public and perhaps should +not be casually purchasable like vitamins, because, as with many +prescription drugs, supervision is usually necessary for their +successful use. If the FDA ever succeeds at making protomorphogens +unavailable to me, I could still have very good results. (At this +time the Canadian authorities do not allow importation of +protomorphogens for resale, though individuals can usually clear +small shipments through Canada Customs if for their own personal +use.) But protomorphogens do facilitate healing and sometimes permit +healing to occur at a lower gradient of handling. Without them a +body might have to fast to heal, with the aid of protomorphogens a +person might be able to get better without fasting. And if +protomorphogens are used (chewed up--ugh!) while fasting, healing is +accelerated. + +Protomorphogens are made from freeze-dried, organically-raised +animal organ meats (usually calf or lamb) combined with very +specific vitamins, herbs and other co-factors to potentiate the +effect. I view protomorphogens as containing nutritional +supplementation specific for the rebuilding of the damaged organ. + +Doctor Royal Lee, a medical genius who developed protomorphogens +therapy in the 50s and who spent several stints in prison in +exchange for his benevolence and concern for human well-being, also +founded the company that has supplied me with protomorphogens. After +decades of official persecution and denial of the efficacy of +protomorphogens by the power structure, it looks like they are about +to finally have their day. As I write this book cutting-edge medical +research companies are developing therapies using concentrated +animal proteins (protomorphogens) to treat arthritis, multiple +sclerosis, eye inflamations and juvenile diabetes. The researchers +talk as though they are highly praiseworthy for "discovering" this +approach. + +Unfortunately, this development is likely to cut two ways. On one +hand, it vindicates Dr. Lee; on the other, when these drug companies +find a way to patent their materials, they may finally succeed at +forcing protomorphogens (currently quite inexpensive) off the +non-prescription market and into the restricted and profitable +province of the MD. + +I divide clients into two basic types: simple cases and complex +ones. When I was treating mental illness, occasionally I had a +client who had not been sick for too long. I could usually make this +client well quite easily. But if the person had already become +institutionalized, had been psychotic for many years, had received +much prior treatment, then their case had been made much more +difficult. This sort had a poor prognosis. A very similar situation +exists with physical illnesses. Many people get sick only because +they lack information about how to keep themselves healthy and about +what made them sick. Once they find out the truth, they take my +medicine without complaint and almost inevitably get better very +rapidly. Some of these people can be quite ill when they first come +to me but usually they have not been sick for very long. Their +intention when coming into my office is very positive and have no +counter intentions to getting better. There are no spiritual or +psychological reasons that they deserve to be sick. If this person +had not found me, they almost certainly would have found some other +practitioner who would have made them well. This type of person +honestly feels they are entitled to wellness. And they are. + +However, some of the sick are not sick for lack of life-style +information; they suffer from a mental/spiritual malady as well, one +that inevitably preceded their illness by many years. In fact, their +physical ailments are merely reflections of underlying problems. +This patient's life is usually a snarl of upsets, problems, and +guilty secrets. Their key relationships are usually vicious or +unhealthy. Their level of interpersonal honesty may be poor. There +are usually many things about their lives they do not confront and +so, can not change. With this type of case, all the physical healing +in the world will not make them permanently better because the +mental and emotional stresses they live under serve as a constant +source of enervation. + +Cases like this usually do not have only one thing wrong with them. +They almost always have been sick for a long time; most have been +what I call "doctor hoppers," confused by contrary diagnoses and +conflicting MD opinions. When I get a case like this I know from the +first that healing is going to be a long process, and a dubious one +at that. On the physical level, their body will only repair one +aspect of their multiple illnesses at a time. Simultaneously, they +must be urged to confront their life on a gentle gradient. There is +usually a lot of backsliding and rollercoastering. The +detoxification process, physical and psychological, can take several +years and must happen on all the levels of their life. This kind of +case sees only gradual improvement interspersed with periods of +worsening that indicate there remains yet another level of mental +unawareness that has to be unraveled. + +Few medical doctors or holistic therapists really understand or can +help this kind of case. To do so, the doctor has to be in touch with +their own reactive mind and their own negative, evil impulses (which +virtually all humans have). Few people, including therapists, are +willing to be aware of their own dark side. But when we deny it in +ourselves, we must pretend it doesn't exist in others, and become +its victim instead of conquering it. Anyone who denies that they +have or are influenced by their own darker aspects who seem to be +totally sweet and light, is lying; proof of this is that they still +are here on Earth. + +All this generalizing about diagnostic methods and clinical +approaches could go on for chapters and more chapters, and writing +them would be fine if I were teaching a group of health clinicians +that were reading this book to become better practitioners. But I'm +sure most of my readers are far more interested in some complaint of +their own or in the health problem of a loved one, and are intensely +interested in one might go about handling various conditions and +complaints, what types of organ weaknesses are typically associated +with them, and what approaches I usually recommend to encourage +healing. And, most importantly, what kind of success or lack of it +have I had over the past twenty five years, encouraging the healing +of various conditions with hygienic methods. + +In the case studies that follow I will mostly report the simpler, +easier-to-fix problems because that is what most people have; still, +many of these involve life-threatening or quality-of-life-destroying +illnesses. I will tell the success story of one very complicated, +long-suffering case that involved multiple levels of psychological +and spiritual handling as well as considerable physical healing. + +Arthritis + +Some years back my 70 years old mother came from the family +homestead in the wilds of northern British Columbia to visit me at +the Great Oaks School. She had gotten into pathetic physical +condition. Fifteen years previously she had remarried. Tom, her new +husband, had been a gold prospector and general mountain man, a +wonderfully independent and cantankerous cuss, a great hunter and +wood chopper and all around good-natured backwoods homestead +handyman. Tom had tired of solitary log cabin life and to solve his +problem had taken on the care and feeding of a needy widow, my mom. +He began doing the cooking and menu planning. Tom, a little older +than my mother, had no sense about eating but could still shoot +game. Ever since their marriage she had been living on moose meat +stews with potatoes and gravy, white flour bread with jam, black tea +with canned milk, a ritual glass of brandy at bedtime, and almost no +fresh fruit or vegetables. + +In her youth, my mother had been a concert pianist; now she had such +large arthritic knobs on all of her knuckles that her hands had +become claws. Though there was still that very same fine upright in +the cabin that I had learned to play as a child, she had long since +given up the piano. Her knees also had large arthritic knobs; this +proud woman with a straight back and long, flowing strides was bent +over, limping along with a cane. She was also 30 pounds overweight +and her blood pressure was a very dangerous 210 over 140, just +asking for a stroke. + +Instead of a welcoming feast, the usual greeting offered to a loved +one who has not been seen for a few years, I immediately started her +on a juice fast. I gave her freshly prepared carrot juice (one quart +daily) mixed with wheat grass juice (three ounces daily) plus daily +colonics. She had no previous experience with these techniques but +she gamely accepted everything I threw her way because she knew I +was doing it because I loved her and wanted to see her in better +condition. She also received a daily full body massage with +particular attention to the hand and knees, stimulating the +circulation to the area and speeding the removal of wastes. Every +night her hands and knees were wrapped in warm castor oil compresses +held in place with old sheeting. + +I did not use any vitamins or food supplements in her case. I did +give her flavorful herbal teas made of peppermint and chamomile +because she needed the comfort of a hot cupa; but these teas were in +no way medicinal except for her morale. + +In three weeks on this program, Grannybelle, as I and my daughters +called her, had no unsightly knobs remaining on either her knuckles +or knees and she could walk and move her fingers without pain within +a normal range of movement. The big payoff for me besides seeing her +look so wonderful (20 years younger and 20 pounds lighter) was to +hear her sit down and treat us to a Beethoven recital. And her blood +pressure was 130 over 90. + +Breast Cancer + +I have worked with many young women with breast cancer; so many in +fact, that their faces and cases tend to blur. But whenever I think +about them, Kelly inevitably comes to mind because we became such +good friends. Like me, Kelly was an independent-minded back country +Canuck. At the age 26, she received a medical diagnosis of breast +cancer. Kelly had already permitted a lumpectomy and biopsy, but had +studied the statistical outcomes and did not want to treat her +illness with radical mastectomy, radiation and chemotherapy because +she knew her odds of long-term survival without radical medical +treatment were equal to or better than allowing the doctors to do +everything possible. Nor did she want to lose even one of her +breasts. She knew how useful her breasts were because she had +already suckled one child, not to mention their contribution to +one's own self-image as a whole person. I admired Kelly's unusual +independent-mindedness because she comes from a country where +universal health coverage is in place; her insurance would have paid +all the costs had she been willing to accept conventional medicine, +but Canadian national health insurance does not cover alternative +therapy. + +Kelly stayed with me for nearly two months as a residential faster, +because she needed to be far from the distractions of a troubled +family life. With financial support from her parents and child-care +from her friends she was able to take time out to give the recovery +of health top priority in her life without worrying about whether +her small son was being well cared for. This peace of mind was also +very important to her recovery. + +Analysis with biokinesiology showed a pervasively weak immune +system, including a weak thymus gland, spleen, and an overloaded +lymphatic system. Her liver was weak, but not as weak as it might +have been, because she had become a vegetarian, and had been working +on her health in a haphazard fashion for a few years. Kelly's body +also showed weaknesses in pancreatic and adrenal function as well as +a toxic colon. Most immediately worrisome to her, biokinesiology +testing showed several over-strong testing lumpy areas in the +breasts and over-strong testing lumpy lymph nodes in the armpits. +Cancerous tumors always test overly strong + +Kelly's earlier life-style had contributed to her condition in +several ways. She had worked for years in a forestry tree nursery +handling seedling trees treated with highly toxic chemicals. She had +worked as a cook in a logging camp for several seasons, eating too +much meat and greasy food. And she had also spent the usual number +of adolescent and young adult years deeply involved in recreational +drug use and the bad diet that went with it. + +Kelly started right in on a rigorous water fast that lasted for one +entire month. She had a colonic every day, plus body work including +reflexology, holding and massage of neurolymphatic and neurovascular +points, and stimulation of acupuncture points related to weak organ +systems and general massage to stimulate overall circulation and +lymphatic drainage. She took protomorphogens to help rebuild her +weakened organs; she took ten grams of vitamin C every day and a +half-dose of life extension vitamin mix in assimilable powdered +form; she drank herbal teas of echinacea and fenugreek seeds and +several ounces of freshly squeezed wheat grass juice every day. +Twice each day she made poultices out of clay and the pulp left over +from making her wheat grass juice, filled an old bra with this +mixture and pressed it to her breast for several hours until the +clay dried. Shortly, I will explain all the measures in some detail. + +These physical therapies were accompanied by counseling sessions +dealing with some severe and long-unresolved problems, response +patterns and relationships that triggered her present illness. Her +son's father (Kelly's ex) was suppressive and highly intimidating. +Fearful of him, Kelly seemed unable to successfully extricate +herself from the relationship due to the ongoing contact which +revolved over visitation and care of their son. But Kelly had grit! +While fasting, she confronted these tough issues in her life and +unflinchingly made the necessary decisions. When she returned to +Canada she absolutely decided, without any nagging doubts, +reservations or qualifications, to make any changes necessary to +ensure her survival. Only after having made these hard choices could +she heal. + +I one respect, Kelly was a highly unusual faster. Throughout the +entire month on water, Kelly took daily long walks, frequently +stopping to lie down and rest in the sun on the way. She would climb +to or from the top of a very large and steep hill nearby. She never +missed a day, rain or shine. + +At the end of her month on water Kelly's remaining breast lumps had +disappeared, the lymphatic system and immune system tested strong, +as well as the liver, pancreas, adrenals, and large intestine. No +areas tested overly strong. + +She broke the fast with the same discipline she had conducted it, on +carrot juice, a cup every two hours. After three days on juice she +began a raw food diet with small servings of greens and sprouts well +chewed, interspersed at two hour intervals with fresh juicy fruits. +After about ten days on "rabbit food," she eased into avocados, +cooked vegetables, nuts, seeds, and whole grains and then went home. + +As I write this, it is eight years since Kelly's long fast. She +still comes to see me every few years to check out her diet and just +say hello. She has had two more children by a new, and thoroughly +wonderful husband and suckled them both for two years each; her +peaceful rural life centers around this new, happy family and the +big, Organic garden she grows. She religiously takes her life +extension vitamins and keeps her dietary and life-style +indiscretions small and infrequent. She is probably going to live a +long, time. + +I consider Kelly's cluster of organ weaknesses very typical of all +cancers regardless of type or location, as well as being typical of +AIDS and other critical infections by organisms that usually reside +in the human body without causing trouble (called "opportunistic"). +All these diseases are varieties of immune system failure. All of +these conditions present a similar pattern of immune system +weaknesses. They all center around what I call the "deadly +triangle," comprised of a weak thymus gland, weak spleen, and a weak +liver. The thymus and spleen form the core of the body's immune +system. The weak liver contributes to a highly toxic system that +further weakens the immune system. To top it off, people with cancer +invariably have a poor ability to digest cooked protein (animal or +vegetable) (usually from a weak pancreas unable to make enough +digestive enzymes) and eat too much of it, giving them a very toxic +colon, and an overloaded lymphatic system. + +Whenever I analyze someone with this pattern, especially the entire +deadly triangle, I let the person know that if I had those +particular weaknesses I would consider my survival to be at +immediate risk I'd consider it an emergency situation demanding +vigorous attention. It does not matter if they don't yet have a +tumor, or fibroid, or opportunistic infection; if they don't already +have something of that nature they soon will. + +Here's yet another example of why I disapprove of diagnosis. By +giving the condition a name like "lymphoma" or "melanoma", "chronic +fatigue syndrome" "Epstein-Barr syndrome" or "AIDS," "systemic yeast +infection", "hepatitis" or what have, people think the doctor then +understands their disease. But the doctor rarely understands that +all these seemingly different diseases are essentially the same +disease--a toxic body with a dysfunctional immune system. What is +relevant is that a person with the deadly triangle must strengthen +their immune system, and their pancreas, and their liver, and +detoxify their body immediately. If these repairs are accomplished +in time, the condition goes away, whatever its Latin name may have +been. + +Now, about some of the adjuncts to Kelly's healing. Let me stress +here that had none of these substances or practices been used, she +probably still would have recovered. Perhaps a bit more slowly. +Perhaps a bit less comfortably. Conversely, had Kelly treated her +cancer with every herb, poultice and vitamin known to man but had +neglected fasting and colonics, she might well have died. It has +been wisely said that intelligence may be defined as the ability to +correctly determine differences, similarities, and importances. I +want my readers to be intelligent about understanding the relative +importances of different hygienic treatment and useful supporting +practices. + +Echinacea and chaparral leaves, red clover flowers, and fenugreek +seeds are made into medicinal teas that I find very helpful in +detoxification programs, because they all are aggressive blood or +lymph cleansers and boost the immune response. These same teas can +be used to help the body throw off a cold, flu, or other acute +illness but they have a much more powerful effect on a fasting body +than on one that is eating. Echinacea and chaparral are +extraordinarily bitter and may be better accepted if ground up and +encapsulated, or mixed with other teas with pleasant flavors such as +peppermint or lemon grass. These teas should be simmered until they +are at the strongest concentration palatable, drinking three or four +cups of this concentrate a day. If you use echinacea, then chaparral +probably isn't necessary and visa versa. Red clover is another blood +cleanser, perhaps a little less effective but it has a pleasant, +sweet taste and may be better accepted by the squeamish. + +If there is lymphatic congestion I always include fenugreek seed tea +brewed at the strength of approximately one tablespoon of seeds to a +quart of water. Expect the tea to be brown, thick and mucilaginous, +with a reasonably pleasant taste reminiscent of maple syrup. + +Kelly used poultices of clay and wheat grass pulp on her lumps, +somewhat like the warm castor oil poultices I used on my mother's +arthritic deposits. Poultices not only feel very comforting, but +they have the effect of softening up deposits and tumors so that a +detoxifying, fasting body is more able to re absorb them. Poultices +draw, pulling toxins out through the skin, unburdening the liver. +Clay (freshly-mixed potters clay I purchase from a potters' guild), +mixed with finely chopped or blended young wheat grass (in +emergencies I've even used lawn grasses) makes excellent drawing +poultices. Without clay, I've also used vegetable poultices made of +chopped or blended comfrey leaves, comfrey root, slightly cooked +(barely wilted) cabbage leaves, slightly steamed onion or garlic +(cooked just enough to soften it). These are very effective to +soften tumors, abscesses and ulcers. Aloe poultices are good on +burns. Poultices should be thought of as helpful adjuncts to other, +more powerful healing techniques and not as remedies all by +themselves, except for minor skin problems. + +Poultices, to be effective, need to be troweled on half an inch +thick, extending far beyond the effected area, covered with cheese +cloth or rags torn from old cotton sheets so they don't dry out too +fast. Fresh poultices needs to be applied several times daily. They +also need to be left on the body until they do dry. Then poultices +are thrown away, to be followed by another as often as patience will +allow. Do not cover poultices tightly with plastic because if they +don't dry out they won't draw much. The drawing is in the drying. + +Sometimes poultices cause a tumor or deposit to be expelled through +the skin rather than being adsorbed, all with rather spectacular pus +and gore. This phenomena is actually beneficial and should be +welcomed because anytime the body can push toxins out through the +skin, the burden on the organs of elimination are lessened. + +Wheat grass juice has a powerful anti-tumor effect, is very +perishable, is laborious to make, but is worth the effort because it +contains powerful enzymes and nutrients that help detoxify and heal +when taken internally or applied to the skin. As a last resort with +dying patients who can no longer digest anything taken by mouth I've +implanted wheat grass juice rectally (in a cleansed colon). Some of +them haven't died. You probably can't buy wheat grass juice that +retains much medicinal effect because it needs to be very fresh and +should be drunk within minutes of squeezing. Chilled sharply and +immediately after squeezing it might maintain some potency for an +hour or two. Extracting juice from grass takes a special press that +resembles a meat grinder. + +The wheat is grown in transplant or seedling trays in bright light. +I know someone who uses old plastic cafeteria trays for this. The +seed is soaked overnight, spread densely atop a tray, covered +shallowly with fine soil, kept moist but not soggy. When the grass +is about four inches high, begin harvesting by cutting off the +leaves with a scissors and juicing them. If the tray contains +several inches of soil you usually get a second cutting of leaves. +You need to start a new tray every few days; one tray can be cut for +three or four days. (Kulvinskas, 1975) + +More wheat grass juice is not better than just enough; three ounces +a day is plenty! It is a very powerful substance! The flavor of +wheat grass juice is so intense that some people have to mix it with +carrot juice to get it down. DO NOT OVERUSE. The energizing effects +of wheat grass can be so powerful that some people make a regular +practice of drinking it. However, I've seen many people who use +wheat grass juice as a tonic become allergic to it much as +antibiotic dependent people do to antibiotics. Better to save wheat +grass for emergencies. + +I also have treated my own breast cancers--twice. The first time I +was only 23 years old. One night I noticed that it hurt to sleep the +way I usually did on my left side because there was a hard lump in +my left breast. It was quite large--about the size of a goose egg. +Having just completed RN training two years prior, I had been well +brain washed about my poor prognosis and knew exactly what requisite +actions must taken. + +I scheduled a biopsy under anesthetic, so that if the tumor was +malignant they could proceed to full mastectomy without delay. I was +ignorant of any alternative course of action at the time. + +I might add that before I grew my first tumor I had been consuming +large amounts of red meat in a mistaken understanding gained in +nursing school that a good diet contained large amounts of animal +protein. In addition to the stress of being a full time psychology +graduate student existing on a very low budget, I was experiencing I +very frustrating relationship with a young man that left me +constantly off center and confused. + +A biopsy was promptly performed. The university hospital's SOP +required that three pathologists make an independent decision about +the nature of a tumor before proceeding with radical surgery. Two of +the pathologist agreed that my tumor was malignant, which +represented the required majority vote. But the surgeon removed only +the lump, which he said was well encapsulated and for some reason +did not proceed with a radical mastectomy. These days many surgeons +routinely limit themselves to lumpectomies. + +I never did find out why I awakened from general anesthetic with two +breasts, but I have since supposed that due to my tender age the +surgeon was reluctant to disfigure me without at least asking me for +permission, or giving me some time to prepare psychologically. When +I came out of anesthesia he told me that the lump was malignant, and +that he had removed it, and that he needed to do a radical +mastectomy to improve my prognosis over the next few years. He asked +me to think it over, but he signed me up on his surgery list for the +following Monday. + +I did think it over and found I was profoundly annoyed at the idea +of being treated like I was just a statistic, so I decided that I +would be unique. I made a firm decision that I would be well and +stay well--and I was for the next fifteen years. The decision healed +me. + +When I was 37 I had a recurrence. At the time I had in residence +Ethyl and Marge, the two far-gone breast cancer cases I already told +you about. I also had in residence a young woman with a breast tumor +who had not undergone any medical treatment, not even a lumpectomy. +(I will relate her case in detail shortly.) I was too identified +emotionally with helping these three, overly-empathetic due to my +own history. I found myself taking on their symptoms and their pain. +I went so far into sympathy as to grow back my tumor--just as it had +the first time--a lump mushroomed from nothing to the size of a goose +egg in only three weeks in exactly the same place as the first one. +Just out of curiosity I went in for a needle biopsy. Once again it +was judged to be malignant, and I got the same pressure from the +surgeon for immediate surgery. This time, however, I had an +alternative system of healing that I believed in. So I went home, +continued to care for my very sick residents, and began to work on +myself. + +The first thing I had to confront about myself was that I was being +a compassionate fool. I needed to learn how to maintain my own +personal boundaries, and clearly delineate what stuff in my mind and +my body was really mine and what was another's. I needed to apply +certain mental techniques of self-protection known to and practiced +by many healers. I knew beyond doubt that I had developed +sympathetic breast cancer because a similar phenomena had happened +to me before. Once, when I had previously been working on a person +with very severe back pain with hands-on techniques, I suddenly had +the pain, and the client was totally free of it. So I protected +myself when working with sick people. I would wash my hands and arms +thoroughly with cold water, or with water and vinegar after contact. +I would shake off their "energy," have a cold shower, walk bare foot +on the grass, and visualize myself well with intact boundaries. +These prophylaxes had been working for me, but I was particularly +vulnerable to people with breast cancer. + +I also began detoxification dieting, took more supplements, and used +acupressure and reflexology as my main lines of attack. My healing +diet consisted of raw food exclusively. I allowed myself fruits (not +sweet fruits) and vegetables (including a lot of raw cabbage because +vegetables in the cabbage family such as cauliflower and broccoli +are known to have a healing effect on cancer), raw almonds, raw +apricot kernels, and some sprouted grains and legumes. I drank +diluted carrot juice, and a chlorophyll drink made up of wheat grass +and barley green and aloe vera juice. I took echinaechia, red +clover, and fenugreek seeds. I worked all the acupuncture points on +my body that strengthen the immune system, including the thymus +gland, lymph nodes, and spleen. I also worked the meridians, and +reflex points for the liver, and large intestine. I massaged the +breast along the natural lines of lymphatic drainage from the area. + +Last, and of great importance, I knew that the treatment would work, +and that the tumor would quickly disappear. It did vanish totally in +three months. It would have gone away quicker if I had water fasted, +but I was unable to do this because I needed physical strength to +care for my resident patients and family. + +Eighteen years have passed since that episode, and I have had no +further reappearance of breast tumors. At age 55 I still have all my +body parts, and have had no surgery except the original lumpectomy. +Many, viewing my muscles and athletic performance, would say my +health is exceptional but I know my own frailties and make sure I do +not aggravate them. I still have exactly the same organ deficiencies +as other cancer patients and must keep a very short leash on my +lifestyle. + +If for some reason I wanted to make my life very short, all I would +have to do would be to abandon my diet, stop taking supplements, eat +red meat and ice cream every day and be unhappy about something. +Incidentally, I have had many residential clients with breast cancer +since then, and have not taken on their symptoms, so I can assume +that I have safely passed that hurdle. + +I've helped dozens of cases of simple breast cancer where my +treatment began before the cancer broadly spread. Kelly's case was +not the easiest of this group, nor the hardest. Sometimes there was +lymphatic involvement that the medical doctors had not yet treated +in any way. All but one of my early-onset breast cancer cases +recovered. I believe those are far better results than achieved by +AMA treatment. + +Before I crow too much, let me stress that every one of these women +was a good candidate for recovery--under 40 years old, ambulatory and +did not feel very sick. And most importantly, every one of them had +received no other debilitating medical treatment except a needle +biopsy or simple lumpectomy. None of these women had old tumors +(known about for more than six months) and none of the tumors were +enormous (nothing larger than a walnut). + +Clearly, this group is not representative of the average breast +cancer case. Hygienic therapy for cancer is a radical idea these +days and tends to attract younger people, or older, desperate people +who have already been through the works. In every one of my simple +cases the tumors were reabsorbed by the body during the thirty days +of water fasting and the client left happy. + +Except one. I think I should describe this unsuccessful case, this +"dirty case," so my readers get a more balanced idea of how fearsome +cancer really isn't if the sick person can clearly resolve to get +better and has no problem about achieving wellness. + +Marie was an artisan and musician from Seattle who grew up back East +in an upper-middle class dysfunctional family. She was in her late +twenties. She had been sexually abused by an older brother, was +highly reactive, and had never been able to communicate honestly +with anyone except her lesbian lover (maybe, about some things). + +Three years prior to coming to see me Marie had been medically +diagnosed as having breast cancer and had been advised to have +immediate surgery. She ignored this advice; Marie never told her +friends, said nothing to her family and tried to conceal it from her +lover because she did not want to disrupt their life together. + +On her own, she did begin eating a Macrobiotic diet. In spite of +this diet, the tumor grew, but grew very slowly. After two years the +tumor was discovered by her lover, who after a year of exhausting +and upsetting arguments, forced Marie to seek treatment. Since Marie +adamantly refused to go the conventional medical route, she ended up +on my doorstep as a compromise. + +By this time the tumor was the size of a fist and had broken through +the skin of the left breast. It was very ugly, very hard. +Biokinesiology showed the usual deadly triangle and other associated +organ weakneses typical of cancer. Marie began fasting on water with +colonics and poultices and bodywork and counseling and supplements. +At the end of the water fast, Marie looked much healthier, with +clear eyes and clear skin and had a sort of shine about her, but the +tumor had only receded enough for the skin to close over it; it was +still large, and very hard. To fully heal, Marie probably needed at +least two more water fasts of equal length interspersed with a few +months on a raw food diet. But she lacked the personal toughness to +confront another fast in the near future. Nor was she emotionally up +to what she regarded as the deprivation of a long-term raw foods +healing diet. + +So I advised her to seek other treatment. Still unwilling to accept +standard medical management of her case, Marie chose to go to the +Philippines to have "psychic surgery." She was excited and +optimistic about this; I was interested myself because I was dubious +about this magical procedure; if Marie went I would have a chance to +see the results (if any) on a person I was very familiar with. Marie +had her tickets and was due to leave in days when her lover, against +Marie's directly-stated wishes, called her parents and informed them +of what was happening. + +The parents had known nothing of Marie's cancer and were shocked, +upset, outraged! They had not known Marie was a lesbian, much less +that their daughter was flirting with (from their view) obvious +quackery. Their daughter needed immediate saving and her parents and +brother (the one who had abused her) flew to Oregon and surprisingly +appeared the next day in a state of violent rage. They threatened +lawsuits, police, incarceration, they threatened to have their +daughter civilly committed as unable to take care of herself. They +thought everything Marie had done for the last three years was my +fault. I was lucky to stay out of jail. Of course, all of this was +why Marie had not told them in the first place; she had wanted to +avoid this kind of a scene. + +Marie did not have enough personal integrity to withstand the +domination of her immediate family. They put her in a hospital, +where Marie had a radical mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation. +Assured that they had done everything that should have been done, +the self-righteous parents went back home. Marie never recovered +from chemotherapy and radiation. She died in the hospital surrounded +by her lesbian friends who took dedicated, ever-so-sympathetic turns +maintaining an emotional round-the-clock vigil. + +Marie's death was partly my fault. She was an early case of mine. At +the time I did not yet understand the total effect of lack of ethics +and irresponsibility on illness. Had Marie really wanted to live in +the first place, she would have sought treatment three years +earlier. In our counseling sessions she always evaded this question +and I had not been wise enough to pin her down with my knee on her +chest and make her answer up. Marie had too many secrets from +everybody and was never fully honest in any of her relationships, +including with me. I think she only came to Great Oaks at her +lover's insistence and to the day she died was trying to pretend +that nothing was wrong. + +All Marie really wanted from her life was to be loved and have a lot +of loving attention. In the end, her dramatic death scene gave her +that, which is probably why she manifested cancer and kept it and +eventually, died from it. + +The name for this game is "secondary gain." A lot of sick people are +playing it. Their illness lets them win their deepest desire; they +get love, attention, revenge, sympathy, complete service, pampering, +create guilt in others. When sick people receive too much secondary +gain they never get well. + +One of the hardest things about being a healer is that one +accumulates an ever-enlarging series of dirty, failed cases like +this one. It is depressing and makes a person want to quit +doctoring. Whenever I get involved with a case I really want them to +get better. My life is put entirely out of joint for several months +dealing with a residential faster. My schedule is disrupted; my +family life suffers; my personal health suffers. No amount of mere +money could pay for this. And then some of these people go and waste +all my help to accomplish some discreditable secret agenda that they +have never really admitted to themselves or others. + +Constant Complaints + +Alice was a middle-aged woman who couldn't understand why she had +always felt tired, even when she was young. Her life had been this +way ever since she could remember. Most puzzling to her was why her +life was so Job-like. She did everything the proper way. Doing +things correctly was important to her, and fitted her Puritan +background. Alice supported all the right causes, did good works, +was active in a Unitarian church and bought all her food at the +healthfood store--and made sure it was organically grown. + +But in spite of Alice's righteous living, her existence was a +treadmill of constant, minor complaints. She was constantly +exhausted, so much so she had difficulty getting up in the morning +and feared she might have chronic fatigue syndrome (whatever that +is). Alice suffered bouts of depression over thoughts like these, +and had many acute illnesses like colds that hung on interminably +and would not go away. She had a constant post-nasal drip. Though +she enjoyed life, her body was a millstone around her neck. + +I've had a lot of clients exactly like Alice. Sometimes they +complain of headaches; sometimes constant yeast or bladder +infections. Whatever the complaints, the symptoms are rarely severe +enough to classify themselves as someone who is seriously ill, but +their symptoms rarely go away and they almost never feel good. +Medical doctors rarely find anything wrong with them, though they +will frequently prescribe an antibiotic to treat a somewhat constant +infection, or an antihistamine for sinus symptoms. Getting a new +prescription drug makes the complaint go away for a short time until +their resistance is lowered again and the very same complaint +returns. These people frequently depend on over the counter pills +and are routinely prescribed sleeping remedies and antidepressants. +If instead of this route they will but take my medicine they are +usually easy to fix and afterwards are amazed that it was all that +simple and that so much of their life has been less than it could +have been. + +Alice had been through the medical doctor route. She had become +quite familiar with antibiotics for her colds and flu, and also took +synthetic thyroid hormone--the doctor had diagnosed her fatigue as +being caused by an underactive thyroid, which was partly correct--but +the thyroid medication didn't give her much more energy. Alice had +been supporting this medical doctor in grand style for over thirty +years but never obtained the relief she sought. + +I put Alice through my usual two hour first-time-visit thorough +analysis. For two weeks before coming to see me she had saved tiny +samples of everything she ate, wrapped them in plastic film, +carefully labeled, and put them in the freezer. Along with these +food samples and a typed list of all these foods, she brought a big +box full of her condiments, herb teas, vitamins, spices, +prescription medications, over the counter drugs, oils, grains, +breads, crackers and small samples of her usual fresh vegetables and +fruits. Even her water. Her entire kitchen! By biokinesiology we +proceeded to test all of her foods for allergic reactions. I also +tested the integrity of her organs and glands and in the process, +got a detailed medical history and list of her complaints. + +Alice had exhausted adrenals, and they probably had been that way +for thirty years. Her pancreas was now too weak to digest the +legumes that made up a large part of her vegetarian diet. She was +allergic to wheat, soy, and dairy products and had especially been +eating dairy in the mistaken notion that it was necessary to keep up +her protein intake. Really very typical. So many health food store +shoppers these days mistakenly believe that, because they are +vegetarian and do not eat meat, they especially need to boost their +protein intake with dairy and soy. Unfortunately, so many North +Americans are highly allergic to dairy and unfortunately, soy +products are as hard or harder to digest than cooked meats. + +Alice was especially shocked to discover that she was allergic to +such foods as cabbage family vegetables, alfalfa sprouts and citrus. +Most people don't think that anyone could be allergic to something +as healthy as alfalfa sprouts. The doctor was right about one thing; +her thyroid was underperforming. He had not noticed that her heart +was weak. + +Medical doctors rarely discover an organ weakness until that organ +actually begins to catastrophically fail. A busy honest doctor will +usually tell the complaining patient there is nothing wrong with +them: go home, take two aspirin, accept the fact that your body is +not perfect and don't worry about it. A hungry doctor will be +delighted to perform countless lab tests, seeking any possible +reason for the complaint. This can go on as long as the patient has +money or as long as the insurance company will pay. They rarely find +anything "wrong" and the patient is far better off if the doctor +doesn't discover something "serious" to treat because their +treatment may carry with it consequences far more severe than the +complaint. For example, I have seen dozens of people whose lives +were virtually ruined after surgical treatment for chronic back +pain. + +Biokinesiology is actually a far more sensitive system of analysis +than lab tests. It picks up weaknesses at a very early stage so +total organ failure can be prevented. Rarely will any of the organ +weaknesses I discover be confirmed by a medical doctor. First I put +Alice on a six week cleanse. She did one week on fresh, raw food; +one week on dilute carrot juice with some green leafy vegetables +juice too; one week on water fasting; and then she repeated the +series. After six weeks of detoxification, I gave Alice a life +extension megavitamin formula, discovered she could not handle the +acid form of vitamin C (that she had already been taking) and had +her start on protomorphogens to rebuild her weakened endocrine +system, her exhausted adrenals and weak pancreas. She also began +taking pancreatic enzymes when she ate vegetable protein. She was +put on a maintenance diet that eliminated foods she was allergic to; +the diet primarily consisted of whole grains, nuts, cooked and raw +vegetables, and raw fruits. On her maintenance diet Alice had a +profound resurgence of energy and rediscovered a sense of well-being +she had not known for decades. She began to feel like she had when +she was a child. Her constant sinus drip was gone. She was able to +stop taking synthetic thyroid hormones and instead, supported her +endocrine system with protomorphogens. + +A Rampaging Infection + +At the age of 40, John, an old bohemian client of mine, came into a +moderate inheritance and went "native" in the Fiji Islands in the +South Pacific. He spent about four months hanging out with the +locals. Life there was so much fun that John completely forgot that +his body was actually rather delicate, that many of his organs were +weak, and that to feel good, he had to live a fairly simon-pure +life. + +But the jovial, accepting, devil-may-care Fijians enjoyed a constant +party, even more so because John's money allowed the Fijians to +manifest powerful, tropical, home-grown strains of recreational +herbs to smoke in abundance, beer and rum and worse, the Fijians +(and John) constantly used a very toxic though only mildly-euphoric +narcotic called kava, something Europeans usually have no genetic +resistance to. The Fijians (and John) also ate a lot of +freshly-caught fish fried in grease, well-salted, and huge, +brain-numbing bowls of greasy starches, foods that they call i'coi, +or "real food" as opposed to things like fruit and vegetables that +aren't real food because they don't knock you to the floor for hours +trying to digest them in a somnambulant doze. + +John miraculously kept up with this party for a few months and then, +while scuba diving, got some small coral scratches on his leg. These +got infected. The infections got worse. Soon he had several huge, +suppurating, ulcerous sores on his legs and worse, the infections +became systemic and began spreading rapidly. He was running a fever +and was in considerable pain. So John booked an emergency ticket +home and fled to find Doctor Isabelle. When I met his plane he was +rolled out in a wheelchair, unable to walk because of pain and +swelling in his legs. + +John was violently opposed to ordinary medical treatment; he +especially would not have taken antibiotics even if he had died +without them because previous courses of antibiotics had been the +precipitant of life-threatening conditions that first brought John +to my care. John used his last strength to get to me because he knew +that had a hospital gotten its clutches on him the medical doctors +would have done exactly as they pleased. + +I gave John a colonic, a gentle, mental spanking, and put him to bed +without any supper. He started water fasting and did colonics every +day. He began gobbling vitamin C (as calcium ascorbate) a few grams +every hour. I put huge poultices on his sores made of clay and +chopped lawn grass (we needed a week or so before a tray of wheat +grass would be ready). John's sores were amazing. Every day a new +one seemed to appear on a different part of the body. The old ones +kept getting bigger and deeper. The largest original ones were about +three inches in diameter, smelled horribly and had almost eaten the +flesh down to the bone. His pain was severe; there was no position +John could assume that didn't irritate one sore or another, and it +was a good thing my house was remote because John frequently +relieved his pain by screaming. John was never delirious, but he was +always original. He did not have to scream, but enjoyed its relief +and howled quite dramatically. I wore earplugs. + +After about two weeks of water fasting, John counted up the total of +his sores. There were forty three. Seven or eight of them were +enormous, two or three inches in diameter and well into the flesh, +but the last ones to appear were shallow, small and stayed small. +After that point no more new ones showed up and the body began to +make visible headway against the infection. Very slowly and then +more and more rapidly, the sores began to close up and heal from the +edges. John's fever began to drop. And he had less pain. I should +mention that John brought an extremely virulent and aggressive +pathogenic organism into our house to which we Americans had no +resistance. Both my husband and I were attacked where the skin had +been broken. However, unlike John, in our cases, our healthy bodies +immediately walled-off the organism and the small, reddened +pustules, though painful, did not grow and within a week, had been +conquered by our immune systems. And after that we had an immunity. + +After about three weeks of his fasting we were thoroughly tired of +hearing John's cathartic howls, tired of nursing a sick person. We +needed a break. John at this point could walk a bit and was feeling +a lot better. John had previously water fasted for 30 days and knew +the drill very well. So we stocked up the vitamin C bottle by his +bed and went to town for the weekend to stay in a motel and see a +movie. As they say in the Canadian backwoods, we were bushed. + +John had promised to be good. But as soon as we left he decided that +since he felt so very much better, he could break his fast. He knew +how to do this and fortunately for him, (it was very much premature +for John to eat) did it more or less correctly, only eating small +quantities of raw fruits and vegetables. But by the time we got back +home three days later, John had relapsed. The pain was rapidly +getting much worse; the sores were growing again and a few small new +ones appeared. Dr. Isabelle again took away his food and gave him +another verbal spanking a little more severe than the one he'd had a +few weeks earlier and put him to bed again without his supper. + +After two more weeks on water, John had gained a great deal on the +sores. They were filling in and weren't oozing pus, looked clean and +the new forming meat looked a healthy pink instead of purple-black. +But John had been very slender to start with and by now he was +getting near the end of his food reserves. He probably couldn't have +fasted on water for more than one more week without starvation +beginning. But this time, when he broke his fast, it was under close +supervision. I gave him dilute juice only, introduced other +sustenance very cautiously and made absolutely sure that +reintroducing nourishment would not permit the organism to gain. +This time it didn't. John's own immune system, beefed up by fasting, +had conquered a virulent organism that could have easily killed him. + +Before the era of antibiotics, before immunizations to the common +childhood illnesses, people frequently died of infections as +virulent as the one that attacked John. They usually died because +they "ate to keep up their strength." Most of these deaths were +unnecessary, caused by ignorance and poor nursing care. For example, +standard medical treatment for typhoid fever used to consist of +spoon-fed milk--sure to kill all but the strongest constitution. Even +without the assistance of massive doses of vitamin C, if people +would but fast away infections they could cure themselves of almost +all of them with little danger, without the side effects of +antibiotics or creating mutated antibiotic-resistant strains of +bacteria. + +Dr. John Tilden, a hygienist who practiced in the '20s, before the +era of antibiotics, routinely fasted patients with infectious +illnesses. Supporting the sick body with wise nursing, he routinely +healed scarlet fever, whopping cough, typhoid, typhus, pneumonia, +peritonitis, Rocky Mountain fever, tuberculosis, gonorrhea, +syphilis, cholera, and rheumatic fever. The one common infection he +could not cure was diphtheria involving the throat. (Tilden, +Impaired Health, Vol. II). + +Recently, medical gerontologists have discovered another reason that +fasting heals infections. One body function that deteriorates during +the aging process is the production of growth hormone so the effects +of growth hormone have been studied. This hormone also stimulates +the body to heal wounds and burns, repair broken bones, generally +replace any tissues that have been destroyed and, growth hormone +stimulates the immune response. Growth hormone also maintains muscle +tone and its presence generally slows the aging process. + +Growth hormone might make a wonderful life-extension supplement; on +it a middle-aged person might readily maintain the muscle tone of +youth while slowing aging in general. Unfortunately, growth hormone +cannot at this time be inexpensively synthesized and is still far +too costly to be used therapeutically except to prevent dwarfism. +However, any technique that encourages a body to produce more of +this hormone would be of great interest to life extensionists. + +The body only produces growth hormone at certain times and only when +certain nutrients are present in the blood. Gerontologists call +these nutrients "precursors." The precursors are two essential amino +acids, argenine and ornithine and certain vitamins such as C and B6. +But having the precursors present is not enough. Growth hormone is +only manufactured under certain, specific circumstances: for about +one hour immediately after going to sleep and then only if the blood +supply is rich with argenine and ornithine but contains few other +amino acids; it is also manufactured during heavy aerobic exercise +that goes on for more than thirty minutes; and growth hormone is +produced at an accelerated rate when fasting. (Pearson and Shaw, +1983). I did not know this when I was fasting John, but now, I would +give argenine and ornithine to someone with a serious infection as +well as massive quantities of vitamin C. + +Chronic Back Pain + +Barry was a carpenter who couldn't afford to lose work because he +was unable to bend or twist or lift. He frequently had bouts of +severe back pain that made working almost impossible. Upon analysis +by biokinesiology I found that he had a major problem with large +intestine weakness and secondarily, adrenal weakness. + +Constipation frequently causes back pain. The muscles of the back +have nerve pathway connections to the large intestines; weakness in +the intestine causes weakness of the back and makes it prone to +injury. But the problem is the intestine, not the back. And the only +way to make the back stay better is to heal the intestine. Many +athletes have very similar problems. For example, they get knee +injuries and think there is something wrong with their knee. Or they +get shoulder injuries and think their shoulder is weak. These people +are only half right. Yes, their knee or their shoulder is weak. But +it could become strong and almost uninjurable if the underlying +cause of the weakness is corrected. + +The knee for example, has nerve pathway connections to the adrenal +glands and kidneys. The shoulder has similar connections to the +thyroid. The foot is weakened by the bladder. The treatment should +first be on the weakened gland or organ and secondarily, on the +damaged muscle tissue. I have solved numerous sports-related knee +problems with protomorphogens for the adrenals and elimination of +food allergies that make the adrenals work overtime. I have fixed +bad shoulders by rebuilding the thyroid. + +In Barry's case, it was the intestine. I asked him about his bowel +function and he said that he was never constipated, had "a daily +bowel movement without a lot of straining." But having given some +6,000 colonics, I knew better. There should have been no straining; +Barry was trying very hard to be regular--he should not have had to +effort. Fortunately, it struck him as true that he needed to +detoxify and I managed to convince him to water fast. He probably +figured, why not since he couldn't work anyway. Barry was a tall, +skinny man to start with and you would think he hardly carried any +fat at all, but he fasted on water for 30 days, receiving a colonic +every day, while I did bodywork on his damaged back. He sure was +constipated and couldn't deny the evidence that floated by through +the sight tube of the colonic machine. By the end of the fast his +colon was fairly repaired and free of old fecal material. And Barry +had become a tall, gaunt-looking guy who had lost about 20 pounds +you wouldn't think he had to spare. + +After a few weeks of careful weaning back on to food, Barry felt +pretty good, terrific even. He had no back pain and found out for +the first time what not being constipated meant. It no longer took +"not very much effort" to move his bowels; they moved themselves. +That was ten years ago. A few months ago, Barry looked me up, just +to say thanks and to let me know that he had not had any more back +problems and had generally felt good because he had more or less +stayed on the improved diet I had instructed him about during his +fast. + +Painful Menstruation + +Elsie was twenty. She came to see me because I had helped Elsie's +mother overcome breast cancer many years earlier. Elsie began to +have very painful periods with profuse bleeding and abdominal pain. +Her nutrition had been generally good because her mother couldn't +survive on the average American diet and had long ago converted her +family to vegetarianism. And like her mother, Elsie had been taking +vitamins for many years. + +A medical doctor diagnosed Elsie as having endometriosis, meaning, +the lining of her uterus had migrated to the fallopian tubes, where +it continued to bleed regularly into the abdominal cavity, following +the same hormonal cycle as the endometritial tissue that lines the +uterus. The doctor offered to try hormonal manipulation and if this +proved unsuccessful, offered a hysterectomy. That would certainly +eliminate the symptoms! + +But Elsie did not wish to eliminate her ability to have children and +preferred not to risk throwing her hormones off balance. So she came +to me. My analysis showed that she had weak ovaries and weak uterus. +These were secondary to a toxic colon, toxic because she had a weak +gall bladder and weak pancreas that reduced her digestive capacity +and turned her improperly combined Organic, vegetarian legume-rich +diet into toxemia. Checking her foods for allergies I discovered the +normal pattern: Elsie was intolerant to dairy, wheat, eggs, corn, +soy and concentrated sugars. + +Being no stranger to fasting (her mother had fasted at length ten +years previously) Elsie undertook a 30 day cleanse on vegetable +juice with daily enemas, taking vitamins in powdered form. After the +fast I put her on protomorphogens for her reproductive organs and +pancreas. The gall bladder had healed by itself during fasting--gall +bladders usually heal easily. Her maintenance diet included using +pancreatic enzyme supplements when eating vegetable proteins and +Elsie eliminated most fats so her gall bladder would not be +stressed. The fasting also overcame her allergic reactions to corn +and wheat but she was still unable to handle soy products, eggs or +dairy. After six months Elsie no longer needed protomorphogens, had +no abdominal pain and her periods were normal. + +You may well be wondering how or why detoxification of the bowels +allowed the body to repair the uterus. The large intestine is a sort +of nest that cradles the reproductive organs, including the ovaries, +uterus, and in the case of the male, the prostate gland. A toxic +colon is like having one rotten apple in a basket, it contaminates +the whole batch. Many problems in the abdominal area are caused by a +toxic colon, including chronic back pain, ovarian cysts, +infertility, birth abnormalities, bladder infections and bladder +cancer, painful menstruation, fibroids and other benign growths as +well as malignant ones, and prostatitis or prostate cancer. Detoxing +the body and cleaning out the colon should be a part of the healing +of all of these conditions. + +Irritable Bowels + +Some peoples' lives don't run smoothly. Jeanne's certainly didn't. +She was abandoned to raise three little kids on welfare. Her college +diploma turned out to be useless. Jeanne used to help me at Great +Oaks in exchange for treatment. During those early years she had +done a 30 day juice fast with colonics. Twenty years later at age +60, having survived three children's growing up, surviving the +profound, enduring loss of one who died as an adult, after starting +up and running a small business that for many years barely paid its +way, and experiencing an uninsured fire that took her house, she +began to develop abdominal pains the doctors named "irritable bowel +syndrome" or "colitis." The MD offered antibiotics and +antispasmodics but Jeanne had no insurance, the remedies were +unaffordable. She also retained considerable affinity for natural +medicine. + +Prior to these symptoms her diet had been vegetarian, and had +included large quantities of raw fruits and vegetables and whole +grains. But the bran in bread was irritating to her bowels, she +could no longer digest raw vegetables or most raw fruit. + +Jeanne's vital force was low; her healing took time. She started on +a long fast supported by powdered vitamins, vegetable broth and herb +teas, but after three weeks was too weak to do her own enemas at +home and could not shop for vegetables to cook into broth. So she +had to add one small serving of cooked vegetable per day, usually +broccoli or steamed kale. This lasted for one more week but Jeanne, +having no financial reserves, had to return to work, and needed to +regain energy quickly. Though not totally healed, she progressed to +a maintenance diet of cooked grains and vegetables and food +supplements, very much like a Macrobiotic diet. She felt better for +awhile but wore down again after another stressful year. + +Her abdominal pains gradually returned though this time she noticed +they were closely associated with her stresses. About one year after +ending her first fast, as soon as she could arrange to take time +off, she began another. This time to avoid extreme weakness, she +took vegetable broth from the outset, as well as small amounts of +carrot juice and one small serving of cooked vegetable a day for +three weeks. Again, this rest allowed the digestive tract to heal +and the pain went away. She returned to her Macrobiotic diet with +selected raw foods that she could now handle without irritating her +bowel. + +She was now healthier then she had been in many years. With improved +energy and a more positive attitude, Jeanne returned to University +at age 65 and obtained a teaching certificate. Now she is making +good money, doing work she enjoys for the first time in 35 years. I +hope she has a long and happy life. She is entitled to one! + +A Collection of Gallbladders + +Gallbladder cases are rather ho-hum to me; they are quick to respond +to hygienic treatment and easy to resolve. I've fixed lots of them. +But an inflamed gallbladder is in no way ho-hum to the person +afflicted with it. I've been frequently told that there are no worse +pains a body can create than an inflamed gallbladder or the +sensations accompanying the passing of a gall stone. I hear from +kidney patients that passing a kidney stone is worse but I've never +had a patient who experienced both kinds of stones to give me an +honest comparative evaluation. + +The only thing dangerous about simple gallbladder problems is +ignoring them (between the bouts of severe pain they can cause) +because then the inflamed gallbladder can involve the liver. I +already told the story of how my own mother lost half her liver this +way. + +The condition is usually caused by a combination of hereditary +tendency, general toxemia, and/or a high-fat diet, especially one +high in animal fats. The liver makes bile that is stored in the +gallbladder, to be released on demand into the small intestine to +digest fat. A toxic, overloaded liver makes irritating +sediment-containing bile that inflames the gallbladder and forms +stones. A high-fat diet forces the liver to make even more of this +irritant. + +A toxic, overloaded, inflamed, blocked gallbladder is capable of +causing an enormous array of symptoms that can seem to have no +connection at all to their cause. In part these same symptoms are +caused by a toxic, constipated colon that, in part, got that way +because of poor fat digestion over a long time. These symptoms +include: severe back pain; headache; bloating; burping; nausea; +insomnia; intestinal gas; generalized aches and pains. + +Medical doctors used to remove a troublesome gallbladder without +hesitation; it was an organ they considered to be highly +dispensable. Without one, the bile duct takes over as a bladder but +its capacity is much smaller so the person's ability to digest fats +has been permanently crippled, leading to increased toxemia and +earlier aging if fats are not eliminated from the diet. These days +the medicos have a new, less invasive procedure to eliminate stones; +they are vibrated and broken-up by ultrasonics without major +surgery. Inflamed gallbladders are usually removed because +gallbladder inflammations resist treatment by antibiotics. + +There are several very effective natural gallbladder remedies. The +best is a three week fast, taking the juice of one or two lemons +every day, along with colonics. The lemon juice tends to clear the +bile duct. The fast allows the gallbladder to heal from +inflammation. In cases that aren't too severe I have had very good +results simply eliminating fats from the diet and using a food +supplement derived from beet tops called AF Betafood. However, in +all these cases, once the gallbladder is no longer "acting up," the +person must stay on a low fat diet. Any fats they do eat must be +vegetable and in small quantities. + +By healing their gallbladders and cleansing their colons, several of +my clients have resolved severe, debilitating back pain, pain so +severe that the suffers were becoming bedridden. Medical doctors +don't associate gallbladder disease with back pain. + +The Frightening Heart + +Heart disease is one of the major causes of death among North +Americans. It evokes images of resuscitation, of desperate races +against time, trying to restart an arrested heart before the brain +dies. It makes people think of horribly expensive surgery, last +wills and testaments, terrible, paralyzing pain. Heart disease is a +great profit center for the medical profession. + +Most heart problems are very easy to fix by holistic approaches, +even many hereditary weaknesses and malfunctions can be healed, if +the work is done before too much organic damage occurs. But it +rarely is easy to get the people to take the necessary medicine; +everything in their lives must change--and fast. + +First of all, people with heart problems must rapidly reach and +maintain normal weight. This can be done by fasting or by dietary +change, usually by eliminating all fats, sugars and refined +starches. Alcohol and tobacco must instantly and forever become only +past memories. It is almost as essential to eliminate flesh protein +foods and dairy. Should that prove entirely too painful, fish in +small quantities and only one or two times a week is tolerable. + +For starters, a long fast, especially one involving lots of bed +rest, is ideal. This gives the heart a chance to heal while the body +weight is adjusted. A period of intense rest even without water +fasting will accomplish almost as much. Even someone with the +potential for heart disease who has not yet had a heart attack would +be well-served to spend a month in bed, losing weight on juice, or +sitting in a rocker on the porch eating only raw foods. After the +weight is down to normal or close to normal and the heart tests +stronger, an exercise program should be started. + +Exercise has to become a religion. A daily aerobic program must be +started on a carefully managed gradient, using the pulse rate as an +regulator, at first raising their maximum heart rate to a point just +below 150 percent of its resting pulse and keeping it there for +thirty minutes. One can walk, jog, ride a bicycle or use an exercise +machine. Actually, everyone should do this, even those with no heart +problems. My husband, who hates the boredom of exercise, enjoys a +ski machine in front of the TV while the stock market program is on. +He finds the TV interesting enough that he pays no attention to his +workout. Daily aerobic exercise will strengthen the heart, gradually +slowing the heart's resting pulse rate, indicating that the heart +has become much stronger, pumping more blood with each pulse. As the +resting pulse drops the exercising heartbeat can be increased to +double the resting rate. + +Highly aggressive, competitive, stress-oriented people have to give +up being adrenaline junkies and learn to relax and assume a +laid-back approach to living. Or die soon. An adrenaline junkie is +someone that enjoys the feeling they get when operating under +stress. Stress and the adrenaline it releases produce a kind of a +drug-high. Many stressaholics cannot give up their adrenaline +addiction while maintaining their previous employment and +life-style, even though their life is at stake. In this sense they +are like alcoholics, who should not take employment tending bar. To +survive for long these people may have to retire or change +professions. Stockbrokers may have to become Organic farmers; +journalists may have to operate a news stand or bookstore, or work +part-time covering the society page and dog shows. Women frequently +turn their family life into a stress-filled drama too. + +With heart problems a life extension megavitamin program is +essential, even for twenty somethings if they have heart disease. +The sixty milligrams of Co-Enzyme Q-10 I recommend for the average +middle aged person will not be enough for heart cases; they should +take at least 120 milligrams daily and consider up to 250 mg. This +much Q-10 greatly boosts the energy output of the heart on a +cellular level. Vitamin E should also be increased, to between 600 +and 2,000 iu daily. I also rebuild diseased hearts with +protomorphogens; usually they must stay on protomorphogens for the +rest of their lives. Niacin taken several times a day in doses, +sufficient to dilate the capillaries and cause a skin flush (50 to +200 milligrams), increases the blood flow to nourish the heart. The +amino acid L. Carnitine is also useful by increasing the energy +output of the heart much like Co-Enzyme Q-10. + +When I put people on this program, the supplements and other +measures gradually take effect, and over months the patient begins +to feel enormously better. Inevitably they come to dislike the +side-effects of the various medications their medical doctor has put +them on and they begin to wean themselves off of heart-stimulating +poisons like digitalis. Another benefit of my program is that +inevitably, blood pressure also drops to a normal range so if they +have been on blood pressure medication they quit that too. Their +diuretics also become unnecessary. The money they save more than +pays for their supplements and the sense of well-being they feel is +beyond value. + +Other Kinds Of Cancer + +There seem to be many other kinds of cancer, at least if you believe +the medical doctors. They divide up cancers and their treatments by +their location in the body and by the type of cancer cells present. +I do not see it that way. To me, a cancer is a cancer is a cancer, +and there is only one kind: it is an immune system collapse, +consequence of the deadly triangle of weak spleen, thymus and liver, +plus a toxic large intestine and weak pancreas. That organ profile +is found in skin cancer, prostate cancer, leukemia, brain cancer, +cancer of what have you. How fast or how slowly the cells multiply +or spread, where they are located, what the cancer cells look like +in a microscope, these are irrelevant factors compared to the body's +ability to conquer the disease. Or die from it. + +If the body's immune system can stop the growth of the cancers and +begin to turn them back before the cancer cells impinge +catastrophically on some vital function, the person can usually +survive. Even if the body cannot completely eliminate all the cancer +cells, but regains enough immune function to keep the existing +cancers in permanent check, a person can survive many years with an +existing, stable cancer without undue pain or discomfort. Still +having a non-growing tumor after a long fast indicates that a person +is a lot better than they were before fasting. + +I believe that virtually everyone has cancer cells in their body, +just like viruses and bacteria. But most people do not develop +cancer as a disease because their immune function is strong so these +misbehaving cells are destroyed as fast as they appear. Mutated, +freely-multiplying cells are caused by peroxidized fats, by free +radicals in the body, by radiation (there has always been background +radiation on Earth), by chance mutation. There are naturally +occurring highly carcinogenic substances in ordinary foods that are +unavoidable. In fact some of these naturally occurring substances +are far more dangerous than the toxic residues of pesticides in our +foods. The body is supposed to deal with all these things; they are +all called insults. It is rarely the insult, but the failure of the +body to eliminate cancerous cells promptly that causes the disease +called cancer. So the treatment I recommend for cancer in general is +the same as the one described for breast cancer cases. Restore the +immune function. + +However, as much as I lack respect for conventional medical cancer +therapies, I do think surgery can have a useful place in cancer +treatment along with hygienic methods. Some people just cannot +confront the lump(s). Or they are so terrified of having a cancer in +their body that their emotions suppresses their own immune function. +Even though surgery prompts a cancer to spread more rapidly, without +their lumps some cancer patients feel more positive. If surgery is +done in conjunction with rebuilding the immune system, the body will +prevent new cancers from forming. + +Removal of a large mass of cancer cells can also lighten the immune +system's task. Not having to kill off and reabsorb all those cells +one-by-one from a huge cancer mass, the body can better conquer +smaller groups of cancer cells. And the die-off of large cancers +produces a lot of toxins, burdening the organs of elimination. This +is an argument for the potential benefit of a lumpectomy. However, I +do not support mastectomies, or the type of surgery that cause +massive damage to the body in a foolish attempt to remove every last +cancer cell, as though the cells themselves were the disease. + +Sometimes cancer tumors are well-encapsulated, walled off and can be +easily removed without prompting metastasis. This type of tumor may +not be completely reabsorbed by the body in any case; though the +immune system may have killed it, an empty shell remains, like a +peanut shell. Sometimes the judgment calls about surgery can get +dicey. When surgery involves removing an organ. I oppose the loss of +useful body parts. + +I have also known and helped people who believed they couldn't +recover without radiation and chemotherapy. What people believe is, +is. The emotions generated when a personal reality is suppressed, +ignored or invalidated will overwhelm an immune system. I always +tell those people who sincerely believe in it to go ahead with +standard medical treatment (while I'm privately praying the doctors +won't cause too much damage). However, when I am supporting a body +with supplements and dietary reform, have put that body on a +raw-food cleansing diet or even a raw food diet with nuts and grains +that hardly detoxifies, and then the person has had chemotherapy and +radiation, the medical doctors in attendance are inevitably amazed +that the side effects are much milder than anticipated, or +non-existent. And fewer courses of chemotherapy are needed than the +doctors expected. + +For example, I worked with a little boy with leukemia. His mother +brought him to me while trying to resolve a conflict with her +ex-husband about the boy's treatment. The father demanded the +standard medical route; the mother was for natural therapy. +Eventually the father won in court, but I had the boy on my program +for three months before the doctors got their hands on him. Even +during chemotherapy and radiation the mother kept the boy on my +program. Throughout the doctors' treatment he had so few bad side +effects that he was able to continue in school and play with the +other children; he did not lose his hair (which would have made him +feel like a freak). He recovered. I don't mind that the medical +doctors took credit, but to my thinking, he recovered despite their +therapy. + +Onion Cases + +All too many of my cases are what I privately refer to as onion +cases. By this I mean the opposite of a simple case. There are +multiple complaints. I call them onion cases because these people +get better in layers, like pealing an onion. As each skin comes off, +the next becomes visible. Sometimes when the patient overcomes an +existing complaint, another appears that was not there in the +beginning, probably this new one is a complaint that they had at an +earlier point in their life, one that had gone away. Onion cases +take a long time to completely heal, sometimes years. There +frequently are psychological aspects to the case that surface with +different physical problems. If I were not an effective psychologist +I could not succeed with most of them. The average medical doctor +probably considers onion cases to be hypochondriacs, but they +usually are not. + +Almost always the first symptoms that demand attention are the most +life-threatening, like immune system failures, liver failures, +pancreatic failures, nervous system failures and heart failures. +With these eliminated, new complaints appear. Often these are +endocrine system imbalances or weak endocrine glands, anemias, mild +heart conditions. Then it gets down to eye or ear infections, +muscular or skeletal weaknesses, mild skin problems, sinusitis, +teeth problems; things that aren't serious but that do degrade the +quality of life. Each one of these layers also carries with it a +psychological component; each of these layers can take three to six +months to resolve. + +I had a pretty good idea from the first visit that Daniel, not yet +30, was going to take some time to get well. He already had a +degenerative condition not usually seen until middle age--crippling +gout and arthritis. He had badly distorted joints, walked with +considerable pain, lacked a full range of movement, had enormous +fatigue and consequently, a well-justified depression. Daniel was +about to give up working as no longer possible, but he liked his +job. And he certainly needed it. + +Daniel's analysis showed massive allergies to foods, a systemic +yeast and multiple virus infections and multiple organ weaknesses: a +life-threateningly weak immune system, weak pancreas, weak adrenals, +weak large intestine. Because he could hardly accept anything he +wasn't allergic to and because he could not afford to quit working +even for a few weeks (though he was about to be forced into complete +disability) I put him on a Bieler fast. This is a monodiet of fairly +substantial quantities of either well-cooked green beans or +well-cooked zucchini, the choice between these two foods depending +on the acid-base balance of the blood. (Henry Bieler, 1965) In +Daniel's case my choice was zucchini, one pint of plain zucchini +puree with a little kelp and garlic added (no salt, no butter, no +nothing else) every few hours. I also put him on heavy vitamin +support and protomorphogens for his desperate immune system. While +on the Bieler fast he did daily enemas at home. Had colonics been +available to him, Daniel couldn't have afforded them. + +Within three weeks he was far more comfortable, had less pain, more +energy even though he was still eating nothing but zucchini, had +less swelling in his joints. During the first month he lost about +ten pounds and had been skinny to start with. I then added other +cooked nonstarchy vegetables to his diet and we continued the same +protomorphogen and supplement program for another month. + +Once each month Daniel came to see me. Each time he had slightly +improved organ strength and was able to tolerate a few more foods. +By the third month he stopped losing weight because we added small +quantities of cooked rice and millet to his diet. However, to +continue his detox, I had him water fast one day a week, staying in +bed and resting all day. At the start and end of the fasting day he +also took an enema. He continued a weekly one-day fast for many +months. By the fourth month, his immune system testing stronger, a +new problem appeared. Daniel had intestinal parasites. So I also put +him on a six month program to eliminate those. + +Daniel required monthly dietary adjustments because he quickly +became allergic if he ate very much of anything very often--broccoli +or rice for example. During this time he became aware of many +negative emotions associated with childhood, of young adult +frustrations and disappointments. He was really very angry about +many things in his life, even though he had for many years +maintained an invariably pleasant social veneer. But now he began +expressing some of these feelings to me and to his associates. + +Daniel had an abusive girlfriend, but as he improved this +relationship became insufferable. So he broke off with this woman +and found a new relationship that was much more positive, one based +on mutual respect and admiration. There are frequently strong +connections between repressed anger and depository diseases like +arthritis and gout. Daniel could not permit himself to constantly be +made angry and still get well. + +His next layer of symptoms did not appear until nearly eighteen +months after he had first come to see me. By this time he had good +energy, had returned to hiking and skiing, camping and canoeing. He +had worked as a printer but was now bootstrapping his own print shop +on a shoestring, and became entirely self-employed. He had a good +romantic relationship. The parasites were gone; his gout and +arthritis was virtually gone; many of his food allergies were gone. +Now his body was demanding that its acid/base balance be adjusted +and he began to pay attention to the minor back problems he had all +along. Daniel had also developed a new problem--inflammation of the +eye. It was so severe that he went to an opthamologist seeking +immediate relief because he could hardly see. I put him on massive +doses of vitamin C and protomorphogens for the eye and we attacked +the other problems. + +Now I still see Daniel every three months for minor dietary and +supplement adjustments. His emotional space is very positive. His +business is doing well. His love life is doing well. He has +developed no new problems and all the old ones are under control. +His organ systems, though better, will never tolerate many insults, +physical or mental, but if he lives within his limits, he has every +chance of a long and happy life. + +Daniel has become a friend of mine by now and I like to see him but +I expect I won't see Daniel very much at all any more. He has +learned what he needs to know to take care of himself. This is a +typical onion case that resolved successfully. However this case +might not have worked out so well had Daniel not possessed a high +degree of personal integrity and bravery, had he not faced and +resolved his emotional conflicts. Fortunately, Daniel had always +conducted an ethical life, without dishonesty or a secret collection +of disreputable acts. Bodies are easy to fix; they are carbon oxygen +engines that work on chemistry and respond unfailingly to physical +measures. But the entity that runs the body is not so simple. The +thoughts and emotions of the spirit impinge on a body as powerfully +or more powerfully than all the vitamins, dietary reform or +protomorphogens I can provide. The mind, and the spirit behind that +mind, can make a body sick or can prevent it from getting well or +staying well despite everything I do. + +Unethical Illness + +I see a lot of spiritually-induced physical illness in my practice. +Maybe more than my share. Maybe its karmic; it tends to find me +because I understand it. And it comes up my driveway because people +who have it often become doctor shoppers, and seek out a naturopath +as a last resort after exhausting everything that modern medical +science has to offer. I have had large numbers of undiagnosable +people that suffer greatly but who medical doctors can find nothing +wrong with and label psychosomatic. I have also repaired people +given specific medical diagnoses that standard physical remedies +cannot make better. + +In most of these cases, the physical illness is secondary to, is an +overlay of a more fundamental spiritual cause. On this type of case +there are inevitably severe problems connected with close friends, +relatives and business associates. The sick person inevitably blames +the friends, relatives and business associates and takes no +responsibility. The problems seem unresolvable. When I probe deeply +enough into these problems, I begin to discover the real infection +below. The sick person, so fond of complaining about all the +terrible things done to them by the people they have or have had +problems with, or sometimes, so proud of not complaining about all +the terrible things done to them. Actually, almost inevitably this +person has committed a huge mass of secret crimes, viciousness and +betrayals, rarely indictable felonious acts, but crimes none the +less, disreputable deeds that must be kept secret. + +These deeds are always completely justified; the sick person always +claims to have been right for having done them and it is next to +impossible for me as a therapist to get them to take responsibility +for their sins. But at the deep, center of almost all people is an +honest, decent soul that knows what it has really done and feels +guilty and judges itself. That is why it says in the Bible, 'judge +not, lest you be judged'. It is not the judgment of the Deity we +have so much to fear; we are own worst judge, jury, and executioner, +and eventually extract from ourselves full payment with compound +interest for all harmful acts. + +People frequently punish themselves with severe, incapacitating +illness or even death. A spiritual illness will not respond very +well to physical treatment until the spiritual malaise's is +resolved. This case has to find enough courage to become honest with +themselves, to admit their deeds in all their disgusting detail and +then to make amends, or if amends are not possible, to at least +cease and desist. They have to take personal responsibly for what +they really are being and what they have really done and most +importantly, accept that they are responsible for creating their own +illness. It is not a virus, a cancer cell or something that just +fell out of the universe and struck them, innocent victims that they +are. They have made their illness and only they can uncreate it. + +Unfortunately, few people who have spent a lifetime indulging +themselves in this degree of irresponsibility have the integrity to +change. This is a tough case. Especially so because they think they +are physically ill, they did not come to me to be defined as a +"mental" case and tend to reject such approaches. + +There is no shortage of additional degenerative conditions that I +could describe. There are eating disorders, shingles, skin problems, +kidney disease, Alzheimer's, senility, mental illness, addictions, +chronic fatigue syndrome, aids. There's macular degeneration, carpal +tunnel syndrome, chronic ear infections (especially in children), +tonsillitis, bronchitis, pancreatitis, cystitis, urethritis, +prostatitis, colitis, sinusitis, osteomyelitis and a dozen other +itises, including appendicitis. There's algias (itises of the +nerves): neuralgia, fibromyalgia. There's ism's (really itises of +the muscles). There are 'onias like pneumonia; omas like carcinoma, +melanoma and lymphoma. + +I could (but won't) write a page or two on every one of these +conditions and turn this book into an encyclopedia. After twenty +five years of practice, there is little I have not seen. Or helped a +body repair. Generally, everyone of those following pages I'm not +going to bother to write would repeat the same message. That the +medical profession has little understanding of the real causes or +cures of disease; that the world is full of unnecessary suffering; +that there are simple, painless, effective, harmless approaches to +eliminating most of the ailments of mankind except the ultimate +ailment, old age, the thing that takes us all eventually; that +essentially all the diseases resolve from the same approach. + +But I have already explained the theoretical basis of natural +hygiene, the key role of toxemia, enervation, constipation, the +essentials of good diet, fasting and colon cleansing, the importance +of regular exercise, and the rational for vitamin supplementation. I +have revealed a lot of the secrets in my bag of tricks, like my +favorite herbs, poultices and wheat grass. + +What concerns me most about medicine today is that there seems to be +ever fewer hygienists practicing. The young holistic practitioner is +overwhelmed with confusing data and approaches and is increasingly +less able to discern what is really important and what is +distraction, and is increasingly intimidated by the AMA, made +fearful of accepting people with serious conditions. Too many young +practitioners become ideologues, clinging to the rightness of a +single rigid discipline, missing the truths that exist in other +approaches and worse, missing the limitations that exist in their +own personal healing methods. + +The current concern about the cost of medical care and resorting to +government-run insurance programs and regulations will do little or +nothing to reverse the trend to more and more sickness that costs +more and more to treat. The root causes of our current crisis are +two fold. One, our food, just as it comes off the farm, is getting +ever worse. This is not even recognized as a problem. After we +process it for an industrial food distribution system, much +nutrition is lost too. This is barely recognized as a problem. Until +we are better nourished, we will be ever sicker and each generation +will become a degeneration. Secondly, our society is suffering from +all the evils of monopoly medicine. This is barely recognized. The +AMA has a stranglehold on the sick. There is no effective +competition for its methods. Alternatives are suppressed. In my +version of a better world, if anyone that wanted to could hang out a +shingle and offer to diagnose, treat and cure disease, a few quacks +would really hurt a few people. But many genuine therapies would +appear and the public would be exposed to workable alternatives. If +anyone that wanted to market it could put a label on a bottle of +pills, power or tincture that said its contents would heal or cure +disease, yes, a few people would be poisoned. And a few would die +needlessly by failing to get the right treatment. But on the +positive side, all this liberty would result in countless new +therapies being rediscovered and many new uses for existing +substances would appear. + +Fundamentally, this is the issue of liberty. I believe it is better +to allow choice and options, to permit the dangers that go with +liberty to exist. And to allow unfortunate outcomes to occur without +intervention into individual lack of intelligence and +irresponsibilities. The opposite is our current path--an attempt to +regulate and control away all dangers. But this overcontrol results +in institutionalized violence and cruelty, inefficiency that is not +checked or exposed by the bright light of a better way. As Churchill +said, 'democracy is the worst form of government there is--except for +all the others.' What he meant is that we must accept that this is +an imperfect world. The best this planet can be is when it is at its +freest, when restrictions are minimized and when people are allowed +to make their own choices, be responsible for their own outcomes and +experience the consequences of their own stupidities. + + + + + + +Appendix + + + + + +Pulse Testing For Allergies + +Coca's Pulse Tests are extraordinarily useful and simple tools for +at-home allergy detection. My clients have succeeded at using this +approach without supervision. Coca's test works on this simple +principle: pulse elevations are caused by any allergic reaction. If +you know what your normal range of pulse rates are, you can isolate +an offending food or substance and eliminate it. Success with Coca's +Pulse Test requires only motivation and a little perseverance, +because in order to test for food allergies, the diet must be +restricted for a few days and your pulse must be accurately taken at +specific intervals during the testing period. + +The test is based on measurement of the resting pulse rate, +something most people have no difficulty learning how to do. The +resting rate is how fast the heart beats after a person has been +sitting still, comfortably relaxing for three to five minutes. When +a person is active the heart beats faster than the resting rate. One +measure of aerobic fitness is how quickly the heart is able to +return to its resting rate. Well-trained athletes' hearts can adjust +from working very hard to a resting rate in only a minute or so; +those who are deconditioned can take three to five minutes for their +heart to slow from even mild exertion to its stable, resting pace. +Those who cannot readily find their own pulse on their wrist or +throat can inexpensively purchase a digital watch that gives a pulse +reading; this kind of watch is used by athletes to make sure their +training pulse is in an acceptable range. + +Preparatory to doing Coca's Pulse Test it is necessary to as much as +possible eliminate allergic food reactions. This requires the +application of discipline for a few days before testing begins. +Allergic reactions can go on for several days after a food has been +eaten and if you are having a reaction to something eaten many hours +or several days previously, it may obscure a reaction to a food just +eaten. + +1. Stop smoking entirely for at least five days before you do a +cigarette test; allergies to cigarettes can take five days to clear. +Besides, you shouldn't smoke, anyway! + +2. For the first three days, count your resting pulse immediately +after awakening in the morning (for one entire minute), and record +the reading. + +3. During the first three days, take your resting pulse half an hour +and again one hour after each meal. It if has elevated more than 12 +beats above the resting rate you found upon arising that morning, +you may assume that some food at the meal you just ate was an +allergen. Temporarily, eliminate from your diet all the foods eaten +at the previous meal until you can check them one-by-one a few days +later. At the end of these first three days you may not have many +foods left that you can eat. That is okay and to be expected; it is +time to begin adding foods back to the diet. + +4. Most people who are allergic to foods are allergic to one or more +of the following: corn, wheat, milk and cheese, yogurt, meat, +alcohol, tobacco. It would be very wise to eliminate these foods too +for the first three days, until they are tested. + +After three days on this regimen, you can assume that many of your +usual allergic food reactions have ceased or at least diminished +significantly and that you probably can get reasonably accurate +testing results on individual foods. A good indicator of having +problems with food allergies in general can also show up during +these initial days. If you have eliminated a large number of foods +and your resting pulse upon awakening has slowed down by several +beats, you can assume you are allergic to foods you were eating. + +I would not be at all surprised that by the end of the third day you +were only eating a very few fruits and vegetables and had eliminated +everything else. A more effective variant of the testing procedure +calls for a three or four day water fast to clear all allergies with +absolute certainty, and then to introduce foods one at a time as +described below. + +On the fourth and subsequent few days, take your resting pulse upon +arising and then eat a modest quantity of a single food: for +example, eat a slice of bread, or a medium sized glass of milk, or +an orange, or two tablespoons sugar in dissolved in water, or a few +dried prunes, or a peach, or an egg, or a medium-sized potato, or a +cup of black coffee without sweetener, or a few ounces of meat, or a +stick of celery, or half a cup of raw cabbage, or an onion, or a +date, or a few hazelnuts, etc. Count the pulse one half hour later +and again one hour after eating the test item. + +If any food raises the resting pulse over 12 beats per minute above +your morning resting pulse, that food should be eliminated; you are +certainly allergic to it or can't digest that much of it. If your +pulse has not returned to its morning resting rate one hour later, +you are still having an allergic reaction to the food you ate +previously and cannot get a decent result on another food until +either your pulse slows again or until the next morning. You may, +however, continue to eat other foods that you know do not provoke +allergic reactions. Because reactions to a food may not clear for +many hours, it is wise to eat only small quantities of individual +foods if you wish to test many of them in a single day. If a food +causes no acceleration of pulse (at least 6 beats above your +estimated normal maximal) that food can be tentatively labeled +non-allergenic. + +After a few days of testing one food an hour, you will become weary +of the routine and wish to eat more normally. It may also occur that +you cannot test more than one or two foods a day from the very first +day because allergic reactions do not clear quickly enough. No +problem, the testing period can go on at a lower level of intensity +for many weeks, trying one new food each morning upon arising. As +you eliminate allergens from your diet one by one, your resting +pulse should drop somewhat and it should be easier to discern +allergic reactions. After you have worked through all the items in +your normal dietary, it would be wise to retest the foods a second +time, breaking your fast with one different test item each morning. +This second testing round may reveal a few more allergic reactions +that were obscured by other allergic reactions the first time +through. + +Vitamin and Supplement Suppliers + +Bronson Pharmaceutical +1945 Craig Road +P.O. Box 46903 +St. Louis, MO 63146 +[800] 525-8466 + +Douglas Cooper Products +Box 65976 +Los Angeles, CA 90065 +[800] 234-8686 + +Prolongevity, Ltd. +10 Alden Road, Unit 6 +Markham, Ontario L3R 2S1 +Canada +[800] 544-4440 + +Prolongevity, Inc. +1142 W. Indian School Road +Phoenix, AZ 85013 +[800] 544-4440 + +Vitamin Research Products +3579 Hwy. 50 E. +Carson City, NV 89701 +[800] 877-2447 + +Publishers Of Books Not Readily Findable + +Life Extension Foundation +2835 Hollywood Blvd. +Hollywood, Florida 33020 +[800] 544-0577 + +I strongly recommend joining and regularly studying their +newsletter. Besides, when you do, Prolongevity will give you a +significant discount that amounts to far more than the cost of a +membership if you use many food supplements. + +Health Research Publishing +P.O. Box 70 +Mokelumne Hill, CA 95245 + +Find here reprints of all the old classics of natural hygiene. + +American Natural Hygiene Society +Herbert Shelton Library +P.O. Box 30630 +Tampa, Florida 33630 + +Find here all of Herbert Shelton's works. + + + + + + +Bibliography + + + + + +Airola, P. N. D., PhD (1974). _How to Get Well._ Phoenix: Health +Plus Publishers. + +Albrecht, W. A. (1975). _The Albrecht Papers_. Kansas City: Acres, +USA. + +Alexander, J. (1990). _Blatant Raw Foodist Propaganda!_ Nevada City, +California: Blue Dolphin Publishing, Inc. + +Alsleben, Rudolph H. and Shute, Wilfred E. (1973)._ How to Survive +the New Health Catastrophes._ Anaheim, CA: Survival Publications. + +de Bairacli Levy, Juliette. (1953) _The Complete Herbal Handbook for +The Dog and Cat._ London: Faber and Faber. + +de Bairacli Levy, Juliette. (1954) _The Complete Herbal Handbook for +Farm and Stable._ London: Faber and Faber. + +Bieler, H. G., M.D. (1965). _Food Is Your Best Medicine_. New York: +Random House. Also Bantam paperback. + +Bliznakov, Emile G., M.D. and Hunt, Gerald L. (1987) _The Miracle +Nutrient: Coenzyme Q-10._ New York: Bantam Books. + +Carrel, A. (1939). _Man the Unknown._ London. + +Carrington, H. (1963). _Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition_ (reprint of +original ca. 1900 edition). Mokelumne Hill, California: Health +Research. + +Clark, J. (1957). _Hunza: Lost Kingdom of the Himalayas._ London: +Hutchinson. + +Coca, Arthur F., M.D. (1956) _The Pulse Test: Easy Allergy +Detection._ New York: Lyle Stuart, Inc. (Also 1978 paperback +edition. New York: Arco Publishing Co.) + +Cornaro, L. (1566). _Discourses on the Sober Life_ (reprint: has +been through many reprintings by various publishers). Mokelumne +Hill, California: Health Research. + +Densmore, E. M. D. (1892). _How Nature Cures_ (Reprinted 1976 by +Health Research, Mokelumne Hill, California). New York: Stillman +& Co. + +DeVries, A. (1963). _Therapeutic Fasting._ Greene, Iowa: Chandler +Book Co. + +Garten, M.O., D.C. (1958) _The Dynamics of Vibrant Health._ Dulzura, +CA: Author. + +Gerson, M., M.D. (1958). _A Cancer Therapy: Results of Fifty Cases._ +DelMar, California: Totality Books. + +Gray, R. (1980). _The Colon Health Handbook_. Oakland, California: +Rockridge Publishing Company. + +Hazzard, L. B. D. O. (1927). _Scientific Fasting: The Ancient and +Modern Key to Health_ (also Mokelume Hill reprint of original). New +York: Grant Publications. + +Hawking, David and Pauling, Linus, editors. (1973) _Orthomolecular +Psychiatry: Treatment of Schizophrenia._ San Francisco: W. H. +Freeman and Company. + +Hoffer, Abram and Walker, Morton. (1978) _Orthomolecular Nutrition: +New Lifestyle for Super Good Health._ New Cannan: Keats Publishing. + +Hopkins, D. P. (1948). _Chemicals, Humus and the Soil._ Brooklyn, +NY: Chemical Publishing Company. + +Jensen, B. D. C., N.D. _You Can Master Disease._ Solana Beach, +California: Bernard Jensen Publishing. + +Jensen, B. D. C., & Bell, S. (1981) _Tissue Cleansing Through +Bowel Management._ Escondido, California: Bernard Jensen. + +Jensen, D. B., D.C. (1976). _Doctor-Patient Handbook._ Provo, Utah: +Bi-Worldl Publishers Inc. + +Jensen, D. B.and Anderson, Mark (1990). _Empty Harvest: +Understanding the link between our food, our immunity and our +planet._ Garden City Park, NY: Avery Publishing Group. + +Jensen, Bernard and Bodeen, Donald V. (1992) _Visions of Health: +Understanding Iridology._ Garden City Park, NY: Avery Publishing +Group. + +Keys, Ancel, Josef Brozek, Austin Henchel, Olaf Mickelsen and Henry +L. Taylor. (1950) _The Biology of Human Starvation._ Two Vols. +Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. + +Kulvinskas, Viktoras.(1972) _Love Your Body._ Wethersfield, Conn: +OMango Press. + +Kulvinskas, Viktoras. (1975) _Survival Into The 21st Century: +Planetary Healers Manual._ Wethersfield, Conn: OMango Press. + +Lee, R. _Assorted Lectures: 1923-1963._ Palmyra, WI: Lee Foundation +for Nutritional Research. + +Lee, R. _Lectures on Malnutrition._ Selene River Press, Fort +Collins, CO. + +McCarrison, S. R. (1921). _Studies in Deficiency Diseases._ London: +Henry Frowde and Hodder & Stoughton. Also Oxford Medical +Publications, 1921. + +McCarrison, S. R. (1936). "Nutrition and National Health." _Journal +of the Royal Society of Arts,_ lxxxiv, 1047, 1067, 1087. + +McCarrison, S. R. (1982). _Nutrition and Health: being the Cantor +Lectures delivered before The Royal Society of Arts 1936 together +with two earlier essays._ London: The McCarrison Society. + +Natenberg, M. (1957). _The Legacy of Doctor Wylie: and the +Administration of His Food and Drug Act._ Chicago: Regent House. + +Oswald, J. A. (1989). _Yours for Health: The Life and Times of +Herbert M. Shelton._ Franklin, Wisconsin: Franklin Books. + +Page, Melvin E. D.D.S. and Abrams, Leon. _Your Body Is Your Best +Doctor._ New Cannan: Keats Publishing. + +Pearson, Durk and Shaw, Sandy. (1983)_ Life Extension: A Practical +Scientific Approach._ New York: Warner, 1983. + +Pearson, R. B. (1921). _Fasting and Man's Correct Diet_ (Reprint, +Health Research, Mokelumne Hill, California): originally published +by author. + +Picton, D. L. J. (1949). _Nutrition and the Soil: Thoughts on +Feeding._ New York: Devin-Adair. + +Pottenger, F. M. J., M.D (1983). _Pottenger's Cats._ La Mesa, +California: Price-Pottenger Nutritional Foundation. + +Price, W. A. (1970). _Nutrition and Physical Degeneration._ La Mesa, +California: Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation. + +Quigley, D. T. (1943). _The National Malnutrition_. Palmyra, WI: Lee +Foundation for Nutritional Research. + +Rodale, J. I. (1949). _The Healthy Hunzas._ Emmaus, PA: Rodale +Press. + +Shaw, George B. _Back To Methusela_. A play available in many +editions. + +Schuphan, W. (1965)._ Nutritional Values in Crops and Plants._ +London: Faber and Faber. + +Shelton, H. M. _Health for All_ (reprint of original, original date +unknown). Mokelumne Hill, California: Health Research. + +Shelton, H. M. (1934). _Fasting and Sunbathing._ San Antonio: Dr. +Shelton's Health School. + +Shelton, H. M. (1935). _Orthotrophy._ San Antonio, Texas: Dr. +Shelton's Health School. + +Shelton, H. M. (1946). _Getting Well._ San Antonio, Texas: Dr. +Shelton's Health School. + +Shelton, H. M. (1951). _Food Combining Made Easy._ San Antonio, +Texas: Dr. Shelton's Health School. + +Shelton, H. M. (1958). _Human Beauty: Its Culture and Hygiene._ San +Antonio: Shelton's Health School. + +Shelton, H. M. (1971). _Exercise!_ Chicago: Natural Hygiene Press. + +Sherton, H. M. (1968). _Natural Hygiene: Man's Pristine Way of Life._ +San Antonio, Texas: Shelton's Health School. + +Sinclair, H. M. (Ed.). (1953). _The Work of Sir Robert McCarrison._ +London: Faber and Faber. + +Sinclair, Upton. (1921). _The Fasting Cure_ (Health Research +Reprint, Mokelumne Hill, California, 1955). Pasedena, California: +Originally published by the author. + +Taylor, R. (1964). _Hunza Health Secrets for Long Life and +Happiness_. New York: Award Books. + +Tilden, J. H., M.D. (1912). _Diseases of Women and Easy Childbirth_ +(Reprinted 1962 by Health Research, Mokelumne Hill, CA). Denver: +Smith Books Press. + +Tilden, J. H., M.D. (1921). _Appendicitis_ (Reprinted by Health +Research, Mokelumne Hill, CA, 1976). Denver: John Tilden. + +Tilden, J. H., M.D. (1921). _Impaired Health: Its Cause and Cure_ +(reprint of original ca. 1920). Mokelumne Hill, California: Health +Research. + +Tilden, J. H., M.D. (1939). _Constipation: A New Reading on the +Subject_ (Reprinted 1960 by Health Research, Mokelumne Hill, +California). Denver, Colorado: John Tilden. + +Tilden, J. H., M.D., & Trail, R. T., M.D. (1926). _Toxemia +Explained & The True Healing Art_ (reprint of two original +articles; also available through Health Research). Yorktown, Texas: +Life Science. + +Voisin, Andre. (1959). _Soil, Grass and Cancer._ New York: +Philos. Library. + +Voisin, A. (1963). _Grass Tetany._ London: Crosby Lockwood and Son +Ltd. + +Walford, Roy L. M.D. (1983) _Maximum Lifespan._ New York: Avon, +1983. + +Walford, Roy L. M.D. (1986) _The 120-Year Diet: How to Double Your +Vital Years._ New York: Simon and Schuster. + +Weindruch, Richard and Walford, Roy L. (1989) _The Retardation of +Aging and Disease by Dietary Restriction._ Springfield, Illinois: +Charles C. Thomas. + +Whorton, J. (1974). _Before Silent Spring: Pesticides and Public +Health in Pre-DDT America._ Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton +University Press. + +Wigmore, Ann D.D. (1964) _Why Suffer? The Answer? Wheatgrass God's +Manna!_ Boston: Hippocrates Health Institute. + +Williams, R. J. (1971). _Nutrition Against Disease._ New York: +Pitmann. + +Williams, R. J. (1975). _Physicians' Handbook of Nutritional +Science._ Springfield, Illinois: Charles W. Thomas. + +Wrench, G. T., M.D. (1938). _The Wheel of Health _(Reprinted 1960 by +the Lee Foundation for Nutritional Research; Reprinted by Bernard +Jensen International, Escondido, CA, 1990. ed.). London: C.W. Daniel +Company Ltd. + +Wylie, H. W. (1915). _Not By Bread Alone: The Principles of Human +Nutrition._ New York: Hearst's International Library. + +Wylie, H. W. (1929). _The History of a Crime Against the Food Law_ +(Reproduced by Lee Foundation for Nutritional Research, Milwaukee, +1955 ed.). Washington, D.C.: H. W. Wylie. + +Wylie, H. W. (1930). _An Autobiography._ Indianapolis: +Bobbs-Merrill. + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW AND WHEN TO BE YOUR OWN +DOCTOR ***
\ No newline at end of file diff --git a/4343-h/4343-h.htm b/4343-h/4343-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c22aee8 --- /dev/null +++ b/4343-h/4343-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8945 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> + +<head> + <meta charset="utf-8"> + <TITLE>How and When To Be Your Own Doctor | Project Gutenberg</TITLE> +<style> +.center {text-align: center;} +.right {text-align: right;} +table { + width: 100%; + border: 1px solid; + border-collapse: collapse; +} +td { + border: 1px solid; +} +</style> +</head> + +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW AND WHEN TO BE YOUR OWN DOCTOR ***</div> +<h1> +How and When To Be Your Own Doctor +</h1> + +<br> +<div style="font-size: x-large;">by Dr. Isabelle A. Moser with Steve Solomon</div> <br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<b><br> +Table of Contents</b><br> +<br> +<a href="#Forward">Forward by Steve Solomon</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#Chapter1">Chapter One: How I Became a Hygienist</a> <br> +<br> +<a href="#Chapter2">Chapter Two: The Nature and Cause of Disease </a><br> +<br> +<a href="#Chapter3">Chapter Three: Fasting </a><br> +<br> +<a href="#Chapter4">Chapter Four: Colon Cleansing </a><br> +<br> +<a href="#Chapter5">Chapter Five: Diet and Nutrition </a><br> +<br> +<a href="#Chapter6">Chapter Six: Vitamins and Other Food Supplements</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#Chapter7">Chapter Seven: The Analysis of Disease States--Helping +the Body Recover</a> <br> +<br> +<a href="#Appendix">Appendices</a><br> +<p class="center"><a id="Forward"></a><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Forward</b></span></p> +<div class="right"> +<p><span style="font-size: small;"><I>Tis a gift to be simple <br> +Tis a gift to be free, <br> +Tis a gift to come down <br> +Where we ought to be. <br> +And when we find ourselves <br> +In a place just right, <br> +It will be in the valley <br> +Of love and delight. </I><br> +<br> +Old Shaker Hymn <br> +Favorite of Dr. Isabelle Moser</span></p> +</div> +<p><br> +    I was a physically tough, +happy-go-lucky fellow until I reached my late thirties. Then I began to experience +more and more off days when I did not feel quite right. I thought I possessed an +iron constitution. Although I grew a big food garden and ate mostly "vegetablitarian" +I thought I could eat anything with impunity. I had been fond of drinking beer with +my friends while nibbling on salty snacks or heavy foods late into the night. And +until my health began to weaken I could still get up the next morning after several +homebrewed beers, feeling good, and would put in a solid day's work. <br> +    When my health began to slip I went looking for a cure. Up +to that time the only use I'd had for doctors was to fix a few traumatic injuries. +The only preventative health care I concerned myself with was to take a multivitamin +pill during those rare spells when I felt a bit run down and to eat lots of vegetables. +So I'd not learned much about alternative health care. <br> +    Naturally, my first stop was a local general practitioner/MD. +He gave me his usual half-hour get-acquainted checkout and opined that there almost +certainly was nothing wrong with me. I suspect I had the good fortune to encounter +an honest doctor, because he also said if it were my wish he could send me around +for numerous tests but most likely these would not reveal anything either. More than +likely, all that was wrong was that I was approaching 40; with the onset of middle +age I would naturally have more aches and pains. 'Take some aspirin and get used +to it,' was his advice. 'It'll only get worse.' <br> +    Not satisfied with his dismal prognosis I asked an energetic +old guy I knew named Paul, an '80-something homesteader who was renowned for his +organic garden and his good health. Paul referred me to his doctor, Isabelle Moser, +who at that time was running the Great Oaks School of Health, a residential and out-patient +spa nearby at Creswell, Oregon. <br> +    Dr. Moser had very different methods of analysis than the +medicos, was warmly personal and seemed very safe to talk to. She looked me over, +did some strange magical thing she called muscle testing and concluded that I still +had a very strong constitution. If I would eliminate certain "bad" foods +from my diet, eliminate some generally healthful foods that, unfortunately, I was +allergic to, if I would reduce my alcohol intake greatly and take some food supplements, +then gradually my symptoms would abate. With the persistent application of a little +self-discipline over several months, maybe six months, I could feel really well again +almost all the time and would probably continue that way for many years to come. +This was good news, though the need to apply personal responsibility toward the solution +of my problem seemed a little sobering. <br> +    But I could also see that Dr. Moser was obviously not telling +me something. So I gently pressed her for the rest. A little shyly, reluctantly, +as though she were used to being rebuffed for making such suggestions, Isabelle asked +me if I had ever heard of fasting? 'Yes,' I said. "I had. Once when I was about +twenty and staying at a farm in Missouri, during a bad flu I actually did fast, mainly +because I was too sick to take anything but water for nearly one week.' <br> +    "Why do you ask?" I demanded. <br> +    "If you would fast, you will start feeling really good +as soon as the fast is over." she said. <br> +    "Fast? How long?" <br> +    "Some have fasted for a month or even longer," +she said. Then she observed my crestfallen expression and added, "Even a couple +of weeks would make an enormous difference." <br> +    It just so happened that I was in between set-up stages for +a new mail-order business I was starting and right then I did have a couple of weeks +when I was virtually free of responsibility. I could also face the idea of not eating +for a couple of weeks. "Okay!" I said somewhat impulsively. "I could +fast for two weeks. If I start right now maybe even three weeks, depending on how +my schedule works out." <br> +    So in short order I was given several small books about fasting +to read at home and was mentally preparing myself for several weeks of severe privation, +my only sustenance to be water and herb tea without sweetener. And then came the +clinker. <br> +    "Have you ever heard of colonics?" she asked sweetly. +<br> +    "Yes. Weird practice, akin to anal sex or something?" +<br> +    "Not at all," she responded. "Colonics are +essential during fasting or you will have spells when you'll feel terrible. Only +colonics make water fasting comfortable and safe." <br> +    Then followed some explanation about bowel cleansing (and +another little book to take home) and soon I was agreeing to get my body over to +her place for a colonic every two or three days during the fasting period, the first +colonic scheduled for the next afternoon. I'll spare you a detailed description of +my first fast with colonics; you'll read about others shortly. In the end I withstood +the boredom of water fasting for 17 days. During the fast I had about 7 colonics. +I ended up feeling great, much trimmer, with an enormous rebirth of energy. And when +I resumed eating it turned out to be slightly easier to control my dietary habits +and appetites. <br> +    Thus began my practice of an annual health-building water +fast. Once a year, at whatever season it seemed propitious, I'd set aside a couple +of weeks to heal my body. While fasting I'd slowly drive myself over to Great Oaks +School for colonics every other day. By the end of my third annual fast in 1981, +Isabelle and I had become great friends. About this same time Isabelle's relationship +with her first husband, Douglas Moser, had disintegrated. Some months later, Isabelle +and I became partners. And then we married.<br> +    My regular fasts continued through 1984, by which time I +had recovered my fundamental organic vigor and had retrained my dietary habits. About +1983 Isabelle and I also began using Life Extension megavitamins as a therapy against +the aging process. Feeling so much better I began to find the incredibly boring weeks +of prophylactic fasting too difficult to motivate myself to do, and I stopped. Since +that time I fast only when acutely ill. Generally less than one week on water handles +any non-optimum health condition I've had since '84. I am only 54 years old as I +write these words, so I hope it will be many, many years before I find myself in +the position where I have to fast for an extended period to deal with a serious or +life-threatening condition. <br> +    I am a kind of person the Spanish call <I>autodidactico,</I> +meaning that I prefer to teach myself. I had already learned the fine art of self-employment +and general small-business practice that way, as well as radio and electronic theory, +typography and graphic design, the garden seed business, horticulture, and agronomy. +When Isabelle moved in with me she also brought most of Great Oak's extensive library, +including very hard to obtain copies of the works of the early hygienic doctors. +Naturally I studied her books intensely. <br> +    Isabelle also brought her medical practice into our house. +At first it was only a few loyal local clients who continued to consult with her +on an out-patient basis, but after a few years, the demands for residential care +from people who were seriously and sometimes life-threateningly sick grew irresistibly, +and I found myself sharing our family house with a parade of really sick people. +True, I was not their doctor, but because her residential clients became temporary +parts of our family, I helped support and encourage our residents through their fasting +process. I'm a natural teacher (and how-to-do-it writer), so I found myself explaining +many aspects of hygienic medicine to Isabelle's clients, while having a first-hand +opportunity to observe for myself the healing process at work. Thus it was that I +became the doctor's assistant and came to practice second-hand hygienic medicine. +<br> +    In 1994, when Isabelle had reached the age of 54, she began +to think about passing on her life's accumulation of healing wisdom by writing a +book. She had no experience at writing for the popular market, her only major writing +being a Ph.D. dissertation. I on the other hand had published seven books about vegetable +gardening. And I grasped the essentials of her wisdom as well as any non-practitioner +could. So we took a summer off and rented a house in rural Costa Rica, where I helped +Isabelle put down her thoughts on a cheap word-processing typewriter. When we returned +to the States, I fired-up my "big-mac" and composed this manuscript into +a rough book format that was given to some of her clients to get what is trendily +called these days, "feedback." <br> +    But before we could completely finish her book, Isabelle +became dangerously ill and after a long, painful struggle with abdominal cancer, +she died. After I resurfaced from the worst of my grief and loss, I decided to finish +her book. Fortunately, the manuscript needed little more than polishing. I am telling +the reader these things because many ghost-written books end up having little direct +connection with the originator of the thoughts. Not so in this case. And unlike many +ghost writers, I had a long and loving apprenticeship with the author. At every step +of our colaboration on this book I have made every effort to communicate Isabelle's +viewpoints in the way she would speak, not my own. Dr. Isabelle Moser was for many +years my dearest friend. I have worked on this book to help her pass her understanding +on. <br> +    Many people consider death to be a complete invalidation +of a healing arts practitioner. I don't. Coping with her own dicey health had been +a major motivator for Isabelle's interest in healing others. She will tell you more +about it in the chapters to come. Isabelle had been fending off cancer since its +first blow up when she was 26 years old. I view that 30 plus years of defeating Death +as a great success rather than consider her ultimate defeat as a failure. <br> +    Isabelle Moser was born in 1940 and died in 1996. I think +the greatest accomplishment of her 56 years was to meld virtually all available knowledge +about health and healing into a workable and most importantly, a simple model that +allowed her to have amazing success. Her "system" is simple enough that +even a generally well-educated non-medico like me can grasp it. And use it without +consulting a doctor every time a symptom appears. <br> +    Finally, I should mention that over the years since this +book was written I have discovered contains some significant errors of anatomical +or psysiological detail. Most of these happened because the book was written "off +the top of Isabelle's head," without any reference materials at hand, not even +an anatomy text. I have not fixed these goofs as I am not even qualified to find +them all. Thus, when the reader reads such as 'the pancreas secreates enzymes into +the stomach,' (actually and correctly, the duodenum) I hope they will understand +and not invalidate the entire book.<br> +<b><br> +<a id="Chapter1">Chapter One</a> <br> +</b><div style="font-size: x-large;"><b>How I Became a Hygienist</b> <br> +</div><br> +<div style="font-size: small;"><b><br> +<br> +From The Hygienic Dictionary</b></div><br> +<br> +<div style="font-size: medium;"><b>Doctors.</b> [1] In the matter of disease and healing, the people +have been treated as serfs. The doctor is a dictator who knows it all, and the people +are stupid, dumb, driven cattle, fit for nothing except to be herded together, bucked +and gagged when necessary to force medical opinion down their throats or under their +skins. I found that professional dignity was more often pomposity, sordid bigotry +and gilded ignorance. The average physician is a fear-monger, if he is anything. +He goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may scare to death. <I>Dr. John. +H. Tilden, Impaired Health: Its Cause and Cure, Vol. 1, 1921.</I> [2] Today we are +not only in the Nuclear Age but also the Antibiotic Age. Unhappily, too, this is +the Dark Age of Medicine--an age in which many of my colleagues, when confronted +with a patient, consult a volume which rivals the Manhattan telephone directory in +size. This book contains the names of thousands upon thousands of drugs used to alleviate +the distressing symptoms of a host of diseased states of the body. The doctor then +decides which pink or purple or baby-blue pill to prescribe for the patient. This +is not, in my opinion, the practice of medicine. Far too many of these new "miracle" +drugs are introduced with fanfare and then reveled as lethal in character, to be +silently discarded for newer and more powerful drugs. <I>Dr. Henry Bieler: Food is +Your Best Medicine; 1965.</I></div><br> +<br> +<br> +    I have two reasons for writing this book. One, to help educate +the general public about the virtues of natural medicine. The second, to encourage +the next generation of natural healers. Especially the second because it is not easy +to become a natural hygienist; there is no school or college or licensing board.<br> +    Most AMA-affiliated physicians follow predictable career +paths, straight well-marked roads, climbing through apprenticeships in established +institutions to high financial rewards and social status. Practitioners of natural +medicine are not awarded equally high status, rarely do we become wealthy, and often, +naturopaths arrive at their profession rather late in life after following the tangled +web of their own inner light. So I think it is worth a few pages to explain how I +came to practice a dangerous profession and why I have accepted the daily risks of +police prosecution and civil liability without possibility of insurance.<br> +    Sometimes it seems to me that I began this lifetime powerfully +predisposed to heal others. So, just for childhood warm-ups I was born into a family +that would be much in need of my help. As I've always disliked an easy win, to make +rendering that help even more difficult, I decided to be the youngest child, with +two older brothers. <br> +    A pair of big, capable brothers might have guided and shielded +me. But my life did not work out that way. The younger of my two brothers, three +years ahead of me, was born with many health problems. He was weak, small, always +ill, and in need of protection from other children, who are generally rough and cruel. +My father abandoned our family shortly after I was born; it fell to my mother to +work to help support us. Before I was adolescent my older brother left home to pursue +a career in the Canadian Air Force. <br> +    Though I was the youngest, I was by far the healthiest. Consequently, +I had to pretty much raise myself while my single mother struggled to earn a living +in rural western Canada. This circumstance probably reinforced my constitutional +predilection for independent thought and action. Early on I started to protect my +"little" brother, making sure the local bullies didn't take advantage of +him. I learned to fight big boys and win. I also helped him acquire simple skills, +ones that most kids grasp without difficulty, such as swimming, bike riding, tree +climbing, etc. <br> +    And though not yet adolescent, I had to function as a responsible +adult in our household. Stressed by anger over her situation and the difficulties +of earning our living as a country school teacher (usually in remote one-room schools), +my mother's health deteriorated rapidly. As she steadily lost energy and became less +able to take care of the home, I took over more and more of the cleaning, cooking, +and learned how to manage her--a person who feels terrible but must work to survive. +<br> +    During school hours my mother was able to present a positive +attitude, and was truly a gifted teacher. However, she had a personality quirk. She +obstinately preferred to help the most able students become even more able, but she +had little desire to help those with marginal mentalities. This predilection got +her into no end of trouble with local school boards; inevitably it seemed the District +Chairman would have a stupid, badly-behaved child that my mother refused to cater +to. Several times we had to move in the middle of the school year when she was dismissed +without notice for "insubordination." This would inevitably happen on the +frigid Canadian Prairies during mid-winter.<br> +    At night, exhausted by the day's efforts, my mother's positiveness +dissipated and she allowed her mind to drift into negative thoughts, complaining +endlessly about my irresponsible father and about how much she disliked him for treating +her so badly. These emotions and their irresponsible expression were very difficult +for me to deal with as a child, but it taught me to work on diverting someone's negative +thoughts, and to avoid getting dragged into them myself, skills I had to use continually +much later on when I began to manage mentally and physically ill clients on a residential +basis.<br> +    My own personal health problems had their genesis long before +my own birth. Our diet was awful, with very little fresh fruit or vegetables. We +normally had canned, evaporated milk, though there were a few rare times when raw +milk and free-range fertile farm eggs were available from neighbors. Most of my foods +were heavily salted or sugared, and we ate a great deal of fat in the form of lard. +My mother had little money but she had no idea that some of the most nutritious foods +are also the least expensive. <br> +    It is no surprise to me that considering her nutrient-poor, +fat-laden diet and stressful life, my mother eventually developed severe gall bladder +problems. Her degeneration caused progressively more and more severe pain until she +had a cholecystectomy. The gallbladder's profound deterioration had damaged her liver +as well, seeming to her surgeon to require the removal of half her liver. After this +surgical insult she had to stop working and never regained her health. Fortunately, +by this time all her children were independent.<br> +     I had still more to overcome. My eldest brother had a nervous +breakdown while working on the DEW Line (he was posted on the Arctic Circle watching +radar screens for a possible incoming attack from Russia). I believe his collapse +actually began with our childhood nutrition. While in the Arctic all his foods came +from cans. He also was working long hours in extremely cramped quarters with no leave +for months in a row, never going outside because of the cold, or having the benefit +of natural daylight. <br> +    When he was still in the acute stage of his illness (I was +still a teenager myself) I went to the hospital where my bother was being held, and +talked the attending psychiatrist into immediately discharging him into my care. +The physician also agreed to refrain from giving him electroshock therapy, a commonly +used treatment for mental conditions in Canadian hospitals at that time. Somehow +I knew the treatment they were using was wrong. <br> +    I brought my brother home still on heavy doses of thorazine. +The side effects of this drug were so severe he could barely exist: blurred vision, +clenched jaw, trembling hands, and restless feet that could not be kept still. These +are common problems with the older generation of psycho tropic medications, generally +controlled to some extent with still other drugs like cogentin (which he was taking +too).<br> +    My brother steadily reduced his tranquilizers until he was +able to think and do a few things. On his own he started taking a lot of B vitamins +and eating whole grains. I do not know exactly why he did this, but I believe he +was following his intuition. (I personally did not know enough to suggest a natural +approach at that time.) In any case after three months on vitamins and an improved +diet he no long needed any medication, and was delighted to be free of their side +effects. He remained somewhat emotionally fragile for a few more months but he soon +returned to work, and has had no mental trouble from that time to this day. This +was the beginning of my interest in mental illness, and my first exposure to the +limitations of 'modern' psychiatry.<br> +    I always preferred self-discipline to being directed by others. +So I took every advantage of having a teacher for a mother and studied at home instead +of being bored silly in a classroom. In Canada of that era you didn't have to go +to high school to enter university, you only had to pass the written government entrance +exams. At age 16, never having spent a single day in high school, I passed the university +entrance exams with a grade of 97 percent. At that point in my life I really wanted +to go to medical school and become a doctor, but I didn't have the financial backing +to embark on such a long and costly course of study, so I settled on a four year +nursing course at the University of Alberta, with all my expenses paid in exchange +for work at the university teaching hospital. <br> +    At the start of my nurses training I was intensely curious +about everything in the hospital: birth, death, surgery, illness, etc. I found most +births to be joyful, at least when everything came out all right. Most people died +very alone in the hospital, terrified if they were conscious, and all seemed totally +unprepared for death, emotionally or spiritually. None of the hospital staff wanted +to be with a dying person except me; most hospital staff were unable to confront +death any more bravely than those who were dying. So I made it a point of being at +the death bed. The doctors and nurses found it extremely unpleasant to have to deal +with the preparation of the dead body for the morgue; this chore usually fell to +me also. I did not mind dead bodies. They certainly did not mind me!<br> +    I had the most difficulty accepting surgery. There were times +when surgery was clearly a life saving intervention, particularly when the person +had incurred a traumatic injury, but there were many other cases when, though the +knife was the treatment of choice, the results were disastrous. <br> +    Whenever I think of surgery, my recollections always go to +a man with cancer of the larynx. At that time the University of Alberta had the most +respected surgeons and cancer specialists in the country. To treat cancer they invariably +did surgery, plus radiation and chemotherapy to eradicate all traces of cancerous +tissue in the body, but they seemed to forget there also was a human being residing +in that very same cancerous body. This particularly unfortunate man came into our +hospital as a whole human being, though sick with cancer. He could still speak, eat, +swallow, and looked normal. But after surgery he had no larynx, nor esophagus, nor +tongue, and no lower jaw. <br> +    The head surgeon, who, by the way, was considered to be a +virtual god amongst gods, came back from the operating room smiling from ear to ear, +announcing proudly that he had 'got all the cancer'. But when I saw the result I +thought he'd done a butcher's job. The victim couldn't speak at all, nor eat except +through a tube, and he looked grotesque. Worst, he had lost all will to live. I thought +the man would have been much better off to keep his body parts as long as he could, +and die a whole person able to speak, eating if he felt like it, being with friends +and family without inspiring a gasp of horror. <br> +    I was sure there must be better ways of dealing with degenerative +conditions such as cancer, but I had no idea what they might be or how to find out. +There was no literature on medical alternatives in the university library, and no +one in the medical school ever hinted at the possibility except when the doctors +took jabs at chiropractors. Since no one else viewed the situation as I did I started +to think I might be in the wrong profession. <br> +    It also bothered me that patients were not respected, were +not people; they were considered a "case" or a "condition." I +was frequently reprimanded for wasting time talking to patients, trying to get acquainted. +The only place in the hospital where human contact was acceptable was the psychiatric +ward. So I enjoyed the rotation to psychiatry for that reason, and decided that I +would like to make psychiatry or psychology my specialty. <br> +    By the time I finished nursing school, it was clear that +the hospital was not for me. I especially didn't like its rigid hierarchical system, +where all bowed down to the doctors. The very first week in school we were taught +that when entering a elevator, make sure that the doctor entered first, then the +intern, then the charge nurse. Followed by, in declining order of status: graduate +nurses, third year nurses, second year nurses, first year nurses, then nursing aids, +then orderlies, then ward clerks, and only then, the cleaning staff. No matter what +the doctor said, the nurse was supposed to do it immediately without question--a +very military sort of organization. <br> +    Nursing school wasn't all bad. I learned how to take care +of all kinds of people with every variety of illness. I demonstrated for myself that +simple nursing care could support a struggling body through its natural healing process. +But the doctor-gods tended to belittle and denigrate nurses. No wonder--so much of +nursing care consists of unpleasant chores like bed baths, giving enemas and dealing +with other bodily functions. <br> +    I also studied the state-of-the-art science concerning every +conceivable medical condition, its symptoms, and treatment. At the university hospital +nurses were required to take the same pre-med courses as the doctors--including anatomy, +physiology, biochemistry, and pharmacology. Consequently, I think it is essential +for holistic healers to first ground themselves in the basic sciences of the body's +physiological systems. There is also much valuable data in standard medical texts +about the digestion, assimilation, and elimination. To really understand illness, +the alternative practitioner must be fully aware of the proper functioning of the +cardiovascular/pulmonary system, the autonomic and voluntary nervous system, the +endocrine system, plus the mechanics and detailed nomenclature of the skeleton, muscles, +tendons and ligaments. Also it is helpful to know the conventional medical models +for treating various disorders, because they do appear to work well for some people, +and should not be totally invalidated simply on the basis of one's philosophical +or religious viewpoints. <br> +    Many otherwise well-meaning holistic practitioners, lacking +an honest grounding in science, sometimes express their understanding of the human +body in non-scientific, metaphysical terms that can seem absurd to the well-instructed. +I am not denying here that there is a spiritual aspect to health and illness; I believe +there are energy flows in and around the body that can effect physiological functioning. +I am only suggesting that to discuss illness without hard science is like calling +oneself a abstract artist because the painter has no ability to even do a simple, +accurate representational drawing of a human figure.<br> +    Though hospital life had already become distasteful to me +I was young and poor when I graduated. So after nursing school I buckled down and +worked just long enough to save enough money to obtain a masters degree in Clinical +Psychology from the University of British Columbia. Then I started working at Riverview +Hospital in Vancouver, B.C., doing diagnostic testing, and group therapy, mostly +with psychotic people. At Riverview I had a three-year-long opportunity to observe +the results of conventional psychiatric treatment.<br> +    The first thing I noticed was the 'revolving door' phenomena. +That is, people go out, and then they're back in, over and over again, demonstrating +that standard treatment--drugs, electroshock and group therapy--had been ineffective. +Worse, the treatments given at Riverside were dangerous, often with long term side +effects that were more damaging than the disease being treated. It felt like nursing +school all over again; in the core of my being I somehow knew there was a better +way, a more effective way of helping people to regain their mental health. Feeling +like an outsider, I started investigating the hospital's nooks and crannies. Much +to my surprise, in a back ward, one not open to the public, I noticed a number of +people with bright purple skins. <br> +    I asked the staff about this and every one of the psychiatrists +denied these patients existed. This outright and widely-agreed-upon lie really raised +my curiosity. Finally after pouring through the journals in the hospital library +I found an article describing psycho tropic-drug-induced disruptions of melanin (the +dark skin pigment). Thorazine, a commonly used psychiatric drug, when taken in high +doses over a long period of time would do this. Excess melanin eventually was deposited +in vital organs such as the heart and the liver, causing death. <br> +    I found it especially upsetting to see patients receive electroshock +treatments. These violent, physician-induced traumas did seem to disrupt dysfunctional +thought patterns such as an impulse to commit suicide, but afterwards the victim +couldn't remember huge parts of their life or even recall who they were. Like many +other dangerous medical treatments, electroshock can save life but it can also take +life away by obliterating identity. <br> +    According the Hippocratic Oath, the first criteria of a treatment +is that it should do no harm. Once again I found myself trapped in a system that +made me feel severe protest. Yet none of these specialists or university professors, +or academic libraries had any information about alternatives. Worse, none of these +mind-doctor-gods were even looking for better treatments.<br> +    Though unpleasant and profoundly disappointing, my experience +as a mental hospital psychologist was, like being in nursing school, also very valuable. +Not only did I learn how to diagnose, and evaluate the severity of mental illness +and assess the dangerousness of the mentally ill, I learned to understand them, to +feel comfortable with them, and found that I was never afraid of them. Fearlessness +is a huge advantage. The mentally ill seem to have a heightened ability to spot fear +in others. If they sense that you are afraid they frequently enjoy terrorizing you. +When psychotic people know you feel comfortable with them, and probably understand +a great deal of what they are experiencing, when they know that you can and intend +to control them, they experience a huge sense of relief. I could always get mentally +ill people to tell me what was really going on in their heads when no one else could +get them to communicate.<br> +    A few years later I married an American and became the Mental +Health Coordinator for Whatcom County, the northwestern corner of Washington State. +I handled all the legal proceedings in the county for mentally ill people. After +treatment in the state mental hospital I supervised their reentry into the community, +and attempted to provide some follow up. This work further confirmed my conclusions +that in most cases the mentally ill weren't helped by conventional treatment. Most +of them rapidly became social problems after discharge. It seemed the mental hospital's +only ethically defensible function was incarceration--providing temporary relief +for the family and community from the mentally ill person's destructiveness. <br> +    I did see a few people recover in the mental health system. +Inevitably these were young, and had not yet become institutionalized, a term describing +someone who comes to like being in the hospital because confinement feels safe. Hospitalization +can mean three square meals and a bed. It frequently means an opportunity to have +a sex life (many female inmates are highly promiscuous). Many psychotics are also +criminal; the hospital seems far better to them than jail. Many chronically mentally +ill are also experts at manipulating the system. When homeless, they deliberately +get hospitalized for some outrageous deed just before winter. They then "recover" +when the fine weather of spring returns.<br> +    After a year as Mental Health Co-ordinator, I had enough +of the "system" and decided that it was as good a time as any to return +to school for a Ph.D., this time at University. of Oregon where I studied clinical +and counseling psychology and gerontology. While in graduate school I became pregnant +and had my first child. Not surprisingly, this experience profoundly changed my consciousness. +I realized that it had perhaps been all right for me to be somewhat irresponsible +about my own nutrition and health, but that it was not okay to inflict poor nutrition +on my unborn child. At that time I was addicted to salty, deep-fat fried corn chips +and a diet pop. I thought I had to have these so-called foods every day. I tended +to eat for taste, in other words, what I liked, not necessarily what would give me +the best nutrition. I was also eating a lot of what most people would consider healthy +food: meat, cheese, milk, whole grains, nuts, vegetables, and fruits. <br> +    My constitution had seemed strong and vital enough through +my twenties to allow this level of dietary irresponsibility. During my early 20s +I had even recovered from a breast cancer by sheer will power. (I will discuss this +later.) So before my pregnancy I had not questioned my eating habits.<br> +    As my body changed and adapted itself to it's new purpose +I began visiting the libraries and voraciously read everything obtainable under the +topic of nutrition--all the texts, current magazines, nutritional journals, and health +newsletters. My childhood habit of self-directed study paid off. I discovered alternative +health magazines like Let's Live, Prevention, Organic Gardening, and Best Ways, and +promptly obtained every back issue since they were first published. Along the way +I ran into articles by Linus Pauling on vitamin C, and sent away for all of his books, +one of these was co-authored with David Hawkins, called The Orthomolecular Approach +to Mental Disorders. <br> +    This book had a profound effect on me. I instantly recognized +that it was Truth with a capital "T", although the orthomolecular approach +was clearly in opposition to the established medical model and contradicted everything +I had ever learned as a student or professional. Here at last was the exciting alternative +approach to treating mental disorders I had so long sought. I filed this information +away, waiting for an opportunity to use it. And I began to study all the references +in The Orthomolecular Approach to Mental Disorders dealing with correcting the perceptual +functioning of psychotic people using natural substances.<br> +    In the course of delving through libraries and book stores, +I also came across the Mokelumne Hill Publishing Company (now defunct). This obscure +publisher reprinted many unusual and generally crudely reproduced out-of-print books +about raw foods diets, hygienic medicine, fruitarianism, fasting, breathairianism, +plus some works discussing spiritual aspects of living that were far more esoteric +than I had ever thought existed. I decided that weird or not, I might as well find +out everything potentially useful. So I spent a lot of money ordering their books. +Some of Mokelumne Hill's material really expanded my thoughts. Though much of it +seemed totally outrageous, in every book there usually was one line, one paragraph, +or if I was lucky one whole chapter that rang true for me.<br> +    Recognizing capital "T" Truth when one sees it +is one of the most important abilities a person can have. Unfortunately, every aspect +of our mass educational system attempts to invalidate this skill. Students are repeatedly +told that derivation from recognized authority and/or the scientific method are the +only valid means to assess the validity of data. But there is another parallel method +to determine the truth or falsehood of information: Knowing. We Know by the simple +method of looking at something and recognizing its correctness. It is a spiritual +ability. I believe we all have it. But in my case, I never lost the ability to Know +because I almost never attended school. <br> +    Thus it is that I am absolutely certain How and When to Be +Your Own Doctor will be recognized as Truth by some of my readers and rejected as +unscientific, unsubstantiated, or anecdotal information by others. I accept this +limitation on my ability to teach. If what you read in the following pages seems +True for you, great! If it doesn't, there is little or nothing I could do to further +convince.<br> +    I return now to the time of my first pregnancy. In the face +of all these new Truths I was discovering concerning health and nutrition, I made +immediate changes in my diet. I severely reduced my animal protein intake and limited +cooked food in general. I began taking vitamin and mineral supplements. I also choose +a highly atypical Ph.D. dissertation topic, "The Orthomolecular Treatment of +Mental Disorders." This fifty cent word, orthomolecular, basically means readjusting +the body chemistry by providing unusually large amounts of specific nutrient substances +normally found in the human body (vitamins and minerals). Orthomolecular therapy +for mental disorders is supported by good diet, by removal of allergy-producing substances, +by control of hypoglycemia, plus counseling, and provision of a therapeutic environment. +<br> +    My proposed dissertation topic met with nothing but opposition. +The professors on my doctoral committee had never heard of the word orthomolecular, +and all of them were certain it wasn't an accepted, traditional area of research. +Research in academia is supposed to be based on the works of a previous researchers +who arrived at hypothesis based on data obtained by strictly following scientific +methodology. "Scientific" data requires control groups, matched populations, +statistical analysis, etc. In my case there was no previous work my dissertation +committee would accept, because the available data did not originate from a medical +school or psychology department they recognized.<br> +    Due to a lot of determination and perseverance I finally +did succeed in getting my thesis accepted, and triumphed over my doctoral committee. +And I graduated with a dual Ph.D. in both counseling psychology and gerontology. +My ambition was to establish the orthomolecular approach on the west coast. At that +time I knew of only two clinics in the world actively using nutritional therapy. +One was in New York and the other, was a Russian experimental fasting program for +schizophrenics. Doctors Hoffer and Osmond had used orthomolecular therapy in a Canadian +mental hospital as early as 1950, but they had both gone on to other things. <br> +    The newly graduated Dr. Isabelle Moser, Ph.D. was at this +point actually an unemployed mother, renting an old, end-of-the-road, far-in-the-country +farmhouse; by then I had two small daughters. I strongly preferred to take care of +my own children instead of turning them over to a baby sitter. My location and my +children made it difficult for me to work any place but at home. So naturally, I +made my family home into a hospital for psychotic individuals. I started out with +one resident patient at a time, using no psychiatric drugs. I had very good results +and learned a tremendous amount with each client, because each one was different +and each was my first of each type.<br> +    With any psychotic residing in your home it is foolhardy +to become inattentive even for one hour, including what are normally considered sleeping +hours. I have found the most profoundly ill mentally ill person still to be very +crafty and aware even though they may appear to be unconscious or nonresponsive. +Psychotics are also generally very intuitive, using faculties most of us use very +little or not at all. For example one of my first patients, Christine, believed that +I was trying to electrocute her. Though she would not talk, she repeatedly drew pictures +depicting this. She had, quite logically within her own reality, decided to kill +me with a butcher knife in self-defense before I succeeded in killing her. I had +to disarm Christine several times, hide all the household knives, change my sleeping +spot frequently, and generally stay sufficiently awake at night to respond to slight, +creaky sounds that could indicate the approach of stealthily placed small bare feet. +<br> +    With orthomolecular treatment Christine improved but also +became more difficult to live with as she got better. For example, when she came +out of catatonic-like immobility, she became extremely promiscuous, and was determined +to sleep with my husband. In fact she kept crawling into bed with him with no clothes +on. Either we had to forcefully remove her or the bed would be handed over to her--without +a resident man. Christine then decided (logically) that I was an obstacle to her +sex life, and once more set out to kill me. This stage also passed, eventually and +Christine got tolerably well. <br> +    Christine's healing process is quite typical and demonstrates +why orthomolecular treatment is not popular. As a psychotic genuinely improves, their +aberrated behavior often becomes more aggressive initially and thus, harder to control. +It seems far more convenient for all concerned to suppress psychotic behavior with +stupefying drugs. A drugged person can be controlled when they're in a sort of perpetual +sedation but then, they never get genuinely well, either.<br> +    Another early patient, Elizabeth, gave me a particularly +valuable lesson, one that changed the direction of my career away from curing insanity +and toward regular medicine. Elizabeth was a catatonic schizophrenic who did not +speak or move, except for some waxy posturing. She had to be fed, dressed and pottied. +Elizabeth was a pretty little brunette who got through a couple of years of college +and then spent several years in a state mental hospital. She had recently run away +from a hospital, and had been found wandering aimlessly or standing rigidly, apparently +staring fixedly at nothing. The emergency mental health facility in a small city +nearby called me up and asked if I would take her. I said I would, and drove into +town to pick her up. I found Elizabeth in someone's back yard staring at a bush. +It took me three hours to persuade her to get in my car, but that effort turned out +to be the easiest part of the next months. <br> +    Elizabeth would do nothing for herself, including going to +the bathroom. I managed to get some nutrition into her, and change her clothes, but +that was about all I could do. Eventually she wore me down; I drifted off for an +hour's nap instead of watching her all night. Elizabeth slipped away in the autumn +darkness and vanished. Needless to say, when daylight came I desperately searched +the buildings, the yard, gardens, woods, and even the nearby river. I called in a +missing person report and the police looked as well. We stopped searching after a +week because there just wasn't any place else to look. Then, into my kitchen, right +in front of our round eyes and gaping mouths, walked a smiling, pleasant, talkative +young woman who was quite sane.<br> +    She said, "Hello I'm Elizabeth! I'm sorry I was such +a hassle last week, and thank you for trying to take care of me so well. I was too +sick to know any better." She said she had gone out our back door the week before +and crawled under a pile of fallen leaves on the ground in our back yard with a black +tarp over them. We had looked under the tarp at least fifty times during the days +past, but never thought to look under the leaves as well.<br> +    This amazing occurrence made my head go bong to say the least; +it was obvious that Elizabeth had not been 'schizophrenic' because of her genetics, +nor because of stress, nor malnutrition, nor hypoglycemia, nor because of any of +the causes of mental illness I had previously learned to identify and rectify, but +because of food allergies. Elizabeth was spontaneously cured because she'd had nothing +to eat for a week. The composting pile of leaves hiding her had produced enough heat +to keep her warm at night and the heap contained sufficient moisture to keep her +from getting too dehydrated. She looked wonderful, with clear shiny blue eyes, clear +skin with good color, though she was slightly slimmer than when I had last seen her. +<br> +    I then administered Coca's Pulse Test (see the Appendix) +and quickly discovered Elizabeth was wildly intolerant to wheat and dairy products. +Following the well known health gurus of that time like Adelle Davis, I had self-righteously +been feeding her home-made whole wheat bread from hand-ground Organic wheat, and +home-made cultured yogurt from our own organically-fed goats. But by doing this I +had only maintained her insanity. Elizabeth was an intelligent young woman, and once +she understood what was causing her problems, she had no trouble completely eliminating +certain foods from her diet. She shuddered at the thought that had she not come to +my place and discovered the problem, she would probably have died on the back ward +of some institution for the chronically mentally ill. <br> +    As for me, I will always be grateful to her for opening my +eyes and mind a little wider. Elizabeth's case showed me why Russian schizophrenics +put on a 30 day water fast had such a high recovery rate. I also remembered all the +esoteric books I had read extolling the benefits of fasting. I also remembered two +occasions during my own youth when I had eaten little or nothing for approximately +a month each without realizing that I was "fasting." And doing this had +done me nothing but good.<br> +    Once when I was thirteen my mother sent my "little" +brother and I to a residential fundamentalist bible school. I did not want to go +there, although my brother did; he had decided he wanted to be a evangelical minister. +I hated bible school because I was allowed absolutely no independence of action. +We were required to attend church services three times a day during the week, and +five services on Sunday. As I became more and more unhappy, I ate less and less; +in short order I wasn't eating at all. The school administration became concerned +after I had dropped about 30 pounds in two months, notified my mother and sent me +home. I returned to at-home schooling. I also resumed eating. <br> +    I fasted one other time for about a month when I was 21. +It happened because I had nothing to do while visiting my mother before returning +to University except help with housework and prepare meals. The food available in +the backwoods of central B.C. didn't appeal to me because it was mostly canned vegetables, +canned milk, canned moose meat and bear meat stews with lots of gravy and greasy +potatoes. I decided to pass on it altogether. I remember rather enjoying that time +as a fine rest and I left feeling very good ready to take on the world full force +ahead. At that time I didn't know there was such a thing as fasting, it just happened +that way.<br> +    After Elizabeth went on her way, I decided to experimentally +fast myself. I consumed only water for two weeks. But I must have had counter intentions +to this fast because I found myself frequently having dreams about sugared plums, +and egg omelets, etc. And I didn't end up feeling much better after this fast was +over (although I didn't feel any worse either), because I foolishly broke the fast +with one of my dream omelets. And I knew better! Every book I'd ever read on fasting +stated how important it is to break a fast gradually, eating only easy-to-digest +foods for days or weeks before resuming one's regular diet. <br> +    From this experiment I painfully learned how important it +is to break a fast properly. Those eggs just didn't feel right, like I had an indigestible +stone in my belly. I felt very tired after the omelet, not energized one bit by the +food. I immediately cut back my intake to raw fruits and vegetables while the eggs +cleared out of my system. After a few days on raw food I felt okay, but I never did +regain the shine I had achieved just before I resumed eating. <br> +    This is one of the many fine things about fasting, it allows +you to get in much better communication with your own body, so that you can hear +it when it objects to something you're putting in it or doing to it. It is not easy +to acquire this degree of sensitivity to your body unless you remove all food for +a sufficiently long period; this allows the body to get a word in edgewise that we +are willing and able to listen to. Even when we do hear the body protesting, we frequently +decide to turn a deaf ear, at least until the body starts producing severe pain or +some other symptom that we can't ignore.<br> +    Within a few years after Elizabeth's cure I had handily repaired +quite a few mentally ill people in a harmless way no one had heard of; many new people +were knocking at my door wanting to be admitted to my drug free, home-based treatment +program. So many in fact that my ability to accommodate them was overwhelmed. I decided +that it was necessary to move to a larger facility and we bought an old, somewhat +run-down estate that I called Great Oaks School of Health because of the magnificent +oak trees growing in the front yard. <br> +    At Great Oaks initially I continued working with psychotics, +employing fasting as a tool, especially in those cases with obvious food allergies +as identified by Coca's Pulse Test, because it only takes five days for a fasting +body to eliminate all traces of an allergic food substance and return to normal functioning. +If the person was so severely hypoglycemic that they were unable to tolerate a water +fast, an elimination diet (to be described in detail later) was employed, while stringently +avoiding all foods usually found to be allergy producing.<br> +    I also decided that if I was going to employ fasting as my +primary medicine, it was important for me to have a more intense personal experience +with it, because in the process of reviewing the literature on fasting I saw that +there were many different approaches, each one staunchly defended by highly partisan +advocates. For example, the capital "N" Natural, capital "H" +Hygienists, such a Herbert Shelton, aggressively assert that only a pure water fast +can be called a fast. Sheltonites contend that juice fasting as advocated by Paavo +Airola, for example, is not a fast but rather a modified diet without the benefits +of real fasting. Colon cleansing was another area of profound disagreement among +the authorities. Shelton strongly insisted that enemas and colonics should not be +employed; the juice advocates tend to strongly recommend intestinal cleansing.<br> +    To be able to intelligently take a position in this maze +of conflict I decided to first try every system on myself. It seems to me that if +I can be said to really own anything in this life it is my own body, and I have the +absolute right to experiment with it as long as I'm not irresponsible about important +things such as care of my kids. I also feel strongly that it was unethical to ask +anyone to do anything that I was not willing or able to do myself. Just imagine what +would happen if all medical doctors applied this principal in their practice of medicine, +if all surgeons did it too!<br> +    I set out to do a complete and fully rigorous water fast +according to the Natural Hygiene model--only pure water and bed rest (with no colon +cleansing) until hunger returns, something the hygienists all assured me would happen +when the body had completed its detoxification process. The only aspect of a hygienic +fast I could not fulfill properly was the bed rest part; unfortunately I was in sole +charge of a busy holistic treatment CENTER (and two little girls); there were things +I had to do, though I did my chores and duties at a very slow pace with many rest +periods. <br> +    I water fasted for 42 days dropping from 135 pounds to 85 +pounds on a 5' 7" frame. At the end I looked like a Nazi concentration camp +victim. I tended to hide when people came to the door, because the sight of all my +bones scared them to death. Despite my assurances visitors assumed I was trying to +commit suicide. In any case I persevered, watching my body change, observing my emotions, +my mental functioning, and my spiritual awareness. I thought, if Moses could fast +for 42 days so can I, even though the average length of a full water fast to skeletal +weight for a person that is not overweight is more in the order of 30 days. I broke +the fast with small amounts of carrot juice diluted 50/50 with water and stayed on +that regimen for two more weeks. <br> +    After I resumed eating solid food it took six weeks to regain +enough strength to be able to run the same distance in the same time I had before +fasting, and it took me about six months to regain my previous weight. My eyes and +skin had become exceptionally clear, and some damaged areas of my body such as my +twice-broken shoulder had undergone considerable healing. I ate far smaller meals +after the fast, but food was so much more efficiently absorbed that I got a lot more +miles to the gallon from what I did eat. I also became more aware when my body did +not want me to eat something. After the fast, if I ignored my body's protest and +persisted, it would immediately create some unpleasant sensation that quickly persuaded +me to curb my appetite.<br> +    I later experimented with other approaches to fasting, with +juice fasts, with colon cleansing, and began to establish my own eclectic approach +to fasting and detoxification, using different types of programs for different conditions +and adjusting for psychological tolerances. I'll have a lot more to say about fasting.<br> +    After my own rigorous fasting experience I felt capable of +supervising extended fasts on very ill or very overweight people. Great Oaks was +gradually shifting from being a place that mentally ill people came to regain their +sanity to being a spa where anyone who wanted to improve their health could come +for a few days, some weeks or even a few months. It had been my observation from +the beginning that the mentally ill people in my program also improved remarkably +in physical health; it was obvious that my method was good for anyone. Even people +with good health could feel better. <br> +    By this time I'd also had enough of psychotic people anyway, +and longed for sane, responsible company.<br> +    So people started to come to Great Oaks School of Health +to rest up from a demanding job, to drop some excess weight, and generally to eliminate +the adverse effects of destructive living and eating habits. I also began to get +cancer patients, ranging from those who had just been diagnosed and did not wish +to go the AMA-approved medical route of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, to +those with well-advanced cancer who had been sent home to die after receiving all +of the above treatments and were now ready to give alternative therapies a try since +they expected to die anyway. I also had a few people who were beyond help because +their vital organs had been so badly damaged that they knew they were dying, and +they wanted to die in peace without medical intervention, in a supportive hospice +cared for by people who could confront death.<br> +    Great Oaks School was intentionally named a "school" +of health partially to deflect the attentions of the AMA. It is, after all, entirely +legal to teach about how to maintain health, about how to prevent illness, and how +to go about making yourself well once you were sick. Education could not be called +"practicing medicine without a license." Great Oaks was also structured +as a school because I wanted to both learn and teach. Toward this end we started +putting out a holistic health newsletter and offering classes and seminars to the +public on various aspects of holistic health. From the early 1970s through the early +1980s I invited a succession of holistic specialists to reside at GOSH, or to teach +at Great Oaks while living elsewhere. These teachers not only provided a service +to the community, but they all became my teachers as well. I apprenticed myself to +each one in turn.<br> +    There came and went a steady parade of alternative practitioners +of the healing arts and assorted forms of metapsychology: acupuncturists, acupressurists, +reflexologists, polarity therapists, massage therapists, postural integrationists, +Rolfers, Feldenkries therapists, neurolinguistic programmers, biokinesiologists, +iridologists, psychic healers, laying on of handsers, past life readers, crystal +therapists, toning therapists in the person of Patricia Sun, color therapy with lamps +and different colored lenses a la Stanley Bourroughs, Bach Flower therapists, aroma +therapists, herbalists, homeopaths, Tai Chi classes, yoga classes, Arica classes, +Guergieff and Ouspensky fourth-way study groups, EST workshops, Zen Meditation classes. +Refugee Lamas from Tibet gave lectures on The Book of the Dead and led meditation +and chanting sessions, and we held communication classes using Scientology techniques. +There were anatomy and physiology classes, classes on nutrition and the orthomolecular +approach to treating mental disorders (given by me of course); there were chiropractors +teaching adjustment techniques, even first aid classes. And we even had a few medical +doctors of the alternative ilk who were interested in life style changes as an approach +to maintaining health. <br> +    Classes were also offered on colon health including herbs, +clays, enemas, and colonics. So many of my client at Great Oaks were demanding colonics +in conjunction with their cleansing programs, that I took time out to go to Indio, +Calif. to take a course in colon therapy from a chiropractor, and purchase a state +of the art colonic machine featuring all the gauges, electric water solenoids and +stainless steel knobs one could ask for.<br> +    During this period almost all alternative therapists and +their specialties were very interesting to me, but I found that most of the approaches +they advocated did not suit my personality. For example, I think that acupuncture +is a very useful tool, but I personally did not want to use needles. Similarly I +thought that Rolfing was a very effective tool but I did not enjoy administering +that much pain, although a significant number of the clients really wanted pain. +Some of the techniques appealed to me in the beginning, and I used them frequently +with good results but over time I decided to abandon them, mostly because of a desire +to simplify and lighten up my bag of tricks.<br> +    Because of my enthusiasm and successes Great Oaks kept on +growing. Originally the estate served as both the offices of the Holt Adoption Agency +and the Holt family mansion. The Holt family had consisted of Harry and Bertha Holt, +six of their biological children, and eight adopted Korean orphans. For this reason +the ten thousand square foot two story house had large common rooms, and lots and +lots of bedrooms. It was ideal for housing spa clients and my own family. The adjoining +Holt Adoption Agency office building was also very large with a multitude of rooms. +It became living space for those helpers and hangers-on we came to refer to as "community +members." My first husband added even more to the physical plant constructing +a large, rustic gym and workshop. <br> +    Many "alternative" people visited and then begged +to stay on with room and board provided in exchange for their work. A few of these +people made a significant contribution such as cooking, child care, gardening, tending +the ever-ravenous wood-fired boiler we used to keep the huge concrete mansion heated, +or doing general cleaning. But the majority of the 'work exchangers' did not really +understand what work really was, or didn't have sufficient ethical presence to uphold +the principle of fair exchange, which is basically giving something of equal value +for getting something of value and, perhaps more importantly, giving in exchange +what is needed and asked for. <br> +    I also found that community members, once in residence, were +very difficult to dislodge. My healing services were supporting far too much dead +wood. This was basically my own fault, my own poor management.<br> +    Still, I learned a great deal from all of this waste. First +of all it is not a genuine service to another human being to give them something +for nothing. If a fair exchange is expected and received, positive ethical behavior +is strengthened, allowing the individual to maintain their self-respect. I also came +to realize what an important factor conducting one's life ethically is in the individual +healing process. Those patients who were out exchange in their relationships with +others in one or more areas of their life frequently did not get well until they +changed these behaviors.<br> +    Toward the end of 1982, after providing a decade of services +to a great many clients, many of these in critical condition, I reached to point +where I was physically, mentally, and spiritually drained. I needed a vacation desperately +but no one, including my first husband, could run Great Oaks in my absence much less +cover the heavy mortgage. So I decided to sell it. This decision stunned the community +members and shocked the clientele who had become dependent on my services. I also +got a divorce at this time. In fact I went through quite a dramatic life change in +many areas--true to pattern, a classic mid-life crisis. All I kept from these years +was my two daughters, my life experiences, and far too many books from the enormous +Great Oaks library.<br> +     These changes were however, necessary for my survival. Any +person who works with, yes, lives on a day-to-day basis with sick people and who +is constantly giving or outflowing must take time out to refill their vessel so that +they can give again. Failure to do this can result in a serious loss of health, or +death. Most healers are empathic people who feel other peoples' pains and stresses +and sometimes have difficulty determining exactly what is their own personal 'baggage' +and what belongs to the clients. This is especially difficult when the therapy involves +a lot of 'hands on' techniques.<br> +    After leaving Great Oaks it took me a couple of years to +rest up enough to want to resume practicing again. This time, instead of creating +a substantial institution, Steve, my second husband and my best friend, built a tiny +office next to our family home. I had a guest room that I would use for occasional +residential patients. Usually these were people I had known from Great Oaks days +or were people I particularly liked and wanted to help through a life crisis. <br> +    At the time I am writing this book over ten years have passed +since I sold Great Oaks. I continue to have an active outpatient practice, preferring +to protect the privacy of my home and family life since I was remarried by limiting +inpatients to a special few who required more intensive care, and then, only one +at a time, and then, with long spells without a resident. <br> +<br> +<br> +<a id="Chapter2"></a><b>Chapter Two </b><br> +<div style="font-size: x-large;"><b>The Nature and Cause of Disease </b></div><br> +<br> +<br> +<div style="font-size: small;"><b>From The Hygienic Dictionary</b><br> +<br> +</div><div style="font-size: medium;"><b>Toxemia.</b> [1] "Toxemia is the basic cause of all +so-called diseases. In the process of tissue-building (metabolism), there is cell-building +(anabolism) and cell destruction (catabolism). The broken-down tissue is toxic. In +the healthy body (when nerve energy is normal), this toxic material is eliminated +from the blood as fast as it is evolved. But when nerve energy is dissipated from +any cause (such as physical or mental excitement or bad habits) the body becomes +weakened or enervated. When the body is enervated, elimination is checked. This, +in turn, results in a retention of toxins in the blood--the condition which we speak +of as toxemia. This state produces a crisis which is nothing more than heroic or +extraordinary efforts by the body to eliminate waste or toxin from the blood. It +is this crisis which we term disease. Such accumulation of toxin when once established, +will continue until nerve energy has been restored to normal by removing the cause. +So-called disease is nature's effort to eliminate toxin from the blood. All so-called +diseases are crises of toxemia." <I>John H. Tilden, M.D., Toxemia Explained.</I> +[2] Toxins are divided into two groups; namely exogenous, those formed in the alimentary +canal from fermentation and decomposition following imperfect or faulty digestion. +If the fermentation is of vegetables or fruit, the toxins are irritating, stimulating +and enervating, but not so dangerous or destructive to organic life as putrefaction, +which is a fermentation set up in nitrogenous matter--protein-bearing foods, but +particularly animal foods. Endogenous toxins are autogenerated. They are the waste +products of metabolism. <I>Dr. John. H. Tilden, Impaired Health: Its Cause and Cure, +1921.</I><br> +</div><br> +<br> +<br> +    Suppose a fast-growing +city is having traffic jams. "We don't like it!" protest the voters." +Why are these problems happening?" asks the city council, trying to look like +they are doing something about it. <br> +    Experts then proffer answers. "Because there are too +many cars," says the Get A Horse Society. The auto makers suggest it is because +there are uncoordinated traffic lights and because almost all the businesses send +their employees home at the same time. Easy to fix! And no reason whatsoever to limit +the number of cars. The asphalt industry suggests it is because the size and amount +of roads is inadequate. <br> +    What do we do then? Tax cars severely until few can afford +them? Legislate opening and closing hours of businesses to stagger to'ing and fro'ing? +Hire a smarter municipal highway engineer to synchronize the traffic lights? Build +larger and more efficient streets? Demand that auto companies make cars smaller so +more can fit the existing roads? Tax gasoline prohibitively, pass out and give away +free bicycles in virtually unlimited quantities while simultaneously building mass +rail systems? What? Which?<br> +    When we settle on a solution we have simultaneously chosen +what we consider the real, underlying cause of the problem. If our chosen reason +was the real reason. then our solution results in a real cure. If we picked wrongly, +our attempt at solution may result in no cure, or create a worse situation than we +had before.<br> +    The American Medical Association style of medicine (a philosophy +I will henceforth call allopathic) has a model that explains the causes of illness. +It suggests that anyone who is sick is a victim. Either they were attacked by a "bad" +organism--virus, bacteria, yeast, pollen, cancer cell, etc.--or they have a "bad" +organ--liver, kidney, gall bladder, even brain. Or, the victim may also have been +cursed by bad genes. In any case, the cause of the disease is not the person and +the person is neither responsible for creating their own complaint nor is the victim +capable of making it go away. This institutionalized irresponsibility seems useful +for both parties to the illness, doctor and patient. The patient is not required +to do anything about their complaint except pay (a lot) and obediently follow the +instructions of the doctor, submitting unquestioningly to their drugs and surgeries. +The physician then acquires a role of being considered vital to the survival of others +and thus obtains great status, prestige, authority, and financial remuneration.<br> +    Perhaps because the sick person is seen to have been victimized, +and it is logically impossible to consider a victimizer as anything but something +evil, the physician's cure is often violent, confrontational. Powerful poisons are +used to rejigger body chemistry or to arrest the multiplication of disease bacteria +or to suppress symptoms; if it is possible to sustain life without them, "bad," +poorly-functioning organs are cut out.<br> +    I've had a lot of trouble with the medical profession. Over +the years doctors have made attempts to put me in jail and keep me in fear. But they +never stopped me. When I've had a client die there has been an almost inevitable +coroner's investigation, complete with detectives and the sheriff. Fortunately, I +practice in rural Oregon, where the local people have a deeply-held belief in individual +liberty and where the authorities know they would have had a very hard time finding +a jury to convict me. Had I chosen to practice with a high profile and had I located +Great Oaks School of Health in a major market area where the physicians were able +to charge top dollar, I probably would have spent years behind bars as did other +heroes of my profession such as Linda Hazzard and Royal Lee.<br> +    So I have acquired an uncomplimentary attitude about medical +doctors, a viewpoint I am going to share with you ungently, despite the fact that +doing so will alienate some of my readers. But I do so because most Americans are +entirely enthralled by doctors, and this doctor-god worship kills a lot of them. +<br> +    However, before I get started on the medicos, let me state +that one area exists where I do have fundamental admiration for allopathic medicine. +This is its handling of trauma. I agree that a body can become the genuine victim +of fast moving bullets. It can be innocently cut, smashed, burned, crushed and broken. +Trauma are not diseases and modern medicine has become quite skilled at putting traumatized +bodies back together. Genetic abnormality may be another undesirable physical condition +that is beyond the purview of natural medicine. However, the expression of contra-survival +genetics can often be controlled by nutrition. And the expression of poor genetics +often results from poor nutrition, and thus is similar to a degenerative disease +condition, and thus is well within the scope of natural medicine.<br> +    Today's suffering American public is firmly in the AMA's +grip. People have been effectively prevented from learning much about medical alternatives, +have been virtually brainwashed by clever media management that portrays other medical +models as dangerous and/or ineffective. Legislation influenced by the allopathic +doctors' union, the American Medical Association, severely limits or prohibits the +practice of holistic health. People are repeatedly directed by those with authority +to an allopathic doctor whenever they have a health problem, question or confusion. +Other types of healers are considered to be at best harmless as long as they confine +themselves to minor complaints; at worst, when naturopaths, hygienists, or homeopaths +seek to treat serious disease conditions they are called quacks, accused of unlicensed +practice of medicine and if they persist or develop a broad, successful, high-profile +and (this is the very worst) profitable practice, they are frequently jailed. <br> +    Even licensed MDs are crushed by the authorities if they +offer non-standard treatments. So when anyone seeks an alternative health approach +it is usually because their complaint has already failed to vanish after consulting +a whole series of allopathic doctors. This highly unfortunate kind of sufferer not +only has a degenerative condition to rectify, they may have been further damaged +by harsh medical treatments and additionally, they have a considerable amount of +brainwashing to overcome. <br> +    The AMA has succeeded at making their influence over information +and media so pervasive that most people do not even realize that the doctors' union +is the source of their medical outlook. Whenever an American complains of some malady, +a concerned and honestly caring friend will demand to know have they yet consulted +a medical doctor. Failure to do so on one's own behalf is considered highly irresponsible. +Concerned relatives of seriously ill adults who decline standard medical therapy +may, with a great show of self-righteousness, have the sick person judged mentally +incompetent so that treatment can be forced upon them. When a parent fails to seek +standard medical treatment for their child, the adult may well be found guilty of +criminal negligence, raising the interesting issue of who "owns" the child, +the parents or the State.<br> +    It is perfectly acceptable to die while under conventional +medical care. Happens all the time, in fact. But holistic alternatives are represented +as stupidly risky, especially for serious conditions such as cancer. People with +cancer see no choice but to do chemotherapy, radiation, and radical surgery because +this is the current allopathic medical approach. On some level people may know that +these remedies are highly dangerous but they have been told by their attending oncologist +that violent therapies are their only hope of survival, however poor that may be. +If a cancer victim doesn't proceed immediately with such treatment their official +prognosis becomes worse by the hour. Such scare tactics are common amongst the medical +profession, and they leave the recipient so terrified that they meekly and obediently +give up all self-determinism, sign the liability waiver, and submit, no questions +asked. Many then die after suffering intensely from the therapy, long before the +so-called disease could have actually caused their demise. I will later offer alternative +and frequently successful (but not guaranteed) approaches to treating cancer that +do not require the earliest-possible detection, surgery or poisons.<br> +    If holistic practitioners were to apply painful treatments +like allopaths use, ones with such poor statistical outcomes like allopaths use, +there would most certainly be witch hunts and all such irresponsible, greedy quacks +would be safely imprisoned. I find it highly ironic that for at least the past twenty +five hundred years the basic principle of good medicine has been that the treatment +must first do no harm. This is such an obvious truism that even the AMA doctors pledge +to do the same thing when they take the Hippocratic Oath. Yet virtually every action +taken by the allopath is a conscious compromise between the potential harm of the +therapy and its potential benefit.<br> +    In absolute contrast, if a person dies while on a natural +hygiene program, they died because their end was inevitable no matter what therapy +was attempted. Almost certainly receiving hygienic therapy contributed to making +their last days far more comfortable and relatively freer of pain without using opiates. +I have personally taken on clients sent home to die after they had suffered everything +the doctors could do to them, told they had only a few days, weeks, or months to +live. Some of these clients survived as a result of hygienic programs even at that +late date. And some didn't. The amazing thing was that any of them survived at all, +because the best time to begin a hygienic program is as early in the degenerative +process as possible, not after the body has been drastically weakened by invasive +and toxic treatments. Later on, I'll tell you about some of these cases.<br> +    Something I consider especially ironic is that when the patient +of a medical doctor dies, it is inevitably thought that the blessed doctor did all +that could be done; rarely is any blame laid. If the physician was especially careless +or stupid, their fault can only result in a civil suit, covered by malpractice insurance. +But let a holistic practitioner treat a sick person and have that person follow any +of their suggestions or take any natural remedies and have that person die or worsen +and it instantly becomes the natural doctor's fault. Great blame is placed and the +practitioner faces inquests, grand juries, manslaughter charges, jail time and civil +suits that can't be insured against.<br> +    Allopathic medicine rarely makes a connection between the +real causes of a degenerative or infectious disease and its cure. The causes are +usually considered mysterious: we don't know why the pancreas is acting up, etc. +The sick are sympathized with as victims who did nothing to contribute to their condition. +The cure is a highly technical battle against the illness, whose weapons are defined +in Latin and far beyond the understanding of a layperson. <br> +    Hygienic medicine presents an opposite view. To the naturopath, +illness is not a perplexing and mysterious occurrence over which you have no control +or understanding. The causes of disease are clear and simple, the sick person is +rarely a victim of circumstance and the cure is obvious and within the competence +of a moderately intelligent sick person themselves to understand and help administer. +In natural medicine, disease is a part of living that you are responsible for, and +quite capable of handling. <br> +    Asserting that the sick are pitiable victims is financially +beneficial to doctors. It makes medical intervention seem a vital necessity for every +ache and pain. It makes the sick become dependent. I'm not implying that most doctors +knowingly are conniving extortionists. Actually most medical doctors are genuinely +well-intentioned. I've also noticed that most medical doctors are at heart very timid +individuals who consider that possession of a MD degree and license proves that they +are very important, proves them to be highly intelligent, even makes them fully qualified +to pontificate on many subjects not related to medicine at all. <br> +    Doctors obtain an enormous sense of self-importance at medical +school, where they proudly endured the high pressure weeding out of any free spirit +unwilling to grind away into the night for seven or more years. Anyone incapable +of absorbing and regurgitating huge amounts of rote information; anyone with a disrespectful +or irreverent attitude toward the senior doctor-gods who arrogantly serve as med +school professors, anyone like this was eliminated with especial rapidity. When the +thoroughly submissive, homogenized survivors are finally licensed, they assume the +status of junior doctor-gods.<br> +    But becoming an official medical deity doesn't permit one +to create their own methods. No no, the AMA's professional oversight and control +system makes continued possession of the license to practice (and the high income +that usually comes with it) entirely dependent on continued conformity to what is +defined by the AMA as "correct practice." Any doctor who innovates beyond +strict limits or uses non-standard treatments is in real danger of losing their livelihood +and status. <br> +    Not only are licensed graduates of AMA-sanctioned medical +schools kept on a very tight leash, doctors of other persuasions who use other methods +to heal the sick or help them heal themselves are persecuted and prosecuted. Extension +of the AMA's control through regulatory law and police power is justified in the +name of preventing quackery and making sure the ignorant and gullible public receives +only scientifically proven effective medical care. <br> +    Those on the other side of the fence view the AMA's oppression +as an effective way to make sure the public has no real choices but to use union +doctors, pay their high fees and suffer greatly by misunderstanding of the true cause +of disease and its proper cure. If there are any actual villains responsible for +this suppressive tragedy some of them are to be found in the inner core of the AMA, +officials who may perhaps fully and consciously comprehend the suppressive system +they promulgate. <br> +    Hygienists usually inform the patient quite clearly and directly +that the practitioner has no ability to heal them or cure their condition and that +no doctor of any type actually is able to heal. Only the body can heal itself, something +it is eager and usually very able to do if only given the chance. One pithy old saying +among hygienists goes, "if the body can't heal itself, nothing can heal it." +The primary job of the hygienic practitioner is to reeducate the patient by conducting +them through their first natural healing process. If this is done well the sick person +learns how to get out of their own body's way and permit its native healing power +to manifest. Unless later the victim of severe traumatic injury, never again will +that person need obscenely expensive medical procedures. Hygienists rarely make six +figure incomes from regular, repeat business.<br> +    This aspect of hygienic medicine makes it different than +almost all the others, even most other holistic methods. Hygiene is the only system +that does not interpose the assumed healing power of a doctor between the patient +and wellness. When I was younger and less experienced I thought that the main reason +traditional medical practice did not stress the body's own healing power and represented +the doctor as a necessary intervention was for profit. But after practicing for over +twenty years I now understand that the last thing most people want to hear is that +their own habits, especially their eating patterns and food choices, are responsible +for their disease and that their cure is to only be accomplished through dietary +reform, which means unremittingly applied self-discipline.<br> +    One of the hardest things to ask of a person is to change +a habit. The reason that AMA doctors have most of the patients is they're giving +the patients exactly what they want, which is to be allowed to continue in their +unconscious irresponsibility.<br> +<br> +<b>The Cause Of Disease</b><br> +    Ever since natural medicine arose in opposition to the violence +of so-called scientific medicine, every book on the subject of hygiene, once it gets +past its obligatory introductions and warm ups, must address The Cause of Disease. +This is a required step because we see the cause of disease and its consequent cure +in a very different manner than the allopath. Instead of many causes, we see one +basic reason why. Instead of many unrelated cures, we have basically one approach +to fix all ills that can be fixed.<br> +    A beautiful fifty cent word that means a system for explaining +something is paradigm, pronounced para-dime. I am fond of this word because it admits +the possibility of many differing yet equally true explanations for the same reality. +Of all available paradigms, Natural Hygiene suits me best and has been the one I've +used for most of my career. <br> +    The Natural Hygienist's paradigm for the cause of both degenerative +and infectious disease is called the Theory of Toxemia, or "self-poisoning." +<br> +    Before explaining this theory it will help many readers if +I digress a brief moment about the nature and validity of alternative paradigms. +Not too many decades ago, scientists thought that reality was a singular, real, perpetual--that +Natural Law existed much as a tree or a rock existed. In physics, for example, the +mechanics of Newton were considered capital "T" True, the only possible +paradigm. Any other view, not being True, was False. There was capital "N" +natural capital "L" law.<br> +    More recently, great uncertainty has entered science; it +has become indisputable that a theory or explanation of reality is only true only +to the degree it seems to work; conflicting or various explanations can all work, +all can be "true." At least, this uncertainty has overtaken the hard, physical +sciences. It has not yet done so with medicine. The AMA is convinced (or is working +hard to convince everyone else) that its paradigm, the allopathic approach, is Truth, +is scientific, and therefore, anything else is Falsehood, is irresponsibility, is +a crime against the sick. <br> +    But the actual worth or truth of any paradigm is found not +in its "reality," but in its utility. Does an explanation or theory allow +a person to manipulate experience and create a desired outcome. To the extent a paradigm +does that, it can be considered valuable. Judged by this standard, the Theory of +Toxemia must be far truer than the hodgepodge of psuedoscience taught in medical +schools. Keep that in mind the next time some officious medical doctor disdainfully +informs you that Theory of Toxemia was disproven in 1927 by Doctors Jeckel and Hyde.<br> +<br> +<b>Why People Get Sick</b><br> +    This is the Theory of Toxemia. A healthy body struggles continually +to purify itself of poisons that are inevitably produced while going about its business +of digesting food, moving about, and repairing itself. The body is a marvelous creation, +a carbon, oxygen combustion machine, constantly burning fuel, disposing of the waste +products of combustion, and constantly rebuilding tissue by replacing worn out, dead +cells with new, fresh ones. Every seven years virtually every cell in the body is +replaced, some types of cells having a faster turnover rate than others, which means +that over a seven year period several hundred pounds of dead cells must be digested +(autolyzed) and eliminated. All by itself this would be a lot of waste disposal for +the body to handle. Added to that waste load are numerous mild poisons created during +proper digestion. And added to that can be an enormous burden of waste products created +as the body's attempts to digest the indigestible, or those tasty items I've heard +called "fun food." Add to that burden the ruinous effects of just plain +overeating. <br> +    The waste products of digestion, of indigestion, of cellular +breakdown and the general metabolism are all poisonous to one degree or another. +Another word for this is toxic. If these toxins were allowed to remain and accumulate +in the body, it would poison itself and die in agony. So the body has a processing +system to eliminate toxins. And when that system does break down the body does die +in agony, as from liver or kidney failure. <br> +    The organs of detoxification remove things from the body's +system, but these two vital organs should not be confused with what hygienists call +the secondary organs of elimination, such as the large intestine, lungs, bladder +and the skin, because none of these other eliminatory organs are supposed to purify +the body of toxins. But when the body is faced with toxemia, the secondary organs +of elimination are frequently pressed into this duty and the consequences are the +symptoms we call illness.<br> +    The lungs are supposed to eliminate only carbon dioxide gas; +not self-generated toxic substances. The large intestine is supposed to pass only +insoluble food solids (and some nasty stuff dumped into the small intestine by the +liver). Skin eliminates in the form of sweat (which contains mineral salts) to cool +the body, but the skin is not supposed to move toxins outside the system. But when +toxins are flowed out through secondary organs of elimination these areas become +inflamed, irritated, weakened. The results can be skin irritations, sinusitis or +a whole host of other "itises" depending on the area involved, bacterial +or viral infections, asthma. When excess toxemia is deposited instead of eliminated, +the results can be arthritis if toxins are stored in joints, rheumatism if in muscle +tissues, cysts and benign tumors. And if toxins weaken the body's immune response, +cancer. <br> +    The liver and the kidneys, the two heroic organs of detoxification, +are the most important ones; these jointly act as filters to purify the blood. Hygienists +pay a lot of attention to these organs, the liver especially.<br> +    In an ideal world, the liver and kidneys would keep up with +their job for 80 years or more before even beginning to tire. In this ideal world, +the food would of course, be very nutritious and free of pesticide residues, the +air and water would be pure, people would not denature their food and turn it into +junk. In this perfect world everyone would get moderate exercise into old age, and +live virtually without stress. In this utopian vision, the average healthy productive +life span would approach a century, entirely without using food supplements or vitamins. +In this world doctors would have next to no work other than repairing traumatic injuries, +because everyone would be healthy. But this is not the way it is.<br> +    In our less-than-ideal world virtually everything we eat +is denatured, processed, fried, salted, sweetened, preserved; thus more stress is +placed on the liver and kidneys than nature designed them to handle. Except for a +few highly fortunate individuals blessed with an incredible genetic endowment that +permits them to live to age 99 on moose meat, well-larded white flour biscuits, coffee +with evaporated milk and sugar, brandy and cigarettes (we've all heard of someone +like this), most peoples' liver and kidneys begin to break down prematurely. Thus +doctoring has become a financially rewarding profession.<br> +    Most people overburden their organs of elimination by eating +whatever they feel like eating whenever they feel like it. Or, they irresponsibly +eat whatever is served to them by a mother, wife, institution or cook because doing +so is easy or expected. Eating is a very habitual and unconscious activity; frequently +we continue to eat as adults whatever our mother fed us as a child. I consider it +unsurprising that when people develop the very same disease conditions as their parents. +they wrongly assume the cause is genetic inheritance, when actually it was just because +they were putting their feet under the same table as their parents.<br> +    Toxemia also comes about from following the wrongheaded recommendations +of allopathic-inspired nutritional texts and licensed dietitians. For example, people +believe they should eat one food from each of the four so-called basic food groups +at each meal, thinking they are doing the right thing for their health by having +four colors of food on every plate, when they really aren't. What they have actually +done is force their bodies to attempt the digestion of indigestible food combinations, +and the resulting indigestion creates massive doses of toxins. I'll have a lot more +to say about that later when I discuss the art of food combining. <br> +<br> + +<table> + <caption><b>Table 1: The Actual Food Groups*</b></caption> + <tr> + <td style="width: 20%;">Starches</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">Proteins</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">Fats</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">Sugars</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">Watery Vegetables</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 20%;">bread</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">meats</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">butter</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">honey</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">zucchini</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 20%;">potatoes</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">eggs</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">oils</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">fruit</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">green beans</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 20%;">noodles</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">fish</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">lard</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">sugar</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">tomatoes</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 20%;">manioc/yuca</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">most nuts</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">nuts</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">molassas</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">peppers</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 20%;">baked goods</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">dry beans</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">avocado</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">malt syrup</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">eggplant</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 20%;">grains</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">nut butters</td> + <td style="width: 20%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 20%;">maple syrup</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">radish</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 20%;">winter squash</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">split peas</td> + <td style="width: 20%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 20%;">dried fruit</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">rutabaga</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 20%;">parsnips</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">lentils</td> + <td style="width: 20%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 20%;">melons</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">turnips</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 20%;">sweet potatoes</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">soybeans</td> + <td style="width: 20%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 20%;">carrot juice</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">Brussels sprouts</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 20%;">yams</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">tofu</td> + <td style="width: 20%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 20%;">beet juice</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">celery</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 20%;">taro root</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">tempeh</td> + <td style="width: 20%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 20%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 20%;">cauliflower</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 20%;">plantains</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">wheat grass juice</td> + <td style="width: 20%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 20%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 20%;">broccoli</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 20%;">beets</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">"green" drinks</td> + <td style="width: 20%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 20%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 20%;">okra</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 20%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 20%;">spirulina</td> + <td style="width: 20%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 20%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 20%;">lettuce</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 20%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 20%;">algae</td> + <td style="width: 20%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 20%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 20%;">endive</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 20%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 20%;">yeast</td> + <td style="width: 20%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 20%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 20%;">cabbage</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 20%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 20%;">dairy</td> + <td style="width: 20%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 20%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 20%;">carrots</td> + </tr> +</table> +<br> +<div style="font-size: small;">* Standard dietitians divide our foods into four basic food groups +and recommend the ridiculous practice of mixing them at every meal. This guarantees +indigestion and lots of business for the medical profession. This chart illustrates +the actual food groups. It is usually a poor practice to mix different foods from +one group with those from another.</div><br> +<br> +<br> +<b>The Digestive Process</b><br> +    After we have eaten our four-color meal--often we do this +in a hurry, without much chewing, under a lot of stress, or in the presence of negative +emotions--we give no thought to what becomes of our food once it has been swallowed. +We have been led to assume that anything put in the mouth automatically gets digested +flawlessly, is efficiently absorbed into the body where it nourishes our cells, with +the waste products being eliminated completely by the large intestine. This vision +of efficiency may exist in the best cases but for most there is many a slip between +the table and the toilet. Most bodies are not optimally efficient at performing all +the required functions, especially after years of poor living habits, stress, fatigue, +and aging. To the Natural Hygienist, most disease begins and ends with our food; +most of our healing efforts are focused on improving the process of digestion. <br> +    Digestion means chemically changing the foods we eat into +substances that can pass into the blood stream and circulate through the body where +nutrition is used for bodily functions. Our bodies use nutritional substances for +fuel, for repair and rebuilding, and to conduct an incredibly complex biochemistry. +Scientists are still busily engaged in trying to understand the chemical mysteries +of our bodies. But as bewildering as the chemistry of life is, the chemistry of digestion +itself is actually a relatively simple process, and one doctors have had a fairly +good understanding of for many decades. <br> +    Though relatively straightforward, a lot can and does go +wrong with digestion. The body breaks down foods with a series of different enzymes +that are mixed with food at various points as it passes from mouth to stomach to +small intestine. An enzyme is a large, complex molecule that has the ability to chemically +change other large, complex molecules without being changed itself. Digestive enzymes +perform relatively simple functions--breaking large molecules into smaller parts +that can dissolve in water. <br> +    Digestion starts in the mouth when food is mixed with ptyalin, +an enzyme secreted by the salivary glands. Pylatin converts insoluble starches into +simple sugars. If the digestion of starchy foods is impaired, the body is less able +to extract the energy contained in our foods, while far worse from the point of view +of the genesis of diseases, undigested starches pass through the stomach and into +the gut where they ferment and thereby create an additional toxic burden for the +liver to process. And fermenting starches also create gas. <br> +    As we chew our food it gets mixed with saliva; as we continue +to chew the starches in the food are converted into sugar. There is a very simple +experiment you can conduct to prove to yourself how this works. Get a plain piece +of bread, no jam, no butter, plain, and without swallowing it or allowing much of +it to pass down the throat, begin to chew it until it seems to literally dissolve. +Pylatin works fast in our mouths so you may be surprised at how sweet the taste gets. +As important as chewing is, I have only run into about one client in a hundred that +actually makes an effort to consciously chew their food. <br> +    Horace Fletcher, whose name has become synonymous with the +importance of chewing food well (Fletcherizing), ran an experiment on a military +population in Canada. He required half his experimental group to chew thoroughly, +and the other half to gulp things down as usual,. His study reports significant improvement +in the overall health and performance of the group that persistently chewed. Fletcher's +report recommended that every mouthful be chewed 50 times for half a minute before +being swallowed. Try it, you might be very surprised at what a beneficial effect +such a simple change in your approach to eating can make. Not only will you have +less intestinal gas, if overweight you will probably find yourself getting smaller +because your blood sugar will elevate quicker as you are eating and thus your sense +of hunger will go away sooner. If you are very thin and have difficulty gaining weight +you may find that the pounds go on easier because chewing well makes your body more +capable of actually assimilating the calories you are consuming.<br> +     A logical conclusion from this data is that anything that +would prevent or reduce chewing would be unhealthful. For example, food eaten when +too hot tends to be gulped down. The same tends to happen when food is seasoned with +fresh Jalapeño or habaneo peppers. People with poor teeth should blend or mash +starchy foods and then gum them thoroughly to mix them with saliva. Keep in mind +that even so-called protein foods such as beans often contain large quantities of +starches and the starch portion of protein foods is also digested in the mouth.<br> +    Once the food is in the stomach, it is mixed with hydrochloric +acid, secreted by the stomach itself, and pepsin, an enzyme. Together these break +proteins down into water-soluble amino acids. To accomplish this the stomach muscles +agitate the food continuously, somewhat like a washing machine. This extended churning +forms a kind of ball in the stomach called a bolis. <br> +    Many things can and frequently do go wrong at this stage +of the digestive process. First, the stomach's very acid environment inactivates +pylatin, so any starch not converted to sugar in the mouth does not get properly +processed thereafter. And the most dangerous misdigetion comes from the sad fact +that cooked proteins are relatively indigestible no matter how strong the constitution, +no matter how concentrated the stomach acid or how many enzymes present. It is quite +understandable to me that people do not wish to accept this fact. After all, cooked +proteins are so delicious, especially cooked red meats and the harder, more flavorful +fishes. <br> +    To appreciate this, consider how those enzymes that digest +proteins work. A protein molecule is a large, complex string of amino acids, each +linked to the next in a specific order. Suppose there are only six amino acids: 1, +2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. So a particular (imaginary) protein could be structured: 1, 4, +4, 6, 2, 3, 5, 4, 2, 3, 6, 1, 1, 2, 3, etc. Thus you should see that by combining +a limited number of amino acids there can be a virtually infinite number of proteins. +<br> +    But proteins are rarely water soluble. As I said a few paragraphs +back, digestion consists of rendering insoluble foods into water-soluble substances +so they can pass into the blood stream and be used by the body's chemistry. To make +them soluble, enzymes break down the proteins, separating the individual amino acids +one from the other, because amino acids are soluble. Enzymes that digest proteins +work as though they are mirror images of a particular amino acid. They fit against +a particular amino acid like a key fits into a lock. Then they break the bonds holding +that amino acid to others in the protein chain, and then, what I find so miraculous +about this process, the enzyme is capable of finding yet another amino acid to free, +and then yet another. <br> +    So with sufficient churning in an acid environment, with +enough time (a few hours), and enough enzymes, all the recently eaten proteins are +decomposed into amino acids and these amino acids pass into the blood where the body +recombines them into structures it wants to make. And we have health. But when protein +chains are heated, the protein structures are altered into physical shapes that the +enzymes can't "latch" on to. The perfect example of this is when an egg +is fried. The eggwhite is albumen, a kind of protein. When it is heated, it shrivels +up and gets hard. While raw and liquid, it is easily digestable. When cooked, largely +indigestable.<br> +    Stress also inhibits the churning action in the stomach so +that otherwise digestible foods may not be mixed efficiently with digestive enzymes. +For all these reasons, undigested proteins may pass into the gut.<br> +    Along with undigested starches. When starches convert best +to sugars under the alkaline conditions found in the mouth. Once they pass into the +acid stomach starch digestion is not as efficient. If starches reach the small intestine +they are fermented by yeasts. The products of starch fermentation are only mildly +toxic. The gases produced by yeast fermentations usually don't smell particularly +bad; bodies that regularly contain starch fermentation usually don't smell particularly +bad either. In otherwise healthy people it can take many years of exposure to starch +fermentation toxins to produce a life-threatening disease. <br> +    But undigested proteins aren't fermented by yeasts, they +putrefy in the gut (are attacked by anaerobic bacteria). Many of the waste products +of anaerobic putrefaction are highly toxic and evil smelling; when these toxins are +absorbed through the small or large intestines they are very irritating to the mucous +membranes, frequently contributing to or causing cancer of the colon. Protein putrefaction +may even cause psychotic symptoms in some individuals. Meat eaters often have a very +unpleasant body odor even when they are not releasing intestinal gasses.<br> +    Adding a heavy toxic burden from misdigested foods to the +normal toxic load a body already has to handle creates a myriad of unpleasant symptoms, +and greatly shortens life. But misdigestion also carries with it a double whammy; +fermenting and/or putrefying foods immediately interfere with the functioning of +another vital organ--the large intestine--and cause constipation. <br> +    Most people don't know what the word constipation really +means. Not being able to move one's bowels is only the most elementary type of constipation. +A more accurate definition of constipation is "the retention of waste products +in the large intestine beyond the time that is conducive to health." Properly +digested food is not sticky and exits the large intestine quickly. But improperly +digested food (or indigestible food) gradually coats the large intestine, making +an ever-thicker lining that interferes with the intestine's functioning. Far worse, +this coating steadily putrefies, creating additional highly-potent toxins. Lining +the colon with undigested food can be compared to the mineral deposits filling in +the inside of an old water pipe, gradually choking off the flow. In the colon, this +deposit can become rock-hard, just like water pipe scale.<br> +    Since the large intestine is also an organ that removes moisture +and water-soluble minerals from the food and moves them into the blood stream, when +the large intestine is lined with putrefying undigested food waste, the toxins of +this putrefaction are also steadily moved into the bloodstream and place an even +greater burden on the liver and kidneys, accelerating their breakdown, accelerating +the aging process and contributing to a lot of interesting and unpleasant symptoms +that keep doctors busy and financially solvent. I'll have quite a bit more to say +about colon cleansing later.<br> +<br> +<b>The Progress Of Disease: Irritation, Enervation, Toxemia</b><br> +    Disease routinely lies at the end of a three-part chain that +goes: irritation or sub-clinical malnutrition, enervation, toxemia. Irritations are +something the person does to themselves or something that happens around them. Stresses, +in other words. <br> +    Mental stressors include strong negative emotional states +such as anger, fear, resentment, hopelessness, etc. Behind most diseases it is common +to find a problematic mind churning in profound confusion, one generated by a character +that avoids responsibility. There may also be job stress or ongoing hostile relationships, +often within the family. <br> +    Indigestible foods and misdigestion are also stressful irritations, +as are mild recreational poisons such as "soft" drugs, tobacco and alcohol. +Opiates are somewhat more toxifying, primarily because they paralyze the gut and +induce profound constipation. Stimulants like cocaine and amphetamines are the most +damaging recreational drugs ; these are highly toxic and rapidly shorten life.<br> +    Repeated irritations and/or malnutrition eventually produce +enervation. The old-time hygienists defined enervation as a lack of or decline in +an unmeasurable phenomena, "nerve energy." They viewed the functioning +of vital organs as being controlled by or driven by nerve force, sometimes called +life force or élan vital. Whatever this vital force actually is, it can be observed +and subjectively measured by comparing one person with another. Some people are full +of it and literally sparkle with overflowing energy. Beings like this make everyone +around them feel good because they somehow momentarily give energy to those endowed +with less. Others possess very little and dully plod through life. <br> +    As vital force drops, the overall efficiency of all the body's +organs correspondingly decline. The pancreas creates less digestive enzymes; the +thymus secretes less of its vital hormones that mobilize the immune system; the pituitary +makes less growth hormone so the overall repair and rebuilding of cells and tissues +slows correspondingly; and so forth. It does not really matter if there is or is +not something called nerve energy that can or cannot be measured in a laboratory. +Vital force is observable to many people. However, it is measurable by laboratory +test that after repeated irritation the overall functioning of the essential organs +and glands does deteriorate.<br> +    Enervation may develop so gradually that it progresses below +the level of awareness of the person, or times of increased enervation can be experienced +as a complaint--as a lack of energy, as tiredness, as difficulties digesting, as +a new inability to handle a previously-tolerated insult like alcohol. <br> +    Long-term consumption of poor-quality food causes enervation. +The body is a carbon/oxygen engine designed to run efficiently only on highly nutritious +food and this aspect of human genetic programming cannot be changed significantly +by adaptation. Given enough generations a human gene pool can adapt to extracting +its nutrition from a different group of foods. For example, a group of isolated Fijians +currently enjoying long healthy lives eating a diet of seafoods and tropical root +crops could suddenly be moved to the highlands of Switzerland and forced to eat the +local fare or starve. But most of the Fijians would not have systems adept at making +those enzymes necessary to digest cows milk. So the transplanted Fijians would experience +many generations of poorer health and shorter life spans until their genes had been +selected for adaptation to the new dietary. Ultimately their descendants could become +uniformly healthy on rye bread and dairy products just like the highland Swiss were.<br> +    However, modern industrial farming and processing of foodstuffs +significantly contributes to mass, widespread enervation in two ways. Humans will +probably adjust to the first; the second will, I'm sure, prove insurmountable. First, +industrially processed foods are a recent invention and our bodies have not yet adapted +to digesting them. In a few more generations humans might be able to accomplish that +and public health could improve on factory food. In the meanwhile, the health of +humans has declined. Industrially farmed foods have also been lowered in nutritional +content compared to what food could be. I gravely doubt if any biological organism +can ever adapt to an overall dietary that contains significantly lowered levels of +nutrition. I will explain this more fully in the chapter on diet.<br> +<br> +<b>Secondary Eliminations Are Disease</b><br> +    However the exact form the chain from irritation or malnutrition +to enervation progresses, the ultimate result is an increased level of toxemia, placing +an eliminatory burden on the liver and kidneys in excess of their ability. Eventually +these organs begin to weaken. Decline of liver and/or kidney function threatens the +stability and purity of blood chemistry. Rather than risk complete incapacitation +or death from self-poisoning, the overloaded, toxic body, guided by its genetic predisposition +and the nature of the toxins (what was eaten, in what state of stress), cleverly +channels surplus toxins into its first line of defense--alternative or secondary +elimination systems. <br> +    Most non-life-threatening yet highly annoying disease conditions +originate as secondary eliminations. For example, the skin was designed to sweat, +elimination of fluids. Toxemia is often pushed out the sweat glands and is recognized +as an unpleasant body odor. A healthy, non-toxic body smells sweet and pleasant (like +a newborn baby's body) even after exercise when it has been sweating heavily. Other +skin-like organs such as the sinus tissues, were designed to secrete small amounts +of mucus for lubrication. The lungs eliminate used air and the tissues are lubricated +with mucus-like secretions too. These secretions are types of eliminations, but are +not intended for the elimination of toxins. When toxins are discharged in mucus through +tissues not designed to handle them, the tissues themselves become irritated, inflamed, +weakened and thus much more subject to bacterial or viral infection. Despite this +danger, not eliminating surplus toxins carries with it the greater penalty of serious +disability or death. Because of this liability, the body, in its wisdom, initially +chooses secondary elimination routes as far from vital tissues and organs as possible. +Almost inevitably the skin or skin-like mucus membranes such as the sinuses, or lung +tissues become the first line of defense.<br> +     Thus the average person's disease history begins with colds, +flu, sinusitis, bronchitis, chronic cough, asthma, rashes, acne, eczema, psoriasis. +If these secondary eliminations are suppressed with drugs (either from the medical +doctor or with over the counter remedies), if the eating or lifestyle habits that +created the toxemia are not changed, or if the toxic load increases beyond the limits +of this technique, the body then begins to store toxins in fat or muscle tissues +or the joint cavities, overburdens the kidneys, creates cysts, fibroids, and benign +tumors to store those toxins. If toxic overload continues over a longer time the +body will eventually have to permit damages to vital tissues, and life-threatening +conditions develop.<br> +    Hygienic doctors always stress that disease is remedial effort. +Illness comes from the body's best attempt to lighten its toxic load without immediately +threatening its survival. The body always does the very best it can to remedy toxemia +given its circumstances, and it should be commended for these efforts regardless +of how uncomfortable they might be to the person inhabiting the body. Symptoms of +secondary elimination are actually a positive thing because they are the body's efforts +to lessen a dangerously toxic condition. Secondary eliminations shouldn't be treated +immediately with a drug to suppress the process. If you squelch the bodies best and +least-life-threatening method to eliminate toxins, the body will ultimately have +to resort to another more dangerous though probably less immediately uncomfortable +channel. <br> +    The conventional medical model does not view disease this +way and sees the symptoms of secondary elimination as the disease itself. So the +conventional doctor takes steps to halt the body's remedial efforts, thus stopping +the undesirable symptom and then, the symptom gone, proclaims the patient cured. +Actually, the disease is the cure.<br> +    A common pattern of symptom suppression under the contemporary +medical model is this progression: treat colds with antihistamines until the body +gets influenza; suppress a flu repeatedly with antibiotics and eventually you get +pneumonia. Or, suppress eczema with cortisone ointment repeatedly, and eventually +you develop kidney disease. Or, suppress asthma with bronkiodialators and eventually +you need cortisone to suppress it. Continue treating asthma with steroids and you +destroy the adrenals; now the body has become allergic to virtually everything.<br> +    The presence of toxins in an organ of secondary elimination +is frequently the cause of infection. Sinuses and lungs, inflamed by secondary eliminations, +are attacked by viruses or bacteria; infectious diseases of the skin result from +pushing toxins out of the skin. More generalized infections also result from toxemia; +in this case the immune system has become compromised and the body is overwhelmed +by an organism that it normally should be able to resist easily. The wise cure of +infections is not to use antibiotics to suppress the bacteria while simultaneously +whipping the immune system; most people, including most medical doctors, do not realize +that antibiotics also goose the immune system into super efforts. But when one chooses +to whip a tired horse, eventually the exhausted animal collapses and cannot rise +again no matter how vigorously it is beaten. The wise cure is to detoxify the body, +a step that simultaneously eliminates secondary eliminations and rebuilds the immune +system.<br> +    The wise way to deal with the body's eliminative efforts +is to accept that disease is an opportunity to pay the piper for past indiscretions. +You should go to bed, rest, and drink nothing but water or dilute juice until the +condition has passed. This allows the body to conserve its vital energy, direct this +energy toward healing the disordered body part, and catch up on its waste disposal. +In this way you can help your body, be in harmony with its efforts instead of working +against it which is what most people do.<br> +    Please forgive another semi-political polemic here, but in +my practice I have often been amazed to hear my clients complain that they have not +the time nor the ability to be patient with their body, to rest it through an illness +because they have a job they can't afford to miss or responsibilities they can't +put down. This is a sad commentary on the supposed wealth and prosperity of the United +States. In our country most people are enslaved by their debts, incurred because +they had been enthralled by the illusion of happiness secured by the possession of +material things. Debt slaves believe they cannot miss a week of work. People who +feel they can't afford to be sick think they can afford to live on pills. So people +push through their symptoms by sheer grit for years on end, and keep that up until +their exhausted horse of a body breaks down totally and they find themselves in the +hospital running up bills to the tune of several thousand dollars a day. But these +very same people do not think they can afford the loss of a few hundred dollars of +current income undertaking some virtually harmless preventative maintenance on their +bodies.<br> +    Given half a chance the body will throw off toxic overburdens +and cleanse itself. And once the body has been cleansed of toxemia, disagreeable +symptoms usually cease. This means that to make relatively mild but unwanted symptoms +lessen and ultimately stop it is merely necessary to temporarily cut back food intake, +eating only what does not cause toxemia. These foods I classify as cleansing, such +as raw fruits and vegetables and their juices. If the symptoms are extreme, are perceived +as overwhelming or are actually life-threatening, detoxification can be speeded up +by dropping back to only dilute raw juices or vegetable broth made only from greens, +without eating the solids. In the most extreme cases hygienists use their most powerful +medicine: a long fast on herb teas, or just water. I will have a lot to say about +fasting, later.<br> +    When acutely ill, the most important thing to do is to just +get out of the body's way, and let it heal itself. In our ignorance we are usually +our own worst enemy in this regard. We have been very successfully conditioned to +think that all symptoms are bad. But I know from experience that people can and do +learn a new way of viewing the body, an understanding that puts them at cause over +their own body. It allows you to be empowered in one more area of life instead of +being dependent and at the mercy of other peoples decisions about your body.<br> +    Finally, and this is why natural medicine is doubly unpopular, +to prevent the recurrence of toxemia and acute disease states, person must discover +what they are doing wrong and change their life. Often as not this means elimination +of the person's favorite (indigestible) foods and/or (stress-producing) bad habits. +Naturally, I will have a lot more to say about this later, too.<br> +<br> +<br> +<a id="Chapter3"></a><b>Chapter Three </b><br> +<div style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Fasting</b></div><br> +<br> +<br> +<div style="font-size: small;"><b>From The Hygienic Dictionary </b><br> +<br> +</div><div style="font-size: medium;"><b>Cure. </b>[1] There is no "cure" for disease; +fasting is not a cure. Fasting facilitates natural healing processes. Foods do not +cure. Until we have discarded our faith in cures, there can be no intelligent approach +to the problems presented by suffering and no proper use of foods by those who are +ill. <I>Herbert Shelton, The Hygienic System, v. 3, Fasting and Sunbathing.</I> [2] +All cure starts from within out and from the head down and in reverse order as the +symptoms have appeared.<I> Hering"s Law of Cure.</I> [3] Life is made up of +crises. The individual establishes a standard of health peculiarly his own, which +must vary from all other standards as greatly as his personality varies from others. +The individual standard may be such as to favor the development of indigestion, catarrh, +gout, rheumatic and glandular inflammations, tubercular developments, congestions, +sluggish secretions and excretions, or inhibitions of various functions, both mental +and physical, wherever the environmental or habit strain is greater than usual. The +standard of resistance may be opposed so strenuously by habits and unusual physical +agencies--that the body breaks down under the strain. This is a crisis. Appetite fails, +discomfort or pain forces rest, and, as a result of physiological rest (fasting) +and physical rest (rest from daily work and habits), a readjustment takes place, +and the patient is "cured." This is what the profession and the people +call a cure, and it is for the time being--until an unusual enervation is brought +on from accident or dissipation; then another crisis. These crises are the ordinary +sickness of all communities--all catalogued diseases. When the cold is gone or the +hay-fever fully relieved, it does not mean the patient is cured. Indeed, he is as +much diseased as before he suffered the attack--the crisis--and he never will be cured +until the habits of life that keep up toxin poisoning are corrected. To recover from +a crisis is not a cure; the tendency is back to the individual standard; hence all +crises are self-limited, unless nature by maltreatment is prevented from reacting. +All so-called healing systems ride to glory on the backs of self-limited crises, +and the self-deluded doctors and their credulous clients, believe, when the crises +are past, that a cure has been wrought, whereas the real truth is that the treatment +may have delayed reaction. This is largely true of anything that has been done except +rest. A cure consists in changing the manner of living to such a rational standard +that full resistance and a balanced metabolism is established. I suppose it is not +quite human to expect those of a standardized school of healing to give utterance +to discovered truth which, if accepted by the people, would rob them of the glory +of being curers of disease. Indeed, nature, and nature only, cures; and as for crises, +they come and go, whether or not there is a doctor or healer within a thousand miles. +<I>Dr. John.H. Tilden, Impaired Health: Its Cause and Cure, 1921. </I></div><br> +<br> +<br> +    The accelerated healing process that occurs during fasting +can scarcely be believed by a person who has not fasted. No matter how gifted the +writer, the experiential reality of fasting cannot be communicated. The great novelist +Upton Sinclair wrote a book about fasting and it failed to convince the multitudes. +But once a person has fasted long enough to be certain of what their own body can +do to fix itself, they acquire a degree of independence little known today. Many +of those experienced with fasting no longer dread being without health insurance +and feel far less need for a doctor or of having a regular checkup. They know with +certainty that if something degenerates in their body, their own body can fix it +by itself.<br> +    Like Upton Sinclair and many others who largely failed before +me, I am going to try to convince you of the virtues of fasting by urging you to +try fasting yourself. If you will but try you will be changed for the better for +the rest of your life. If you do not try, you will never Know.<br> +    To prompt your first step on this health-freedom road, I +ask you to please carefully consider the importance of this fact: the body"s +routine energy budget includes a very large allocation for the daily digestion and +assimilation of the food you eat. You may find my estimate surprising, but about +one-third of a fairly sedentary person"s entire energy consumption goes into +food processing. Other uses for the body"s energy include the creation or rebuilding +of tissues, detoxification, moving (walking, running, etc.), talking, producing hormones, +etc. Digestion is one aspect of the body"s efforts that we can readily control, +it is the key to having or losing health.<br> +<br> +<b>The Effort Of Digestion</b><br> +    Digestion is a huge, unappreciated task, unappreciated because +few of us are aware of its happening in the same way we are aware of making efforts +to use our voluntary muscles when working or exercising. Digestion begins in the +mouth with thorough chewing. If you don"t think chewing is effort, try making +coleslaw in your own mouth. Chew up at least half a big head of cabbage and three +big carrots that have not been shredded. Grind each bit until it liquefies and has +been thoroughly mixed with saliva. I guarantee that if you even finish the chore +your jaw will be tired and you will have lost all desire to eat anything else, especially +if it requires chewing. <br> +    Making the saliva you just used while chewing the cabbage +is by itself, a huge and unappreciated chemical effort. <br> +    Once in the stomach, chewed food has to be churned in order +to mix it with hydrochloric acid, pepsin, and other digestive enzymes. Manufacturing +these enzymes is also considerable work! Churning is even harder work than chewing +but normally, people are unaware of its happening. While the stomach is churning +(like a washing machine) a large portion of the blood supply is redirected from the +muscles in the extremities to the stomach and intestines to aid in this process. +Anyone who has tried to go for a run, or take part in any other strenuous physical +activity immediately after a large meal feels like a slug and wonders why they just +can"t make their legs move the way they usually do. So, to assist the body while +it is digesting, it is wise to take a siesta as los Latinos do instead of expecting +the blood to be two places at once like los norteamericanos.<br> +    After the stomach is through churning, the partially digested +food is moved into the small intestine where it is mixed with more pancreatin secreted +by the pancreas, and with bile from the gall bladder. Pancreatin further solubilizes +proteins. Bile aids in the digestion of fatty foods. Manufacturing bile and pancreatic +enzymes is also a lot of effort. Only after the carbohydrates (starches and sugars), +proteins and fats have been broken down into simpler water soluble food units such +as simple sugars, amino acids and fatty acids, can the body pass these nutrients +into the blood thorough the little projections in the small intestines called villi. +<br> +    The leftovers, elements of the food that can"t be solubilized +plus some remaining liquids, are passed into the large intestine. There, water and +the vital mineral salts dissolved in that water, are extracted and absorbed into +the blood stream through thin permeable membranes. Mucous is also secreted in the +large intestine to facilitate passage of the dryish remains. This is an effort. (Intestinal +mucous can become a route of secondary elimination, especially during fasting. While +fasting, it is essential to take steps to expel toxic mucous in the colon before +the poisons are re adsorbed.) The final residue, now called fecal matter, is squeezed +along the length of the large intestines and passes out the rectum.<br> +    If all the digestive processes have been efficient there +now are an abundance of soluble nutrients for the blood stream to distribute to hungry +cells throughout the body. It is important to understand the process at least on +the level of oversimplification just presented in order to begin to understand better +how health is lost or regained through eating, digestion, and elimination. And most +importantly, through not eating.<br> +<br> +<b>How Fasting Heals</b><br> +    Its an old hygienic maxim that the doctor does not heal, +the medicines do not heal, only the body heals itself. If the body can"t heal +then nothing can heal it. The body always knows best what it needs and what to do. +<br> +    But healing means repairing damaged organs and tissues and +this takes energy, while a sick body is already enervated, weakened and not coping +with its current stressors. If the sick person could but somehow increase the body"s +energy resources sufficiently, then a slowly healing body could heal faster while +a worsening one, or one that was failing or one that was not getting better might +heal. <br> +    Fasting does just that. To whatever degree food intake is +reduced the body"s digestive workload is proportionately reduced and it will +naturally, and far more intelligently than any physician could order, redirect energy +to wherever it decides that energy is most needed. A fasting body begins accessing +nutritional reserves (vitamins and minerals) previously stored in the tissues and +starts converting body fat into sugar for energy fuel. During a time of water fasting, +sustaining the body"s entire energy and nutritional needs from reserves and +fat does require a small effort, but far less effort than eating. I would guess a +fasting body used about five percent of its normal daily energy budget on nutritional +concerns rather than the 33 percent it needs to process new food. Thus, water fasting +puts something like 28 percent more energy at the body"s disposal. This is true +even though the water faster may feel weak, energyless.<br> +    I would worry if sick or toxic fasters did not complain about +their weakness. They should expect to feel energyless. In fact, the more internal +healing and detoxification the body requires, the tireder the faster feels because +the body is very hard at work internally. A great deal of the body"s energy +will go toward boosting the immune system if the problem is an infection. Liberated +energy can also be used for healing damaged parts, rebuilding failing organs, for +breaking down and eliminating deposits of toxic materials. Only after most of the +healing has occurred does a faster begin to feel energetic again. Don"t expect +to feel anything but tired and weak.<br> +    The only exception to this would be a person who has already +significantly detoxified and healed their body by previous fasting, or the rare soul +that has gone from birth through adulthood enjoying extraordinarily good nutrition +and without experiencing the stressors of improper digestion. When one experienced +faster I know finds himself getting "run down" or catching a cold, he quits +eating until he feels really well. Instead of feeling weak as most fasters do, as +each of the first four or five days of water fasting pass, he experiences a resurgence +of more and more energy. On the first fasting day he would usually feel rotten, which +was why he started fasting in the first place. On the second fasting day he"d +feel more alert and catch up on his paper work. By his third day on only water he +would be out doing hard physical chores like cutting the grass, splitting wood or +weeding his vegetable garden. Day four would also be an energetic one, but if the +fast extended beyond that, lowering blood sugar would begin to make him tired and +he"d feel forced to begin laying down.<br> +    After a day of water fasting the average person"s blood +sugar level naturally drops; making a faster feel somewhat tired and "spacey," +so a typical faster usually begins to spend much more time resting, further reducing +the amount of energy being expended on moving the body around, serendipitously redirecting +even more of the body"s energy budget toward healing. By the end of five or +six days on water, I estimate that from 40 to 50 percent of the body"s available +energy is being used for healing, repair and detoxification.<br> +    The amount of work that a fasting body"s own healing +energy can do and what it feels like to be there when it is happening is incredible. +But you can"t know it if you haven"t felt it. So hardly anyone in our present +culture knows.<br> +    As I mentioned in the first chapter, at Great Oaks School +I apprenticed myself to the traveling masters of virtually every system of natural +healing that existed during the '70s. I observed every one of them at work and tried +most of them on my clients. After all that I can say with experience that I am not +aware of any other healing tool that can be so effective as the fast.<br> +<br> +Essentials of a Successful, Safe Fast + + +<BLOCKQUOTE> + + <UL> + <LI>1. Fast in a bright airy room, with exceptionally good ventilation, because fasters + not only need a lot of fresh air; their bodies give off powerfully offensive odors. + <LI>2. Sun bathe if possible in warm climates for 10 to 20 minutes in the morning + before the sun gets too strong. + <LI>3. Scrub/massage the skin with a dry brush, stroking toward the heart, followed + by a warm water shower two to four times a day to assist the skin in eliminating + toxins. If you are too weak to do this, have an assisted bed bath. + <LI>4. Have two enemas daily for the first week of a fast and then once daily until + the fast is terminated. + <LI>5. Insure a harmonious environment with supportive people or else fast alone + if you are experienced. Avoid well-meaning interference or anxious criticism at all + cost. The faster becomes hypersensitive to others" emotions. + <LI>6. Rest profoundly except for a short walk of about 200 yards morning and night. + <LI>7. Drink water! At least three quarts every day. Do not allow yourself to become + dehydrated! + <LI>8. Control yourself! Break a long fast on diluted non-sweet fruit juice such + as grapefruit juice, sipped a teaspoon at a time, no more than eight ounces at a + time no oftener than every 2 or 3 hours. The second day you eat, add small quantities + of fresh juicy fruit to the same amount of juice you took the day before no oftener + than every 3 hours. By small quantities I mean half an apple or the equivalent. On + the third day of eating, add small quantities of vegetable juice and juicy vegetables + such as tomatoes and cucumbers. + <LI>Control yourself! The second week after eating resumed add complex vegetable + salads plus more complex fruit salads. Do not mix fruit and vegetables at meals. + The third week add raw nuts and seeds no more than 1/2 ounce three times daily. Add + 1/4 avocado daily. Fourth week increase to 3 ounces of raw soaked nuts and seeds + daily and 1/2 avocado daily. Cooked grains may also be added, along with steamed + vegetables and vegetable soups. + </UL> + + +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p><br> +<b>The Prime Rules Of Fasting</b><br> +    Another truism of natural hygiene is that we dig our own +graves with our teeth. It is sad but true that almost all eat too much quantity of +too little quality. Dietary excesses are the main cause of death in North America. +Fasting balances these excesses. If people were to eat a perfect diet and not overeat, +fasting would rarely be necessary. <br> +    There are two essential rules of fasting. If these rules +are ignored or broken, fasting itself can be life threatening. But if the rules are +followed, fasting presents far less risk than any other important medical procedure +with a far greater likelihood of a positive outcome. And let me stress here, there +is no medical procedure without risk. Life itself is fraught with risk, it is a one-way +ticket from birth to death, with no certainty as to when the end of the line will +be reached. But in my opinion, when handling degenerative illness and infections, +natural hygiene and fasting usually offer the best hope of healing with the least +possible risk.<br> +    The first vital concern is the duration of the fast. Two +eliminatory processes go on simultaneously while fasting. One is the dissolving and +elimination of the excess, toxic or dysfunctional deposits in the body, and second +process, the gradual exhaustion of the body"s stored nutritional reserves. The +fasting body first consumes those parts of the body that are unhealthy; eventually +these are all gone. Simultaneously the body uses up stored fat and other reserve +nutritional elements. A well-fed reasonably healthy body usually has enough stored +nutrition to fast for quite a bit longer than it takes to "clean house." +<br> +    While house cleaning is going on the body uses its reserves +to rebuild organs and rejuvenate itself. Rebuilding starts out very slowly but the +repairs increase at an ever-accelerating rate. The "overhaul" can last +only until the body has no more reserves. Because several weeks of fasting must pass +by before the "overhaul" gets going full speed, it is wise to continue +fasting as long as possible so as to benefit from as much rejuvenation as possible.<br> +    It is best not to end the fast before all toxic or dysfunctional +deposits are eliminated, or before the infection is overcome, or before the cause +for complaint has been healed. The fast must be ended when most of the body"s +essential-to-life stored nutritional reserves are exhausted. If the fast goes beyond +this point, starvation begins. Then, fasting-induced organic damage can occur, and +death can follow, usually several weeks later. Almost anyone not immediately close +to death has enough stored nutrition to water fast for ten days to two weeks. Most +reasonably healthy people have sufficient reserves to water fast for a month. Later +I will explain how a faster can somewhat resupply their nutritional reserves while +continuing to fast, and thus safely extend the fasting period.<br> +    The second essential concern has to do with adjusting the +intensity of the fast. Some individuals are so toxic that the waste products released +during a fast are too strong, too concentrated or too poisonous for the organs of +elimination to handle safely, or to be handled within the willingness of the faster +to tolerate the discomforts that toxic releases generate. The highly-toxic faster +may even experience life-threatening symptoms such as violent asthma attacks. This +kind of faster has almost certainly been dangerously ill before the fast began. Others, +though not dangerously sick prior to fasting, may be nearly as toxic and though not +in danger of death, they may not be willing to tolerate the degree of discomfort +fasting can trigger. For this reason I recommend that if at all possible, before +undertaking a fast the person eat mostly raw foods for two months and clean up all +addictions. This will give the body a chance to detoxify significantly before the +water fast is started, and will make water fasting much more comfortable. Seriously, +dangerously ill people should only fast with experienced guidance, so the rapidity +of their detoxification process may be adjusted to a lower level if necessary.<br> +    A fast of only one week can accomplish a significant amount +of healing. Slight healing does occur on shorter fasts, but it is much more difficult +to see or feel the results. Many people experience rapid relief from acute headache +pain or digestive distress such as gas attacks, mild gallbladder pain, stomach aches, +etc., after only one day"s abstention from food. In one week of fasting a person +can relieve more dangerous conditions such as arthritic pain, rheumatism, kidney +pain, and many symptoms associated with allergic reactions,. But even more fasting +time is generally needed for the body to completely heal serious diseases. That"s +because eliminating life-threatening problems usually involve rebuilding organs that +aren"t functioning too well. Major rebuilding begins only after major detoxification +has been accomplished, and this takes time.<br> +    Yes, even lost organ function can be partially or completely +restored by fasting. Aging and age-related degeneration is progressive, diminishing +organ functioning. Organs that make digestive enzymes secrete less enzymes. The degenerated +immune system loses the ability to mobilize as effectively when the body is attacked. +Liver and kidney efficiency declines. The adrenals tire, becoming incapable of dumping +massive amounts of stress-handling hormones or of repeating that effort time after +time without considerable rest in between. The consequences of these inter-dependent +deterioration"s is a cascade of deterioration that contributes to even more +rapid deterioration"s. The name for this cascading process is aging. Its inevitable +result--death.<br> +    Fasting can, to a degree, reverse aging. Because fasting +improves organ functioning, it can slow down aging.<br> +    Fasters are often surprised that intensified healing can +be uncomfortable. They have been programmed by our culture and by allopathic doctors +to think that if they are doing the right thing for their bodies they should feel +better immediately. I wish it weren"t so, but most people have to pay the piper +for their dietary indiscretions and other errors in living. There will be aches and +minor pains and uncomfortable sensations. More about that later. A rare faster does +feel immediately better, and continues to feel ever better by the day, and even has +incredible energy while eating nothing, but the majority of us folks just have to +tough it out, keeping in mind that the way out is the way through. It is important +to remind yourself at times that even with some discomfort and considering the inconvenience +of fasting that you are getting off easy--one month of self-denial pays for those +years of indulgence and buys a regenerated body.<br> +<br> +<b>Length Of The Fast</b><br> +    How long should a person fast? In cases where there are serious +complaints to remedy but where there are no life threatening disease conditions, +a good rule of thumb is to fast on water for one complete day (24 hours) for each +year that the person has lived. If you are 30 years old, it will take 30 consecutive +days of fasting to restore complete health. However, thirty fasting days, done a +few days here and a few there won"t equal a month of steady fasting; the body +accomplishes enormously more in 7 or l4 days of consecutive fasting, than 7 or 14 +days of fasting accumulated sporadically, such as one day a week. This is not to +say that regular short fasts are not useful medicine. Periodic day-long fasts have +been incorporated into many religious traditions, and for good reason; it gives the +body one day a week to rest, to be free of digestive obligations, and to catch up +on garbage disposal. I heartily recommend it. But it takes many years of unfailingly +regular brief fasting to equal the benefits of one, intensive experience. <br> +    Fasting on water much longer than fifteen consecutive days +may be dangerous for the very sick, (unless under experienced supervision) or too +intense for those who are not motivated by severe illness to withstand the discomfort +and boredom. However, it is possible to finish a healing process initiated by one +long water fast by repeating the fast later. My husband"s healing is a good +example of this. His health began to noticeably decline about age 38 and he started +fasting. He fasted on water 14 to 18 days at a time, once a year, for five consecutive +years before most of his complaints and problems entirely vanished.<br> +    The longest fast I ever supervised was a 90 day water fast +on an extraordinarily obese woman, who at 5" 2" weighed close to 400 pounds. +She was a Mormon; generally members of the LDS Church eat a healthier diet than most +Americans, but her"s included far too much of what I call "healthfood junkfood," +in the form of whole grain cakes and cookies, lots of granola made with lots of honey, +oil, and dried fruit, lots of honey heaped atop heavily buttered whole grain bread. +(I will explain more about the trap of healthfood junkfood later on.) A whole foods +relatively meatless diet is far superior to its refined white flour, white sugar +and white grease (lard) counterpart, but it still produced a serious heath problem +in just 30 years of life. Like many women, she expressed love-for-family in the kitchen +by serving too-much too-tasty food. The Mormons have a very strong family orientation +and this lady was no exception, but she was insecure and unhappy in her marriage +and sought consolation in food, eaten far in excess of what her body needed. <br> +    On her 90 day water fast she lost about 150 pounds, but was +still grossly overweight when the fast ended. Toward the end it became clear that +it was unrealistic to try to shrink this woman any closer to normal body weight because +to her, fat represented an invaluable insulation or buffer that she was not prepared +to give up. As the weight melted away on the fast and she was able to actually feel +the outline of a hip bone her neurosis became more and more apparent, and the ability +to feel a part of her skeleton was so upsetting to her that her choice was between +life threatening obesity and pervasive anxiety. <br> +    Her weight was still excessive but the solace of eating was +even more important. This woman needed intensive counseling not more fasting. Unfortunately, +at the end she choose to remain obese. Fat was much less frightening to her than +confronting her emotions and fears. The positive side was that after the fast she +was able to maintain her weight at 225 instead of 375 which was an enormous relief +to her exhausted heart.<br> +    Another client I fasted for 90 days was a 6" 1" +tall, chronic schizophrenic man who weighed in at 400 pounds. He was so big he could +barely get through my front door, and mine was an extraordinarily wide door in what +had been an upper-class mansion. This man, now in his mid twenties, had spent his +last seven years in a mental institution before his parents decided to give him one +last chance by sending to Great Oaks School. The state mental hospitals at that time +provided the mentally ill with cigarettes, coffee, and lots of sugary treats, but +none of these substances were part of my treatment program so he had a lot of immediate +withdrawal to go through. The quickest and easiest way to get him through it was +to put him on a water fast after a few days of preparation on raw food. <br> +    This was not an easily managed case! He was wildly psychotic, +on heavy doses of chloropromazine, with many bizarre behaviors. Besides talking to +himself continuously in gibberish, he collected bugs, moss, sticks, piles or dirt, +and switched to smoking oak leaves instead of cigarettes. He was such a fire hazard +that I had to move him to a downstairs room with concrete floor. Even in the basement +he was a fire hazard with his smoking and piles of sticks and other inflammables +next to his bed, but all of this debris was his "precious." I knew that +I was in for trouble if I disturbed his precious, but the insects and dirt piles +seemed to be expanding exponentially.<br> +    One day the dirt exceeded my tolerance level. To make a long +story short he caught me in the act of cleaning up his precious. Was he furious! +All 350 pounds of him! (By this time he had lost 50 pounds.) He barreled into me, +fists flying, and knocked me into the pipes next to the furnace and seemed ready +to really teach me what was what. I prefer to avoid fights, but if they are inevitable, +I can really get into the spirit of the thing. I"d had lots of childhood practice +defending myself because I was an incurable tomboy who loved to wrestle; I could +usually pin big boys who considered themselves tough. So I began using my fists and +what little martial arts training I had to good use. After I hurt him a bit he realized +that I was not going to be easily intimidated, and that in fact he was in danger +of getting seriously damaged. So he called a truce before either of us were badly +beaten up. He had only a few bruises and welts, nothing serious. <br> +    After that he refrained from collecting things inside the +building (he continued to collect outside). This compromise was fine with me, and +the incident allowed me to maintain the authority I needed to bully him into co-operating +with the program: taking his vitamins, and sticking to his fast until he finally +reached 200 pounds. After 90 days on water he actually looked quite handsome, he +no longer smoked, he was off psychotropic medication, and his behaviors were within +an acceptable range as long as your expectations were not too high. <br> +    He was well enough to live outside a hospital and also clear-headed +enough to know that if he let too many people know how well he really was, he might +have to give up his mental disability pension and actually become responsible for +himself. No way, Jose! This fellow knew a good thing when he saw it. So he continued +to pull bizarre stunts just often enough in front of the right audience to keep his +disability checks coming in, while managing to act sane enough to be allowed to live +comfortably at home instead of in the hospital. By keeping to my program he could +stay off mind-numbing psychotropic medication if he kept up his megavitamins and +minerals. This compromise was tolerable from his point of view, because there were +no side effects like he experienced from his tranquilizers. <br> +    It is very rare for a mentally ill person who has spent more +than a few months in a mental hospital to ever usefully return to society because +they find "mental illness" too rewarding.<br> +<br> +<b>My Own 56 Day Long Fast</b><br> +    Fasters go through a lot of different emotional states, these +can get intense and do change quite rapidly. The physical body, too, will manifest +transitory conditions. Some can be quite uncomfortable. But, I don"t want to +leave the reader with the impression that fasting is inevitably painful. So I will +now recount my own longest fast in detail. <br> +    When I did my own 42 day water fast followed by two weeks +on carrot juice diluted 50/50 with water, which really amounted to 56 consecutive +days, my predominant sensation for the first three days was a desire to eat that +was mostly a mental condition, and a lot of rumbling and growling from my stomach. +This is not real hunger, just the sounds the stomach likes to make when it is shrinking. +After all, this organ is accustomed to being filled at regular intervals, and then, +all of a sudden, it gets nothing, so naturally the stomach wants to know what is +going on. Once it realizes it is on temporary vacation, the stomach wisely decides +to reduce itself to a size suitable for a retired organ. And it shuts up. This process +usually takes three to five days and for most people, no further "hunger pangs" +are felt until the fast is over. <br> +    Real hunger comes only when the body is actually starving. +The intense discomforts many people experience upon missing a meal are frequently +interpreted as hunger but they aren"t. What is actually happening is that their +highly toxic bodies are taking the opportunity presented by having missed a meal +or two to begin to cleanse. The toxins being released and processed make assorted +unpleasant symptoms such as headaches and inability to think clearly. These symptoms +can be instantly eliminated by the intake of a bit of food, bringing the detox to +a screeching halt.<br> +    Two weeks into the fast I experienced sharp abdominal pains +that felt like I imagine appendicitis feels, which compelled me toward the nearest +toilet in a state of great urgency where I productively busied myself for about half +an hour. As I mentioned earlier, I was experimentally adhering to a rigid type of +fast of the sort recommended by Dr. Herbert Shelton, a famous advocate of the Natural +Hygiene school. Shelton was such a powerful writer and personality that there still +exists a Natural Hygiene Society that keeps his books in print and maintains his +library. The words "Natural Hygiene" are almost owned by the society like +a trademark and they object when anyone describes themselves as a hygienist and then +advocates any practice that Dr. Shelton did not approve of. <br> +    Per Dr. Shelton, I was going to fast from the time hunger +left until the time it returned and I was not going to use any form of colon cleansing. +Shelton strongly opposed bowel cleansing so I did no enemas nor colonics, nor herbs, +nor clays, nor psyllium seed designed to clean the bowel, etc. Obviously at day 14 +the bowel said, enough is enough of this crap, and initiated a goods house cleaning +session. When I saw what was eliminated I was horrified to think that I had left +that stuff in there for two weeks. I then started to wonder if the Sheltonites were +mistaken about this aspect of fasting. Nonetheless, I persevered on the same regimen +because my hunger had not returned, my tongue was still thickly coated with foul-smelling, +foul-tasting mucus and I still had some fat on my feet that had not been metabolized. +<br> +    Shelton said that cleansing is not complete until a skeletal +condition is reached--that is, absolutely no fat reserves are left. Up until that +time I did not even know that I had fat on my feet, but much to my surprise, as the +weeks went on, not only did my breasts disappear except for a couple of land marks +well-known to my babies, but my ribs and hip bones became positively dangerous to +passersby, and my shoes would not stay on my feet. This was not all that surprising +because I went from 135 pounds down to 85 on a 5" 7" frame with substantial +bone structure.<br> +    Toward the end of the fast my eyes became brighter and clearer +blue, my skin took on a good texture, my breath finally became sweet, my tongue cleared +up and became pink, my mind was clear, and my spiritual awareness and sensitivity +was heightened. In other words, I was no longer a walking hulk of stored-up toxemia. +I also felt quite weak and had to rest for ten minutes out every hour in horizontal +position. (I should have rested much more.) I also required very little sleep, although +it felt good to just lie quietly and rest, being aware of what was going on in various +parts of my body. <br> +    During the last few weeks on water I became very attentive +to my right shoulder. Two separate times in the past, while flying head first over +the handlebars of my bicycle I had broken my shoulder with considerable tearing of +ligaments and tendons. At night when I was totally still I felt a whole crew of pixies +and brownies with picks and shovels at work in the joint doing major repair work. +This activity was not entirely comfortable, but I knew it was constructive work, +not destructive, so I joined the work crew with my mind"s eye and helped the +work along.<br> +    It seemed my visualizations actually did help. Ever since, +I"ve had the fasters I supervised use creative imagery or write affirmations +to help their bodies heal. There are lots of books on this subject. I"ve found +that the techniques work far better on a faster than when a person is eating normally. +<br> +    After breaking the fast it took me six weeks to regain enough +strength that I could run my usual distance in my regular time; it took me six months +to regain my full 135 pound weight because I was very careful to break the fast slowly +and correctly. Coming off water with two weeks on dilute carrot juice I then added +small portions of raw food such as apples, raw vegetables, sprouts, vegetable juices, +and finally in the fourth week after I began drinking dilute carrot juice, I added +seven daily well-chewed almonds to my rebuilding diet. Much later I increased to +14 almonds, but that was the maximum amount of such highly concentrated fare my body +wanted digest at one time for over one year. I found I got a lot more miles to the +gallon out of the food that I did eat, and did not crave recreational foods. Overall +I was very pleased with my educational fast, it had taught me a great deal.<br> +    If I had undertaken such a lengthy fast at a time when I +was actually ill, and therefore had felt forced into it, my experience could have +been different. A positive mental attitude is an essential part of the healing process +so fasting should not be undertaken in a negative, protesting mental state. The mind +is so powerful that fear or the resistance fear generates can override the healing +capacity of the body. For that reason I always recommend that people who consider +themselves to be healthy, who have no serious complaints, but who are interested +in water fasting, should limit themselves to ten consecutive days or so, certainly +never more than 14. Few healthy people, even those with a deep interest in the process, +can find enough personal motivation to overcome the extreme boredom of water fasting +for longer than that. Healthy people usually begin protesting severely after about +two weeks. If there is any one vital rule of fasting, one never should fast over +strong, personal protest. Anytime you"re fasting and you really desire to quit, +you probably should. Unless, of course, you are critically ill. Then you may have +no choice--its fast or die.<br> +<br> +<b>Common Fasting Complaints And Discomforts</b><br> +    The most frequently heard complaints of fasters are headaches, +dry, cracked lips, dizziness, blurred vision with black spots that float, skin rashes, +and weakness in the first few days plus what they think is intense hunger. The dizziness +and weakness are really real, and are due to increased levels of toxins circulating +in the blood and from unavoidably low blood sugar which is a natural consequence +of the cessation of eating. The blood sugar does reestablish a new equilibrium in +the second and third week of the fast and then, the dizziness may cease, but still, +it is important to expect dizziness at the beginning. <br> +    It always takes more time for the blood to reach the head +on a fast because everything has slowed down, including the rate of the heart beat, +so blood pressure probably has dropped as well. If you stand up very quickly you +may faint. I repetitively instruct all of my clients to stand up very slowly, moving +from a lying to a sitting position, pausing there for ten or twenty seconds, and +then rising slowly from a sitting to a standing position. They are told that at the +first sign of dizziness they must immediately put their head between their knees +so that the head is lower than the heart, or squat/sit down on the floor, I once +had a faster who forgot to obey my frequent warnings. About two weeks into a long +fast, she got up rapidly from the toilet and felt dizzy. The obvious thing to do +was to sit back down on the toilet or lie down on the bath rug on the floor, but +no, she decided that because she was dizzy she should rush back to her bed in the +adjoining room. She made it as far as the bathroom door and fainted, out cold, putting +a deep grove into the drywall with her pretty nose on the way down. We then had to +make an unscheduled visit to a nose specialist, who calmly put a tape-wrapped spoon +inside her bent-over nose and pried it back to dead center. This was not much fun +for either of us; it is well worthwhile preventing such complications.<br> +    Other common complaints during the fast include coldness, +due to low blood sugar as well as a consequence of weight loss and slowed circulation +due to lessened physical activity. People also dislike inactivity which seems excruciatingly +boring, and some are upset by weight loss itself. Coldness is best handled with lots +of clothes, bedding, hot water bottles or hot pads, and warm baths. Great Oaks School +of Health was in Oregon, where the endlessly rainy winters are chilly and the concrete +building never seemed to get really warm. I used to dream of moving my fasters to +a tropical climate where I could also get the best, ripest fruits to wean them back +on to food. <br> +    If the fast goes on for more than a week or ten days, many +people complain of back discomfort, usually caused by over-worked kidneys. This passes. +Hot baths or hot water bottles provide some relief. Drinking more fluids may also +help a bit. Nausea is fairly common too, due to toxic discharges from the gall bladder. +Drinking lots of water or herbal tea dilutes toxic bile in the stomach and makes +it more tolerable. <br> +    Very few fasters sleep well and for some reason they expect +to, certainly fasters hope to, because they think that if they sleep all night they +will better survive one more deadly dull day in a state of relative unconsciousness. +They find out much to their displeasure that very little sleep is required on a fast +because the body is at rest already. Many fasters sleep only two to four hours but +doze frequently and require a great deal of rest. Being mentally prepared for this +change of habit is the best handling. Generalized low-grade aches and pains in the +area of the diseased organs or body parts are common and can often be alleviated +with hot water bottles, warm but not hot bath water and massage. If this type of +discomfort exists, it usually lessens with each passing day until it disappears altogether. +<br> +    Many fasters complain that their vision is blurred, and that +they are unable to concentrate. These are really major inconveniences because then +fasters can"t read or even pay close attention to video-taped movies, and if +they can"t divert themselves some fasters think they will go stir crazy. They +are so addicted to a hectic schedule of doingness, and/or being entertained that +they just can"t stand just being with themselves, forced to confront and deal +with the sensations of their own body, forced to face their own thoughts, to confront +their own emotions, many of which are negative. People who are fasting release a +lot of mental/emotional garbage at the same time as they let go of old physical garbage. +Usually the psychological stuff contributed greatly to their illness and just like +the physical garbage and degenerated organs, it all needs to be processed. <br> +    One of the most distressing experiences that happen occasionally +is hair loss. Deprived of adequate nutrition, the follicles can not keep growing +hair, and the existing hair dies. However, the follicles themselves do not die and +once the fast has ended and sufficient nutrition is forthcoming, hair will regrow +as well or better than before. <br> +    There are also complaints that occur after the fast has been +broken. Post-fast cravings, even after only two weeks of deprivation, are to be expected. +These may take the form of desires for sweet, sour, salt, or a specific food dreamed +of while fasting, like chocolate fudge sundays or just plain toast. Food cravings +must be controlled at all costs because if acted upon, each indulgence chips away +the health gains of the previous weeks. A single indulgence can be remedied by a +day of restricting the diet to juice or raw food. After the repair, the person feels +as good as they did when the fast ended. Repeated indulgences will require another +extended bout of fasting to repair. It is far better to learn self-control.<br> +<br> +<b>The Healing Crisis And Retracing</b><br> +    Certain unpleasant somatics that occur while fasting (or +while on a healing diet) may not be dangerous or "bad." Two types, the +healing crisis, and retracing, are almost inevitable. A well-educated faster should +welcome these discomforts when they happen. The healing crisis (but not retracing) +also occurs on a healing diet. <br> +    The healing crisis can seem a big surprise to a faster who +has been progressing wonderfully. Suddenly, usually after a few days of noticeably +increased well-being, they suddenly experience a set of severe symptoms and feel +just awful. This is not a setback, not something to be upset or disappointed about, +but a healing crisis, actually a positive sign <br> +    Healing crises always occur after a period of marked improvement. +As the vital force builds up during the healing process, the body decides it now +has obtained enough energy to throw off some accumulated toxins, and forcefully pushes +them out through a typical and usually previously used route of secondary elimination, +such as the nose, lungs, stomach, intestines, skin, or perhaps produces a flu-like +experience with fever chills, sweat, aches and pains, etc. Though unpleasant, this +experience is to be encouraged; the body has merely accelerated its elimination process. +Do not attempt to suppress any of these symptoms, don"t even try to moderate +fever, which is the body"s effective way to burn out a virus or bacteria infection, +unless it is a dangerously high fever (over 102° Fahrenheit). Fever can be lowered +without drugs by putting the person into a cool/cold bath, or using cold towel wraps +and cold water sponge baths. The good news is that healing crises usually do not +last long, and when they are past you feel better than you did before the crisis. +<br> +    Asthmatics seem to have the worst crises. I have had asthmatics +bring up a quart of obnoxious mucous from their lungs every night for weeks. They +have stayed awake all night for three nights continuously coughing and choking on +the material that was being eliminated. After that clearing-out process they were +able to breath much more freely. Likewise I have had people who have had sinusitis +have nothing but non-stop pussy discharge from their sinuses for three weeks. Some +of this would run down the throat and cause nausea. All I could say to encourage +the sufferer was that it needed to come out and to please stand aside and let the +body work its magic. These fasters were not grateful until the sinus problem that +had plagued them since childhood disappeared.<br> +    The interesting thing about healing crises are that the symptoms +produced retrace earlier complaints; they are almost never something entirely unknown +to the patient. Usually they are old, familiar somatics, often complaints that haven"t +bothered the faster for many years. The reason the symptom is familiar but is not +currently a problem is because as the body degenerates it loses vital force; with +less vital force it loses the ability to create such acute detoxification episodes +in non-life-threatening secondary elimination routes. The degenerated body makes +less violent efforts to cleanse, efforts that aren"t as uncomfortable. The negative +side of this is that instead of creating acute discomfort in peripheral systems, +the toxemia goes to more vital organs where it hastens the formation of life-threatening +conditions.<br> +    There is a very normal and typical progress for each person"s +fatal illness. Their ultimate disease starts out in childhood or adolescence as acute +inflammations of skin-like organs, viral or bacterial infections of the same. Then, +as vital force weakens, secondary eliminations are shifted to more vital organs. +Allergies or colds stop happening so frequently; the person becomes rheumatic, arthritic +or experience weakness in joints, tendons, ligaments, or to have back pains, or to +have digestive upsets. These new symptoms are more constant but usually less acute. +Ultimately, vital organs begin to malfunction, and serious disease develop. But a +hygienist sees the beginning of fatal diseases such as cancer in adolescent infections +and allergies.<br> +    Retracing is generally seen only on water fasts, not on extended +cleansing diets. The body begins to repair itself by healing conditions in the reverse +order to that which they occurred originally. This means that the body would first +direct healing toward the lungs if the most recently serious illness was an attack +of pneumonia six months previously. In this case you would expect to quickly and +intensely experience a mini-case of pneumonia while the body eliminates residues +in the lungs that were not completely discharged at the time. Next the body might +take you through a period of depression that you had experienced five years in the +past. The faster may be profoundly depressed for a few days and come out of it feeling +much better. You could then reexperience sensation-states like those caused by recreational +drugs you had playfully experimented with ten years previously along with the "trippiness" +if it were a hallucinogen, speediness if it was 'speed" or the dopiness if it +was heroin. Retracing further, the faster might then experience something similar +to a raging attack of tonsillitis which you vaguely remember having when you were +five years old, but fortunately this time it passes in three days (or maybe six hours), +instead of three weeks. This is retracing. <br> +    Please do not be surprised or alarmed if it happens to you +on a fast, and immediately throw out the baby with the bath water thinking that you +are doing the wrong thing because all those old illnesses are coming back to haunt +you. It is the body"s magnificent healing effort working on your behalf, and +for doing it your body deserves lots of "well done", "good body" +thoughts rather than gnashing of teeth and thinking what did I do to deserve this. +The body won"t tell you what you did to deserve this, but it knows and is trying +its darndest to undo it.<br> +<br> +<b>The Unrelenting Boredom Of Fasting</b><br> +    Then there"s the unrelenting boredom of fasting. Most +people have been media junkies since they were kids; the only way they believe they +can survive another day of fasting is by diverting their minds with TV. This is far +from ideal because often the emotions of a faster are like an open wound and when +they resonate with the emotions portrayed on most TV shows, the faster gets into +some very unpleasant states that interfere with healing. And the emotions many movies +prompt people to sympathetically generate are powerful ones, often highly negative, +and contrary to healing. Especially unhelpful are the adrenaline rushes in action +movies. But if TV is the best a faster can do, it is far better that someone fast +with television programming filling their minds than to not fast at all. I keep a +library of positive VHS tapes for these addicts--comedies, stories of heroic over-comings, +depiction"s of humans at their best. <br> +    Boredom is probably the most limiting factor to fasting a +long time. That is because boredom is progressive, it gets worse with each slowly-passing +day. But concurrently, the rate of healing is accelerating with each slowly-passing +day. Every day the faster gets through does them considerably more good than the +previous day. However, fasters rarely are motivated enough to overcome boredom for +more than two weeks or so, unless they started the fast to solve a very serious or +life-threatening condition. For this reason, basically well people should not expect +to be able to fast for more than a couple of weeks every six months or year, no matter +how much good a longer fast might do.<br> +<br> +<b>Exercise While Fasting</b><br> +    The issue of how much activity is called for on a fast is +controversial. Natural Hygienists in the Herbert Shelton tradition insist that all +fasters absolutely must have complete bed rest, with no books, no TV, no visitors, +no enemas, no exercise, no music, and of course no food, not even a cup of herb tea. +In my many years of conducting people through fasts, I have yet to meet an individual +that could mentally tolerate this degree of nothingness. It is too drastic a withdrawal +from all the stimulation people are used to in the twentieth century. I still don"t +know how Shelton managed to make his patients do it, but my guess is that he must +have been a very intimidating guy. Shelton was a body builder of some renown in his +day. I bet Shelton"s patients kept a few books and magazines under their mattress +and only took them out when he wasn"t looking. If I had tried to enforced this +type of sensory deprivation, I know my patients would have grabbed their clothes +and run, vowing never to fast again. I think it is most important that people fast, +and that they feel so good about the experience that they want to do it again, and +talk all their sick friends into doing the same thing.<br> +    In contrast to enforced inactivity, Russian researchers who +supervised schizophrenics on 30 day water fasts insisted that they walk for three +hours every day, without stopping. I would like to have been there to see how they +managed to enforce that. I suspect some patients cheated. I lived with schizophrenics +enough years to know that it is very difficult to get them to do anything that they +don"t want to do, and very few of them are into exercise, especially when fasting.<br> +    In my experience both of these approaches to activity during +the fast are extremes. The correct activity level should be arrived at on an individual +basis. I have had clients who walked six miles a day during an extended water fast, +but they were not feeling very sick when they started the fast, and they were also +physically fit. In contrast I have had people on extended fasts who were unable to +walk for exercise, or so weak they were unable to even walk to the bathroom, but +these people were critically ill when they started fasting, and desperately needed +to conserve what little vital force they had for healing. <br> +    Most people who are not critically ill need to walk at least +200 yards twice a day, with assistance if necessary, if only to move the lymph through +the system. The lymphatic system is a network of ducts and nodes which are distributed +throughout the body, with high concentrations of nodes in the neck, chest, arm pits, +and groin. Its job is to carry waste products from the extremities to the center +of the body where they can be eliminated. The blood is circulated through the arteries +and veins in the body by the contractions of the heart, but the lymphatic system +does not have a pump. Lymphatic fluid is moved by the contractions of the muscles, +primarily those of the arms and legs. If the faster is too weak to move, massage +and assisted movements are essential.<br> +    Lymph nodes are also a part of our immune system and produce +white blood cells to help control invading organisms. When the lymph is overloaded +with waste products the ducts and nodes swell, and until the source of the local +irritation is removed, are incapable of handling further debris. If left in this +condition for years they become so hard they feel like rocks under the skin. Lumps +in the armpits or the groin are prime sites for the future development of a cancer. +Fasting, massage, and poultices will often soften overloaded lymph nodes and coax +them back into operation. <br> +     The Stages Of Fasting<br> +    The best way to understand what happens when we fast is to +break up the process into six stages: preparation for the fast, loss of hunger, acidosis, +normalization, healing, and breaking the fast. <br> +    A person that has consumed the typical American diet most +of their life and whose life is not in immediate danger would be very wise to gently +prepare their body for the fast. Two weeks would be a minimum amount of time, and +if the prospective faster wants an easier time of it, they should allow a month or +even two for preliminary housecleaning During this time, eliminate all meat, fish, +dairy products, eggs, coffee, black tea, salt, sugar, alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, +and greasy foods. This de-addiction will make the process of fasting much more pleasant, +and is strongly recommended. However, eliminating all these harmful substances is +withdrawal from addictive substances and will not be easy for most. I have more to +say about this later when I talk about allergies and addictions.<br> +    The second stage, psychological hunger, usually is felt as +an intense desire for food. This passes within three or four days of not eating anything. +Psychological hunger usually begins with the first missed meal. If the faster seems +to be losing their resolve, I have them drink unlimited quantities of good-tasting +herb teas, (sweetened --only if absolutely necessary--with nutrisweet). Salt-free broths +made from meatless instant powder (obtainable at the health food store) can also +fend off the desire to eat until the stage of hunger has passed.<br> +    Acidosis, the third stage, usually begins a couple of days +after the last meal and lasts about one week. During acidosis the body vigorously +throws off acid waste products. Most people starting a fast begin with an overly +acid blood pH from the typical American diet that contains a predominance of acid-forming +foods. Switching over to burning fat for fuel triggers the release of even more acidic +substances. Acidosis is usually accompanied by fatigue, blurred vision, and possibly +dizziness. The breath smells very bad, the tongue is coated with bad-tasting dryish +mucus, and the urine may be concentrated and foul unless a good deal of water is +taken daily. Two to three quarts a day is a reasonable amount.<br> +    Mild states of acidosis are a common occurrence. While sleeping +after the last meal of the day is digested bodies normally work very hard trying +to detoxify from yesterday"s abuses. So people routinely awaken in a state of +acidosis. Their tongue is coated, their breath foul and they feel poorly. They end +their brief overnight fast with breakfast, bringing the detoxification process to +a screeching halt and feel much better. Many people think they awaken hungry and +don"t feel well until they eat. They confuse acidosis with hunger when most +have never experienced real hunger in their entire lives. If you typically awaken +in acidosis, you are being given a strong sign by your body that it would like to +continue fasting far beyond breakfast. In fact, it probably would enjoy fasting long +beyond the end of acidosis.<br> +    Most fasters feel much more comfortable by the end of the +first seven to ten days, when they enter the normalization phase; here the acidic +blood chemistry is gradually corrected. This sets the stage for serious healing of +body tissues and organs. Normalization may take one or two more weeks depending on +how badly the body was out of balance. As the blood chemistry steadily approaches +perfection, the faster usually feels an increasing sense of well-being, broken by +short spells of discomfort that are usually healing crises or retracings. <br> +    The next stage, accelerated healing, can take one or many +weeks more, again depending on how badly the body has been damaged. Healing proceeds +rapidly after the blood chemistry has been stabilized, the person is usually in a +state of profound rest and the maximum amount of vital force can be directed toward +repair and regeneration of tissues. This is a miraculous time when tumors are metabolized +as food for the body, when arthritic deposits dissolve, when scar tissues tend to +disappear, when damaged organs regain lost function (if they can). Seriously ill +people who never fast long enough to get into this stage (usually it takes about +ten days to two weeks of water fasting to seriously begin healing) never find out +what fasting can really do for them.<br> +    Breaking the fast is equally or more important a stage than +the fast itself. It is the most dangerous time in the entire fast. If you stop fasting +prematurely, that is, before the body has completed detoxification and healing, expect +the body to reject food when you try to make it eat, even if you introduce foods +very gradually. The faster, the spiritual being running the body, may have become +bored and want some action, but the faster"s body hasn"t finished. The +body wants to continue healing. <br> +    By rejection, I mean that food may not digest, may feel like +a stone in your stomach, make you feel terrible. If that happens and if, despite +that clear signal you refuse to return to fasting, you should go on a juice diet, +take as little as possible, sip it slowly (almost chew it) and stay on juice until +you find yourself digesting it easily. Then and only then, reintroduce a little solid +raw food like a green salad. <br> +    Weaning yourself back on to food should last just as long +as the fast. Your first tentative meals should be dilute, raw juices. After several +days of slowly building up to solid raw fruit, small amounts of raw vegetable foods +should be added. If it has been a long fast, say over three weeks, this reintroduction +should be done gingerly over a few weeks. If this stage is poorly managed or ignored +you may become acutely ill, and for someone who started fasting while dangerously +ill, loss of self control and impulsive eating could prove fatal. Even for those +fasting to cure non-life-threatening illnesses it is pointless to go through the +effort and discipline of a long fast without carefully establishing a correct diet +after the fast ends, or the effort will have largely been wasted.<br> +<br> + +<table> + <caption><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Foods For Monodiet, Juice or Broth Fasting</b>g</span></caption> + <tr> + <td style="width: 100%;">zucchini, garlic, onion, green beans, kale, celery, beet greens and root, cabbage, + carrot, wheat grass juice, alfalfa juice, barley green juice, parsley juice, lemon/lime + juice, grapefruit juice, apples (not juice, too sweet), diluted orange juice, diluted + grape juice</td> + </tr> +</table> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<b>Less-Rigorous-Than-Water Fasts</b><br> +    There are gradations of fasting measures ranging from rigorous +to relatively casual. Water fasting is the most rapid and effective one. Other methods +have been created by grasping the underlying truth of fasting, namely whenever the +digestive effort can be reduced, by whatever degree, whenever the formation of the +toxins of misdigestion can be reduced or prevented, to that extent the body can divert +energy to the healing process. Thus comes about assorted famous and sometimes notorious +monodiet semi-fasts like the grape cure where the faster eats only grapes for a month +or so, or the lemon cure, where the juice of one or more lemons is added to water +and nothing else is consumed for weeks on end. Here I should also mention the "lemon +juice/cayenne pepper/maple syrup cure," the various green drink cures using +spirulina, chlorella, barley green or wheat grass, and the famous Bieler broths--vegetable +soups made of overcooked green beans or zucchini. <br> +    I do not believe that monodiets work because of some magical +property of a particular food used. They work because they are semi-fasts and may +be extremely useful, especially for those individuals who can not or will not tolerate +a water fast.<br> +    The best foods for monodiet fasting are the easiest ones +digest: juices of raw fruits and nonstarchy vegetables with all solids strained out. +Strained mineral broths made of long-simmered non-starchy vegetables (the best of +them made of leafy green vegetables) fall in the same category. So if you are highly +partial to the flavor of grapes or lemons or cayenne and (highly diluted) maple syrup, +a long fast on one of these would do you a world of good, just not quite as much +good as the same amount of time spent on water alone. If you select something more +"solid" for a long monodiet fast, like pureed zucchini, it is essential +that you not overeat. Dr. Bieler gave his fasting patients only one pint of zucchini +soup three or four times a day. The way to evaluate how much to eat is by how much +weight you are losing. When fasting, you must lose weight! And the faster the better.<br> +    Pure absolute water fasting while not taking any vitamins +or other nutritional supplementation has a very limited maximum duration, perhaps +45 days. The key concept here is nutritional reserves. Body fat is stored, surplus +energy fuel. But energy alone cannot keep a body going. It needs much more than fuel +to rebuild and repair and maintain its systems. So the body in its wisdom also stores +up vitamins and minerals and other essential substances in and in-between all its +cells. Bodies that have been very well nourished for a long time have very large +reserves; poorly nourished ones may have very little set aside for a rainy day. And +it is almost a truism that a sick person has, for quite some time, been a poorly +nourished one. With low nutritional reserves. This fact alone can make it difficult +for a sick person to water fast for enough time to completely heal their damaged +organs and other systems.<br> +    Obese people have fat reserves sufficient to provide energy +for long periods, but rarely can any body, no matter how complete its nutrition was +for years previously, contain sufficient nutritional reserves to support a water +fast of over six weeks. To water fast the very obese down to normal weight can take +months but to make this possible, rather diverse and concentrated nutrition containing +few calories must be given. It is possible to fast even a very slim a person for +quite a bit longer than a month when their body is receiving easily assimilable vitamins +and minerals and small amounts of sugars or other simple carbohydrates. <br> +    I estimate that fasting on raw juices and mineral broths +will result in healing at 25 to 75 percent of the efficiency of water fasting, depending +on the amount of nutrition taken and the amount the juices or broths are diluted. +But juice fasting can permit healing to go on several times longer than water might. +<br> +    Fasting on dilute juice and broth can also save the life +of someone whose organs of elimination are insufficiently strong to withstand the +work load created by water fasting. In this sense, juices can be regarded as similar +to the moderators in a nuclear reactor, slowing the process down so it won"t +destroy the container. On a fast of undiluted juice, the healing power drops considerably, +but a person on this regimen, if not sick, is usually capable of working. <br> +    Duration of juice fasts can vary greatly. Most of the time +there is no need to continue fasting after the symptoms causing concern have been +eliminated, and this could happen as quickly as one week or take as long as 60 days +if the person is very obese. Fasters also lose their motivation once the complaint +has vanished. But feeling better is no certain indication that the need to fast has +ended. This points up one of the liabilities of juice fasting; the person is already +eating, their digestive system never shut down and consequently, it is much easier +for them to resume eating. The thing to keep in mind is that if the symptoms return, +the fast was not long enough or the diet was not properly reformed after the fast.<br> +    During a long fast on water or dilute juice, if the body +has used up all of it"s reserves and/or the body has reached skeletal condition, +and the condition or symptoms being addressed persists the fast should be ended, +the person should go on a raw food healing diet. If three to six months on raw food +don"t solve the complaint then another spell of water or dilute juice fasting +should be attempted. Most fasters are incapable of persisting until the body reserves +have been used up because social conditioning is telling them their emaciated-looking +body must be dying when it is actually far from death, but return of true hunger +is the critical indicator that must not be ignored. True hunger is not what most +people think of when they think they are hungry. Few Americans have ever experienced +true hunger. It is not a rumbling in the stomach or a set of uncomfortable sensations +(caused by the beginning of detoxification) you know will go away after eating. True +hunger is an animal, instinctual feeling in the back of one"s throat (not in +the stomach) that demands you eat something, anything, even grass or shoe leather.<br> +    Seriously ill people inevitably start the cleansing process +with a pre-existing and serious mineral deficiencies. I say inevitably because they +likely would not have become ill had they been properly nourished. Sick fasters may +be wise to take in minerals from thin vegetable broths or vitamin-like supplements +in order to prevent uncomfortable deficiency states. For example calcium or magnesium +deficiencies can make water fasters experience unpleasant symptoms such as hand tremors, +stiff muscles, cramps in the hands, feet, and legs, and difficulty relaxing. I want +to stress here that fasting itself does not create deficiencies. But a person already +deficient in minerals should watch for these symptoms and take steps to remedy the +deficiencies if necessary.<br> +<br> +<b>Raw Food Healing Diets</b><br> +    Next in declining order of healing effectiveness is what +I call a raw food healing diet or cleansing diet. It consists of those very same +watery fruits and nonstarchy vegetables one juices or makes into vegetable broths, +but eaten whole and raw. Heating food does two harmful things: it destroys many vitamins, +enzymes and other nutritional elements and it makes many foods much harder to digest. +So no cooked vegetables or fruits are allowed because to maintain health on this +limited regimen it is essential that every possible vitamin and enzyme present in +the food be available for digestion. Even though still raw, no starchy or fatty vegetables +or fruits are allowed that contain concentrated calories like potatoes, winter squash, +avocados, sweet potatoes, fresh raw corn, dates, figs, raisins, or bananas. And naturally, +no salad dressings containing vegetable oils or (raw) ground seeds are allowed. Nor +are raw grains or other raw concentrated energy sources.<br> +    When a person starts this diet they will at first experience +considerable weight loss because it is difficult to extract a large number of calories +from these foods (though I have seen people actually gain weight on a pure melon +diet, so much sugar do these fruits have, and well-chewed watermelon seeds are very +nourishing). Eating even large quantities of only raw fruit and raw non-starchy vegetables +results in a slow but steady healing process about 10 to 20 percent as rapid as water +fasting.<br> +    A raw food cleansing diet has several huge advantages. It +is possible to maintain this regimen and regularly do non-strenuous work for many +months, even a year or more without experiencing massive weight loss and, more important +to some people, without suffering the extremes of low blood sugar, weakness and loss +of ability to concentrate that happen when water fasting. Someone on a raw food cleanse +will have periods of lowered energy and strong cravings for more concentrated foods, +but if they have the self-discipline to not break their cleansing process they can +accomplish a great deal of healing while still maintaining more or less normal (though +slower paced) life activities. However, almost no one on this diet is able to sustain +an extremely active life-style involving hard physical labor or competitive sports. +And from the very beginning someone on a raw food cleanse must be willing and able +to lie down and rest any time they feel tired or unable to face their responsibilities. +Otherwise they will inevitably succumb to the mental certainty that their feelings +of exhaustion or overwhelm can be immediately solved by eating some concentrated +food to "give them energy." Such low-energy states will, however, pass +quickly after a brief nap or rest.<br> +    Something else gradually happens to a body when on such a +diet. Do you recall that I mentioned that after my own long fast I began to get more +"mileage" out of my food. A cleansed, healed body becomes far more efficient +at digestion and assimilation; a body that is kept on a raw food cleansing diet will +initially lose weight rapidly, but eventually weight loss slows to virtually nothing +and then stabilizes. However, long-term raw fooders are usually thin as toothpicks.<br> +    Once starchy vegetables like potatoes or winter squash, raw +or cooked, or any cereals, raw or cooked, are added to a cleansing diet, the detoxification +and healing virtually ceases and it becomes very easy to maintain or even gain weight, +particularly if larger quantities of more concentrated foods like seeds and nuts +are eaten. Though this diet has ceased to be cleansing, few if any toxins from misdigestion +will be produced and health is easy to maintain. <br> +    "Raw fooders" are usually people who have healed +themselves of a serious diseases and ever after continue to maintain themselves on +unfired food, almost as a matter of religious belief. They have become convinced +that eating only raw, unfired food is the key to extraordinarily long life and supreme +good health. When raw fooders wish to perform hard physical work or strenuous exercise, +they"ll consume raw nuts and some raw grains such as finely-ground oats soaked +overnight in warm water or deliciously sweet "Essene bread," made from +slightly sprouted wheat that is then ground wet, made into cakes, and sun baked at +temperatures below about 115 degrees Fahrenheit. Essene bread can be purchased in +some health food stores. However, little or no healing or detoxification can happen +once concentrated energy sources are added to the diet, even raw ones. <br> +    During my days at Great Oaks School I was a raw fooder for +some years, though I found it very difficult to maintain body heat on raw food during +chilly, rainy Oregon winters and eventually struck a personal compromise where I +ate about half my diet raw and the rest fired. I have listed some books by raw fooders +in the Bibliography. Joe Alexander"s is the most fun.<br> +<br> +<b>Complete Recovery Of The Seriously Ill</b><br> +    Its a virtual certainty that to fully recover, a seriously +ill person will have to significantly rebuild numerous organs. They have a hard choice: +to accept a life of misery, one that the medical doctors with drugs and surgery may +be able to prolong into an interminable hell on earth, or, spend several years working +on really healing their body, rotating between water fasting, juice or broth fasting, +extended periods on a cleansing raw food diet, and periods of no-cleansing on a more +complete diet that includes moderate amounts of cooked vegetables and small quantities +of cooked cereals. And even after recovery someone who was quite ill may have to +live the rest of their life on a rather restricted regimen.<br> +    It is unrealistic to expect one fast to fix everything. The +body will heal as much as it can in the allotted time, but if a dangerous illness +has not been fully remedied by the first intense fast, a raw food diet must be followed +for three to six months until weight has been regained, nutritional reserves have +been rebuilt and it is safe to undertake another extended fast. More than two water +or juice fasts a year of thirty continuous days are not recommended nor should they +be necessary unless the life is in imminent danger and there is no other option.<br> +    The story of Jake"s catastrophic illness and almost-cure +is a good example of this type of program. Jake was from back East. He phoned me +because he had read a health magazine article I had written, his weak voice faintly +describing a desperate condition. He was in a wheelchair unable to walk, unable to +control his legs or arms very well, was unable to control his bladder and required +a catheter. He had poor bowel control, had not the strength to talk much or loudly +and most frightening to him, he was steadily losing weight although he was eating +large amounts of cooked vegetables and grains. Jake had wasted away to 90 pounds +at 5"10" and looked pathetic when I first saw him wheeled off an airplane +at my local airport. <br> +    Jake had seen a lot of medical doctors and had variously +been diagnosed as having chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic (whatever that is) meningitis, +and multiple sclerosis. He had been treated by virtually every medical expert and +many famous alternative practitioners, utilizing a host of old and new techniques, +all to no avail. He had even tried intravenous chelation therapy and colonics. It +had also been suggested that he enter a hospital for the treatment of eating disorders +and/or see a psychiatrist. He had tried to gain admittance to a number of holistic +fasting institutions back east, but they all refused him because they considered +the risk was too high to fast a person at such a low body weight. But I had previously +fasted emaciated people like Jake, and there was something I liked about his telephone +presence. Perhaps this is why I foolishly decided I knew better than the other experts. +<br> +    People commonly waste away and die while eating large amounts +of food. Obviously they are unable to digest or assimilate nutrients or they wouldn"t +be wasting. Eating further increases their toxic burden from undigested meals, further +worsening their already failing organs. The real solution is to stop feeding them +altogether so that their digestive functions can heal. In Jake"s case, his body"s +nutritional reserves had already become sadly depleted due to poor absorption over +such an extended period, so I could not fast him on water. I immediately put Jake +on a rich mineral broth prepared from everything left alive in our garden at the +end of winter--leaves of kale, endive plants, whole huge splitting Savoy cabbages, +garlic, huge leeks including their green tops, the whole stew fortified with sea +weed. It did not matter too much what vegetables I used as long as there were lots +of leafy greens containing lots of chlorophyll (where the most concentrated mineral +nutrition is located).<br> +    Jake was given colonics every day, but had to be carried +to the colonic table because he could not support his own weight. Whoever had given +him colonics previously had not accomplished much for I must say that Jake had the +most foul smelling discharges that I had ever encountered in administering over 6,000 +colonics over many years. It was as if his body was literally rotting from the inside +out. <br> +    After 30 days on mineral broth Jake, who really did weigh +90 pounds when he arrived, was only down to 85! When a person already close to skeletal +weight starts fasting, to conserve vital tissue the body goes rapidly into a state +of profound rest so it uses very little energy, thus it loses very little weight +each day. This degree of resting also helps heal abnormal body parts earlier. After +one month on mineral broth Jake began to show signs of mineral deficiencies in the +form of a fine tremor of the hands, and cramps in the feet, so I put him on mineral +supplements too. <br> +    Jake was in my house for a long time. At the end of the second +month on broth he started two weeks on raw carrot juice with a lot of chlorophyll +added from sources such as algae (spirulina), wheat grass juice, alfalfa, etc.. This +was followed by two more weeks on small quantities of raw fruits and vegetables, +and then followed by two weeks with added steamed vegetables, and finally, he achieved +a diet which included small amounts of grain, cooked legumes and raw nuts, plus the +fruits and vegetables previously mentioned. Jake health steadily improved. He gained +control of his bladder, bowels, speech, hands, and legs. He began to exercise in +the living room on a stationary bike, and walked slowly up and down our long driveway, +picking daffodils in the beautiful spring weather. <br> +    Sadly, though I could help his body to heal it was next to +impossible to stem the tides of Jake"s appetites or to pleasantly withstand +his tantrums when he was denied; he always wanted more in terms of quantity, more +in terms of variety, and at more frequent intervals. Though his organs had healed +significantly, his digestive capacity was not nearly as large as he remembered himself +enjoying before he got sick. And never would be. Jake was not happy about the dietary +restrictions necessary for him to retain his newly attained health, and unwilling +to stay within the limits of his digestive system"s ability to process foods. +He had gained weight and was back up to 120 pounds. It was time for him to go home +before I lost my good humor. <br> +    Jake left with a lot of "good lucks" and stern +admonitions to stick to his stringent diet and supplement program. It was a big moment +for Jake. He had arrived in a wheelchair three months before. Now he walked unaided +to the airplane, something he had not been able to do for two years. <br> +    Back at home Jake had no one courageous enough to set limits +for him. His immediate family and every one of his brow beaten associates were compelled +to give him everything that he wanted. So his appetite and lack of personal discipline +got the better of him. He started eating lots of dates and figs. These had been eliminated +from his diet because he was unable to process foods which such a high sugar content. +He also ate larger and larger quantities of grains, nuts and avocados, although I +had warned him of specific quantity limits on rich foods. Most sadly, he returned +to enjoying spaghetti with lots of cheese grated on top. Within months of leaving +my care his paralysis and weakness returned, except that unfortunately for him, he +still retained the ability to assimilate food and maintain his body weight. Ironically, +the only ultimate benefit of his fasting with me was to permit him to suffer a far +longer existence in a wheelchair without wasting away and escaping into death. <br> +    I would be failing my readers if I did not explain why Jake +became ill in the first place. Jake had started what grew to become a very successful +chain of spaghetti restaurants with a unique noodles and sauces made to his own formula. +He ate a lot of his own spaghetti over the years, and had been reared in a good Italian +family with lots of other kinds of rich food. Jake had a reputation for being able +to outeat everybody in terms of quantity and in the amount of time spent eating. +In childhood, this ability had made his Italian mother very happy because it showed +appreciation for her great culinary skill. <br> +    Secondly, Jake the adult was still at his core, Jake the +spoiled brat child, with a bad, unregulated temper. He was in the habit of dumping +his temper on other people whether they needed a helping of his angry emotions or +not. A lot of people in his employ and in his extended family tiptoed around Jake, +always careful of triggering his wrath. At my place as Jake began to get well he +began to use his increased energy and much stronger voice to demonstrate his poor +character. At meal times Jake would bang the table with a fork hard enough to leave +dents in the wood table top while yelling for more, complaining loudly about the +lack of rich sauces and other culinary delights he craved. This was a character problem +that Jake could not seem to overcome, even with a lot of intervention from the local +minister on his behalf and my counseling. Jake was a Catholic who went to church +regularly, but acted like a Christian only while he was in church. On some level +Jake knew that he was not treating others fairly, but he would not change his habitual +responses. His negative thoughts and actions interfered with his digestive capacity +to the extent that his gluttonous eating habits produced illness, a vegetative paralyzing +illness, but not death. To me this seems almost a form of karmic justice.<br> +    It is common for people who have been very ill for extended +periods of time to realize what a wonderful gift life is and arrive at a willingness +to do almost anything to have a second chance at doing 'life" right. Some succeed +with their second chance and some don"t. If they don"t succeed in changing +their life and relationships, they frequently relapse.<br> +    Luigi Cornaro"s left the world his story of sickness +and rejuvenation. His little book may be the world"s first alternative healing +text. It is a classic example of the value of abstentousness. Had Jake taken this +story to heart he would have totally recovered. Cornaro was a sixteenth century Venetian +nobleman. He, like Jake the spaghetti baron, was near death at the young age of forty. +(Jake was also in his early 40s when he broke down.) Cornaro"s many doctors +were unable to cure him. Finally he saw a doctor who understood the principles of +natural healing. This wise physician determined that this illness was caused by a +mismatch between Cornaro"s limited digestive capacity and the excessive amount +of food he was eating. So Cornaro was put on a diet of only 12 ounces of solid food +and fourteen ounces of liquid a day. Any twelve ounces of any solids he wanted and +any fourteen ounces of liquid. It could be meat and wine, salad or orange juice, +no matter. <br> +    Cornaro soon regained his health and he continued to follow +the diet until the age of 78. His health was so outstanding during this period that +people who were much younger in terms of years were unable to keep up with him. At +78 his friends, worried about how thin he was (doesn"t it always seem that it +is your so-called friends who always ruin a natural cure) persuaded him to increase +his daily ration by two ounces a day. His delicate and weak digestive system, which +had operated perfectly for many years, was unable to deal with the additional two +ounces, and he became very ill after a very short period of over eating. <br> +    Worse, his recent indulgence had even further damaged the +organs of digestion and to survive Cornaro had to cut his daily ration to eight ounces +of solid food and eleven of liquids. On this reduced dietary he again regained his +health and lived to be 100. Cornaro wrote four books on the value of abstinence or +"sober living" as he called it, writing the last and perhaps the most interesting +at 96 years of age. Had my patient Jake been able to confine his food intake to the +level of his body"s ability to digest, he might still be walking and enjoying +life. But try as I might I could not make him understand. Perhaps he enjoys doing +penance in his wheel chair more than he would enjoy health and life.<br> +<br> + +<table> + <caption><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Tissue Losses at Death By Starvation*</b></span></caption> + <tr> + <td style="width: 50%;">Fat</td> + <td style="width: 50%;">97%</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 50%;">Muscles</td> + <td style="width: 50%;">31</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 50%;">Blood</td> + <td style="width: 50%;">27</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 50%;">Liver</td> + <td style="width: 50%;">54</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 50%;">Spleen</td> + <td style="width: 50%;">67</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 50%;">Pancreas</td> + <td style="width: 50%;">17</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 50%;">Skin</td> + <td style="width: 50%;">21</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 50%;">Intestines</td> + <td style="width: 50%;">18</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 50%;">Kidneys</td> + <td style="width: 50%;">26</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 50%;">Lungs</td> + <td style="width: 50%;">18</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 50%;">Testes</td> + <td style="width: 50%;">40</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 50%;">Heart</td> + <td style="width: 50%;">3</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 50%;">Brain and Spinal Cord</td> + <td style="width: 50%;">3</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 50%;">Nerves</td> + <td style="width: 50%;">3</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 50%;">Bone</td> + <td style="width: 50%;">14</td> + </tr> +</table> +<br> +<br> +<div style="font-size: small;">* From Keys, Ancel, Joseph Brozek , Austin Henchel, Olaf Mickelson +and Henry L. Taylor, (1950)<I> The Biology of Human Starvation.</I> Two Vols. Minneapolis: +University of Minnesota Press.</div> <br> +<br> +<br> +<b>Starvation</b><br> +    It is true that ethical medical doctors use the least-risky +procedure they are allowed to use. But this does not mean there are no risks to allopathic +treatment. The medical doctor justifies taking the risks by saying that the risk/reward +ratio is the best possible. Any sick person is already at risk. Life comes with only +one guarantee: that none of us gets out of it alive.<br> +    Compared to the risks of allopathic medicine, fasting is +a far safer method of treating disease. The oft-repeated scare stories medical doctors +and their allies circulate about fasting are not true, and it is important to remember +that none of these people portraying fasting as evil and dangerous have ever fasted +themselves--I"ll put money on that one. Or, on the slim possibility that someone +telling fasting horror stories did actually not eat for 24 hours (probably because +some accident or acute illness prevented them), they had a terrible experience because +they didn"t understand the process, were highly toxic, and were scared to death +the whole time. <br> +    Or worse yet they fasted for a short period with an "open +mind"--a very dangerous state in which to approach anything new. I have found +through considerable experience with people professing to have open minds that the +expression "I"m open minded" usually means that someone has already +made up their mind and new data just passes straight through their open mind--in one +ear and out the other. Or sometimes, the phrase "open mind" means a person +that does not believe any information has reality and is entirely unable to make +up their mind.<br> +    The most commonly leveled criticism of fasting is that in +its efforts to survive self-imposed starvation the body metabolizes vital tissue, +not just fat, and therefore, fasting is damaging, potentially fatally damaging. People +who tell you this will also tell you that fasters have destroyed their heart muscle +or ruined their nervous system permanently. But this kind of damage happen only when +a person starves to death or starves to a point very close to death, not when someone +fasts. <br> +    There is a huge difference between fasting and starvation. +Someone starving is usually eating, but eating poorly and inadequately, eating scraps +of whatever is available such as sugar, white flour, rancid grease, shoe leather, +or even dirt. Frequently a starving person is forced to exercise a great deal as +they struggle to survive and additionally is highly apprehensive. Or someone starving +to death is confined to a small space, may become severely dehydrated too and is +in terror. Fear is very damaging to the digestive process, and to the body in general; +fear speeds up the destruction of vital tissue. People starve when trekking vast +distances through wastelands without food to eat, they starved in concentration camps, +buried in mind disasters, they starve during famines and starve while being tortured +in prisons. <br> +    Until water fasting goes on past the point where all fatty +tissues and all abnormal deposits have been burned for fuel and recycled for the +nutritional elements they contain, vital muscle tissues and organs are not consumed. +And as long as the body contains sufficient nutritional reserves, vital organs and +essential tissues are rebuilt and maintained. In fact the body has a great deal of +intelligence that we don"t give it credit for. It knows exactly which cells +are essential to survival, which ones are not. The body knows which cells are abnormal +deposits, and it goes to work to metabolize them first. For example, the body recognizes +arthritic deposits, cysts, fibroids, and tumors as offensive parts of the landscape, +and obligingly uses them for foods in preference to anything else. A starving (not +fasting) body also knows precisely in what order of priority body cells should be +metabolized to minimize risk of death or permanent disability.<br> +    After a starving body has reached skeletal condition, or +where some small amount of fat remains but nutritional reserves (vitamins and minerals) +are exhausted and there is insufficient nourishment forthcoming, the body begins +to consume nutrient-rich muscle and organ tissue in a last-ditch effort to stay alive. +Under these dire circumstances, the least essential muscles and organs from the standpoint +of survival are metabolized first. For example, muscles in the arms and legs would +be consumed early in the process, the heart muscle used only toward the very end. +The very last part of the body to be metabolized when one is starving and as has +come very close to death would be the brain and the nervous system. <br> +    Starvation begins where fasting ends, which is when real +hunger begins. If the return of hunger is ignored whenever it takes place, whether +it is in 30, 60, or 90 days depending upon body weight and type of fast, at that +point exactly, not a day before, starvation begins very slowly. Usually it takes +a considerable period of time after that before death occurs. It is important to +note that this discussion applies only to the abstention from food, not water. Death +takes place very quickly in the absence of water.<br> +    The chart on the previous page shows numerically the phenomenal +ability of the body to protect the most essential tissues of the body right up to +the time of death. If a person fasted for 30 days, the average time it takes for +the return of hunger in a person that is not overweight, and then ignored the return +of hunger, and continued to abstain from food--if the person could avoid forced exercise, +keep warm, and had enough hydration, it could take as much as an additional 20 to +60 days to die of starvation! At death the body would have experienced losses of +40 to 60 percent of its starting body weight. (Ancel Keys et al, 1950) A emaciated +person can not afford to lose nearly as much weight as an obese person, and death +under conditions of starvation will occur earlier. In all cases of starvation the +brain, nerves, heart, lungs, kidneys and liver remain largely intact and functional +to the very end. During a fast, it is almost impossible to damage essential organs, +unless of course the person creates the damage by fears about the process, or by +internalizing the fears of others. If those fears are present, the fast should not +be attempted.<br> +<br> +<b>Weight Loss By Fasting</b><br> +    Loss of weight indicates, almost guarantees, that detoxification +and healing is occurring. I can"t stress this too much. Of all the things I +find my patients seem to misunderstand or forget after being told, it is that they +can"t heal in a rapid manner without getting smaller. This reality is especially +hard for the family and friends of someone who is fasting, who will say, "you"re +looking terrible dear, so thin. Your skin is hanging on your bones. You"re not +eating enough protein or nutrient food to be healthy and you must eat more or you"re +going to develop serious deficiencies. You don"t have any energy, you must be +getting sicker. You"re doing the wrong thing, obviously. You have less energy +and look worse every day. Go and see a doctor before it is too late." To succeed +with friends like this, a faster has to be a mighty self-determined person with a +powerful ability to disagree with others.<br> +    Medical personnel claim that rapid weight loss often causes +dangerous deficiencies; these deficiencies force the person to overeat and regain +even more weight afterward. This is largely untrue, though there is one true aspect +to it: a fasted, detoxified body becomes a much more efficient digester and assimilator, +extracting a lot more nutrition from the same amount food is used to eat. If, after +extended fasting a person returns to eating the same number of calories as they did +before; they will gain weight even more rapidly than before they stated fasting. +When fasting for weight loss, the only way to keep the weight off is to greatly reform +the diet; to go on, and stay on, a diet made up largely of non-starchy, watery fruits +and vegetables, limited quantities of cooked food, and very limited amounts of highly +concentrated food sources like cereals and cooked legumes. Unless, of course, after +fasting, one"s lifestyle involves much very hard physical labor or exercise. +I"ve had a few obese fasters become quite angry with me for this reason; they +hoped to get thin through fasting and after the fast, to resume overeating with complete +irresponsibility as before, without weight gain. <br> +    People also fear weight loss during fasting because they +fear becoming anorexic or bulimic. They won"t! A person who abstains from eating +for the purpose of improving their health, in order to prevent or treat illness, +or even one who fasts for weight loss will not develop an eating disorder. Eating +disorders mean eating compulsively because of a distorted body image. Anorexics and +bulimics have obsessions with the thinner-is-better school of thought. The anorexic +looks at their emaciated frame in the mirror and thinks they are fat! This is the +distorted perception of a very insecure person badly in need of therapy. A bulimic, +on the other hand stuffs themselves, usually with bad food, and then purges it by +vomiting, or with laxatives. Anorexics and bulimics are not accelerating the healing +potential of their bodies; these are life threatening conditions. Fasters are genuinely +trying to enhance their survival potential. <br> +    Occasionally a neurotic individual with a pre-existing eating +disorder will become obsessed with fasting and colon cleansing as a justification +to legitimize their compulsion. During my career while monitoring hundreds of fasters, +I"ve known two of these. I discourage them from fasting or colon cleansing, +and refuse to assist them, because they carry the practices to absurd extremes, and +contribute to bad press about natural medicine by ending up in the emergency ward +of a hospital with an intravenous feeding tube in their arm. <br> +<br> +<b>Cases Beyond The Remedy Of Fasting</b><br> +    Occasionally, very ill people have a liver that has become +so degenerated it cannot sustain the burden of detoxification. This organ is as vital +to survival as the brain, heart and lungs. We can get along with only one kidney, +we can live with no spleen, with no gallbladder, with only small parts of the stomach +and intestines, but we can not survive without a liver for more than a day or so. +The liver is the most active organ in the body during detoxification. To reach an +understanding of detoxification, it helps to know just what the liver does for us +on an ongoing basis. <br> +    The liver is a powerful chemical filter where blood is refined +and purified. The liver passes this cleansed blood out through the superior vena +cava, directly to the heart. The blood is then pumped into general and systemic circulation, +where it reaches all parts of the body, delivering nutrition and oxygen at a cellular +level. On its return flow, a large proportion of the depleted blood is collected +by the gastric, splenic and superior and inferior mesenteric veins that converge +to form the large portal vein which enters the liver. Thus a massive flow of waste +from all the cells of the body is constantly flowing into the liver. The huge hepatic +artery also enters the liver to supply oxygen and nutrients with which to sustain +the liver cells themselves. <br> +    The liver is constantly at work refining the blood. It is +synthesizing, purifying, renovating, washing, filtering, separating, and detoxifying. +It works day and night without stopping. Many toxins are broken down by enzymes and +their component parts are efficiently reused in various parts of the body. Some impurities +are filtered out and held back from the general circulation. These debris are collected +and stored in the gall bladder, which is a little sack appended to the liver. After +a meal, the contents of the gall bladder (bile) are discharged into the duodenum, +the upper part of the small intestine just beyond the stomach. This bile also contains +digestive enzymes produced by the liver that permit the breakdown of fatty foods +in the small intestine.<br> +    Sometimes a large flow of bile finds its way into the stomach +by pressure or is sucked into the stomach by vomiting. Excessive biliary secretion +and excretion can also result from overeating, which overcrowds the area. Sometimes +colonics or massage can also stimulate a massive flow of bile. Extremely bitter and +irritating, when bile gets into the stomach the person either vomits or wishes they +could. And after vomiting and experiencing the taste of bile, wishes they hadn"t.<br> +    When no food at all enters the system, the blood keeps right +on passing through the liver/filter just as it does when we are eating. When the +liver does not have to take care of toxins generated by the current food intake, +each passage through the liver results in a cleaner blood stream, with the debris +decreasing in quantity, viscosity, and toxicity, until the blood becomes normalized. +During fasting, debris from the gall bladder still pass through the small intestine +and into the large intestine. However, if the bowels do not move the toxins in the +bile are readsorbed into the blood stream and get recirculated in an endless loop. +This toxic recycling makes a faster feel just terrible, like they had a flu or worse!<br> +    The bowels rarely move while fasting. During fasting only +enemas or colonics permit elimination from the large intestine. If done effectively +and frequently, enemas will greatly add to the well being and comfort of the faster. +Many times when a faster seems to be retracing or experiencing a sudden onset of +acute discomfort or symptoms, these can be almost immediately relieved by an enema +or colonic. <br> +    A person with major liver degeneration inevitably dies, with +or without fasting, with or without traditional medicine. Significantly impaired +kidney function can also bring about this same result. Mercifully, death while fasting +is usually accomplished relatively free of pain, clear of mind and with dignity. +That often can not be said of death in a hospital. There are much worse experiences +than death. <br> +    Fasting is not a cure-all. There are some conditions that +are beyond the ability of the body to heal. Ultimately, old age gets us all. <br> +    Dr. Linda Hazzard, one of the greats of natural hygiene, +who practiced Osteopathic medicine in the 1920s, had a useful way of categorizing +conditions that respond well to fasting. These she labeled "acute conditions," +and "chronic degenerative conditions." A third classification, "chronic +conditions with organic damage," does not respond to fasting. Acute conditions, +are usually inflammations or infections with irritated tissue, with swelling, redness, +and often copious secretions of mucous and pus, such as colds, flu, a first time +case of pneumonia, inflamed joints as in the early stages of arthritis, etc. These +acute conditions usually remedy in one to three weeks of fasting. Acute conditions +are excellent candidates for self-doctoring. Chronic degenerative conditions are +more serious and the patient usually requires supervision. These include conditions +such as cancer, aids, chronic arthritis, chronic pneumonia, emphysema and asthma. +Chronic degenerative conditions usually respond within a month to three months of +fasting. The fasting should be broken up into two or three sessions if the condition +has not been relieved in one stint of supervised fasting. Each successive fast will +produce some improvement and if a light, largely raw-food diet is adhered to between +fasts the patient should not worsen and should be fairly comfortable between fastings. +<br> +    If there has been major functional damage to an organ as +a result of any of these degenerative conditions, healing will not be complete, or +may be impossible. By organic damage, I mean that a vital part of the body has ceased +to function due to some degenerative process, injury, or surgery--so badly damaged +that the cells that make up the organ can not be replaced. <br> +    I once had a twenty five year old man come to my spa to die +in peace because he had been through enough diagnostic procedures in three hospitals +to know that his liver was beyond repair. He had been working on an apple farm in +between terms at university when he was poisoned several times with insecticide from +an aerial spray on the whole orchard. He absorbed so much insecticide that his liver +incurred massive organic damage.<br> +    When he came to me his body had reached the point where it +was incapable of digesting, and because of lack of liver function, it was incapable +of healing while fasting, a condition in which death is a certainty. He was a Buddhist, +did not fear death and did not want to be kept alive in agony or in prolonged unconsciousness +by any extraordinary means, nor did he want to die with tubes in every orifice. I +was honored to be a supportive participant in his passing. He died fasting, in peace, +and without pain, with a clear mind that allowed him to consciously prepare for the +experience. He was not in a state of denial or fear, and made no frantic attempts +to escape the inevitable. He went quietly into that still dark night with a tranquil +demeanor and a slight smile.<br> +    Fortunately, in my many years of practice I had the pleasure +of seeing the majority of the people totally regain their health or at least greatly +improve it by means of the fasting and healing diets. Many cancer patients watched +with amazement as their tumors disappeared before their eyes, many arthritics regained +their function, serious skin conditions such as psoriasis disappeared, mental conditions +improved, addictions vanished, fatigue was replaced by energy, and fat dissolved +revealing the hidden sculpture beneath. I will talk more about procedures and the +particular reasons bodies develop specific conditions in later chapters.<br> +<br> +<b>Social/Cultural/Psychological Obstacles To Fasting</b><br> +    Numerous attitudes make it difficult to fast or to provide +moral support to friends or loved ones that are fasting. Many people harbor fears +of losing weight because they think that if times were really tough, if there was +a famine or they became ill and lost a lot of weight they would have no reserves +and would certainly perish. These people have no idea how much fat can be concealed +on an even skinny body, nor of how slowly a skinny body loses weight while fasting. +Substantial fat reserves are helpful as heat-retaining insulation in those rare accidents +when someone is dropped into a cold ocean and must survive until the rescue boat +arrives. Being fat might keep a person alive longer who is lost in the wilderness +awaiting rescue with no supplies, no means of procuring food, and no means of keeping +warm. On the other hand, fat people would have a far harder time walking out of the +wilderness. And extensive fat deposits are merely fuel and do not contain extensive +nutritional reserves. An obese person fasting without significant nutritional supplementation +would begin starving long before they became really skinny. On the balance, carrying +excess weight is a far greater liability than any potential prosurvival aspects it +might have.<br> +    There are other attitudes associated with weight loss that +make it difficult for people to fast. People hold rather stereotypical notions about +what constitutes an attractive person; usually it involves having some meat on ones +bones. Hollywood and Hugh Hefner have both influenced the masses to think that women +should have hourglass figures with large, upthrust, firm breasts. Since breasts are +almost all useless fatty tissue supporting some milk-producing glands that do not +give a breast much volume except when engorged, most women fasters loose a good percentage +of their breast mass. If the fast is extensive, there should also develop an impressive +showing of ribs and hip bones; these are not soft and cuddly. Husbands, lovers, parents, +and friends frequently point out that you don"t look good this way and exhort +you to put on weight. Most people think pleasantly plump is healthy. <br> +    Skinny men, especially those who had lost a lot of weight +during an illness, are pressured by associates to put on weight to prove that they +are healthy. I had a client who was formerly a college varsity football player. Before +his illness he had lifted weights and looked like a hunk. His family and friends +liked to see him that way and justifiably so. Then he got seriously ill. On a long +extended healing diet he lost a significant amount of weight and seemed down right +skinny, causing all who knew him well and cared about him to tempt him with all kinds +of scrumptious delicacies from the best of kitchens. But this case was like Luigi +Cornaro, a man who never again could look like a hunk. His "friends" made +an absolutely necessary change in life style and appearance far more difficult than +it was already. My client was torn between a desire to please others, and a desire +to regain and retain his health. This problem a sick person doesn"t need.<br> +    If you have the independence to consider following an alternative +medical program in a culture that highly values conformity and agreement, you are +also going to have to defend your own course of self-determined action based on the +best available data that you have. But fasters are usually in fragile emotional condition, +so I advise my clients who are subjected to this kind of pressure to beg their friends +and associates to refrain from saying anything if they can"t support the course +of action you have chosen. After this, if friends or relatives are still incapable +of saying nothing (even non-verbally), it is important to exclude them from your +life until you have accomplished your health goals, have regained some weight and +have returned to eating a maintenance diet, rather than getting skinnier on a healing +one.<br> +    The very worst aspect of our culture"s eating programming +is that people have been wrongfully taught that when ill they must eat to keep up +their strength. Inherent in this recommendation is an unstated belief that when the +body is weakened by a disease state, the weakness can somehow be overcome with food, +and that the body needs this food to kill the virus, bacteria, or invading yeast, +and uses the protein to heal or rebuild tissue. Sadly, the exact opposite is the +case. Disease organisms feed and multiply on the toxic waste products of misdigestion, +and the body is unable to digest well when it is weak or ill. <br> +    There"s an old saying about this: 'feed a cold, starve +a fever." Most people think this saying means you should eat when you have a +cold. What the saying really means is if you feed a cold then you will soon have +to starve a fever. Protein foods especially are not digested by a diseased body, +and as mentioned before, the waste products of protein indigestion are especially +poisonous. That is all the body needs when it is already down, another load of poison +which it can"t eliminate due to weakness and enervation. <br> +    Weight loss is usually associated with illness, as it should +be! In times of acute illness an otherwise healthy body loses its appetite for food +because it is prosurvival to stop eating. It is very hard to coax a sick animal to +eat. Their bodies, not controlled by a mind full of complex learned responses and +false ideas, automatically know that fasting is nature"s method of healing. +Contrary to popular understanding, digestion, assimilation, and elimination require +the expenditure of considerable energy. This fact may contradict the reader"s +experience because everyone has become tired when they have worked a long time without +eating, and then experienced the lift after eating. But an ill body cannot digest +efficiently so instead of providing energy extracted from foods, the body is further +burdened by yet another load of toxic material produced by fermented and putrefied +food. This adds insult to injury in a sick body that is already drowning in its own +garbage.<br> +    Worse, during illness most available vital force is already +redirected into healing; it is not available for digestion. It is important to allow +a sick body to proceed with healing and not to obstruct the process with unnecessary +digestion or suppress the symptoms (which actually are the healing efforts) with +drugs. If you have an acute illness, and you stop all food intake except for pure +water and herb teas, and perhaps some vegetable broth, or dilute non-sweet juice, +you have relieved your body of an immense effort. Instead of digesting, the body +goes to work on catching up on healing. The body can and will almost inevitably heal +itself if the sick person will have faith in it, cooperate with the body"s efforts +by allowing the symptoms of healing to exist, reduce or eliminate the intake of food +to allow the body to marshal its energies, maintain a positive mental attitude and +otherwise stay out of the way. <br> +    Many people intensely dread missing even one meal. These +folks usually are and have been so toxic that their bodies had been stashing uneliminated +toxins in their fat for years. They are usually so addicted to caffeine, cigarettes, +alcohol, and so forth, that when they had fasted, even briefly, their bodies were +forced to dip into highly-polluted fat reserves while simultaneously the body begins +withdrawal. People like this who try to fast experience highly unpleasant symptoms +including headache, irritability, inability to think or concentrate, blurred vision, +profound fatigue, aches, etc. Most of these symptoms come from low blood sugar, but +combined with the toxins being released from fat and combined with going through +multiple addictive withdrawals, the discomforts are more than most people are willing +to tolerate. Fasting on juice is much more realistic for cases like this. It is little +wonder that when a hygienist suggests a fast to improve health, this type of case +asserts positively that fasting is quite impossible, they have tried it, it is absolutely +terrible and know that they can"t do it. <br> +    This rejection is partly due to a cultural expectation (one +reinforced by western medicine) that all unpleasant symptoms should be avoided or +suppressed. To voluntarily experience unpleasant sensations such as those mentioned +above is more than the ordinary timid person will subject themselves to, even in +order to regain health. They will allow surgery, drugs with violent and dangerous +side effects, painful and invasive testing procedures and radiation--all unpleasant +and sometimes extremely uncomfortable. These therapies are accepted because someone +else with authority is doing it to them. And, they have been told that it they don"t +submit they will not ever feel better and probably will die in the near future. Also +people think that they have no alternative, that the expert in front of them knows +what is best, so they feel relieved to have been relieved of the responsibility for +their own condition and its treatment.<br> +<br> +<b>Preventative Fasting</b><br> +    During the years it takes for a body to degenerate enough +to prompt a fast, the body has been storing up large quantities of unprocessed toxins +in the cells, tissues, fat deposits, and organs. The body in its wisdom will always +choose to temporarily deposit overwhelming amounts of toxins somewhere harmless rather +than permit the blood supply to become polluted or to use secondary elimination routes. +A body will use times when the liver is less burdened to eliminate these stored toxic +debris. The hygienists" paradigm asserts that the manifestation of symptoms +or illness are all by themselves, absolute, unassailable proof that further storage +of toxic wastes in the cells, tissues, fat deposits, and organs is not possible and +that an effort toward elimination is absolutely necessary. Thus the first time a +person fasts a great quantity of toxins will normally be released. Being the resident +of a body when this is happening can be quite uncomfortable. For this reason alone, +preventative fasting is a very wise idea. <br> +    Before the body becomes critically ill, clean up your reserve +fuel supply (fat deposits) by burning off some accumulated fat that is rich in toxic +deposits and then replace it with clean, non-toxic fat that you will make while eating +sensibly. If you had but fasted prophylactically as a preventative or health-creating +measure before you became seriously ill, the initial detoxification of your body +could have been accomplished far more comfortably, while you were healthy, while +your vital force was high and while your body otherwise more able to deal with detoxification. +<br> +    Each time you fast, even if it is only one day, you allow +your body to go through a partial detox, and each time it becomes easier and more +comfortable than the last time. The body learns how to fast. Each time you fast it, +your body slips into a cleansing mode more quickly, and each time you fast you lighten +the load of stored toxins. Perhaps you have already eliminated the caffeine your +body had stored, which frequently causes severe headaches on withdrawal, not to mention +fatigue. It certainly helps to have this behind you before you go on to the elimination +of other irritating substances. Many people have gone through alcohol or tobacco +withdrawal, and understand that it is very unpleasant, and also that it must be done +in the pursuit of health. Why not withdraw from the rest of the irritating and debilitating +substances we take into our system on an ongoing basis, and why not grit your way +through the eliminative process, withdraw, from food addictions such as sugar or +salt, and from foods that you may be allergic to like wheat, dairy products or eggs.<br> +    It is very wise to invest in your own insurance plan by systematically +detoxifying while you are still healthy. Plan it into your life, when it is convenient, +such as once a week on Sunday, or even once a month on a quiet day. Take a few days +of vacation, go to a warm, beautiful place and devote part or all of it to cleansing. +Treat yourself by taking an annual trip to Hawaii, fasting at a hotel on the beach--do +whatever it takes to motivate yourself. And consider this: vacations are enormously +cheaper when you stay out of restaurants.<br> +    If you have accustomed your body to 24 hour fasts, then you +can work on 48 hour fasts, and over time work up to 72 hour fasts, all on a continuum. +You may find it becoming increasingly comfortable, perhaps even pleasant, something +you look forward to. Fasting a relatively detoxified body feels good, and people +eventually really get into the clean, light, clear headed, perhaps spiritually aware +state that goes along with it. <br> +    By contrast, fasting when you are sick is much more difficult +because your vitality or vital force is very low, you already have no energy, and +probably have unpleasant symptoms that must be dealt with at the same time. There +may be the added stress of being forced into a cleanse because you are too nauseous +to eat. Most people let their health go until they are forced into dealing with it; +they are too busy living, so why bother. <br> +    The truth is that our body does age, and over time becomes +less able to deal with insults; the accumulated effect of insults and aging eventually +leads most of us to some serious degenerative illness. Normally this begins happening +around age 50 if not sooner. Some of us that were gifted with good genes or what +I call "a good start" may have reached the age of 60 or 75 or even 90 without +serious illness, but those people are few and far between. Why not tip the scales +in your favor by preventing or staving off health problems with systematic detoxification +at your own convenience.<br> +    Climb into the drivers seat and start to take control and +gain confidence in your own ability to deal with your body, your own health, and +your own life. When it gets right down to the bottom line, there is really only one +thing in the world that is really yours, and that is your life. Take control and +start managing it. The reward will be a more qualitative life.<br> +<br> +<br> +<a id="Chapter4"></a><b>Chapter Four </b><br> +<div style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Colon Cleansing</b></div><br> +<br> +<br> +<div style="font-size: small;"><b>From The Hygienic Dictionary </b><br> +</div><div style="font-size: medium;"><br> +<b>Autointoxication.</b> [1] the accumulations on the bowel wall become a breeding +ground for unhealthy bacterial life forms. The heavy mucus coating in the colon thickens +and becomes a host for putrefaction. The blood capillaries to the colon begin to +pick up the toxins, poisons and noxious debris as it seeps through the bowel wall. +All tissues and organs of the body are now taking on toxic substances. Here is the +beginning of true autointoxication on a physiological level. <I>Bernard Jensen, Tissue +Cleansing Through Bowel Management.</I> [2] All maladies are due to the lack of certain +food principles, such as mineral salts or vitamins, or to the absence of the normal +defenses of the body, such as the natural protective flora. When this occurs, toxic +bacteria invade the lower alimentary canal, and the poisons thus generated pollute +the bloodstream and gradually deteriorate and destroy every tissue, gland and organ +of the body. <I>Sir Arbuthnot Lane. </I>[3] The common cause of gastro-intestinal +indigestion is enervation and overeating When food is not digested, it becomes a +poison. Dr. John.H. Tilden, Impaired Health: Its Cause and Cure, 1921. [4] a clogging +up of the large intestine by a building up (on) the bowel wall to such an extent +that feces can hardly pass through. autointoxication is a direct result of intestinal +constipation. Faulty nutrition is a major underlying factor in constipation. The +frequency or quantity of fecal elimination is not an indication of the lack of constipation +in the bowel.<I> Bernard Jensen, Tissue Cleansing Through Bowel Management. </I></div><br> +<br> +<br> +    I am not a true believer in any single healing method or +system. I find much truth in many schools and use a wide variety of techniques. The +word for my inclination is eclectic. <br> +    The most effective medicine in my arsenal is water fasting +followed closely in potency by other, less rigorous detoxifying diets. Colon cleansing +ranks next in healing power. In fact it is difficult to separate colon cleansing +from fasting because detoxification programs should always be accompanied by colon +cleansing. Further down the scale of efficatiousness comes dietary reform to eliminate +allergic reactions and to present the body with foods it is capable of digesting +without creating toxemia. Last, and usually least in effectiveness in my arsenal, +are orthotropic substances (in the form of little pills and capsules) commonly known +as vitamins or food supplements.<br> +    Interestingly, acceptance of these methods by my clients +runs in exact opposition to their effectiveness. People prefer taking vitamins because +they seem like the allopaths' pills, taking pills demands little or no responsibility +for change. The least popular prescription I can write is a monodiet of water for +several weeks or a month. Yet this is my most powerful medicine. <br> +    It is possible to resolve many health complaints without +fasting, simply by cleansing the colon and regaining normal lower bowel function. +Colonics take little personal effort and are much easier to get people to accept +than fasting. So I can fully understand how perfectly honest and ethical naturopaths +have developed obsessions with colon cleansing. Some healers have loudly and repeatedly +(and wrongly) proclaimed that constipation is the sole cause of disease, and thus, +the only real cure for any illness is colon cleansing. <br> +    Even though it is possible to have a lot of successes with +the simple (though unpleasant to administer) technique of colon cleansing, degenerated +lower bowels are the only cause of disease. I prefer to use bowel cleansing as an +adjunct to more complete healing programs. However, old classics of hygiene and even +a few new books strongly make the case for colonics. Some of these books are entirely +one-sided, single-cause single-cure approaches, and sound convincing to the layperson. +For this reason, I think I should take a few paragraphs and explain why some otherwise +well-intentioned health professionals have overly-advocated colonics (and other practices +as well).<br> +<br> +<b>Most Diseases Cure Themselves</b><br> +    If you ask any honest medical doctor how they cure diseases, +they will tell you that most acute disease conditions and a smaller, though significant +percentage (probably a majority) of chronic disease conditions are self-limiting +and will, given time, get better all by themselves. So for most complaints, the honest +allopathic doctor sees their job as giving comfort and easing the severity of the +symptoms until a cure happens.<br> +    This same scenario, when viewed from a hygienist's perspective, +is that almost all acute and many chronic conditions are simply the body's attempt +to handle a crisis of toxemia. For two reasons the current crisis will probably go +away by itself. The positive reason is that the toxic overload will be resolved: +the person changes their dietary habits or the stressor that temporarily lowered +their vital force and produced enervation is removed, then digestion improves and +the level of self-generated toxins is reduced. The negative reason for a complaint +to "cure" itself is that the suffering person's vital force drops below +the level that the symptom can be manifested and the complaint goes away because +a new, more serious disease is developing. <br> +    I view this second possibility as highly undesirable because +strong, healthy bodies possessing a high degree of vital force are able to eliminate +toxins rather violently, frequently producing very uncomfortable symptoms that are +not life-threatening. However, as the vital force drops, the body changes its routes +of secondary elimination and begins using more centrally located vital organs and +systems to dispose of toxemia. This degeneration producing less unpleasant symptoms, +but in the long run, damages essential organs and moves the person closer to their +final disease.<br> +    A young vigorous body possessing a large degree of vital +force will almost always route surplus toxins through skin tissues and skin-like +mucus membranes, producing repeated bouts of sinusitis, or asthma, or colds, or a +combination of all these. Each acute manifestation will "cure" itself by +itself eventually. But eventually the body's vital force can no longer create these +aggressive cleansing phenomena and the toxemia begins to go deeper. When the allopathic +doctor gets a patient complaining of sinusitis, they know they will eventually get +a cure. The "cure" however, might well be a case of arthritis. <br> +    This unfortunate reality tends to make young, idealistic +physicians become rather disillusioned about treating degenerative conditions because +the end result of all their efforts is, in the end, death anyway. The best they can +do is to alleviate suffering and to a degree, prolong life. The worst they can do +is to prolong suffering. <br> +    Thus, the physicians main job is to get the patient to be +patient, to wait until the body corrects itself and stops manifesting the undesired +symptom. Thus comes the prime rule of all humane medicine: first of all, do no harm! +If the doctor simply refrains from making the body worse, it will probably get better +by itself. But the patient, rarely resigned to quiet suffering, comes in demanding +fast relief, demanding a cure. In fact, if the patient were resigned to quiet suffering +they would not consult a doctor. So if the doctor wants to keep this patient and +make a living they must do something. If that something the doctor must do does little +or no harm and better yet, can also alleviate the symptoms, the doctor is practicing +good medicine and will have a very high cure rate and be financially successful if +they have a good bedside manner. This kind of doctor may be allopathic and/or "natural," +may use herbs or practice homeopathy. <br> +    The story of Dr. Jennings, a very successful and famous or +infamous (depending on your viewpoint) physician, who practiced in Connecticut in +the early 1800s exemplifies this type of approach. <br> +    Dr. Jennings had his own unique medicines. Their composition +was of his own devising, and were absolutely secret. He had pills and colored bitter +drops of various sorts that were compounded himself in his own pharmacy. Dr. Jennings' +patients generally recovered and had few or no complications. This must be viewed +in contrast to the practices of his fellow doctors of that era, whose black bags +were full of mercury and arsenic and strychnine, whose practices included obligatory +bleeding. These techniques and medicines "worked" by poisoning the body +or by reducing its blood supply and thus lowering its vital force, ending the body's +ability to manifest the undesirable symptom. If the poor patient survived being victimized +by their own physician, they were tough enough to survive both their disease and +the doctor's cure. Typically, the sick had many, lengthy complications, long illnesses, +and many "setbacks" requiring many visits, earning the physician a great +living. <br> +    Dr. Jennings operated differently. He would prescribe one +or two secret medicines from his black bag and instruct the patient to stay in bed, +get lots of rest, drink lots of water, eat little and lightly, and continue taking +the medicine until they were well. His cure rate was phenomenal. Demand they might, +but Dr. Jennings would never reveal what was in his pills and vials. Finally at the +end of his career, to instruct his fellow man, Dr. Jennings confessed. His pills +were made from flour dough, various bitter but harmless herbal substances, and a +little sugar. His red and green and black tinctures, prescribed five or ten drips +at a time mixed in a glass of water several times daily, were only water and alcohol, +some colorant and something bitter tasting, but harmless. Placebos in other words. +<br> +    Upon confessing, Dr. Jennings had to run for his life. I +believe he ended up retiring on the western frontier, in Indiana. Some of his former +patients were extremely angry because they had paid good money, top dollar for "real" +medicines, but were given only flour and water. The fact that they got better didn't +seem to count.<br> +     If the physicians curative procedure suppresses the symptom +and/or lowers the vital force with toxic drugs or surgery, (either result will often +as not end the complaint) the allopathic doctor is practicing bad medicine. This +doctor too will have a high cure rate and a good business (if they have an effective +bedside manner) because their drugs really do make the current symptoms vanish very +rapidly. Additionally, their practice harmonizes with a common but vicious dramatization +of many people which goes: when a body is malfunctioning, it is a bad body and needs +to be punished. So lets punish it with poisons and if that don't work, lets really +punish it by cutting out the offending part. <br> +    However, if the physician can do something that will do no +harm but raises the vital force and/or lowers the level of toxemia, this doctor will +have a genuine cure rate higher than either of the two techniques. Why does raising +the vital force help? Because it reduces enervation, improves the digestion, lowers +the creation of new toxins and improves the function of the organs of elimination, +also reducing the toxic overload that is causing the complaint. <br> +    Techniques that temporarily and quickly raise the vital force +include homeopathy, chiropractic, vitamin therapy, massage, acupuncture and acupressure +and many more spiritually oriented practices. Healers who use these approaches and +have a good bedside manner can have a very good business, they can have an especially-profitable +practice if they do nothing to lower the level of toxemia being currently generated. +Their patients do experience prompt relief but must repeatedly take the remedy. This +makes for satisfied customers and a repeat business.<br> +    The best approach of all focuses on reducing the self-generated +level of toxemia, cleansing to remove deposits of old toxemia, rebuilding the organs +of elimination and digestion to prevent the formation of new toxemia, and then, to +alleviate the current symptoms and make it easier for the patient to be patient while +their body heals, the healer raises artificially and temporarily the vital force +with vitamins, massage, acupressure, etc. This wise and benevolent physician is going +to have the highest cure rate among those wise patients who will accept the prescription, +but will not make as much money because the patients permanently get better and no +longer need a physician. There's not nearly as much repeat business.<br> +    Colonics are one of the best types of medicine. They clean +up deposits of old toxemia (though there are sure to be other deposits in the body's +tissues colonics do not touch). Colon cleansing reduces the formation of new toxemia +from putrefying fecal matter (but dietary reform is necessary to maximize this benefit). +Most noticeable to the patient, a colonic immediately alleviates current symptoms +by almost instantly reducing the current toxic load. A well-done enema or colonic +is such a powerful technique that a single one will often make a severe headache +vanish, make an onsetting cold go away, end a bout of sinusitis, end an asthmatic +attack, reduce the pain of acute arthritic inflammation, reduce or stop an allergic +reaction. Enemas are also thrifty: they are self-administered and can prevent most +doctor's visits seeking relief for acute conditions.<br> +    Diseases of the colon itself, including chronic constipation, +colitis, diverteculitis, hemorrhoids, irritable bowel syndrome, and mucous colitis, +are often cured solely by an intensive series of several dozen colonics given close +together. Contrary to popular belief, many people think that if they have dysentery +or other forms of loose stools that a colonic is the last thing they need. Surprisingly, +a series of colonics will eliminate many of these conditions as well. People with +chronic diarrhea or loose stools are usually very badly constipated. This may seem +a contradiction in terms but it will be explained shortly.<br> +    A century ago there was much less scientific data about the +functioning of the human body. Then it was easy for a hygienically-oriented physician +to come to believe that colonics were the single best medicine available. The doctor +practicing nothing but colonics will have a very high rate of cure and a lot of very +satisfied clients. Most importantly, this medicine will have done no harm. <br> +<br> +<b>The Repugnant Bowel</b><br> +    I don't know why, but people of our culture have a deep-seated +reluctance to relate to the colon or it's functions. People don't want to think about +the colon or personally get involved with it by giving themselves enemas or colonics. +They become deeply embarrassed at having someone else do it for them. People are +also shy about farts, and most Americans have a hard time not smiling or reacting +in some way when someone in their presence breaks wind, although the polite amongst +us pretend that we didn't notice. Comedians usually succeed in getting a laugh out +of an audience when they come up with a fart or make reference to some other bowel +function. People don't react the same way to urinary functions or discharges, although +these also may have an unpleasant odor and originate from the same "private" +area.<br> +<p class="center">    When I first mention to clients that they need a minimum +of 12 colonics or many more enemas than 12 during a fasting or cleansing program +they are inevitably shocked. To most it seems that no one in their right mind would +recommend such a treatment, and that I must certainly be motivated by greed or some +kind of a psychological quirk. Then I routinely show them reproductions of X-rays +of the large intestine showing obvious loss of normal structure and function resulting +from a combination of constipation, the effects of gravity, poor abdominal muscle +tone, emotional stress, and poor diet. In the average colon more than 50% of the +hastrum (muscles that impel fecal matter through the organ) are dysfunctional due +to loss of tone caused by impaction of fecal matter and/or constriction of the large +intestine secondary to stress (holding muscular tension in the abdominal area) and +straining during bowel movement. +<b>A typical diseased colon</b></p> +<p>    The average person also has a prolapsed (sagging) transverse +colon, and a distorted misplaced ascending and descending colon. I took a course +in colon therapy before purchasing my first colonic machine. The chiropractor teaching +the class required all of his patients scheduled for colonics to take a barium enema +followed by an X-ray of their large intestine prior to having colonics and then make +subsequent X-rays after each series of 12 colonics. Most of his patients experienced +so much immediate relief they voluntarily took at least four complete series, or +48 colonics, before their X-rays began to look normal in terms of structure. It also +took about the same number, 48 colonics, for the patients to notice a significant +improvement in the function of the colon. In reviewing over 10,000 X-rays taken at +his clinic prior to starting colonics, the chiropractor had seen only two normal +colon X-rays and these were from farm boys who grew up eating simple foods from the +garden and doing lots of hard work. <br> +    The X-rays showed that it took a minimum of 12 colon treatments +to bring about a minimal but observable change in the structure of the colon in the +desired direction, and for the patient to begin to notice that bowel function was +improving, plus the fact that they started to feel better. </p> +<p class="center"><b>A Healthy Colon</b></p> +<p><br> +<br> +    From my point of view the most amazing part of this whole +experience was that the chiropractor did not recommend any dietary changes whatsoever. +His patients were achieving great success from colonics alone. I had thought dietary +changes would be necessary to avoid having the same dismal bowel condition return. +I still think colonics are far more effective if people are on a cleansing diet too. +However, I was delighted to see the potential for helping people through colonics.<br> +    For me, the most interesting part of this colonic school +was that I personally was required to have my own barium enema and X-ray. I was privately +certain that mine would look normal, because after all, I had been on a raw food +diet for six years, and done considerable amount of fasting, all of which was reputed +to repair a civilized colon. Much to my surprise my colon looked just as mangled +and dysfunctional as everyone else's', only somewhat worse because it had a loop +in the descending colon similar to a cursive letter "e" which doctors call +a volvulus. Surgeons like to cut volvululii out because they frequently cause bowel +obstructions. It seemed quite unfair. All those other people with lousy looking colons +had been eating the average American diet their whole life, but I had been so 'pure!' +<br> +    On further reflection I remembered that I had a tendency +toward constipation all through my childhood and young adulthood, and that during +my two pregnancies the pressure of the fetus on an already constipated bowel had +made it worse resulting in the distorted structure seen in the X-ray. This experience +made it very clear that fasting, cleansing diets, and corrected diet would not reverse +damage already done. Proper diet and fasting would however, prevent the condition +of the colon from getting any worse than it already was. <br> +    I then realized that I had just purchased the very tool I +needed to correct my own colon, and I was eager to get home to get started on it. +I had previously thought that I was just going to use this machine for my patients, +because they had been asking for this kind of an adjunct to my services for some +time. I ended up giving myself over a hundred colonics at the rate of three a week +over many months. I then out of curiosity had another barium enema and X-ray to validate +my results. Sure enough the picture showed a colon that looked far more 'normal' +with no vulvulus. That little "e" had disappeared.<br> +<br> +<b>What Is Constipation?</b><br> +    Most people think they are not constipated because they have +a bowel movement almost every day, accomplished without straining. I have even had +clients tell me that they have a bowel movement once a week, and they are quite certain +that they are not constipated. The most surprising thing to novice fasters is that +repeated enemas or colonics during fasting begins to release many pounds of undeniably +real, old, caked fecal matter and/or huge mucus strings. The first-time faster can +hardly believe these were present. These old fecal deposits do not come out the first +time one has enemas or necessarily the fifth time. And all of them will not be removed +by the tenth enema. But over the course of extended fasting or a long spell of light +raw food eating with repeated daily enemas, amazing changes do begin to occur. It +seems that no one who has eaten a civilized diet has escaped the formation of caked +deposits lining the colon's walls, interfering with its function. This material does +not respond to laxatives or casually administered enemas.<br> +    Anyone who has not actually seen (and smelled) what comes +out of an "average" apparently healthy person during colonics will really +believe it could happen or can accurately imagine it. Often there are dark black +lumpy strings, lumps, or gravel, evil smelling discs shaped like sculpted hemispheres +similar to the pockets lining the wall of the colon itself. These discs are rock-hard +and may come out looking like long black braids. There may also be long tangled strings +of gray/brown mucous, sheets and flakes of mucous, and worse yet, an occasional worm +(tape worm) or many smaller ones. Once confronted however, it is not hard to imagine +how these fecal rocks and other obnoxious debris interfere with the proper function +of the colon. They make the colon's wall rigid and interfere with peristalsis thus +leading to further problems with constipation, and interfere with adsorption of nutrients.<br> +    Our modern diet is by its "de-"nature, very constipating. +In the trenches of the First World War, cheese was given the name 'chokem ass' because +the soldiers eating this as a part of their daily ration developed severe constipation. +Eaten by itself or with other whole foods, moderate amounts of cheese may not produce +health problems in people who are capable of digesting dairy products. But cheese +when combined with white flour becomes especially constipating. White bread or most +white-flour crackers contain a lot of gluten, a very sticky wheat protein that makes +the bread bind together and raise well. But white flour is lacking the bran, where +most of the fiber is located. And many other processed foods are missing their fiber.<br> +    In an earlier chapter I briefly showed how digestion works +by following food from the mouth to the large intestine. To fully grasp why becoming +constipated is almost a certainty in our civilization a few more details are required. +Food leaving the small intestine is called chyme, a semi-liquid mixture of fiber, +undigested bits, indigestible bits, and the remains of digestive enzymes. Chyme is +propelled through the large intestine by muscular contractions. The large intestine +operates on what I dub the "chew chew train" principle, where the most +recent meal you ate enters the large intestine as the caboose (the last car of a +train) and helps to push out the train engine (the car at the front that toots), +which in a healthy colon should represent the meal eaten perhaps twelve hours earlier. +The muscles in the colon only contract when they are stretched, so it is the volume +of the fecal matter stretching the large intestine that triggers the muscles to push +the waste material along toward the rectum and anus. <br> +    Eating food lacking fiber greatly reduces the volume of the +chyme and slows peristalsis. But moving through fast or slow, the colon still keeps +on doing another of its jobs, which is to transfer the water in the chime back into +the bloodstream, reducing dehydration. So the longer chime remains in the colon, +the dryer and harder and stickier it gets. That's why once arrived at the "end +of the tracks" fecal matter should be evacuated in a timely manner before it +gets to dry and too hard to be moved easily. Some constipated people do have a bowel +movement every day but are evacuating the meal eaten many days or even a week previously. +<br> +    Most hygienists believe that when the colon becomes lined +with hardened fecal matter it is permanently and by the very definition of the word +itself, constipated. This type of constipation is not perceived as an uncomfortable +or overly full feeling or a desire to have a bowel movement that won't pass. But +it has insidious effects. Usually constipation delays transit time, increasing the +adsorption of toxins generated from misdigestion of food; by coating and locking +up significant portions of colon it also reduces the adsorption of certain minerals +and electrolytes. <br> +    Sometimes, extremely constipated people have almost constant +runny bowels because the colon has become so thickly and impenetrably lined with +old fecal matter that it no longer removes much moisture. This condition is often +misinterpreted as diarrhea. The large intestine's most important task is to transfer +water-soluble minerals from digested food to the blood. When a significant part of +the colon's surface becomes coated with impermeable dried rigid fecal matter or mucus +it can no longer assimilate effectively and the body begins to experience partial +mineral starvation in the presence of plenty. It is my observation from dozens of +cases that when the colon has been effectively cleansed the person has a tendency +to gain weight while eating amounts of food that before only maintained body weight, +while people who could not gain weight or who were wasting away despite eating heavily +begin to gain. And problems like soft fingernails, bone loss around teeth or porous +bones tend to improve.<br> +<br> +<b>The Development Of My Own Constipation</b><br> +    The history of my own constipation, though it especially +relates to a very rustic childhood, is typical of many people. I was also raised +on a very constipating diet which consisted largely of processed cheese and crackers. +Mine was accelerated by shyness, amplified by lack of comfortable facilities. <br> +    I spent my early years on the Canadian prairies, where everybody +had an outhouse. The fancy modern versions are frequently seen on construction sites. +These are chemical toilets, quiet different than the ones I was raised with because +somebody or something mysteriously comes along, empties them and installs toilet +paper. The ones I'm familiar with quickly developed a bad-smelling steaming mound +in the center--or it was winter when the outhouse was so cold that everything froze +almost before it hit the ground in the hole below. (And my rear end seemed to almost +freeze to the seat!) The toilet paper was usually an out of season issue of Eatons +mail order catalogue with crisp glossy paper. Perhaps it is a peculiarity of the +north country, but at night there are always monsters lurking along the path to the +outhouse, and darkness comes early and stays late. <br> +    When nature called and it was daylight, and there was no +blizzard outside, the outhouse received a visit from me. If on the other hand, when +it was dark (we had no electricity), and there was a cold wind creating huge banks +of snow, I would 'just skip it,' because the alternative--an indoor chamber pot, +white enamel with a lid--was worse. This potty had to be used more or less publicly +because the bedrooms were shared and there was no indoor bathroom. I was always very +modest about my private parts and private functions, and potty's were only used in +emergencies, and usually with considerable embarrassment. No one ever explained to +me that it was not good for me to retain fecal matter, and I never thought about +it unless my movements became so hard that it was painful to eliminate. <br> +    Later in life, I continued this pattern of putting off bowel +movements, even though outhouses and potties were a thing of the past. As a young +adult I could always think of something more interesting to do than sitting on a +pot, besides it was messy and sometimes accompanied by embarrassing sound effects +which were definitely not romantic if I was in the company of a young man. During +two pregnancies the tendency to constipation was aggravated by the weight of the +fetus resting on an already sluggish bowel, and the discomfort of straining to pass +my first hard bowel movement after childbirth with a torn perineum I won't forget. +<br> +<br> +<b>Rapid Relief From Colon Cleansing</b><br> +    During fasting the liver is hard at work processing toxins +released from fat and other body deposits. The liver still dumps its wastes into +the intestines through the bile duct. While eating normally, bile, which contains +highly toxic substances, is passed through the intestines and is eliminated before +too much is reabsorbed. (It is the bile that usually makes the fecal matter so dark +in color.) However, reduction of food bulk reduces or completely eliminates peristalsis, +thus allowing intestinal contents to sit for extended periods. And the toxins in +the bile are readsorbed, forming a continuous loop, further burdening the liver.<br> +    The mucus membranes lining the colon constantly secrete lubricants +to ease fecal matter through smoothly. This secretion does not stop during fasting; +in fact, it may increase because intestinal mucus often becomes a secondary route +of elimination. Allowed to remain in the bowel, toxic mucus is an irritant while +the toxins in it may be reabsorbed, forming yet another closed loop and further burdening +the liver.<br> +    Daily enemas or colonics administered during fasting or while +on cleansing diets effectively remove old fecal material stored in the colon and +immediately ease the livers load, immediately relieve discomfort by allowing the +liver's efforts to further detoxify the blood, and speed healing. Fasters cleansing +on juice or raw food should administer two or three enemas in short succession every +day for the first three days to get a good start on the cleansing process, and then +every other day or at very minimum, every few days. Enemas or colonics should also +be taken whenever symptoms become uncomfortable, regardless of whether you have already +cleaned the colon that day or not. Once the faster has experienced the relief from +symptoms that usually comes from an enema they become more than willing to repeat +this mildly unpleasant experience. <br> +    Occasionally enemas, by filling the colon and making it press +on the liver, induce discharges of highly toxic bile that may cause temporary nausea. +Despite the induced nausea it is still far better to continue with colonics because +of the great relief experienced after the treatment. If nausea exists or persists +during colon cleansing, consider trying slight modifications such as less or no massage +of the colon in the area of the gall bladder (abdominal area close to the bottom +of the right rib cage), and putting slightly less water in the colon when filling +it up. It also helps to make sure that the stomach is empty of any fluid for one +hour prior to the colonic. Resume drinking after the colonic sessions is completed. +If you are one of these rare people who 'toss their bile', just keep a plastic bucket +handy and some water to rinse out the mouth after, and carry on as usual.<br> +<br> +<b>Enemas Versus Colonics</b><br> +    People frequently wonder what is the difference between a +colonic and an enema. <br> +    First of all enemas are a lot cheaper because you give them +to yourself; an enema bag usually costs about ten dollars, is available at any large +drug store, and is indefinitely reusable. Colonics cost anywhere from 30 to 75 dollars +a session.<br> +    Chiropractors and naturopaths who offer this service hire +a colonic technician that may or may not be a skilled operator. It is a good idea +to find a person who has a very agreeable and professional manner, who can make you +feel at ease since relaxation is very important. It is also beneficial to have a +colonic therapist who massages the abdomen and foot reflexes appropriately during +the session. <br> +    Enemas and colonics can accomplish exactly the same beneficial +work. But colonics accomplish more improvement in less time than enemas for several +reasons. During a colonic from 30 to 50 gallons of water are flushed through the +large intestines, usually in a repetitive series of fill-ups followed by flushing +with a continuous flow of water. This efficiency cannot even be approached with an +enema. But by repeating the enema three times in close succession a satisfactory +cleanse can be achieved. Persisted with long enough, enemas will clean the colon +every bit as well as a colonic machine can.<br> +    Enemas given at home take a lot less time than traveling +to receive a colonics at someone's clinic, and can be done entirely at you own convenience--a +great advantage when fasting because you can save your energy for internal healing. +But colonics are more appropriate for some. There are fasters who are unable to give +themselves an enema either because their arms are too short and their body is too +long and they lack flexibility, or because of a physical handicap or they can't confront +their colon, so they let someone else do it. Some don't have the motivation to give +themselves a little discomfort but are comfortable with someone else doing it to +them. Some very sick people are too weak to cleanse their own colon, so they should +find someone to assist them with an at-home enema or have someone take them to a +colonic therapist. <br> +    Few people these days have any idea how to properly give +themselves an enema. The practice has been discredited by traditional medical doctors +as slightly dangerous, perhaps addictive and a sign of psychological weirdness. Yet +Northamericans on their civilized, low fiber, poorly combined diets suffer widely +from constipation. One proof of this is the fact that chemical laxatives, with their +own set of dangers and liabilities, occupy many feet of drug store shelf space and +are widely advertised. Is the medical profession's disapproval of the enema related +to the fact that once the initial purchase of an enema bag has been made there are +no further expenses for laxatives? Or perhaps it might be that once a person discovers +they can cure a headache, stop a cold dead in its tracks with an enema, they aren't +visiting the M.D.s so often. <br> +    The enema has also been wrongly accused of causing a gradual +loss of colon muscle tone, eventually preventing bowel movements without the stimulation +of an enema, leading finally to flaccidity and enlargement of the lower bowel. This +actually can happen; when it does occur it is the result of frequent administration +of small amounts of water (fleet enemas) for the purpose of stimulating a normal +bowel movement. The result is constant stretching of the rectum without sufficient +fluid to enter the descending colon. A completely opposite, highly positive effect +comes from properly administered enemas while cleansing.<br> +    The difference between helpful and potentially harmful enemas +lies in the amount of water injected and the frequency of use. Using a cup or two +of water to induce a bowel movement may eventually cause dependency, will not strengthen +the colon and may after years of this practice, result in distention and enlargement +of the rectum or sigmoid colon. However, a completely empty average-sized colon has +the capacity of about a gallon of water. When increasingly larger enemas are administered +until the colon is nearly emptied of fecal matter and the injection of close to a +gallon of water is achieved, beneficial exercise and an increase in overall muscle +tone are the results. <br> +    Correctly given, enemas (and especially colonics) serve as +strengthening exercises for the colon. This long tubular muscle is repeatedly and +completely filled with water, inducing it to vigorously exercise while evacuating +itself multiple times. The result is a great increase in muscle tone, acceleration +of peristalsis and eventually, after several dozens of repetitions, a considerable +reduction of transit time. Well-done enemas work the colon somewhat less effectively +and do not improve muscle tone quite as much as colonics.<br> +    Injecting an entire gallon of water with an enema bag is +very impractical when a person is eating normally. But on a light cleansing diet +or while fasting the amount of new material passing into the colon is small or negligible. +During the first few days of fasting if two or three enemas are administered each +day in immediate succession the colon is soon completely emptied of recently eaten +food and it becomes progressively easier to introduce larger amounts of water. Within +a few days of this regimen, injecting half a gallon or more of water is easy and +painless. <br> +    Probably for psychological reasons, some peoples' colons +allow water to be injected one time but then "freeze up" and resist successive +enemas. For this reason better results are often obtained by having one enema, waiting +a half hour, another enema, wait a half hour, and have a final enema. <br> +    A colonic machine in the hands of an expert operator can +administer the equivalent of six or seven big enemas in less than one hour, and do +this without undue discomfort or effort from the person receiving the colonic. However, +the AMA has suppressed the use of colonics; they are illegal to administer in many +states. Where colonics are legal, the chiropractors now consider this practice messy +and not very profitable compared to manipulations. So it is not easy to find a skilled +and willing colonic technician. <br> +    Anyone who plans to give themselves therapeutic enemas while +fasting would be well advised to first seek out a colonic therapist and receive two +or three colonics delivered one day apart while eating lightly and then immediately +begin the fast. Three colonics given on three successive days of a light, raw food +diet are sufficient to empty all recently eaten food even from a very constipated, +distended and bloated colon, while acquainting a person with their own bowel. Having +an empty colon is actually a pleasant and to most people a thoroughly novel experience. +A few well-delivered colonics can quickly accustom a person to the sensations accompanying +the enema and demonstrate the effect to be achieved by oneself with an enema bag, +something not quickly discoverable any other way.<br> +<br> +<b>How To Give Yourself An Enema</b><br> +    Enemas have been medically out of favor for a long time. +Most people have never had one. So here are simple directions to self-administer +an effective enema series.<br> +    The enema bag you select is important. It must hold at least +two quarts and be rapidly refillable. The best American-made brand is made of rubber +with about five feet of rubber hose ending in one of two different white hard plastic +insertion tips. The bag is designed for either enemas or vaginal douches. It hangs +from a detachable plastic "S" hook. When filled to the brim it holds exactly +one-half gallon. The maker of this bag offers another model that costs about a dollar +more and also functions as a hot water bottle. A good comforter it may make, but +the dual purpose construction makes the bag very awkward to rapidly refill. I recommend +the inexpensive model. <br> +    The plastic insertion tips vary somewhat. The straight tubular +tip is intended for enemas; the flared vaginal douche tip can be useful for enemas +too, in that it somewhat restrains unintentional expulsion of the nozzle while filling +the colon. However, its four small holes do not allow a very rapid rate of flow. +<br> +    To give yourself an enema, completely fill the bag with tepid +water that does not exceed body temperature. The rectum is surprisingly sensitive +to heat and you will flinch at temperatures only a degree or two higher than 98 Fahrenheit. +Cooler water is no problem; some find the cold stimulating and invigorating. Fasters +having difficulty staying warm should be wary of cold water enemas. These can drop +core body temperature below the point of comfort. <br> +    Make sure the flow clamp on the tube is tightly shut and +located a few inches up the tube from the nozzle. Hang the filled bag from a clothes +or towel hook, shower nozzle, curtain rod, or other convenient spot about four to +five feet above the bathroom floor or tub bottom. The higher the bag the greater +the water pressure and speed of filling. But too much pressure can also be uncomfortable. +You may have to experiment a bit with this.<br> +    Various body positions are possible for filling the colon. +None is correct or necessarily more effective than another. Experiment and find the +one you prefer. Some fill their colon kneeling and bending forward in the bathtub +or shower because there will likely be small dribbles of water leaking from around +the nozzle. Usually these leaks do not contain fecal matter. Others prefer to use +the bathroom floor. For the bony, a little padding in the form of a folded towel +under knees and elbows may make the process more comfortable. You may kneel and bend +over while placing your elbows or hands on the floor, reach behind yourself and insert +the nozzle. You may also lie on your back or on your side. Some think the left side +is preferable because the colon attaches to the rectum on the left side of the body, +ascends up the left side of the abdomen to a line almost as high as the solar plexus, +then transverses the body to the right side where it descends again on the right +almost to the groin. The small intestine attaches to the colon near its lower-right +extremity. In fact these are the correct names given for the parts of the colon: +Ascending, Descending and Transverse Colon along with the Sigmoid Colon or Rectum +at the exit end. <br> +    As you become more expert at filling your colon with water +you will begin to become aware of its location by the weight, pressure and sometimes +temperature of the water you're injecting. You will come to know how much of the +colon has been filled by feel. You will also become aware of peristalsis as the water +is evacuated vigorously and discover that sensations from a colon hard at work, though +a bit uncomfortable, are not necessarily pain.<br> +    Insertion of the nozzle is sometimes eased with a little +lubricant. A bit of soap or KY jelly is commonly used. If the nozzle can be inserted +without lubricant it will have less tendency to slip out. However, do not tear or +damage the anus by avoiding necessary lubrication. After insertion, grip the clamp +with one hand and open it. The flow rate can be controlled with this clamp. Keeping +a hand on the clamp also prevents the nozzle from being expelled.<br> +    Water will begin flowing into the colon. Your goal is to +empty the entire bag into the colon before sensations of pressure or urgency to evacuate +the water force you to remove the nozzle and head for the toilet. Relaxation of mind +and body helps achieve this. You are very unlikely to achieve a half-gallon fill +up on the first attempt. If painful pressure is experienced try closing the clamp +for a moment to allow the water to begin working its way around the obstacle. Or, +next time try hanging the bag lower, reducing its height above the body and thus +lowering the water pressure. Or, try opening the clamp only partially. Or, try panting +hard, so as to make the abdomen move rapidly in and out, sort of shaking the colon. +This last technique is particularly good to get the water past a blockage of intestinal +gas.<br> +    It is especially important for Americans, whose culture does +not teach one to be tolerant of discomfort, to keep in mind that pain is the body's +warning that actual damage is being done to tissues. Enemas can do no damage and +pose no risk except to that rare individual with weak spots in the colon's wall from +cancers. When an enema is momentarily perceived unpleasantly, the correct name for +the experience is a sensation, not pain. You may have to work at increasing your +tolerance for unpleasant sensations or it will take you a long time to achieve the +goal of totally filling the colon with water. Be brave! And relax. A wise philosopher +once said that it is a rough Universe in which only the tigers survive--and sometimes +they have a hard time.<br> +    Eventually it will be time to remove the nozzle and evacuate +the water. Either a blockage (usually fecal matter, an air bubble, or a tight 'U' +turn in the colon, usually at either the splenetic, or hepatic flexures located right +below the rib cage) will prevent further inflow (undesirable) or else the bag will +completely empty (good!) or the sensation of bursting will no longer be tolerable. +Go sit on the toilet and wait until all the water has passed. Then refill the bag +and repeat the process. Each time you fill the colon it will allow more water to +enter more easily with less unpleasantness. Fasters and cleansers should make at +least three attempts at a complete fill-up each time they do an enema session. <br> +    Water and juice fasters will find that after the first few +enemas, it will become very easy to inject the entire half-gallon of water. That +is because there is little or no chime entering the colon. After a few days the entire +colon will seem (this is incorrect) to be empty except when it is filled with water. +This is the point to learn an advanced self-administered enema technique. An average +colon empty of new food will usually hold about one gallon of water. That is average. +A small colon might only hold 3/4 gallon, a large one might accept a gallon and a +half, or even more. You'll need to learn to simultaneously refill the bag while injecting +water, so as to achieve a complete irrigation of the whole colon. There are several +possible methods. You might try placing a pitcher or half-gallon mason jar of tepid +water next to the bag and after the bag has emptied the first time, stand up while +holding the tube in the anus, refill the bag and then lie down again and continue +filling. You might have an assistant do this for you. You might try hanging the bag +from the shower head and direct a slow, continuous dribble of lukewarm water from +the shower into the bag while you kneel or lie relaxed in the tub. This way the bag +will never empty and you stop filling only when you feel fullness and pressure all +the way back to the beginning of the ascending colon. Of course, hanging from a slowly +running shower head the bag will probably overflow and you will get splashed and +so will the bathroom floor when your wet body moves rapidly from the tub to the toilet. +I've imagined making an enema bag from a two gallon plastic bucket with a small plastic +hose barb glued into a hole drilled in the bottom or lower edge. If I were in the +business of manufacturing enema bags I'd make them hold at least one gallon. <br> +    A word of caution to those folks who have a pattern of overdoing +it, or tend to think that more is better. This is not true when it comes to colon +cleansing. Do not make more than three attempts to fill and clean the colon with +an enema bag. Usually the colon begins to protest and won't accept any more fill-ups. +When having colonics on a colonic machine it is a good idea to continue until the +water comes back reasonably clear for that session. It is not a good idea for a faster +to have colonics that last more than three-quarters of an hour to an hour maximum, +or it will be too tiring. Even non-fasters find colonics tiring. After all, the colon +is basically a big muscle that has become very lazy on a low-fiber diet.<br> +    I've personally administered over five thousand colonics, +taught several dozen fasters to self-administer their own and stood by while they +gave themselves one until they were quite expert. In all that experience I've only +seen one person have a seriously bad result. This was a suicidally depressed water +faster that I (mistakenly) allowed to administer their own colonics with my machine. +This person not only took daily colonics, but allowed water to flow through their +colon for as long as two hours at a time. Perhaps they were trying to wash out their +mind? After several weeks of this extreme excess, the faster became highly confused +and disoriented due to a severe electrolyte imbalance. They had to be taken off water +fasting immediately and recovered their mental clarity in a few days. The loss of +blood electrolytes happened because during colonics there occurs a sort of low-grade +very slow reverse osmosis.<br> +<br> +<b>Curing With Enemas</b><br> +    It is not wise to continue regular colonics or enemas once +a detoxification program has been completed and you have returned to a maintenance +diet. The body should be allowed its regular functioning.<br> +    But because enemas immediately lower the toxic load on the +liver, I do recommend people use them for prevention of an acute illness (you feel +like you are coming down with something), and for the treatment of acute illnesses +such as a cold. I also like to take one if I have been away traveling for extended +periods, eating carelessly. But do not fall into a pattern of bingeing on bad food, +and then trying to get rid of it through colonics or laxative. This is bulimia, the +eating disorder discussed earlier.<br> +    The Sheltonite capital "N" Natural capital "H" +Hygienists do not recommend any colon cleansing, ever!. They think that the colon +will spontaneously cleanse itself on a long water fast, but my experience learned +from monitoring hundreds of fasters is that it doesn't really. Herbert Shelton also +considered colon cleansing enervating and therefore undesirable. Colon cleansing +does use the faster's energy but on the balance, colon cleansing saves more work +on the part of an overburdened liver than it uses up.<br> +<br> +<br> +<a id="Chapter5"></a><b>Chapter Five</b> <br> +<div style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Diet and Nutrition</b></div><br> +<br> +<br> +<div style="font-size: small;"><b>From The Hygienic Dictionary<br> +<br> +</b></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><b>Food</b>. [1] Life is a tragedy of nutrition. In food +lies 99.99% of the causes of all diseases and imperfect health of any kind. <I>Prof. +Arnold Ehret, Mucusless Diet Healing System.</I> [2] But elimination will never heal +perfectly just so long as you fail to discontinue the supply of inside waste caused +by eating and "wrong" eating. You may clean and continue to clean indefinitely, +but never with complete results up to a perfect cleanliness, as long as the intake +of wrong or even too much right foods, is not stopped.<I> Prof. Arnold Ehret, Mucusless +Diet Healing System.</I> [3] Cooked food favors bacterial, or organized, ferment +preponderance, because cooking kills the unorganized and organized ferments, and +both are needed to carry on the body's digestion. Raw foods--fruits and vegetables--favor +unorganized ferment digestion, because these foods carry vitamins, which are unorganized +ferments--enzymes. <I>Dr. John.H. Tilden, Impaired Health: Its Cause and Cure, 1921. +</I></div><br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +    Recently, my younger (adult) daughter asked my advice choosing +between a root canal or having a bridge made. This led to a discussion of her eating +habits in general. Defending her currently less-than-optimum diet against my gentle +criticism, she threw me a tough riposte. "Why," she asked, when I was raised +so perfectly as a child, "when I ate only Organic food until I was ten and old +enough to make you send me to public school where I could eat those lousy school +lunches" (her unfeeling, heartless mother home-schooled her), "why even +at that young age, (before she spent her adolescent rebellion eating junk food) why +at that point did I still have a mouthful of cavities?" And she did. At age +ten my daughter needed about ten fillings. <br> +    This beautiful daughter of a practicing naturopath had received +what, at the time, I considered virtually perfect nutrition. She suckled hugely at +her mother's abundant breast until age two. During this time her mother ate a natural +foods diet. After weaning my daughter got only whole grains, a little fresh goat's +milk from my goat, fruits and lots of Organic vegetables. I started my spa when my +daughter was about five years old and from that point she was, like it or not, a +raw fooder. And all that raw food was Organic and much of it from Great Oaks School's +huge vegetable garden.<br> +    For my daughter to develop cavities on this diet is reminiscent +of Woody Allen's joke in his movie "Sleeper." Do you recall this one, made +about 1973? The plot is a take off on Rip Van Winkle. Woody goes into the hospital +for minor surgery. Unexpectedly he expires on the operating table and his body is +frozen in hopes that someday he can be revived. One hundred and fifty years later +he is revived.<br> +    The priceless scene I always think of takes place in his +hospital room immediately after he comes to consciousness. The doctor in charge of +his case is explaining to Woody what has happened. Woody refuses to believe he died +and was frozen, asserting that the whole story is a put on. Woody insists that the +'doctor' is clearly an actor hired by his friends! It absolutely can't be the year +2123. 'Oh, but it really is 2123,' insists the doctor. 'And it is no put on by his +friends; all his friends are long dead; Woody knows no one at all in 2123 and had +better prepare himself to start a new life.' <br> +    Woody still insists it is a put on. "I had a healthfood +store," he says, "and all my friends ate brown rice. They can't be dead!"<br> +    And my perfectly nourished daughter couldn't have developed +cavities! But she did. And if she cheated on her perfect diet, bad food could not +have amounted to more than two percent of her total caloric intake from birth to +age ten. I was a responsible mom and I made sure she ate right! Now my daughter was +demanding to know why she had tooth decay. Fortunately, I now know the answer. The +answer is rather complex, but I can give a simplified explanation.<br> +<br> +<b>The Confusions About Diets and Foods</b><br> +    Like my daughter, many people of all ages are muddled about +the relationship between health and diet. Their confusions have created a profitable +market for health-related information. And equally, their confusions have been created +by books, magazine articles, and TV news features. This avalanche of data is highly +contradictory. In fact, one reason I found it hard to make myself write my own book +is that I wondered if my book too would become just another part of the confusion.<br> +    Few people are willing to tolerate very much uncertainty. +Rather than live with the discomfort of not knowing why, they will create an explanation +or find some answer, any answer, and then ever after, assert its rightness like a +shipwrecked person clings to a floating spar in a storm. This is how I explain the +genesis of many contemporary food religions. <br> +    Appropriately new agey and spiritual, Macrobiotics teaches +the way to perfect health is to eat like a Japanese whole foods vegetarian--the endless +staple being brown rice, some cooked vegetables and seaweeds, meanwhile balancing +the "yin" and "yang" of the foods. And Macrobiotics works great +for a lot of people. But not all people. Because there's next to nothing raw in the +Macrobiotic diet and some people are allergic to rice, or can get allergic to rice +on that diet.<br> +    Linda Clark's Diet for a Small Planet also has hundreds of +thousands of dedicated followers. This system balances the proportions of essential +amino acids at every, single meal and is vegetarian. This diet also works and really +helps some people, but not as well as Macrobiotics in my opinion because obsessed +with protein, Clark's diet contains too many hard-to-digest soy products and makes +poor food combinations from the point of digestive capacity.<br> +    Then there are the raw fooders. Most of them are raw, Organic +fooders who go so far as to eat only unfired, unground cereals that have been soaked +in warm water (at less than 115 degrees or you'll kill the enzymes) for many hours +to soften the seeds up and start them sprouting. This diet works and really helps +a lot of people. Raw organic foodism is especially good for "holy joes," +a sort of better-than-everyone-else person who enjoys great self-righteousness by +owning this system. But raw fooding does not help all people nor solve all diseases +because raw food irritates the digestive tracts of some people and in northern climates +it is hard to maintain body heat on this diet because it is difficult to consume +enough concentrated vegetable food in a raw state. And some raw fooders eat far too +much fruit. I've seen them lose their teeth because of fruit's low mineral content, +high sugar level and constant fruit acids in their mouths.<br> +    Then there are vegetarians of various varieties including +vegans (vegetarians that will not eat dairy products and eggs), and then, there are +their exact opposites, Atkins dieters focusing on protein and eating lots of meat. +There's the Adelle Davis school, people eating whole grains, handfuls of vitamins, +lots of dairy and brewers yeast and wheat germ, and even raw liver. Then there's +the Organic school. These folks will eat anything in any combination, just so long +as it is organically produced, including organically raised beef, chicken, lamb, +eggs, rabbit, wild meats, milk and diary products, natural sea salt in large quantities +and of course, organically grown fruits, vegetables grains and nuts. And what is +"Organic?" The word means food raised in compliance with a set of rules +contrived by a certification bureaucracy. When carefully analyzed, the somewhat illogical +rules are not all that different in spirit than the rules of kashsruth or kosher. +And the Organic certification bureaucrats aren't all that different than the rabbis +who certify food as being kosher, either.<br> +    There are now millions of frightened Americans who, following +the advice of mainstream Authority, have eliminated red meat from their diets and +greatly reduced what they (mistakenly) understand as high-cholesterol foods. <br> +    All these diets work too--or some--and all demonstrate some +of the truth.<br> +    The only area concerning health that contains more confusion +and contradictory data than diet is vitamins. What a rats nest that is!<br> +<br> +<b>The Fundamental Principle</b><br> +    If you are a true believer in any of the above food religions, +I expect that you will find my views unsettling. But what I consider "good diet" +results from my clinical work with thousands of cases. It is what has worked with +those cases. My eclectic views incorporate bits and pieces of all the above. In my +own case, I started out by following the Organic school, and I was once a raw food +vegetarian who ate nothing but raw food for six years. I also ate Macrobiotic for +about one year until I became violently allergic to rice. <br> +    I have arrived at a point where I understand that each person's +biochemistry is unique and each must work out their own diet to suit their life goals, +life style, genetic predisposition and current state of health. There is no single, +one, all-encompassing, correct diet. But, there is a single, basic, underlying Principle +of Nutrition that is universally true. In its most simplified form, the basic equation +of human health goes: Health = Nutrition / Calories. The equation falls far short +of explaining the origin of each individuals diseases or how to cure diseases but +Health = Nutrition / Calories does show the general path toward healthful eating +and proper medicine.<br> +    All animals have the exact same dietary problem: finding +enough nutrition to build and maintain their bodies within the limits of their digestive +capacity. Rarely in nature (except for predatory carnivores) is there any significant +restriction on the number of calories or serious limitation of the amount of low-nutrition +foods available to eat. There's rarely any shortage of natural junk food on Earth. +Except for domesticated house pets, animals are sensible enough to prefer the most +nutritional fare available and tend to shun empty calories unless they are starving. +<br> +    But humans are perverse, not sensible. Deciding on the basis +of artificially-created flavors, preferring incipid textures, we seem to prefer junk +food and become slaves to our food addictions. For example, in tropical countries +there is a widely grown root crop, called in various places: tapioca, tavioca, manioc, +or yuca. This interesting plant produces the greatest tonnage of edible, digestible, +pleasant-tasting calories per acre compared to any other food crop I know. Manioc +might seem the answer to human starvation because it will grow abundantly on tropical +soils so infertile and/or so droughty that no other food crop will succeed there. +Manioc will do this because it needs virtually nothing from the soil to construct +itself with. And consequently, manioc puts next to nothing nourishing into its edible +parts. The bland-tasting root is virtually pure starch, a simple carbohydrate not +much different than pure corn starch. Plants construct starches from carbon dioxide +gas obtained the air and hydrogen obtained from water. There is no shortage ever +of carbon from CO2 in the air and rarely a shortage of hydrogen from water. When +the highly digestible starch in manioc is chewed, digestive enzymes readily convert +it into sugar. Nutritionally there is virtually no difference between eating manioc +and eating white sugar. Both are entirely empty calories.<br> +    If you made a scale from ideal to worst regarding the ratio +of nutrition to calories, white sugar, manioc and most fats are at the extreme undesirable +end. Frankly I don't know which single food might lie at the extreme positive end +of the scale. Close to perfect might be certain leafy green vegetables that can be +eaten raw. When they are grown on extremely fertile soil, some greens develop 20 +or more percent completely digestible balanced protein with ideal ratios of all the +essential amino acids, lots of vitamins, tons of minerals, all sorts of enzymes and +other nutritional elements--and very few calories. You could continually fill your +stomach to bursting with raw leafy greens and still have a hard time sustaining your +body weight if that was all you ate. Maybe Popeye the Sailorman was right about eating +spinach.<br> +    For the moment, lets ignore individual genetic inabilities +to digest specific foods and also ignore the effects stress and enervation can have +on our ability to extract nutrition out of the food we are eating. Without those +factors to consider, it is correct to say that, to the extent one's diet contains +the maximum potential amount of nutrition relative to the number of calories you +are eating, to that extent a person will be healthy. To the extent the diet is degraded +from that ideal, to that extent, disease will develop. Think about it!<br> +<br> +<b>Lessons From Nutritional Anthropology</b><br> +    The next logical pair of questions are: how healthy could +good nutrition make people be, and, how much deviation from ideal nutrition could +we allow ourselves before serious disease appears? Luckily, earlier in this century +we could observe living answers to those questions (before the evidence disappeared). +The answers are: we could be amazingly healthy, and, if we wish to enjoy excellent +health we can afford to cut ourselves surprisingly little slack. <br> +    Prior to the Second World War there were several dozen sizable +groups of extraordinarily healthy humans remaining on Earth. Today, their descendants +are still in the same remote places, are speaking the same languages and possess +more or less the same cultures. Only today they're watching satellite TV. wearing +jeans, drinking colas--and their superior health has evaporated. <br> +    During the early part of this century, at the same era vitamins +and other basic aspects of nutrition were being discovered, a few farsighted medical +explorers sought out these hard-to-reach places with their legendarily healthy peoples +to see what caused the legendary well-being they'd heard of. Enough evidence was +collected and analyzed to derive some very valid principles.<br> +    First lets dismiss some apparently logical but incorrect +explanations for the unusually good health of these isolated peoples. It wasn't racial, +genetic superiority. There were extraordinarily healthy blacks, browns, Orientals, +Amerinds, Caucasians. It wasn't living at high altitude; some lived at sea level. +It wasn't temperate climates, some lived in the tropics, some in the tropics at sea +level, a type of location generally thought to be quite unhealthful. It wasn't a +small collection of genetically superior individuals, because when these peoples +left their isolated locale and moved to the city, they rapidly began to lose their +health. And it wasn't genetics because when a young couple from the isolated healthy +village moved to town, their children born in town were as unhealthy as all the other +kids.<br> +    And what do I mean by genuinely healthy? Well, imagine a +remote village or a mountain valley or a far island settlement very difficult to +get to, where there lived a thousand or perhaps ten thousand people. Rarely fewer, +rarely more. Among that small population there were no medical doctors and no dentists, +no drugs, no vaccinations, no antibiotics. Usually the isolation carried with it +illiteracy and precluded contact with or awareness of modern science, so there was +little or no notion of public hygiene. And this was before the era of antibiotics. +Yet these unprotected, undoctored, unvaccinated peoples did not suffer and die from +bacterial infections; and the women did not have to give birth to 13 children to +get 2.4 to survive to breeding age--almost all the children made it through the gauntlet +of childhood diseases. There was also virtually no degenerative disease like heart +attacks, hardening of the arteries, senility, cancer, arthritis. There were few if +any birth defects. In fact, there probably weren't any aspirin in the entire place. +Oh, and there was very little mortality during childbirth, as little or less than +we have today with all our hospitals. And the people uniformly had virtually perfect +teeth and kept them all till death, but did not have toothbrushes nor any notion +of dental hygiene. Nor did they have dentists or physicians. (Price, 1970)<br> +    And in those fortunate places the most common causes of death +were accident (trauma) and old age. The typical life span was long into the 70s and +in some places quite a bit longer. One fabled place, Hunza, was renowned for having +an extraordinarily high percentage of vigorous and active people over 100 years old. +<br> +    I hope I've made you curious. "How could this be?" +you're asking. Well, here's why. First, everyone of those groups lived in places +so entirely remote, so inaccessible that they were of necessity, virtually self-sufficient. +They hardly traded at all with the outside world, and certainly they did not trade +for bulky, hard-to-transport bulk foodstuffs. Virtually everything they ate was produced +by themselves. If they were an agricultural people, naturally, everything they ate +was natural: organic, whole, unsprayed and fertilized with what ever local materials +seemed to produce enhanced plant growth. And, if they were agricultural, they lived +on a soil body that possessed highly superior natural fertility. If not an agricultural +people they lived by the sea and made a large portion of their diets sea foods. If +their soil had not been extraordinarily fertile, these groups would not have enjoyed +superior health and would have conformed to the currently widely-believed notion +that before the modern era, people's lives were brutish, unhealthful, and short. +<br> +    What is common between meat-eating Eskimos, isolated highland +Swiss living on rye bread, milk and cheese; isolated Scottish island Celts with a +dietary of oat porridge, kale and sea foods; highland central Africans (Malawi) eating +sorghum, millet tropical root crops and all sorts of garden vegetables, plus a little +meat and dairy; Fijians living on small islands in the humid tropics at sea level +eating sea foods and garden vegetables. What they had in common was that their foods +were all were at the extreme positive end of the Health = Nutrition / Calories scale. +The agriculturists were on very fertile soil that grew extraordinarily nutrient-rich +food, the sea food gatherers were obtaining their tucker from the place where all +the fertility that ever was in the soil had washed out of the land had been transported--sea +foods are also extraordinarily nutrient rich.<br> +    The group with the very best soil and consequently, the best +health of all were, by lucky accident, the Hunza. I say "lucky" and "accident" +because the Hunza and their resource base unknowingly developed an agricultural system +that produced the most nutritious food that is possible to grow. The Hunza lived +on what has been called super food. There are a lot of interesting books about the +Hunza, some deserving of careful study. (Wrench, 1938; Rodale, 1949)<br> +<br> +<b>Finding Your Ideal Dietary</b><br> +    Anyone that is genuinely interested in having the best possible +health should make their own study of the titles listed in the bibliography in the +back of this book. After you do, award yourself a BS nutrition. I draw certain conclusions +from this body of data. I think they help a person sort out the massive confusion +that exists today about proper diet.<br> +    First principle: Homo Sapiens clearly can posses extreme +health while eating very different dietary regimens. There is no one right diet for +humans. <br> +    Before the industrial era almost everyone on Earth ate what +was produced locally. Their dietary choices were pretty much restricted to those +foods that were well adapted and productive in their region. Some places grew rye, +others wheat, others millet, others rice. Some places supported cows, others goats, +others had few on no domesticated animals. Some places produced a lot of fruits and +vegetables. Others, did not. Whatever the local dietary, during thousands of years +of eating that dietary natural selection prevailed; most babies that were allergic +to or not able to thrive on the available dietary, died quickly. Probably of childhood +bacterial infections. The result of this weeding out process was a population closely +adapted to the available dietary of a particular locale. <br> +    This has interesting implications for Americans, most of +whose ancestors immigrated from somewhere else; many of our ancestors also "hybridized" +or crossed with immigrants from elsewhere. Trying to discover what dietary substances +your particular genetic endowment is adapted to can be difficult and confusing. If +both your parents were Italian and they were more or less pure Italian going way +back, you might start out trying to eat wheat, olives, garlic, fava beans, grapes, +figs, cow dairy. If pure German, try rye bread, cow dairy, apples, cabbage family +vegetables. If Scottish, try oats, mutton, fish, sheep dairy and cabbage family vegetables. +If Jewish, try goat dairy, wheat, olives and citrus. And certainly all the above +ethnic derivations will thrive on many kinds of vegetables. Afro-Americans, especially +dark-complexioned ones little mixed with Europeans, might do well to avoid wheat +and instead, try sorghum, millet or tropical root crops like sweet potatoes, yams +and taro.<br> +    Making it even more difficult for an individual to discover +their optimum diet is the existence of genetic-based allergies and worse, developed +allergies. Later in this chapter I will explain how a body can develop an allergy +to a food that is probably irreversible. A weakened organ can also prevent digestion +of a food or food group.<br> +    One more thing about adaptation to dietaries. Pre-industrial +humans could only be extraordinarily healthy on the dietary they were adapted to +if and only if that dietary also was extraordinarily high in nutrients. Few places +on earth have naturally rich soil. Food grown on poor soil is poor in nutrition; +that grown on rich soil is high in nutrition. People do not realize that the charts +and tables in the backs of health books like Adelle Davis's Lets Cook It Right, are +not really true. They are statistics. It is vital to keep in mind the old saying, +"there are lies, there are damned lies, and then there are statistics. The best +way to lie is with statistics." <br> +    Statistical tables of the nutrient content of foods were +developed by averaging numerous samples of food from various soils and regions. These +tables basically lie because they do not show the range of possibility between the +different samples. A chart may state authoritatively that 100 grams of broccoli contains +so many milligrams of calcium. What it does not say is that some broccoli samples +contain only half that amount or even less, while other broccoli contains two or +three times that amount. Since calcium is a vital nutrient hard to come by in digestible +form, the high calcium broccoli is far better food than the low calcium sample. But +both samples of broccoli appear and taste more or less alike. Both could even be +organically grown. Yet one sample has a very positive ratio of nutrition to calories, +the other is lousy food. (Schuphan, 1965) Here's another example I hope will really +dent the certainties the Linda Clarkites. Potatoes can range in protein from eight +to eleven percent, depending on the soil that produced them and if they were or were +not irrigated. Grown dry (very low yielding) on semiarid soils, potatoes can be a +high-protein staff of life. Heavily irrigated and fertilized so as to produce bulk +yield instead of nutrition, they'll produce two or three times the tonnage, but at +8 percent protein instead of 11 percent. Not only does the protein content drop just +as much as yield is boosted, the amino acid ratios change markedly, the content of +scarce nutritional minerals drops massively, and the caloric content increases. In +short, subsisting on irrigated commercially-grown potatoes, or on those grown on +relatively infertile soils receiving abundant rainfall will make you fat and sick. +They're a lot like manioc.<br> +    Here's another. Wheat can range from 7 to 19 percent protein. +Before the industrial era ruined most wheat by turning it into white flour, wheat-eating +peoples from regions where the cereal naturally contains abundant protein tended +to be tall, healthy and long-lived. Wheat-eating humans from regions that produce +low protein grain tended to be small, sickly and short-lived. (McCarrison, 1921, +1936, 1982; Albrecht, 1975)<br> +    Even cows have to pay attention to where their grass is coming +from. Some green grass is over 15 percent protein and contains lots of calcium, phosphorus +and magnesium to build strong bodies. Other equally or even better looking green +grass contains only six or seven percent protein and contains little calcium, phosphorus +or magnesium. Cows forced to eat only this poor type of grass can literally starve +to death with full bellies. And they have a hard time breeding successfully. The +reason for the difference: different soil fertility profiles. (Albrecht, 1975)<br> +    When people ate local, those living on fertile soils or getting +a significant portion of their diet from the sea and who because of physical isolation +from industrial foods did not make a practice of eating empty calories tended to +live a long time and be very healthy. But those unfortunates on poor soils or with +unwise cultural life-styles tended to be short-lived, diseased, small, weak, have +bad teeth, and etc. The lesson here is that Homo Sapiens can adapt to many different +dietaries, but like any other animal, the one thing we can't adapt to is a dietary +deficient in nutrition. <br> +    So here's another "statistic" to reconsider. Most +people believe that due to modern medical wonders, we live longer than we used to. +Actually, that depends. Compared to badly nourished populations of a century ago, +yes! We do. Chemical medicine keeps sickly, poorly nourished people going a lot longer +(though one wonders about the quality of their dreary existences.) I hypothesize +that before the time most farmers purchased and baked with white flour and sold their +whole, unground wheat, many rural Americans (the ones on good soil, not all parts +of North America have rich soil) eating from their own self-sufficient farms, lived +as long or even longer than we do today. You also have to wonder who benefits from +promulgating this mistaken belief about longevity. Who gets rich when we are sick? +And what huge economic interests are getting rich helping make us sick?<br> +<br> + +<table> + <caption><b>The Human Comedy</b></caption> + <tr> + <td style="width: 100%;">I know most of my readers have been heavily indoctrinated about food and think they + already know the truth about dietetics. I also know that so much information (and + misinformation) is coming out about diet that most of my readers are massively confused + about the subject. These are two powerful reasons many readers will look with disbelief + at what this chapter has to say and take no action on my data, even to prove me wrong.<br> +     Let me warn you. There is a deep-seated human tendency to + put off taking responsibilities, beautifully demonstrated by this old joke.<br> +     A 14 year old boy was discovered masturbating by his father, + who said, "son, you shouldn't do that! If you keep it up you'll eventually go + blind!" ` "But father, came the boy's quick reply. "It feels good. + How about if I don't quit until I need to wear glasses?"</td> + </tr> +</table> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<b>The Organic Versus Chemical Feud</b><br> +    Now, regrettably, and at great personal risk to my reputation, +I must try to puncture the very favorite belief of food religionists, the doctrine +that organically grown food is as nutritious as food can possibly be, Like Woody +Allen's brown-rice-eating friends, people think if you eat Organic foods, you will +inevitably live a very long time and be very healthy. Actually, the Organic vs. chemical +feud is in many ways false. Many (not all) samples of organically grown food are +as low or lower in nutrition as foods raised with chemical fertilizers. Conversely, +wisely using chemical fertilizers (not pesticides) can greatly increase the nutritional +value of food. Judiciously used Organic fertilizing substances can also do that as +well or better. And in either case, using chemical fertilizers or so-called organic +fertilizers, to maximize nutrition the humus content of the soil must be maintained. +But, raising soil organic matter levels too high can result in a massive reduction +in the nutritional content of the food being grown--a very frequent mistake on the +part of Organic devotees. In other words, growing nutrition is a science, and is +not a matter of religion.<br> +    The food I fed to my daughter in childhood, though Organic +according to Rodale and the certification bureaucrats, though providing this organic +food to my family and clients gave me a feeling of self-righteousness, was not grown +with an understanding of the nutritional consequences of electing to use one particular +Organic fertilizing substance over another. So we and a lot of regional Organic market +gardeners near us that we bought from, were raising food that was far from ideally +nutritious. At least though, our food was free of pesticide residues. <br> +    The real dichotomy in food is not "chemical" fertilizer +versus "Organic," It is between industrial food and quality food. What +I mean by industrial food is that which is raised with the intention of maximizing +profit or yield. There is no contradiction between raising food that the "rabbis" +running Organic certification bureaucracies would deem perfectly "kosher" +and raising that same food to make the most possible money or the biggest harvest. +When a farmer grows for money, they want to produce the largest number of bushels, +crates, tons, bales per acre. Their criteria for success is primarily unit volume. +Many gardeners think the same way. To maximize bulk yield they build soil fertility +in a certain direction (organically or chemically) and choose varieties that produce +greater bulk. However, nature is ironic in this respect. The most nutritious food +is always lower yielding. The very soil management practices that maximize production +simultaneously reduce nutrition.<br> +    The real problem we are having about our health is not that +there are residues of pesticides in our food. The real problem is that there are +only residues of nutrition left in our foods. Until our culture comes to understand +this and realizes that the health costs of accepting less than optimum food far exceeds +the profits made by growing bulk, it will not be possible to frequently find the +ultimate of food quality in the marketplace, organically grown or not. It will not +be possible to find food that is labeled or identified according to its real nutritional +value. The best I can say about Organic food these days is that it probably is no +less nutritious than chemically-grown food while at least it is free of pesticide +residues. <br> +<br> +<b>The Poor Start</b><br> +    For this reason it makes sense to take vitamins and food +supplements, to be discussed in the next chapter. And because our food supply, Organic +or "conventional," is far from optimum, if a person wants to be and remain +healthy and have a life span that approaches their genetic potential (and that potential, +it seems, approaches or exceeds a century), it is essential that empty calories are +rigorously avoided. <br> +    An accurate and quick-to-respond indicator of how well we +are doing in terms of getting enough nutrition is the state of our teeth. One famous +dentally-oriented nutritional doctor, Melvin Page, suggested that as long as overall +nutrition was at least 75 percent of perfection, the body chemistry could support +healthy teeth and gums until death. By healthy here Page means free of cavities, +no bone loss around the teeth (no wobblers), no long-in-the-teeth mouths from receding +gums, no gum diseases at all. But when empty calories or devitalized foods or misdigestion +cuts our nutrient intake we begin experiencing tooth decay, gum disease and bone +loss in the jaw. How are your teeth?<br> +    I suppose you could say that I have a food religion, but +mine is to eat so that the equation Nutrition = Health / Calories is strongly in +my favor.<br> +    Back to my daughter's teeth. Yes, I innocently fed her less +than ideally nutritious food, but at that time I couldn't buy ideal food even had +I known what I wanted, nor did I have any scientific idea of how to produce ideal +food, nor actually, could I have done so on the impoverished, leached-out clay soil +at Great Oaks School even had I known how. The Organic doctrine says that you can +build a Garden of 'Eatin with large quantities of compost until any old clay pit +or gravel heap produces highly nutritious food. This idea is not really true. Sadly, +what is true about organic matter in soil is that when it is increased very much +above the natural level one finds in untilled soil in the climate you're working +with, the nutritional content of the food begins to drop markedly. I know this assertion +is shocking and perhaps threatening to those who believe in the Organic system; I +am sorry. <br> +    But there is another reason my daughter's teeth were not +perfect, probably could not have been perfect no matter what we fed her, and why +she will probably have at least some health problems as she ages no matter how perfectly +she may choose to eat from here on. My daughters had what Dr. G.T. Wrench called +"a poor start." Not as poor as it could have been by any means, but certainly +less than ideal.<br> +    You see, the father has very little to do with the health +of the child, unless he happens to carry some particularly undesirable gene. It is +the mother who has the job of constructing the fetus out of prepartum nourishment +and her own body's nutritional reserves. The female body knows from trillenia of +instinctual experience that adequate nutrition from the current food supply during +pregnancy can not always be assured, so the female body stores up very large quantities +of minerals and vitamins and enzymes against that very possibility. When forming +a fetus these reserves are drawn down and depleted. It is virtually impossible during +the pregnancy itself for a mother to extract sufficient nutrition from current food +to build a totally healthy fetus, no matter how nourishing the food she is eating +may be. Thus a mother-to-be needs to be spending her entire childhood and her adolescence +(and have adequate time between babies), building and rebuilding her reserves. <br> +    A mother-to-be also started out at her own birth with a vitally +important stock of nutritional reserves, reserves put there during her own fetal +development. If that "start" was less than ideal, the mother-to-be (as +fetus) got "pinched" and nutritionally shortchanged in certain, predictable +ways. Even minor mineral fetal deficiencies degrade the bone structure: the fetus +knows it needs nutritional reserves more than it needs to have a full-sized jaw bone +or a wide pelvic girdle, and when deprived of maximum fetal nourishment, these non-vital +bones become somewhat smaller. Permanently. If mineral deficiencies continue into +infancy and childhood, these same bones continue to be shortchanged, and the child +ends up with a very narrow face, a jaw bone far too small to hold all the teeth, +and in women, a small oven that may have trouble baking babies. More importantly, +those nutrient reserves earmarked especially for making babies are also deficient. +So a deficient mother not only shows certain structural evidence of physiological +degeneration, but she makes deficient babies. A deficient female baby at birth is +unlikely to completely overcome her bad start before she herself has children.<br> +    So with females, the quality of a whole lifetime's nutrition, +and the life-nutrition of her mother (and of her mother's mother as well) has a great +deal to do with the outcome of a pregnancy. The sins of the mother can really be +visited unto the third and fourth generation.<br> +    This reality was powerfully demonstrated in the 1920s by +a medical doctor, Francis Pottenger. He was not gifted with a good bedside manner. +Rather than struggling with an unsuccessful clinical practice, Dr. Pottenger decided +to make his living running a medical testing laboratory in Pasadena, California. +Dr. Pottenger earned his daily bread performing a rather simple task, assaying the +potency of adrenal hormone extracts. At that time, adrenaline, a useful drug to temporarily +rescue people close to death, was extracted from the adrenal glands of animals. However, +the potency of these crude extracts varied greatly. Being a very powerful drug, it +was essential to measure exactly how strong your extract was so its dosage could +be controlled. <br> +    Quantitative organic chemistry was rather crude in those +days. Instead of assaying in a test tube, Dr. Pottenger kept several big cages full +of cats that he had adrenalectomized. Without their own adrenals, the cats could +not live more than a short time By finding out how much extract was required to keep +the cats from failing, he could measure the strength of the particular batch. <br> +    Dr. Pottenger's cats were economically valuable so he made +every effort to keep them healthy, something that proved to be disappointingly difficult. +He kept his cats clean, in airy, bright quarters, fed them to the very best of his +ability on pasteurized whole milk, slaughterhouse meat and organs (cats in the wild +eat organ meats first and there are valuable vitamins and other substances in organ +meats that don't exist in muscle tissue). The meat was carefully cooked to eliminate +any parasites, and the diet was supplemented with cod liver oil. However, try as +he might, Pottenger's cats were sickly, lived short and had to be frequently replaced. +Usually they bred poorly and died young of bacterial infections, there being no antibiotics +in the 1920s. I imagine Dr. Pottenger was constantly visiting the animal shelter +and perhaps even paid quarters out the back door to a steady stream of young boys +who brought him cats in burlap sacks from who knows where, no questions asked.<br> +    Dr. Pottenger's assays must have been accurate, for his business +grew and grew. Eventually he needed more cats than he had cages to house, so he built +a big, roofed, on-the-ground pen outdoors. Because he was overworked, he was less +careful about the feeding of these extra animals. They got the same pasteurized milk +and cod-liver oil, but he did not bother to cook their slaughterhouse meat. Then, +a small miracle happened. This poorly cared for cage of cats fed on uncooked meat +became much healthier than the others, suffering far fewer bacterial infections or +other health problems. Then another miracle happened. Dr. Pottenger began to meditate +on the first miracle.<br> +    It occurred to him that cats in the wild did not cook their +food; perhaps cats had a digestive system that couldn't process or assimilate much +out of cooked food. Perhaps the problem he had been having was not because the cats +were without adrenal glands but because they were without sustenance, suffering a +sort of slow starvation in the midst of plenty. So Dr. Pottenger set up some cat +feeding experiments.<br> +    There were four possible combinations of his regimen: raw +meat and unpasteurized milk; raw meat and pasteurized milk; cooked meat and raw milk; +cooked meat and pasteurized milk, this last one being what he had been feeding all +along. So he divided his cats into four groups and fed each group differently. The +first results of Pottenger's experiments were revealed quickly though the most valuable +results took longer to see. The cats on raw meat and raw milk did best. The ones +on raw meat and pasteurized milk did okay but not as well. The ones on cooked meat +and raw milk did even less well and those on all cooked food continued to do as poorly +as ever. <br> +    Clearly, cats can't digest cooked food; all animals do better +fed on what they can digest. A lot of people have taken Pottenger's data and mistakenly +concluded that humans also should eat only raw food. This idea is debatable. However, +the most important result of the cat experiments took years to reveal itself and +is not paid much attention to, probably because its implications are very depressing. +Dr. Pottenger continued his experiments for several generations. It was the transgenerational +changes that showed the most valuable lesson. Over several generations, the cats +on all raw foods began to alter their appearance. Their faces got wider, their pelvic +girdles broader, bones solider, teeth better. They began to breed very successfully. +<br> +    After quite a few generations, the healthiest group, the +one on all raw foods, seemed to have improved as much as it could. So Dr. Pottenger +took some of these cats and began feeding them only cooked food to study the process +of nutritional degeneration. After three "de"generations on cooked fodder +the group had deteriorated so much that the animals could barely breed. Their faces +had become narrow, their teeth crooked, their pelvic girdles narrow, their bones +and body structure very small, and their dispositions poor. Mothers wouldn't nurse +their young and sometimes became cannibalistic. They no longer lived very long.<br> +    Before the degenerating group completely lost the ability +to breed, Pottenger began to again feed them all raw food. It took four generations +on a perfect, raw food diet before some perfect appearing individuals showed up in +the group. It takes longer to repair the damage than it does to cause it and it takes +generations of unflagging persistence.<br> +    I think much the same process has happened to humans in this +century. With the invention of the roller mill and the consequent degradation of +our daily bread to white flour; with the birth of industrial farming and the generalized +lowering of the nutritional content of all of our crops; our overall ratio of nutrition +to calories worsened. Then it worsened again because we began to have industrial +food manufacturing and national brand prepared food marketing systems; we began subsisting +on devitalized, processed foods. The result has been an even greater worsening of +our ratio of nutrition to calories. <br> +    And just like Pottenger's cats, we civilized humans in so-called +advanced countries are losing the ability to breed, our willingness (or the energy) +to mother our young; we're losing our good humor in the same way Pottenger's degenerated +cats became bad tempered. As a group we feel so poorly that we desperately need to +feel better fast, and what better way to do that than with drugs. Is it any wonder +that the United States, the country furthest down the road of industrial food degeneration, +spends 14 percent of its gross domestic product on medical services. Any wonder that +so many babies are born by Cesarean, any wonder that so many of our children have +crooked teeth needing an orthodontist? The most depressing aspect of this comes into +view when considering that Pottenger's cats took four generations on perfect food +to repair most of the nutritional damage.<br> +    In the specific case of my daughter, I know somethings about +the nutritional history of her maternal ancestors. My daughter's grandmother grew +up on a Saskatchewan farm. Though they certainly grew their own rich wheat on virgin +semi-arid prairie soil, I'm sure the family bought white flour at the store for daily +use. Still, there was a garden and a cow producing raw milk and free-range fertile +eggs and chicken and other animals. There probably were lots of canned vegetables +in winter, canned but still highly nutritious because of the fertility of their prairie +garden. My mother consequently had perfect teeth until the Great Depression forced +her to live for too many years on lard and white bread. <br> +    During this time of severe malnutrition she had her three +babies. The first one got the best of her nutritional reserves. The second, born +after the worst of the malnutrition, was very small and weak and had a hard time +growing up. Fortunately for me, for a few years before I (the last child) was born, +the worst of the economic times had past and the family had been living on a farm. +There were vegetables and fresh raw milk and fruit. My mother had two good years +to rebuild her nutritional reserves. But "Grannybell" did not managed to +replace enough. Shortly after I was born my mother lost every one of her teeth all +at once. The bone just disappeared around them. <br> +    Thus, I was born deficient. And my childhood and adolescent +nutrition was poor too: soda crackers, pasteurized processed artificial cheese, evaporated +milk from cans, hotdogs and canned beans, hotdogs and cabbage. It wasn't until I +was pregnant with my first baby that I started to straighten up my diet. I continued +eating very well after my first daughter, so my youngest daughter had another three +years of good diet to draw on. Thus both my own daughters got a somewhat better start +than I had had.<br> +    My teeth were not as good as my mother's had been before +those years of malnutrition took them all. Instead of perfect straight undecayed +teeth like a healthy farm girl should have, mine were somewhat crowded, with numerous +cavities. My jaw bone had not received enough minerals to develop to its full size. +My pelvic girdle also was smaller than my mother's was. I had had a poor start. <br> +    My daughters did better. The older one (the first child typically +gets the best of the nutritional reserves) has such a wide jaw that there are small +spaces between her teeth. My second daughter has only one crooked tooth, she has +wider, more solid hips, stronger bones and a broader face than I do. If my younger +daughter will but from this point in her life, eat perfectly and choose her food +wisely to responsibly avoid empty calories and maximize her ratio of nutrition to +calories, her daughter (if she gives us granddaughters as her older sister already +has done) may exhibit the perfect physiology that her genes carry.<br> +    Along the lines of helping you avoid empty calories I will +give you some information about various common foods that most people don't know +and that most books about food and health don't tell, or misunderstand. <br> +<br> +<b>Butter, Margarine and Fats in General. </b><br> +    Recently, enormous propaganda has been generated against +eating butter. Its been smeared in the health magazines as a saturated animal fat, +one containing that evil substance, cholesterol. Many people are now avoiding it +and instead, using margarine.<br> +<br> + +<table> + <caption><b>Composition of Oils</b></caption> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b> </b></span></td> + <td style="width: 20%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Saturated</b></span></td> + <td style="width: 25%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Monosaturated</b></span></td> + <td style="width: 30%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Unsaturated</b></span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">Butter</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">66%</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">30%</td> + <td style="width: 30%;">4%</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">Coconut Oil</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">87%</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">6%</td> + <td style="width: 30%;">2%</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">Cottonseed Oil</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">26%</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">18%</td> + <td style="width: 30%;">52%</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">Olive Oil</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">13%</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">74%</td> + <td style="width: 30%;">8%</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">Palm Oil</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">49%</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">37%</td> + <td style="width: 30%;">9%</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">Soybean Oil</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">14%</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">24%</td> + <td style="width: 30%;">58%</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">Sunflower Oil</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">4%</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">8%</td> + <td style="width: 30%;">83%</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">Safflower Oil</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">3%</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">5%</td> + <td style="width: 30%;">87%</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">Sesame Oil</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">5%</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">9%</td> + <td style="width: 30%;">80%</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">Peanut Oil</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">6%</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">12%</td> + <td style="width: 30%;">76%</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">Corn Oil</td> + <td style="width: 20%;">3%</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">7%</td> + <td style="width: 30%;">84%</td> + </tr> +</table> +<br> +<br> +<br> +    This is a major and serious misunderstanding. First of all, +margarine is almost indigestible, chemically very much like shortening--an artificially +saturated or hydrogenated vegetable fat. Hydrogenated fats can't be properly broken +down by the body's digestive enzymes, adding to the body's toxic load. Margarine, +being a chemically-treated vegetable oil with artificial yellow color and artificial +flavorings to make it seem like butter, also releases free radicals in the body that +accelerate aging. So, to avoid the dangers of eating cholesterol-containing butter, +people eat something far worse for them!<br> +    There are severe inconsistencies with the entire "cholesterol-is-evil" +theory. Ethnic groups like the Danes, who eat enormous quantities of cholesterol-containing +foods, have little circulatory disease. Actually, the liver itself produces cholesterol; +it's presence in the blood is an important part of the body chemistry. Cholesterol +only becomes a problem because of deranged body chemistry due to the kind of overall +malnutrition Americans usually experience on their junk food diets. Avoiding cholesterol +in foods does little good, but eating a low-fat, low-sugar, complex-carbohydrate +(whole foods) diet high in minerals does lower blood cholesterol enormously. <br> +    Actually, high quality fresh (not rancid) butter in moderate +quantities is about the finest fat a person could eat. But high quality butter is +almost unobtainable. First of all, it has to be raw, made from unpasteurized cream. +Second, butter can contain very high levels of fat-soluble vitamins, but doesn't +have to. Vitamin-rich butter's color is naturally bright yellow, almost orange. This +color does not come from a test tube. Pale yellow butter as is found in the commercial +trade was probably almost white before it was artificially tinted. Butter from grass-pastured +cows naturally changes from yellow-orange to white and back again through the year +as the seasons change. Spring grass, growing in the most intense sunlight of the +year contains very high levels of chlorophyll and vitamins. Cows eating this grass +put high levels of vitamins A and D into their cream, evidenced by the orange color +of vitamin A. By July, natural butter has degraded to medium-yellow in color. By +August, it is pale yellow. Industrial dairy cows fed exclusively on hay or artificial, +processed feeds (lacking in these vitamins), produce butterfat that is almost white. +<br> +    I prefer to obtain my butter from a neighbor who has several +dairy cows grazing on fertile bottom land pasture. We always freeze a year's supply +in late spring when butter is at its best. Interestingly, that is also the time of +year when my neighbor gets the most production from her cows and is most willing +to part with 25 pounds of extra butter. <br> +    In general, fats are poor foods that should be avoided. Their +ratio of nutrition to calories is absolutely the worst of all food types, except +perhaps for pure white sugar, which is all calories and absolutely no nutrition (this +is also true for other forms of sugar. Honey, too, contains almost no nutrition.). +Gram for gram, fats contain many more calories than do sugars or starches. Yet gram +for gram, fats contain virtually no nutrition except for small quantities of essential +fatty acids.<br> +    The perverse reason people like to eat fats is that they +are very hard to digest and greatly slow the digestive action of the stomach. Another +way of saying that is that they have a very high satiety value. Fats make a person +feel full for a long time because their presence in the stomach makes it churn and +churn and churn. Fats coat proteins and starches and delay their digestion, often +causing them to begin fermenting (starches) or putrefying (proteins) in the digestive +tract.<br> +    The best fats contain high levels of monosaturated vegetable +oils that have never been exposed to heat or chemicals--like virgin olive oil. Use +small quantities of olive oil for salad dressing. Monosaturated fats also have far +less tendency to go rancid than any other type. Vegetable oils with high proportions +of unsaturated fats, the kind that all the authorities push because they contain +no cholesterol, go rancid rapidly upon very brief exposure to air. The danger here +is that rancidity in vegetable oil is virtually unnoticeable. Rancid animal fat on +the other hand, smells "off." Eating rancid oil is a sure-fire way to accelerate +aging, invite degenerative conditions in general, and enhance the likelihood of cancer. +I recommend that you use only high-quality virgin olive oil, the only generally-available +fat that is largely monosaturated. (Pearson and Shaw, 1983)<br> +    When you buy vegetable oil, even olive oil, get small bottles +so you use them up before the oil has much time being exposed to air (as you use +the oil air fills the bottle) or, if you buy olive oil in a large can to save money, +immediately upon opening it, transfer the oil to pint jars filled to the very brim +to exclude virtually all air, and seal the jars securely. In either case, keep now-opened, +in-use small bottles of oil in the refrigerator because rancidity is simply the combination +of oil with oxygen from the air and this chemical reaction is accelerated at warmer +temperatures and slowed greatly at cold ones.<br> +    Chemical reactions typically double in speed with every 10 +degrees C. increase in temperature. So oil goes rancid about six times faster at +normal room temperature than it does in the fridge. If you'll think about the implications +of this data you'll see there are two powerful reasons not to fry food. One, the +food is coated with oil and gains in satiety value at the expense of becoming relatively +indigestible and productive of toxemia. Secondly, if frying occurs at 150 degrees +Centigrade and normal room temperature is 20 degrees Centigrade, then oil goes rancid +2 to the 13th power faster in the frying pan, or about 8,200 times faster. Heating +oil for only ten minutes in a hot skillet induces as much rancidity as about 6 weeks +of sitting open and exposed to air at room temperature. Think about that the next +time you're tempted to eat something from a fast food restaurant where the hot fat +in the deep fryer has been reacting with oxygen all day, or even for several days.<br> +    Back to butter, where we started. If you must have something +traditionally northern European on your bread, you are far better off to use butter, +not margarine. However, Mediterranean peoples traditionally dip their bread in high-quality +extra-virgin olive oil that smells and tastes like olives. Its delicious, why not +try it. But best yet, put low-sugar fruit preserves on your toast or develop a taste +for dry toast. Probably the finest use for butter is melted over steamed vegetables. +This way only small quantities are needed and the fat goes on something that is otherwise +very easy to digest so its presence will not produce as many toxins in the digestive +tract.<br> +<br> +<b>Milk, Meat, And Other Protein Foods</b><br> +    Speaking of butter, how about milk? The dairy lobby is very +powerful in North America. Its political clout and campaign contributions have the +governments of both the United States and especially that of Canada eating out of +its hand (literally), providing the dairy industry with price supports. Because of +these price supports, in Canada cheese costs half again more than it does in the +United States. The dairy lobby is also very cozy with the medical profession so licensed +nutritionists constantly bombard us with "drink milk" and "cheese +is good for you" propaganda. <br> +    And people naturally like dairy foods. They taste good and +are fat-rich with a high satiety value. Dairy makes you feel full for a long time. +Dairy is also high in protein; protein is hard to digest and this too keeps one feeling +full for a long time. But many people, especially those from cultures who traditionally +(genetically) didn't have dairy cows, particularly Africans, Asians and Jews, just +do not produce the enzymes necessary to digest cows milk. Some individuals belonging +to these groups can digest goats milk. Some can't digest any kind except human breast +milk. And some can digest fermented milk products like yogurt and kiefer. Whenever +one eats a protein food that is not fully digestible, it putrefies in the digestive +tract, with all the bad consequences previously described.<br> +    But no one, absolutely no one can fully digest pasteurized +cows milk, which is what most people use because they have been made to fear cow-transmitted +diseases and/or they are forced to use pasteurized dairy products by health authorities. +I suspect drinking pasteurized milk or eating cheese made from pasteurized milk is +one of the reasons so many people develop allergic reactions to milk. Yet many states +do not allow unpasteurized dairy to be sold, even privately between neighbors. To +explain all this, I first have to explain a bit more about protein digestion in general +and then talk about allergies and how they can be created.<br> +    Proteins are long, complex molecules, intricate chains whose +individual links are amino acids. Proteins are the very stuff of life. All living +protoplasm, animal or plant, is largely composed of proteins. There are virtually +an infinite number of different proteins but all are composed of the same few dozen +amino acids hooked together in highly variable patterns. Amino acids themselves are +highly complex organic molecules too. The human body custom-assembles all its proteins +from amino acids derived from digesting protein foods, and can also manufacture small +quantities of certain of its own amino acids to order, but there are eight amino +acids it cannot make and these are for that reason called essential amino acids. +Essential amino acids must be contained in the food we eat. .<br> +    Few proteins are water soluble. When we eat proteins the +digestive apparatus must first break them down into their water-soluble components, +amino acids, so these can pass into the blood and then be reassembled into the various +proteins the body uses. The body has an interesting mechanism to digest proteins; +it uses enzymes. An enzyme is like the key for a lock. It is a complex molecule that +latches to a protein molecule and then breaks it apart into amino acids. Then the +enzyme finds yet another protein molecule to free. Enzymes are efficient, reusable +many many times. <br> +    Enzymes that digest proteins are effective only in the very +acid environment of the stomach, are manufactured by the pancreas and are released +when protein foods are present. The stomach then releases hydrochloric acid and churns +away like a washing machine, mixing the enzymes and the acid with the proteins until +everything has digested. <br> +    So far so good. That's how its supposed to be. But. Dr. Henry +Bieler, who wrote Food Is Your Best Medicine, came up with the finest metaphor I +know of to explain how protein digestion goes wrong. He compared all proteins to +the white of an egg (which is actually a form of protein). When raw and liquid, the +long chains of albumen (egg white) proteins are in their natural form. However, cook +the egg and the egg white both solidifies and becomes smaller. What has happened +is that the protein chains have shriveled and literally tied themselves into knots. +Once this happens, pancreatic enzymes no longer fit and cannot separate all the amino +acids. Cooked proteins may churn and churn and churn in the presence of acid and +pancreatic enzymes but they will not digest completely. Part becomes water soluble; +part does not.<br> +    But, indigestible protein is still subject to an undesirable +form of consumption in the gut. Various bacteria make their home in our airless, +warm intestines. Some of these live on protein. In the process of consuming undigested +proteins, they release highly toxic substances. They poison us. <br> +    What is true of the white of an egg is also true of flesh +foods and dairy. Raw meat and raw fish are actually easily digestible foods and if +not wrongly combined will not produce toxemia in a person that still has a strong +pancreas. However, eating raw meat and fish can be a dicey proposition, both for +reasons of cultural sensibility (people think it is disgusting) and because there +may be living parasites in uncooked flesh that can attack, sicken and even kill people. +It has been argued that a healthy stomach containing its proper degree of acidity +provides an impenetrable barrier to parasites. Perhaps. But how many of us are that +healthy these days? Cooked flesh and fish seems more delicious to our refined, civilized +sensibilities, but are a poor food. <br> +    In my household we have no moral objection to eating meat. +We do have an ethical objection in that meat eating does not contribute to our health. +But still, we do eat it. A few times a year, for traditional celebrations we may +invite the children over and cook a turkey. A few times for Thanksgiving when the +children were going through their holier-than-thou vegetarian stage, I purchased +the largest, thickest porterhouse steak I could find at the natural meat store and +ate it medium-rare, with relish. It was delicious. It made me feel full for hours +and hours and hours. I stayed flat on the couch and groggily worked on digesting +it all evening. After that I'd had enough of meat to last for six months. <br> +    When milk is pasteurized, the proteins in it are also altered +in structure. Not so severely as egg white is altered by cooking because pasteurization +happens at a lower temperature. But altered none the less. And made less digestible. +Pasteurizing also makes milk calcium far less assimilable. That's ironic because +so many people are drinking milk because they fear they need more calcium to avoid +osteoporosis and to give their children good teeth. What pasteurized milk actually +does to their children is make them calcium deficient and makes the children toxic, +provoking many colds, ear infections, sinusitis, inflammations of the tonsils and +lung infections, and, induces an allergy to milk in the children. <br> +<br> +<b>The Development Of Allergies</b><br> +    There are three ways a body can become allergic. (1) It can +have a genetic predisposition for a specific allergy to start with. (2) It can be +repeatedly exposed to an irritating substance such as pollen when, at the same time, +the body's mechanism for dealing with irritations is weakened. Generally weak adrenals +causes this because the adrenal's job is to produce hormones that reduce inflammation. +Once the irritating substance succeeds at producing a significant inflammation, a +secondary reaction may be set up, called an allergy. Once established, an allergy +is very hard to get rid of.<br> +    (3) in a way very similar to the second, but instead of being +irritated by an external substance, it is irritated by repeatedly failing to properly, +fully digest something. Pasteurized milk for example, basically impossible to completely +digest even in its low-fat form, often sets up an allergy that applies to other forms +of cows milk, even raw, unpasteurized cows milk or yogurt. Eating too much white +flour can eventually set off a wheat allergy. My husband developed a severe allergy +to barley after drinking too much home-brewed beer; he also became highly intolerant +to alcohol. Now he has allergic reactions to both alcohol and barley. And gets far +sicker from drinking beer (two separate allergies) than from wheat beer, hard liquor +or wine (only one allergy). <br> +    Eating too much of any single food, or repeatedly eating +too much of an otherwise very good food at one time, can eventually overwhelm the +body's ability to digest it fully. Then, the finest whole food products may set up +an allergic reaction. Worse, this allergic reaction itself subsequently prevents +proper digestion even when only moderate quantities are eaten. <br> +    An allergy may not be recognized as an allergy because it +may not manifest as the instant skin rash or stuffy nose or swollen glands or sticky +eyes. that people usually think of when they think "allergic reaction." +Food allergies can cause many kinds of symptoms, from sinusitis to psychosis, from +asthma to arthritis, from hyperactivity to depression, insomnia to narcolepsy--and +commonly the symptoms don't manifest immediately after eating. Frequently, allergic +reactions are so low grade as to be unnoticeable and may not produce an observable +condition until many years of their grinding down the vital force has passed. When +the condition finally appears it is hard to associate it with some food that has +been consumed for years, apparently with impunity.<br> +    Thus it is that many North Americans have developed allergies +to wheat, dairy, soy products (because many soy foods are very hard to digest), corn +and eggs. These are such common, widespread, frequently found allergies that anyone +considering a dietary cause of their complaints might just cut all these foods out +of the diet for a few weeks just to see what happens. And individuals may be allergic +to anything from broccoli to bacon, strawberries to bean sprouts. Unraveling food +allergies sometimes requires the deductions of a Sherlock Holmes.<br> +    However, food allergies are very easy to cure if you can +get the suffered to take the medicine. Inevitably, allergic reactions vanish in about +five days of abstinence. Anyone with sufficient self-discipline to water fast for +five days can cure themselves of all food allergies at one step. Then, by a controlled, +gradual reintroduction of foods, they can discover which individual items cause trouble. +See Coca's Pulse Test in the Appendix where you'll find step-by-step instructions +for allergy testing that are less rigorous, not requiring a preliminary fast.<br> +<br> +<b>Flour, And Other Matters Relating To Seeds</b><br> +    One of the largest degradations to human health was caused +by the roller mill. This apparently profitable machine permitted the miller to efficiently +separate wheat flour into three components: bran, germ and endosperm. Since bread +made without bran and germ is lighter and appears more "upper class" it +became instantly popular. Flour without germ and bran also had an industrial application--it +could be stored virtually forever without being infested by insects because white +flour does not contain enough nutrition to support life. Most health conscious people +are aware that white flour products won't support healthful human life either. <br> +    Essentially, white flour's effect on humans is another demonstration +of Health = Nutrition / Calories. When the bran and germ are discarded, remaining +are the calories and much of the protein, lacking are many vitamins and minerals +and other vital nutritional substances. <br> +    Whole wheat bread has been called the staff of life. In ages +past, healthy cultures have made bread the predominant staple in their diet. Does +that mean you can just go to the bakery and buy whole grain bread, or go to the healthfood +store and buy organically grown whole wheat flour, bake your own, and be as healthy +as the ancients? Sorry, the answer is almost certainly no. There are pitfalls, many +of them, waiting for the unwary.<br> +    White flour has one other advantage over whole wheat flour. +It not only remains free of insect infestation, it doesn't become stale (meaning +rancid). In the wheat germ (where the embryo resides) there is considerable oil, +containing among other things, about the best natural source of vitamin E. This oil +is highly unsaturated and once the seed is ground the oil goes rancid in a matter +of days. Whole wheat flour kept on the unrefrigerated shelf of the store is almost +certainly rancid. A lot of its other vitamin content has been oxidized too. If the +wheat flour had flowed directly from the grinder into an airtight sack and from there +directly to the freezer, if it had been flash frozen and kept extremely cold, it +might have a storage life of some months. Of course that was not the case. Maybe +you're lucky and your healthfood store is one of the very few that has its own small-scale +flour mill and grinds daily. Probably not. <br> +    How about your baker's whole wheat bread? Where does the +baker get flour? From the wholesaler's or distributor's warehouse! In fifty pound +kraftpaper sacks! How much time had elapsed from milling to wholesaler to baker to +baking? The answer has to be in the order of magnitude of weeks. And it might be +months. Was the flour stored frozen? Or airtight? Of course not.<br> +    If you want bread made from freshly ground flour you are +almost certainly have to grind and bake it yourself. Is it worth the trouble? You +bet. Once you've tasted real bread you'll instantly see by comparison what stale, +rancid whole wheat flour tastes like. Freshly ground flour makes bread that can be +the staff of life and can enormously upgrade your health--if the wheat you use is +any good.<br> +    But before we talk about wheat quality, a more few words +of warning. If you think wheat goes rancid rapidly, rye is even worse. Rye flour +goes bad so fast that when you buy it in the store it usually is the rye equivalent +of white wheat flour. The germ has been removed. The bag may not say so. But it probably +has. If you are going to make rye breads, even more reason to grind your own. Corn +meal from the grocery store has usually been degerminated too. If it hasn't been, +the oil in the seed's germ has probably gone rancid. <br> +    Grinding flour at home is easy these days. There is an abundance +of at-home milling products and no shortage of hype about them. You'll find staunch +advocates of stone mills. These produce the finest-textured flour, but are costly. +The sales pitch is that stones grind at low temperature and do not damage the oils +(remember the development of rancidity is a function of temperature) or the vitamins, +which are also destroyed at high temperature. This assertion is half true. If you +are going to store your flour it is far better to grind it cool. However, if you +are, as we do, going to immediately bake your flour, what difference does it make +if it gets a little warm before baking. That only accelerates the action of the yeast. +<br> +    On the negative side, stone mills grind slowly and are very +fussy about which grains they will grind. If the cereal is a bit moist or if the +seed being ground is a little bit oily, the mill becomes instantly blocked. <br> +    Steel burr mills grind fast and coarsely and are inexpensive. +Coarse flour makes heavy bread. The metal grinding faces tend to wear out and have +to be replaced occasionally--if they can be replaced. Breads on the heavy side are +still delicious; for many years I made bread with an inexpensive steel burr mill +attachment that came with my juicer. <br> +    Some steel burr mills will also grind oily seed like sesame +and sunflower. However, oily seeds can be ground far more easily half-a-cup at a +time in a little inexpensive electric spice/coffee mill, the sort with a single fast-spinning +propeller.<br> +    I currently think the best compromise are hammermills. The +grain dribbles into a chamber full of fast-spinning teeth that literally pound the +grain into powder. Since air flows through with the grain the flour is not heated +very much. This type of mill is small, very fast, intermediate in price between steel +mills and stone mill, lasts a long time, but when grinding, sounds like a Boeing +747 about to take off. It is essential to wear hearing protectors when using it.<br> +    Awareness of bread quality is growing. One excellent new +U.S. business, called Great Harvest Bakery is a fast-growing national franchise chain. +They bake and sell only whole grain breads; all their wheat flour is freshly ground +daily on the premises in the back. Unfortunately, as of the writing of this book, +they do not grind their rye flour but bring it in sacks. I can't recommend their +rye breads. The founder of Great Harvest is a knowledgeable buyer who fully understands +my next topic, which is that wheat is not wheat. <br> +    There are great differences between hard bread wheats; being +organically grown is no cure all for making good or nutritious bread. Great Harvest +understands this and uses top quality grain that is also Organic. <br> +    When I first stated making my own bread from my own at-home-ground +flour I was puzzled by variations in the dough. Sometimes the bread rose well and +was spongy after baking like I wanted it to be. Sometimes it kneaded stickily and +ended up flat and crumbly like a cake. Since I had done everything the same way except +that I may have bought my wheat berries from different healthfood stores, I began +to investigate the subject of wheat quality.<br> +    The element in the cereal that forms the rubbery sponge in +risen bread so it doesn't crumble and rises high without collapsing, is gluten. The +word glue derives from gluten. The gluten content of various wheats varies. Bread +bakers use "hard wheat" because of its high gluten content. Gluten is a +protein and gluten comprises most of the protein in bread wheat; the protein content +and the gluten content are almost identical. <br> +    Try this. Ask your healthfood store buyer or owner what the +protein content is of the hard red wheat seeds they're selling. You'll almost certainly +get a puzzled look and your answer will almost certainly be, "we have Organic +and conventional." Demand that the store buyer ask this question of their distributor/wholesaler +and then report back to you. If the distributor deigns to answer, the answer will +be the same--I sell Organic or conventional hard red wheat. Period. When I got these +non-answers I looked further and discovered that hard bread wheats run from about +12 percent protein to about 19 percent and this difference has everything to do with +the soil fertility (and to an extent the amount of rainfall during the season), and +almost nothing to do with Organic or conventional. <br> +    This difference also has everything to do with how your dough +behaves and how your bread comes out. And how well your bread nourishes you. Thirteen +percent wheat will not make a decent loaf--fourteen percent is generally considered +#2 quality and comprises the bulk of cheap bread grain. When you hear in the financial +news that a bushel of wheat is selling for a certain price, they mean #2. Bakers +compete for higher protein lots and pay far higher prices for more protein. <br> +    We prefer our bread about 25% rye, but rye contains no gluten +at all. Mix any rye flour into fourteen percent wheat flour and the dough becomes +very heavy, won't rise, and after baking, crumbles. So I kept looking for better +grain and finally discovered a knowledgeable lady that sold flour mills and who also +was a serious baker herself. She had located a source of quality wheat with an assayed +protein content and sold it by the 50 pound sack. When I asked her if her wheat was +Organic she said it was either sixteen or seventeen percent protein depending on +whether you wanted hard red spring wheat or hard white spring wheat. Organic or conventional? +I persisted. No, she said. High protein! <br> +    So, I said to myself, since protein content is a function +of soil fertility and since my body needs protein, I figured I am better off eating +the best quality wheat, pesticide/herbicide residues (if there are any) be damned. +Think about it! The difference between seventeen percent and fourteen percent protein +is about 25 percent. That percentage difference is the key threshold of nutritional +deficiency that makes teeth fall out. We can't afford to accept 25% degradations +in our nutritional quality in something that we eat every day and that forms the +very basis of our dietary. <br> +    Please understand here that I am not saying that high protein +wheats can't be grown organically. They certainly can. The founder of Great Harvest +Bakery performs a valuable service locating and securing high-protein lots of organically +grown wheats for his outlets. But often as not Organic products are no more nourishing +than those grown with chemicals. Until the buyers at Organic whole food wholesalers +get better educated about grain, obtaining one's personal milling stock from them +will be a dicey proposition.<br> +    Sometimes Organic cereal can be far worse than conventional. +To make a cereal Organic is a negative definition; if it hasn't had chemicals, then +its Organic. Grain is one of the few foods that will still produce economic yields +of low quality seed on extremely infertile soil or when half-smothered in weeds because +herbicides weren't used for reasons of ideological purity. Vegetables will hardly +produce anything under those conditions; carelessly grown fruits and vegetables are +inevitably small, misshapen, unmarketable. But seed cleaning equipment can remove +the contamination of weed seeds in cereal grains (at a cost.)<br> +    The price the farmer receives for Organic cereal grain is +much higher, so it is possible to accept rather low yields or expend more money for +cleaning out high levels of weed seeds from the field-run harvest, and still make +a good profit. A lousy Organic cereal crop like this might even make a higher profit +because the farmer has been spared the expense of fertilization, of rotation, of +weed control. I remember once I bought a sack of Organic whole oats that were the +smallest, most shriveled, bitterest oats I've ever tried to eat. We ended up throwing +out that tiny, light (lacking density) seed in favor of using the "conventional" +whole oats that were plump, heavy and sweet. <br> +    Wheat is not the only cereal that is damaged by industrial +milling. So are oats. Most consumers have never seen whole oats; they look very much +like wheat berries. But rolled oats become rancid and stale on the shelf much like +wheat flour on the shelf.<br> +    Another pitfall about using whole grains is that to be nutritious +they must still be fresh enough to sprout vigorously. A seed is a package of food +surrounding an embryo. The living embryo is waiting for the right conditions (temperature +and moisture) to begin sprouting. Sprouting means the embryo begins eating up stored +food and making a plant out of it. All foods are damaged by exposure to oxygen, so +to protect the embryo's food supply, the seed is surrounded by a virtually airtight +seed coat that permits only enough oxygen to enter for the embryo's respiration (yes, +seed breaths slowly). Often the embryo is located at the edge of the seed and has +its own air intake port. When the seed coat is removed or damaged, the innards are +exposed to air and begin deteriorating rapidly. In the case of oats, especially rapidly, +because oats are the only grass-based cereal that contains large quantities of oil--five +percent oil, more or less. That's why oats "stick to your ribs." Rolled +oats become stale and lose their flavor (and nutritional content) and perhaps become +rancid very rapidly. So we make porridge from whole oat groats that we coarsely grind +to grits (steel-cut oats) in an electric seed/spice mill just before cooking. <br> +    It is not easy to cook oat grits. They take a lot longer +than rolled oats and if not done exactly to the recipe I'm about to give you, will +almost inevitably stick to the pot badly and may also froth over and mess the stove. +Here's how to cook them. Coarsely grind (like corn meal) your whole oats until you +have one cup of oat grits. Bring exactly four cups of water (no salt) to a very hard +boil at your highest heat. You may add a handful of raisins. Light or turn on a second, +small-sized burner on the stove and set it as low as possible. Into the fast boiling +water, slowly pour the ground oats, stirring continuously. Take about 30 seconds +to pour it all or you'll make clumps. Keep on the high heat until the water again +boils vigorously. Suddenly, the mixture will begin rising in the pot and will try +to pour all over the stove. This means it is all at boiling temperature again. Quickly +move the pot to the low burner; that instantly stops the frothing. Then cover. Let +the porridge cook for 30 minutes, stirring once or twice to prevent sticking. Then, +keeping it covered, turn off the heat. They can be eaten at this point but I think +it is better to let the oats finish soaking on the stove for at least two to four +hours. Then reheat in a double boiler, or warm in a microwave. <br> +    We usually start a pot of oats at bedtime for the next morning. +See why people prefer the convenience of using rolled oats? But once you've eaten +oats made right, you'll never prefer the flavor of rolled oats again. And if the +human body has any natural method of assaying nutritional content, it is flavor. +<br> +    Nutritionally, millet is almost the same story as oats. Millet +seed is protected by a very hard hull. Cooking unhulled millet is almost impossible. +After hours of boiling the small round seeds will still be hard and the hulls remain +entirely indigestible. Worse, the half-round hulls (they split eventually) stick +in your teeth. But prehulled millet, sitting in the sack for weeks and months, loses +a lot of nutrition and tastes very second-rate compared to freshly-hulled millet. +It is possible to buy unhulled millet, usually by special order from the health food +distributor--if you'll take a whole sack. Millet can be hulled at home in small batches. +Here's how we figured out how to do it. There probably are better ways.<br> +    Using a cheap steel-burr flour mill, set the burrs just far +enough apart that the seed is ground to grits, but not flour. This pops the hulls +loose. An old mill with worn-out burrs works great for this job. Then you have to +get some hand seed cleaning screens just large enough to pass the grits but not pass +the hulls (most of them). Window screen or other hardware cloths won't work. Seed +cleaning screens come in increments of 1/128 inch; we use a 6/64" round screen. +Other batches of millet might work better with a screen one step larger or smaller. +It will take you a little ingenuity to find hand-held screens. They're used by seed +companies and farmers to clean small batches of seed for inspection and are usually +about one square foot in size with a quality wooden frame. Larger frames made of +the same screening material are used in big seed cleaning machines. (The hulls could +also be winnowed out by repeatedly pouring the grit/hulls mixture back and forth +between two buckets in a gentle breeze.)<br> +    After you've screened out most of the hulls, the rest will +rinse out, floating off as you wash the grain prior to cooking. We never hull more +than enough millet for two or three meals and keep the uncooked (unwashed) millet +in the freezer in an airtight jar. It is interesting how people will accept poor +nutrition and its consequent sickness as the price of convenience. <br> +    If you eat much buckwheat you should also figure out how +to hull (sometimes called groating) it yourself. Someone should write a thorough +book on the home milling of cereals. And perhaps sell the equipment by mail. Probably +would be a good little homestead business.<br> +    Something else you need to keep in mind about seed. Even +though the embryo's food supply is protected by the seed coat, it still slowly deteriorates, +steadily oxidizing and losing nutritional value. Eventually old seed looses the ability +to sprout. The decline in germination ability matches a decline in nutritional quality. +Any seed you are going to use for eating should possess the ability to sprout, strongly +and rapidly. (After you've comparatively sprouted a few grain samples, you'll know +what I mean by this.) Fortunately, cereal grains usually sprout well for quite a +few years after harvest if they have been stored cool and dry. Eating dead or near-dead +seeds will help move you closer to the same condition yourself.<br> +    Finally, one more warning about buying store bread. Salt-free +bread tastes "funny" to most people. It bakes fine, salt is not necessary +to the leavening process, but no bakery could stay in business without salting their +bread. The standard level of salt is two percent by weight. That is quite a lot! +Two percent equals one teaspoonful per pound. I'll have more to say about the evils +of salt later on.<br> +    I imagine some of my readers are feeling a little overwhelmed +by all these warnings and "bewares ofs," and intricacies. They are used +to taking no responsibility for securing their own food supply quality and have come +to expect the "system" to protect them. I believe it is not because of +lack of government intervention, but because of government intervention itself, our +food system is very perverse. Until our mass consciousness changes, if you wish to +make yourself and your family truly healthy, you are going to have to take charge +and become quite a discriminating shopper. Unconscious consumers are on a rapid road +to the total unconsciousness of death.<br> +    And again, let me remind you here that this one small book +cannot contain everything you should know. The bibliography at the end of should +become your guide to earning your post-graduate education in nutritional health.<br> +<br> +<b>Freshness Of Fruits And Vegetables</b> <br> +    Most people do not realize the crucial importance of freshness +when it comes to produce. In the same way that seeds gradually die, fruits and vegetables +go through a similar process as their nutritional content gradually oxidizes or is +broken down by the vegetables own enzymes, but vegetables lose nutrition hundreds +of times more rapidly than cereals. Produce was recently part of a living plant. +It was connected to the vascular system of a plant and with few exceptions, is not +intended by nature to remain intact after being cut. A lettuce or a zucchini was +entirely alive at the moment of harvest, but from that point, its cells begin to +die. Even if it is not yet attacked by bacteria, molds and fungi, its own internal +enzymes have begun breaking down its own substances.<br> +    Vegetables, especially leafy vegetables, are far more critical +in this respect than most ripe fruits. All, however, deteriorate much like radioactive +material; they have a sort of half-life. The mineral content is stable, but in respect +to the vitamins and enzymes and other complex organic components, each time period +or "half life" results in the loss of half the nutrition. Suppose a lettuce +has a half life of 48 hours, two days after harvest only 50 percent of the original +nutrition remains. After two more days, half the remaining half is gone and only +25 percent is left. After two more days half of that 25 percent is lost. Thus six +days after harvest and a lettuce contains only bout 12 percent of its original nutrition. +A two day half-life is only hypothetical. Those types of produce I classify as very +perishable probably do have a half-life of from 36 to 48 hours. Moderately perishable +produce has a half life of about 72 hours; durable types of produce have half lives +of 96 hours or longer.<br> +<br> + +<table> + <caption><b>Vegetable Storage Potential</b></caption> + <tr> + <td style="width: 33%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Very Perishable</b></span></td> + <td style="width: 33%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Moderately Perishable</b></span></td> + <td style="width: 34%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Durable</b></span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 33%;">lettuce</td> + <td style="width: 33%;">zucchini</td> + <td style="width: 34%;">apple</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 33%;">spinach</td> + <td style="width: 33%;">eggplant</td> + <td style="width: 34%;">squash</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 33%;">Chinese cabbage</td> + <td style="width: 33%;">sweet peppers</td> + <td style="width: 34%;">oranges</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 33%;">kale</td> + <td style="width: 33%;">broccoli</td> + <td style="width: 34%;">cabbage</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 33%;">endive</td> + <td style="width: 33%;">cauliflower</td> + <td style="width: 34%;">carrot</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 33%;">peaches</td> + <td style="width: 33%;">apricots</td> + <td style="width: 34%;">lemons</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 33%;">parsley</td> + <td style="width: 33%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 34%;">beets</td> + </tr> +</table> +<br> +<br> +    <br> +    The half life of produce can be lengthened by lowering its +temperature. For that reason, sophisticated produce growers usually use hydrocooling. +This process dumps a just-cut vegetable into icy water within minutes of being harvested, +lowering core temperature to a few degrees above freezing almost immediately. When +cut vegetables are crated up at field temperatures, and stacks of those crates are +put in a cooler, it can take the inside of the stack 24 hours, or longer, to become +chilled. Home gardeners should also practice hydrocooling. Fill your sink with cold +water and wash/soak your harvest until it is thoroughly chilled before draining and +refrigerating it. Or, harvest your garden early in the morning when temperatures +are lowest.<br> +    Still, when you buy produce in the store it may have been +sitting at room temperature for hours or possibly days. <br> +    The bottom line here: fresh is equally as important as unsprayed +or organically grown!<br> +<br> +<b>The Real Truth About Salt And Sugar</b> <br> +    First, let me remind certain food religionists: salt is salt +is salt is salt and sugar is sugar is sugar. There are no good forms of salt and +no good forms of sugar. Salt from a mine and salt from the sea both have the same +harmful effect; white sugar, natural brown sugar, honey, molasses, corn syrup, maple +syrup, whatever sweet have you. All are sugars and all have the similar harmful effects. +I know of no harmless salt substitute that really tastes salty. Nutrisweet is basically +harmless to most people and can be used as a very satisfactory replacement for sugars. +(A few people are unable to tolerate nutrisweet, causing the anti-chemicalists to +circulate much anti-nutrisweet propaganda, but you should carefully consider this +thought before dismissing nutrisweet--there is almost no food substance that some +people are not allergic to or unable to digest. The fact that nutrisweet is made +in a chemical vat and the fact that some cannot handle nutrisweet does not make it +"of the devil."<br> +    And its not all black and white with the other items either. +Sea salt does have certain redeeming qualities not found in mined salt and under +certain very special conditions, eating small quantities of salt may be acceptable. +Similarly, some forms of sugar are not quite as harmful as other forms, though all +are harmful. <br> +    The primary health problem caused by table salt is not that +it contributes to high blood pressure in people with poor kidneys, though it does +that. It is not that eating salt ruins the kidneys; salt probably does not do that. +The real problem with salt is that sodium chloride is an adrenal stimulant, triggering +the release of adrenal hormones, especially natural steroids that resist inflammation. +When these hormones are at high levels in the blood, the person often feels very +good, has a sense of well-being. Thus salt is a drug! And like many drugs of its +type, salt is a habituating drug. However, we are so used to whipping our adrenals +with salt that we don't notice it. What we do notice is that we think we like the +taste of salted food and consider that food tastes flat without it. But take away +a person's salt shaker and they become very uncomfortable. That's because the addict +isn't getting their regular dose. <br> +    What's wrong with repetitive adrenal whipping is that adrenal +fortitude is variable; many people's adrenals eventually fail to respond to the prod +of salt and the body begins to suffer from a lack of adrenal hormones. Often those +inheriting weak adrenals manifest semi-failure in childhood. The consequence is that +ordinary, irritating substances begin causing severe irritation. The person becomes +allergic to pollen, dust, foods, animal danders, etc. We see asthma, hay fever, sinusitis, +etc. Though one can then discover specific allergens and try to remove them from +the environment or diet, often this case can be solved far more easily by complete +withdrawal from all salt. This rests the adrenals and they may recover their full +function; almost certainly their function will improve. The asthma, allergies and +etc., gradually vanish.<br> +    Most of us don't need to eat salt as a nutrient. There's +enough sodium in one dill pickle to run a human body for a year. There's enough natural +sodium in many types of vegetables to supply normal needs without using table salt. +Perhaps athletes or other hard working people in the tropics eating deficient food +grown on leached-out depleted soils, people that sweat buckets day after day may +need a little extra sodium. Perhaps. Not having practiced in the humid tropics myself, +I have no definitive answer about this. <br> +    Unfortunately, the average American is entirely addicted +to salt and thinks food tastes lousy without it. To please the average consumer, +almost all prepared foods contain far too much salt for someone suffering from exhausted +adrenals. Interestingly, Canadians do not like their foods nearly as salty as Americans, +and prepared foods like soups and the like in cans and packages that look just like +the ones in American supermarkets (though with French on the back panel) have to +be reformulated for our northern neighbors. I've observed that Canadians are generally +healthier than Americans in many respects.<br> +    We would all be far better off consuming no salt at all. +Those with allergies or asthma should completely eliminate it for a month or two +and discover if that simple step doesn't pretty much cure them. The trouble is that +bakery bread is routinely two percent salt by weight. Cheese is equally salted or +even more so. Canned and frozen prepared food products are all heavily salted. Restaurant +meals are always highly salted in the kitchen. If you want to avoid salt you almost +have to prepare everything yourself, bake your own bread, abstain from cheese (though +there are unsalted cheeses but even I don't like the flavor of these), and abstain +from restaurants. My family has managed to eliminate all salt from our own kitchen +except for that in cheese, and we eat cheese rather moderately.<br> +    Sugar is a high-caloric non-food with enormous liabilities. +First, from the viewpoint of the universal formula for health, no form of non-artificial +sweetener carries enough nutrients with it to justify the number of calories it contains, +not even malt extract. White refined sugar contains absolutely no nutrients at all; +the "good" or "natural" sweets also carry so little nutrition +as to be next to useless. Sweets are so far over on the bad end of the Health = Nutrition +/ Calories scale that for this reason alone they should be avoided. <br> +    However, healthy people can usually afford a small amount +of sin; why not make it sweets? In small quantity, sugars are probably the easiest +indiscretion to digest and the least damaging to the organ systems. Although, speaking +of sin, as Edgar Guest, the peoples' poet, once so wisely quipped, (and my husband +agrees) "Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker." Sugar is a powerful drug! +People who abuse sweets set up a cycle of addiction that can be very hard to break. +It starts when the body tries to regulate blood sugar. Kicked up to high levels by +eating sugar, the pancreas releases insulin. But that is not the end of the chain +reaction. Insulin regulates blood sugar levels but also raises brain levels of an +amino acid called tryptophan. Tryptophan is the raw material the brain uses to manufacture +a neurotransmitter called serotonin. And serotonin plays a huge role in regulating +mood. Higher brain levels of serotonin create a feeling of well-being. Eating sugar +gives a person a chemical jolt of happiness. Heavy hits of high-glycemic index starch +foods are also rapidly converted to sugar. So don't give your kids sweets! Or huge +servings of starch to mellow them out. It is wise not to start out life a happiness +addict with a severe weight problem.<br> +    Now that the chemistry of sugar addiction is understood, +there currently is a movement afoot to cast the obese as helpless victims of serotonin +imbalances and to "treat" them with the same kinds of serotonin-increasing +happy drugs (like Prozac) that are becoming so popular with the psychiatric set. +This promises to be a multiple billion dollar business that will capture all the +money currently flowing into other dieting systems and bring it right back to the +AMA/drug company/FDA nexus. The pitch is that when serotonin levels are upped, the +desire to eat drops and so is weight. This approach is popular with the obese because +it requires no personal responsibility other than taking a pill that really does +make them feel happy. However, the same benefit can be had by strict adherence to +a low-fat, low-carbohydrate diet. Eventually, the brain chemistry rebalances itself +and serotonin levels stabilize.<br> +<br> + +<table> + <caption><b>Glycemic Index</b><br> + <span style="font-size: small;">(compared to glucose, which is 100)</span></caption> + <tr> + <td style="width: 35%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Grains</b></span></td> + <td style="width: 5%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b> </b></span></td> + <td style="width: 21%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Fruits</b></span></td> + <td style="width: 9%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b> </b></span></td> + <td style="width: 25%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Vegetables</b></span></td> + <td style="width: 5%;"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 35%;">all bran</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">51</td> + <td style="width: 21%;">apples</td> + <td style="width: 9%;">39</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">baked beans</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">40</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 35%;">brown rice</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">66</td> + <td style="width: 21%;">bananas</td> + <td style="width: 9%;">62</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">beets</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">64</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 35%;">buckwheat</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">54</td> + <td style="width: 21%;">cherries</td> + <td style="width: 9%;">23</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">black-eyed peas</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">33</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 35%;">cornflakes</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">80</td> + <td style="width: 21%;">grapefruit</td> + <td style="width: 9%;">26</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">carrots</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">92</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 35%;">oatmeal</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">49</td> + <td style="width: 21%;">grapes</td> + <td style="width: 9%;">45</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">chic peas</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">36</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 35%;">shred. wheat</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">67</td> + <td style="width: 21%;">orange juice</td> + <td style="width: 9%;">46</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">parsnips</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">97</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 35%;">muesli</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">66</td> + <td style="width: 21%;">peach</td> + <td style="width: 9%;">29</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">potato chips</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">51</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 35%;">white rice</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">72</td> + <td style="width: 21%;">orange</td> + <td style="width: 9%;">40</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">baked potato</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">98</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 35%;">white spagetti</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">50</td> + <td style="width: 21%;">pear</td> + <td style="width: 9%;">34</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">sweet potato</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">48</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 35%;">whole wheat spagetti</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">42</td> + <td style="width: 21%;">plum</td> + <td style="width: 9%;">25</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">yams</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">51</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 35%;">sweet corn</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">59</td> + <td style="width: 21%;">raisins</td> + <td style="width: 9%;">64</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">peas</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">51</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 35%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 5%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 21%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 9%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 25%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 5%;"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 35%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Nuts</b></span></td> + <td style="width: 5%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></td> + <td style="width: 21%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Baked Goods</b></span></td> + <td style="width: 9%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b> </b></span></td> + <td style="width: 25%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Sugars</b></span></td> + <td style="width: 5%;"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 35%;">peanuts</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">13</td> + <td style="width: 21%;">pastry</td> + <td style="width: 9%;">59</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">fructose</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">20</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 35%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 5%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 21%;">sponge cake</td> + <td style="width: 9%;">46</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">glucose</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">100</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 35%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Meats</b></span></td> + <td style="width: 5%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 21%;">white bread</td> + <td style="width: 9%;">69</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">honey</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">87</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 35%;">sausage</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">28</td> + <td style="width: 21%;">w/w bread</td> + <td style="width: 9%;">72</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">maltose</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">110</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 35%;">fish sticks</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">38</td> + <td style="width: 21%;">whole rye bread</td> + <td style="width: 9%;">42</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">sucrose</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">59</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 35%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 5%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 21%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 9%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 25%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 5%;"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 35%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Dairy Products</b></span></td> + <td style="width: 5%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 21%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 9%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 25%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 5%;"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 35%;">yogurt</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">36</td> + <td style="width: 21%;">whole milk</td> + <td style="width: 9%;">34</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">skim milk</td> + <td style="width: 5%;">32</td> + </tr> +</table> +<br> +<br> +<br> +    Remember, the pancreas has another major service to perform +for the body: secreting digestive enzymes to aid in the digestion of proteins. When +the diet contains either too much protein or too much sugar and/or high-glycemic +index starch foods, the overworked pancreas begins to be less and less efficient +at maintaining both of these functions. <br> +    Sometimes a stressed-out pancreas gets overactive and does +too good a job lowering the blood sugar, producing hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia is +generally accompanied by unpleasant symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, blurred +vision, irritability, confusion, headache, etc. This condition is typically alleviated +by yet another hit of sugar which builds an addiction not only to sugar, but to food +in general. If the hypoglycemic then keeps on eating sugar to relieve the symptoms +of sugar ingestion, eventually the pancreas becomes exhausted, producing an insulin +deficiency, called diabetes. Medical doctors treat diabetes with insulin supplements +either oral or intramuscular plus a careful diet with very low and measured amounts +of sugar and starch for the remainder of the persons inevitably shortened and far +less pleasant life. However, sometimes diabetes can be controlled with diet alone, +though medical doctors have not had nearly as much success with this approach as +talented naturopaths. Sometimes, long fasting can regenerate a pancreas. It is far +better to avoid creating this disease!<br> +    The dietary management of hypoglycemia requires that not +only refined but also unrefined sugars and starches with a high glycemic index be +removed from the diet. (The glycemic index measures the ease with which the starch +is converted into glucose in the body, and estimates the amount of insulin needed +to balance it out.) This means no sugar, no honey, no white flour, no whole grains +sweetened with honey, no sweet fruits such as watermelons, bananas, raisins, dates +or figs. Potatoes are too readily converted into sugar. Jerusalem artichokes are +a good substitute. <br> +    People with hypoglycemia can often control their symptoms +with frequent small meals containing vegetable protein every two hours. When a non-sweet +fruit is eaten such as an apple, it should be eaten with some almonds or other nut +or seed that slows the absorption of fruit sugar. Hypoglycemics can improve their +condition with vitamins and food supplements. See the next chapter.<br> +    Allergies to foods and environmental irritants are frequently +triggered by low blood sugar. Mental conditions are also triggered by low blood sugar +levels, frequently contributing to or causing a cycle of acting out behavior accompanied +by destruction of property and interpersonal violence, as well as psychosis and bouts +of depression. It is not possible to easily deal with the resulting behavior problems +unless the hypoglycemia is controlled. Unfortunately most institutions such as mental +hospitals and jails serve large amounts of sugar and starch and usually caffeinated +beverages, with a high availability of soda pop, candy, and cigarettes at concessions. +If the diet were drastically improved, the drugs given to control behavior in mental +hospitals would be much more effective at a lower dose, or unnecessary.<br> +    The insulin-cycle overworked pancreas may eventually not +be able to secrete enough enzymes to allow for the efficient digestion of foods high +in protein. As stated earlier, poor protein digestion leads to a highly toxic condition +from putrefied protein in the intestines. This condition is alleviated by eliminating +animal proteins from the diet and taking digestive aids such as pancreatin pills +with meals to assist in the digestion of vegetable proteins.<br> +<br> +<b>Food Combining And "Healthfood Junkfood."</b> <br> +    This brings us to a topic I call healthfood junkfood. Many +people improve their diet, eliminating meat and chemicalized food in favor of whole +grains and organically grown foods, but they then proceed to make these otherwise +good foods into virtual junkfood by preparing them incorrectly. In my travels, I've +noticed this same thing happens everywhere on Earth. What should be health-producing +dietaries are ruined by frying, salting and sugaring. <br> +    Healthfood junkfoods include organically grown potato chips +deep fried in cold pressed organic unsaturated canola oil (made rancid by frying) +sprinkled with natural sea salt; organically grown oat and nut granola roasted with +cold-pressed unsaturated oil (made rancid by roasting) hideously sweetened with honey; +carrot cake made with rancid whole wheat flour, cold pressed unsaturated oil (made +rancid by baking), honey, and cream cheese (salted); whole wheat cookies (stale, +rancid flour) sweetened with honey, made with vegetable oil baked at high heat (rancid); +whole wheat pizza vegetarian style with lots of soy cheese; whole wheat pizza vegan +style with lots of real raw milk cheese; organically grown corn chips deep fried +in cold pressed vegetable oil with or without natural sea salt, yogurts made from +powdered milk without an active culture of beneficial bacteria and covered with highly +sugared fruits, etc. These foods may well represent an improvement over the average +American diet, but they still are not healthy foods, and should never be used in +a diet for a sick person. Nor are they worthy of a person attempting to maximize +health. <br> +    The problem with healthfood junkfoods is not their major +ingredients, but how they were combined and processed and adulterated. Remember, +fats, animal or vegetable, subjected to high heat become indigestible and toxic and +make anything they're cooked with indigestible; salt is a toxic drug; cheese, hard +enough to digest as it is, when raised to high temperatures as it is when making +pizza, becomes virtually indigestible and cheese inevitably contains a lot of butterfat +which, though saturated animal fat, when raised to high temperatures, still becomes +slightly rancid. And all these foods represent indigestible combinations.<br> +    My clients almost never believe me when I first explain the +idea of food combining. They think if it goes in one end, comes out the other, and +they don't feel any unpleasant symptoms in between, then it was digested. But bad +food combinations have a cumulative degenerative effect over a long period of time. +When the symptoms arrive the victim never associates the food combination with the +symptom because it seems to them that they've always been eating the food.<br> +    Mainstream nutritionists have brainwashed the public into +thinking that we should have a representative serving from each of the "four +basic food groups" at each and every meal, plus a beverage and a desert. Or, +as my husband Steve is fond of quipping, a "balanced meal" has four colors +on every plate: something red, something green, something white and something yellow. +But the balanced meal is a gastronomic catastrophe that can only be processed by +the very young with high digestive vitality, the exceptionally vital of any age, +people with cast iron stomachs which usually refers to their good heredity, and those +who are very physically active. <br> +    Few seem to realize that each type of food requires specific +and different digestive enzymes in the mouth, stomach, and intestine. Carbohydrates, +fats, proteins--each requires differing acid or alkaline environments in order to +be digested. Proteins require an acid environment. Starch digestion requires an alkaline +environment. When foods in complex combinations are presented to the stomach all +together, like a meal with meat, potatoes, gravy, vegetables, bread, butter, a glass +of milk, plus a starchy sweet desert, followed by coffee or tea, the stomach, pancreas, +liver and small intestine are overwhelmed, resulting in the fermentation of the sugars +and starches, and the putrefaction of the proteins, and poor digestion of the whole. +It is little wonder that most people feel so tired after a large meal and need several +cups of strong coffee to be able to even get up from the table. They have just presented +their digestive tract with an immensely difficult and for some an impossible task. +<br> +    For the most efficient digestion, the body should be presented +with one simple food at a time, the one bowl concept, easily achieved by adherence +to the old saying, "one food at a meal is the ideal." An example of this +approach would be eating fruits for breakfast, a plain cereal grain for lunch, and +vegetables for supper. If you can't eat quite that simply, then proper food combining +rules should be followed to minimize digestive difficulty, maximize the adsorption +of nutrients from your food, and reduce or eliminate the formation of toxemia, and +of course foul gas. <br> +    In general, fruit should be eaten alone unless you happen +to be hypoglycemic or diabetic in which case fruit should be eaten with small quantities +of a vegetable protein such as nuts, or yogurt and/or cheese if able to digest dairy. +Starches should be eaten with vegetables, which means that a well combined meal would +include a grain such as rice, millet, buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa, corn, wheat, rye, +oats, spelt, potatoes, or starchy winter squash combined with raw or cooked vegetables. +Protein foods such as meat, eggs, beans, lentils, tofu, split peas, should be combined +with vegetables, raw or cooked. But protein should never be combined with starches. +The most popular North American snacks and meals always have a starch/protein combination, +for example: meat and potatoes, hamburger in a bun, hot dog with bun, burrito with +meat or cheese, meat sandwiches, etc. It is little wonder that intestinal gas is +accepted as normal, and that over time these hard to digest combinations eventually +cause health problems that demand attention.<br> +    Another sure fire way to ruin any food, including the very +best available is to eat in the presence of negative emotions generated by yourself +or others. Negative emotions include fear, anger, frustration, envy, resentment, +etc. The digestive tract is immediately responsive to stress and or negative thoughts. +It becomes paralyzed in negative emotional states; any foods eaten are poorly digested, +causing toxemia. <br> +    It is natural for a person who has lost a loved one or suffered +a great loss of any kind to lose their appetite for a period of time. This reaction +is pro-survival, because while grieving, the body is griped by powerful negative +emotions. There are people who, under stress or when experiencing a loss, eat ravenously +in an attempt to comfort themselves. If this goes on for long the person can expect +to create a serious illness of some kind. <br> +    Individual sensitivity to this type of overeating is dependent +upon genetics and personality and who is generating the negative emotions. Self generated +negative emotions are very difficult to avoid. If you are unable to change your own +emotional tone or that of others around you, then it is important to eat very lightly, +eat only easily digested foods such as raw fruits and vegetables, raw juices, steamed +vegetables, and small servings of whole grains, nuts and seeds.<br> +<br> +<b>Diets To Heal The Critically Ill </b><br> +    A critically ill person is someone who could expire at any +moment; therapeutic interventions are racing against death. Can the body repair itself +enough before some essential function ceases altogether? If there already exists +too much damage to vital organs the person will die. If there remains sufficient +organ function to support life, enough vital force to power those functions, and +a will to live, the body may heal itself if helped by the correct therapeutic approach. +But the therapy does not do the healing; the body does that by itself--if it can. +This reality is also true of allopathic medicine.<br> +    I believe fasting is the therapy that almost invariably gives +a critically ill person their very best chance of recovery. If a patient dies while +fasting they almost certainly would have died anyway, and if death comes while fasting, +it will be more comfortable, with less pain, and with more mental clarity.<br> +    Critically ill people may have, among other things, any of +the following diagnoses: advanced cancer, advanced aids, heart failure, very high +blood pressure, kidney failure, advanced liver disease, advanced emphysema, pneumonia +or other catastrophic infections, especially those that seem unresponsive to antibiotics, +strokes, emboli, sclerotic vessels as found in arteriosclerosis, severe nerve degeneration +interfering with nerve transmission to vital organs.<br> +    Treating the critically ill does not have to be an all or +nothing, ideological choice between holistic medicine and AMA style medicine. It +is important for the critically ill and their families to know that if they use standard +medical treatment such as drugs or surgery, these measures can and should be combined +with natural healing methods. It is always desirable to quit all addicting substances, +start a whole foods diet, (as light as possible), and add meganutrition (supplements) +to the medical doctor's treatments. Few medical doctors are so arrogantly partisan +as to assert that natural measures will do any harm as long as the MD is still allowed +to prescribe as they please.<br> +    Holistic support will not only lessen the side effects of +the medical treatments but will speed up healing and often reduce the required dose +of prescribed drugs. I have had several clients with cancer who chose to have surgery, +radiation and chemotherapy, but stayed on a raw food diet and took high doses of +supplements throughout the treatment. These people amazed the attending physician +by feeling good with little if any fatigue, no hair loss, or flu symptoms. The same +can be true of other conditions.<br> +<br> +<b>Food In The Order Of Digestive Difficulty</b> <br> +    Individual digestive weaknesses and allergies are not taken +into account in this list. + +<UL> + <LI><b>Hard To Digest:</b> Meat, fish, chicken, eggs (if cooked), all legumes including + soy products, peanuts and peanut butter, beans, split peas, lentils, chick peas, + dairy products such as cheese, milk, butter milk, nuts and seeds and their butters. + <br> + <br> + + <LI><b>Intermediate:</b> all grains--quinoa, amaranth, millet, spelt, rye, wheat, + oats, barley. <br> + <br> + + <LI><b>Fairly Easy:</b> Brussels sprouts, green beans, green peas, broccoli, cauliflower, + raw cultured milk products, asparagus, cabbage, sprouts especially bean sprouts, + kale, other leafy greens. <br> + <br> + + <LI><b>Very Easy:</b> fruits, vegetable juices, fruit juices, broth (clear). <br> + <br> + + <LI><b>No Effort:</b> herb tea, water. +</UL> + +<p>    Ethyl always comes to my mind when I think of how much +healing power can still be left in a dying body. She (accompanied by her husband +for support) came to Great Oaks School with terminal cancer, heart failure, advanced +diabetes, extreme weakness, and complete inability to digest. Any food ingested just +came back up immediately. Ethyl had large tumors taking over the breast, sticking +out from her skull, and protruding from her body in general. The largest was the +one in the left breast which was the size of a big man's fist. <br> +    She did have one crucial thing going for her, Ethyl was a +feisty Irish red head who still had a will to live, and a reason to do so. She and +her husband, who had just retired, had dreamed their whole life of touring the US +and Canada in their own RV the minute he retired. The time had finally arrived but +Ethyl was too ill to support her own weight (only 90 pounds) and to top it off was +blind from diabetic retinopathy. The doctors had done everything they could to her, +and now judged her too weak to withstand any more surgery (she had already had her +right breast removed). Radiation or chemotherapy were also considered impossible +due to heart failure. They sent Ethyl home to die, giving her a few days to a month +at most. <br> +    Any sensible hygienist trying to stay out of jail would have +refused to take on this type of case because it was a cancer case where death was +likely. Treatment of this highly lucrative disease is considered the AMA's exclusive +franchise, even when the medical doctors have given up after having done everything +to a body the family can pay for or owe for. Whenever a person dies under the care +of any person who is not a licensed M.D. there must be an autopsy and a criminal +investigation in search of negligence. If the person dies under the care of an M.D. +the sheriff's assumption is that the doctor most assuredly did everything he could +and should have done and death was inevitable. By accepting Ethyl I had a reasonable +likelihood of ending up in trouble; but being foolish, brave and (stupidly) feeling +relatively immune to such consequences (I was under 40 at the time), it seemed important +to try to help her. So, undaunted by the task, regardless of the outcome, I proceeded +logically, one step at a time. Today, with more experience and a modest net worth +I wouldn't want to have to defend in a lawsuit, and at age 55. possessing no spare +five to ten years to give to the State to "pay" for my bravery, I would +probably refuse such a case. Fortunately I have not been confronted with this problem +lately.<br> +    Since Ethyl was unable to digest anything given by mouth, +she was fed rectally with wheat grass juice implants three times a day. She was carried +to the colonic table for a daily colonic. Wheat grass and clay poultices were applied +to her tumors three times a day. She received an acupressure massage and reflexology +treatments during the day, plus a lot of tender loving care. This program continued +for a month during which the tumors were being reabsorbed by the body, including +the large, extremely hard tumor sticking out the flesh of the right breast. <br> +    Ethyl complained of severe pain as the large tumor in her +breast shrank. While it had been getting larger and pressing ever harder on all the +nerves, she had little or no sensation, but as it shrank, the nerves were reactivated. +Most people think that a growing tumor would cause more pain than a shrinking one. +Often the opposite is true. Pain can be a good sign that the body is winning, an +indicator to proceed. <br> +    By the second month, Ethyl, gradually gaining strength, was +able to take wheat grass and carrot juice orally, and gradually eased into raw foods, +mostly sprouts and leafy greens such as sunflower and buckwheat greens grown in trays. +She started to walk with assistance up and down the halls, no longer experiencing +the intense pain formerly caused by a failing heart, and most surprising of all, +her eyesight returned, at first seeing only outlines, and then details. <br> +    The third month Ethyl enlarged her food intake to include +raw foods as well as the carrot and wheat grass juice and sprouts, plus vitamin and +mineral supplements to help support her immune system and the healing process. All +the tumors had been reabsorbed by her body and were no longer visible, her heart +was able to support normal activity such as walking, and nonstrenuous household chores, +and her diabetes had corrected itself to the point that she no longer required insulin +and was able to control her blood sugar with diet. <br> +    Her husband was then instructed in her maintenance and they +went home to continue the program. The last I heard from them they had made two lengthy +trips around the US in their RV and were enjoying their retirement together after +all. <br> +    My treatment worked because the most important factor in +the healing of the critically ill person is not give them more nourishment than their +body is able to process. The moment the digestive capacity of the sick person is +exceeded, the condition will be exacerbated and in a critically illness, the person +is likely to die. If the body still has sufficient organ integrity and vital force +to heal itself, it will do so only if given the least possible nourishment that will +support life--provided no essential organs are hopelessly damaged. If the liver and +kidneys are functional, and the person has done some previous dietary improvement +and/or cleansing, success is likely, especially if the person wants to live. <br> +    A person in critical condition does not have time to ease +into fasting by first spending a month or two on a raw foods diet. This means that +the person who is taking care of the critically ill person must be experienced enough +to adjust the intensity of the body's healing efforts and accurately assess the ability +of the person to process toxic waste products clamoring for removal so the ailing +body is not drowned in it's own poisons. It is often necessary to use clear vegetable +broth, vegetable and wheat grass juices, and fruits juices, or whole sprouts to slow +down the cleansing gradient and sometimes, to resupply the tissue's exhausted nutritional +reserves.<br> +    I wish all cases of critical illness had such a positive +outcome as Ethyl's, but unfortunately they don't. I had Marge on the same program +at the same time. She also had cancerous tumors all over her body and had similarly +been sent home to die. In some ways Marge's body was a more likely candidate for +survival than Ethyl's. Marge did not have heart failure or diabetes and was still +able on arrival to at least take small amount of water orally and walk to the bathroom. +Put on a similar program, her tumors also shrunk and were reabsorbed and she too +went home. <br> +    But Marge did not really have a strong reason to live. Although +her husband was by her side throughout the treatment program, Marge was deeply upset +because she was estranged from one of her sons who she had not seen for over 10 years. +When she went home from Great Oaks, the son finally consented to see his mother, +went to the effort of trying to work things out with her, and finally confessed that +under it all he still loved her. <br> +    At that point Marge died in peace. She had accomplished the +last thing she wanted to take care of and her will to live did not extend beyond +that point. Had she died several months earlier as predicted by the medical profession, +Marge would have been unable to resolve this relationship. This was what Marge's +life was pivoting on at the end. I was glad to assist her in doing what she needed +to do. Her husband and other family members found it difficult to understand, and +they were hurt that Marge did not wish to continue her life with them.<br> +<br> +<b>Diet For The Chronically Ill.</b> <br> +    The chronically ill person has a long-term degenerative condition +that is not immediately life threatening. This condition usually causes more-or-less +continuous symptoms that are painful, perhaps unsightly, and ultimately will be disabling +or eventually capable of causing death. To qualify as "chronic" the symptoms +must have been present a minimum of six months, with no relief in sight. People with +these conditions have usually sought medical assistance, frequently have had surgery, +and have taken and probably are taking numerous prescription drugs.<br> +    Some examples of chronic conditions are: arthritis, rheumatism, +diabetes, early onset of cancer and aids, asthma, colitis, diverticulitis, irritable +bowel syndrome, some mental disorders, arterial deposit diseases, most of the itises +(inflammations).<br> +    Before fasting, the chronically ill often do have time to +prepare the way with limited dietary reform, and frequently begin to feel relief +quite quickly. Before actually fasting they should limit their diet to raw foods +and eliminate all toxic foods like alcohol, coffee, tea, salt, sugar and recreational +drugs for two months if they have been following a typical American diet. <br> +    If the chronically ill had been following a vegetarian diet, +perhaps a diet including with eggs and dairy, if they had been using no addicting +substances, then one month on raw foods is sufficient preparation for fasting. If +the person had water or juice fasted for at least a week or two within the last two +years, and followed a healthy diet since that time, one or two weeks on raw foods +should be a sufficient runway.<br> +    During preparation for a fast, I never recommend that a chronically +ill person quit taking prescription medicines because doing so can seriously disrupt +their homeostasis. However, if their symptoms lessen or vanish during the pre-fasting +clean up, the person might try tapering off medications.<br> +    The length and type of fast chosen to resolve a chronic illness +depends largely on available time, finances, availability of support people, work +responsibilities, and mental toughness. If you are one of those fortunate people +'rich' enough to give their health first priority, long water fasting is ideal. If +on the other hand you can't afford to stop working, have no one to take care of you +and assist with some household chores, and/or you are not mentally tough enough to +deal with self-denial, compromise is necessary. <br> +    Ideally the chronically ill person would fast for an extended +period under supervision until their symptoms were gone or greatly improved, with +a fall-back plan to repeat the whole process again in three to six months if necessary. +If you are not able to do that, the next best program is to fast for a short period, +like one or two weeks, with a plan to repeat the process as often as possible until +you are healed.<br> +    I have had clients with potentially life-threatening conditions +such as obesity with incipient heart failure, or who came to me with cancer, that +were unable to stop work for financial reasons, or who could not afford a residential +fasting program, or who felt confident in their own ability to deal with detoxification +in their own home. These people have fasted successfully at home, coming to see me +once a week. Almost inevitably, successful at-home fasters had already done a lot +of research on self healing, believed in it, and had the personal discipline to carry +it out properly, including breaking the fast properly without overeating.<br> +<br> + +<table> + <caption><b>Foods To Heal Chronic Illness</b></caption> + <tr> + <td style="width: 16%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Sprouts</b></span></td> + <td style="width: 23%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Baby Greens</b></span></td> + <td style="width: 22%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Salad</b></span></td> + <td style="width: 25%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Juices</b></span></td> + <td style="width: 14%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Fruit</b></span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 16%;">alfalfa</td> + <td style="width: 23%;">sunflower</td> + <td style="width: 22%;">lettuce</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">beet</td> + <td style="width: 14%;">grapefruit</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 16%;">radish</td> + <td style="width: 23%;">buckwheat</td> + <td style="width: 22%;">celery</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">celery</td> + <td style="width: 14%;">lemon</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 16%;">bean</td> + <td style="width: 23%;">zucchini</td> + <td style="width: 22%;">zucchini</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">lime</td> + <td style="width: 14%;">lime</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 16%;">clover</td> + <td style="width: 23%;">kale</td> + <td style="width: 22%;">kale</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">orange</td> + <td style="width: 14%;">orange</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 16%;">fenugreek</td> + <td style="width: 23%;">endive</td> + <td style="width: 22%;">radish</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">parsley</td> + <td style="width: 14%;">apple</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 16%;">wheat</td> + <td style="width: 23%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 22%;">tomato</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">tomato</td> + <td style="width: 14%;">raspberries</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 16%;">cabbage</td> + <td style="width: 23%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 22%;">cabbage</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">cabbage</td> + <td style="width: 14%;">blueberries</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 16%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 23%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 22%;">carrot</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">carrot</td> + <td style="width: 14%;">grapes</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 16%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 23%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 22%;">spinach</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">apple</td> + <td style="width: 14%;">peaches</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 16%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 23%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 22%;">parsley</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">grapefruit</td> + <td style="width: 14%;">apricots</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 16%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 23%;"> </td> + <td style="width: 22%;">sweet pepper</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">lemon</td> + <td style="width: 14%;">strawberry</td> + </tr> +</table> +<br> +<br> +<br> +    Fruits should be watery and lower in sugar. Some examples +of poor fruit choices would be pineapple, ripe mango, bananas, dates, raisins, figs. +Fruits should not be combined with vegetables.<br> +    Vegetables should not be starchy, packed-full of energy. +Poor vegetable choices would be potato, parsnip, turnip, corn, sweet potato, yam, +beet, winter squash. Sprouts and baby greens are vegetables and may be included in +salads.<br> +    Juices should not be extremely sweet. Apple, orange, beet +and carrot juice should be diluted with 50% water. Fruit juices should not be mixed +with vegetable juices or with vegetables at the same meal.<br> +    Salads should include no fruit. Salad dressings should be +lemon or lime juice, very small quantities of olive oil, and herbs. No salt, soy +sauce nor black pepper. Cayenne can be okay for some. <br> +    I have also helped chronically ill people that were not mentally +prepared to water fast, but were able to face the long-term self-control and deprivation +of a raw food cleansing diet that included careful food combining. These people also +regained their health, but it took them a year at minimum, and once well they had +to remain on a diet tailor-made to their digestive capacity for the rest of their +life, usually along with food supplements.<br> +    Jim was such a case. He was 55 years old, very obese, had +dangerously high blood pressure poorly controlled with medication, and was going +into congestive heart failure. He was on digitalis and several other heart medications +plus diuretics, but in no way was his condition under control. He had severe edema +in the feet and legs with pitting, and fluid retention in the abdominal region caused +a huge paunch that was solid to the touch not soft and squishy like fatty tissue.<br> +    Jim had dreamed of having his own homestead with an Organic +garden, now he had these things but was too sick to enjoy them or work in his garden +without severe heart pain and shortness of breath. Jim had retired early in order +to enjoy many years without the stresses of work, and he was alarmed to realize that +he was unlikely to survive a year. <br> +    The day Jim came to see me the first time I would have classified +his condition as critically ill because his life was in immediate danger; but he +responded so quickly to his detox program that he was very soon out of danger and +would be more accurately described as a chronically ill person. Jim was not prepared +to water fast. He was attached to having his food and he was aware that at his extreme +weight he was going to have stay on a dietary program for a long, long time. He also +wanted to choose a gradient that he could manage by himself at home with little assistance +from his wife. He had been on a typical American diet with meat, coffee, etc., so +that in spite of his dangerous condition it did not seem wise to me to add the heavy +eliminatory burden of a water fast to a body that was already overwhelmed with fluids +and waste products. <br> +    Jim immediately went on a raw food cleansing diet, with no +concentrated foods like nuts, seeds, or avocados, and with one day each week fasting +on vegetable juice and broth. He did enemas daily even though it wasn't his favorite +thing. In one month he had lost 30 pounds, his eyes had started to sparkle, and his +complexion was rosy. The swelling had disappeared from his feet and legs, and he +had to buy new pants. <br> +    Starting the second month he gradually withdrew from prescription +medications. From the beginning I had put Jim on a program of nutritional supplements +including protomorphogens (see chapter on vitamins and food supplements) to help +the body repair it's heart and the kidneys. In only four months he had returned his +body to glowing health, and looked great for his age, though he was still overweight. +At the end of one year he had returned to a normal weight for his height, and only +cheated on the diet a couple of times when attending a social event, and then it +was only a baked potato with no dressing. <br> +    He was probably going to have many qualitative years working +his garden and living out his dreams. The local intensive care ward lost a lot of +money when they failed to get Jim.<br> +<br> +<b>Diet For The Acutely Ill</b><br> +    The acutely ill person experiences occasional attacks of +distressing symptoms, usually after indiscretions in living or emotional upsets. +They have a cold, or a flu, or sinusitis, or a first bout of pneumonia, or a spring +allergy attack. The intense symptoms knock them flat and force them to bed for a +few days or a week. If they are sick more often than that, they are moving toward +the chronically ill category. <br> +    People who are acutely ill should stop eating to whatever +extent that they are able until the symptoms are gone. During an acute illness, the +appetites is probably pretty dull anyway, so why not give a brief fast on water or +fruit juice a try. <br> +    Most acute conditions are short in duration, usually not +lasting more than a week. Allergy attacks, some types of flu, and a first bout of +pneumonia may well last for three weeks or a month. The general rule is to eat as +little as possible until the symptoms have passed, self-administer colon cleansing, +even if you have a horror of such things, and take vitamin supplements, including +megadoses of Vitamin C, bioflavinoids, and zinc. (See the chapter on vitamins.) Those +having a little experience with natural medicine make teas of echinacea, fenugreek +seeds and red clover and quit eating. Eating as little as possible can mean only +water and herb teas, only vegetable broth, only vegetable juice or non-sweet fruit +juice, even only cleansing raw foods. If you eat more than this you have not relieved +your system of enough digestive effort. <br> +    After your symptoms are gone it is very important to change +your life-style and improve your diet so that you aren't so toxic and don't have +to experience an acute illness several times a year when your body is forced to try +an energetic detox. <br> +<br> +<b>Diet For A Healthy Person</b><br> +    I doubt that it is possible to be totally healthy in the +twentieth century. Doctors Alsleben and Shute in their book How to Survive the New +Health Catastrophes state that in-depth laboratory testing of the population at large +demonstrated four universally present pathological conditions: heavy metal poisoning, +arteriosclerosis, sub-clinical infections, and vitamin/mineral deficiencies. Those +of us who consider ourselves healthy, including young people, are not really healthy, +and at the very least would benefit from nutritional supplementation. In fact the +odds against most people receiving adequate vitamin and mineral nutrition without +supplements are very poor as demonstrated by the following chart.<br> +<br> + +<table> + <caption><b>Problem Nutrients in America</b></caption> + <tr> + <td style="width: 38%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Nutrient</b></span></td> + <td style="width: 62%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Percent Receiving Less than the RDA</b></span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 38%;">B-6</td> + <td style="width: 62%;">80%</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 38%;">Magnesium</td> + <td style="width: 62%;">75</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 38%;">Calcium</td> + <td style="width: 62%;">68</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 38%;">Iron</td> + <td style="width: 62%;">57</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 38%;">Vitamin A</td> + <td style="width: 62%;">50</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 38%;">B-1</td> + <td style="width: 62%;">45</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 38%;">C</td> + <td style="width: 62%;">41</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 38%;">B-2</td> + <td style="width: 62%;">36</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 38%;">B-12</td> + <td style="width: 62%;">36</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 38%;">B-3</td> + <td style="width: 62%;">33</td> + </tr> +</table> +<br> +     <br> +<br> +    A genuinely healthy person almost never becomes acutely ill, +and does not have any disturbing or distracting symptoms; nothing interferes with +or handicaps their daily life or work. A healthy person has good energy most of the +time, a positive state of mind, restful sleep, good digestion and elimination. <br> +    Healthy people do not have to live simon-pure lives to remain +that way. Healthy people can afford 10% dietary indiscretions by calorie count--eating +or drinking those things that they know are not good for them but that are fun to +eat or are "recreational foods or beverages." Such "sinning" +could mean a restaurant bash twice a month, having a pizza, French bread, beer or +wine in moderation, ice cream, cookies, cake, turkey for festive occasions, etc. +The key concept of responsible sinning is keeping within that ten percent limit.<br> +    A diet for a healthy person that wants to remain healthy +should not exceed the digestive capacity of the individual, either in terms of quantity +or quality. All foods that can not be efficiently digested should be removed from +the regular diet and relegated to the "sin" category, including those you +are allergic to and those for which you have inadequate digestive enzymes. I have +encountered very few people that can efficiently digest cooked meat, chicken, or +fish, but some can, and some can with the assistance of digestive enzyme supplements. +In order to digest meats, the stomach must be sufficiently acid, there must be enough +pepsin, pancreatin, and bile, etc., and the meat should be eaten on the extremely +rare side (not pork), in small quantities (not more than five or six ounces), and +not combined with anything except nonstarchy vegetables. If you must include meat +in your dietary, it should represent a very small percentage of your total caloric +intake, be eaten infrequently, with the bulk of the calories coming from complex +carbohydrates such grains, legumes and nuts, as well as large quantities of vegetables +and fruits. <br> +    The healthy person that wants to stay that way for many, +years is advised to fast one day a week, to give the organs of elimination a chance +to catch up on their internal housecleaning. If water fasting seems impossible, try +a day of juicing it; if that is too rigorous, try a day on raw foods. A similar technique, +though less beneficial than even a one day each week on raw foods, is delaying breaking +your overnight fast for as long as possible each day. Try giving up breakfast altogether +or postponing breaking your overnight fast, because from the time you stop eating +at the end of one day to the time you start eating the next is actually a brief, +detoxifying fast. <br> +    Eggs, milk, cheese and yogurt can be assimilated by some +healthy people with or without digestive aids. It is possible to take lactase to +break down the milk sugars for example; sometimes aids such as hydrochloric acid, +pepsin, and pancreatin help. If you can buy it or are willing to make it raw milk +yogurt containing lactobacillus bulgaris or acidophilus may be digested more readily, +especially if it prepared from healthy cows or goats fed on unsprayed food, and served +very fresh. Eggs should come from chickens that run around outside, eating weeds, +and scratching bugs. The yokes of those eggs will be intense orange, not yellow. +Few people these days have ever eaten a real egg. Surprisingly, for those of you +who fear cholesterol, the healthy way to eat eggs is use just the raw yolk from fertile +eggs. It is enjoyed by many people in a smoothie--fresh fruit blended up with water +or milk. Eggs contain lecithin, a nutrient that naturally prevents the body from +forming harmful fatty deposits in the arteries.<br> +    Sea weeds are a wonderful source of minerals and should be +eaten in soups and salads. Other invaluable fortifying foods are algae of all kinds +(such as chlorella and spirulina), lecithin, brewers yeast, and fresh bakers yeast. +Many people have had very unpleasant experiences trying to eat living bakers yeast +and so use brewers yeast instead. But brewers yeast is cooked and the proteins it +contains are not nearly as assimilable as those in raw yeast. Raw yeast is so powerful, +it feels like pep pills! <br> +    It takes a special technique to eat raw yeast because in +the stomach and intestines the yeast does the job it is supposed to do: convert sugars +into alcohol and carbon dioxide gas. The entire digestive tract then bloats with +gas and the person will feel very uncomfortable for some time. However, raw yeast +is a marvelous source of B vitamins and proteins and can make someone feel very energetic--if +they know how to use it. The secret is to eat live yeast very first thing in the +morning on an empty stomach and then, not eat anything at all for about two hours, +giving the stomach acids and enzymes time to kill the yeasts and digest them before +adding sugars from another meal. Some like to eat yeast in fresh cake form, buying +it from a bakery. Others prefer dry granular baker's yeast blended with water into +a sort of "shake." This is not a bad place to put your raw egg yoke either. +If you need it sweetened to drink it, use an artificial or herbal sweetener like +nutrisweet or stevia. Live yeast cannot consume milk sugars very well. So if you +can handle dairy, try one or two tablespoons of granulated live yeast, an egg yoke +and a little raw milk or yogurt, well whizzed.<br> +    Wheat germ is also a great, rich food, but is usually rancid +unless it is taken out of the refrigerated display; unless it is refrigerated, in +a dated package and fresh, don't eat it. Herb teas and roasted grain beverages are +healthy beverages, along with mineral and distilled water avoiding where possible +chlorinated and fluoridated water.<br> +<br> +<b>Diet Is Not Enough</b><br> +    Those isolated, long-lived peoples discovered by Weston A. +Price had to do hard physical labor to eat, had to walk briskly up and down steep +terrain to get anywhere. But today, few North Americans output very much physical +energy in process of daily life or work. Not only cars, but all of our modern conveniences +make it possible to live without ever breaking into a sweat. We pay for this ease; +it costs us a significant degree of health. <br> +    Exercise has many benefits when combined with excellent nutrition. +It creates an overall feeling of well-being that can not be created by diet alone. +Exercising temporarily makes the heart beat faster, increasing blood circulation +throughout the body right out to the tips of your fingers and toes. This short-term +elevated flow of blood flow brings increased supplies of oxygen and nutrients to +all parts of the body, facilitating healing and repair. Without revving up your engine +every day many of the body's systems never get the sludge burned out of them and +never perform optimally. <br> +    Exercise also changes the metabolic rate so your body burns +more calories--not only while you are exercising, but also for a 24 hour period following +exercise. This maintains a healthful body weight into old age, or helps to lose weight. +Most people find that exercise in moderation does not increase appetite, so that +it is possible to consistently burn more calories in a day, and gradually reduce +weight if that is desirable. It is necessary to burn 3,500 calories to lose a pound +of weight. Most forms of exercise allow you to burn 300 to 600 calories per hour +at a moderate pace which would be achieved by doubling the resting pulse. Without +even considering the weight-loss benefit of achieving a raised metabolism, an hour +of daily exercise continued for a week or two dependent upon the type of exercise +and pace should lead to one pound of weight loss if the caloric intake is held constant.<br> +    The flip side of having a higher metabolism is rarely appreciated +but is extremely important. Recall the basic equation of health: Health = Nutrition +/ Calories. Exercise permits a person to eat somewhat more while not gaining weight. +If the food is nutrient rich, the body has a chance to extract more vitamins, more +minerals, more amino acids. The person who remains slender by rigidly reducing their +food intake to near starvation levels may lack vital, health-building nutrition.<br> +    And only exercise moves lymphatic fluid. The blood is pumped +through the body by the heart, but the lymphatic system, lacking a heart, requires +muscular contractions to move from the extremities of the body to the central cavity. +The lymphatic system picks up cellular waste products and conducts these toxins to +disposal. Frequently, people with rheumatic aches and pains or other generalized +muscular discomforts physicians like to give Latin diagnostic names to can give up +taking pain pills if they will but begin exercising regularly. Only when they begin +moving their lymph can they begin to detoxify properly.<br> +    There is another benefit from exercise which is not to be +ignored, and that is that it gives the person a chemical sense of well being. It +actually will help to emotionally boost up people who are chronically depressed and +make them smile. After a good workout, especially one done outside, everything seems +brighter, more positive; whatever was bothering you somehow just doesn't seem like +that big of a deal now. I am not making pro-exercise propaganda. This is not a figment +of the imagination. An exercising body really does make antidepressant neurochemicals +called endorphins, but only after about 45 minutes to an hour of aerobic workout. +<br> +    Endorphins are powerful, with painkilling and euphoric effects +equal to or greater than heroin, but without any undesirable side effects. If chemists +could learn to cheaply synthesize endorphins I'm sure that millions of people would +want to become addicted to them. Because I make such a point of getting in my workout +every day, my husband has accused me of being an endorphin junkie, and he is right! +I admit it, I'm really hooked on the feeling of well being I consistently get from +any sustained exercise. I defend my addiction staunchly because it is the healthiest +addiction I know of. <br> +    I have also been accused of carrying exercise to extremes, +and I admit to that also. For a few years I trained for Ironman triathlons. I now +think doing ironman distances is immoderate and except for a few remarkable individuals +with "iron" constitutions, training that hard can only lead to a form of +exhaustion that is not health promoting. I have become much more sensible in my "old" +age, and in recent years have limited my participation to the Olympic distance triathlons. +I was on the Canadian team at the World Championship in 1992, and intend to do it +again in 1995. I do not find the Olympic distance exhausting, in fact I think it +is great fun and truly exhilarating. I get to see all these wonderful age group competitors +from all over the world who look and feel fantastic. It does my soul good to see +a group of people aging so gracefully, not buying into the popular notion that old +age is inevitably disabling, depressing, and ugly. Sport brings a degree of balance +to my life after spending so much time in the presence of the sick. I plan to maintain +my athletic activities into old age, barring accident or other unforeseen obstacles +to fitness.<br> +    To maintain basic fitness it does not matter so much what +form of exercise is chosen, as long as it is not damaging to the skeletal system +or connective tissues. Many people are unable to run due to foot, knee, hip, or back +problems, but almost everyone can walk. Walking outside is better than inside on +a treadmill, and walking hills is better than walking on flat ground. Exercise machines +such as stationary bikes, cross country ski machines, and stair steppers work well +for a lot of people who live in the city, especially in the winter, or for those +who hate exercise. Whatever you choose to do, it is important to at least double +the resting pulse for 30 minutes no less than four days a week. This is the absolute +minimum required to maintain the health and function of the cardiovascular-pulmonary +system. If your resting pulse is 70, you must walk, jog, ski, bike, swim or what +have you, fast enough to keep the pulse at 140 beats per minute for at least 30 minutes.<br> +    I have a strong preference to exercising outside in isolated +places where there is only me and the forest, or only me and the river. Running along +logging roads in the hilly back country, or swimming in the green unpolluted water +of a forest river is a spiritual experience for me. It is a time to meditate, to +commune with nature, and to clear my mind and create new solutions. The repetitive +action of running or walking or swimming, along with the regular deep breathing in +clean air, with no distractions except what nature provides is truly health promoting. +Sharing these activities with friends or family can also be great fun and some of +the best in social interactions. It is one of my favorite ways of visiting with people. +I don't expect other people to be as enthusiastic about exercise as I am, but I do +hope that everyone will make an effort to be minimally fit as an ongoing part of +their health program into old age.<br> +<br> +<b>Diet For A Long, Long Life</b><br> +    Some people not only want to be healthy, but they want to +live in good health long past the normal life span projected by statistical tables +for Homo Sapiens. Dr. Roy Walford, a well-respected medical research gerontologist +who has been actively studying longevity for many years, is one of those. He has +scientifically demonstrated with accepted studies that a qualitative life span up +to at least 115 years of age is reasonably attainable by the average person if they +start working on it no later than about 50 years of age, though earlier is much better.<br> +    Walford's principles of extending life are very simple. All +you have to do is restrict your caloric intake to about 1,500 per day, and water +fast two days a week. Or alternatively, reduce your caloric intake to 1,200 per day +and fast only one day a week on water. And make sure that every single bit of food +you do eat is packed with nutrition, every single calorie, without exception. You +continue this program for the rest of your life along with moderate daily exercise +and high but reasonable dosages of vitamins, minerals, and also take a few exotic +food supplements. The supplement program is not particularly expensive nor extreme, +Walford's supplement program is more moderate than the life extension program I recommend +for all middle-aged and older people. The best foods for this type of program is +a largely raw food diet (80%) with a predominance of sprouts and baby greens, some +cooked vegetables, and raw nuts and seeds. And make sure you get 30 minutes of cardiovascular +exercise every other day.<br> +    While Dr. Walford's focus is on caloric reduction while maintaining +sufficient nutrition, most other life extensionists focus on increasing the nutrition +side of the equation for health without bothering to reduce caloric intake. This +approach is much easier because essentially, it involves gobbling nutritional supplements +by the handfuls without requiring self-discipline, though it can get quite expensive. +I'll have more to say about this approach in the next chapter, which is about vitamins.<br> +    In this book I can't explain all the aspects of prolongation +of life through conscious life-style choice. Those who are interested are referred +to the Bibliography. <br> +<br> +<br> +<a id="Chapter6"></a><b>Chapter Six </b><br> +<div style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Vitamins and Other Food Supplements</b></div><br> +<div style="font-size: small;"><b><br> +<br> +From The Hygienic Dictionary<br> +<br> +</b></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><b>Vitamins.</b> [1] The staple foods may not contain the +same nutritive substances as in former times. . . . Chemical fertilizers, by increasing +the abundance of the crops without replacing all the exhausted elements of the soil, +may have indirectly contributed to change the nutritive value of cereal grains and +of vegetables. . . . Hygienists have not paid sufficient attention to the genesis +of diseases. Their studies of conditions of life and diet, and of their effects on +the physiological and mental state of modern man are superficial, incomplete, and +of too short duration. They have, thus, contributed to the weakening of our body +and our soul. <I>Alexis Carrel, Man the Unknown.</I></div><br> +<br> +<br> +    I have already explained the hygienist's view of why people +get sick. The sequence of causation goes: enervation, toxemia, alternative elimination, +disease. However, there is one more link in this chain, a precursor to enervation +that, for good and understandable reasons, seemed unknown to the earlier hygienists. +That precursor is long term sub-clinical malnutrition. Lack of nutrition effects +virtually everybody today. Almost all of us are overfed but undernourished.<br> +    I have already explained that one particular head of broccoli +does not necessarily equal another head of broccoli; the nutritional composition +of apparently identical foods can be highly variable. Not only do different samples +of the same type of food differ wildly in protein content, amino acid ratios and +mineral content, their vitamin and vitamin-like substances also vary according to +soil fertility and the variety grown. <br> +    These days, food crop varieties are bred for yield and other +commercial considerations, such as shipability, storage life, and ease of processing. +In pre-industrial times when each family propagated its own unique open-pollinated +varieties, a natural selection process for healthy outcomes prevailed. If the family's +particular, unique varieties carried genes for highly nutritious food, and if the +family's land was fertile enough to allow those genes to manifest, and if the family +kept up its land's fertility by wise management, their children tended to survive +the gauntlet of childhood illness and lived to propagate the family's varieties and +continue the family name. Thus, over time, human food cultivars were selected for +their nutritional content. <br> +    But not any longer! These days, farming technology with its +focus on bulk yield and profit, degrades the nutritional content of our entire food +supply. Even commercial organically grown food is no better in this respect.<br> +    Sub-clinical, life-long, vitamin and mineral deficiencies +contribute to the onset of disease; the malnourished body becomes increasingly enervated, +beginning the process of disease. Vitamin supplements can increase the body's vital +force, reversing to a degree the natural tendency towards degeneration. In fact, +some medical gerontologists theorize that by using vitamins it might be possible +to restore human life span to its genetically programmed 115 years without doing +anything else about increasing nutrition from our degraded foods or paying much attention +to dietary indiscretions. Knowing what I do about toxemia's effects I doubt vitamins +can allow us to totally ignore what we eat, though supplements can certainly help.<br> +    More than degraded nutritional content of food prompts a +thinking person to use food supplements. Our bodies and spirits are constantly assaulted +and insulted by modern life in ways our genetics never intended us to deal with. +Today the entire environment is mildly toxic. Air is polluted; water is polluted; +our food supply contains traces of highly poisonous artificial molecules that our +bodies have no natural ability to process and eliminate. Our cities and work places +are full of loud, shocking noises that trigger frequent adrenaline rushes and other +stress adaptations. Our work places are full of psychological stresses that humans +never had to deal with before. <br> +    Historically, humans who were not enslaved have been in control +of determining their own hour to hour, day to day activities, living on their own +largely self-sufficient farms. The idea of working for another, at regular hours, +without personal liberty, ignoring or suppressing one's own agenda and inclinations +over an entire lifetime is quite new and not at all healthy. It takes continual subconscious +applications of mental and psychic energies to protect ourselves against the stresses +of modern life, energies that we don't know we're expending. This is also highly +enervating. Thus to remain healthy we may need nutrition at levels far higher than +might be possible through eating food; even ideal food might not contain enough vitamins +to sustain us against the strains and stresses of this century.<br> +    And think about Dr. Pottenger's cats. Our bodies are at the +poorer end of a century-long process of mass degeneration that started with white +flour from the roller mill. Compared to my older clients I have noticed that my younger +patients seem to possess less vital force on the average, show evidence of poorer +skeletal development, have poorer teeth, less energy, have far more difficulty breeding +and coping with their family life, and are far more likely to develop degenerative +conditions early. Most of my younger patients had a poor start because they were +raised on highly refined, devitalized, deficient foods, and grew up without much +exercise. Their parents had somewhat better food. Some of their grandparents may +have even grown up on raw milk and a vegetable garden, and actually had to walk, +not owning cars when they were young. Their great grandparents had a high likelihood +of enjoying decent nutrition and a healthful life-style. <br> +    Unfortunately, most of my patients like the idea of taking +vitamins too much for their own good. The AMA medical model has conditioned people +to swallow something for every little discomfort, and taking a pill is also by far +the easiest thing to do because a pill requires no life-style changes, nor self-discipline, +nor personal responsibility. But vitamins are much more frugal than drugs. Compared +to prescriptions, even the most exotic life extension supplements are much less expensive. +I am saddened when my clients tell me they can't afford supplements. When their MD +prescribes a medicine that costs many times more they never have trouble finding +the money. <br> +    I am also saddened that people are so willing to take supplements, +because I can usually do a lot more to genuinely help their bodies heal with dietary +modification and detoxification. Of all the tools at my disposal that help people +heal, last in the race comes supplements.<br> +    One of the best aspects of using vitamins as though they +were healing agents is that food supplements almost never have harmful side effects, +even when they are taken in what might seem enormous overdoses. If someone with a +health condition reads or hears about some vitamin being curative, goes out and buys +some and takes it, they will at very least have followed the basic principle of good +medicine: first of all do no harm. At worst, if the supplements did nothing for them +at all, they are practicing the same kind of benevolent medicine that Dr. Jennings +did almost two centuries ago. Not only that, but having done something to treat their +symptoms, they have become patients facilitating their own patience, giving their +body a chance to correct its problem. They well may get better, but not because of +the action of the particular vitamin they took. Or, luckily, the vitamin or vitamins +they take may have been just what was needed, raising their body's vital force and +accelerating the body's ability to solve its problem.<br> +    One reason vitamin therapies frequently do not work as well +as they might is that, having been intimidated by AMA propaganda that has created +largely false fears in the public mind about harmful effects of vitamin overdoses, +the person may not take enough of the right vitamin. The minimum daily requirements +of vitamins and minerals as outlined in nutrition texts are only sufficient to prevent +the most obvious forms of deficiency diseases. If a person takes supplements at or +near the minimum daily requirement (the dose recommended by the FDA as being 'generally +recognized as safe') they should not expect to see any therapeutic effect unless +they have scurvy, beri beri, rickets, goiter, or pellagra.<br> +    In these days of vitamin-fortified bread and iodized salt, +and even vitamin C fortified soft drinks, you almost never see the kind of life-threatening +deficiency states people first learned to recognize, such as scurvy. Sailors on long +sea voyages used to develop a debilitating form of vitamin C deficiency that could +kill. Scurvy could be quickly cured by as little as one lime a day. For this reason +the British Government legislated the carrying of limes on long voyages and today +that is why British sailors are still called limeys. A lime has less than 30 milligrams +of vitamin C. But to make a cold clear up faster with vitamin C a mere 30 mg does +absolutely nothing! To begin to dent an infection with vitamin C takes 10,000 milligrams +a day, and to make a life threatening infection like pneumonia go away faster might +require 25,000 to 150,000 milligrams of vitamin C daily, administered intravenously. +In terms of supplying that much C with limes, that's 300 to 750 of them daily--clearly +impossible.<br> +    Similarly, pellagra can be cured with a few milligrams of +vitamin B 3, but schizophrenia can sometimes be cured with 3,000 milligrams, +roughly a thousand times as much as the MDR.<br> +    There are many many common diseases that the medical profession +does not see as being caused by vitamin deficiencies. Senility and many mental disorders +fall in this category. Many old people live on extremely deficient diets comprised +largely of devitalized starches, sugars, and fats, partly because many do not have +good enough teeth to chew vegetables and other high roughage foods, and they do not +have the energy it takes to prepare more nourishing foods. Virtually all old people +have deficiency diseases. As vital force inevitably declines with age, the quantity +and quality of digestive enzymes decreases, then the ability to breakdown and extract +soluble nutrients from food is diminished, frequently leading to serious deficiencies. +These deficiencies are inevitably misdiagnosed as disease and as aging.<br> +    Suppose a body needs 30 milligrams a day of niacin to not +develop pellagra, but to be fully healthy, needs 500 milligrams daily. If that body +receives 50 milligrams per day from a vitamin pill, to the medical doctor it could +not possibly be deficient in this vitamin. However, over time, the insidious sub-clinical +deficiency may degrade some other system and produce a different disease, such as +colitis. But the medical doctor sees no relationship. Let me give you an actual example. +Medical researchers studying vitamin B 5 or pantothenic acid noticed that it +could, in what seemed to be megadoses (compared to the minimum daily requirement) +largely reverse certain degenerative effects of aging. These researchers were measuring +endurance in rats as it decreased through the aging process. How they made this measurement +may appear to some readers to be heartless, but the best way to gauge the endurance +of a rat is to toss it into a five gallon bucket of cold water and see how long it +swims before it drowns. Under these conditions, the researcher can be absolutely +confident that the rat does its very best to stay alive.<br> +    Young healthy rats can swim for 45 minutes in 50° Fahrenheit +water before drowning. Old rats can only last about 15 minutes. And old rats swim +differently, less efficiently, with their lower bodies more or less vertical, sort +of dog paddling. But when old rats were fed pantothenic acid at a very high dose +for a few weeks before the test, they swam 45 minutes too. And swam more efficiently, +like the young rats did. More interestingly, their coats changed color (the gray +went away) and improved in texture; they began to appear like young rats. And the +rats on megadoses of B 5 lived lot longer--25 to 33 percent longer than rats +not on large doses of B 5. Does that mean "megadoses" of B 5 +have an unknown drug-like effect? Or does that mean the real nutritional requirement +for B 5 is a lot higher than most people think? I believe the second choice +is correct. To give you an idea of how much B 5 the old rats were given in human +terms, the FDA says the minimum daily requirement for B 5 is about 10 milligrams +but if humans took as much B 5 as the rats, they would take about 750 milligrams +per day. Incidentally, I figure I am as worthy as any lab rat and take over 500 milligrams +daily.<br> +    My point is that there is a big difference between preventing +a gross vitamin deficiency disease, and using vitamins to create optimum functioning. +Any sick person or anyone with a health complaint needs to improve their overall +functioning in any way that won't be harmful over the long term. Vitamin therapy +can be an amazingly effective adjunct to dietary reform and detoxification. <br> +    Some of the earlier natural hygienists were opposed to using +vitamins. However, these doctors lived in an era when the food supply was better, +when mass human degeneration had not proceeded as far as it has today. From their +perspective, it was possible to obtain all the nutrition one needed from food. In +our time this is unlikely unless a person knowingly and intelligently produces virtually +all their own food on a highly fertile soil body whose fertility is maintained and +adjusted with a conscious intent to maximize the nutritive content of the food. Unfortunately, +ignorance of the degraded nature of industrial food seems to extend to otherwise +admirable natural healing methods such as Macrobiotics and homeopathy because these +disciplines also downplay any need for food supplementation. <br> +<br> +<b>Vitamins For Young Persons And Children</b><br> +    Young healthy people from weaning through their thirties +should also take nutritional supplements even though young people usually feel so +good that they find it impossible to conceive that anything could harm them or that +they ever could become seriously sick or actually die. I know this is true because +I remember my own youth and besides, why else would young people so glibly ride motorcycles +or, after only a few months of brainwashing, charge up a hill into the barrel of +a machine gun. Or have unsafe sex in this age of multiple venereal diseases. Until +they get a little sense, vitamin supplements help to counteract their inevitable +and unpreventable use of recreational foods. Vitamins are the cheapest long life +and health insurance plan now available. Parents are generally very surprised at +the thought that even their children need nutritional supplements; very few healthy +children receive them. A few are given extra vitamin C when acutely ill, when they +have colds or communicable diseases such as chicken pox.<br> +    Young people require a low dose supplement compared to those +of us middle-aged or older, but it should be a broad formula with the full range +of vitamins and minerals. Some of the best products I have found over 25 years of +research and experimentation with young people are Douglas Cooper's "Basic Formula" +(low dose and excellent for children) and "Super T Formula" (double the +dose of Basic Formula, therefore better for adolescents and young adults), also from +Douglas Cooper Company; Bronson's "Vitamin and Mineral Formula for Active Men +and Women" and Bronson's "Insurance Formula." "Vitamin 75 Plus;" +and "Formula 2" from Now Natural Foods are also good and less costly. <br> +    Healthy very small children who will swallow pills can take +these same products at half the recommended dose. If they won't swallow pills the +pills can be blended into a fruit smoothie or finely crushed and then stirred into +apple sauce. There are also "Children's Chewable Multi-Vitamins + Iron" +(1-5 years old) from Douglas Cooper that contains no minerals except iron, Bronson's +"Chewable Vitamins" (make sure it is the one for small children, Bronson +makes several types of chewables) and a liquid vitamin product from Bronson called +Multivitamin Drops for Infants . These will be a little more costly than cutting +pills in half.<br> +    There is also an extraordinarily high quality multivitamin/mineral +formula for children called "Children's Formula Life Extension Mix" from +Prolongevity, Ltd. (the Life Extension Foundation), it is in tablet form, and slightly +more expensive.<br> +    I hope that my book will be around for several generations. +The businesses whose vitamin products I recommend will not likely exist in twenty +years. Even sooner than that the product names and details of the formulations will +almost certainly be altered. So, for future readers discovering this book in a library +or dusty shelve of a used book store, if I, at my current level of understanding, +were manufacturing a childrens and young adults vitamin formula myself, this is what +it would contain. Any commercial formulation within 25 percent of these figures plus +or minus would probably be fine as long as the vitamins in the pills were of high +quality.     + + +<BLOCKQUOTE> + <p>     + <table style="width: 76%;"> + <tr> + <td style="width: 23%;">Vitamin C</td> + <td style="width: 30%;">500 mg</td> + <td style="width: 32%;">B-1</td> + <td style="width: 15%;">30 mg</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 23%;">Vitamin E</td> + <td style="width: 30%;">50 iu</td> + <td style="width: 32%;">B-2</td> + <td style="width: 15%;">30 mg</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 23%;">Vitamin A</td> + <td style="width: 30%;">500 iu</td> + <td style="width: 32%;">B-3 niacinamide</td> + <td style="width: 15%;">100 mg</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 23%;">Vitamin D</td> + <td style="width: 30%;">25 iu</td> + <td style="width: 32%;">B-5</td> + <td style="width: 15%;">50 mg</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 23%;">Magnesium</td> + <td style="width: 30%;">100 mg</td> + <td style="width: 32%;">B-6</td> + <td style="width: 15%;">30 mg</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 23%;">Calcium</td> + <td style="width: 30%;">400 mg</td> + <td style="width: 32%;">B-12</td> + <td style="width: 15%;">30 mcg</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 23%;">Selenium</td> + <td style="width: 30%;">10 mcg</td> + <td style="width: 32%;">Chromium</td> + <td style="width: 15%;">20 mcg</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 23%;">Manganese</td> + <td style="width: 30%;">2 mcg</td> + <td style="width: 32%;">Biotin</td> + <td style="width: 15%;">30 mg</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 23%;">Zinc</td> + <td style="width: 30%;">5 mg</td> + <td style="width: 32%;">Iodine (as kelp)</td> + <td style="width: 15%;">5 mg</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 23%;">PABA</td> + <td style="width: 30%;">20 mg</td> + <td style="width: 32%;">Bioflavinoids</td> + <td style="width: 15%;">100 mg</td> + </tr> + </table> + + +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<p><br> +<b>Vitamins For An Older Healthy Person</b><br> +    Someone who is beyond 35 to 40 years of age should still +feel good almost all of the time. That is how life should be. But enjoying well-being +does not mean that no dietary supplementation is called for. The onset of middle +age is the appropriate time to begin working on continuing to feel well for as long +as possible. Just like a car, if you take very good care of it from the beginning, +it is likely to run smoothly for many years into the future. If on the other hand +you drive it hard and fast with a lot of deferred maintenance you will probably have +to trade it in on a new one after a very few years. Most people in their 70s and +older who are struggling with many uncomfortable symptoms and low energy lament, +'if I'd only known I was going to live so long I would have taken better care of +myself.' But at that point it is too late for the old donkey; time for a trade in.<br> +    Gerontologists refer to combating the aging process as "squaring +the curve." We arrive at the peak of our physical function at about age eighteen. +How high that peak level is depends on a person's genetic endowment, the quality +of the start they received through their mother's nutritional reserves, and the quality +of their childhood nutrition and life experience. From that peak our function begins +to drop. The rate of drop is not uniform, but is a cascade where each bit of deterioration +creates more deterioration, accelerating the rate of deterioration. If various aging +experiences were graphed, they would make curves like those on the chart on this +page. + + + +<p><br> +    Because deterioration starts out so slowly, people usually +do not begin to notice there has been any decline until they reach their late 30s. +A few fortunate ones don't notice it until their 40s. A few (usually) dishonest ones +claim no losses into their 50s but they are almost inevitably lying, either to you +or to themselves, or both. Though it might be wisest to begin combating the aging +process at age 19, practically speaking, no one is going to start spending substantial +money on food supplements until they actually notice significant lost function. For +non-athletes this point usually comes when function has dropped to about 90 percent +of what it was in our youth. If they're lucky what people usually notice with the +beginnings of middle age is an increasing inability for their bodies to tolerate +insults such as a night on the town or a big meal. Or they may begin to get colds +that just won't seem to go away. Or they may begin coming home after work so tired +that they can hardly stay awake and begin falling asleep in their Lazy Boy recliner +in front of the TV even before prime time. If they're not so lucky they'll begin +suffering the initial twinges of a non-life-threatening chronic condition like arthritis.<br> +    The thinnest line demonstrates the worst possible life from +a purely physical point of view, where a person started out life with significantly +lowered function, lost quite a bit more and then hung on to life for many years without +the mercy of death.<br> +    If one can postpone the deterioration of aging, they extend +and hopefully square the curve (retard loss of function until later and then have +the loss occur more rapidly). Someone whose lifetime function resembled a "square +curve"(the thickest, topmost line) would experience little or no deterioration +until the very end and then would lose function precipitously. At this point we do +not know how to eliminate the deterioration but we do know how to slow it down, living +longer and feeling better, at least to a point close to the very end.<br> +    Vitamin supplements can actually slow or even to a degree, +reverse, the aging process. However, to accomplish that task, they have to be taken +in amounts far greater than so-called minimum daily requirements, using vitamins +as though they were drugs, a therapeutic approach to changing body chemistry profiles +and making them resemble a younger body. For example, research gerontologists like +Walford reason that if pantothenic acid (vitamin B 5, in fairly substantial +(but quite safe) doses can extend the life and improve the function of old rats, +there is every indication that it will do a similar job on humans. Medical researchers +and research gerontologists have noticed that many other vitamin and vitamin-like +substances have similar effects on laboratory animals. <br> +    Some will object that what helps rats and mice is in no way +proven to cause the same result on humans. I agree. Proven with full scientific rigor, +no. In fact, at present, the contention is unprovable. Demonstrable as having a high +likelihood's of being so, yes! So likely so as to be almost incontrovertible, yes! +But provable to the most open-minded, scientific sort--probably not for a long time. +However, the Life Extension Foundation is working hard to find some quantifiable +method of gauging the aging process in humans without waiting for the inarguable +indicator, death. Once this is accomplished and solidly recognized, probably no rational +person will be able to doubt that human life span can be increased.<br> +    Experiments work far better with short-lived laboratory animals +for another reason; we can not control the food and supplement intakes of humans +as we can with caged mice. In fact, there are special types of laboratory mice that +have been bred to have uniformly short life spans, especially to accelerate this +kind of research. With mice we can state accurately that compared to a control group, +feeding such and such a dose of such and such a supplement extended the life-span +or functional performance by such and such a percent. <br> +    A lot of these very same medical gerontologists nourish their +own bodies as thoroughly as the laboratory animals they are studying, taking broad +mixes of food supplements at doses proportional to those that extend the life spans +of their research animals. This approach to using supplementation is at the other +end of the scale compared to using supplements to prevent gross deficiencies. In +the life extension approach, vitamins and vitamin-like substances are used as a therapy +against the aging process itself. <br> +    Will it work? Well, some of these human guinea pigs have +been on heavy vitamin supplementation for over thirty years (as of 1995) and none +seem to be suffering any damage. Will they live longer? It is impossible to say with +full scientific rigor? To know if life extension works, we would have to first determine +"live longer than what?" After all, we don't know how long any person might +have lived without life extending vitamin supplements. Though it can't be "proven," +it makes perfect sense to me to spend far less money on an intensive life extension +vitamin program than I would certainly lose as a result of age-related sickness.<br> +    Besides, I've already observed from personal use and from +results in my clinical practice that life extension vitamin programs do work. Whether +I and my clients will ultimately live longer or not, the people who I have put on +these programs, including myself and my husband, usually report that for several +years after starting they find themselves feeling progressively younger, gradually +returning to an overall state of greater well-being they knew five or ten or fifteen +years ago. They have more energy, feel clearer mentally, have fewer unwanted somatic +symptoms. <br> +    Sometimes the improvements seem rather miraculous. After +a few months on the program one ninety year old man, an independent-minded Oregonian +farmer, reported that he began awakening with an erection every morning; unfortunately, +his 89 year old cranky and somewhat estranged wife, who would not take vitamins, +did not appreciate this youthfulness. A few months later (he had a small farm) he +planted a holly orchard. Most of you won't appreciate what this means without a bit +of explanation, but in Oregon, holly is grown as a high-priced and highly profitable +ornamental for the clusters of leaves and berries. But a slow-growing holly orchard +takes 25 years to began making a profit! <br> +    A few older clients of mine reported that they noticed nothing +from the life extension program, but these are unique people who have developed the +ability to dominate their bodies with their minds and routinely pay their bodies +absolutely no attention, driving them relentlessly to do their will. Usually they +use their energies to accomplish good, Christian works. Eventually, these dedicated +and high-toned people break down and die like everyone else. Will they do so later +on life extending vitamins than they would have otherwise? I couldn't know because +I can't know how long they might have lived without supplementation and since they +refuse to admit the vitamins do them any good, they won't pay for them.<br> +    Many on life extension programs experience a reverse aging +process for awhile. However, after the full benefit of the supplementation has worked +itself through their body chemistry, they again begin to experience the aging process. +I believe the process will then be slowed by their vitamins compared to what it would +have been without supplements. But I can't prove it. Maybe we will have some idea +if the program worked 20 to 40 years from now.<br> +    At this time I know of only two companies that make top quality +life extension vitamin supplement formulas. One is Prolongevity (Life Extension Foundation), +the other, Vitamin Research Products. I prefer to support what I view as the altruistic +motives behind Prolongevity and buy my products from them. Unfortunately, these vitamin +compounders can not put every possibly beneficial substance in a single bottle of +tablets. The main reason they do not is fear of the power-grabbing Food and Drug +Administration. This agency is threatening constantly to remove certain of the most +useful life-extending substances from the vitamin trade and make them the exclusive +property of prescription-writing medical doctors. So far, public pressure has been +mobilized against the FDA every time action was threatened and has not permitted +this. If some product were included in a mix and that product were prohibited, the +entire mixed, bottled and labeled batch that remained unsold at that time would be +wasted, at enormous cost. <br> +    Were I manufacturing my own life extension supplement I would +include the following. By the way, to get this all in one day, it is necessary to +take 6 to 12 large tablets daily, usually spread throughout the day, taken a few +at a time with each meal. If you compare my suggested formulation to another one, +keep in mind that variations of 25 percent one way or another won't make a significant +difference, and adding other beneficial substances to my recommendations probably +is only helpful. However, I would not want to eliminate anything in the list below, +it is the minimum:<br> +<br> + +<table> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">Beta-Carotene</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">25,000 iu</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">Selenium</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">100 mcg</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">Vitamin A</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">5,000 iu</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">Taurine</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">500 mg</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">B-1</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">250 mg</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">Cyctine</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">200 mg</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">B-2</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">50 mg</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">Gluthaianone</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">15 mg</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">B-3 niacinamid</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">850 mg</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">Choline</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">650 mg</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">B-5</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">750 mg</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">Inositol</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">250 mg</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">B-6</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">200 mg</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">Flavanoids</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">500 mg</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">B-12</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">100 mcg</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">Zinc</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">35 mg</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">PABA</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">50 mg</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">Chromium</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">100 mcg</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">Folic Acid</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">500 mcg</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">Molybdenum</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">123 mg</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">Biotin</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">200 mcg</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">Manganese</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">5 mg</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">Vitamin C</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">3,000mg</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">Iodine (as kelp)</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">10 mg</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">Vitamin E</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">600 iu</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">Co-Enzyme Q-10</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">60 mg</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">Magnesium</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">1,000 mg</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">DMAE</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">100 mg</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">Potassium</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">100 mg</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">Ginko biloba</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">120 mg</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="width: 25%;">Calcium</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">1,000 mg</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">Vitamin D-3</td> + <td style="width: 25%;">200 iu</td> + </tr> +</table> +<br> +    <br> +<br> +    Please also keep in mind that there are many other useful +substances not listed above. For example, every day I have a "green drink," +an herbal preparation containing numerous tonic substances like ginseng and also +various forms of algae and chlorophyll extracts. My green drink makes my body feel +very peppy all day, so it certainly enhances my life and may extend it. It costs +about $25,00 a month to enjoy that. I also use various pure amino acids at times. +Phenylalyanine will make me get more aggressive whenever I am feeling a little lackluster; +this nutrient has also been used as an effective therapy against depression. Melatonin +taken at bedtime really does help me get to sleep and may have remarkable life-extending +properties. Other amino acids help my body manufacture growth hormones and I use +them from the time I begin training seriously in spring through the end of the summer +triathlon competition season. Pearson and Shaw's book (see Bibliography) is a good +starting point to begin learning about this remarkably useful subject. <br> +<br> +<b>The Future Of Life Extension</b><br> +    I beg the readers indulgence for a bit of futurology about +what things may look like if the life extension movement continues to develop. <br> +    Right now, a full vitamin and vitamin-like substance life +extension program costs between $50 and $100 dollars per month. However, pharmaceutical +researchers occasionally notice that drugs meant to treat and cure diseases, when +tested on lab animals for safety, make these animals live quite a bit longer and +function better. Though the FDA doesn't allow any word of this to be printed in official +prescribing data, the word does get around to other researchers, to gerontologists +and eventually to that part of the public that is eagerly looking for longer life. +Today there are numerous people who routinely take prescription medicines meant to +cure a disease they do not have and plan to take those medicines for the rest of +their long, long life. <br> +    These drugs being patented, the tariff gets a lot steeper +compared to taking vitamins. (Since they are naturally-occurring substances, vitamins +can't be patented and therefore, aren't big-profit items. Perhaps that's one reason +the FDA is so covertly opposed to vitamins.) Right now it would be quite possible +to spend many hundred dollars per month on a life extension program that included +most of these potentially beneficent prescription drugs. <br> +    As more of life-extending substances are discovered, the +cost of participating in a maximally effective life extension program will escalate. +However, those who can afford chemically enhanced functioning will enjoy certain +side-benefits. Their productive, enjoyable life spans may measure well over a century, +perhaps approaching two centuries or more. Some of these substances greatly improve +intelligence so they will become brighter and have faster reaction times. With more +time to accumulate more wisdom and experience than "short livers" these +folks will become wiser, too. They will have more time to compound their investment +assets and thus will become far more wealthy. They will become an obvious and recognizable +aristocracy. This new upper class will immediately recognize each other on the street +because they will look entirely different than the short-lived poorer folk and will +probably run the political economic system.<br> +    And this new aristocratic society I see coming may be far +more pleasant than the one dominated by the oligarchy we now have covertly running +things. For with greater age and experience does really come greater wisdom. I have +long felt that the biggest problem with Earth is that we did not live long enough. +As George Bernard Shaw quipped when he was 90 (he lived to 96), "here I am, +90 years old, just getting out of my adolescence and getting some sense, and my body +is falling apart as fast as it can." <br> +<br> +<b>Vitamin Program For The Sick</b><br> +    No matter which way you look at it or how well insured you +may be against it, being sick is expensive (not to mention what it does to one's +quality of life), and by far the best thing to do is to prevent it from happening +in the first place. However, most people do not do anything about their health until +forced to by some painful condition. If you are already sick there are a number of +supplements you can take which have the potential to shorten the duration and severity +of the illness, and hopefully prevent a recurrence. <br> +    The sicker you are, the more supplements you will require; +as health is regained, the dosage and variety of substances can be reduced. In chronic +illness, megadoses of many nutrients are usually beneficial. Any sick adult should +begin a life extension vitamin program unless they are highly allergic to so many +things already that they can not tolerate many kinds of vitamins as well. In addition +to the life extension program, vitamin C should be taken by the chronically ill at +a dose from 10 to 25 grams daily, depending on the severity of the condition.<br> +    Many people want to know whether or not they should take +their regular food supplements during a fast. On a water fast most supplements in +a hard tablet form will not be broken down at all, and often can be seen floating +by in the colonic viewing tube looking exactly like it did when you swallowed it. +This waste can be avoided by crushing or chewing (yuck) the tablets, before swallowing. +Encapsulated vitamins usually are absorbed, but if you want to make sure, open the +capsule and dump it in the back of your mouth before swallowing with water. Powdered +vitamins are well absorbed. <br> +    On a water fast the body is much more sensitive to any substance +introduced, so as a general rule it is not a good idea to take more than one half +your regular dose of food supplements. Most fasters do fine without any supplements. +Many people get an upset stomach from supplements on an empty stomach, and these +people should not take any during a water fast unless they develop symptoms of mineral +deficiencies (usually a pre-existing condition) such as leg cramps and tremors, these +symptoms necessitate powdered or well-chewed-up mineral supplement. Minerals don't +taste too bad to chew, just chalky. <br> +    The same suggestions regarding dosage of supplements for +a water fast are also true for a juice fast or vegetable broth fast. On a raw food +cleansing diet the full dose of supplements should be taken with meals.<br> +    There exists an enormous body of data about vitamins; books +and magazine articles are always touting some new product or explaining the uses +of an old one. If you want to know more about using ordinary vitamins you'll find +leads in the bibliography to guide your reading. However, there is one "old" +vitamin and a few newer and relatively unknown life extending substances that are +so useful and important to handling illness that I would like to tell you more about +them.<br> +    <b>Vitamin C</b> is not a newly discovered vitamin, but was +one of the first ever identified. If you are one of those people that just hate taking +vitamins, and you were for some reason willing to take only one, vitamin C would +be your best choice. Vitamin C would be the clear winner because it helps enormously +with any infection and in invaluable in tissue healing and rebuilding collagen. If +I was going on a long trip and didn't want to pack a lot of weight, my first choice +would be to insure three to six grams of vitamin C for daily use when I was healthy +(I'd take the optimum dose--ten grams a day--if weight were no limitation). I'd also +carry enough extra C to really beef up my intake when dealing with an unexpected +acute illness or accident. <br> +    When traveling to far away places, exposed to a whole new +batch of organisms, frequently having difficulty finding healthy foods, going through +time zones, losing nights of sleep, it is easy to become enervated enough to catch +a local cold or flu. If I have brought lots of extra vitamin C with me I know that +my immune system will be able to conquer just about anything--as long as I also stop +eating and can take an enema. I also like to have vitamin C as a part of my first +aid kit because if I experience a laceration, a sprain, broken bone, or a burn, I +can increase my internal intake as well as apply it liberally directly on the damaged +skin surface. Vitamin C can be put directly in the eye in a dilute solution with +distilled water for infections and injuries, in the ear for ear infections, and in +the nose for sinus infections. If you are using the acid form of C (ascorbic acid) +and it smarts too much, make a more dilute solution, or switch to the alkaline form +of C (calcium ascorbate) which can be used as a much more concentrated solution without +a stinging sensation. Applied directly on the skin C in solution makes a very effective +substitute for sun screen. It doesn't filter out ultraviolet, it beefs up the skin +to better deal with the insult.<br> +    I believe vitamin C can deal with a raging infection such +as pneumonia as well or better than antibiotics. But to do that, C is going to have +to be administered at the maximum dose the body can process. This is easily discoverable +by a 'bowel tolerance test' which basically means you keep taking two or three grams +of C each hour, (preferably in the powdered, most rapidly assimilable form) until +you get a runny stool (the trots). The loose stool happens when there is so much +C entering the small intestine that it is not all absorbed, but is instead, passed +through to the large intestine. At that point cut back just enough that the stool +is only a little loose, not runny. At this dose, your blood stream will be as saturated +by vitamin C as you can achieve by oral ingestion. <br> +    It can make an important difference which type of vitamin +C is taken because many people are unable to tolerate the acid form of C beyond 8 +or 10 grams a day, but they can achieve a therapeutic dose without discomfort with +the alkaline (buffered) vitamin C products such as calcium ascorbate, sodium ascorbate, +or magnesium-potassium ascorbates. <br> +    Vitamin C also speeds up the healing of internal tissues +and damaged connective tissue. Damaged internal tissues might include stomach ulcers +(use the alkaline form of vitamin C only), bladder and kidney infections (acid form +usually best), arthritic disorders with damage to joints and connective tissue (alkaline +form usually best). Sports injuries heal up a lot faster with a therapeutic dose +of vitamin C. As medicine, vitamin C should be taken at the rate of one or two grams +every two hours (depending on the severity of the condition), spaced out to avoid +unnecessary losses in the urine which happens if it were taken ten grams at a time. +If you regularly use the acid form of vitamin C powder, which is the cheapest, be +sure to use a straw and dissolve it in water or juice so that the acid does not dissolve +the enamel on your teeth over time.<br> +    And this is as good a point as any to mention that just like +broccoli is not broccoli, a vitamin is not necessarily a vitamin. Vitamins are made +by chemical and pharmaceutical companies. To make this confusion even more interesting, +the business names that appear on vitamin bottles are not the real manufacturers. +Bronson's Pharmaceuticals is a distributor and marketer, not a manufacturer. The +same is true of every vitamin company I know of. These companies buy bulk product +by the barrel or sack; then encapsulate, blend and roll pills, bottle and label, +advertise and make profit. The point of all this is that some actual vitamin manufacturers +produce very high quality products and others shortcut. Vitamin distributors must +make ethical (or unethical) choices about their suppliers. <br> +    It is beyond the scope of this book to be a manual for going +into the vitamin business. However, there are big differences in how effective vitamins +with the same chemical name are and the differences hinge on who actually brewed +them up. <br> +    For example, there are at least two quality levels of vitamin +C on the market right now. The pharmaceutical grade is made by Roche or BASF. Another +form, it could be called "the bargain barrel brew," is made in China. Top +quality vitamin C is quite a bit more costly; as I write this, the price differential +is about 40 percent between the cheap stuff and the best. This can make a big difference +in bottle price and profit. Most of the discount retail vitamin companies use the +Chinese product. <br> +    There's more than a price difference. The vitamin C from +China contains measurable levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, iron and other toxic +metals. The FDA allows this slightly contaminated product to be sold in the US because +the Recommended Daily Allowance for vitamin C is a mere 60 milligrams per day. Taken +at that level, the toxic metals would, as the FDA sees it, do no harm. However, many +users of vitamin C take 100 -200 times the RDA. The cheap form of C would expose +them to potentially toxic levels of heavy metal poisons. The highly refined top-quality +product removes impurities to a virtually undetectable level. <br> +    I buy my C from Bronson who ethically gives me the quality +stuff. I know for a fact that the vitamin C sold by Prolongevity is also top quality. +I've had clients who bought cheaper C than Bronson's and discovered it was not quite +like Bronson's in appearance or taste. More importantly, it did not seem to have +the same therapeutic effect. <br> +    The distributors I've mentioned so far, Bronson, NOW, Cooper, +Prolongevity and Vitamin Research Products are all knowledgeable about differences +between actual manufacturers and are ethical, buying and reselling only high quality +products. Other distributors I believe to be reputable include Twin Labs, Schiff +and Plus. I know there are many other distributors with high ethic levels but I can +not evaluate all their product lines. And as I've mentioned earlier, businesses come +and go rather quickly, but I hope my book will be read for decades. I do know that +I would be very reluctant to buy my vitamins at a discount department store or supermarket; +when experimenting with new suppliers I have at times been severely disappointed.<br> +    <b>Co-enzyme Q-10.</b> This substance is normally manufactured +in the human body and is also found in minuscule amounts in almost every cell on +Earth. For that reason it is also called "ubiquinone." But this vitamin +has been only recently discovered, so as I write this book Co-enzyme Q-10 is not +widely known. <br> +    Q-10 is essential to the functioning of the mitochondria, +that part of the cell that produces energy. With less Q-10 in heart cells, for example, +the heart has less energy and pumps less. The same is true of the immune system cells, +the liver cells, every cell. As we age the body is able to make less and less Q-10, +contributing to the loss of energy frequently experienced with age, as well as the +diminished effectiveness of the immune system, and a shortened life span. <br> +    Q-10 was first used for its ability to revitalize heart cells. +It was a prescription medicine in Japan. But unlike other drugs used to stimulate +the heart, at any reasonable dose Q-10 has no harmful side effects. It also tends +to give people the extra pick up they are trying to get out of a cup of coffee. But +Q-10 does so by improving the function of every cell in the body, not by whipping +exhausted adrenals like caffeine does. Q-10 is becoming very popular with athletes +who measure their overall cellular output against known standards.<br> +    Besides acting as a general tonic, when fed to lab animals, +Co-Enzyme Q-10 makes them live 33 to 45 percent longer!<br> +    <b>DMAE</b> is another extremely valuable vitamin-like substance +that is not widely known. It is a basic building material that the body uses to make +acetylcholine, the most generalized neurotransmitter in the body. Small quantities +of DMAE are found in fish, but the body usually makes it in a multi-stage synthesis +that starts with the amino acid choline, arrives at DMAE at about step number three +and ends up finally with acetylcholine.<br> +    The body's nerves are wrapped in fatty tissue that should +be saturated with acetylcholine. Every time a nerve impulse is transmitted from one +nerve cell to the next, a molecule of acetylcholine is consumed. Thus acetylcholine +has to be constantly replaced. As the body ages, levels of acetylcholine surrounding +the nerves drop and in consequence, the nerves begin to deteriorate. DMAE is rapidly +and easily converted into acetylcholine and helps maintain acetylcholine levels in +older people at a youthful level.<br> +    When laboratory rats are fed DMAE they solve mazes more rapidly, +remember better, live about 40 percent longer than rats not fed DMAE and most interestingly, +when autopsied, their nervous systems resemble those of a young rat, without any +evidence of the usual deterioration of aging. Human nervous systems also deteriorate +with age, especially those of people suffering from senility. It is highly probable +that DMAE will do the same thing to us. DMAE also smoothes out mood swings in humans +and seems to help my husband, Steve, when he has a big writing project. He can keep +working without getting 'writers block', fogged out, or rollercoastering.<br> +    DMAE is a little hard to find. Prolongevity and VRP sell +it in powder form. Since the FDA doesn't know any MDR and since the product is not +capped up, the bottle of powder sagely states that one-quarter teaspoonful contains +333 milligrams. Get the hint? DMAE tastes a little like sour salt and one-quarter +teaspoonful dissolves readily in water every morning before breakfast, or anytime +for that matter. DMAE is also very inexpensive considering what it does. A year's +supply costs about $20.<br> +    <b>Lecithin</b> is a highly tonic and inexpensive food supplement +that is underutilized by many people even though it is easily obtainable in healthfood +stores. It is an emulsifier, breaking fats down into small separate particles, keeping +blood cholesterol emulsified to prevent arterial deposits. Taken persistently, lecithin +partially and slowly eliminates existing cholesterol deposits from the circulatory +system. <br> +    In our cholesterol-frightened society lecithin should be +a far more popular supplement than it currently is. It is easy to take either as +a food in the granular form or when encapsulated. Lecithin granules have very little +flavor and can be added to a home-made vinegar and oil salad dressing, where they +emulsify the oil and make it blend with the vinegar, thickening the mixture and causing +it to stick to the salad better. Lecithin can also be put in a fruits smoothie. A +scant tablespoon a day is sufficient. Try to buy the kind of lecithin that has the +highest phosphatidyl choline content because this substance is the second benefit +of taking lecithin. Phosphatidyl choline is another precursor used by the body to +build acetylcholine and helps maintain the nervous system.<br> +    <b>Algae</b>. Spirulina or sun dried chlorella are also great +food supplements. Both make many people feel energized, pepped-up. It is possible +to fast on either product and still maintain sufficient energy levels to take of +minimal work responsibilities. Algae reduces appetite and as a dietary supplement +can assist in weight loss. It contains large amounts of highly-assimilable protein +due to it's high chlorophyll content, as well as a large amount of beta carotene. +It also assists in detoxification of the lymphatic system. It can be purchased as +tablets or powder. Take a heaping teaspoon daily, or at least six tablets.<br> +<br> +<b><br> +<a id="Chapter7"></a>Chapter Seven</b> <br> +<div style="font-size: x-large;"><b>The Analysis of Disease States: <br> +Helping the Body Recover<br> +<br> +</b></div><br> +<div style="font-size: small;"><b>From the Hygienic Dictionary<br> +<br> +</b></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><b>Diagnosis.</b> [1] In the United States, making a diagnosis +implies that you are a doctor duly licensed to engage in diagnostic function. . . +. The making of a diagnosis is reserved only for doctors. . . . The term "analysis" +does not have such an explicit legal definition. Thus, it is the term of choice of +iridologists and the one most often used by them. It is essential for the survival +and promotion of iridology that those who choose to engage in its practice avoid +naming any disease condition. As we have seen, to do so is to infringe on rights +reserved exclusively for doctors and can land the iridologist, sooner or later, in +a snarl of legal troubles. <br> +</div>    <div style="font-size: medium;">It is better for the iridologist to +refrain from suggesting to a person that he has any particular disease, letting such +diagnostics remain the province of licensed doctors. In so doing, the iridologist +will avoid transgressing the law and stepping on the toes of those who are legally +qualified to diagnose. <br> +</div>    <div style="font-size: medium;">It is indeed unfortunate that one of +the greatest pitfalls awaiting the iridologist is the temptation to name diseases. +The feelings of satisfaction and power resulting from conferring a name are deeply +rooted in the human psyche. For example, the Bible tells us that man's first task +on Earth was to name the animals, thus giving him power and dominion over them. <br> +</div>    <div style="font-size: medium;">Strong is the temptation to name diseases +because nearly everyone has come to expect that his malady has a name. Patients have +come to expect, and doctors have been trained to make, a diagnosis. . . . "After +all," the patient may reason, "how can you hope to deal with my condition +if you aren't knowledgeable enough to call it by name?" <br> +</div>    <div style="font-size: medium;">It is not necessary to name diseases +in order to exercise dominion over them. <I>Dr. Bernard Jensen, Visions of Health.</I></div><br> +<br> +<br> +    In self defense, I must make it very clear from the first +word that hygienists and most other naturopaths of various persuasions, and especially +I myself, have never in the past, never!, and do not now, diagnose, treat or offer +to cure, disease or illness. Diagnosis and curing are sole, exclusive privileges +of certified, duly-licensed medical doctors and may only be done with a grant of +Authority to do so from the State. Should an unlicensed person diagnose, offer to +treat or attempt to cure disease or illness, they will have committed a felonious +act. With big penalties. Therefore, I do not do it. <br> +    When one of my clients comes to me and says that a medical +doctor says they have some disease or other, I agree that the medical doctor says +they have some disease or other, and I never dare say that they don't. Or even confirm +on my own authority that I think they do have some disease or other.<br> +    What I can legally do for a client is to analyze the state +of their body and its organs, looking for weaknesses and apparent allergies. I can +lawfully state that I think their liver tests weak, the pancreas appears not to be +functioning well in terms of handling meat digestion, that the kidney is having a +hard time of it. I can say I see a lump sticking out of their body when one is obviously +sticking out of their body; I can not say that lump is cancerous but I can state +that the cells in that lump test overly strong and that if I myself had a mass of +growing cells testing overly strong and if I believed in the standard medical model, +then I would be rushing my overly strong testing cells to an oncologist. But I don't +dare say the person has a cancer. Or diabetes. Or is getting close to kidney failure. +That is a diagnosis.<br> +    To me, diagnosis is a form of magic rite in which the physician +discovers the secret name of the devil that is inhabiting one's body and then, knowing +that secret name, performs the correct rite and ritual to cast that demon out. I +don't know why people are made so happy knowing the name of their condition! Does +it really matter? Either the body can heal the condition or it can't. If it can, +you will recover (especially if you give the body a little help). If the body can't +heal a condition you will die or live a long time being miserable. No "scientific" +medical magic can do better than that.<br> +    By describing a disease in terms of its related organ weaknesses, +instead of pinning a Latin name on it, I am able to assist the body to achieve recovery +in a superior way that the physician rarely does. By discovering that the body with +the lump of overly strong cells also has a weak spleen, liver and thymus gland, I +can take actions to strengthen the spleen, liver and thymus. If the body can strengthen +its spleen, liver and thymus, then the overly strong cells miraculously vanish. But +of course I and what I did did not cure any disease. Any improvements that happen +I assign (correctly) to the body's own healing power. <br> +    The way I analyze the organic integrity of the body is through +a number of related methods, including the general appearance of the body, the patient's +health history, various clues such as body and breath odor, skin color and tone, +and especially, biokinesiology, the applied science of muscle testing. Biokinesiology +can be used to test the strength or weakness of specific organs and their function. +A weak latissimus dorsi muscle indicates a weak pancreas, for example. Specific acupuncture +points can be tested in conjunction with muscle strength to indicate the condition +of specific organs or glands. The strength of the arm's resistance to downward pressure +could be calibrated with a spring scale and precisely gauged, but experienced practitioners +have no need for this bother, because they are able to pick up subtle changes in +the arms resistance that are not apparent to the testée. Thus muscle testing +becomes an art form, and becomes as effective as the person using it is sensitive +and aware. <br> +    Biokinesiology works because every organ and gland in the +body is interconnected with other parts of the body through nerve pathways and nerve +transmissions, which are electrical and can be measured through muscle testing. This +may seem too esoteric for the "scientific" among you, but acupuncture points +and energy manifestations around and in the body--are now accepted phenomena, their +reality demonstrated by special kinds of photography. Acupuncturists, who heal by +manipulating the body's energy field with metal needles, are now widely accepted +in the western hemisphere. Kinesiology utilizes the same acupuncture points (and +some others too) for analytic purposes so it is sometimes called "contact reflex +analysis."<br> +    I have studied and used Kinesiology for 25 years with the +majority of my clients with very good success. There are some few people who are +very difficult to test because they are either too debilitated, lack electrical conductivity, +or their state of mind is so skeptical and negative about this type of approach that +they put up an impenetrable mental barrier and/or hold their body so rigidly that +I can hardly determine a response. A skilled can overcome the obstacle of a weak +body that can barely respond, but the person who is mentally opposed and determined +to prove you wrong should not be tested. If you proceed it is sure to have an unsatisfactory +outcome for all concerned. For even if I manage to accurately analyze the condition +of a skeptical client, they will never believe the analysis and will not follow suggestions.<br> +    The "scientific," open-minded, "reasonable" +client can be better approached using an academic-like discussion based on published +literature that demonstrates how people with similar symptoms and complaints do very +well on a particular dietary regimen and supplements. This type of person will sometimes +follow dietary recommendations to the last letter, because their scientific background +has trained them to be obedient.<br> +    When a client comes to me, I like to take a real good look +at who is sitting in front of me. I take my leisure to find out all about their history, +their complaints, their motivation to change, their experience with natural healing, +their level of personal responsibility, whether or not they have to work, whether +or not they can take time out to heal, will they fast or take supplements, do they +have sufficient finances to carry a program through to a successful completion, do +they have people closely connected to them that are strongly opposed to alternative +approaches, can they withstand some discomfort and self-denial, do they have toxic +relationships with other people that are contributing to their condition, are they +willing to read and educate themselves in greater depth about natural healing, etc. +I need to know the answers to these questions in order to help them choose a program +which is most likely to succeed. <br> +    Even though fasting is the most effective method I know of, +it is not for people who are compelled to keep up a work schedule, nor is it for +people who are very ill and do not have anyone to assist them and supervise them. +Nor is it for people who do not understand fasting and are afraid of it. People who +have associates that are opposed to it, and people who do not have a strongly-functioning +liver or kidneys should not fast either. Seriously ill people that have been on a +meat-heavy diet with lots of addicting substances need a long runway into a fast +so as to not overwhelm their organs of elimination. Does the person in front of me +have an eating disorder, or an otherwise suicidal approach to fasting, etc. Clearly +fasting is not for everyone, and if I recommend it to the wrong person, the result +will be a bad reputation for a marvelous tool. <br> +    Given that many clients can not fast without a lot of preparation, +the majority of my clients start out with a gentle detox program that takes considerably +more time, but works. These gradients have been outlined under the healing programs +for the chronically ill, acutely ill, etc.<br> +    To help rebuild poorly functioning organs, I sometimes use +a specialized group of food supplements called protomorphogens. These are not readily +available to the general public and perhaps should not be casually purchasable like +vitamins, because, as with many prescription drugs, supervision is usually necessary +for their successful use. If the FDA ever succeeds at making protomorphogens unavailable +to me, I could still have very good results. (At this time the Canadian authorities +do not allow importation of protomorphogens for resale, though individuals can usually +clear small shipments through Canada Customs if for their own personal use.) But +protomorphogens do facilitate healing and sometimes permit healing to occur at a +lower gradient of handling. Without them a body might have to fast to heal, with +the aid of protomorphogens a person might be able to get better without fasting. +And if protomorphogens are used (chewed up--ugh!) while fasting, healing is accelerated.<br> +    Protomorphogens are made from freeze-dried, organically-raised +animal organ meats (usually calf or lamb) combined with very specific vitamins, herbs +and other co-factors to potentiate the effect. I view protomorphogens as containing +nutritional supplementation specific for the rebuilding of the damaged organ.<br> +    Doctor Royal Lee, a medical genius who developed protomorphogens +therapy in the 50s and who spent several stints in prison in exchange for his benevolence +and concern for human well-being, also founded the company that has supplied me with +protomorphogens. After decades of official persecution and denial of the efficacy +of protomorphogens by the power structure, it looks like they are about to finally +have their day. As I write this book cutting-edge medical research companies are +developing therapies using concentrated animal proteins (protomorphogens) to treat +arthritis, multiple sclerosis, eye inflamations and juvenile diabetes. The researchers +talk as though they are highly praiseworthy for "discovering" this approach. +<br> +    Unfortunately, this development is likely to cut two ways. +On one hand, it vindicates Dr. Lee; on the other, when these drug companies find +a way to patent their materials, they may finally succeed at forcing protomorphogens +(currently quite inexpensive) off the non-prescription market and into the restricted +and profitable province of the MD.<br> +    I divide clients into two basic types: simple cases and complex +ones. When I was treating mental illness, occasionally I had a client who had not +been sick for too long. I could usually make this client well quite easily. But if +the person had already become institutionalized, had been psychotic for many years, +had received much prior treatment, then their case had been made much more difficult. +This sort had a poor prognosis. A very similar situation exists with physical illnesses. +Many people get sick only because they lack information about how to keep themselves +healthy and about what made them sick. Once they find out the truth, they take my +medicine without complaint and almost inevitably get better very rapidly. Some of +these people can be quite ill when they first come to me but usually they have not +been sick for very long. Their intention when coming into my office is very positive +and have no counter intentions to getting better. There are no spiritual or psychological +reasons that they deserve to be sick. If this person had not found me, they almost +certainly would have found some other practitioner who would have made them well. +This type of person honestly feels they are entitled to wellness. And they are.<br> +    However, some of the sick are not sick for lack of life-style +information; they suffer from a mental/spiritual malady as well, one that inevitably +preceded their illness by many years. In fact, their physical ailments are merely +reflections of underlying problems. This patient's life is usually a snarl of upsets, +problems, and guilty secrets. Their key relationships are usually vicious or unhealthy. +Their level of interpersonal honesty may be poor. There are usually many things about +their lives they do not confront and so, can not change. With this type of case, +all the physical healing in the world will not make them permanently better because +the mental and emotional stresses they live under serve as a constant source of enervation.<br> +    Cases like this usually do not have only one thing wrong +with them. They almost always have been sick for a long time; most have been what +I call "doctor hoppers," confused by contrary diagnoses and conflicting +MD opinions. When I get a case like this I know from the first that healing is going +to be a long process, and a dubious one at that. On the physical level, their body +will only repair one aspect of their multiple illnesses at a time. Simultaneously, +they must be urged to confront their life on a gentle gradient. There is usually +a lot of backsliding and rollercoastering. The detoxification process, physical and +psychological, can take several years and must happen on all the levels of their +life. This kind of case sees only gradual improvement interspersed with periods of +worsening that indicate there remains yet another level of mental unawareness that +has to be unraveled. <br> +    Few medical doctors or holistic therapists really understand +or can help this kind of case. To do so, the doctor has to be in touch with their +own reactive mind and their own negative, evil impulses (which virtually all humans +have). Few people, including therapists, are willing to be aware of their own dark +side. But when we deny it in ourselves, we must pretend it doesn't exist in others, +and become its victim instead of conquering it. Anyone who denies that they have +or are influenced by their own darker aspects who seem to be totally sweet and light, +is lying; proof of this is that they still are here on Earth.<br> +    All this generalizing about diagnostic methods and clinical +approaches could go on for chapters and more chapters, and writing them would be +fine if I were teaching a group of health clinicians that were reading this book +to become better practitioners. But I'm sure most of my readers are far more interested +in some complaint of their own or in the health problem of a loved one, and are intensely +interested in one might go about handling various conditions and complaints, what +types of organ weaknesses are typically associated with them, and what approaches +I usually recommend to encourage healing. And, most importantly, what kind of success +or lack of it have I had over the past twenty five years, encouraging the healing +of various conditions with hygienic methods.<br> +    In the case studies that follow I will mostly report the +simpler, easier-to-fix problems because that is what most people have; still, many +of these involve life-threatening or quality-of-life-destroying illnesses. I will +tell the success story of one very complicated, long-suffering case that involved +multiple levels of psychological and spiritual handling as well as considerable physical +healing.<br> +<br> +<b>Arthritis</b><br> +    Some years back my 70 years old mother came from the family +homestead in the wilds of northern British Columbia to visit me at the Great Oaks +School. She had gotten into pathetic physical condition. Fifteen years previously +she had remarried. Tom, her new husband, had been a gold prospector and general mountain +man, a wonderfully independent and cantankerous cuss, a great hunter and wood chopper +and all around good-natured backwoods homestead handyman. Tom had tired of solitary +log cabin life and to solve his problem had taken on the care and feeding of a needy +widow, my mom. He began doing the cooking and menu planning. Tom, a little older +than my mother, had no sense about eating but could still shoot game. Ever since +their marriage she had been living on moose meat stews with potatoes and gravy, white +flour bread with jam, black tea with canned milk, a ritual glass of brandy at bedtime, +and almost no fresh fruit or vegetables. <br> +    In her youth, my mother had been a concert pianist; now she +had such large arthritic knobs on all of her knuckles that her hands had become claws. +Though there was still that very same fine upright in the cabin that I had learned +to play as a child, she had long since given up the piano. Her knees also had large +arthritic knobs; this proud woman with a straight back and long, flowing strides +was bent over, limping along with a cane. She was also 30 pounds overweight and her +blood pressure was a very dangerous 210 over 140, just asking for a stroke. <br> +    Instead of a welcoming feast, the usual greeting offered +to a loved one who has not been seen for a few years, I immediately started her on +a juice fast. I gave her freshly prepared carrot juice (one quart daily) mixed with +wheat grass juice (three ounces daily) plus daily colonics. She had no previous experience +with these techniques but she gamely accepted everything I threw her way because +she knew I was doing it because I loved her and wanted to see her in better condition. +She also received a daily full body massage with particular attention to the hand +and knees, stimulating the circulation to the area and speeding the removal of wastes. +Every night her hands and knees were wrapped in warm castor oil compresses held in +place with old sheeting.<br> +    I did not use any vitamins or food supplements in her case. +I did give her flavorful herbal teas made of peppermint and chamomile because she +needed the comfort of a hot cupa; but these teas were in no way medicinal except +for her morale.<br> +    In three weeks on this program, Grannybelle, as I and my +daughters called her, had no unsightly knobs remaining on either her knuckles or +knees and she could walk and move her fingers without pain within a normal range +of movement. The big payoff for me besides seeing her look so wonderful (20 years +younger and 20 pounds lighter) was to hear her sit down and treat us to a Beethoven +recital. And her blood pressure was 130 over 90.<br> +<br> +<b>Breast Cancer</b><br> +    I have worked with many young women with breast cancer; so +many in fact, that their faces and cases tend to blur. But whenever I think about +them, Kelly inevitably comes to mind because we became such good friends. Like me, +Kelly was an independent-minded back country Canuck. At the age 26, she received +a medical diagnosis of breast cancer. Kelly had already permitted a lumpectomy and +biopsy, but had studied the statistical outcomes and did not want to treat her illness +with radical mastectomy, radiation and chemotherapy because she knew her odds of +long-term survival without radical medical treatment were equal to or better than +allowing the doctors to do everything possible. Nor did she want to lose even one +of her breasts. She knew how useful her breasts were because she had already suckled +one child, not to mention their contribution to one's own self-image as a whole person. +I admired Kelly's unusual independent-mindedness because she comes from a country +where universal health coverage is in place; her insurance would have paid all the +costs had she been willing to accept conventional medicine, but Canadian national +health insurance does not cover alternative therapy.<br> +    Kelly stayed with me for nearly two months as a residential +faster, because she needed to be far from the distractions of a troubled family life. +With financial support from her parents and child-care from her friends she was able +to take time out to give the recovery of health top priority in her life without +worrying about whether her small son was being well cared for. This peace of mind +was also very important to her recovery.<br> +    Analysis with biokinesiology showed a pervasively weak immune +system, including a weak thymus gland, spleen, and an overloaded lymphatic system. +Her liver was weak, but not as weak as it might have been, because she had become +a vegetarian, and had been working on her health in a haphazard fashion for a few +years. Kelly's body also showed weaknesses in pancreatic and adrenal function as +well as a toxic colon. Most immediately worrisome to her, biokinesiology testing +showed several over-strong testing lumpy areas in the breasts and over-strong testing +lumpy lymph nodes in the armpits. Cancerous tumors always test overly strong<br> +    Kelly's earlier life-style had contributed to her condition +in several ways. She had worked for years in a forestry tree nursery handling seedling +trees treated with highly toxic chemicals. She had worked as a cook in a logging +camp for several seasons, eating too much meat and greasy food. And she had also +spent the usual number of adolescent and young adult years deeply involved in recreational +drug use and the bad diet that went with it. <br> +    Kelly started right in on a rigorous water fast that lasted +for one entire month. She had a colonic every day, plus body work including reflexology, +holding and massage of neurolymphatic and neurovascular points, and stimulation of +acupuncture points related to weak organ systems and general massage to stimulate +overall circulation and lymphatic drainage. She took protomorphogens to help rebuild +her weakened organs; she took ten grams of vitamin C every day and a half-dose of +life extension vitamin mix in assimilable powdered form; she drank herbal teas of +echinacea and fenugreek seeds and several ounces of freshly squeezed wheat grass +juice every day. Twice each day she made poultices out of clay and the pulp left +over from making her wheat grass juice, filled an old bra with this mixture and pressed +it to her breast for several hours until the clay dried. Shortly, I will explain +all the measures in some detail.<br> +    These physical therapies were accompanied by counseling sessions +dealing with some severe and long-unresolved problems, response patterns and relationships +that triggered her present illness. Her son's father (Kelly's ex) was suppressive +and highly intimidating. Fearful of him, Kelly seemed unable to successfully extricate +herself from the relationship due to the ongoing contact which revolved over visitation +and care of their son. But Kelly had grit! While fasting, she confronted these tough +issues in her life and unflinchingly made the necessary decisions. When she returned +to Canada she absolutely decided, without any nagging doubts, reservations or qualifications, +to make any changes necessary to ensure her survival. Only after having made these +hard choices could she heal.<br> +    I one respect, Kelly was a highly unusual faster. Throughout +the entire month on water, Kelly took daily long walks, frequently stopping to lie +down and rest in the sun on the way. She would climb to or from the top of a very +large and steep hill nearby. She never missed a day, rain or shine. <br> +    At the end of her month on water Kelly's remaining breast +lumps had disappeared, the lymphatic system and immune system tested strong, as well +as the liver, pancreas, adrenals, and large intestine. No areas tested overly strong. +<br> +    She broke the fast with the same discipline she had conducted +it, on carrot juice, a cup every two hours. After three days on juice she began a +raw food diet with small servings of greens and sprouts well chewed, interspersed +at two hour intervals with fresh juicy fruits. After about ten days on "rabbit +food," she eased into avocados, cooked vegetables, nuts, seeds, and whole grains +and then went home.<br> +    As I write this, it is eight years since Kelly's long fast. +She still comes to see me every few years to check out her diet and just say hello. +She has had two more children by a new, and thoroughly wonderful husband and suckled +them both for two years each; her peaceful rural life centers around this new, happy +family and the big, Organic garden she grows. She religiously takes her life extension +vitamins and keeps her dietary and life-style indiscretions small and infrequent. +She is probably going to live a long, time. <br> +    I consider Kelly's cluster of organ weaknesses very typical +of all cancers regardless of type or location, as well as being typical of AIDS and +other critical infections by organisms that usually reside in the human body without +causing trouble (called "opportunistic"). All these diseases are varieties +of immune system failure. All of these conditions present a similar pattern of immune +system weaknesses. They all center around what I call the "deadly triangle," +comprised of a weak thymus gland, weak spleen, and a weak liver. The thymus and spleen +form the core of the body's immune system. The weak liver contributes to a highly +toxic system that further weakens the immune system. To top it off, people with cancer +invariably have a poor ability to digest cooked protein (animal or vegetable) (usually +from a weak pancreas unable to make enough digestive enzymes) and eat too much of +it, giving them a very toxic colon, and an overloaded lymphatic system. <br> +    Whenever I analyze someone with this pattern, especially +the entire deadly triangle, I let the person know that if I had those particular +weaknesses I would consider my survival to be at immediate risk I'd consider it an +emergency situation demanding vigorous attention. It does not matter if they don't +yet have a tumor, or fibroid, or opportunistic infection; if they don't already have +something of that nature they soon will. <br> +    Here's yet another example of why I disapprove of diagnosis. +By giving the condition a name like "lymphoma" or "melanoma", +"chronic fatigue syndrome" "Epstein-Barr syndrome" or "AIDS," +"systemic yeast infection", "hepatitis" or what have, people +think the doctor then understands their disease. But the doctor rarely understands +that all these seemingly different diseases are essentially the same disease--a toxic +body with a dysfunctional immune system. What is relevant is that a person with the +deadly triangle must strengthen their immune system, and their pancreas, and their +liver, and detoxify their body immediately. If these repairs are accomplished in +time, the condition goes away, whatever its Latin name may have been. <br> +    Now, about some of the adjuncts to Kelly's healing. Let me +stress here that had none of these substances or practices been used, she probably +still would have recovered. Perhaps a bit more slowly. Perhaps a bit less comfortably. +Conversely, had Kelly treated her cancer with every herb, poultice and vitamin known +to man but had neglected fasting and colonics, she might well have died. It has been +wisely said that intelligence may be defined as the ability to correctly determine +differences, similarities, and importances. I want my readers to be intelligent about +understanding the relative importances of different hygienic treatment and useful +supporting practices. <br> +    Echinacea and chaparral leaves, red clover flowers, and fenugreek +seeds are made into medicinal teas that I find very helpful in detoxification programs, +because they all are aggressive blood or lymph cleansers and boost the immune response. +These same teas can be used to help the body throw off a cold, flu, or other acute +illness but they have a much more powerful effect on a fasting body than on one that +is eating. Echinacea and chaparral are extraordinarily bitter and may be better accepted +if ground up and encapsulated, or mixed with other teas with pleasant flavors such +as peppermint or lemon grass. These teas should be simmered until they are at the +strongest concentration palatable, drinking three or four cups of this concentrate +a day. If you use echinacea, then chaparral probably isn't necessary and visa versa. +Red clover is another blood cleanser, perhaps a little less effective but it has +a pleasant, sweet taste and may be better accepted by the squeamish.<br> +    If there is lymphatic congestion I always include fenugreek +seed tea brewed at the strength of approximately one tablespoon of seeds to a quart +of water. Expect the tea to be brown, thick and mucilaginous, with a reasonably pleasant +taste reminiscent of maple syrup.<br> +    Kelly used poultices of clay and wheat grass pulp on her +lumps, somewhat like the warm castor oil poultices I used on my mother's arthritic +deposits. Poultices not only feel very comforting, but they have the effect of softening +up deposits and tumors so that a detoxifying, fasting body is more able to re absorb +them. Poultices draw, pulling toxins out through the skin, unburdening the liver. +Clay (freshly-mixed potters clay I purchase from a potters' guild), mixed with finely +chopped or blended young wheat grass (in emergencies I've even used lawn grasses) +makes excellent drawing poultices. Without clay, I've also used vegetable poultices +made of chopped or blended comfrey leaves, comfrey root, slightly cooked (barely +wilted) cabbage leaves, slightly steamed onion or garlic (cooked just enough to soften +it). These are very effective to soften tumors, abscesses and ulcers. Aloe poultices +are good on burns. Poultices should be thought of as helpful adjuncts to other, more +powerful healing techniques and not as remedies all by themselves, except for minor +skin problems.<br> +    Poultices, to be effective, need to be troweled on half an +inch thick, extending far beyond the effected area, covered with cheese cloth or +rags torn from old cotton sheets so they don't dry out too fast. Fresh poultices +needs to be applied several times daily. They also need to be left on the body until +they do dry. Then poultices are thrown away, to be followed by another as often as +patience will allow. Do not cover poultices tightly with plastic because if they +don't dry out they won't draw much. The drawing is in the drying.<br> +    Sometimes poultices cause a tumor or deposit to be expelled +through the skin rather than being adsorbed, all with rather spectacular pus and +gore. This phenomena is actually beneficial and should be welcomed because anytime +the body can push toxins out through the skin, the burden on the organs of elimination +are lessened.<br> +    Wheat grass juice has a powerful anti-tumor effect, is very +perishable, is laborious to make, but is worth the effort because it contains powerful +enzymes and nutrients that help detoxify and heal when taken internally or applied +to the skin. As a last resort with dying patients who can no longer digest anything +taken by mouth I've implanted wheat grass juice rectally (in a cleansed colon). Some +of them haven't died. You probably can't buy wheat grass juice that retains much +medicinal effect because it needs to be very fresh and should be drunk within minutes +of squeezing. Chilled sharply and immediately after squeezing it might maintain some +potency for an hour or two. Extracting juice from grass takes a special press that +resembles a meat grinder. <br> +    The wheat is grown in transplant or seedling trays in bright +light. I know someone who uses old plastic cafeteria trays for this. The seed is +soaked overnight, spread densely atop a tray, covered shallowly with fine soil, kept +moist but not soggy. When the grass is about four inches high, begin harvesting by +cutting off the leaves with a scissors and juicing them. If the tray contains several +inches of soil you usually get a second cutting of leaves. You need to start a new +tray every few days; one tray can be cut for three or four days. (Kulvinskas, 1975) +<br> +    More wheat grass juice is not better than just enough; three +ounces a day is plenty! It is a very powerful substance! The flavor of wheat grass +juice is so intense that some people have to mix it with carrot juice to get it down. +DO NOT OVERUSE. The energizing effects of wheat grass can be so powerful that some +people make a regular practice of drinking it. However, I've seen many people who +use wheat grass juice as a tonic become allergic to it much as antibiotic dependent +people do to antibiotics. Better to save wheat grass for emergencies.<br> +    I also have treated my own breast cancers--twice. The first +time I was only 23 years old. One night I noticed that it hurt to sleep the way I +usually did on my left side because there was a hard lump in my left breast. It was +quite large--about the size of a goose egg. Having just completed RN training two +years prior, I had been well brain washed about my poor prognosis and knew exactly +what requisite actions must taken. <br> +    I scheduled a biopsy under anesthetic, so that if the tumor +was malignant they could proceed to full mastectomy without delay. I was ignorant +of any alternative course of action at the time.<br> +    I might add that before I grew my first tumor I had been +consuming large amounts of red meat in a mistaken understanding gained in nursing +school that a good diet contained large amounts of animal protein. In addition to +the stress of being a full time psychology graduate student existing on a very low +budget, I was experiencing I very frustrating relationship with a young man that +left me constantly off center and confused.<br> +    A biopsy was promptly performed. The university hospital's +SOP required that three pathologists make an independent decision about the nature +of a tumor before proceeding with radical surgery. Two of the pathologist agreed +that my tumor was malignant, which represented the required majority vote. But the +surgeon removed only the lump, which he said was well encapsulated and for some reason +did not proceed with a radical mastectomy. These days many surgeons routinely limit +themselves to lumpectomies. <br> +    I never did find out why I awakened from general anesthetic +with two breasts, but I have since supposed that due to my tender age the surgeon +was reluctant to disfigure me without at least asking me for permission, or giving +me some time to prepare psychologically. When I came out of anesthesia he told me +that the lump was malignant, and that he had removed it, and that he needed to do +a radical mastectomy to improve my prognosis over the next few years. He asked me +to think it over, but he signed me up on his surgery list for the following Monday. +<br> +    I did think it over and found I was profoundly annoyed at +the idea of being treated like I was just a statistic, so I decided that I would +be unique. I made a firm decision that I would be well and stay well--and I was for +the next fifteen years. The decision healed me.<br> +    When I was 37 I had a recurrence. At the time I had in residence +Ethyl and Marge, the two far-gone breast cancer cases I already told you about. I +also had in residence a young woman with a breast tumor who had not undergone any +medical treatment, not even a lumpectomy. (I will relate her case in detail shortly.) +I was too identified emotionally with helping these three, overly-empathetic due +to my own history. I found myself taking on their symptoms and their pain. I went +so far into sympathy as to grow back my tumor--just as it had the first time--a lump +mushroomed from nothing to the size of a goose egg in only three weeks in exactly +the same place as the first one. Just out of curiosity I went in for a needle biopsy. +Once again it was judged to be malignant, and I got the same pressure from the surgeon +for immediate surgery. This time, however, I had an alternative system of healing +that I believed in. So I went home, continued to care for my very sick residents, +and began to work on myself. <br> +    The first thing I had to confront about myself was that I +was being a compassionate fool. I needed to learn how to maintain my own personal +boundaries, and clearly delineate what stuff in my mind and my body was really mine +and what was another's. I needed to apply certain mental techniques of self-protection +known to and practiced by many healers. I knew beyond doubt that I had developed +sympathetic breast cancer because a similar phenomena had happened to me before. +Once, when I had previously been working on a person with very severe back pain with +hands-on techniques, I suddenly had the pain, and the client was totally free of +it. So I protected myself when working with sick people. I would wash my hands and +arms thoroughly with cold water, or with water and vinegar after contact. I would +shake off their "energy," have a cold shower, walk bare foot on the grass, +and visualize myself well with intact boundaries. These prophylaxes had been working +for me, but I was particularly vulnerable to people with breast cancer. <br> +    I also began detoxification dieting, took more supplements, +and used acupressure and reflexology as my main lines of attack. My healing diet +consisted of raw food exclusively. I allowed myself fruits (not sweet fruits) and +vegetables (including a lot of raw cabbage because vegetables in the cabbage family +such as cauliflower and broccoli are known to have a healing effect on cancer), raw +almonds, raw apricot kernels, and some sprouted grains and legumes. I drank diluted +carrot juice, and a chlorophyll drink made up of wheat grass and barley green and +aloe vera juice. I took echinaechia, red clover, and fenugreek seeds. I worked all +the acupuncture points on my body that strengthen the immune system, including the +thymus gland, lymph nodes, and spleen. I also worked the meridians, and reflex points +for the liver, and large intestine. I massaged the breast along the natural lines +of lymphatic drainage from the area. <br> +    Last, and of great importance, I knew that the treatment +would work, and that the tumor would quickly disappear. It did vanish totally in +three months. It would have gone away quicker if I had water fasted, but I was unable +to do this because I needed physical strength to care for my resident patients and +family. <br> +    Eighteen years have passed since that episode, and I have +had no further reappearance of breast tumors. At age 55 I still have all my body +parts, and have had no surgery except the original lumpectomy. Many, viewing my muscles +and athletic performance, would say my health is exceptional but I know my own frailties +and make sure I do not aggravate them. I still have exactly the same organ deficiencies +as other cancer patients and must keep a very short leash on my lifestyle.<br> +    If for some reason I wanted to make my life very short, all +I would have to do would be to abandon my diet, stop taking supplements, eat red +meat and ice cream every day and be unhappy about something. Incidentally, I have +had many residential clients with breast cancer since then, and have not taken on +their symptoms, so I can assume that I have safely passed that hurdle.<br> +    I've helped dozens of cases of simple breast cancer where +my treatment began before the cancer broadly spread. Kelly's case was not the easiest +of this group, nor the hardest. Sometimes there was lymphatic involvement that the +medical doctors had not yet treated in any way. All but one of my early-onset breast +cancer cases recovered. I believe those are far better results than achieved by AMA +treatment. <br> +    Before I crow too much, let me stress that every one of these +women was a good candidate for recovery--under 40 years old, ambulatory and did not +feel very sick. And most importantly, every one of them had received no other debilitating +medical treatment except a needle biopsy or simple lumpectomy. None of these women +had old tumors (known about for more than six months) and none of the tumors were +enormous (nothing larger than a walnut). <br> +    Clearly, this group is not representative of the average +breast cancer case. Hygienic therapy for cancer is a radical idea these days and +tends to attract younger people, or older, desperate people who have already been +through the works. In every one of my simple cases the tumors were reabsorbed by +the body during the thirty days of water fasting and the client left happy.<br> +    Except one. I think I should describe this unsuccessful case, +this "dirty case," so my readers get a more balanced idea of how fearsome +cancer really isn't if the sick person can clearly resolve to get better and has +no problem about achieving wellness.<br> +    Marie was an artisan and musician from Seattle who grew up +back East in an upper-middle class dysfunctional family. She was in her late twenties. +She had been sexually abused by an older brother, was highly reactive, and had never +been able to communicate honestly with anyone except her lesbian lover (maybe, about +some things). <br> +    Three years prior to coming to see me Marie had been medically +diagnosed as having breast cancer and had been advised to have immediate surgery. +She ignored this advice; Marie never told her friends, said nothing to her family +and tried to conceal it from her lover because she did not want to disrupt their +life together. <br> +    On her own, she did begin eating a Macrobiotic diet. In spite +of this diet, the tumor grew, but grew very slowly. After two years the tumor was +discovered by her lover, who after a year of exhausting and upsetting arguments, +forced Marie to seek treatment. Since Marie adamantly refused to go the conventional +medical route, she ended up on my doorstep as a compromise.<br> +    By this time the tumor was the size of a fist and had broken +through the skin of the left breast. It was very ugly, very hard. Biokinesiology +showed the usual deadly triangle and other associated organ weakneses typical of +cancer. Marie began fasting on water with colonics and poultices and bodywork and +counseling and supplements. At the end of the water fast, Marie looked much healthier, +with clear eyes and clear skin and had a sort of shine about her, but the tumor had +only receded enough for the skin to close over it; it was still large, and very hard. +To fully heal, Marie probably needed at least two more water fasts of equal length +interspersed with a few months on a raw food diet. But she lacked the personal toughness +to confront another fast in the near future. Nor was she emotionally up to what she +regarded as the deprivation of a long-term raw foods healing diet.<br> +    So I advised her to seek other treatment. Still unwilling +to accept standard medical management of her case, Marie chose to go to the Philippines +to have "psychic surgery." She was excited and optimistic about this; I +was interested myself because I was dubious about this magical procedure; if Marie +went I would have a chance to see the results (if any) on a person I was very familiar +with. Marie had her tickets and was due to leave in days when her lover, against +Marie's directly-stated wishes, called her parents and informed them of what was +happening. <br> +    The parents had known nothing of Marie's cancer and were +shocked, upset, outraged! They had not known Marie was a lesbian, much less that +their daughter was flirting with (from their view) obvious quackery. Their daughter +needed immediate saving and her parents and brother (the one who had abused her) +flew to Oregon and surprisingly appeared the next day in a state of violent rage. +They threatened lawsuits, police, incarceration, they threatened to have their daughter +civilly committed as unable to take care of herself. They thought everything Marie +had done for the last three years was my fault. I was lucky to stay out of jail. +Of course, all of this was why Marie had not told them in the first place; she had +wanted to avoid this kind of a scene.<br> +    Marie did not have enough personal integrity to withstand +the domination of her immediate family. They put her in a hospital, where Marie had +a radical mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation. Assured that they had done everything +that should have been done, the self-righteous parents went back home. Marie never +recovered from chemotherapy and radiation. She died in the hospital surrounded by +her lesbian friends who took dedicated, ever-so-sympathetic turns maintaining an +emotional round-the-clock vigil.<br> +    Marie's death was partly my fault. She was an early case +of mine. At the time I did not yet understand the total effect of lack of ethics +and irresponsibility on illness. Had Marie really wanted to live in the first place, +she would have sought treatment three years earlier. In our counseling sessions she +always evaded this question and I had not been wise enough to pin her down with my +knee on her chest and make her answer up. Marie had too many secrets from everybody +and was never fully honest in any of her relationships, including with me. I think +she only came to Great Oaks at her lover's insistence and to the day she died was +trying to pretend that nothing was wrong. <br> +    All Marie really wanted from her life was to be loved and +have a lot of loving attention. In the end, her dramatic death scene gave her that, +which is probably why she manifested cancer and kept it and eventually, died from +it.<br> +    The name for this game is "secondary gain." A lot +of sick people are playing it. Their illness lets them win their deepest desire; +they get love, attention, revenge, sympathy, complete service, pampering, create +guilt in others. When sick people receive too much secondary gain they never get +well.<br> +    One of the hardest things about being a healer is that one +accumulates an ever-enlarging series of dirty, failed cases like this one. It is +depressing and makes a person want to quit doctoring. Whenever I get involved with +a case I really want them to get better. My life is put entirely out of joint for +several months dealing with a residential faster. My schedule is disrupted; my family +life suffers; my personal health suffers. No amount of mere money could pay for this. +And then some of these people go and waste all my help to accomplish some discreditable +secret agenda that they have never really admitted to themselves or others.<br> +<br> +<b>Constant Complaints</b><br> +    Alice was a middle-aged woman who couldn't understand why +she had always felt tired, even when she was young. Her life had been this way ever +since she could remember. Most puzzling to her was why her life was so Job-like. +She did everything the proper way. Doing things correctly was important to her, and +fitted her Puritan background. Alice supported all the right causes, did good works, +was active in a Unitarian church and bought all her food at the healthfood store--and +made sure it was organically grown.<br> +    But in spite of Alice's righteous living, her existence was +a treadmill of constant, minor complaints. She was constantly exhausted, so much +so she had difficulty getting up in the morning and feared she might have chronic +fatigue syndrome (whatever that is). Alice suffered bouts of depression over thoughts +like these, and had many acute illnesses like colds that hung on interminably and +would not go away. She had a constant post-nasal drip. Though she enjoyed life, her +body was a millstone around her neck.<br> +    I've had a lot of clients exactly like Alice. Sometimes they +complain of headaches; sometimes constant yeast or bladder infections. Whatever the +complaints, the symptoms are rarely severe enough to classify themselves as someone +who is seriously ill, but their symptoms rarely go away and they almost never feel +good. Medical doctors rarely find anything wrong with them, though they will frequently +prescribe an antibiotic to treat a somewhat constant infection, or an antihistamine +for sinus symptoms. Getting a new prescription drug makes the complaint go away for +a short time until their resistance is lowered again and the very same complaint +returns. These people frequently depend on over the counter pills and are routinely +prescribed sleeping remedies and antidepressants. If instead of this route they will +but take my medicine they are usually easy to fix and afterwards are amazed that +it was all that simple and that so much of their life has been less than it could +have been.<br> +    Alice had been through the medical doctor route. She had +become quite familiar with antibiotics for her colds and flu, and also took synthetic +thyroid hormone--the doctor had diagnosed her fatigue as being caused by an underactive +thyroid, which was partly correct--but the thyroid medication didn't give her much +more energy. Alice had been supporting this medical doctor in grand style for over +thirty years but never obtained the relief she sought. <br> +    I put Alice through my usual two hour first-time-visit thorough +analysis. For two weeks before coming to see me she had saved tiny samples of everything +she ate, wrapped them in plastic film, carefully labeled, and put them in the freezer. +Along with these food samples and a typed list of all these foods, she brought a +big box full of her condiments, herb teas, vitamins, spices, prescription medications, +over the counter drugs, oils, grains, breads, crackers and small samples of her usual +fresh vegetables and fruits. Even her water. Her entire kitchen! By biokinesiology +we proceeded to test all of her foods for allergic reactions. I also tested the integrity +of her organs and glands and in the process, got a detailed medical history and list +of her complaints.<br> +    Alice had exhausted adrenals, and they probably had been +that way for thirty years. Her pancreas was now too weak to digest the legumes that +made up a large part of her vegetarian diet. She was allergic to wheat, soy, and +dairy products and had especially been eating dairy in the mistaken notion that it +was necessary to keep up her protein intake. Really very typical. So many health +food store shoppers these days mistakenly believe that, because they are vegetarian +and do not eat meat, they especially need to boost their protein intake with dairy +and soy. Unfortunately, so many North Americans are highly allergic to dairy and +unfortunately, soy products are as hard or harder to digest than cooked meats. <br> +    Alice was especially shocked to discover that she was allergic +to such foods as cabbage family vegetables, alfalfa sprouts and citrus. Most people +don't think that anyone could be allergic to something as healthy as alfalfa sprouts. +The doctor was right about one thing; her thyroid was underperforming. He had not +noticed that her heart was weak.<br> +    Medical doctors rarely discover an organ weakness until that +organ actually begins to catastrophically fail. A busy honest doctor will usually +tell the complaining patient there is nothing wrong with them: go home, take two +aspirin, accept the fact that your body is not perfect and don't worry about it. +A hungry doctor will be delighted to perform countless lab tests, seeking any possible +reason for the complaint. This can go on as long as the patient has money or as long +as the insurance company will pay. They rarely find anything "wrong" and +the patient is far better off if the doctor doesn't discover something "serious" +to treat because their treatment may carry with it consequences far more severe than +the complaint. For example, I have seen dozens of people whose lives were virtually +ruined after surgical treatment for chronic back pain.<br> +    Biokinesiology is actually a far more sensitive system of +analysis than lab tests. It picks up weaknesses at a very early stage so total organ +failure can be prevented. Rarely will any of the organ weaknesses I discover be confirmed +by a medical doctor. First I put Alice on a six week cleanse. She did one week on +fresh, raw food; one week on dilute carrot juice with some green leafy vegetables +juice too; one week on water fasting; and then she repeated the series. After six +weeks of detoxification, I gave Alice a life extension megavitamin formula, discovered +she could not handle the acid form of vitamin C (that she had already been taking) +and had her start on protomorphogens to rebuild her weakened endocrine system, her +exhausted adrenals and weak pancreas. She also began taking pancreatic enzymes when +she ate vegetable protein. She was put on a maintenance diet that eliminated foods +she was allergic to; the diet primarily consisted of whole grains, nuts, cooked and +raw vegetables, and raw fruits. On her maintenance diet Alice had a profound resurgence +of energy and rediscovered a sense of well-being she had not known for decades. She +began to feel like she had when she was a child. Her constant sinus drip was gone. +She was able to stop taking synthetic thyroid hormones and instead, supported her +endocrine system with protomorphogens.<br> +<br> +<b>A Rampaging Infection</b><br> +    At the age of 40, John, an old bohemian client of mine, came +into a moderate inheritance and went "native" in the Fiji Islands in the +South Pacific. He spent about four months hanging out with the locals. Life there +was so much fun that John completely forgot that his body was actually rather delicate, +that many of his organs were weak, and that to feel good, he had to live a fairly +simon-pure life. <br> +    But the jovial, accepting, devil-may-care Fijians enjoyed +a constant party, even more so because John's money allowed the Fijians to manifest +powerful, tropical, home-grown strains of recreational herbs to smoke in abundance, +beer and rum and worse, the Fijians (and John) constantly used a very toxic though +only mildly-euphoric narcotic called kava, something Europeans usually have no genetic +resistance to. The Fijians (and John) also ate a lot of freshly-caught fish fried +in grease, well-salted, and huge, brain-numbing bowls of greasy starches, foods that +they call i'coi, or "real food" as opposed to things like fruit and vegetables +that aren't real food because they don't knock you to the floor for hours trying +to digest them in a somnambulant doze.<br> +    John miraculously kept up with this party for a few months +and then, while scuba diving, got some small coral scratches on his leg. These got +infected. The infections got worse. Soon he had several huge, suppurating, ulcerous +sores on his legs and worse, the infections became systemic and began spreading rapidly. +He was running a fever and was in considerable pain. So John booked an emergency +ticket home and fled to find Doctor Isabelle. When I met his plane he was rolled +out in a wheelchair, unable to walk because of pain and swelling in his legs.<br> +    John was violently opposed to ordinary medical treatment; +he especially would not have taken antibiotics even if he had died without them because +previous courses of antibiotics had been the precipitant of life-threatening conditions +that first brought John to my care. John used his last strength to get to me because +he knew that had a hospital gotten its clutches on him the medical doctors would +have done exactly as they pleased. <br> +    I gave John a colonic, a gentle, mental spanking, and put +him to bed without any supper. He started water fasting and did colonics every day. +He began gobbling vitamin C (as calcium ascorbate) a few grams every hour. I put +huge poultices on his sores made of clay and chopped lawn grass (we needed a week +or so before a tray of wheat grass would be ready). John's sores were amazing. Every +day a new one seemed to appear on a different part of the body. The old ones kept +getting bigger and deeper. The largest original ones were about three inches in diameter, +smelled horribly and had almost eaten the flesh down to the bone. His pain was severe; +there was no position John could assume that didn't irritate one sore or another, +and it was a good thing my house was remote because John frequently relieved his +pain by screaming. John was never delirious, but he was always original. He did not +have to scream, but enjoyed its relief and howled quite dramatically. I wore earplugs.<br> +    After about two weeks of water fasting, John counted up the +total of his sores. There were forty three. Seven or eight of them were enormous, +two or three inches in diameter and well into the flesh, but the last ones to appear +were shallow, small and stayed small. After that point no more new ones showed up +and the body began to make visible headway against the infection. Very slowly and +then more and more rapidly, the sores began to close up and heal from the edges. +John's fever began to drop. And he had less pain. I should mention that John brought +an extremely virulent and aggressive pathogenic organism into our house to which +we Americans had no resistance. Both my husband and I were attacked where the skin +had been broken. However, unlike John, in our cases, our healthy bodies immediately +walled-off the organism and the small, reddened pustules, though painful, did not +grow and within a week, had been conquered by our immune systems. And after that +we had an immunity.<br> +    After about three weeks of his fasting we were thoroughly +tired of hearing John's cathartic howls, tired of nursing a sick person. We needed +a break. John at this point could walk a bit and was feeling a lot better. John had +previously water fasted for 30 days and knew the drill very well. So we stocked up +the vitamin C bottle by his bed and went to town for the weekend to stay in a motel +and see a movie. As they say in the Canadian backwoods, we were bushed.<br> +    John had promised to be good. But as soon as we left he decided +that since he felt so very much better, he could break his fast. He knew how to do +this and fortunately for him, (it was very much premature for John to eat) did it +more or less correctly, only eating small quantities of raw fruits and vegetables. +But by the time we got back home three days later, John had relapsed. The pain was +rapidly getting much worse; the sores were growing again and a few small new ones +appeared. Dr. Isabelle again took away his food and gave him another verbal spanking +a little more severe than the one he'd had a few weeks earlier and put him to bed +again without his supper. <br> +    After two more weeks on water, John had gained a great deal +on the sores. They were filling in and weren't oozing pus, looked clean and the new +forming meat looked a healthy pink instead of purple-black. But John had been very +slender to start with and by now he was getting near the end of his food reserves. +He probably couldn't have fasted on water for more than one more week without starvation +beginning. But this time, when he broke his fast, it was under close supervision. +I gave him dilute juice only, introduced other sustenance very cautiously and made +absolutely sure that reintroducing nourishment would not permit the organism to gain. +This time it didn't. John's own immune system, beefed up by fasting, had conquered +a virulent organism that could have easily killed him.<br> +    Before the era of antibiotics, before immunizations to the +common childhood illnesses, people frequently died of infections as virulent as the +one that attacked John. They usually died because they "ate to keep up their +strength." Most of these deaths were unnecessary, caused by ignorance and poor +nursing care. For example, standard medical treatment for typhoid fever used to consist +of spoon-fed milk--sure to kill all but the strongest constitution. Even without the +assistance of massive doses of vitamin C, if people would but fast away infections +they could cure themselves of almost all of them with little danger, without the +side effects of antibiotics or creating mutated antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria.<br> +    Dr. John Tilden, a hygienist who practiced in the '20s, before +the era of antibiotics, routinely fasted patients with infectious illnesses. Supporting +the sick body with wise nursing, he routinely healed scarlet fever, whopping cough, +typhoid, typhus, pneumonia, peritonitis, Rocky Mountain fever, tuberculosis, gonorrhea, +syphilis, cholera, and rheumatic fever. The one common infection he could not cure +was diphtheria involving the throat. (Tilden, Impaired Health, Vol. II).<br> +    Recently, medical gerontologists have discovered another +reason that fasting heals infections. One body function that deteriorates during +the aging process is the production of growth hormone so the effects of growth hormone +have been studied. This hormone also stimulates the body to heal wounds and burns, +repair broken bones, generally replace any tissues that have been destroyed and, +growth hormone stimulates the immune response. Growth hormone also maintains muscle +tone and its presence generally slows the aging process.<br> +    Growth hormone might make a wonderful life-extension supplement; +on it a middle-aged person might readily maintain the muscle tone of youth while +slowing aging in general. Unfortunately, growth hormone cannot at this time be inexpensively +synthesized and is still far too costly to be used therapeutically except to prevent +dwarfism. However, any technique that encourages a body to produce more of this hormone +would be of great interest to life extensionists. <br> +    The body only produces growth hormone at certain times and +only when certain nutrients are present in the blood. Gerontologists call these nutrients +"precursors." The precursors are two essential amino acids, argenine and +ornithine and certain vitamins such as C and B 6. But having the precursors +present is not enough. Growth hormone is only manufactured under certain, specific +circumstances: for about one hour immediately after going to sleep and then only +if the blood supply is rich with argenine and ornithine but contains few other amino +acids; it is also manufactured during heavy aerobic exercise that goes on for more +than thirty minutes; and growth hormone is produced at an accelerated rate when fasting. +(Pearson and Shaw, 1983). I did not know this when I was fasting John, but now, I +would give argenine and ornithine to someone with a serious infection as well as +massive quantities of vitamin C.<br> +<br> +<b>Chronic Back Pain</b><br> +    Barry was a carpenter who couldn't afford to lose work because +he was unable to bend or twist or lift. He frequently had bouts of severe back pain +that made working almost impossible. Upon analysis by biokinesiology I found that +he had a major problem with large intestine weakness and secondarily, adrenal weakness.<br> +    Constipation frequently causes back pain. The muscles of +the back have nerve pathway connections to the large intestines; weakness in the +intestine causes weakness of the back and makes it prone to injury. But the problem +is the intestine, not the back. And the only way to make the back stay better is +to heal the intestine. Many athletes have very similar problems. For example, they +get knee injuries and think there is something wrong with their knee. Or they get +shoulder injuries and think their shoulder is weak. These people are only half right. +Yes, their knee or their shoulder is weak. But it could become strong and almost +uninjurable if the underlying cause of the weakness is corrected.<br> +    The knee for example, has nerve pathway connections to the +adrenal glands and kidneys. The shoulder has similar connections to the thyroid. +The foot is weakened by the bladder. The treatment should first be on the weakened +gland or organ and secondarily, on the damaged muscle tissue. I have solved numerous +sports-related knee problems with protomorphogens for the adrenals and elimination +of food allergies that make the adrenals work overtime. I have fixed bad shoulders +by rebuilding the thyroid.<br> +    In Barry's case, it was the intestine. I asked him about +his bowel function and he said that he was never constipated, had "a daily bowel +movement without a lot of straining." But having given some 6,000 colonics, +I knew better. There should have been no straining; Barry was trying very hard to +be regular--he should not have had to effort. Fortunately, it struck him as true that +he needed to detoxify and I managed to convince him to water fast. He probably figured, +why not since he couldn't work anyway. Barry was a tall, skinny man to start with +and you would think he hardly carried any fat at all, but he fasted on water for +30 days, receiving a colonic every day, while I did bodywork on his damaged back. +He sure was constipated and couldn't deny the evidence that floated by through the +sight tube of the colonic machine. By the end of the fast his colon was fairly repaired +and free of old fecal material. And Barry had become a tall, gaunt-looking guy who +had lost about 20 pounds you wouldn't think he had to spare.<br> +    After a few weeks of careful weaning back on to food, Barry +felt pretty good, terrific even. He had no back pain and found out for the first +time what not being constipated meant. It no longer took "not very much effort" +to move his bowels; they moved themselves. That was ten years ago. A few months ago, +Barry looked me up, just to say thanks and to let me know that he had not had any +more back problems and had generally felt good because he had more or less stayed +on the improved diet I had instructed him about during his fast.<br> +<br> +<b>Painful Menstruation</b><br> +    Elsie was twenty. She came to see me because I had helped +Elsie's mother overcome breast cancer many years earlier. Elsie began to have very +painful periods with profuse bleeding and abdominal pain. Her nutrition had been +generally good because her mother couldn't survive on the average American diet and +had long ago converted her family to vegetarianism. And like her mother, Elsie had +been taking vitamins for many years. <br> +    A medical doctor diagnosed Elsie as having endometriosis, +meaning, the lining of her uterus had migrated to the fallopian tubes, where it continued +to bleed regularly into the abdominal cavity, following the same hormonal cycle as +the endometritial tissue that lines the uterus. The doctor offered to try hormonal +manipulation and if this proved unsuccessful, offered a hysterectomy. That would +certainly eliminate the symptoms!<br> +    But Elsie did not wish to eliminate her ability to have children +and preferred not to risk throwing her hormones off balance. So she came to me. My +analysis showed that she had weak ovaries and weak uterus. These were secondary to +a toxic colon, toxic because she had a weak gall bladder and weak pancreas that reduced +her digestive capacity and turned her improperly combined Organic, vegetarian legume-rich +diet into toxemia. Checking her foods for allergies I discovered the normal pattern: +Elsie was intolerant to dairy, wheat, eggs, corn, soy and concentrated sugars.<br> +    Being no stranger to fasting (her mother had fasted at length +ten years previously) Elsie undertook a 30 day cleanse on vegetable juice with daily +enemas, taking vitamins in powdered form. After the fast I put her on protomorphogens +for her reproductive organs and pancreas. The gall bladder had healed by itself during +fasting--gall bladders usually heal easily. Her maintenance diet included using pancreatic +enzyme supplements when eating vegetable proteins and Elsie eliminated most fats +so her gall bladder would not be stressed. The fasting also overcame her allergic +reactions to corn and wheat but she was still unable to handle soy products, eggs +or dairy. After six months Elsie no longer needed protomorphogens, had no abdominal +pain and her periods were normal. <br> +    You may well be wondering how or why detoxification of the +bowels allowed the body to repair the uterus. The large intestine is a sort of nest +that cradles the reproductive organs, including the ovaries, uterus, and in the case +of the male, the prostate gland. A toxic colon is like having one rotten apple in +a basket, it contaminates the whole batch. Many problems in the abdominal area are +caused by a toxic colon, including chronic back pain, ovarian cysts, infertility, +birth abnormalities, bladder infections and bladder cancer, painful menstruation, +fibroids and other benign growths as well as malignant ones, and prostatitis or prostate +cancer. Detoxing the body and cleaning out the colon should be a part of the healing +of all of these conditions. <br> +<br> +<b>Irritable Bowels</b><br> +    Some peoples' lives don't run smoothly. Jeanne's certainly +didn't. She was abandoned to raise three little kids on welfare. Her college diploma +turned out to be useless. Jeanne used to help me at Great Oaks in exchange for treatment. +During those early years she had done a 30 day juice fast with colonics. Twenty years +later at age 60, having survived three children's growing up, surviving the profound, +enduring loss of one who died as an adult, after starting up and running a small +business that for many years barely paid its way, and experiencing an uninsured fire +that took her house, she began to develop abdominal pains the doctors named "irritable +bowel syndrome" or "colitis." The MD offered antibiotics and antispasmodics +but Jeanne had no insurance, the remedies were unaffordable. She also retained considerable +affinity for natural medicine.<br> +    Prior to these symptoms her diet had been vegetarian, and +had included large quantities of raw fruits and vegetables and whole grains. But +the bran in bread was irritating to her bowels, she could no longer digest raw vegetables +or most raw fruit.<br> +    Jeanne's vital force was low; her healing took time. She +started on a long fast supported by powdered vitamins, vegetable broth and herb teas, +but after three weeks was too weak to do her own enemas at home and could not shop +for vegetables to cook into broth. So she had to add one small serving of cooked +vegetable per day, usually broccoli or steamed kale. This lasted for one more week +but Jeanne, having no financial reserves, had to return to work, and needed to regain +energy quickly. Though not totally healed, she progressed to a maintenance diet of +cooked grains and vegetables and food supplements, very much like a Macrobiotic diet. +She felt better for awhile but wore down again after another stressful year.<br> +    Her abdominal pains gradually returned though this time she +noticed they were closely associated with her stresses. About one year after ending +her first fast, as soon as she could arrange to take time off, she began another. +This time to avoid extreme weakness, she took vegetable broth from the outset, as +well as small amounts of carrot juice and one small serving of cooked vegetable a +day for three weeks. Again, this rest allowed the digestive tract to heal and the +pain went away. She returned to her Macrobiotic diet with selected raw foods that +she could now handle without irritating her bowel.<br> +    She was now healthier then she had been in many years. With +improved energy and a more positive attitude, Jeanne returned to University at age +65 and obtained a teaching certificate. Now she is making good money, doing work +she enjoys for the first time in 35 years. I hope she has a long and happy life. +She is entitled to one!<br> +<br> +<b>A Collection of Gallbladders</b><br> +    Gallbladder cases are rather ho-hum to me; they are quick +to respond to hygienic treatment and easy to resolve. I've fixed lots of them. But +an inflamed gallbladder is in no way ho-hum to the person afflicted with it. I've +been frequently told that there are no worse pains a body can create than an inflamed +gallbladder or the sensations accompanying the passing of a gall stone. I hear from +kidney patients that passing a kidney stone is worse but I've never had a patient +who experienced both kinds of stones to give me an honest comparative evaluation.<br> +    The only thing dangerous about simple gallbladder problems +is ignoring them (between the bouts of severe pain they can cause) because then the +inflamed gallbladder can involve the liver. I already told the story of how my own +mother lost half her liver this way. <br> +    The condition is usually caused by a combination of hereditary +tendency, general toxemia, and/or a high-fat diet, especially one high in animal +fats. The liver makes bile that is stored in the gallbladder, to be released on demand +into the small intestine to digest fat. A toxic, overloaded liver makes irritating +sediment-containing bile that inflames the gallbladder and forms stones. A high-fat +diet forces the liver to make even more of this irritant. <br> +    A toxic, overloaded, inflamed, blocked gallbladder is capable +of causing an enormous array of symptoms that can seem to have no connection at all +to their cause. In part these same symptoms are caused by a toxic, constipated colon +that, in part, got that way because of poor fat digestion over a long time. These +symptoms include: severe back pain; headache; bloating; burping; nausea; insomnia; +intestinal gas; generalized aches and pains.<br> +    Medical doctors used to remove a troublesome gallbladder +without hesitation; it was an organ they considered to be highly dispensable. Without +one, the bile duct takes over as a bladder but its capacity is much smaller so the +person's ability to digest fats has been permanently crippled, leading to increased +toxemia and earlier aging if fats are not eliminated from the diet. These days the +medicos have a new, less invasive procedure to eliminate stones; they are vibrated +and broken-up by ultrasonics without major surgery. Inflamed gallbladders are usually +removed because gallbladder inflammations resist treatment by antibiotics.<br> +    There are several very effective natural gallbladder remedies. +The best is a three week fast, taking the juice of one or two lemons every day, along +with colonics. The lemon juice tends to clear the bile duct. The fast allows the +gallbladder to heal from inflammation. In cases that aren't too severe I have had +very good results simply eliminating fats from the diet and using a food supplement +derived from beet tops called AF Betafood. However, in all these cases, once the +gallbladder is no longer "acting up," the person must stay on a low fat +diet. Any fats they do eat must be vegetable and in small quantities.<br> +    By healing their gallbladders and cleansing their colons, +several of my clients have resolved severe, debilitating back pain, pain so severe +that the suffers were becoming bedridden. Medical doctors don't associate gallbladder +disease with back pain.<br> +<br> +<b>The Frightening Heart</b><br> +    Heart disease is one of the major causes of death among North +Americans. It evokes images of resuscitation, of desperate races against time, trying +to restart an arrested heart before the brain dies. It makes people think of horribly +expensive surgery, last wills and testaments, terrible, paralyzing pain. Heart disease +is a great profit center for the medical profession.<br> +    Most heart problems are very easy to fix by holistic approaches, +even many hereditary weaknesses and malfunctions can be healed, if the work is done +before too much organic damage occurs. But it rarely is easy to get the people to +take the necessary medicine; everything in their lives must change--and fast.<br> +    First of all, people with heart problems must rapidly reach +and maintain normal weight. This can be done by fasting or by dietary change, usually +by eliminating all fats, sugars and refined starches. Alcohol and tobacco must instantly +and forever become only past memories. It is almost as essential to eliminate flesh +protein foods and dairy. Should that prove entirely too painful, fish in small quantities +and only one or two times a week is tolerable. <br> +    For starters, a long fast, especially one involving lots +of bed rest, is ideal. This gives the heart a chance to heal while the body weight +is adjusted. A period of intense rest even without water fasting will accomplish +almost as much. Even someone with the potential for heart disease who has not yet +had a heart attack would be well-served to spend a month in bed, losing weight on +juice, or sitting in a rocker on the porch eating only raw foods. After the weight +is down to normal or close to normal and the heart tests stronger, an exercise program +should be started.<br> +    Exercise has to become a religion. A daily aerobic program +must be started on a carefully managed gradient, using the pulse rate as an regulator, +at first raising their maximum heart rate to a point just below 150 percent of its +resting pulse and keeping it there for thirty minutes. One can walk, jog, ride a +bicycle or use an exercise machine. Actually, everyone should do this, even those +with no heart problems. My husband, who hates the boredom of exercise, enjoys a ski +machine in front of the TV while the stock market program is on. He finds the TV +interesting enough that he pays no attention to his workout. Daily aerobic exercise +will strengthen the heart, gradually slowing the heart's resting pulse rate, indicating +that the heart has become much stronger, pumping more blood with each pulse. As the +resting pulse drops the exercising heartbeat can be increased to double the resting +rate. <br> +    Highly aggressive, competitive, stress-oriented people have +to give up being adrenaline junkies and learn to relax and assume a laid-back approach +to living. Or die soon. An adrenaline junkie is someone that enjoys the feeling they +get when operating under stress. Stress and the adrenaline it releases produce a +kind of a drug-high. Many stressaholics cannot give up their adrenaline addiction +while maintaining their previous employment and life-style, even though their life +is at stake. In this sense they are like alcoholics, who should not take employment +tending bar. To survive for long these people may have to retire or change professions. +Stockbrokers may have to become Organic farmers; journalists may have to operate +a news stand or bookstore, or work part-time covering the society page and dog shows. +Women frequently turn their family life into a stress-filled drama too.<br> +    With heart problems a life extension megavitamin program +is essential, even for twenty somethings if they have heart disease. The sixty milligrams +of Co-Enzyme Q-10 I recommend for the average middle aged person will not be enough +for heart cases; they should take at least 120 milligrams daily and consider up to +250 mg. This much Q-10 greatly boosts the energy output of the heart on a cellular +level. Vitamin E should also be increased, to between 600 and 2,000 iu daily. I also +rebuild diseased hearts with protomorphogens; usually they must stay on protomorphogens +for the rest of their lives. Niacin taken several times a day in doses, sufficient +to dilate the capillaries and cause a skin flush (50 to 200 milligrams), increases +the blood flow to nourish the heart. The amino acid L. Carnitine is also useful by +increasing the energy output of the heart much like Co-Enzyme Q-10.<br> +    When I put people on this program, the supplements and other +measures gradually take effect, and over months the patient begins to feel enormously +better. Inevitably they come to dislike the side-effects of the various medications +their medical doctor has put them on and they begin to wean themselves off of heart-stimulating +poisons like digitalis. Another benefit of my program is that inevitably, blood pressure +also drops to a normal range so if they have been on blood pressure medication they +quit that too. Their diuretics also become unnecessary. The money they save more +than pays for their supplements and the sense of well-being they feel is beyond value.<br> +<br> +<b>Other Kinds Of Cancer</b><br> +    There seem to be many other kinds of cancer, at least if +you believe the medical doctors. They divide up cancers and their treatments by their +location in the body and by the type of cancer cells present. I do not see it that +way. To me, a cancer is a cancer is a cancer, and there is only one kind: it is an +immune system collapse, consequence of the deadly triangle of weak spleen, thymus +and liver, plus a toxic large intestine and weak pancreas. That organ profile is +found in skin cancer, prostate cancer, leukemia, brain cancer, cancer of what have +you. How fast or how slowly the cells multiply or spread, where they are located, +what the cancer cells look like in a microscope, these are irrelevant factors compared +to the body's ability to conquer the disease. Or die from it.<br> +    If the body's immune system can stop the growth of the cancers +and begin to turn them back before the cancer cells impinge catastrophically on some +vital function, the person can usually survive. Even if the body cannot completely +eliminate all the cancer cells, but regains enough immune function to keep the existing +cancers in permanent check, a person can survive many years with an existing, stable +cancer without undue pain or discomfort. Still having a non-growing tumor after a +long fast indicates that a person is a lot better than they were before fasting. +<br> +    I believe that virtually everyone has cancer cells in their +body, just like viruses and bacteria. But most people do not develop cancer as a +disease because their immune function is strong so these misbehaving cells are destroyed +as fast as they appear. Mutated, freely-multiplying cells are caused by peroxidized +fats, by free radicals in the body, by radiation (there has always been background +radiation on Earth), by chance mutation. There are naturally occurring highly carcinogenic +substances in ordinary foods that are unavoidable. In fact some of these naturally +occurring substances are far more dangerous than the toxic residues of pesticides +in our foods. The body is supposed to deal with all these things; they are all called +insults. It is rarely the insult, but the failure of the body to eliminate cancerous +cells promptly that causes the disease called cancer. So the treatment I recommend +for cancer in general is the same as the one described for breast cancer cases. Restore +the immune function.<br> +    However, as much as I lack respect for conventional medical +cancer therapies, I do think surgery can have a useful place in cancer treatment +along with hygienic methods. Some people just cannot confront the lump(s). Or they +are so terrified of having a cancer in their body that their emotions suppresses +their own immune function. Even though surgery prompts a cancer to spread more rapidly, +without their lumps some cancer patients feel more positive. If surgery is done in +conjunction with rebuilding the immune system, the body will prevent new cancers +from forming. <br> +    Removal of a large mass of cancer cells can also lighten +the immune system's task. Not having to kill off and reabsorb all those cells one-by-one +from a huge cancer mass, the body can better conquer smaller groups of cancer cells. +And the die-off of large cancers produces a lot of toxins, burdening the organs of +elimination. This is an argument for the potential benefit of a lumpectomy. However, +I do not support mastectomies, or the type of surgery that cause massive damage to +the body in a foolish attempt to remove every last cancer cell, as though the cells +themselves were the disease. <br> +    Sometimes cancer tumors are well-encapsulated, walled off +and can be easily removed without prompting metastasis. This type of tumor may not +be completely reabsorbed by the body in any case; though the immune system may have +killed it, an empty shell remains, like a peanut shell. Sometimes the judgment calls +about surgery can get dicey. When surgery involves removing an organ. I oppose the +loss of useful body parts.<br> +    I have also known and helped people who believed they couldn't +recover without radiation and chemotherapy. What people believe is, is. The emotions +generated when a personal reality is suppressed, ignored or invalidated will overwhelm +an immune system. I always tell those people who sincerely believe in it to go ahead +with standard medical treatment (while I'm privately praying the doctors won't cause +too much damage). However, when I am supporting a body with supplements and dietary +reform, have put that body on a raw-food cleansing diet or even a raw food diet with +nuts and grains that hardly detoxifies, and then the person has had chemotherapy +and radiation, the medical doctors in attendance are inevitably amazed that the side +effects are much milder than anticipated, or non-existent. And fewer courses of chemotherapy +are needed than the doctors expected. <br> +    For example, I worked with a little boy with leukemia. His +mother brought him to me while trying to resolve a conflict with her ex-husband about +the boy's treatment. The father demanded the standard medical route; the mother was +for natural therapy. Eventually the father won in court, but I had the boy on my +program for three months before the doctors got their hands on him. Even during chemotherapy +and radiation the mother kept the boy on my program. Throughout the doctors' treatment +he had so few bad side effects that he was able to continue in school and play with +the other children; he did not lose his hair (which would have made him feel like +a freak). He recovered. I don't mind that the medical doctors took credit, but to +my thinking, he recovered despite their therapy.<br> +<br> +<b>Onion Cases</b><br> +    All too many of my cases are what I privately refer to as +onion cases. By this I mean the opposite of a simple case. There are multiple complaints. +I call them onion cases because these people get better in layers, like pealing an +onion. As each skin comes off, the next becomes visible. Sometimes when the patient +overcomes an existing complaint, another appears that was not there in the beginning, +probably this new one is a complaint that they had at an earlier point in their life, +one that had gone away. Onion cases take a long time to completely heal, sometimes +years. There frequently are psychological aspects to the case that surface with different +physical problems. If I were not an effective psychologist I could not succeed with +most of them. The average medical doctor probably considers onion cases to be hypochondriacs, +but they usually are not. <br> +    Almost always the first symptoms that demand attention are +the most life-threatening, like immune system failures, liver failures, pancreatic +failures, nervous system failures and heart failures. With these eliminated, new +complaints appear. Often these are endocrine system imbalances or weak endocrine +glands, anemias, mild heart conditions. Then it gets down to eye or ear infections, +muscular or skeletal weaknesses, mild skin problems, sinusitis, teeth problems; things +that aren't serious but that do degrade the quality of life. Each one of these layers +also carries with it a psychological component; each of these layers can take three +to six months to resolve.<br> +    I had a pretty good idea from the first visit that Daniel, +not yet 30, was going to take some time to get well. He already had a degenerative +condition not usually seen until middle age--crippling gout and arthritis. He had +badly distorted joints, walked with considerable pain, lacked a full range of movement, +had enormous fatigue and consequently, a well-justified depression. Daniel was about +to give up working as no longer possible, but he liked his job. And he certainly +needed it.<br> +    Daniel's analysis showed massive allergies to foods, a systemic +yeast and multiple virus infections and multiple organ weaknesses: a life-threateningly +weak immune system, weak pancreas, weak adrenals, weak large intestine. Because he +could hardly accept anything he wasn't allergic to and because he could not afford +to quit working even for a few weeks (though he was about to be forced into complete +disability) I put him on a Bieler fast. This is a monodiet of fairly substantial +quantities of either well-cooked green beans or well-cooked zucchini, the choice +between these two foods depending on the acid-base balance of the blood. (Henry Bieler, +1965) In Daniel's case my choice was zucchini, one pint of plain zucchini puree with +a little kelp and garlic added (no salt, no butter, no nothing else) every few hours. +I also put him on heavy vitamin support and protomorphogens for his desperate immune +system. While on the Bieler fast he did daily enemas at home. Had colonics been available +to him, Daniel couldn't have afforded them.<br> +    Within three weeks he was far more comfortable, had less +pain, more energy even though he was still eating nothing but zucchini, had less +swelling in his joints. During the first month he lost about ten pounds and had been +skinny to start with. I then added other cooked nonstarchy vegetables to his diet +and we continued the same protomorphogen and supplement program for another month. +<br> +    Once each month Daniel came to see me. Each time he had slightly +improved organ strength and was able to tolerate a few more foods. By the third month +he stopped losing weight because we added small quantities of cooked rice and millet +to his diet. However, to continue his detox, I had him water fast one day a week, +staying in bed and resting all day. At the start and end of the fasting day he also +took an enema. He continued a weekly one-day fast for many months. By the fourth +month, his immune system testing stronger, a new problem appeared. Daniel had intestinal +parasites. So I also put him on a six month program to eliminate those.<br> +    Daniel required monthly dietary adjustments because he quickly +became allergic if he ate very much of anything very often--broccoli or rice for example. +During this time he became aware of many negative emotions associated with childhood, +of young adult frustrations and disappointments. He was really very angry about many +things in his life, even though he had for many years maintained an invariably pleasant +social veneer. But now he began expressing some of these feelings to me and to his +associates.<br> +    Daniel had an abusive girlfriend, but as he improved this +relationship became insufferable. So he broke off with this woman and found a new +relationship that was much more positive, one based on mutual respect and admiration. +There are frequently strong connections between repressed anger and depository diseases +like arthritis and gout. Daniel could not permit himself to constantly be made angry +and still get well.<br> +    His next layer of symptoms did not appear until nearly eighteen +months after he had first come to see me. By this time he had good energy, had returned +to hiking and skiing, camping and canoeing. He had worked as a printer but was now +bootstrapping his own print shop on a shoestring, and became entirely self-employed. +He had a good romantic relationship. The parasites were gone; his gout and arthritis +was virtually gone; many of his food allergies were gone. Now his body was demanding +that its acid/base balance be adjusted and he began to pay attention to the minor +back problems he had all along. Daniel had also developed a new problem--inflammation +of the eye. It was so severe that he went to an opthamologist seeking immediate relief +because he could hardly see. I put him on massive doses of vitamin C and protomorphogens +for the eye and we attacked the other problems.<br> +    Now I still see Daniel every three months for minor dietary +and supplement adjustments. His emotional space is very positive. His business is +doing well. His love life is doing well. He has developed no new problems and all +the old ones are under control. His organ systems, though better, will never tolerate +many insults, physical or mental, but if he lives within his limits, he has every +chance of a long and happy life. <br> +    Daniel has become a friend of mine by now and I like to see +him but I expect I won't see Daniel very much at all any more. He has learned what +he needs to know to take care of himself. This is a typical onion case that resolved +successfully. However this case might not have worked out so well had Daniel not +possessed a high degree of personal integrity and bravery, had he not faced and resolved +his emotional conflicts. Fortunately, Daniel had always conducted an ethical life, +without dishonesty or a secret collection of disreputable acts. Bodies are easy to +fix; they are carbon oxygen engines that work on chemistry and respond unfailingly +to physical measures. But the entity that runs the body is not so simple. The thoughts +and emotions of the spirit impinge on a body as powerfully or more powerfully than +all the vitamins, dietary reform or protomorphogens I can provide. The mind, and +the spirit behind that mind, can make a body sick or can prevent it from getting +well or staying well despite everything I do.<br> +<br> +<b>Unethical Illness</b><br> +    I see a lot of spiritually-induced physical illness in my +practice. Maybe more than my share. Maybe its karmic; it tends to find me because +I understand it. And it comes up my driveway because people who have it often become +doctor shoppers, and seek out a naturopath as a last resort after exhausting everything +that modern medical science has to offer. I have had large numbers of undiagnosable +people that suffer greatly but who medical doctors can find nothing wrong with and +label psychosomatic. I have also repaired people given specific medical diagnoses +that standard physical remedies cannot make better.<br> +    In most of these cases, the physical illness is secondary +to, is an overlay of a more fundamental spiritual cause. On this type of case there +are inevitably severe problems connected with close friends, relatives and business +associates. The sick person inevitably blames the friends, relatives and business +associates and takes no responsibility. The problems seem unresolvable. When I probe +deeply enough into these problems, I begin to discover the real infection below. +The sick person, so fond of complaining about all the terrible things done to them +by the people they have or have had problems with, or sometimes, so proud of not +complaining about all the terrible things done to them. Actually, almost inevitably +this person has committed a huge mass of secret crimes, viciousness and betrayals, +rarely indictable felonious acts, but crimes none the less, disreputable deeds that +must be kept secret. <br> +    These deeds are always completely justified; the sick person +always claims to have been right for having done them and it is next to impossible +for me as a therapist to get them to take responsibility for their sins. But at the +deep, center of almost all people is an honest, decent soul that knows what it has +really done and feels guilty and judges itself. That is why it says in the Bible, +'judge not, lest you be judged'. It is not the judgment of the Deity we have so much +to fear; we are own worst judge, jury, and executioner, and eventually extract from +ourselves full payment with compound interest for all harmful acts. <br> +    People frequently punish themselves with severe, incapacitating +illness or even death. A spiritual illness will not respond very well to physical +treatment until the spiritual malaise's is resolved. This case has to find enough +courage to become honest with themselves, to admit their deeds in all their disgusting +detail and then to make amends, or if amends are not possible, to at least cease +and desist. They have to take personal responsibly for what they really are being +and what they have really done and most importantly, accept that they are responsible +for creating their own illness. It is not a virus, a cancer cell or something that +just fell out of the universe and struck them, innocent victims that they are. They +have made their illness and only they can uncreate it.<br> +    Unfortunately, few people who have spent a lifetime indulging +themselves in this degree of irresponsibility have the integrity to change. This +is a tough case. Especially so because they think they are physically ill, they did +not come to me to be defined as a "mental" case and tend to reject such +approaches.<br> +<br><hr style="width: 100%;"><br> +<p>    There is no shortage of additional degenerative conditions +that I could describe. There are eating disorders, shingles, skin problems, kidney +disease, Alzheimer's, senility, mental illness, addictions, chronic fatigue syndrome, +aids. There's macular degeneration, carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic ear infections +(especially in children), tonsillitis, bronchitis, pancreatitis, cystitis, urethritis, +prostatitis, colitis, sinusitis, osteomyelitis and a dozen other itises, including +appendicitis. There's algias (itises of the nerves): neuralgia, fibromyalgia. There's +ism's (really itises of the muscles). There are 'onias like pneumonia; omas like +carcinoma, melanoma and lymphoma.<br> +    I could (but won't) write a page or two on every one of these +conditions and turn this book into an encyclopedia. After twenty five years of practice, +there is little I have not seen. Or helped a body repair. Generally, everyone of +those following pages I'm not going to bother to write would repeat the same message. +That the medical profession has little understanding of the real causes or cures +of disease; that the world is full of unnecessary suffering; that there are simple, +painless, effective, harmless approaches to eliminating most of the ailments of mankind +except the ultimate ailment, old age, the thing that takes us all eventually; that +essentially all the diseases resolve from the same approach.<br> +    But I have already explained the theoretical basis of natural +hygiene, the key role of toxemia, enervation, constipation, the essentials of good +diet, fasting and colon cleansing, the importance of regular exercise, and the rational +for vitamin supplementation. I have revealed a lot of the secrets in my bag of tricks, +like my favorite herbs, poultices and wheat grass.<br> +    What concerns me most about medicine today is that there +seems to be ever fewer hygienists practicing. The young holistic practitioner is +overwhelmed with confusing data and approaches and is increasingly less able to discern +what is really important and what is distraction, and is increasingly intimidated +by the AMA, made fearful of accepting people with serious conditions. Too many young +practitioners become ideologues, clinging to the rightness of a single rigid discipline, +missing the truths that exist in other approaches and worse, missing the limitations +that exist in their own personal healing methods.<br> +    The current concern about the cost of medical care and resorting +to government-run insurance programs and regulations will do little or nothing to +reverse the trend to more and more sickness that costs more and more to treat. The +root causes of our current crisis are two fold. One, our food, just as it comes off +the farm, is getting ever worse. This is not even recognized as a problem. After +we process it for an industrial food distribution system, much nutrition is lost +too. This is barely recognized as a problem. Until we are better nourished, we will +be ever sicker and each generation will become a degeneration. Secondly, our society +is suffering from all the evils of monopoly medicine. This is barely recognized. +The AMA has a stranglehold on the sick. There is no effective competition for its +methods. Alternatives are suppressed. In my version of a better world, if anyone +that wanted to could hang out a shingle and offer to diagnose, treat and cure disease, +a few quacks would really hurt a few people. But many genuine therapies would appear +and the public would be exposed to workable alternatives. If anyone that wanted to +market it could put a label on a bottle of pills, power or tincture that said its +contents would heal or cure disease, yes, a few people would be poisoned. And a few +would die needlessly by failing to get the right treatment. But on the positive side, +all this liberty would result in countless new therapies being rediscovered and many +new uses for existing substances would appear.<br> +    Fundamentally, this is the issue of liberty. I believe it +is better to allow choice and options, to permit the dangers that go with liberty +to exist. And to allow unfortunate outcomes to occur without intervention into individual +lack of intelligence and irresponsibilities. The opposite is our current path--an +attempt to regulate and control away all dangers. But this overcontrol results in +institutionalized violence and cruelty, inefficiency that is not checked or exposed +by the bright light of a better way. As Churchill said, 'democracy is the worst form +of government there is--except for all the others.' What he meant is that we must +accept that this is an imperfect world. The best this planet can be is when it is +at its freest, when restrictions are minimized and when people are allowed to make +their own choices, be responsible for their own outcomes and experience the consequences +of their own stupidities. <br> +<br> +<br> +<a id="Appendix"></a><div style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Appendix</b></div><br> +<br> +<br> +<b>Pulse Testing For Allergies</b> <br> +    Coca's Pulse Tests are extraordinarily useful and simple +tools for at-home allergy detection. My clients have succeeded at using this approach +without supervision. Coca's test works on this simple principle: pulse elevations +are caused by any allergic reaction. If you know what your normal range of pulse +rates are, you can isolate an offending food or substance and eliminate it. Success +with Coca's Pulse Test requires only motivation and a little perseverance, because +in order to test for food allergies, the diet must be restricted for a few days and +your pulse must be accurately taken at specific intervals during the testing period.<br> +    The test is based on measurement of the resting pulse rate, +something most people have no difficulty learning how to do. The resting rate is +how fast the heart beats after a person has been sitting still, comfortably relaxing +for three to five minutes. When a person is active the heart beats faster than the +resting rate. One measure of aerobic fitness is how quickly the heart is able to +return to its resting rate. Well-trained athletes' hearts can adjust from working +very hard to a resting rate in only a minute or so; those who are deconditioned can +take three to five minutes for their heart to slow from even mild exertion to its +stable, resting pace. Those who cannot readily find their own pulse on their wrist +or throat can inexpensively purchase a digital watch that gives a pulse reading; +this kind of watch is used by athletes to make sure their training pulse is in an +acceptable range. <br> +    Preparatory to doing Coca's Pulse Test it is necessary to +as much as possible eliminate allergic food reactions. This requires the application +of discipline for a few days before testing begins. Allergic reactions can go on +for several days after a food has been eaten and if you are having a reaction to +something eaten many hours or several days previously, it may obscure a reaction +to a food just eaten.<br> +    1. Stop smoking entirely for at least five days before you +do a cigarette test; allergies to cigarettes can take five days to clear. Besides, +you shouldn't smoke, anyway!<br> +    2. For the first three days, count your resting pulse immediately +after awakening in the morning (for one entire minute), and record the reading.<br> +    3. During the first three days, take your resting pulse half +an hour and again one hour after each meal. It if has elevated more than 12 beats +above the resting rate you found upon arising that morning, you may assume that some +food at the meal you just ate was an allergen. Temporarily, eliminate from your diet +all the foods eaten at the previous meal until you can check them one-by-one a few +days later. At the end of these first three days you may not have many foods left +that you can eat. That is okay and to be expected; it is time to begin adding foods +back to the diet.<br> +    4. Most people who are allergic to foods are allergic to +one or more of the following: corn, wheat, milk and cheese, yogurt, meat, alcohol, +tobacco. It would be very wise to eliminate these foods too for the first three days, +until they are tested.<br> +    After three days on this regimen, you can assume that many +of your usual allergic food reactions have ceased or at least diminished significantly +and that you probably can get reasonably accurate testing results on individual foods. +A good indicator of having problems with food allergies in general can also show +up during these initial days. If you have eliminated a large number of foods and +your resting pulse upon awakening has slowed down by several beats, you can assume +you are allergic to foods you were eating.<br> +    I would not be at all surprised that by the end of the third +day you were only eating a very few fruits and vegetables and had eliminated everything +else. A more effective variant of the testing procedure calls for a three or four +day water fast to clear all allergies with absolute certainty, and then to introduce +foods one at a time as described below.<br> +    On the fourth and subsequent few days, take your resting +pulse upon arising and then eat a modest quantity of a single food: for example, +eat a slice of bread, or a medium sized glass of milk, or an orange, or two tablespoons +sugar in dissolved in water, or a few dried prunes, or a peach, or an egg, or a medium-sized +potato, or a cup of black coffee without sweetener, or a few ounces of meat, or a +stick of celery, or half a cup of raw cabbage, or an onion, or a date, or a few hazelnuts, +etc. Count the pulse one half hour later and again one hour after eating the test +item. <br> +    If any food raises the resting pulse over 12 beats per minute +above your morning resting pulse, that food should be eliminated; you are certainly +allergic to it or can't digest that much of it. If your pulse has not returned to +its morning resting rate one hour later, you are still having an allergic reaction +to the food you ate previously and cannot get a decent result on another food until +either your pulse slows again or until the next morning. You may, however, continue +to eat other foods that you know do not provoke allergic reactions. Because reactions +to a food may not clear for many hours, it is wise to eat only small quantities of +individual foods if you wish to test many of them in a single day. If a food causes +no acceleration of pulse (at least 6 beats above your estimated normal maximal) that +food can be tentatively labeled non-allergenic.<br> +    After a few days of testing one food an hour, you will become +weary of the routine and wish to eat more normally. It may also occur that you cannot +test more than one or two foods a day from the very first day because allergic reactions +do not clear quickly enough. No problem, the testing period can go on at a lower +level of intensity for many weeks, trying one new food each morning upon arising. +As you eliminate allergens from your diet one by one, your resting pulse should drop +somewhat and it should be easier to discern allergic reactions. After you have worked +through all the items in your normal dietary, it would be wise to retest the foods +a second time, breaking your fast with one different test item each morning. This +second testing round may reveal a few more allergic reactions that were obscured +by other allergic reactions the first time through.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<b>Vitamin and Supplement Suppliers</b> <br> +<br> +Bronson Pharmaceutical<br> +1945 Craig Road<br> +P.O. Box 46903<br> +St. Louis, MO 63146<br> +[800] 525-8466 <br> +<br> +Douglas Cooper Products<br> +Box 65976<br> +Los Angeles, CA 90065<br> +[800] 234-8686<br> +<br> +Prolongevity, Ltd.<br> +10 Alden Road, Unit 6<br> +Markham, Ontario L3R 2S1 <br> +Canada<br> +[800] 544-4440<br> +<br> +Prolongevity, Inc.<br> +1142 W. Indian School Road<br> +Phoenix, AZ 85013<br> +[800] 544-4440<br> +<br> +Vitamin Research Products<br> +3579 Hwy. 50 E.<br> +Carson City, NV 89701<br> +[800] 877-2447<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<b>Publishers Of Books Not Readily Findable</b><br> +<br> +Life Extension Foundation<br> +2835 Hollywood Blvd.<br> +Hollywood, Florida 33020<br> +[800] 544-0577<br> +I strongly recommend joining and regularly studying their newsletter. Besides, when +you do, Prolongevity will give you a significant discount that amounts to far more +than the cost of a membership if you use many food supplements.<br> +<br> +Health Research Publishing<br> +P.O. Box 70<br> +Mokelumne Hill, CA 95245<br> +Find here reprints of all the old classics of natural hygiene.<br> +<br> +American Natural Hygiene Society<br> +Herbert Shelton Library<br> +P.O. Box 30630<br> +Tampa, Florida 33630<br> +Find here all of Herbert Shelton's works.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<b>Bibliography</b> + +<OL> + <LI>Airola, P. N. D., PhD (1974). <I>How to Get Well.</I> Phoenix: Health Plus Publishers. + <LI>Albrecht, W. A. (1975). <I>The Albrecht Papers</I>. Kansas City: Acres, USA. + <LI>Alexander, J. (1990). <I>Blatant Raw Foodist Propaganda!</I> Nevada City, California: + Blue Dolphin Publishing, Inc. + <LI>Alsleben, Rudolph H. and Shute, Wilfred E. (1973).<I> How to Survive the New + Health Catastrophes.</I> Anaheim, CA: Survival Publications. + <LI>de Baïracli Levy, Juliette. (1953) <I>The Complete Herbal Handbook for The + Dog and Cat.</I> London: Faber and Faber. + <LI>de Baïracli Levy, Juliette. (1954) <I>The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm + and Stable.</I> London: Faber and Faber. + <LI>Bieler, H. G., M.D. (1965). <I>Food Is Your Best Medicine</I>. New York: Random + House. Also Bantam paperback. + <LI>Bliznakov, Emile G., M.D. and Hunt, Gerald L. (1987) <I>The Miracle Nutrient: + Coenzyme Q-10.</I> New York: Bantam Books. + <LI>Carrel, A. (1939). <I>Man the Unknown.</I> London. + <LI>Carrington, H. (1963). <I>Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition</I> (reprint of original + ca. 1900 edition). Mokelumne Hill, California: Health Research. + <LI>Clark, J. (1957). <I>Hunza: Lost Kingdom of the Himalayas.</I> London: Hutchinson. + <LI>Coca, Arthur F., M.D. (1956) <I>The Pulse Test: Easy Allergy Detection.</I> New + York: Lyle Stuart, Inc. (Also 1978 paperback edition. New York: Arco Publishing Co.) + <LI>Cornaro, L. (1566). <I>Discourses on the Sober Life</I> (reprint: has been through + many reprintings by various publishers). Mokelumne Hill, California: Health Research. + <LI>Densmore, E. M. D. (1892). <I>How Nature Cures</I> (Reprinted 1976 by Health + Research, Mokelumne Hill, California). New York: Stillman & Co. + <LI>DeVries, A. (1963). <I>Therapeutic Fasting.</I> Greene, Iowa: Chandler Book Co. + <LI>Garten, M.O., D.C. (1958) <I>The Dynamics of Vibrant Health.</I> Dulzura, CA: + Author. + <LI>Gerson, M., M.D. (1958). <I>A Cancer Therapy: Results of Fifty Cases. </I>DelMar, + California: Totality Books. + <LI>Gray, R. (1980). <I>The Colon Health Handbook</I>. Oakland, California: Rockridge + Publishing Company. + <LI>Hazzard, L. B. D. O. (1927). <I>Scientific Fasting: The Ancient and Modern Key + to Health</I> (also Mokelume Hill reprint of original). New York: Grant Publications. + <LI>Hawking, David and Pauling, Linus, editors. (1973) <I>Orthomolecular Psychiatry: + Treatment of Schizophrenia.</I> San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Company. + <LI>Hoffer, Abram and Walker, Morton. 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Moser with Steve Solomon</FONT> <BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<B><BR> +Table of Contents</B><BR> +<BR> +<A HREF="#Forward">Forward by Steve Solomon</A><BR> +<BR> +<A HREF="#Chapter1">Chapter One: How I Became a Hygienist</A> <BR> +<BR> +<A HREF="#Chapter2">Chapter Two: The Nature and Cause of Disease </A><BR> +<BR> +<A HREF="#Chapter3">Chapter Three: Fasting </A><BR> +<BR> +<A HREF="#Chapter4">Chapter Four: Colon Cleansing </A><BR> +<BR> +<A HREF="#Chapter5">Chapter Five: Diet and Nutrition </A><BR> +<BR> +<A HREF="#Chapter6">Chapter Six: Vitamins and Other Food Supplements</A><BR> +<BR> +<A HREF="#Chapter7">Chapter Seven: The Analysis of Disease States--Helping +the Body Recover</A> <BR> +<BR> +<A HREF="#Appendix">Appendices</A><BR> +<CENTER> +<P><A NAME="Forward"></A><FONT SIZE="4"><B>Forward</B></FONT></P> +</CENTER> +<DIV ALIGN="RIGHT"> +<P><FONT SIZE="1"><I>Tis a gift to be simple <BR> +Tis a gift to be free, <BR> +Tis a gift to come down <BR> +Where we ought to be. <BR> +And when we find ourselves <BR> +In a place just right, <BR> +It will be in the valley <BR> +Of love and delight. </I><BR> +<BR> +Old Shaker Hymn <BR> +Favorite of Dr. Isabelle Moser</FONT></P> +</DIV> +<P><BR> +    I was a physically tough, +happy-go-lucky fellow until I reached my late thirties. Then I began to experience +more and more off days when I did not feel quite right. I thought I possessed an +iron constitution. Although I grew a big food garden and ate mostly "vegetablitarian" +I thought I could eat anything with impunity. I had been fond of drinking beer with +my friends while nibbling on salty snacks or heavy foods late into the night. And +until my health began to weaken I could still get up the next morning after several +homebrewed beers, feeling good, and would put in a solid day's work. <BR> +    When my health began to slip I went looking for a cure. Up +to that time the only use I'd had for doctors was to fix a few traumatic injuries. +The only preventative health care I concerned myself with was to take a multivitamin +pill during those rare spells when I felt a bit run down and to eat lots of vegetables. +So I'd not learned much about alternative health care. <BR> +    Naturally, my first stop was a local general practitioner/MD. +He gave me his usual half-hour get-acquainted checkout and opined that there almost +certainly was nothing wrong with me. I suspect I had the good fortune to encounter +an honest doctor, because he also said if it were my wish he could send me around +for numerous tests but most likely these would not reveal anything either. More than +likely, all that was wrong was that I was approaching 40; with the onset of middle +age I would naturally have more aches and pains. 'Take some aspirin and get used +to it,' was his advice. 'It'll only get worse.' <BR> +    Not satisfied with his dismal prognosis I asked an energetic +old guy I knew named Paul, an '80-something homesteader who was renowned for his +organic garden and his good health. Paul referred me to his doctor, Isabelle Moser, +who at that time was running the Great Oaks School of Health, a residential and out-patient +spa nearby at Creswell, Oregon. <BR> +    Dr. Moser had very different methods of analysis than the +medicos, was warmly personal and seemed very safe to talk to. She looked me over, +did some strange magical thing she called muscle testing and concluded that I still +had a very strong constitution. If I would eliminate certain "bad" foods +from my diet, eliminate some generally healthful foods that, unfortunately, I was +allergic to, if I would reduce my alcohol intake greatly and take some food supplements, +then gradually my symptoms would abate. With the persistent application of a little +self-discipline over several months, maybe six months, I could feel really well again +almost all the time and would probably continue that way for many years to come. +This was good news, though the need to apply personal responsibility toward the solution +of my problem seemed a little sobering. <BR> +    But I could also see that Dr. Moser was obviously not telling +me something. So I gently pressed her for the rest. A little shyly, reluctantly, +as though she were used to being rebuffed for making such suggestions, Isabelle asked +me if I had ever heard of fasting? 'Yes,' I said. "I had. Once when I was about +twenty and staying at a farm in Missouri, during a bad flu I actually did fast, mainly +because I was too sick to take anything but water for nearly one week.' <BR> +    "Why do you ask?" I demanded. <BR> +    "If you would fast, you will start feeling really good +as soon as the fast is over." she said. <BR> +    "Fast? How long?" <BR> +    "Some have fasted for a month or even longer," +she said. Then she observed my crestfallen expression and added, "Even a couple +of weeks would make an enormous difference." <BR> +    It just so happened that I was in between set-up stages for +a new mail-order business I was starting and right then I did have a couple of weeks +when I was virtually free of responsibility. I could also face the idea of not eating +for a couple of weeks. "Okay!" I said somewhat impulsively. "I could +fast for two weeks. If I start right now maybe even three weeks, depending on how +my schedule works out." <BR> +    So in short order I was given several small books about fasting +to read at home and was mentally preparing myself for several weeks of severe privation, +my only sustenance to be water and herb tea without sweetener. And then came the +clinker. <BR> +    "Have you ever heard of colonics?" she asked sweetly. +<BR> +    "Yes. Weird practice, akin to anal sex or something?" +<BR> +    "Not at all," she responded. "Colonics are +essential during fasting or you will have spells when you'll feel terrible. Only +colonics make water fasting comfortable and safe." <BR> +    Then followed some explanation about bowel cleansing (and +another little book to take home) and soon I was agreeing to get my body over to +her place for a colonic every two or three days during the fasting period, the first +colonic scheduled for the next afternoon. I'll spare you a detailed description of +my first fast with colonics; you'll read about others shortly. In the end I withstood +the boredom of water fasting for 17 days. During the fast I had about 7 colonics. +I ended up feeling great, much trimmer, with an enormous rebirth of energy. And when +I resumed eating it turned out to be slightly easier to control my dietary habits +and appetites. <BR> +    Thus began my practice of an annual health-building water +fast. Once a year, at whatever season it seemed propitious, I'd set aside a couple +of weeks to heal my body. While fasting I'd slowly drive myself over to Great Oaks +School for colonics every other day. By the end of my third annual fast in 1981, +Isabelle and I had become great friends. About this same time Isabelle's relationship +with her first husband, Douglas Moser, had disintegrated. Some months later, Isabelle +and I became partners. And then we married.<BR> +    My regular fasts continued through 1984, by which time I +had recovered my fundamental organic vigor and had retrained my dietary habits. About +1983 Isabelle and I also began using Life Extension megavitamins as a therapy against +the aging process. Feeling so much better I began to find the incredibly boring weeks +of prophylactic fasting too difficult to motivate myself to do, and I stopped. Since +that time I fast only when acutely ill. Generally less than one week on water handles +any non-optimum health condition I've had since '84. I am only 54 years old as I +write these words, so I hope it will be many, many years before I find myself in +the position where I have to fast for an extended period to deal with a serious or +life-threatening condition. <BR> +    I am a kind of person the Spanish call <I>autodidactico,</I> +meaning that I prefer to teach myself. I had already learned the fine art of self-employment +and general small-business practice that way, as well as radio and electronic theory, +typography and graphic design, the garden seed business, horticulture, and agronomy. +When Isabelle moved in with me she also brought most of Great Oak's extensive library, +including very hard to obtain copies of the works of the early hygienic doctors. +Naturally I studied her books intensely. <BR> +    Isabelle also brought her medical practice into our house. +At first it was only a few loyal local clients who continued to consult with her +on an out-patient basis, but after a few years, the demands for residential care +from people who were seriously and sometimes life-threateningly sick grew irresistibly, +and I found myself sharing our family house with a parade of really sick people. +True, I was not their doctor, but because her residential clients became temporary +parts of our family, I helped support and encourage our residents through their fasting +process. I'm a natural teacher (and how-to-do-it writer), so I found myself explaining +many aspects of hygienic medicine to Isabelle's clients, while having a first-hand +opportunity to observe for myself the healing process at work. Thus it was that I +became the doctor's assistant and came to practice second-hand hygienic medicine. +<BR> +    In 1994, when Isabelle had reached the age of 54, she began +to think about passing on her life's accumulation of healing wisdom by writing a +book. She had no experience at writing for the popular market, her only major writing +being a Ph.D. dissertation. I on the other hand had published seven books about vegetable +gardening. And I grasped the essentials of her wisdom as well as any non-practitioner +could. So we took a summer off and rented a house in rural Costa Rica, where I helped +Isabelle put down her thoughts on a cheap word-processing typewriter. When we returned +to the States, I fired-up my "big-mac" and composed this manuscript into +a rough book format that was given to some of her clients to get what is trendily +called these days, "feedback." <BR> +    But before we could completely finish her book, Isabelle +became dangerously ill and after a long, painful struggle with abdominal cancer, +she died. After I resurfaced from the worst of my grief and loss, I decided to finish +her book. Fortunately, the manuscript needed little more than polishing. I am telling +the reader these things because many ghost-written books end up having little direct +connection with the originator of the thoughts. Not so in this case. And unlike many +ghost writers, I had a long and loving apprenticeship with the author. At every step +of our colaboration on this book I have made every effort to communicate Isabelle's +viewpoints in the way she would speak, not my own. Dr. Isabelle Moser was for many +years my dearest friend. I have worked on this book to help her pass her understanding +on. <BR> +    Many people consider death to be a complete invalidation +of a healing arts practitioner. I don't. Coping with her own dicey health had been +a major motivator for Isabelle's interest in healing others. She will tell you more +about it in the chapters to come. Isabelle had been fending off cancer since its +first blow up when she was 26 years old. I view that 30 plus years of defeating Death +as a great success rather than consider her ultimate defeat as a failure. <BR> +    Isabelle Moser was born in 1940 and died in 1996. I think +the greatest accomplishment of her 56 years was to meld virtually all available knowledge +about health and healing into a workable and most importantly, a simple model that +allowed her to have amazing success. Her "system" is simple enough that +even a generally well-educated non-medico like me can grasp it. And use it without +consulting a doctor every time a symptom appears. <BR> +    Finally, I should mention that over the years since this +book was written I have discovered contains some significant errors of anatomical +or psysiological detail. Most of these happened because the book was written "off +the top of Isabelle's head," without any reference materials at hand, not even +an anatomy text. I have not fixed these goofs as I am not even qualified to find +them all. Thus, when the reader reads such as 'the pancreas secreates enzymes into +the stomach,' (actually and correctly, the duodenum) I hope they will understand +and not invalidate the entire book.<BR> +<B><BR> +<A NAME="Chapter1">Chapter One</A> <BR> +</B><FONT SIZE="4"><B>How I Became a Hygienist</B> <BR> +</FONT><BR> +<FONT SIZE="1"><B><BR> +<BR> +From The Hygienic Dictionary</B></FONT><BR> +<BR> +<FONT SIZE="2"><B>Doctors.</B> [1] In the matter of disease and healing, the people +have been treated as serfs. The doctor is a dictator who knows it all, and the people +are stupid, dumb, driven cattle, fit for nothing except to be herded together, bucked +and gagged when necessary to force medical opinion down their throats or under their +skins. I found that professional dignity was more often pomposity, sordid bigotry +and gilded ignorance. The average physician is a fear-monger, if he is anything. +He goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may scare to death. <I>Dr. John. +H. Tilden, Impaired Health: Its Cause and Cure, Vol. 1, 1921.</I> [2] Today we are +not only in the Nuclear Age but also the Antibiotic Age. Unhappily, too, this is +the Dark Age of Medicine--an age in which many of my colleagues, when confronted +with a patient, consult a volume which rivals the Manhattan telephone directory in +size. This book contains the names of thousands upon thousands of drugs used to alleviate +the distressing symptoms of a host of diseased states of the body. The doctor then +decides which pink or purple or baby-blue pill to prescribe for the patient. This +is not, in my opinion, the practice of medicine. Far too many of these new "miracle" +drugs are introduced with fanfare and then reveled as lethal in character, to be +silently discarded for newer and more powerful drugs. <I>Dr. Henry Bieler: Food is +Your Best Medicine; 1965.</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="1"><BR> +</FONT><BR> +<BR> +    I have two reasons for writing this book. One, to help educate +the general public about the virtues of natural medicine. The second, to encourage +the next generation of natural healers. Especially the second because it is not easy +to become a natural hygienist; there is no school or college or licensing board.<BR> +    Most AMA-affiliated physicians follow predictable career +paths, straight well-marked roads, climbing through apprenticeships in established +institutions to high financial rewards and social status. Practitioners of natural +medicine are not awarded equally high status, rarely do we become wealthy, and often, +naturopaths arrive at their profession rather late in life after following the tangled +web of their own inner light. So I think it is worth a few pages to explain how I +came to practice a dangerous profession and why I have accepted the daily risks of +police prosecution and civil liability without possibility of insurance.<BR> +    Sometimes it seems to me that I began this lifetime powerfully +predisposed to heal others. So, just for childhood warm-ups I was born into a family +that would be much in need of my help. As I've always disliked an easy win, to make +rendering that help even more difficult, I decided to be the youngest child, with +two older brothers. <BR> +    A pair of big, capable brothers might have guided and shielded +me. But my life did not work out that way. The younger of my two brothers, three +years ahead of me, was born with many health problems. He was weak, small, always +ill, and in need of protection from other children, who are generally rough and cruel. +My father abandoned our family shortly after I was born; it fell to my mother to +work to help support us. Before I was adolescent my older brother left home to pursue +a career in the Canadian Air Force. <BR> +    Though I was the youngest, I was by far the healthiest. Consequently, +I had to pretty much raise myself while my single mother struggled to earn a living +in rural western Canada. This circumstance probably reinforced my constitutional +predilection for independent thought and action. Early on I started to protect my +"little" brother, making sure the local bullies didn't take advantage of +him. I learned to fight big boys and win. I also helped him acquire simple skills, +ones that most kids grasp without difficulty, such as swimming, bike riding, tree +climbing, etc. <BR> +    And though not yet adolescent, I had to function as a responsible +adult in our household. Stressed by anger over her situation and the difficulties +of earning our living as a country school teacher (usually in remote one-room schools), +my mother's health deteriorated rapidly. As she steadily lost energy and became less +able to take care of the home, I took over more and more of the cleaning, cooking, +and learned how to manage her--a person who feels terrible but must work to survive. +<BR> +    During school hours my mother was able to present a positive +attitude, and was truly a gifted teacher. However, she had a personality quirk. She +obstinately preferred to help the most able students become even more able, but she +had little desire to help those with marginal mentalities. This predilection got +her into no end of trouble with local school boards; inevitably it seemed the District +Chairman would have a stupid, badly-behaved child that my mother refused to cater +to. Several times we had to move in the middle of the school year when she was dismissed +without notice for "insubordination." This would inevitably happen on the +frigid Canadian Prairies during mid-winter.<BR> +    At night, exhausted by the day's efforts, my mother's positiveness +dissipated and she allowed her mind to drift into negative thoughts, complaining +endlessly about my irresponsible father and about how much she disliked him for treating +her so badly. These emotions and their irresponsible expression were very difficult +for me to deal with as a child, but it taught me to work on diverting someone's negative +thoughts, and to avoid getting dragged into them myself, skills I had to use continually +much later on when I began to manage mentally and physically ill clients on a residential +basis.<BR> +    My own personal health problems had their genesis long before +my own birth. Our diet was awful, with very little fresh fruit or vegetables. We +normally had canned, evaporated milk, though there were a few rare times when raw +milk and free-range fertile farm eggs were available from neighbors. Most of my foods +were heavily salted or sugared, and we ate a great deal of fat in the form of lard. +My mother had little money but she had no idea that some of the most nutritious foods +are also the least expensive. <BR> +    It is no surprise to me that considering her nutrient-poor, +fat-laden diet and stressful life, my mother eventually developed severe gall bladder +problems. Her degeneration caused progressively more and more severe pain until she +had a cholecystectomy. The gallbladder's profound deterioration had damaged her liver +as well, seeming to her surgeon to require the removal of half her liver. After this +surgical insult she had to stop working and never regained her health. Fortunately, +by this time all her children were independent.<BR> +     I had still more to overcome. My eldest brother had a nervous +breakdown while working on the DEW Line (he was posted on the Arctic Circle watching +radar screens for a possible incoming attack from Russia). I believe his collapse +actually began with our childhood nutrition. While in the Arctic all his foods came +from cans. He also was working long hours in extremely cramped quarters with no leave +for months in a row, never going outside because of the cold, or having the benefit +of natural daylight. <BR> +    When he was still in the acute stage of his illness (I was +still a teenager myself) I went to the hospital where my bother was being held, and +talked the attending psychiatrist into immediately discharging him into my care. +The physician also agreed to refrain from giving him electroshock therapy, a commonly +used treatment for mental conditions in Canadian hospitals at that time. Somehow +I knew the treatment they were using was wrong. <BR> +    I brought my brother home still on heavy doses of thorazine. +The side effects of this drug were so severe he could barely exist: blurred vision, +clenched jaw, trembling hands, and restless feet that could not be kept still. These +are common problems with the older generation of psycho tropic medications, generally +controlled to some extent with still other drugs like cogentin (which he was taking +too).<BR> +    My brother steadily reduced his tranquilizers until he was +able to think and do a few things. On his own he started taking a lot of B vitamins +and eating whole grains. I do not know exactly why he did this, but I believe he +was following his intuition. (I personally did not know enough to suggest a natural +approach at that time.) In any case after three months on vitamins and an improved +diet he no long needed any medication, and was delighted to be free of their side +effects. He remained somewhat emotionally fragile for a few more months but he soon +returned to work, and has had no mental trouble from that time to this day. This +was the beginning of my interest in mental illness, and my first exposure to the +limitations of 'modern' psychiatry.<BR> +    I always preferred self-discipline to being directed by others. +So I took every advantage of having a teacher for a mother and studied at home instead +of being bored silly in a classroom. In Canada of that era you didn't have to go +to high school to enter university, you only had to pass the written government entrance +exams. At age 16, never having spent a single day in high school, I passed the university +entrance exams with a grade of 97 percent. At that point in my life I really wanted +to go to medical school and become a doctor, but I didn't have the financial backing +to embark on such a long and costly course of study, so I settled on a four year +nursing course at the University of Alberta, with all my expenses paid in exchange +for work at the university teaching hospital. <BR> +    At the start of my nurses training I was intensely curious +about everything in the hospital: birth, death, surgery, illness, etc. I found most +births to be joyful, at least when everything came out all right. Most people died +very alone in the hospital, terrified if they were conscious, and all seemed totally +unprepared for death, emotionally or spiritually. None of the hospital staff wanted +to be with a dying person except me; most hospital staff were unable to confront +death any more bravely than those who were dying. So I made it a point of being at +the death bed. The doctors and nurses found it extremely unpleasant to have to deal +with the preparation of the dead body for the morgue; this chore usually fell to +me also. I did not mind dead bodies. They certainly did not mind me!<BR> +    I had the most difficulty accepting surgery. There were times +when surgery was clearly a life saving intervention, particularly when the person +had incurred a traumatic injury, but there were many other cases when, though the +knife was the treatment of choice, the results were disastrous. <BR> +    Whenever I think of surgery, my recollections always go to +a man with cancer of the larynx. At that time the University of Alberta had the most +respected surgeons and cancer specialists in the country. To treat cancer they invariably +did surgery, plus radiation and chemotherapy to eradicate all traces of cancerous +tissue in the body, but they seemed to forget there also was a human being residing +in that very same cancerous body. This particularly unfortunate man came into our +hospital as a whole human being, though sick with cancer. He could still speak, eat, +swallow, and looked normal. But after surgery he had no larynx, nor esophagus, nor +tongue, and no lower jaw. <BR> +    The head surgeon, who, by the way, was considered to be a +virtual god amongst gods, came back from the operating room smiling from ear to ear, +announcing proudly that he had 'got all the cancer'. But when I saw the result I +thought he'd done a butcher's job. The victim couldn't speak at all, nor eat except +through a tube, and he looked grotesque. Worst, he had lost all will to live. I thought +the man would have been much better off to keep his body parts as long as he could, +and die a whole person able to speak, eating if he felt like it, being with friends +and family without inspiring a gasp of horror. <BR> +    I was sure there must be better ways of dealing with degenerative +conditions such as cancer, but I had no idea what they might be or how to find out. +There was no literature on medical alternatives in the university library, and no +one in the medical school ever hinted at the possibility except when the doctors +took jabs at chiropractors. Since no one else viewed the situation as I did I started +to think I might be in the wrong profession. <BR> +    It also bothered me that patients were not respected, were +not people; they were considered a "case" or a "condition." I +was frequently reprimanded for wasting time talking to patients, trying to get acquainted. +The only place in the hospital where human contact was acceptable was the psychiatric +ward. So I enjoyed the rotation to psychiatry for that reason, and decided that I +would like to make psychiatry or psychology my specialty. <BR> +    By the time I finished nursing school, it was clear that +the hospital was not for me. I especially didn't like its rigid hierarchical system, +where all bowed down to the doctors. The very first week in school we were taught +that when entering a elevator, make sure that the doctor entered first, then the +intern, then the charge nurse. Followed by, in declining order of status: graduate +nurses, third year nurses, second year nurses, first year nurses, then nursing aids, +then orderlies, then ward clerks, and only then, the cleaning staff. No matter what +the doctor said, the nurse was supposed to do it immediately without question--a +very military sort of organization. <BR> +    Nursing school wasn't all bad. I learned how to take care +of all kinds of people with every variety of illness. I demonstrated for myself that +simple nursing care could support a struggling body through its natural healing process. +But the doctor-gods tended to belittle and denigrate nurses. No wonder--so much of +nursing care consists of unpleasant chores like bed baths, giving enemas and dealing +with other bodily functions. <BR> +    I also studied the state-of-the-art science concerning every +conceivable medical condition, its symptoms, and treatment. At the university hospital +nurses were required to take the same pre-med courses as the doctors--including anatomy, +physiology, biochemistry, and pharmacology. Consequently, I think it is essential +for holistic healers to first ground themselves in the basic sciences of the body's +physiological systems. There is also much valuable data in standard medical texts +about the digestion, assimilation, and elimination. To really understand illness, +the alternative practitioner must be fully aware of the proper functioning of the +cardiovascular/pulmonary system, the autonomic and voluntary nervous system, the +endocrine system, plus the mechanics and detailed nomenclature of the skeleton, muscles, +tendons and ligaments. Also it is helpful to know the conventional medical models +for treating various disorders, because they do appear to work well for some people, +and should not be totally invalidated simply on the basis of one's philosophical +or religious viewpoints. <BR> +    Many otherwise well-meaning holistic practitioners, lacking +an honest grounding in science, sometimes express their understanding of the human +body in non-scientific, metaphysical terms that can seem absurd to the well-instructed. +I am not denying here that there is a spiritual aspect to health and illness; I believe +there are energy flows in and around the body that can effect physiological functioning. +I am only suggesting that to discuss illness without hard science is like calling +oneself a abstract artist because the painter has no ability to even do a simple, +accurate representational drawing of a human figure.<BR> +    Though hospital life had already become distasteful to me +I was young and poor when I graduated. So after nursing school I buckled down and +worked just long enough to save enough money to obtain a masters degree in Clinical +Psychology from the University of British Columbia. Then I started working at Riverview +Hospital in Vancouver, B.C., doing diagnostic testing, and group therapy, mostly +with psychotic people. At Riverview I had a three-year-long opportunity to observe +the results of conventional psychiatric treatment.<BR> +    The first thing I noticed was the 'revolving door' phenomena. +That is, people go out, and then they're back in, over and over again, demonstrating +that standard treatment--drugs, electroshock and group therapy--had been ineffective. +Worse, the treatments given at Riverside were dangerous, often with long term side +effects that were more damaging than the disease being treated. It felt like nursing +school all over again; in the core of my being I somehow knew there was a better +way, a more effective way of helping people to regain their mental health. Feeling +like an outsider, I started investigating the hospital's nooks and crannies. Much +to my surprise, in a back ward, one not open to the public, I noticed a number of +people with bright purple skins. <BR> +    I asked the staff about this and every one of the psychiatrists +denied these patients existed. This outright and widely-agreed-upon lie really raised +my curiosity. Finally after pouring through the journals in the hospital library +I found an article describing psycho tropic-drug-induced disruptions of melanin (the +dark skin pigment). Thorazine, a commonly used psychiatric drug, when taken in high +doses over a long period of time would do this. Excess melanin eventually was deposited +in vital organs such as the heart and the liver, causing death. <BR> +    I found it especially upsetting to see patients receive electroshock +treatments. These violent, physician-induced traumas did seem to disrupt dysfunctional +thought patterns such as an impulse to commit suicide, but afterwards the victim +couldn't remember huge parts of their life or even recall who they were. Like many +other dangerous medical treatments, electroshock can save life but it can also take +life away by obliterating identity. <BR> +    According the Hippocratic Oath, the first criteria of a treatment +is that it should do no harm. Once again I found myself trapped in a system that +made me feel severe protest. Yet none of these specialists or university professors, +or academic libraries had any information about alternatives. Worse, none of these +mind-doctor-gods were even looking for better treatments.<BR> +    Though unpleasant and profoundly disappointing, my experience +as a mental hospital psychologist was, like being in nursing school, also very valuable. +Not only did I learn how to diagnose, and evaluate the severity of mental illness +and assess the dangerousness of the mentally ill, I learned to understand them, to +feel comfortable with them, and found that I was never afraid of them. Fearlessness +is a huge advantage. The mentally ill seem to have a heightened ability to spot fear +in others. If they sense that you are afraid they frequently enjoy terrorizing you. +When psychotic people know you feel comfortable with them, and probably understand +a great deal of what they are experiencing, when they know that you can and intend +to control them, they experience a huge sense of relief. I could always get mentally +ill people to tell me what was really going on in their heads when no one else could +get them to communicate.<BR> +    A few years later I married an American and became the Mental +Health Coordinator for Whatcom County, the northwestern corner of Washington State. +I handled all the legal proceedings in the county for mentally ill people. After +treatment in the state mental hospital I supervised their reentry into the community, +and attempted to provide some follow up. This work further confirmed my conclusions +that in most cases the mentally ill weren't helped by conventional treatment. Most +of them rapidly became social problems after discharge. It seemed the mental hospital's +only ethically defensible function was incarceration--providing temporary relief +for the family and community from the mentally ill person's destructiveness. <BR> +    I did see a few people recover in the mental health system. +Inevitably these were young, and had not yet become institutionalized, a term describing +someone who comes to like being in the hospital because confinement feels safe. Hospitalization +can mean three square meals and a bed. It frequently means an opportunity to have +a sex life (many female inmates are highly promiscuous). Many psychotics are also +criminal; the hospital seems far better to them than jail. Many chronically mentally +ill are also experts at manipulating the system. When homeless, they deliberately +get hospitalized for some outrageous deed just before winter. They then "recover" +when the fine weather of spring returns.<BR> +    After a year as Mental Health Co-ordinator, I had enough +of the "system" and decided that it was as good a time as any to return +to school for a Ph.D., this time at University. of Oregon where I studied clinical +and counseling psychology and gerontology. While in graduate school I became pregnant +and had my first child. Not surprisingly, this experience profoundly changed my consciousness. +I realized that it had perhaps been all right for me to be somewhat irresponsible +about my own nutrition and health, but that it was not okay to inflict poor nutrition +on my unborn child. At that time I was addicted to salty, deep-fat fried corn chips +and a diet pop. I thought I had to have these so-called foods every day. I tended +to eat for taste, in other words, what I liked, not necessarily what would give me +the best nutrition. I was also eating a lot of what most people would consider healthy +food: meat, cheese, milk, whole grains, nuts, vegetables, and fruits. <BR> +    My constitution had seemed strong and vital enough through +my twenties to allow this level of dietary irresponsibility. During my early 20s +I had even recovered from a breast cancer by sheer will power. (I will discuss this +later.) So before my pregnancy I had not questioned my eating habits.<BR> +    As my body changed and adapted itself to it's new purpose +I began visiting the libraries and voraciously read everything obtainable under the +topic of nutrition--all the texts, current magazines, nutritional journals, and health +newsletters. My childhood habit of self-directed study paid off. I discovered alternative +health magazines like Let's Live, Prevention, Organic Gardening, and Best Ways, and +promptly obtained every back issue since they were first published. Along the way +I ran into articles by Linus Pauling on vitamin C, and sent away for all of his books, +one of these was co-authored with David Hawkins, called The Orthomolecular Approach +to Mental Disorders. <BR> +    This book had a profound effect on me. I instantly recognized +that it was Truth with a capital "T", although the orthomolecular approach +was clearly in opposition to the established medical model and contradicted everything +I had ever learned as a student or professional. Here at last was the exciting alternative +approach to treating mental disorders I had so long sought. I filed this information +away, waiting for an opportunity to use it. And I began to study all the references +in The Orthomolecular Approach to Mental Disorders dealing with correcting the perceptual +functioning of psychotic people using natural substances.<BR> +    In the course of delving through libraries and book stores, +I also came across the Mokelumne Hill Publishing Company (now defunct). This obscure +publisher reprinted many unusual and generally crudely reproduced out-of-print books +about raw foods diets, hygienic medicine, fruitarianism, fasting, breathairianism, +plus some works discussing spiritual aspects of living that were far more esoteric +than I had ever thought existed. I decided that weird or not, I might as well find +out everything potentially useful. So I spent a lot of money ordering their books. +Some of Mokelumne Hill's material really expanded my thoughts. Though much of it +seemed totally outrageous, in every book there usually was one line, one paragraph, +or if I was lucky one whole chapter that rang true for me.<BR> +    Recognizing capital "T" Truth when one sees it +is one of the most important abilities a person can have. Unfortunately, every aspect +of our mass educational system attempts to invalidate this skill. Students are repeatedly +told that derivation from recognized authority and/or the scientific method are the +only valid means to assess the validity of data. But there is another parallel method +to determine the truth or falsehood of information: Knowing. We Know by the simple +method of looking at something and recognizing its correctness. It is a spiritual +ability. I believe we all have it. But in my case, I never lost the ability to Know +because I almost never attended school. <BR> +    Thus it is that I am absolutely certain How and When to Be +Your Own Doctor will be recognized as Truth by some of my readers and rejected as +unscientific, unsubstantiated, or anecdotal information by others. I accept this +limitation on my ability to teach. If what you read in the following pages seems +True for you, great! If it doesn't, there is little or nothing I could do to further +convince.<BR> +    I return now to the time of my first pregnancy. In the face +of all these new Truths I was discovering concerning health and nutrition, I made +immediate changes in my diet. I severely reduced my animal protein intake and limited +cooked food in general. I began taking vitamin and mineral supplements. I also choose +a highly atypical Ph.D. dissertation topic, "The Orthomolecular Treatment of +Mental Disorders." This fifty cent word, orthomolecular, basically means readjusting +the body chemistry by providing unusually large amounts of specific nutrient substances +normally found in the human body (vitamins and minerals). Orthomolecular therapy +for mental disorders is supported by good diet, by removal of allergy-producing substances, +by control of hypoglycemia, plus counseling, and provision of a therapeutic environment. +<BR> +    My proposed dissertation topic met with nothing but opposition. +The professors on my doctoral committee had never heard of the word orthomolecular, +and all of them were certain it wasn't an accepted, traditional area of research. +Research in academia is supposed to be based on the works of a previous researchers +who arrived at hypothesis based on data obtained by strictly following scientific +methodology. "Scientific" data requires control groups, matched populations, +statistical analysis, etc. In my case there was no previous work my dissertation +committee would accept, because the available data did not originate from a medical +school or psychology department they recognized.<BR> +    Due to a lot of determination and perseverance I finally +did succeed in getting my thesis accepted, and triumphed over my doctoral committee. +And I graduated with a dual Ph.D. in both counseling psychology and gerontology. +My ambition was to establish the orthomolecular approach on the west coast. At that +time I knew of only two clinics in the world actively using nutritional therapy. +One was in New York and the other, was a Russian experimental fasting program for +schizophrenics. Doctors Hoffer and Osmond had used orthomolecular therapy in a Canadian +mental hospital as early as 1950, but they had both gone on to other things. <BR> +    The newly graduated Dr. Isabelle Moser, Ph.D. was at this +point actually an unemployed mother, renting an old, end-of-the-road, far-in-the-country +farmhouse; by then I had two small daughters. I strongly preferred to take care of +my own children instead of turning them over to a baby sitter. My location and my +children made it difficult for me to work any place but at home. So naturally, I +made my family home into a hospital for psychotic individuals. I started out with +one resident patient at a time, using no psychiatric drugs. I had very good results +and learned a tremendous amount with each client, because each one was different +and each was my first of each type.<BR> +    With any psychotic residing in your home it is foolhardy +to become inattentive even for one hour, including what are normally considered sleeping +hours. I have found the most profoundly ill mentally ill person still to be very +crafty and aware even though they may appear to be unconscious or nonresponsive. +Psychotics are also generally very intuitive, using faculties most of us use very +little or not at all. For example one of my first patients, Christine, believed that +I was trying to electrocute her. Though she would not talk, she repeatedly drew pictures +depicting this. She had, quite logically within her own reality, decided to kill +me with a butcher knife in self-defense before I succeeded in killing her. I had +to disarm Christine several times, hide all the household knives, change my sleeping +spot frequently, and generally stay sufficiently awake at night to respond to slight, +creaky sounds that could indicate the approach of stealthily placed small bare feet. +<BR> +    With orthomolecular treatment Christine improved but also +became more difficult to live with as she got better. For example, when she came +out of catatonic-like immobility, she became extremely promiscuous, and was determined +to sleep with my husband. In fact she kept crawling into bed with him with no clothes +on. Either we had to forcefully remove her or the bed would be handed over to her--without +a resident man. Christine then decided (logically) that I was an obstacle to her +sex life, and once more set out to kill me. This stage also passed, eventually and +Christine got tolerably well. <BR> +    Christine's healing process is quite typical and demonstrates +why orthomolecular treatment is not popular. As a psychotic genuinely improves, their +aberrated behavior often becomes more aggressive initially and thus, harder to control. +It seems far more convenient for all concerned to suppress psychotic behavior with +stupefying drugs. A drugged person can be controlled when they're in a sort of perpetual +sedation but then, they never get genuinely well, either.<BR> +    Another early patient, Elizabeth, gave me a particularly +valuable lesson, one that changed the direction of my career away from curing insanity +and toward regular medicine. Elizabeth was a catatonic schizophrenic who did not +speak or move, except for some waxy posturing. She had to be fed, dressed and pottied. +Elizabeth was a pretty little brunette who got through a couple of years of college +and then spent several years in a state mental hospital. She had recently run away +from a hospital, and had been found wandering aimlessly or standing rigidly, apparently +staring fixedly at nothing. The emergency mental health facility in a small city +nearby called me up and asked if I would take her. I said I would, and drove into +town to pick her up. I found Elizabeth in someone's back yard staring at a bush. +It took me three hours to persuade her to get in my car, but that effort turned out +to be the easiest part of the next months. <BR> +    Elizabeth would do nothing for herself, including going to +the bathroom. I managed to get some nutrition into her, and change her clothes, but +that was about all I could do. Eventually she wore me down; I drifted off for an +hour's nap instead of watching her all night. Elizabeth slipped away in the autumn +darkness and vanished. Needless to say, when daylight came I desperately searched +the buildings, the yard, gardens, woods, and even the nearby river. I called in a +missing person report and the police looked as well. We stopped searching after a +week because there just wasn't any place else to look. Then, into my kitchen, right +in front of our round eyes and gaping mouths, walked a smiling, pleasant, talkative +young woman who was quite sane.<BR> +    She said, "Hello I'm Elizabeth! I'm sorry I was such +a hassle last week, and thank you for trying to take care of me so well. I was too +sick to know any better." She said she had gone out our back door the week before +and crawled under a pile of fallen leaves on the ground in our back yard with a black +tarp over them. We had looked under the tarp at least fifty times during the days +past, but never thought to look under the leaves as well.<BR> +    This amazing occurrence made my head go bong to say the least; +it was obvious that Elizabeth had not been 'schizophrenic' because of her genetics, +nor because of stress, nor malnutrition, nor hypoglycemia, nor because of any of +the causes of mental illness I had previously learned to identify and rectify, but +because of food allergies. Elizabeth was spontaneously cured because she'd had nothing +to eat for a week. The composting pile of leaves hiding her had produced enough heat +to keep her warm at night and the heap contained sufficient moisture to keep her +from getting too dehydrated. She looked wonderful, with clear shiny blue eyes, clear +skin with good color, though she was slightly slimmer than when I had last seen her. +<BR> +    I then administered Coca's Pulse Test (see the Appendix) +and quickly discovered Elizabeth was wildly intolerant to wheat and dairy products. +Following the well known health gurus of that time like Adelle Davis, I had self-righteously +been feeding her home-made whole wheat bread from hand-ground Organic wheat, and +home-made cultured yogurt from our own organically-fed goats. But by doing this I +had only maintained her insanity. Elizabeth was an intelligent young woman, and once +she understood what was causing her problems, she had no trouble completely eliminating +certain foods from her diet. She shuddered at the thought that had she not come to +my place and discovered the problem, she would probably have died on the back ward +of some institution for the chronically mentally ill. <BR> +    As for me, I will always be grateful to her for opening my +eyes and mind a little wider. Elizabeth's case showed me why Russian schizophrenics +put on a 30 day water fast had such a high recovery rate. I also remembered all the +esoteric books I had read extolling the benefits of fasting. I also remembered two +occasions during my own youth when I had eaten little or nothing for approximately +a month each without realizing that I was "fasting." And doing this had +done me nothing but good.<BR> +    Once when I was thirteen my mother sent my "little" +brother and I to a residential fundamentalist bible school. I did not want to go +there, although my brother did; he had decided he wanted to be a evangelical minister. +I hated bible school because I was allowed absolutely no independence of action. +We were required to attend church services three times a day during the week, and +five services on Sunday. As I became more and more unhappy, I ate less and less; +in short order I wasn't eating at all. The school administration became concerned +after I had dropped about 30 pounds in two months, notified my mother and sent me +home. I returned to at-home schooling. I also resumed eating. <BR> +    I fasted one other time for about a month when I was 21. +It happened because I had nothing to do while visiting my mother before returning +to University except help with housework and prepare meals. The food available in +the backwoods of central B.C. didn't appeal to me because it was mostly canned vegetables, +canned milk, canned moose meat and bear meat stews with lots of gravy and greasy +potatoes. I decided to pass on it altogether. I remember rather enjoying that time +as a fine rest and I left feeling very good ready to take on the world full force +ahead. At that time I didn't know there was such a thing as fasting, it just happened +that way.<BR> +    After Elizabeth went on her way, I decided to experimentally +fast myself. I consumed only water for two weeks. But I must have had counter intentions +to this fast because I found myself frequently having dreams about sugared plums, +and egg omelets, etc. And I didn't end up feeling much better after this fast was +over (although I didn't feel any worse either), because I foolishly broke the fast +with one of my dream omelets. And I knew better! Every book I'd ever read on fasting +stated how important it is to break a fast gradually, eating only easy-to-digest +foods for days or weeks before resuming one's regular diet. <BR> +    From this experiment I painfully learned how important it +is to break a fast properly. Those eggs just didn't feel right, like I had an indigestible +stone in my belly. I felt very tired after the omelet, not energized one bit by the +food. I immediately cut back my intake to raw fruits and vegetables while the eggs +cleared out of my system. After a few days on raw food I felt okay, but I never did +regain the shine I had achieved just before I resumed eating. <BR> +    This is one of the many fine things about fasting, it allows +you to get in much better communication with your own body, so that you can hear +it when it objects to something you're putting in it or doing to it. It is not easy +to acquire this degree of sensitivity to your body unless you remove all food for +a sufficiently long period; this allows the body to get a word in edgewise that we +are willing and able to listen to. Even when we do hear the body protesting, we frequently +decide to turn a deaf ear, at least until the body starts producing severe pain or +some other symptom that we can't ignore.<BR> +    Within a few years after Elizabeth's cure I had handily repaired +quite a few mentally ill people in a harmless way no one had heard of; many new people +were knocking at my door wanting to be admitted to my drug free, home-based treatment +program. So many in fact that my ability to accommodate them was overwhelmed. I decided +that it was necessary to move to a larger facility and we bought an old, somewhat +run-down estate that I called Great Oaks School of Health because of the magnificent +oak trees growing in the front yard. <BR> +    At Great Oaks initially I continued working with psychotics, +employing fasting as a tool, especially in those cases with obvious food allergies +as identified by Coca's Pulse Test, because it only takes five days for a fasting +body to eliminate all traces of an allergic food substance and return to normal functioning. +If the person was so severely hypoglycemic that they were unable to tolerate a water +fast, an elimination diet (to be described in detail later) was employed, while stringently +avoiding all foods usually found to be allergy producing.<BR> +    I also decided that if I was going to employ fasting as my +primary medicine, it was important for me to have a more intense personal experience +with it, because in the process of reviewing the literature on fasting I saw that +there were many different approaches, each one staunchly defended by highly partisan +advocates. For example, the capital "N" Natural, capital "H" +Hygienists, such a Herbert Shelton, aggressively assert that only a pure water fast +can be called a fast. Sheltonites contend that juice fasting as advocated by Paavo +Airola, for example, is not a fast but rather a modified diet without the benefits +of real fasting. Colon cleansing was another area of profound disagreement among +the authorities. Shelton strongly insisted that enemas and colonics should not be +employed; the juice advocates tend to strongly recommend intestinal cleansing.<BR> +    To be able to intelligently take a position in this maze +of conflict I decided to first try every system on myself. It seems to me that if +I can be said to really own anything in this life it is my own body, and I have the +absolute right to experiment with it as long as I'm not irresponsible about important +things such as care of my kids. I also feel strongly that it was unethical to ask +anyone to do anything that I was not willing or able to do myself. Just imagine what +would happen if all medical doctors applied this principal in their practice of medicine, +if all surgeons did it too!<BR> +    I set out to do a complete and fully rigorous water fast +according to the Natural Hygiene model--only pure water and bed rest (with no colon +cleansing) until hunger returns, something the hygienists all assured me would happen +when the body had completed its detoxification process. The only aspect of a hygienic +fast I could not fulfill properly was the bed rest part; unfortunately I was in sole +charge of a busy holistic treatment center (and two little girls); there were things +I had to do, though I did my chores and duties at a very slow pace with many rest +periods. <BR> +    I water fasted for 42 days dropping from 135 pounds to 85 +pounds on a 5' 7" frame. At the end I looked like a Nazi concentration camp +victim. I tended to hide when people came to the door, because the sight of all my +bones scared them to death. Despite my assurances visitors assumed I was trying to +commit suicide. In any case I persevered, watching my body change, observing my emotions, +my mental functioning, and my spiritual awareness. I thought, if Moses could fast +for 42 days so can I, even though the average length of a full water fast to skeletal +weight for a person that is not overweight is more in the order of 30 days. I broke +the fast with small amounts of carrot juice diluted 50/50 with water and stayed on +that regimen for two more weeks. <BR> +    After I resumed eating solid food it took six weeks to regain +enough strength to be able to run the same distance in the same time I had before +fasting, and it took me about six months to regain my previous weight. My eyes and +skin had become exceptionally clear, and some damaged areas of my body such as my +twice-broken shoulder had undergone considerable healing. I ate far smaller meals +after the fast, but food was so much more efficiently absorbed that I got a lot more +miles to the gallon from what I did eat. I also became more aware when my body did +not want me to eat something. After the fast, if I ignored my body's protest and +persisted, it would immediately create some unpleasant sensation that quickly persuaded +me to curb my appetite.<BR> +    I later experimented with other approaches to fasting, with +juice fasts, with colon cleansing, and began to establish my own eclectic approach +to fasting and detoxification, using different types of programs for different conditions +and adjusting for psychological tolerances. I'll have a lot more to say about fasting.<BR> +    After my own rigorous fasting experience I felt capable of +supervising extended fasts on very ill or very overweight people. Great Oaks was +gradually shifting from being a place that mentally ill people came to regain their +sanity to being a spa where anyone who wanted to improve their health could come +for a few days, some weeks or even a few months. It had been my observation from +the beginning that the mentally ill people in my program also improved remarkably +in physical health; it was obvious that my method was good for anyone. Even people +with good health could feel better. <BR> +    By this time I'd also had enough of psychotic people anyway, +and longed for sane, responsible company.<BR> +    So people started to come to Great Oaks School of Health +to rest up from a demanding job, to drop some excess weight, and generally to eliminate +the adverse effects of destructive living and eating habits. I also began to get +cancer patients, ranging from those who had just been diagnosed and did not wish +to go the AMA-approved medical route of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, to +those with well-advanced cancer who had been sent home to die after receiving all +of the above treatments and were now ready to give alternative therapies a try since +they expected to die anyway. I also had a few people who were beyond help because +their vital organs had been so badly damaged that they knew they were dying, and +they wanted to die in peace without medical intervention, in a supportive hospice +cared for by people who could confront death.<BR> +    Great Oaks School was intentionally named a "school" +of health partially to deflect the attentions of the AMA. It is, after all, entirely +legal to teach about how to maintain health, about how to prevent illness, and how +to go about making yourself well once you were sick. Education could not be called +"practicing medicine without a license." Great Oaks was also structured +as a school because I wanted to both learn and teach. Toward this end we started +putting out a holistic health newsletter and offering classes and seminars to the +public on various aspects of holistic health. From the early 1970s through the early +1980s I invited a succession of holistic specialists to reside at GOSH, or to teach +at Great Oaks while living elsewhere. These teachers not only provided a service +to the community, but they all became my teachers as well. I apprenticed myself to +each one in turn.<BR> +    There came and went a steady parade of alternative practitioners +of the healing arts and assorted forms of metapsychology: acupuncturists, acupressurists, +reflexologists, polarity therapists, massage therapists, postural integrationists, +Rolfers, Feldenkries therapists, neurolinguistic programmers, biokinesiologists, +iridologists, psychic healers, laying on of handsers, past life readers, crystal +therapists, toning therapists in the person of Patricia Sun, color therapy with lamps +and different colored lenses a la Stanley Bourroughs, Bach Flower therapists, aroma +therapists, herbalists, homeopaths, Tai Chi classes, yoga classes, Arica classes, +Guergieff and Ouspensky fourth-way study groups, EST workshops, Zen Meditation classes. +Refugee Lamas from Tibet gave lectures on The Book of the Dead and led meditation +and chanting sessions, and we held communication classes using Scientology techniques. +There were anatomy and physiology classes, classes on nutrition and the orthomolecular +approach to treating mental disorders (given by me of course); there were chiropractors +teaching adjustment techniques, even first aid classes. And we even had a few medical +doctors of the alternative ilk who were interested in life style changes as an approach +to maintaining health. <BR> +    Classes were also offered on colon health including herbs, +clays, enemas, and colonics. So many of my client at Great Oaks were demanding colonics +in conjunction with their cleansing programs, that I took time out to go to Indio, +Calif. to take a course in colon therapy from a chiropractor, and purchase a state +of the art colonic machine featuring all the gauges, electric water solenoids and +stainless steel knobs one could ask for.<BR> +    During this period almost all alternative therapists and +their specialties were very interesting to me, but I found that most of the approaches +they advocated did not suit my personality. For example, I think that acupuncture +is a very useful tool, but I personally did not want to use needles. Similarly I +thought that Rolfing was a very effective tool but I did not enjoy administering +that much pain, although a significant number of the clients really wanted pain. +Some of the techniques appealed to me in the beginning, and I used them frequently +with good results but over time I decided to abandon them, mostly because of a desire +to simplify and lighten up my bag of tricks.<BR> +    Because of my enthusiasm and successes Great Oaks kept on +growing. Originally the estate served as both the offices of the Holt Adoption Agency +and the Holt family mansion. The Holt family had consisted of Harry and Bertha Holt, +six of their biological children, and eight adopted Korean orphans. For this reason +the ten thousand square foot two story house had large common rooms, and lots and +lots of bedrooms. It was ideal for housing spa clients and my own family. The adjoining +Holt Adoption Agency office building was also very large with a multitude of rooms. +It became living space for those helpers and hangers-on we came to refer to as "community +members." My first husband added even more to the physical plant constructing +a large, rustic gym and workshop. <BR> +    Many "alternative" people visited and then begged +to stay on with room and board provided in exchange for their work. A few of these +people made a significant contribution such as cooking, child care, gardening, tending +the ever-ravenous wood-fired boiler we used to keep the huge concrete mansion heated, +or doing general cleaning. But the majority of the 'work exchangers' did not really +understand what work really was, or didn't have sufficient ethical presence to uphold +the principle of fair exchange, which is basically giving something of equal value +for getting something of value and, perhaps more importantly, giving in exchange +what is needed and asked for. <BR> +    I also found that community members, once in residence, were +very difficult to dislodge. My healing services were supporting far too much dead +wood. This was basically my own fault, my own poor management.<BR> +    Still, I learned a great deal from all of this waste. First +of all it is not a genuine service to another human being to give them something +for nothing. If a fair exchange is expected and received, positive ethical behavior +is strengthened, allowing the individual to maintain their self-respect. I also came +to realize what an important factor conducting one's life ethically is in the individual +healing process. Those patients who were out exchange in their relationships with +others in one or more areas of their life frequently did not get well until they +changed these behaviors.<BR> +    Toward the end of 1982, after providing a decade of services +to a great many clients, many of these in critical condition, I reached to point +where I was physically, mentally, and spiritually drained. I needed a vacation desperately +but no one, including my first husband, could run Great Oaks in my absence much less +cover the heavy mortgage. So I decided to sell it. This decision stunned the community +members and shocked the clientele who had become dependent on my services. I also +got a divorce at this time. In fact I went through quite a dramatic life change in +many areas--true to pattern, a classic mid-life crisis. All I kept from these years +was my two daughters, my life experiences, and far too many books from the enormous +Great Oaks library.<BR> +     These changes were however, necessary for my survival. Any +person who works with, yes, lives on a day-to-day basis with sick people and who +is constantly giving or outflowing must take time out to refill their vessel so that +they can give again. Failure to do this can result in a serious loss of health, or +death. Most healers are empathic people who feel other peoples' pains and stresses +and sometimes have difficulty determining exactly what is their own personal 'baggage' +and what belongs to the clients. This is especially difficult when the therapy involves +a lot of 'hands on' techniques.<BR> +    After leaving Great Oaks it took me a couple of years to +rest up enough to want to resume practicing again. This time, instead of creating +a substantial institution, Steve, my second husband and my best friend, built a tiny +office next to our family home. I had a guest room that I would use for occasional +residential patients. Usually these were people I had known from Great Oaks days +or were people I particularly liked and wanted to help through a life crisis. <BR> +    At the time I am writing this book over ten years have passed +since I sold Great Oaks. I continue to have an active outpatient practice, preferring +to protect the privacy of my home and family life since I was remarried by limiting +inpatients to a special few who required more intensive care, and then, only one +at a time, and then, with long spells without a resident. <BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<A NAME="Chapter2"></A><B>Chapter Two </B><BR> +<FONT SIZE="4"><B>The Nature and Cause of Disease </B></FONT><BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<FONT SIZE="1"><B>From The Hygienic Dictionary</B><BR> +<BR> +</FONT><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Toxemia.</B> [1] "Toxemia is the basic cause of all +so-called diseases. In the process of tissue-building (metabolism), there is cell-building +(anabolism) and cell destruction (catabolism). The broken-down tissue is toxic. In +the healthy body (when nerve energy is normal), this toxic material is eliminated +from the blood as fast as it is evolved. But when nerve energy is dissipated from +any cause (such as physical or mental excitement or bad habits) the body becomes +weakened or enervated. When the body is enervated, elimination is checked. This, +in turn, results in a retention of toxins in the blood--the condition which we speak +of as toxemia. This state produces a crisis which is nothing more than heroic or +extraordinary efforts by the body to eliminate waste or toxin from the blood. It +is this crisis which we term disease. Such accumulation of toxin when once established, +will continue until nerve energy has been restored to normal by removing the cause. +So-called disease is nature's effort to eliminate toxin from the blood. All so-called +diseases are crises of toxemia." <I>John H. Tilden, M.D., Toxemia Explained.</I> +[2] Toxins are divided into two groups; namely exogenous, those formed in the alimentary +canal from fermentation and decomposition following imperfect or faulty digestion. +If the fermentation is of vegetables or fruit, the toxins are irritating, stimulating +and enervating, but not so dangerous or destructive to organic life as putrefaction, +which is a fermentation set up in nitrogenous matter--protein-bearing foods, but +particularly animal foods. Endogenous toxins are autogenerated. They are the waste +products of metabolism. <I>Dr. John. H. Tilden, Impaired Health: Its Cause and Cure, +1921.</I><BR> +</FONT><BR> +<BR> +<BR> +    Suppose a fast-growing +city is having traffic jams. "We don't like it!" protest the voters." +Why are these problems happening?" asks the city council, trying to look like +they are doing something about it. <BR> +    Experts then proffer answers. "Because there are too +many cars," says the Get A Horse Society. The auto makers suggest it is because +there are uncoordinated traffic lights and because almost all the businesses send +their employees home at the same time. Easy to fix! And no reason whatsoever to limit +the number of cars. The asphalt industry suggests it is because the size and amount +of roads is inadequate. <BR> +    What do we do then? Tax cars severely until few can afford +them? Legislate opening and closing hours of businesses to stagger to'ing and fro'ing? +Hire a smarter municipal highway engineer to synchronize the traffic lights? Build +larger and more efficient streets? Demand that auto companies make cars smaller so +more can fit the existing roads? Tax gasoline prohibitively, pass out and give away +free bicycles in virtually unlimited quantities while simultaneously building mass +rail systems? What? Which?<BR> +    When we settle on a solution we have simultaneously chosen +what we consider the real, underlying cause of the problem. If our chosen reason +was the real reason. then our solution results in a real cure. If we picked wrongly, +our attempt at solution may result in no cure, or create a worse situation than we +had before.<BR> +    The American Medical Association style of medicine (a philosophy +I will henceforth call allopathic) has a model that explains the causes of illness. +It suggests that anyone who is sick is a victim. Either they were attacked by a "bad" +organism--virus, bacteria, yeast, pollen, cancer cell, etc.--or they have a "bad" +organ--liver, kidney, gall bladder, even brain. Or, the victim may also have been +cursed by bad genes. In any case, the cause of the disease is not the person and +the person is neither responsible for creating their own complaint nor is the victim +capable of making it go away. This institutionalized irresponsibility seems useful +for both parties to the illness, doctor and patient. The patient is not required +to do anything about their complaint except pay (a lot) and obediently follow the +instructions of the doctor, submitting unquestioningly to their drugs and surgeries. +The physician then acquires a role of being considered vital to the survival of others +and thus obtains great status, prestige, authority, and financial remuneration.<BR> +    Perhaps because the sick person is seen to have been victimized, +and it is logically impossible to consider a victimizer as anything but something +evil, the physician's cure is often violent, confrontational. Powerful poisons are +used to rejigger body chemistry or to arrest the multiplication of disease bacteria +or to suppress symptoms; if it is possible to sustain life without them, "bad," +poorly-functioning organs are cut out.<BR> +    I've had a lot of trouble with the medical profession. Over +the years doctors have made attempts to put me in jail and keep me in fear. But they +never stopped me. When I've had a client die there has been an almost inevitable +coroner's investigation, complete with detectives and the sheriff. Fortunately, I +practice in rural Oregon, where the local people have a deeply-held belief in individual +liberty and where the authorities know they would have had a very hard time finding +a jury to convict me. Had I chosen to practice with a high profile and had I located +Great Oaks School of Health in a major market area where the physicians were able +to charge top dollar, I probably would have spent years behind bars as did other +heroes of my profession such as Linda Hazzard and Royal Lee.<BR> +    So I have acquired an uncomplimentary attitude about medical +doctors, a viewpoint I am going to share with you ungently, despite the fact that +doing so will alienate some of my readers. But I do so because most Americans are +entirely enthralled by doctors, and this doctor-god worship kills a lot of them. +<BR> +    However, before I get started on the medicos, let me state +that one area exists where I do have fundamental admiration for allopathic medicine. +This is its handling of trauma. I agree that a body can become the genuine victim +of fast moving bullets. It can be innocently cut, smashed, burned, crushed and broken. +Trauma are not diseases and modern medicine has become quite skilled at putting traumatized +bodies back together. Genetic abnormality may be another undesirable physical condition +that is beyond the purview of natural medicine. However, the expression of contra-survival +genetics can often be controlled by nutrition. And the expression of poor genetics +often results from poor nutrition, and thus is similar to a degenerative disease +condition, and thus is well within the scope of natural medicine.<BR> +    Today's suffering American public is firmly in the AMA's +grip. People have been effectively prevented from learning much about medical alternatives, +have been virtually brainwashed by clever media management that portrays other medical +models as dangerous and/or ineffective. Legislation influenced by the allopathic +doctors' union, the American Medical Association, severely limits or prohibits the +practice of holistic health. People are repeatedly directed by those with authority +to an allopathic doctor whenever they have a health problem, question or confusion. +Other types of healers are considered to be at best harmless as long as they confine +themselves to minor complaints; at worst, when naturopaths, hygienists, or homeopaths +seek to treat serious disease conditions they are called quacks, accused of unlicensed +practice of medicine and if they persist or develop a broad, successful, high-profile +and (this is the very worst) profitable practice, they are frequently jailed. <BR> +    Even licensed MDs are crushed by the authorities if they +offer non-standard treatments. So when anyone seeks an alternative health approach +it is usually because their complaint has already failed to vanish after consulting +a whole series of allopathic doctors. This highly unfortunate kind of sufferer not +only has a degenerative condition to rectify, they may have been further damaged +by harsh medical treatments and additionally, they have a considerable amount of +brainwashing to overcome. <BR> +    The AMA has succeeded at making their influence over information +and media so pervasive that most people do not even realize that the doctors' union +is the source of their medical outlook. Whenever an American complains of some malady, +a concerned and honestly caring friend will demand to know have they yet consulted +a medical doctor. Failure to do so on one's own behalf is considered highly irresponsible. +Concerned relatives of seriously ill adults who decline standard medical therapy +may, with a great show of self-righteousness, have the sick person judged mentally +incompetent so that treatment can be forced upon them. When a parent fails to seek +standard medical treatment for their child, the adult may well be found guilty of +criminal negligence, raising the interesting issue of who "owns" the child, +the parents or the State.<BR> +    It is perfectly acceptable to die while under conventional +medical care. Happens all the time, in fact. But holistic alternatives are represented +as stupidly risky, especially for serious conditions such as cancer. People with +cancer see no choice but to do chemotherapy, radiation, and radical surgery because +this is the current allopathic medical approach. On some level people may know that +these remedies are highly dangerous but they have been told by their attending oncologist +that violent therapies are their only hope of survival, however poor that may be. +If a cancer victim doesn't proceed immediately with such treatment their official +prognosis becomes worse by the hour. Such scare tactics are common amongst the medical +profession, and they leave the recipient so terrified that they meekly and obediently +give up all self-determinism, sign the liability waiver, and submit, no questions +asked. Many then die after suffering intensely from the therapy, long before the +so-called disease could have actually caused their demise. I will later offer alternative +and frequently successful (but not guaranteed) approaches to treating cancer that +do not require the earliest-possible detection, surgery or poisons.<BR> +    If holistic practitioners were to apply painful treatments +like allopaths use, ones with such poor statistical outcomes like allopaths use, +there would most certainly be witch hunts and all such irresponsible, greedy quacks +would be safely imprisoned. I find it highly ironic that for at least the past twenty +five hundred years the basic principle of good medicine has been that the treatment +must first do no harm. This is such an obvious truism that even the AMA doctors pledge +to do the same thing when they take the Hippocratic Oath. Yet virtually every action +taken by the allopath is a conscious compromise between the potential harm of the +therapy and its potential benefit.<BR> +    In absolute contrast, if a person dies while on a natural +hygiene program, they died because their end was inevitable no matter what therapy +was attempted. Almost certainly receiving hygienic therapy contributed to making +their last days far more comfortable and relatively freer of pain without using opiates. +I have personally taken on clients sent home to die after they had suffered everything +the doctors could do to them, told they had only a few days, weeks, or months to +live. Some of these clients survived as a result of hygienic programs even at that +late date. And some didn't. The amazing thing was that any of them survived at all, +because the best time to begin a hygienic program is as early in the degenerative +process as possible, not after the body has been drastically weakened by invasive +and toxic treatments. Later on, I'll tell you about some of these cases.<BR> +    Something I consider especially ironic is that when the patient +of a medical doctor dies, it is inevitably thought that the blessed doctor did all +that could be done; rarely is any blame laid. If the physician was especially careless +or stupid, their fault can only result in a civil suit, covered by malpractice insurance. +But let a holistic practitioner treat a sick person and have that person follow any +of their suggestions or take any natural remedies and have that person die or worsen +and it instantly becomes the natural doctor's fault. Great blame is placed and the +practitioner faces inquests, grand juries, manslaughter charges, jail time and civil +suits that can't be insured against.<BR> +    Allopathic medicine rarely makes a connection between the +real causes of a degenerative or infectious disease and its cure. The causes are +usually considered mysterious: we don't know why the pancreas is acting up, etc. +The sick are sympathized with as victims who did nothing to contribute to their condition. +The cure is a highly technical battle against the illness, whose weapons are defined +in Latin and far beyond the understanding of a layperson. <BR> +    Hygienic medicine presents an opposite view. To the naturopath, +illness is not a perplexing and mysterious occurrence over which you have no control +or understanding. The causes of disease are clear and simple, the sick person is +rarely a victim of circumstance and the cure is obvious and within the competence +of a moderately intelligent sick person themselves to understand and help administer. +In natural medicine, disease is a part of living that you are responsible for, and +quite capable of handling. <BR> +    Asserting that the sick are pitiable victims is financially +beneficial to doctors. It makes medical intervention seem a vital necessity for every +ache and pain. It makes the sick become dependent. I'm not implying that most doctors +knowingly are conniving extortionists. Actually most medical doctors are genuinely +well-intentioned. I've also noticed that most medical doctors are at heart very timid +individuals who consider that possession of a MD degree and license proves that they +are very important, proves them to be highly intelligent, even makes them fully qualified +to pontificate on many subjects not related to medicine at all. <BR> +    Doctors obtain an enormous sense of self-importance at medical +school, where they proudly endured the high pressure weeding out of any free spirit +unwilling to grind away into the night for seven or more years. Anyone incapable +of absorbing and regurgitating huge amounts of rote information; anyone with a disrespectful +or irreverent attitude toward the senior doctor-gods who arrogantly serve as med +school professors, anyone like this was eliminated with especial rapidity. When the +thoroughly submissive, homogenized survivors are finally licensed, they assume the +status of junior doctor-gods.<BR> +    But becoming an official medical deity doesn't permit one +to create their own methods. No no, the AMA's professional oversight and control +system makes continued possession of the license to practice (and the high income +that usually comes with it) entirely dependent on continued conformity to what is +defined by the AMA as "correct practice." Any doctor who innovates beyond +strict limits or uses non-standard treatments is in real danger of losing their livelihood +and status. <BR> +    Not only are licensed graduates of AMA-sanctioned medical +schools kept on a very tight leash, doctors of other persuasions who use other methods +to heal the sick or help them heal themselves are persecuted and prosecuted. Extension +of the AMA's control through regulatory law and police power is justified in the +name of preventing quackery and making sure the ignorant and gullible public receives +only scientifically proven effective medical care. <BR> +    Those on the other side of the fence view the AMA's oppression +as an effective way to make sure the public has no real choices but to use union +doctors, pay their high fees and suffer greatly by misunderstanding of the true cause +of disease and its proper cure. If there are any actual villains responsible for +this suppressive tragedy some of them are to be found in the inner core of the AMA, +officials who may perhaps fully and consciously comprehend the suppressive system +they promulgate. <BR> +    Hygienists usually inform the patient quite clearly and directly +that the practitioner has no ability to heal them or cure their condition and that +no doctor of any type actually is able to heal. Only the body can heal itself, something +it is eager and usually very able to do if only given the chance. One pithy old saying +among hygienists goes, "if the body can't heal itself, nothing can heal it." +The primary job of the hygienic practitioner is to reeducate the patient by conducting +them through their first natural healing process. If this is done well the sick person +learns how to get out of their own body's way and permit its native healing power +to manifest. Unless later the victim of severe traumatic injury, never again will +that person need obscenely expensive medical procedures. Hygienists rarely make six +figure incomes from regular, repeat business.<BR> +    This aspect of hygienic medicine makes it different than +almost all the others, even most other holistic methods. Hygiene is the only system +that does not interpose the assumed healing power of a doctor between the patient +and wellness. When I was younger and less experienced I thought that the main reason +traditional medical practice did not stress the body's own healing power and represented +the doctor as a necessary intervention was for profit. But after practicing for over +twenty years I now understand that the last thing most people want to hear is that +their own habits, especially their eating patterns and food choices, are responsible +for their disease and that their cure is to only be accomplished through dietary +reform, which means unremittingly applied self-discipline.<BR> +    One of the hardest things to ask of a person is to change +a habit. The reason that AMA doctors have most of the patients is they're giving +the patients exactly what they want, which is to be allowed to continue in their +unconscious irresponsibility.<BR> +<BR> +<B>The Cause Of Disease</B><BR> +    Ever since natural medicine arose in opposition to the violence +of so-called scientific medicine, every book on the subject of hygiene, once it gets +past its obligatory introductions and warm ups, must address The Cause of Disease. +This is a required step because we see the cause of disease and its consequent cure +in a very different manner than the allopath. Instead of many causes, we see one +basic reason why. Instead of many unrelated cures, we have basically one approach +to fix all ills that can be fixed.<BR> +    A beautiful fifty cent word that means a system for explaining +something is paradigm, pronounced para-dime. I am fond of this word because it admits +the possibility of many differing yet equally true explanations for the same reality. +Of all available paradigms, Natural Hygiene suits me best and has been the one I've +used for most of my career. <BR> +    The Natural Hygienist's paradigm for the cause of both degenerative +and infectious disease is called the Theory of Toxemia, or "self-poisoning." +<BR> +    Before explaining this theory it will help many readers if +I digress a brief moment about the nature and validity of alternative paradigms. +Not too many decades ago, scientists thought that reality was a singular, real, perpetual--that +Natural Law existed much as a tree or a rock existed. In physics, for example, the +mechanics of Newton were considered capital "T" True, the only possible +paradigm. Any other view, not being True, was False. There was capital "N" +natural capital "L" law.<BR> +    More recently, great uncertainty has entered science; it +has become indisputable that a theory or explanation of reality is only true only +to the degree it seems to work; conflicting or various explanations can all work, +all can be "true." At least, this uncertainty has overtaken the hard, physical +sciences. It has not yet done so with medicine. The AMA is convinced (or is working +hard to convince everyone else) that its paradigm, the allopathic approach, is Truth, +is scientific, and therefore, anything else is Falsehood, is irresponsibility, is +a crime against the sick. <BR> +    But the actual worth or truth of any paradigm is found not +in its "reality," but in its utility. Does an explanation or theory allow +a person to manipulate experience and create a desired outcome. To the extent a paradigm +does that, it can be considered valuable. Judged by this standard, the Theory of +Toxemia must be far truer than the hodgepodge of psuedoscience taught in medical +schools. Keep that in mind the next time some officious medical doctor disdainfully +informs you that Theory of Toxemia was disproven in 1927 by Doctors Jeckel and Hyde.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Why People Get Sick</B><BR> +    This is the Theory of Toxemia. A healthy body struggles continually +to purify itself of poisons that are inevitably produced while going about its business +of digesting food, moving about, and repairing itself. The body is a marvelous creation, +a carbon, oxygen combustion machine, constantly burning fuel, disposing of the waste +products of combustion, and constantly rebuilding tissue by replacing worn out, dead +cells with new, fresh ones. Every seven years virtually every cell in the body is +replaced, some types of cells having a faster turnover rate than others, which means +that over a seven year period several hundred pounds of dead cells must be digested +(autolyzed) and eliminated. All by itself this would be a lot of waste disposal for +the body to handle. Added to that waste load are numerous mild poisons created during +proper digestion. And added to that can be an enormous burden of waste products created +as the body's attempts to digest the indigestible, or those tasty items I've heard +called "fun food." Add to that burden the ruinous effects of just plain +overeating. <BR> +    The waste products of digestion, of indigestion, of cellular +breakdown and the general metabolism are all poisonous to one degree or another. +Another word for this is toxic. If these toxins were allowed to remain and accumulate +in the body, it would poison itself and die in agony. So the body has a processing +system to eliminate toxins. And when that system does break down the body does die +in agony, as from liver or kidney failure. <BR> +    The organs of detoxification remove things from the body's +system, but these two vital organs should not be confused with what hygienists call +the secondary organs of elimination, such as the large intestine, lungs, bladder +and the skin, because none of these other eliminatory organs are supposed to purify +the body of toxins. But when the body is faced with toxemia, the secondary organs +of elimination are frequently pressed into this duty and the consequences are the +symptoms we call illness.<BR> +    The lungs are supposed to eliminate only carbon dioxide gas; +not self-generated toxic substances. The large intestine is supposed to pass only +insoluble food solids (and some nasty stuff dumped into the small intestine by the +liver). Skin eliminates in the form of sweat (which contains mineral salts) to cool +the body, but the skin is not supposed to move toxins outside the system. But when +toxins are flowed out through secondary organs of elimination these areas become +inflamed, irritated, weakened. The results can be skin irritations, sinusitis or +a whole host of other "itises" depending on the area involved, bacterial +or viral infections, asthma. When excess toxemia is deposited instead of eliminated, +the results can be arthritis if toxins are stored in joints, rheumatism if in muscle +tissues, cysts and benign tumors. And if toxins weaken the body's immune response, +cancer. <BR> +    The liver and the kidneys, the two heroic organs of detoxification, +are the most important ones; these jointly act as filters to purify the blood. Hygienists +pay a lot of attention to these organs, the liver especially.<BR> +    In an ideal world, the liver and kidneys would keep up with +their job for 80 years or more before even beginning to tire. In this ideal world, +the food would of course, be very nutritious and free of pesticide residues, the +air and water would be pure, people would not denature their food and turn it into +junk. In this perfect world everyone would get moderate exercise into old age, and +live virtually without stress. In this utopian vision, the average healthy productive +life span would approach a century, entirely without using food supplements or vitamins. +In this world doctors would have next to no work other than repairing traumatic injuries, +because everyone would be healthy. But this is not the way it is.<BR> +    In our less-than-ideal world virtually everything we eat +is denatured, processed, fried, salted, sweetened, preserved; thus more stress is +placed on the liver and kidneys than nature designed them to handle. Except for a +few highly fortunate individuals blessed with an incredible genetic endowment that +permits them to live to age 99 on moose meat, well-larded white flour biscuits, coffee +with evaporated milk and sugar, brandy and cigarettes (we've all heard of someone +like this), most peoples' liver and kidneys begin to break down prematurely. Thus +doctoring has become a financially rewarding profession.<BR> +    Most people overburden their organs of elimination by eating +whatever they feel like eating whenever they feel like it. Or, they irresponsibly +eat whatever is served to them by a mother, wife, institution or cook because doing +so is easy or expected. Eating is a very habitual and unconscious activity; frequently +we continue to eat as adults whatever our mother fed us as a child. I consider it +unsurprising that when people develop the very same disease conditions as their parents. +they wrongly assume the cause is genetic inheritance, when actually it was just because +they were putting their feet under the same table as their parents.<BR> +    Toxemia also comes about from following the wrongheaded recommendations +of allopathic-inspired nutritional texts and licensed dietitians. For example, people +believe they should eat one food from each of the four so-called basic food groups +at each meal, thinking they are doing the right thing for their health by having +four colors of food on every plate, when they really aren't. What they have actually +done is force their bodies to attempt the digestion of indigestible food combinations, +and the resulting indigestion creates massive doses of toxins. I'll have a lot more +to say about that later when I discuss the art of food combining. <BR> +<BR> + +<TABLE BORDER="1" WIDTH="100%" SUMMARY="Lists of Foodgroups"> + <CAPTION><B>Table 1: The Actual Food Groups*</B></CAPTION> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="20%">Starches</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">Proteins</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">Fats</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">Sugars</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">Watery Vegetables</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="20%">bread</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">meats</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">butter</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">honey</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">zucchini</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="20%">potatoes</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">eggs</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">oils</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">fruit</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">green beans</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="20%">noodles</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">fish</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">lard</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">sugar</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">tomatoes</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="20%">manioc/yuca</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">most nuts</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">nuts</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">molassas</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">peppers</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="20%">baked goods</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">dry beans</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">avocado</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">malt syrup</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">eggplant</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="20%">grains</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">nut butters</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">maple syrup</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">radish</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="20%">winter squash</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">split peas</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">dried fruit</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">rutabaga</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="20%">parsnips</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">lentils</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">melons</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">turnips</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="20%">sweet potatoes</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">soybeans</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">carrot juice</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">Brussels sprouts</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="20%">yams</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">tofu</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">beet juice</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">celery</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="20%">taro root</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">tempeh</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">cauliflower</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="20%">plantains</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">wheat grass juice</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">broccoli</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="20%">beets</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">"green" drinks</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">okra</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="20%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">spirulina</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">lettuce</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="20%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">algae</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">endive</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="20%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">yeast</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">cabbage</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="20%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">dairy</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">carrots</TD> + </TR> +</TABLE> +<BR> +<FONT SIZE="1">* Standard dietitians divide our foods into four basic food groups +and recommend the ridiculous practice of mixing them at every meal. This guarantees +indigestion and lots of business for the medical profession. This chart illustrates +the actual food groups. It is usually a poor practice to mix different foods from +one group with those from another.</FONT><BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<B>The Digestive Process</B><BR> +    After we have eaten our four-color meal--often we do this +in a hurry, without much chewing, under a lot of stress, or in the presence of negative +emotions--we give no thought to what becomes of our food once it has been swallowed. +We have been led to assume that anything put in the mouth automatically gets digested +flawlessly, is efficiently absorbed into the body where it nourishes our cells, with +the waste products being eliminated completely by the large intestine. This vision +of efficiency may exist in the best cases but for most there is many a slip between +the table and the toilet. Most bodies are not optimally efficient at performing all +the required functions, especially after years of poor living habits, stress, fatigue, +and aging. To the Natural Hygienist, most disease begins and ends with our food; +most of our healing efforts are focused on improving the process of digestion. <BR> +    Digestion means chemically changing the foods we eat into +substances that can pass into the blood stream and circulate through the body where +nutrition is used for bodily functions. Our bodies use nutritional substances for +fuel, for repair and rebuilding, and to conduct an incredibly complex biochemistry. +Scientists are still busily engaged in trying to understand the chemical mysteries +of our bodies. But as bewildering as the chemistry of life is, the chemistry of digestion +itself is actually a relatively simple process, and one doctors have had a fairly +good understanding of for many decades. <BR> +    Though relatively straightforward, a lot can and does go +wrong with digestion. The body breaks down foods with a series of different enzymes +that are mixed with food at various points as it passes from mouth to stomach to +small intestine. An enzyme is a large, complex molecule that has the ability to chemically +change other large, complex molecules without being changed itself. Digestive enzymes +perform relatively simple functions--breaking large molecules into smaller parts +that can dissolve in water. <BR> +    Digestion starts in the mouth when food is mixed with ptyalin, +an enzyme secreted by the salivary glands. Pylatin converts insoluble starches into +simple sugars. If the digestion of starchy foods is impaired, the body is less able +to extract the energy contained in our foods, while far worse from the point of view +of the genesis of diseases, undigested starches pass through the stomach and into +the gut where they ferment and thereby create an additional toxic burden for the +liver to process. And fermenting starches also create gas. <BR> +    As we chew our food it gets mixed with saliva; as we continue +to chew the starches in the food are converted into sugar. There is a very simple +experiment you can conduct to prove to yourself how this works. Get a plain piece +of bread, no jam, no butter, plain, and without swallowing it or allowing much of +it to pass down the throat, begin to chew it until it seems to literally dissolve. +Pylatin works fast in our mouths so you may be surprised at how sweet the taste gets. +As important as chewing is, I have only run into about one client in a hundred that +actually makes an effort to consciously chew their food. <BR> +    Horace Fletcher, whose name has become synonymous with the +importance of chewing food well (Fletcherizing), ran an experiment on a military +population in Canada. He required half his experimental group to chew thoroughly, +and the other half to gulp things down as usual,. His study reports significant improvement +in the overall health and performance of the group that persistently chewed. Fletcher's +report recommended that every mouthful be chewed 50 times for half a minute before +being swallowed. Try it, you might be very surprised at what a beneficial effect +such a simple change in your approach to eating can make. Not only will you have +less intestinal gas, if overweight you will probably find yourself getting smaller +because your blood sugar will elevate quicker as you are eating and thus your sense +of hunger will go away sooner. If you are very thin and have difficulty gaining weight +you may find that the pounds go on easier because chewing well makes your body more +capable of actually assimilating the calories you are consuming.<BR> +     A logical conclusion from this data is that anything that +would prevent or reduce chewing would be unhealthful. For example, food eaten when +too hot tends to be gulped down. The same tends to happen when food is seasoned with +fresh Jalapeño or habaneo peppers. People with poor teeth should blend or mash +starchy foods and then gum them thoroughly to mix them with saliva. Keep in mind +that even so-called protein foods such as beans often contain large quantities of +starches and the starch portion of protein foods is also digested in the mouth.<BR> +    Once the food is in the stomach, it is mixed with hydrochloric +acid, secreted by the stomach itself, and pepsin, an enzyme. Together these break +proteins down into water-soluble amino acids. To accomplish this the stomach muscles +agitate the food continuously, somewhat like a washing machine. This extended churning +forms a kind of ball in the stomach called a bolis. <BR> +    Many things can and frequently do go wrong at this stage +of the digestive process. First, the stomach's very acid environment inactivates +pylatin, so any starch not converted to sugar in the mouth does not get properly +processed thereafter. And the most dangerous misdigetion comes from the sad fact +that cooked proteins are relatively indigestible no matter how strong the constitution, +no matter how concentrated the stomach acid or how many enzymes present. It is quite +understandable to me that people do not wish to accept this fact. After all, cooked +proteins are so delicious, especially cooked red meats and the harder, more flavorful +fishes. <BR> +    To appreciate this, consider how those enzymes that digest +proteins work. A protein molecule is a large, complex string of amino acids, each +linked to the next in a specific order. Suppose there are only six amino acids: 1, +2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. So a particular (imaginary) protein could be structured: 1, 4, +4, 6, 2, 3, 5, 4, 2, 3, 6, 1, 1, 2, 3, etc. Thus you should see that by combining +a limited number of amino acids there can be a virtually infinite number of proteins. +<BR> +    But proteins are rarely water soluble. As I said a few paragraphs +back, digestion consists of rendering insoluble foods into water-soluble substances +so they can pass into the blood stream and be used by the body's chemistry. To make +them soluble, enzymes break down the proteins, separating the individual amino acids +one from the other, because amino acids are soluble. Enzymes that digest proteins +work as though they are mirror images of a particular amino acid. They fit against +a particular amino acid like a key fits into a lock. Then they break the bonds holding +that amino acid to others in the protein chain, and then, what I find so miraculous +about this process, the enzyme is capable of finding yet another amino acid to free, +and then yet another. <BR> +    So with sufficient churning in an acid environment, with +enough time (a few hours), and enough enzymes, all the recently eaten proteins are +decomposed into amino acids and these amino acids pass into the blood where the body +recombines them into structures it wants to make. And we have health. But when protein +chains are heated, the protein structures are altered into physical shapes that the +enzymes can't "latch" on to. The perfect example of this is when an egg +is fried. The eggwhite is albumen, a kind of protein. When it is heated, it shrivels +up and gets hard. While raw and liquid, it is easily digestable. When cooked, largely +indigestable.<BR> +    Stress also inhibits the churning action in the stomach so +that otherwise digestible foods may not be mixed efficiently with digestive enzymes. +For all these reasons, undigested proteins may pass into the gut.<BR> +    Along with undigested starches. When starches convert best +to sugars under the alkaline conditions found in the mouth. Once they pass into the +acid stomach starch digestion is not as efficient. If starches reach the small intestine +they are fermented by yeasts. The products of starch fermentation are only mildly +toxic. The gases produced by yeast fermentations usually don't smell particularly +bad; bodies that regularly contain starch fermentation usually don't smell particularly +bad either. In otherwise healthy people it can take many years of exposure to starch +fermentation toxins to produce a life-threatening disease. <BR> +    But undigested proteins aren't fermented by yeasts, they +putrefy in the gut (are attacked by anaerobic bacteria). Many of the waste products +of anaerobic putrefaction are highly toxic and evil smelling; when these toxins are +absorbed through the small or large intestines they are very irritating to the mucous +membranes, frequently contributing to or causing cancer of the colon. Protein putrefaction +may even cause psychotic symptoms in some individuals. Meat eaters often have a very +unpleasant body odor even when they are not releasing intestinal gasses.<BR> +    Adding a heavy toxic burden from misdigested foods to the +normal toxic load a body already has to handle creates a myriad of unpleasant symptoms, +and greatly shortens life. But misdigestion also carries with it a double whammy; +fermenting and/or putrefying foods immediately interfere with the functioning of +another vital organ--the large intestine--and cause constipation. <BR> +    Most people don't know what the word constipation really +means. Not being able to move one's bowels is only the most elementary type of constipation. +A more accurate definition of constipation is "the retention of waste products +in the large intestine beyond the time that is conducive to health." Properly +digested food is not sticky and exits the large intestine quickly. But improperly +digested food (or indigestible food) gradually coats the large intestine, making +an ever-thicker lining that interferes with the intestine's functioning. Far worse, +this coating steadily putrefies, creating additional highly-potent toxins. Lining +the colon with undigested food can be compared to the mineral deposits filling in +the inside of an old water pipe, gradually choking off the flow. In the colon, this +deposit can become rock-hard, just like water pipe scale.<BR> +    Since the large intestine is also an organ that removes moisture +and water-soluble minerals from the food and moves them into the blood stream, when +the large intestine is lined with putrefying undigested food waste, the toxins of +this putrefaction are also steadily moved into the bloodstream and place an even +greater burden on the liver and kidneys, accelerating their breakdown, accelerating +the aging process and contributing to a lot of interesting and unpleasant symptoms +that keep doctors busy and financially solvent. I'll have quite a bit more to say +about colon cleansing later.<BR> +<BR> +<B>The Progress Of Disease: Irritation, Enervation, Toxemia</B><BR> +    Disease routinely lies at the end of a three-part chain that +goes: irritation or sub-clinical malnutrition, enervation, toxemia. Irritations are +something the person does to themselves or something that happens around them. Stresses, +in other words. <BR> +    Mental stressors include strong negative emotional states +such as anger, fear, resentment, hopelessness, etc. Behind most diseases it is common +to find a problematic mind churning in profound confusion, one generated by a character +that avoids responsibility. There may also be job stress or ongoing hostile relationships, +often within the family. <BR> +    Indigestible foods and misdigestion are also stressful irritations, +as are mild recreational poisons such as "soft" drugs, tobacco and alcohol. +Opiates are somewhat more toxifying, primarily because they paralyze the gut and +induce profound constipation. Stimulants like cocaine and amphetamines are the most +damaging recreational drugs ; these are highly toxic and rapidly shorten life.<BR> +    Repeated irritations and/or malnutrition eventually produce +enervation. The old-time hygienists defined enervation as a lack of or decline in +an unmeasurable phenomena, "nerve energy." They viewed the functioning +of vital organs as being controlled by or driven by nerve force, sometimes called +life force or élan vital. Whatever this vital force actually is, it can be observed +and subjectively measured by comparing one person with another. Some people are full +of it and literally sparkle with overflowing energy. Beings like this make everyone +around them feel good because they somehow momentarily give energy to those endowed +with less. Others possess very little and dully plod through life. <BR> +    As vital force drops, the overall efficiency of all the body's +organs correspondingly decline. The pancreas creates less digestive enzymes; the +thymus secretes less of its vital hormones that mobilize the immune system; the pituitary +makes less growth hormone so the overall repair and rebuilding of cells and tissues +slows correspondingly; and so forth. It does not really matter if there is or is +not something called nerve energy that can or cannot be measured in a laboratory. +Vital force is observable to many people. However, it is measurable by laboratory +test that after repeated irritation the overall functioning of the essential organs +and glands does deteriorate.<BR> +    Enervation may develop so gradually that it progresses below +the level of awareness of the person, or times of increased enervation can be experienced +as a complaint--as a lack of energy, as tiredness, as difficulties digesting, as +a new inability to handle a previously-tolerated insult like alcohol. <BR> +    Long-term consumption of poor-quality food causes enervation. +The body is a carbon/oxygen engine designed to run efficiently only on highly nutritious +food and this aspect of human genetic programming cannot be changed significantly +by adaptation. Given enough generations a human gene pool can adapt to extracting +its nutrition from a different group of foods. For example, a group of isolated Fijians +currently enjoying long healthy lives eating a diet of seafoods and tropical root +crops could suddenly be moved to the highlands of Switzerland and forced to eat the +local fare or starve. But most of the Fijians would not have systems adept at making +those enzymes necessary to digest cows milk. So the transplanted Fijians would experience +many generations of poorer health and shorter life spans until their genes had been +selected for adaptation to the new dietary. Ultimately their descendants could become +uniformly healthy on rye bread and dairy products just like the highland Swiss were.<BR> +    However, modern industrial farming and processing of foodstuffs +significantly contributes to mass, widespread enervation in two ways. Humans will +probably adjust to the first; the second will, I'm sure, prove insurmountable. First, +industrially processed foods are a recent invention and our bodies have not yet adapted +to digesting them. In a few more generations humans might be able to accomplish that +and public health could improve on factory food. In the meanwhile, the health of +humans has declined. Industrially farmed foods have also been lowered in nutritional +content compared to what food could be. I gravely doubt if any biological organism +can ever adapt to an overall dietary that contains significantly lowered levels of +nutrition. I will explain this more fully in the chapter on diet.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Secondary Eliminations Are Disease</B><BR> +    However the exact form the chain from irritation or malnutrition +to enervation progresses, the ultimate result is an increased level of toxemia, placing +an eliminatory burden on the liver and kidneys in excess of their ability. Eventually +these organs begin to weaken. Decline of liver and/or kidney function threatens the +stability and purity of blood chemistry. Rather than risk complete incapacitation +or death from self-poisoning, the overloaded, toxic body, guided by its genetic predisposition +and the nature of the toxins (what was eaten, in what state of stress), cleverly +channels surplus toxins into its first line of defense--alternative or secondary +elimination systems. <BR> +    Most non-life-threatening yet highly annoying disease conditions +originate as secondary eliminations. For example, the skin was designed to sweat, +elimination of fluids. Toxemia is often pushed out the sweat glands and is recognized +as an unpleasant body odor. A healthy, non-toxic body smells sweet and pleasant (like +a newborn baby's body) even after exercise when it has been sweating heavily. Other +skin-like organs such as the sinus tissues, were designed to secrete small amounts +of mucus for lubrication. The lungs eliminate used air and the tissues are lubricated +with mucus-like secretions too. These secretions are types of eliminations, but are +not intended for the elimination of toxins. When toxins are discharged in mucus through +tissues not designed to handle them, the tissues themselves become irritated, inflamed, +weakened and thus much more subject to bacterial or viral infection. Despite this +danger, not eliminating surplus toxins carries with it the greater penalty of serious +disability or death. Because of this liability, the body, in its wisdom, initially +chooses secondary elimination routes as far from vital tissues and organs as possible. +Almost inevitably the skin or skin-like mucus membranes such as the sinuses, or lung +tissues become the first line of defense.<BR> +     Thus the average person's disease history begins with colds, +flu, sinusitis, bronchitis, chronic cough, asthma, rashes, acne, eczema, psoriasis. +If these secondary eliminations are suppressed with drugs (either from the medical +doctor or with over the counter remedies), if the eating or lifestyle habits that +created the toxemia are not changed, or if the toxic load increases beyond the limits +of this technique, the body then begins to store toxins in fat or muscle tissues +or the joint cavities, overburdens the kidneys, creates cysts, fibroids, and benign +tumors to store those toxins. If toxic overload continues over a longer time the +body will eventually have to permit damages to vital tissues, and life-threatening +conditions develop.<BR> +    Hygienic doctors always stress that disease is remedial effort. +Illness comes from the body's best attempt to lighten its toxic load without immediately +threatening its survival. The body always does the very best it can to remedy toxemia +given its circumstances, and it should be commended for these efforts regardless +of how uncomfortable they might be to the person inhabiting the body. Symptoms of +secondary elimination are actually a positive thing because they are the body's efforts +to lessen a dangerously toxic condition. Secondary eliminations shouldn't be treated +immediately with a drug to suppress the process. If you squelch the bodies best and +least-life-threatening method to eliminate toxins, the body will ultimately have +to resort to another more dangerous though probably less immediately uncomfortable +channel. <BR> +    The conventional medical model does not view disease this +way and sees the symptoms of secondary elimination as the disease itself. So the +conventional doctor takes steps to halt the body's remedial efforts, thus stopping +the undesirable symptom and then, the symptom gone, proclaims the patient cured. +Actually, the disease is the cure.<BR> +    A common pattern of symptom suppression under the contemporary +medical model is this progression: treat colds with antihistamines until the body +gets influenza; suppress a flu repeatedly with antibiotics and eventually you get +pneumonia. Or, suppress eczema with cortisone ointment repeatedly, and eventually +you develop kidney disease. Or, suppress asthma with bronkiodialators and eventually +you need cortisone to suppress it. Continue treating asthma with steroids and you +destroy the adrenals; now the body has become allergic to virtually everything.<BR> +    The presence of toxins in an organ of secondary elimination +is frequently the cause of infection. Sinuses and lungs, inflamed by secondary eliminations, +are attacked by viruses or bacteria; infectious diseases of the skin result from +pushing toxins out of the skin. More generalized infections also result from toxemia; +in this case the immune system has become compromised and the body is overwhelmed +by an organism that it normally should be able to resist easily. The wise cure of +infections is not to use antibiotics to suppress the bacteria while simultaneously +whipping the immune system; most people, including most medical doctors, do not realize +that antibiotics also goose the immune system into super efforts. But when one chooses +to whip a tired horse, eventually the exhausted animal collapses and cannot rise +again no matter how vigorously it is beaten. The wise cure is to detoxify the body, +a step that simultaneously eliminates secondary eliminations and rebuilds the immune +system.<BR> +    The wise way to deal with the body's eliminative efforts +is to accept that disease is an opportunity to pay the piper for past indiscretions. +You should go to bed, rest, and drink nothing but water or dilute juice until the +condition has passed. This allows the body to conserve its vital energy, direct this +energy toward healing the disordered body part, and catch up on its waste disposal. +In this way you can help your body, be in harmony with its efforts instead of working +against it which is what most people do.<BR> +    Please forgive another semi-political polemic here, but in +my practice I have often been amazed to hear my clients complain that they have not +the time nor the ability to be patient with their body, to rest it through an illness +because they have a job they can't afford to miss or responsibilities they can't +put down. This is a sad commentary on the supposed wealth and prosperity of the United +States. In our country most people are enslaved by their debts, incurred because +they had been enthralled by the illusion of happiness secured by the possession of +material things. Debt slaves believe they cannot miss a week of work. People who +feel they can't afford to be sick think they can afford to live on pills. So people +push through their symptoms by sheer grit for years on end, and keep that up until +their exhausted horse of a body breaks down totally and they find themselves in the +hospital running up bills to the tune of several thousand dollars a day. But these +very same people do not think they can afford the loss of a few hundred dollars of +current income undertaking some virtually harmless preventative maintenance on their +bodies.<BR> +    Given half a chance the body will throw off toxic overburdens +and cleanse itself. And once the body has been cleansed of toxemia, disagreeable +symptoms usually cease. This means that to make relatively mild but unwanted symptoms +lessen and ultimately stop it is merely necessary to temporarily cut back food intake, +eating only what does not cause toxemia. These foods I classify as cleansing, such +as raw fruits and vegetables and their juices. If the symptoms are extreme, are perceived +as overwhelming or are actually life-threatening, detoxification can be speeded up +by dropping back to only dilute raw juices or vegetable broth made only from greens, +without eating the solids. In the most extreme cases hygienists use their most powerful +medicine: a long fast on herb teas, or just water. I will have a lot to say about +fasting, later.<BR> +    When acutely ill, the most important thing to do is to just +get out of the body's way, and let it heal itself. In our ignorance we are usually +our own worst enemy in this regard. We have been very successfully conditioned to +think that all symptoms are bad. But I know from experience that people can and do +learn a new way of viewing the body, an understanding that puts them at cause over +their own body. It allows you to be empowered in one more area of life instead of +being dependent and at the mercy of other peoples decisions about your body.<BR> +    Finally, and this is why natural medicine is doubly unpopular, +to prevent the recurrence of toxemia and acute disease states, person must discover +what they are doing wrong and change their life. Often as not this means elimination +of the person's favorite (indigestible) foods and/or (stress-producing) bad habits. +Naturally, I will have a lot more to say about this later, too.<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<A NAME="Chapter3"></A><B>Chapter Three </B><BR> +<FONT SIZE="4"><B>Fasting</B></FONT><BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<FONT SIZE="1"><B>From The Hygienic Dictionary </B><BR> +<BR> +</FONT><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Cure. </B>[1] There is no "cure" for disease; +fasting is not a cure. Fasting facilitates natural healing processes. Foods do not +cure. Until we have discarded our faith in cures, there can be no intelligent approach +to the problems presented by suffering and no proper use of foods by those who are +ill. <I>Herbert Shelton, The Hygienic System, v. 3, Fasting and Sunbathing.</I> [2] +All cure starts from within out and from the head down and in reverse order as the +symptoms have appeared.<I> Hering"s Law of Cure.</I> [3] Life is made up of +crises. The individual establishes a standard of health peculiarly his own, which +must vary from all other standards as greatly as his personality varies from others. +The individual standard may be such as to favor the development of indigestion, catarrh, +gout, rheumatic and glandular inflammations, tubercular developments, congestions, +sluggish secretions and excretions, or inhibitions of various functions, both mental +and physical, wherever the environmental or habit strain is greater than usual. The +standard of resistance may be opposed so strenuously by habits and unusual physical +agencies--that the body breaks down under the strain. This is a crisis. Appetite fails, +discomfort or pain forces rest, and, as a result of physiological rest (fasting) +and physical rest (rest from daily work and habits), a readjustment takes place, +and the patient is "cured." This is what the profession and the people +call a cure, and it is for the time being--until an unusual enervation is brought +on from accident or dissipation; then another crisis. These crises are the ordinary +sickness of all communities--all catalogued diseases. When the cold is gone or the +hay-fever fully relieved, it does not mean the patient is cured. Indeed, he is as +much diseased as before he suffered the attack--the crisis--and he never will be cured +until the habits of life that keep up toxin poisoning are corrected. To recover from +a crisis is not a cure; the tendency is back to the individual standard; hence all +crises are self-limited, unless nature by maltreatment is prevented from reacting. +All so-called healing systems ride to glory on the backs of self-limited crises, +and the self-deluded doctors and their credulous clients, believe, when the crises +are past, that a cure has been wrought, whereas the real truth is that the treatment +may have delayed reaction. This is largely true of anything that has been done except +rest. A cure consists in changing the manner of living to such a rational standard +that full resistance and a balanced metabolism is established. I suppose it is not +quite human to expect those of a standardized school of healing to give utterance +to discovered truth which, if accepted by the people, would rob them of the glory +of being curers of disease. Indeed, nature, and nature only, cures; and as for crises, +they come and go, whether or not there is a doctor or healer within a thousand miles. +<I>Dr. John.H. Tilden, Impaired Health: Its Cause and Cure, 1921. </I></FONT><BR> +<BR> +<BR> +    The accelerated healing process that occurs during fasting +can scarcely be believed by a person who has not fasted. No matter how gifted the +writer, the experiential reality of fasting cannot be communicated. The great novelist +Upton Sinclair wrote a book about fasting and it failed to convince the multitudes. +But once a person has fasted long enough to be certain of what their own body can +do to fix itself, they acquire a degree of independence little known today. Many +of those experienced with fasting no longer dread being without health insurance +and feel far less need for a doctor or of having a regular checkup. They know with +certainty that if something degenerates in their body, their own body can fix it +by itself.<BR> +    Like Upton Sinclair and many others who largely failed before +me, I am going to try to convince you of the virtues of fasting by urging you to +try fasting yourself. If you will but try you will be changed for the better for +the rest of your life. If you do not try, you will never Know.<BR> +    To prompt your first step on this health-freedom road, I +ask you to please carefully consider the importance of this fact: the body"s +routine energy budget includes a very large allocation for the daily digestion and +assimilation of the food you eat. You may find my estimate surprising, but about +one-third of a fairly sedentary person"s entire energy consumption goes into +food processing. Other uses for the body"s energy include the creation or rebuilding +of tissues, detoxification, moving (walking, running, etc.), talking, producing hormones, +etc. Digestion is one aspect of the body"s efforts that we can readily control, +it is the key to having or losing health.<BR> +<BR> +<B>The Effort Of Digestion</B><BR> +    Digestion is a huge, unappreciated task, unappreciated because +few of us are aware of its happening in the same way we are aware of making efforts +to use our voluntary muscles when working or exercising. Digestion begins in the +mouth with thorough chewing. If you don"t think chewing is effort, try making +coleslaw in your own mouth. Chew up at least half a big head of cabbage and three +big carrots that have not been shredded. Grind each bit until it liquefies and has +been thoroughly mixed with saliva. I guarantee that if you even finish the chore +your jaw will be tired and you will have lost all desire to eat anything else, especially +if it requires chewing. <BR> +    Making the saliva you just used while chewing the cabbage +is by itself, a huge and unappreciated chemical effort. <BR> +    Once in the stomach, chewed food has to be churned in order +to mix it with hydrochloric acid, pepsin, and other digestive enzymes. Manufacturing +these enzymes is also considerable work! Churning is even harder work than chewing +but normally, people are unaware of its happening. While the stomach is churning +(like a washing machine) a large portion of the blood supply is redirected from the +muscles in the extremities to the stomach and intestines to aid in this process. +Anyone who has tried to go for a run, or take part in any other strenuous physical +activity immediately after a large meal feels like a slug and wonders why they just +can"t make their legs move the way they usually do. So, to assist the body while +it is digesting, it is wise to take a siesta as los Latinos do instead of expecting +the blood to be two places at once like los norteamericanos.<BR> +    After the stomach is through churning, the partially digested +food is moved into the small intestine where it is mixed with more pancreatin secreted +by the pancreas, and with bile from the gall bladder. Pancreatin further solubilizes +proteins. Bile aids in the digestion of fatty foods. Manufacturing bile and pancreatic +enzymes is also a lot of effort. Only after the carbohydrates (starches and sugars), +proteins and fats have been broken down into simpler water soluble food units such +as simple sugars, amino acids and fatty acids, can the body pass these nutrients +into the blood thorough the little projections in the small intestines called villi. +<BR> +    The leftovers, elements of the food that can"t be solubilized +plus some remaining liquids, are passed into the large intestine. There, water and +the vital mineral salts dissolved in that water, are extracted and absorbed into +the blood stream through thin permeable membranes. Mucous is also secreted in the +large intestine to facilitate passage of the dryish remains. This is an effort. (Intestinal +mucous can become a route of secondary elimination, especially during fasting. While +fasting, it is essential to take steps to expel toxic mucous in the colon before +the poisons are re adsorbed.) The final residue, now called fecal matter, is squeezed +along the length of the large intestines and passes out the rectum.<BR> +    If all the digestive processes have been efficient there +now are an abundance of soluble nutrients for the blood stream to distribute to hungry +cells throughout the body. It is important to understand the process at least on +the level of oversimplification just presented in order to begin to understand better +how health is lost or regained through eating, digestion, and elimination. And most +importantly, through not eating.<BR> +<BR> +<B>How Fasting Heals</B><BR> +    Its an old hygienic maxim that the doctor does not heal, +the medicines do not heal, only the body heals itself. If the body can"t heal +then nothing can heal it. The body always knows best what it needs and what to do. +<BR> +    But healing means repairing damaged organs and tissues and +this takes energy, while a sick body is already enervated, weakened and not coping +with its current stressors. If the sick person could but somehow increase the body"s +energy resources sufficiently, then a slowly healing body could heal faster while +a worsening one, or one that was failing or one that was not getting better might +heal. <BR> +    Fasting does just that. To whatever degree food intake is +reduced the body"s digestive workload is proportionately reduced and it will +naturally, and far more intelligently than any physician could order, redirect energy +to wherever it decides that energy is most needed. A fasting body begins accessing +nutritional reserves (vitamins and minerals) previously stored in the tissues and +starts converting body fat into sugar for energy fuel. During a time of water fasting, +sustaining the body"s entire energy and nutritional needs from reserves and +fat does require a small effort, but far less effort than eating. I would guess a +fasting body used about five percent of its normal daily energy budget on nutritional +concerns rather than the 33 percent it needs to process new food. Thus, water fasting +puts something like 28 percent more energy at the body"s disposal. This is true +even though the water faster may feel weak, energyless.<BR> +    I would worry if sick or toxic fasters did not complain about +their weakness. They should expect to feel energyless. In fact, the more internal +healing and detoxification the body requires, the tireder the faster feels because +the body is very hard at work internally. A great deal of the body"s energy +will go toward boosting the immune system if the problem is an infection. Liberated +energy can also be used for healing damaged parts, rebuilding failing organs, for +breaking down and eliminating deposits of toxic materials. Only after most of the +healing has occurred does a faster begin to feel energetic again. Don"t expect +to feel anything but tired and weak.<BR> +    The only exception to this would be a person who has already +significantly detoxified and healed their body by previous fasting, or the rare soul +that has gone from birth through adulthood enjoying extraordinarily good nutrition +and without experiencing the stressors of improper digestion. When one experienced +faster I know finds himself getting "run down" or catching a cold, he quits +eating until he feels really well. Instead of feeling weak as most fasters do, as +each of the first four or five days of water fasting pass, he experiences a resurgence +of more and more energy. On the first fasting day he would usually feel rotten, which +was why he started fasting in the first place. On the second fasting day he"d +feel more alert and catch up on his paper work. By his third day on only water he +would be out doing hard physical chores like cutting the grass, splitting wood or +weeding his vegetable garden. Day four would also be an energetic one, but if the +fast extended beyond that, lowering blood sugar would begin to make him tired and +he"d feel forced to begin laying down.<BR> +    After a day of water fasting the average person"s blood +sugar level naturally drops; making a faster feel somewhat tired and "spacey," +so a typical faster usually begins to spend much more time resting, further reducing +the amount of energy being expended on moving the body around, serendipitously redirecting +even more of the body"s energy budget toward healing. By the end of five or +six days on water, I estimate that from 40 to 50 percent of the body"s available +energy is being used for healing, repair and detoxification.<BR> +    The amount of work that a fasting body"s own healing +energy can do and what it feels like to be there when it is happening is incredible. +But you can"t know it if you haven"t felt it. So hardly anyone in our present +culture knows.<BR> +    As I mentioned in the first chapter, at Great Oaks School +I apprenticed myself to the traveling masters of virtually every system of natural +healing that existed during the '70s. I observed every one of them at work and tried +most of them on my clients. After all that I can say with experience that I am not +aware of any other healing tool that can be so effective as the fast.<BR> +<BR> +Essentials of a Successful, Safe Fast + + +<BLOCKQUOTE> + + <UL> + <LI>1. Fast in a bright airy room, with exceptionally good ventilation, because fasters + not only need a lot of fresh air; their bodies give off powerfully offensive odors. + <LI>2. Sun bathe if possible in warm climates for 10 to 20 minutes in the morning + before the sun gets too strong. + <LI>3. Scrub/massage the skin with a dry brush, stroking toward the heart, followed + by a warm water shower two to four times a day to assist the skin in eliminating + toxins. If you are too weak to do this, have an assisted bed bath. + <LI>4. Have two enemas daily for the first week of a fast and then once daily until + the fast is terminated. + <LI>5. Insure a harmonious environment with supportive people or else fast alone + if you are experienced. Avoid well-meaning interference or anxious criticism at all + cost. The faster becomes hypersensitive to others" emotions. + <LI>6. Rest profoundly except for a short walk of about 200 yards morning and night. + <LI>7. Drink water! At least three quarts every day. Do not allow yourself to become + dehydrated! + <LI>8. Control yourself! Break a long fast on diluted non-sweet fruit juice such + as grapefruit juice, sipped a teaspoon at a time, no more than eight ounces at a + time no oftener than every 2 or 3 hours. The second day you eat, add small quantities + of fresh juicy fruit to the same amount of juice you took the day before no oftener + than every 3 hours. By small quantities I mean half an apple or the equivalent. On + the third day of eating, add small quantities of vegetable juice and juicy vegetables + such as tomatoes and cucumbers. + <LI>Control yourself! The second week after eating resumed add complex vegetable + salads plus more complex fruit salads. Do not mix fruit and vegetables at meals. + The third week add raw nuts and seeds no more than 1/2 ounce three times daily. Add + 1/4 avocado daily. Fourth week increase to 3 ounces of raw soaked nuts and seeds + daily and 1/2 avocado daily. Cooked grains may also be added, along with steamed + vegetables and vegetable soups. + </UL> + + +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<P><BR> +<B>The Prime Rules Of Fasting</B><BR> +    Another truism of natural hygiene is that we dig our own +graves with our teeth. It is sad but true that almost all eat too much quantity of +too little quality. Dietary excesses are the main cause of death in North America. +Fasting balances these excesses. If people were to eat a perfect diet and not overeat, +fasting would rarely be necessary. <BR> +    There are two essential rules of fasting. If these rules +are ignored or broken, fasting itself can be life threatening. But if the rules are +followed, fasting presents far less risk than any other important medical procedure +with a far greater likelihood of a positive outcome. And let me stress here, there +is no medical procedure without risk. Life itself is fraught with risk, it is a one-way +ticket from birth to death, with no certainty as to when the end of the line will +be reached. But in my opinion, when handling degenerative illness and infections, +natural hygiene and fasting usually offer the best hope of healing with the least +possible risk.<BR> +    The first vital concern is the duration of the fast. Two +eliminatory processes go on simultaneously while fasting. One is the dissolving and +elimination of the excess, toxic or dysfunctional deposits in the body, and second +process, the gradual exhaustion of the body"s stored nutritional reserves. The +fasting body first consumes those parts of the body that are unhealthy; eventually +these are all gone. Simultaneously the body uses up stored fat and other reserve +nutritional elements. A well-fed reasonably healthy body usually has enough stored +nutrition to fast for quite a bit longer than it takes to "clean house." +<BR> +    While house cleaning is going on the body uses its reserves +to rebuild organs and rejuvenate itself. Rebuilding starts out very slowly but the +repairs increase at an ever-accelerating rate. The "overhaul" can last +only until the body has no more reserves. Because several weeks of fasting must pass +by before the "overhaul" gets going full speed, it is wise to continue +fasting as long as possible so as to benefit from as much rejuvenation as possible.<BR> +    It is best not to end the fast before all toxic or dysfunctional +deposits are eliminated, or before the infection is overcome, or before the cause +for complaint has been healed. The fast must be ended when most of the body"s +essential-to-life stored nutritional reserves are exhausted. If the fast goes beyond +this point, starvation begins. Then, fasting-induced organic damage can occur, and +death can follow, usually several weeks later. Almost anyone not immediately close +to death has enough stored nutrition to water fast for ten days to two weeks. Most +reasonably healthy people have sufficient reserves to water fast for a month. Later +I will explain how a faster can somewhat resupply their nutritional reserves while +continuing to fast, and thus safely extend the fasting period.<BR> +    The second essential concern has to do with adjusting the +intensity of the fast. Some individuals are so toxic that the waste products released +during a fast are too strong, too concentrated or too poisonous for the organs of +elimination to handle safely, or to be handled within the willingness of the faster +to tolerate the discomforts that toxic releases generate. The highly-toxic faster +may even experience life-threatening symptoms such as violent asthma attacks. This +kind of faster has almost certainly been dangerously ill before the fast began. Others, +though not dangerously sick prior to fasting, may be nearly as toxic and though not +in danger of death, they may not be willing to tolerate the degree of discomfort +fasting can trigger. For this reason I recommend that if at all possible, before +undertaking a fast the person eat mostly raw foods for two months and clean up all +addictions. This will give the body a chance to detoxify significantly before the +water fast is started, and will make water fasting much more comfortable. Seriously, +dangerously ill people should only fast with experienced guidance, so the rapidity +of their detoxification process may be adjusted to a lower level if necessary.<BR> +    A fast of only one week can accomplish a significant amount +of healing. Slight healing does occur on shorter fasts, but it is much more difficult +to see or feel the results. Many people experience rapid relief from acute headache +pain or digestive distress such as gas attacks, mild gallbladder pain, stomach aches, +etc., after only one day"s abstention from food. In one week of fasting a person +can relieve more dangerous conditions such as arthritic pain, rheumatism, kidney +pain, and many symptoms associated with allergic reactions,. But even more fasting +time is generally needed for the body to completely heal serious diseases. That"s +because eliminating life-threatening problems usually involve rebuilding organs that +aren"t functioning too well. Major rebuilding begins only after major detoxification +has been accomplished, and this takes time.<BR> +    Yes, even lost organ function can be partially or completely +restored by fasting. Aging and age-related degeneration is progressive, diminishing +organ functioning. Organs that make digestive enzymes secrete less enzymes. The degenerated +immune system loses the ability to mobilize as effectively when the body is attacked. +Liver and kidney efficiency declines. The adrenals tire, becoming incapable of dumping +massive amounts of stress-handling hormones or of repeating that effort time after +time without considerable rest in between. The consequences of these inter-dependent +deterioration"s is a cascade of deterioration that contributes to even more +rapid deterioration"s. The name for this cascading process is aging. Its inevitable +result--death.<BR> +    Fasting can, to a degree, reverse aging. Because fasting +improves organ functioning, it can slow down aging.<BR> +    Fasters are often surprised that intensified healing can +be uncomfortable. They have been programmed by our culture and by allopathic doctors +to think that if they are doing the right thing for their bodies they should feel +better immediately. I wish it weren"t so, but most people have to pay the piper +for their dietary indiscretions and other errors in living. There will be aches and +minor pains and uncomfortable sensations. More about that later. A rare faster does +feel immediately better, and continues to feel ever better by the day, and even has +incredible energy while eating nothing, but the majority of us folks just have to +tough it out, keeping in mind that the way out is the way through. It is important +to remind yourself at times that even with some discomfort and considering the inconvenience +of fasting that you are getting off easy--one month of self-denial pays for those +years of indulgence and buys a regenerated body.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Length Of The Fast</B><BR> +    How long should a person fast? In cases where there are serious +complaints to remedy but where there are no life threatening disease conditions, +a good rule of thumb is to fast on water for one complete day (24 hours) for each +year that the person has lived. If you are 30 years old, it will take 30 consecutive +days of fasting to restore complete health. However, thirty fasting days, done a +few days here and a few there won"t equal a month of steady fasting; the body +accomplishes enormously more in 7 or l4 days of consecutive fasting, than 7 or 14 +days of fasting accumulated sporadically, such as one day a week. This is not to +say that regular short fasts are not useful medicine. Periodic day-long fasts have +been incorporated into many religious traditions, and for good reason; it gives the +body one day a week to rest, to be free of digestive obligations, and to catch up +on garbage disposal. I heartily recommend it. But it takes many years of unfailingly +regular brief fasting to equal the benefits of one, intensive experience. <BR> +    Fasting on water much longer than fifteen consecutive days +may be dangerous for the very sick, (unless under experienced supervision) or too +intense for those who are not motivated by severe illness to withstand the discomfort +and boredom. However, it is possible to finish a healing process initiated by one +long water fast by repeating the fast later. My husband"s healing is a good +example of this. His health began to noticeably decline about age 38 and he started +fasting. He fasted on water 14 to 18 days at a time, once a year, for five consecutive +years before most of his complaints and problems entirely vanished.<BR> +    The longest fast I ever supervised was a 90 day water fast +on an extraordinarily obese woman, who at 5" 2" weighed close to 400 pounds. +She was a Mormon; generally members of the LDS Church eat a healthier diet than most +Americans, but her"s included far too much of what I call "healthfood junkfood," +in the form of whole grain cakes and cookies, lots of granola made with lots of honey, +oil, and dried fruit, lots of honey heaped atop heavily buttered whole grain bread. +(I will explain more about the trap of healthfood junkfood later on.) A whole foods +relatively meatless diet is far superior to its refined white flour, white sugar +and white grease (lard) counterpart, but it still produced a serious heath problem +in just 30 years of life. Like many women, she expressed love-for-family in the kitchen +by serving too-much too-tasty food. The Mormons have a very strong family orientation +and this lady was no exception, but she was insecure and unhappy in her marriage +and sought consolation in food, eaten far in excess of what her body needed. <BR> +    On her 90 day water fast she lost about 150 pounds, but was +still grossly overweight when the fast ended. Toward the end it became clear that +it was unrealistic to try to shrink this woman any closer to normal body weight because +to her, fat represented an invaluable insulation or buffer that she was not prepared +to give up. As the weight melted away on the fast and she was able to actually feel +the outline of a hip bone her neurosis became more and more apparent, and the ability +to feel a part of her skeleton was so upsetting to her that her choice was between +life threatening obesity and pervasive anxiety. <BR> +    Her weight was still excessive but the solace of eating was +even more important. This woman needed intensive counseling not more fasting. Unfortunately, +at the end she choose to remain obese. Fat was much less frightening to her than +confronting her emotions and fears. The positive side was that after the fast she +was able to maintain her weight at 225 instead of 375 which was an enormous relief +to her exhausted heart.<BR> +    Another client I fasted for 90 days was a 6" 1" +tall, chronic schizophrenic man who weighed in at 400 pounds. He was so big he could +barely get through my front door, and mine was an extraordinarily wide door in what +had been an upper-class mansion. This man, now in his mid twenties, had spent his +last seven years in a mental institution before his parents decided to give him one +last chance by sending to Great Oaks School. The state mental hospitals at that time +provided the mentally ill with cigarettes, coffee, and lots of sugary treats, but +none of these substances were part of my treatment program so he had a lot of immediate +withdrawal to go through. The quickest and easiest way to get him through it was +to put him on a water fast after a few days of preparation on raw food. <BR> +    This was not an easily managed case! He was wildly psychotic, +on heavy doses of chloropromazine, with many bizarre behaviors. Besides talking to +himself continuously in gibberish, he collected bugs, moss, sticks, piles or dirt, +and switched to smoking oak leaves instead of cigarettes. He was such a fire hazard +that I had to move him to a downstairs room with concrete floor. Even in the basement +he was a fire hazard with his smoking and piles of sticks and other inflammables +next to his bed, but all of this debris was his "precious." I knew that +I was in for trouble if I disturbed his precious, but the insects and dirt piles +seemed to be expanding exponentially.<BR> +    One day the dirt exceeded my tolerance level. To make a long +story short he caught me in the act of cleaning up his precious. Was he furious! +All 350 pounds of him! (By this time he had lost 50 pounds.) He barreled into me, +fists flying, and knocked me into the pipes next to the furnace and seemed ready +to really teach me what was what. I prefer to avoid fights, but if they are inevitable, +I can really get into the spirit of the thing. I"d had lots of childhood practice +defending myself because I was an incurable tomboy who loved to wrestle; I could +usually pin big boys who considered themselves tough. So I began using my fists and +what little martial arts training I had to good use. After I hurt him a bit he realized +that I was not going to be easily intimidated, and that in fact he was in danger +of getting seriously damaged. So he called a truce before either of us were badly +beaten up. He had only a few bruises and welts, nothing serious. <BR> +    After that he refrained from collecting things inside the +building (he continued to collect outside). This compromise was fine with me, and +the incident allowed me to maintain the authority I needed to bully him into co-operating +with the program: taking his vitamins, and sticking to his fast until he finally +reached 200 pounds. After 90 days on water he actually looked quite handsome, he +no longer smoked, he was off psychotropic medication, and his behaviors were within +an acceptable range as long as your expectations were not too high. <BR> +    He was well enough to live outside a hospital and also clear-headed +enough to know that if he let too many people know how well he really was, he might +have to give up his mental disability pension and actually become responsible for +himself. No way, Jose! This fellow knew a good thing when he saw it. So he continued +to pull bizarre stunts just often enough in front of the right audience to keep his +disability checks coming in, while managing to act sane enough to be allowed to live +comfortably at home instead of in the hospital. By keeping to my program he could +stay off mind-numbing psychotropic medication if he kept up his megavitamins and +minerals. This compromise was tolerable from his point of view, because there were +no side effects like he experienced from his tranquilizers. <BR> +    It is very rare for a mentally ill person who has spent more +than a few months in a mental hospital to ever usefully return to society because +they find "mental illness" too rewarding.<BR> +<BR> +<B>My Own 56 Day Long Fast</B><BR> +    Fasters go through a lot of different emotional states, these +can get intense and do change quite rapidly. The physical body, too, will manifest +transitory conditions. Some can be quite uncomfortable. But, I don"t want to +leave the reader with the impression that fasting is inevitably painful. So I will +now recount my own longest fast in detail. <BR> +    When I did my own 42 day water fast followed by two weeks +on carrot juice diluted 50/50 with water, which really amounted to 56 consecutive +days, my predominant sensation for the first three days was a desire to eat that +was mostly a mental condition, and a lot of rumbling and growling from my stomach. +This is not real hunger, just the sounds the stomach likes to make when it is shrinking. +After all, this organ is accustomed to being filled at regular intervals, and then, +all of a sudden, it gets nothing, so naturally the stomach wants to know what is +going on. Once it realizes it is on temporary vacation, the stomach wisely decides +to reduce itself to a size suitable for a retired organ. And it shuts up. This process +usually takes three to five days and for most people, no further "hunger pangs" +are felt until the fast is over. <BR> +    Real hunger comes only when the body is actually starving. +The intense discomforts many people experience upon missing a meal are frequently +interpreted as hunger but they aren"t. What is actually happening is that their +highly toxic bodies are taking the opportunity presented by having missed a meal +or two to begin to cleanse. The toxins being released and processed make assorted +unpleasant symptoms such as headaches and inability to think clearly. These symptoms +can be instantly eliminated by the intake of a bit of food, bringing the detox to +a screeching halt.<BR> +    Two weeks into the fast I experienced sharp abdominal pains +that felt like I imagine appendicitis feels, which compelled me toward the nearest +toilet in a state of great urgency where I productively busied myself for about half +an hour. As I mentioned earlier, I was experimentally adhering to a rigid type of +fast of the sort recommended by Dr. Herbert Shelton, a famous advocate of the Natural +Hygiene school. Shelton was such a powerful writer and personality that there still +exists a Natural Hygiene Society that keeps his books in print and maintains his +library. The words "Natural Hygiene" are almost owned by the society like +a trademark and they object when anyone describes themselves as a hygienist and then +advocates any practice that Dr. Shelton did not approve of. <BR> +    Per Dr. Shelton, I was going to fast from the time hunger +left until the time it returned and I was not going to use any form of colon cleansing. +Shelton strongly opposed bowel cleansing so I did no enemas nor colonics, nor herbs, +nor clays, nor psyllium seed designed to clean the bowel, etc. Obviously at day 14 +the bowel said, enough is enough of this crap, and initiated a goods house cleaning +session. When I saw what was eliminated I was horrified to think that I had left +that stuff in there for two weeks. I then started to wonder if the Sheltonites were +mistaken about this aspect of fasting. Nonetheless, I persevered on the same regimen +because my hunger had not returned, my tongue was still thickly coated with foul-smelling, +foul-tasting mucus and I still had some fat on my feet that had not been metabolized. +<BR> +    Shelton said that cleansing is not complete until a skeletal +condition is reached--that is, absolutely no fat reserves are left. Up until that +time I did not even know that I had fat on my feet, but much to my surprise, as the +weeks went on, not only did my breasts disappear except for a couple of land marks +well-known to my babies, but my ribs and hip bones became positively dangerous to +passersby, and my shoes would not stay on my feet. This was not all that surprising +because I went from 135 pounds down to 85 on a 5" 7" frame with substantial +bone structure.<BR> +    Toward the end of the fast my eyes became brighter and clearer +blue, my skin took on a good texture, my breath finally became sweet, my tongue cleared +up and became pink, my mind was clear, and my spiritual awareness and sensitivity +was heightened. In other words, I was no longer a walking hulk of stored-up toxemia. +I also felt quite weak and had to rest for ten minutes out every hour in horizontal +position. (I should have rested much more.) I also required very little sleep, although +it felt good to just lie quietly and rest, being aware of what was going on in various +parts of my body. <BR> +    During the last few weeks on water I became very attentive +to my right shoulder. Two separate times in the past, while flying head first over +the handlebars of my bicycle I had broken my shoulder with considerable tearing of +ligaments and tendons. At night when I was totally still I felt a whole crew of pixies +and brownies with picks and shovels at work in the joint doing major repair work. +This activity was not entirely comfortable, but I knew it was constructive work, +not destructive, so I joined the work crew with my mind"s eye and helped the +work along.<BR> +    It seemed my visualizations actually did help. Ever since, +I"ve had the fasters I supervised use creative imagery or write affirmations +to help their bodies heal. There are lots of books on this subject. I"ve found +that the techniques work far better on a faster than when a person is eating normally. +<BR> +    After breaking the fast it took me six weeks to regain enough +strength that I could run my usual distance in my regular time; it took me six months +to regain my full 135 pound weight because I was very careful to break the fast slowly +and correctly. Coming off water with two weeks on dilute carrot juice I then added +small portions of raw food such as apples, raw vegetables, sprouts, vegetable juices, +and finally in the fourth week after I began drinking dilute carrot juice, I added +seven daily well-chewed almonds to my rebuilding diet. Much later I increased to +14 almonds, but that was the maximum amount of such highly concentrated fare my body +wanted digest at one time for over one year. I found I got a lot more miles to the +gallon out of the food that I did eat, and did not crave recreational foods. Overall +I was very pleased with my educational fast, it had taught me a great deal.<BR> +    If I had undertaken such a lengthy fast at a time when I +was actually ill, and therefore had felt forced into it, my experience could have +been different. A positive mental attitude is an essential part of the healing process +so fasting should not be undertaken in a negative, protesting mental state. The mind +is so powerful that fear or the resistance fear generates can override the healing +capacity of the body. For that reason I always recommend that people who consider +themselves to be healthy, who have no serious complaints, but who are interested +in water fasting, should limit themselves to ten consecutive days or so, certainly +never more than 14. Few healthy people, even those with a deep interest in the process, +can find enough personal motivation to overcome the extreme boredom of water fasting +for longer than that. Healthy people usually begin protesting severely after about +two weeks. If there is any one vital rule of fasting, one never should fast over +strong, personal protest. Anytime you"re fasting and you really desire to quit, +you probably should. Unless, of course, you are critically ill. Then you may have +no choice--its fast or die.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Common Fasting Complaints And Discomforts</B><BR> +    The most frequently heard complaints of fasters are headaches, +dry, cracked lips, dizziness, blurred vision with black spots that float, skin rashes, +and weakness in the first few days plus what they think is intense hunger. The dizziness +and weakness are really real, and are due to increased levels of toxins circulating +in the blood and from unavoidably low blood sugar which is a natural consequence +of the cessation of eating. The blood sugar does reestablish a new equilibrium in +the second and third week of the fast and then, the dizziness may cease, but still, +it is important to expect dizziness at the beginning. <BR> +    It always takes more time for the blood to reach the head +on a fast because everything has slowed down, including the rate of the heart beat, +so blood pressure probably has dropped as well. If you stand up very quickly you +may faint. I repetitively instruct all of my clients to stand up very slowly, moving +from a lying to a sitting position, pausing there for ten or twenty seconds, and +then rising slowly from a sitting to a standing position. They are told that at the +first sign of dizziness they must immediately put their head between their knees +so that the head is lower than the heart, or squat/sit down on the floor, I once +had a faster who forgot to obey my frequent warnings. About two weeks into a long +fast, she got up rapidly from the toilet and felt dizzy. The obvious thing to do +was to sit back down on the toilet or lie down on the bath rug on the floor, but +no, she decided that because she was dizzy she should rush back to her bed in the +adjoining room. She made it as far as the bathroom door and fainted, out cold, putting +a deep grove into the drywall with her pretty nose on the way down. We then had to +make an unscheduled visit to a nose specialist, who calmly put a tape-wrapped spoon +inside her bent-over nose and pried it back to dead center. This was not much fun +for either of us; it is well worthwhile preventing such complications.<BR> +    Other common complaints during the fast include coldness, +due to low blood sugar as well as a consequence of weight loss and slowed circulation +due to lessened physical activity. People also dislike inactivity which seems excruciatingly +boring, and some are upset by weight loss itself. Coldness is best handled with lots +of clothes, bedding, hot water bottles or hot pads, and warm baths. Great Oaks School +of Health was in Oregon, where the endlessly rainy winters are chilly and the concrete +building never seemed to get really warm. I used to dream of moving my fasters to +a tropical climate where I could also get the best, ripest fruits to wean them back +on to food. <BR> +    If the fast goes on for more than a week or ten days, many +people complain of back discomfort, usually caused by over-worked kidneys. This passes. +Hot baths or hot water bottles provide some relief. Drinking more fluids may also +help a bit. Nausea is fairly common too, due to toxic discharges from the gall bladder. +Drinking lots of water or herbal tea dilutes toxic bile in the stomach and makes +it more tolerable. <BR> +    Very few fasters sleep well and for some reason they expect +to, certainly fasters hope to, because they think that if they sleep all night they +will better survive one more deadly dull day in a state of relative unconsciousness. +They find out much to their displeasure that very little sleep is required on a fast +because the body is at rest already. Many fasters sleep only two to four hours but +doze frequently and require a great deal of rest. Being mentally prepared for this +change of habit is the best handling. Generalized low-grade aches and pains in the +area of the diseased organs or body parts are common and can often be alleviated +with hot water bottles, warm but not hot bath water and massage. If this type of +discomfort exists, it usually lessens with each passing day until it disappears altogether. +<BR> +    Many fasters complain that their vision is blurred, and that +they are unable to concentrate. These are really major inconveniences because then +fasters can"t read or even pay close attention to video-taped movies, and if +they can"t divert themselves some fasters think they will go stir crazy. They +are so addicted to a hectic schedule of doingness, and/or being entertained that +they just can"t stand just being with themselves, forced to confront and deal +with the sensations of their own body, forced to face their own thoughts, to confront +their own emotions, many of which are negative. People who are fasting release a +lot of mental/emotional garbage at the same time as they let go of old physical garbage. +Usually the psychological stuff contributed greatly to their illness and just like +the physical garbage and degenerated organs, it all needs to be processed. <BR> +    One of the most distressing experiences that happen occasionally +is hair loss. Deprived of adequate nutrition, the follicles can not keep growing +hair, and the existing hair dies. However, the follicles themselves do not die and +once the fast has ended and sufficient nutrition is forthcoming, hair will regrow +as well or better than before. <BR> +    There are also complaints that occur after the fast has been +broken. Post-fast cravings, even after only two weeks of deprivation, are to be expected. +These may take the form of desires for sweet, sour, salt, or a specific food dreamed +of while fasting, like chocolate fudge sundays or just plain toast. Food cravings +must be controlled at all costs because if acted upon, each indulgence chips away +the health gains of the previous weeks. A single indulgence can be remedied by a +day of restricting the diet to juice or raw food. After the repair, the person feels +as good as they did when the fast ended. Repeated indulgences will require another +extended bout of fasting to repair. It is far better to learn self-control.<BR> +<BR> +<B>The Healing Crisis And Retracing</B><BR> +    Certain unpleasant somatics that occur while fasting (or +while on a healing diet) may not be dangerous or "bad." Two types, the +healing crisis, and retracing, are almost inevitable. A well-educated faster should +welcome these discomforts when they happen. The healing crisis (but not retracing) +also occurs on a healing diet. <BR> +    The healing crisis can seem a big surprise to a faster who +has been progressing wonderfully. Suddenly, usually after a few days of noticeably +increased well-being, they suddenly experience a set of severe symptoms and feel +just awful. This is not a setback, not something to be upset or disappointed about, +but a healing crisis, actually a positive sign <BR> +    Healing crises always occur after a period of marked improvement. +As the vital force builds up during the healing process, the body decides it now +has obtained enough energy to throw off some accumulated toxins, and forcefully pushes +them out through a typical and usually previously used route of secondary elimination, +such as the nose, lungs, stomach, intestines, skin, or perhaps produces a flu-like +experience with fever chills, sweat, aches and pains, etc. Though unpleasant, this +experience is to be encouraged; the body has merely accelerated its elimination process. +Do not attempt to suppress any of these symptoms, don"t even try to moderate +fever, which is the body"s effective way to burn out a virus or bacteria infection, +unless it is a dangerously high fever (over 102° Fahrenheit). Fever can be lowered +without drugs by putting the person into a cool/cold bath, or using cold towel wraps +and cold water sponge baths. The good news is that healing crises usually do not +last long, and when they are past you feel better than you did before the crisis. +<BR> +    Asthmatics seem to have the worst crises. I have had asthmatics +bring up a quart of obnoxious mucous from their lungs every night for weeks. They +have stayed awake all night for three nights continuously coughing and choking on +the material that was being eliminated. After that clearing-out process they were +able to breath much more freely. Likewise I have had people who have had sinusitis +have nothing but non-stop pussy discharge from their sinuses for three weeks. Some +of this would run down the throat and cause nausea. All I could say to encourage +the sufferer was that it needed to come out and to please stand aside and let the +body work its magic. These fasters were not grateful until the sinus problem that +had plagued them since childhood disappeared.<BR> +    The interesting thing about healing crises are that the symptoms +produced retrace earlier complaints; they are almost never something entirely unknown +to the patient. Usually they are old, familiar somatics, often complaints that haven"t +bothered the faster for many years. The reason the symptom is familiar but is not +currently a problem is because as the body degenerates it loses vital force; with +less vital force it loses the ability to create such acute detoxification episodes +in non-life-threatening secondary elimination routes. The degenerated body makes +less violent efforts to cleanse, efforts that aren"t as uncomfortable. The negative +side of this is that instead of creating acute discomfort in peripheral systems, +the toxemia goes to more vital organs where it hastens the formation of life-threatening +conditions.<BR> +    There is a very normal and typical progress for each person"s +fatal illness. Their ultimate disease starts out in childhood or adolescence as acute +inflammations of skin-like organs, viral or bacterial infections of the same. Then, +as vital force weakens, secondary eliminations are shifted to more vital organs. +Allergies or colds stop happening so frequently; the person becomes rheumatic, arthritic +or experience weakness in joints, tendons, ligaments, or to have back pains, or to +have digestive upsets. These new symptoms are more constant but usually less acute. +Ultimately, vital organs begin to malfunction, and serious disease develop. But a +hygienist sees the beginning of fatal diseases such as cancer in adolescent infections +and allergies.<BR> +    Retracing is generally seen only on water fasts, not on extended +cleansing diets. The body begins to repair itself by healing conditions in the reverse +order to that which they occurred originally. This means that the body would first +direct healing toward the lungs if the most recently serious illness was an attack +of pneumonia six months previously. In this case you would expect to quickly and +intensely experience a mini-case of pneumonia while the body eliminates residues +in the lungs that were not completely discharged at the time. Next the body might +take you through a period of depression that you had experienced five years in the +past. The faster may be profoundly depressed for a few days and come out of it feeling +much better. You could then reexperience sensation-states like those caused by recreational +drugs you had playfully experimented with ten years previously along with the "trippiness" +if it were a hallucinogen, speediness if it was 'speed" or the dopiness if it +was heroin. Retracing further, the faster might then experience something similar +to a raging attack of tonsillitis which you vaguely remember having when you were +five years old, but fortunately this time it passes in three days (or maybe six hours), +instead of three weeks. This is retracing. <BR> +    Please do not be surprised or alarmed if it happens to you +on a fast, and immediately throw out the baby with the bath water thinking that you +are doing the wrong thing because all those old illnesses are coming back to haunt +you. It is the body"s magnificent healing effort working on your behalf, and +for doing it your body deserves lots of "well done", "good body" +thoughts rather than gnashing of teeth and thinking what did I do to deserve this. +The body won"t tell you what you did to deserve this, but it knows and is trying +its darndest to undo it.<BR> +<BR> +<B>The Unrelenting Boredom Of Fasting</B><BR> +    Then there"s the unrelenting boredom of fasting. Most +people have been media junkies since they were kids; the only way they believe they +can survive another day of fasting is by diverting their minds with TV. This is far +from ideal because often the emotions of a faster are like an open wound and when +they resonate with the emotions portrayed on most TV shows, the faster gets into +some very unpleasant states that interfere with healing. And the emotions many movies +prompt people to sympathetically generate are powerful ones, often highly negative, +and contrary to healing. Especially unhelpful are the adrenaline rushes in action +movies. But if TV is the best a faster can do, it is far better that someone fast +with television programming filling their minds than to not fast at all. I keep a +library of positive VHS tapes for these addicts--comedies, stories of heroic over-comings, +depiction"s of humans at their best. <BR> +    Boredom is probably the most limiting factor to fasting a +long time. That is because boredom is progressive, it gets worse with each slowly-passing +day. But concurrently, the rate of healing is accelerating with each slowly-passing +day. Every day the faster gets through does them considerably more good than the +previous day. However, fasters rarely are motivated enough to overcome boredom for +more than two weeks or so, unless they started the fast to solve a very serious or +life-threatening condition. For this reason, basically well people should not expect +to be able to fast for more than a couple of weeks every six months or year, no matter +how much good a longer fast might do.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Exercise While Fasting</B><BR> +    The issue of how much activity is called for on a fast is +controversial. Natural Hygienists in the Herbert Shelton tradition insist that all +fasters absolutely must have complete bed rest, with no books, no TV, no visitors, +no enemas, no exercise, no music, and of course no food, not even a cup of herb tea. +In my many years of conducting people through fasts, I have yet to meet an individual +that could mentally tolerate this degree of nothingness. It is too drastic a withdrawal +from all the stimulation people are used to in the twentieth century. I still don"t +know how Shelton managed to make his patients do it, but my guess is that he must +have been a very intimidating guy. Shelton was a body builder of some renown in his +day. I bet Shelton"s patients kept a few books and magazines under their mattress +and only took them out when he wasn"t looking. If I had tried to enforced this +type of sensory deprivation, I know my patients would have grabbed their clothes +and run, vowing never to fast again. I think it is most important that people fast, +and that they feel so good about the experience that they want to do it again, and +talk all their sick friends into doing the same thing.<BR> +    In contrast to enforced inactivity, Russian researchers who +supervised schizophrenics on 30 day water fasts insisted that they walk for three +hours every day, without stopping. I would like to have been there to see how they +managed to enforce that. I suspect some patients cheated. I lived with schizophrenics +enough years to know that it is very difficult to get them to do anything that they +don"t want to do, and very few of them are into exercise, especially when fasting.<BR> +    In my experience both of these approaches to activity during +the fast are extremes. The correct activity level should be arrived at on an individual +basis. I have had clients who walked six miles a day during an extended water fast, +but they were not feeling very sick when they started the fast, and they were also +physically fit. In contrast I have had people on extended fasts who were unable to +walk for exercise, or so weak they were unable to even walk to the bathroom, but +these people were critically ill when they started fasting, and desperately needed +to conserve what little vital force they had for healing. <BR> +    Most people who are not critically ill need to walk at least +200 yards twice a day, with assistance if necessary, if only to move the lymph through +the system. The lymphatic system is a network of ducts and nodes which are distributed +throughout the body, with high concentrations of nodes in the neck, chest, arm pits, +and groin. Its job is to carry waste products from the extremities to the center +of the body where they can be eliminated. The blood is circulated through the arteries +and veins in the body by the contractions of the heart, but the lymphatic system +does not have a pump. Lymphatic fluid is moved by the contractions of the muscles, +primarily those of the arms and legs. If the faster is too weak to move, massage +and assisted movements are essential.<BR> +    Lymph nodes are also a part of our immune system and produce +white blood cells to help control invading organisms. When the lymph is overloaded +with waste products the ducts and nodes swell, and until the source of the local +irritation is removed, are incapable of handling further debris. If left in this +condition for years they become so hard they feel like rocks under the skin. Lumps +in the armpits or the groin are prime sites for the future development of a cancer. +Fasting, massage, and poultices will often soften overloaded lymph nodes and coax +them back into operation. <BR> +     The Stages Of Fasting<BR> +    The best way to understand what happens when we fast is to +break up the process into six stages: preparation for the fast, loss of hunger, acidosis, +normalization, healing, and breaking the fast. <BR> +    A person that has consumed the typical American diet most +of their life and whose life is not in immediate danger would be very wise to gently +prepare their body for the fast. Two weeks would be a minimum amount of time, and +if the prospective faster wants an easier time of it, they should allow a month or +even two for preliminary housecleaning During this time, eliminate all meat, fish, +dairy products, eggs, coffee, black tea, salt, sugar, alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, +and greasy foods. This de-addiction will make the process of fasting much more pleasant, +and is strongly recommended. However, eliminating all these harmful substances is +withdrawal from addictive substances and will not be easy for most. I have more to +say about this later when I talk about allergies and addictions.<BR> +    The second stage, psychological hunger, usually is felt as +an intense desire for food. This passes within three or four days of not eating anything. +Psychological hunger usually begins with the first missed meal. If the faster seems +to be losing their resolve, I have them drink unlimited quantities of good-tasting +herb teas, (sweetened --only if absolutely necessary--with nutrisweet). Salt-free broths +made from meatless instant powder (obtainable at the health food store) can also +fend off the desire to eat until the stage of hunger has passed.<BR> +    Acidosis, the third stage, usually begins a couple of days +after the last meal and lasts about one week. During acidosis the body vigorously +throws off acid waste products. Most people starting a fast begin with an overly +acid blood pH from the typical American diet that contains a predominance of acid-forming +foods. Switching over to burning fat for fuel triggers the release of even more acidic +substances. Acidosis is usually accompanied by fatigue, blurred vision, and possibly +dizziness. The breath smells very bad, the tongue is coated with bad-tasting dryish +mucus, and the urine may be concentrated and foul unless a good deal of water is +taken daily. Two to three quarts a day is a reasonable amount.<BR> +    Mild states of acidosis are a common occurrence. While sleeping +after the last meal of the day is digested bodies normally work very hard trying +to detoxify from yesterday"s abuses. So people routinely awaken in a state of +acidosis. Their tongue is coated, their breath foul and they feel poorly. They end +their brief overnight fast with breakfast, bringing the detoxification process to +a screeching halt and feel much better. Many people think they awaken hungry and +don"t feel well until they eat. They confuse acidosis with hunger when most +have never experienced real hunger in their entire lives. If you typically awaken +in acidosis, you are being given a strong sign by your body that it would like to +continue fasting far beyond breakfast. In fact, it probably would enjoy fasting long +beyond the end of acidosis.<BR> +    Most fasters feel much more comfortable by the end of the +first seven to ten days, when they enter the normalization phase; here the acidic +blood chemistry is gradually corrected. This sets the stage for serious healing of +body tissues and organs. Normalization may take one or two more weeks depending on +how badly the body was out of balance. As the blood chemistry steadily approaches +perfection, the faster usually feels an increasing sense of well-being, broken by +short spells of discomfort that are usually healing crises or retracings. <BR> +    The next stage, accelerated healing, can take one or many +weeks more, again depending on how badly the body has been damaged. Healing proceeds +rapidly after the blood chemistry has been stabilized, the person is usually in a +state of profound rest and the maximum amount of vital force can be directed toward +repair and regeneration of tissues. This is a miraculous time when tumors are metabolized +as food for the body, when arthritic deposits dissolve, when scar tissues tend to +disappear, when damaged organs regain lost function (if they can). Seriously ill +people who never fast long enough to get into this stage (usually it takes about +ten days to two weeks of water fasting to seriously begin healing) never find out +what fasting can really do for them.<BR> +    Breaking the fast is equally or more important a stage than +the fast itself. It is the most dangerous time in the entire fast. If you stop fasting +prematurely, that is, before the body has completed detoxification and healing, expect +the body to reject food when you try to make it eat, even if you introduce foods +very gradually. The faster, the spiritual being running the body, may have become +bored and want some action, but the faster"s body hasn"t finished. The +body wants to continue healing. <BR> +    By rejection, I mean that food may not digest, may feel like +a stone in your stomach, make you feel terrible. If that happens and if, despite +that clear signal you refuse to return to fasting, you should go on a juice diet, +take as little as possible, sip it slowly (almost chew it) and stay on juice until +you find yourself digesting it easily. Then and only then, reintroduce a little solid +raw food like a green salad. <BR> +    Weaning yourself back on to food should last just as long +as the fast. Your first tentative meals should be dilute, raw juices. After several +days of slowly building up to solid raw fruit, small amounts of raw vegetable foods +should be added. If it has been a long fast, say over three weeks, this reintroduction +should be done gingerly over a few weeks. If this stage is poorly managed or ignored +you may become acutely ill, and for someone who started fasting while dangerously +ill, loss of self control and impulsive eating could prove fatal. Even for those +fasting to cure non-life-threatening illnesses it is pointless to go through the +effort and discipline of a long fast without carefully establishing a correct diet +after the fast ends, or the effort will have largely been wasted.<BR> +<BR> + +<TABLE BORDER="1" WIDTH="100%" SUMMARY="Foods For Monodiet, Juice or Broth Fasting"> + <CAPTION><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Foods For Monodiet, Juice or Broth Fasting</B>g</FONT></CAPTION> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="100%">zucchini, garlic, onion, green beans, kale, celery, beet greens and root, cabbage, + carrot, wheat grass juice, alfalfa juice, barley green juice, parsley juice, lemon/lime + juice, grapefruit juice, apples (not juice, too sweet), diluted orange juice, diluted + grape juice</TD> + </TR> +</TABLE> +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<B>Less-Rigorous-Than-Water Fasts</B><BR> +    There are gradations of fasting measures ranging from rigorous +to relatively casual. Water fasting is the most rapid and effective one. Other methods +have been created by grasping the underlying truth of fasting, namely whenever the +digestive effort can be reduced, by whatever degree, whenever the formation of the +toxins of misdigestion can be reduced or prevented, to that extent the body can divert +energy to the healing process. Thus comes about assorted famous and sometimes notorious +monodiet semi-fasts like the grape cure where the faster eats only grapes for a month +or so, or the lemon cure, where the juice of one or more lemons is added to water +and nothing else is consumed for weeks on end. Here I should also mention the "lemon +juice/cayenne pepper/maple syrup cure," the various green drink cures using +spirulina, chlorella, barley green or wheat grass, and the famous Bieler broths--vegetable +soups made of overcooked green beans or zucchini. <BR> +    I do not believe that monodiets work because of some magical +property of a particular food used. They work because they are semi-fasts and may +be extremely useful, especially for those individuals who can not or will not tolerate +a water fast.<BR> +    The best foods for monodiet fasting are the easiest ones +digest: juices of raw fruits and nonstarchy vegetables with all solids strained out. +Strained mineral broths made of long-simmered non-starchy vegetables (the best of +them made of leafy green vegetables) fall in the same category. So if you are highly +partial to the flavor of grapes or lemons or cayenne and (highly diluted) maple syrup, +a long fast on one of these would do you a world of good, just not quite as much +good as the same amount of time spent on water alone. If you select something more +"solid" for a long monodiet fast, like pureed zucchini, it is essential +that you not overeat. Dr. Bieler gave his fasting patients only one pint of zucchini +soup three or four times a day. The way to evaluate how much to eat is by how much +weight you are losing. When fasting, you must lose weight! And the faster the better.<BR> +    Pure absolute water fasting while not taking any vitamins +or other nutritional supplementation has a very limited maximum duration, perhaps +45 days. The key concept here is nutritional reserves. Body fat is stored, surplus +energy fuel. But energy alone cannot keep a body going. It needs much more than fuel +to rebuild and repair and maintain its systems. So the body in its wisdom also stores +up vitamins and minerals and other essential substances in and in-between all its +cells. Bodies that have been very well nourished for a long time have very large +reserves; poorly nourished ones may have very little set aside for a rainy day. And +it is almost a truism that a sick person has, for quite some time, been a poorly +nourished one. With low nutritional reserves. This fact alone can make it difficult +for a sick person to water fast for enough time to completely heal their damaged +organs and other systems.<BR> +    Obese people have fat reserves sufficient to provide energy +for long periods, but rarely can any body, no matter how complete its nutrition was +for years previously, contain sufficient nutritional reserves to support a water +fast of over six weeks. To water fast the very obese down to normal weight can take +months but to make this possible, rather diverse and concentrated nutrition containing +few calories must be given. It is possible to fast even a very slim a person for +quite a bit longer than a month when their body is receiving easily assimilable vitamins +and minerals and small amounts of sugars or other simple carbohydrates. <BR> +    I estimate that fasting on raw juices and mineral broths +will result in healing at 25 to 75 percent of the efficiency of water fasting, depending +on the amount of nutrition taken and the amount the juices or broths are diluted. +But juice fasting can permit healing to go on several times longer than water might. +<BR> +    Fasting on dilute juice and broth can also save the life +of someone whose organs of elimination are insufficiently strong to withstand the +work load created by water fasting. In this sense, juices can be regarded as similar +to the moderators in a nuclear reactor, slowing the process down so it won"t +destroy the container. On a fast of undiluted juice, the healing power drops considerably, +but a person on this regimen, if not sick, is usually capable of working. <BR> +    Duration of juice fasts can vary greatly. Most of the time +there is no need to continue fasting after the symptoms causing concern have been +eliminated, and this could happen as quickly as one week or take as long as 60 days +if the person is very obese. Fasters also lose their motivation once the complaint +has vanished. But feeling better is no certain indication that the need to fast has +ended. This points up one of the liabilities of juice fasting; the person is already +eating, their digestive system never shut down and consequently, it is much easier +for them to resume eating. The thing to keep in mind is that if the symptoms return, +the fast was not long enough or the diet was not properly reformed after the fast.<BR> +    During a long fast on water or dilute juice, if the body +has used up all of it"s reserves and/or the body has reached skeletal condition, +and the condition or symptoms being addressed persists the fast should be ended, +the person should go on a raw food healing diet. If three to six months on raw food +don"t solve the complaint then another spell of water or dilute juice fasting +should be attempted. Most fasters are incapable of persisting until the body reserves +have been used up because social conditioning is telling them their emaciated-looking +body must be dying when it is actually far from death, but return of true hunger +is the critical indicator that must not be ignored. True hunger is not what most +people think of when they think they are hungry. Few Americans have ever experienced +true hunger. It is not a rumbling in the stomach or a set of uncomfortable sensations +(caused by the beginning of detoxification) you know will go away after eating. True +hunger is an animal, instinctual feeling in the back of one"s throat (not in +the stomach) that demands you eat something, anything, even grass or shoe leather.<BR> +    Seriously ill people inevitably start the cleansing process +with a pre-existing and serious mineral deficiencies. I say inevitably because they +likely would not have become ill had they been properly nourished. Sick fasters may +be wise to take in minerals from thin vegetable broths or vitamin-like supplements +in order to prevent uncomfortable deficiency states. For example calcium or magnesium +deficiencies can make water fasters experience unpleasant symptoms such as hand tremors, +stiff muscles, cramps in the hands, feet, and legs, and difficulty relaxing. I want +to stress here that fasting itself does not create deficiencies. But a person already +deficient in minerals should watch for these symptoms and take steps to remedy the +deficiencies if necessary.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Raw Food Healing Diets</B><BR> +    Next in declining order of healing effectiveness is what +I call a raw food healing diet or cleansing diet. It consists of those very same +watery fruits and nonstarchy vegetables one juices or makes into vegetable broths, +but eaten whole and raw. Heating food does two harmful things: it destroys many vitamins, +enzymes and other nutritional elements and it makes many foods much harder to digest. +So no cooked vegetables or fruits are allowed because to maintain health on this +limited regimen it is essential that every possible vitamin and enzyme present in +the food be available for digestion. Even though still raw, no starchy or fatty vegetables +or fruits are allowed that contain concentrated calories like potatoes, winter squash, +avocados, sweet potatoes, fresh raw corn, dates, figs, raisins, or bananas. And naturally, +no salad dressings containing vegetable oils or (raw) ground seeds are allowed. Nor +are raw grains or other raw concentrated energy sources.<BR> +    When a person starts this diet they will at first experience +considerable weight loss because it is difficult to extract a large number of calories +from these foods (though I have seen people actually gain weight on a pure melon +diet, so much sugar do these fruits have, and well-chewed watermelon seeds are very +nourishing). Eating even large quantities of only raw fruit and raw non-starchy vegetables +results in a slow but steady healing process about 10 to 20 percent as rapid as water +fasting.<BR> +    A raw food cleansing diet has several huge advantages. It +is possible to maintain this regimen and regularly do non-strenuous work for many +months, even a year or more without experiencing massive weight loss and, more important +to some people, without suffering the extremes of low blood sugar, weakness and loss +of ability to concentrate that happen when water fasting. Someone on a raw food cleanse +will have periods of lowered energy and strong cravings for more concentrated foods, +but if they have the self-discipline to not break their cleansing process they can +accomplish a great deal of healing while still maintaining more or less normal (though +slower paced) life activities. However, almost no one on this diet is able to sustain +an extremely active life-style involving hard physical labor or competitive sports. +And from the very beginning someone on a raw food cleanse must be willing and able +to lie down and rest any time they feel tired or unable to face their responsibilities. +Otherwise they will inevitably succumb to the mental certainty that their feelings +of exhaustion or overwhelm can be immediately solved by eating some concentrated +food to "give them energy." Such low-energy states will, however, pass +quickly after a brief nap or rest.<BR> +    Something else gradually happens to a body when on such a +diet. Do you recall that I mentioned that after my own long fast I began to get more +"mileage" out of my food. A cleansed, healed body becomes far more efficient +at digestion and assimilation; a body that is kept on a raw food cleansing diet will +initially lose weight rapidly, but eventually weight loss slows to virtually nothing +and then stabilizes. However, long-term raw fooders are usually thin as toothpicks.<BR> +    Once starchy vegetables like potatoes or winter squash, raw +or cooked, or any cereals, raw or cooked, are added to a cleansing diet, the detoxification +and healing virtually ceases and it becomes very easy to maintain or even gain weight, +particularly if larger quantities of more concentrated foods like seeds and nuts +are eaten. Though this diet has ceased to be cleansing, few if any toxins from misdigestion +will be produced and health is easy to maintain. <BR> +    "Raw fooders" are usually people who have healed +themselves of a serious diseases and ever after continue to maintain themselves on +unfired food, almost as a matter of religious belief. They have become convinced +that eating only raw, unfired food is the key to extraordinarily long life and supreme +good health. When raw fooders wish to perform hard physical work or strenuous exercise, +they"ll consume raw nuts and some raw grains such as finely-ground oats soaked +overnight in warm water or deliciously sweet "Essene bread," made from +slightly sprouted wheat that is then ground wet, made into cakes, and sun baked at +temperatures below about 115 degrees Fahrenheit. Essene bread can be purchased in +some health food stores. However, little or no healing or detoxification can happen +once concentrated energy sources are added to the diet, even raw ones. <BR> +    During my days at Great Oaks School I was a raw fooder for +some years, though I found it very difficult to maintain body heat on raw food during +chilly, rainy Oregon winters and eventually struck a personal compromise where I +ate about half my diet raw and the rest fired. I have listed some books by raw fooders +in the Bibliography. Joe Alexander"s is the most fun.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Complete Recovery Of The Seriously Ill</B><BR> +    Its a virtual certainty that to fully recover, a seriously +ill person will have to significantly rebuild numerous organs. They have a hard choice: +to accept a life of misery, one that the medical doctors with drugs and surgery may +be able to prolong into an interminable hell on earth, or, spend several years working +on really healing their body, rotating between water fasting, juice or broth fasting, +extended periods on a cleansing raw food diet, and periods of no-cleansing on a more +complete diet that includes moderate amounts of cooked vegetables and small quantities +of cooked cereals. And even after recovery someone who was quite ill may have to +live the rest of their life on a rather restricted regimen.<BR> +    It is unrealistic to expect one fast to fix everything. The +body will heal as much as it can in the allotted time, but if a dangerous illness +has not been fully remedied by the first intense fast, a raw food diet must be followed +for three to six months until weight has been regained, nutritional reserves have +been rebuilt and it is safe to undertake another extended fast. More than two water +or juice fasts a year of thirty continuous days are not recommended nor should they +be necessary unless the life is in imminent danger and there is no other option.<BR> +    The story of Jake"s catastrophic illness and almost-cure +is a good example of this type of program. Jake was from back East. He phoned me +because he had read a health magazine article I had written, his weak voice faintly +describing a desperate condition. He was in a wheelchair unable to walk, unable to +control his legs or arms very well, was unable to control his bladder and required +a catheter. He had poor bowel control, had not the strength to talk much or loudly +and most frightening to him, he was steadily losing weight although he was eating +large amounts of cooked vegetables and grains. Jake had wasted away to 90 pounds +at 5"10" and looked pathetic when I first saw him wheeled off an airplane +at my local airport. <BR> +    Jake had seen a lot of medical doctors and had variously +been diagnosed as having chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic (whatever that is) meningitis, +and multiple sclerosis. He had been treated by virtually every medical expert and +many famous alternative practitioners, utilizing a host of old and new techniques, +all to no avail. He had even tried intravenous chelation therapy and colonics. It +had also been suggested that he enter a hospital for the treatment of eating disorders +and/or see a psychiatrist. He had tried to gain admittance to a number of holistic +fasting institutions back east, but they all refused him because they considered +the risk was too high to fast a person at such a low body weight. But I had previously +fasted emaciated people like Jake, and there was something I liked about his telephone +presence. Perhaps this is why I foolishly decided I knew better than the other experts. +<BR> +    People commonly waste away and die while eating large amounts +of food. Obviously they are unable to digest or assimilate nutrients or they wouldn"t +be wasting. Eating further increases their toxic burden from undigested meals, further +worsening their already failing organs. The real solution is to stop feeding them +altogether so that their digestive functions can heal. In Jake"s case, his body"s +nutritional reserves had already become sadly depleted due to poor absorption over +such an extended period, so I could not fast him on water. I immediately put Jake +on a rich mineral broth prepared from everything left alive in our garden at the +end of winter--leaves of kale, endive plants, whole huge splitting Savoy cabbages, +garlic, huge leeks including their green tops, the whole stew fortified with sea +weed. It did not matter too much what vegetables I used as long as there were lots +of leafy greens containing lots of chlorophyll (where the most concentrated mineral +nutrition is located).<BR> +    Jake was given colonics every day, but had to be carried +to the colonic table because he could not support his own weight. Whoever had given +him colonics previously had not accomplished much for I must say that Jake had the +most foul smelling discharges that I had ever encountered in administering over 6,000 +colonics over many years. It was as if his body was literally rotting from the inside +out. <BR> +    After 30 days on mineral broth Jake, who really did weigh +90 pounds when he arrived, was only down to 85! When a person already close to skeletal +weight starts fasting, to conserve vital tissue the body goes rapidly into a state +of profound rest so it uses very little energy, thus it loses very little weight +each day. This degree of resting also helps heal abnormal body parts earlier. After +one month on mineral broth Jake began to show signs of mineral deficiencies in the +form of a fine tremor of the hands, and cramps in the feet, so I put him on mineral +supplements too. <BR> +    Jake was in my house for a long time. At the end of the second +month on broth he started two weeks on raw carrot juice with a lot of chlorophyll +added from sources such as algae (spirulina), wheat grass juice, alfalfa, etc.. This +was followed by two more weeks on small quantities of raw fruits and vegetables, +and then followed by two weeks with added steamed vegetables, and finally, he achieved +a diet which included small amounts of grain, cooked legumes and raw nuts, plus the +fruits and vegetables previously mentioned. Jake health steadily improved. He gained +control of his bladder, bowels, speech, hands, and legs. He began to exercise in +the living room on a stationary bike, and walked slowly up and down our long driveway, +picking daffodils in the beautiful spring weather. <BR> +    Sadly, though I could help his body to heal it was next to +impossible to stem the tides of Jake"s appetites or to pleasantly withstand +his tantrums when he was denied; he always wanted more in terms of quantity, more +in terms of variety, and at more frequent intervals. Though his organs had healed +significantly, his digestive capacity was not nearly as large as he remembered himself +enjoying before he got sick. And never would be. Jake was not happy about the dietary +restrictions necessary for him to retain his newly attained health, and unwilling +to stay within the limits of his digestive system"s ability to process foods. +He had gained weight and was back up to 120 pounds. It was time for him to go home +before I lost my good humor. <BR> +    Jake left with a lot of "good lucks" and stern +admonitions to stick to his stringent diet and supplement program. It was a big moment +for Jake. He had arrived in a wheelchair three months before. Now he walked unaided +to the airplane, something he had not been able to do for two years. <BR> +    Back at home Jake had no one courageous enough to set limits +for him. His immediate family and every one of his brow beaten associates were compelled +to give him everything that he wanted. So his appetite and lack of personal discipline +got the better of him. He started eating lots of dates and figs. These had been eliminated +from his diet because he was unable to process foods which such a high sugar content. +He also ate larger and larger quantities of grains, nuts and avocados, although I +had warned him of specific quantity limits on rich foods. Most sadly, he returned +to enjoying spaghetti with lots of cheese grated on top. Within months of leaving +my care his paralysis and weakness returned, except that unfortunately for him, he +still retained the ability to assimilate food and maintain his body weight. Ironically, +the only ultimate benefit of his fasting with me was to permit him to suffer a far +longer existence in a wheelchair without wasting away and escaping into death. <BR> +    I would be failing my readers if I did not explain why Jake +became ill in the first place. Jake had started what grew to become a very successful +chain of spaghetti restaurants with a unique noodles and sauces made to his own formula. +He ate a lot of his own spaghetti over the years, and had been reared in a good Italian +family with lots of other kinds of rich food. Jake had a reputation for being able +to outeat everybody in terms of quantity and in the amount of time spent eating. +In childhood, this ability had made his Italian mother very happy because it showed +appreciation for her great culinary skill. <BR> +    Secondly, Jake the adult was still at his core, Jake the +spoiled brat child, with a bad, unregulated temper. He was in the habit of dumping +his temper on other people whether they needed a helping of his angry emotions or +not. A lot of people in his employ and in his extended family tiptoed around Jake, +always careful of triggering his wrath. At my place as Jake began to get well he +began to use his increased energy and much stronger voice to demonstrate his poor +character. At meal times Jake would bang the table with a fork hard enough to leave +dents in the wood table top while yelling for more, complaining loudly about the +lack of rich sauces and other culinary delights he craved. This was a character problem +that Jake could not seem to overcome, even with a lot of intervention from the local +minister on his behalf and my counseling. Jake was a Catholic who went to church +regularly, but acted like a Christian only while he was in church. On some level +Jake knew that he was not treating others fairly, but he would not change his habitual +responses. His negative thoughts and actions interfered with his digestive capacity +to the extent that his gluttonous eating habits produced illness, a vegetative paralyzing +illness, but not death. To me this seems almost a form of karmic justice.<BR> +    It is common for people who have been very ill for extended +periods of time to realize what a wonderful gift life is and arrive at a willingness +to do almost anything to have a second chance at doing 'life" right. Some succeed +with their second chance and some don"t. If they don"t succeed in changing +their life and relationships, they frequently relapse.<BR> +    Luigi Cornaro"s left the world his story of sickness +and rejuvenation. His little book may be the world"s first alternative healing +text. It is a classic example of the value of abstentousness. Had Jake taken this +story to heart he would have totally recovered. Cornaro was a sixteenth century Venetian +nobleman. He, like Jake the spaghetti baron, was near death at the young age of forty. +(Jake was also in his early 40s when he broke down.) Cornaro"s many doctors +were unable to cure him. Finally he saw a doctor who understood the principles of +natural healing. This wise physician determined that this illness was caused by a +mismatch between Cornaro"s limited digestive capacity and the excessive amount +of food he was eating. So Cornaro was put on a diet of only 12 ounces of solid food +and fourteen ounces of liquid a day. Any twelve ounces of any solids he wanted and +any fourteen ounces of liquid. It could be meat and wine, salad or orange juice, +no matter. <BR> +    Cornaro soon regained his health and he continued to follow +the diet until the age of 78. His health was so outstanding during this period that +people who were much younger in terms of years were unable to keep up with him. At +78 his friends, worried about how thin he was (doesn"t it always seem that it +is your so-called friends who always ruin a natural cure) persuaded him to increase +his daily ration by two ounces a day. His delicate and weak digestive system, which +had operated perfectly for many years, was unable to deal with the additional two +ounces, and he became very ill after a very short period of over eating. <BR> +    Worse, his recent indulgence had even further damaged the +organs of digestion and to survive Cornaro had to cut his daily ration to eight ounces +of solid food and eleven of liquids. On this reduced dietary he again regained his +health and lived to be 100. Cornaro wrote four books on the value of abstinence or +"sober living" as he called it, writing the last and perhaps the most interesting +at 96 years of age. Had my patient Jake been able to confine his food intake to the +level of his body"s ability to digest, he might still be walking and enjoying +life. But try as I might I could not make him understand. Perhaps he enjoys doing +penance in his wheel chair more than he would enjoy health and life.<BR> +<BR> + +<TABLE BORDER="1" WIDTH="100%" SUMMARY = "Tissue Losses at Death By Starvation"> + <CAPTION><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Tissue Losses at Death By Starvation*</B></FONT></CAPTION> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="50%">Fat</TD> + <TD WIDTH="50%">97%</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="50%">Muscles</TD> + <TD WIDTH="50%">31</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="50%">Blood</TD> + <TD WIDTH="50%">27</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="50%">Liver</TD> + <TD WIDTH="50%">54</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="50%">Spleen</TD> + <TD WIDTH="50%">67</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="50%">Pancreas</TD> + <TD WIDTH="50%">17</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="50%">Skin</TD> + <TD WIDTH="50%">21</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="50%">Intestines</TD> + <TD WIDTH="50%">18</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="50%">Kidneys</TD> + <TD WIDTH="50%">26</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="50%">Lungs</TD> + <TD WIDTH="50%">18</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="50%">Testes</TD> + <TD WIDTH="50%">40</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="50%">Heart</TD> + <TD WIDTH="50%">3</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="50%">Brain and Spinal Cord</TD> + <TD WIDTH="50%">3</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="50%">Nerves</TD> + <TD WIDTH="50%">3</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="50%">Bone</TD> + <TD WIDTH="50%">14</TD> + </TR> +</TABLE> +<BR> +<BR> +<FONT SIZE="1">* From Keys, Ancel, Joseph Brozek , Austin Henchel, Olaf Mickelson +and Henry L. Taylor, (1950)<I> The Biology of Human Starvation.</I> Two Vols. Minneapolis: +University of Minnesota Press.</FONT> <BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<B>Starvation</B><BR> +    It is true that ethical medical doctors use the least-risky +procedure they are allowed to use. But this does not mean there are no risks to allopathic +treatment. The medical doctor justifies taking the risks by saying that the risk/reward +ratio is the best possible. Any sick person is already at risk. Life comes with only +one guarantee: that none of us gets out of it alive.<BR> +    Compared to the risks of allopathic medicine, fasting is +a far safer method of treating disease. The oft-repeated scare stories medical doctors +and their allies circulate about fasting are not true, and it is important to remember +that none of these people portraying fasting as evil and dangerous have ever fasted +themselves--I"ll put money on that one. Or, on the slim possibility that someone +telling fasting horror stories did actually not eat for 24 hours (probably because +some accident or acute illness prevented them), they had a terrible experience because +they didn"t understand the process, were highly toxic, and were scared to death +the whole time. <BR> +    Or worse yet they fasted for a short period with an "open +mind"--a very dangerous state in which to approach anything new. I have found +through considerable experience with people professing to have open minds that the +expression "I"m open minded" usually means that someone has already +made up their mind and new data just passes straight through their open mind--in one +ear and out the other. Or sometimes, the phrase "open mind" means a person +that does not believe any information has reality and is entirely unable to make +up their mind.<BR> +    The most commonly leveled criticism of fasting is that in +its efforts to survive self-imposed starvation the body metabolizes vital tissue, +not just fat, and therefore, fasting is damaging, potentially fatally damaging. People +who tell you this will also tell you that fasters have destroyed their heart muscle +or ruined their nervous system permanently. But this kind of damage happen only when +a person starves to death or starves to a point very close to death, not when someone +fasts. <BR> +    There is a huge difference between fasting and starvation. +Someone starving is usually eating, but eating poorly and inadequately, eating scraps +of whatever is available such as sugar, white flour, rancid grease, shoe leather, +or even dirt. Frequently a starving person is forced to exercise a great deal as +they struggle to survive and additionally is highly apprehensive. Or someone starving +to death is confined to a small space, may become severely dehydrated too and is +in terror. Fear is very damaging to the digestive process, and to the body in general; +fear speeds up the destruction of vital tissue. People starve when trekking vast +distances through wastelands without food to eat, they starved in concentration camps, +buried in mind disasters, they starve during famines and starve while being tortured +in prisons. <BR> +    Until water fasting goes on past the point where all fatty +tissues and all abnormal deposits have been burned for fuel and recycled for the +nutritional elements they contain, vital muscle tissues and organs are not consumed. +And as long as the body contains sufficient nutritional reserves, vital organs and +essential tissues are rebuilt and maintained. In fact the body has a great deal of +intelligence that we don"t give it credit for. It knows exactly which cells +are essential to survival, which ones are not. The body knows which cells are abnormal +deposits, and it goes to work to metabolize them first. For example, the body recognizes +arthritic deposits, cysts, fibroids, and tumors as offensive parts of the landscape, +and obligingly uses them for foods in preference to anything else. A starving (not +fasting) body also knows precisely in what order of priority body cells should be +metabolized to minimize risk of death or permanent disability.<BR> +    After a starving body has reached skeletal condition, or +where some small amount of fat remains but nutritional reserves (vitamins and minerals) +are exhausted and there is insufficient nourishment forthcoming, the body begins +to consume nutrient-rich muscle and organ tissue in a last-ditch effort to stay alive. +Under these dire circumstances, the least essential muscles and organs from the standpoint +of survival are metabolized first. For example, muscles in the arms and legs would +be consumed early in the process, the heart muscle used only toward the very end. +The very last part of the body to be metabolized when one is starving and as has +come very close to death would be the brain and the nervous system. <BR> +    Starvation begins where fasting ends, which is when real +hunger begins. If the return of hunger is ignored whenever it takes place, whether +it is in 30, 60, or 90 days depending upon body weight and type of fast, at that +point exactly, not a day before, starvation begins very slowly. Usually it takes +a considerable period of time after that before death occurs. It is important to +note that this discussion applies only to the abstention from food, not water. Death +takes place very quickly in the absence of water.<BR> +    The chart on the previous page shows numerically the phenomenal +ability of the body to protect the most essential tissues of the body right up to +the time of death. If a person fasted for 30 days, the average time it takes for +the return of hunger in a person that is not overweight, and then ignored the return +of hunger, and continued to abstain from food--if the person could avoid forced exercise, +keep warm, and had enough hydration, it could take as much as an additional 20 to +60 days to die of starvation! At death the body would have experienced losses of +40 to 60 percent of its starting body weight. (Ancel Keys et al, 1950) A emaciated +person can not afford to lose nearly as much weight as an obese person, and death +under conditions of starvation will occur earlier. In all cases of starvation the +brain, nerves, heart, lungs, kidneys and liver remain largely intact and functional +to the very end. During a fast, it is almost impossible to damage essential organs, +unless of course the person creates the damage by fears about the process, or by +internalizing the fears of others. If those fears are present, the fast should not +be attempted.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Weight Loss By Fasting</B><BR> +    Loss of weight indicates, almost guarantees, that detoxification +and healing is occurring. I can"t stress this too much. Of all the things I +find my patients seem to misunderstand or forget after being told, it is that they +can"t heal in a rapid manner without getting smaller. This reality is especially +hard for the family and friends of someone who is fasting, who will say, "you"re +looking terrible dear, so thin. Your skin is hanging on your bones. You"re not +eating enough protein or nutrient food to be healthy and you must eat more or you"re +going to develop serious deficiencies. You don"t have any energy, you must be +getting sicker. You"re doing the wrong thing, obviously. You have less energy +and look worse every day. Go and see a doctor before it is too late." To succeed +with friends like this, a faster has to be a mighty self-determined person with a +powerful ability to disagree with others.<BR> +    Medical personnel claim that rapid weight loss often causes +dangerous deficiencies; these deficiencies force the person to overeat and regain +even more weight afterward. This is largely untrue, though there is one true aspect +to it: a fasted, detoxified body becomes a much more efficient digester and assimilator, +extracting a lot more nutrition from the same amount food is used to eat. If, after +extended fasting a person returns to eating the same number of calories as they did +before; they will gain weight even more rapidly than before they stated fasting. +When fasting for weight loss, the only way to keep the weight off is to greatly reform +the diet; to go on, and stay on, a diet made up largely of non-starchy, watery fruits +and vegetables, limited quantities of cooked food, and very limited amounts of highly +concentrated food sources like cereals and cooked legumes. Unless, of course, after +fasting, one"s lifestyle involves much very hard physical labor or exercise. +I"ve had a few obese fasters become quite angry with me for this reason; they +hoped to get thin through fasting and after the fast, to resume overeating with complete +irresponsibility as before, without weight gain. <BR> +    People also fear weight loss during fasting because they +fear becoming anorexic or bulimic. They won"t! A person who abstains from eating +for the purpose of improving their health, in order to prevent or treat illness, +or even one who fasts for weight loss will not develop an eating disorder. Eating +disorders mean eating compulsively because of a distorted body image. Anorexics and +bulimics have obsessions with the thinner-is-better school of thought. The anorexic +looks at their emaciated frame in the mirror and thinks they are fat! This is the +distorted perception of a very insecure person badly in need of therapy. A bulimic, +on the other hand stuffs themselves, usually with bad food, and then purges it by +vomiting, or with laxatives. Anorexics and bulimics are not accelerating the healing +potential of their bodies; these are life threatening conditions. Fasters are genuinely +trying to enhance their survival potential. <BR> +    Occasionally a neurotic individual with a pre-existing eating +disorder will become obsessed with fasting and colon cleansing as a justification +to legitimize their compulsion. During my career while monitoring hundreds of fasters, +I"ve known two of these. I discourage them from fasting or colon cleansing, +and refuse to assist them, because they carry the practices to absurd extremes, and +contribute to bad press about natural medicine by ending up in the emergency ward +of a hospital with an intravenous feeding tube in their arm. <BR> +<BR> +<B>Cases Beyond The Remedy Of Fasting</B><BR> +    Occasionally, very ill people have a liver that has become +so degenerated it cannot sustain the burden of detoxification. This organ is as vital +to survival as the brain, heart and lungs. We can get along with only one kidney, +we can live with no spleen, with no gallbladder, with only small parts of the stomach +and intestines, but we can not survive without a liver for more than a day or so. +The liver is the most active organ in the body during detoxification. To reach an +understanding of detoxification, it helps to know just what the liver does for us +on an ongoing basis. <BR> +    The liver is a powerful chemical filter where blood is refined +and purified. The liver passes this cleansed blood out through the superior vena +cava, directly to the heart. The blood is then pumped into general and systemic circulation, +where it reaches all parts of the body, delivering nutrition and oxygen at a cellular +level. On its return flow, a large proportion of the depleted blood is collected +by the gastric, splenic and superior and inferior mesenteric veins that converge +to form the large portal vein which enters the liver. Thus a massive flow of waste +from all the cells of the body is constantly flowing into the liver. The huge hepatic +artery also enters the liver to supply oxygen and nutrients with which to sustain +the liver cells themselves. <BR> +    The liver is constantly at work refining the blood. It is +synthesizing, purifying, renovating, washing, filtering, separating, and detoxifying. +It works day and night without stopping. Many toxins are broken down by enzymes and +their component parts are efficiently reused in various parts of the body. Some impurities +are filtered out and held back from the general circulation. These debris are collected +and stored in the gall bladder, which is a little sack appended to the liver. After +a meal, the contents of the gall bladder (bile) are discharged into the duodenum, +the upper part of the small intestine just beyond the stomach. This bile also contains +digestive enzymes produced by the liver that permit the breakdown of fatty foods +in the small intestine.<BR> +    Sometimes a large flow of bile finds its way into the stomach +by pressure or is sucked into the stomach by vomiting. Excessive biliary secretion +and excretion can also result from overeating, which overcrowds the area. Sometimes +colonics or massage can also stimulate a massive flow of bile. Extremely bitter and +irritating, when bile gets into the stomach the person either vomits or wishes they +could. And after vomiting and experiencing the taste of bile, wishes they hadn"t.<BR> +    When no food at all enters the system, the blood keeps right +on passing through the liver/filter just as it does when we are eating. When the +liver does not have to take care of toxins generated by the current food intake, +each passage through the liver results in a cleaner blood stream, with the debris +decreasing in quantity, viscosity, and toxicity, until the blood becomes normalized. +During fasting, debris from the gall bladder still pass through the small intestine +and into the large intestine. However, if the bowels do not move the toxins in the +bile are readsorbed into the blood stream and get recirculated in an endless loop. +This toxic recycling makes a faster feel just terrible, like they had a flu or worse!<BR> +    The bowels rarely move while fasting. During fasting only +enemas or colonics permit elimination from the large intestine. If done effectively +and frequently, enemas will greatly add to the well being and comfort of the faster. +Many times when a faster seems to be retracing or experiencing a sudden onset of +acute discomfort or symptoms, these can be almost immediately relieved by an enema +or colonic. <BR> +    A person with major liver degeneration inevitably dies, with +or without fasting, with or without traditional medicine. Significantly impaired +kidney function can also bring about this same result. Mercifully, death while fasting +is usually accomplished relatively free of pain, clear of mind and with dignity. +That often can not be said of death in a hospital. There are much worse experiences +than death. <BR> +    Fasting is not a cure-all. There are some conditions that +are beyond the ability of the body to heal. Ultimately, old age gets us all. <BR> +    Dr. Linda Hazzard, one of the greats of natural hygiene, +who practiced Osteopathic medicine in the 1920s, had a useful way of categorizing +conditions that respond well to fasting. These she labeled "acute conditions," +and "chronic degenerative conditions." A third classification, "chronic +conditions with organic damage," does not respond to fasting. Acute conditions, +are usually inflammations or infections with irritated tissue, with swelling, redness, +and often copious secretions of mucous and pus, such as colds, flu, a first time +case of pneumonia, inflamed joints as in the early stages of arthritis, etc. These +acute conditions usually remedy in one to three weeks of fasting. Acute conditions +are excellent candidates for self-doctoring. Chronic degenerative conditions are +more serious and the patient usually requires supervision. These include conditions +such as cancer, aids, chronic arthritis, chronic pneumonia, emphysema and asthma. +Chronic degenerative conditions usually respond within a month to three months of +fasting. The fasting should be broken up into two or three sessions if the condition +has not been relieved in one stint of supervised fasting. Each successive fast will +produce some improvement and if a light, largely raw-food diet is adhered to between +fasts the patient should not worsen and should be fairly comfortable between fastings. +<BR> +    If there has been major functional damage to an organ as +a result of any of these degenerative conditions, healing will not be complete, or +may be impossible. By organic damage, I mean that a vital part of the body has ceased +to function due to some degenerative process, injury, or surgery--so badly damaged +that the cells that make up the organ can not be replaced. <BR> +    I once had a twenty five year old man come to my spa to die +in peace because he had been through enough diagnostic procedures in three hospitals +to know that his liver was beyond repair. He had been working on an apple farm in +between terms at university when he was poisoned several times with insecticide from +an aerial spray on the whole orchard. He absorbed so much insecticide that his liver +incurred massive organic damage.<BR> +    When he came to me his body had reached the point where it +was incapable of digesting, and because of lack of liver function, it was incapable +of healing while fasting, a condition in which death is a certainty. He was a Buddhist, +did not fear death and did not want to be kept alive in agony or in prolonged unconsciousness +by any extraordinary means, nor did he want to die with tubes in every orifice. I +was honored to be a supportive participant in his passing. He died fasting, in peace, +and without pain, with a clear mind that allowed him to consciously prepare for the +experience. He was not in a state of denial or fear, and made no frantic attempts +to escape the inevitable. He went quietly into that still dark night with a tranquil +demeanor and a slight smile.<BR> +    Fortunately, in my many years of practice I had the pleasure +of seeing the majority of the people totally regain their health or at least greatly +improve it by means of the fasting and healing diets. Many cancer patients watched +with amazement as their tumors disappeared before their eyes, many arthritics regained +their function, serious skin conditions such as psoriasis disappeared, mental conditions +improved, addictions vanished, fatigue was replaced by energy, and fat dissolved +revealing the hidden sculpture beneath. I will talk more about procedures and the +particular reasons bodies develop specific conditions in later chapters.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Social/Cultural/Psychological Obstacles To Fasting</B><BR> +    Numerous attitudes make it difficult to fast or to provide +moral support to friends or loved ones that are fasting. Many people harbor fears +of losing weight because they think that if times were really tough, if there was +a famine or they became ill and lost a lot of weight they would have no reserves +and would certainly perish. These people have no idea how much fat can be concealed +on an even skinny body, nor of how slowly a skinny body loses weight while fasting. +Substantial fat reserves are helpful as heat-retaining insulation in those rare accidents +when someone is dropped into a cold ocean and must survive until the rescue boat +arrives. Being fat might keep a person alive longer who is lost in the wilderness +awaiting rescue with no supplies, no means of procuring food, and no means of keeping +warm. On the other hand, fat people would have a far harder time walking out of the +wilderness. And extensive fat deposits are merely fuel and do not contain extensive +nutritional reserves. An obese person fasting without significant nutritional supplementation +would begin starving long before they became really skinny. On the balance, carrying +excess weight is a far greater liability than any potential prosurvival aspects it +might have.<BR> +    There are other attitudes associated with weight loss that +make it difficult for people to fast. People hold rather stereotypical notions about +what constitutes an attractive person; usually it involves having some meat on ones +bones. Hollywood and Hugh Hefner have both influenced the masses to think that women +should have hourglass figures with large, upthrust, firm breasts. Since breasts are +almost all useless fatty tissue supporting some milk-producing glands that do not +give a breast much volume except when engorged, most women fasters loose a good percentage +of their breast mass. If the fast is extensive, there should also develop an impressive +showing of ribs and hip bones; these are not soft and cuddly. Husbands, lovers, parents, +and friends frequently point out that you don"t look good this way and exhort +you to put on weight. Most people think pleasantly plump is healthy. <BR> +    Skinny men, especially those who had lost a lot of weight +during an illness, are pressured by associates to put on weight to prove that they +are healthy. I had a client who was formerly a college varsity football player. Before +his illness he had lifted weights and looked like a hunk. His family and friends +liked to see him that way and justifiably so. Then he got seriously ill. On a long +extended healing diet he lost a significant amount of weight and seemed down right +skinny, causing all who knew him well and cared about him to tempt him with all kinds +of scrumptious delicacies from the best of kitchens. But this case was like Luigi +Cornaro, a man who never again could look like a hunk. His "friends" made +an absolutely necessary change in life style and appearance far more difficult than +it was already. My client was torn between a desire to please others, and a desire +to regain and retain his health. This problem a sick person doesn"t need.<BR> +    If you have the independence to consider following an alternative +medical program in a culture that highly values conformity and agreement, you are +also going to have to defend your own course of self-determined action based on the +best available data that you have. But fasters are usually in fragile emotional condition, +so I advise my clients who are subjected to this kind of pressure to beg their friends +and associates to refrain from saying anything if they can"t support the course +of action you have chosen. After this, if friends or relatives are still incapable +of saying nothing (even non-verbally), it is important to exclude them from your +life until you have accomplished your health goals, have regained some weight and +have returned to eating a maintenance diet, rather than getting skinnier on a healing +one.<BR> +    The very worst aspect of our culture"s eating programming +is that people have been wrongfully taught that when ill they must eat to keep up +their strength. Inherent in this recommendation is an unstated belief that when the +body is weakened by a disease state, the weakness can somehow be overcome with food, +and that the body needs this food to kill the virus, bacteria, or invading yeast, +and uses the protein to heal or rebuild tissue. Sadly, the exact opposite is the +case. Disease organisms feed and multiply on the toxic waste products of misdigestion, +and the body is unable to digest well when it is weak or ill. <BR> +    There"s an old saying about this: 'feed a cold, starve +a fever." Most people think this saying means you should eat when you have a +cold. What the saying really means is if you feed a cold then you will soon have +to starve a fever. Protein foods especially are not digested by a diseased body, +and as mentioned before, the waste products of protein indigestion are especially +poisonous. That is all the body needs when it is already down, another load of poison +which it can"t eliminate due to weakness and enervation. <BR> +    Weight loss is usually associated with illness, as it should +be! In times of acute illness an otherwise healthy body loses its appetite for food +because it is prosurvival to stop eating. It is very hard to coax a sick animal to +eat. Their bodies, not controlled by a mind full of complex learned responses and +false ideas, automatically know that fasting is nature"s method of healing. +Contrary to popular understanding, digestion, assimilation, and elimination require +the expenditure of considerable energy. This fact may contradict the reader"s +experience because everyone has become tired when they have worked a long time without +eating, and then experienced the lift after eating. But an ill body cannot digest +efficiently so instead of providing energy extracted from foods, the body is further +burdened by yet another load of toxic material produced by fermented and putrefied +food. This adds insult to injury in a sick body that is already drowning in its own +garbage.<BR> +    Worse, during illness most available vital force is already +redirected into healing; it is not available for digestion. It is important to allow +a sick body to proceed with healing and not to obstruct the process with unnecessary +digestion or suppress the symptoms (which actually are the healing efforts) with +drugs. If you have an acute illness, and you stop all food intake except for pure +water and herb teas, and perhaps some vegetable broth, or dilute non-sweet juice, +you have relieved your body of an immense effort. Instead of digesting, the body +goes to work on catching up on healing. The body can and will almost inevitably heal +itself if the sick person will have faith in it, cooperate with the body"s efforts +by allowing the symptoms of healing to exist, reduce or eliminate the intake of food +to allow the body to marshal its energies, maintain a positive mental attitude and +otherwise stay out of the way. <BR> +    Many people intensely dread missing even one meal. These +folks usually are and have been so toxic that their bodies had been stashing uneliminated +toxins in their fat for years. They are usually so addicted to caffeine, cigarettes, +alcohol, and so forth, that when they had fasted, even briefly, their bodies were +forced to dip into highly-polluted fat reserves while simultaneously the body begins +withdrawal. People like this who try to fast experience highly unpleasant symptoms +including headache, irritability, inability to think or concentrate, blurred vision, +profound fatigue, aches, etc. Most of these symptoms come from low blood sugar, but +combined with the toxins being released from fat and combined with going through +multiple addictive withdrawals, the discomforts are more than most people are willing +to tolerate. Fasting on juice is much more realistic for cases like this. It is little +wonder that when a hygienist suggests a fast to improve health, this type of case +asserts positively that fasting is quite impossible, they have tried it, it is absolutely +terrible and know that they can"t do it. <BR> +    This rejection is partly due to a cultural expectation (one +reinforced by western medicine) that all unpleasant symptoms should be avoided or +suppressed. To voluntarily experience unpleasant sensations such as those mentioned +above is more than the ordinary timid person will subject themselves to, even in +order to regain health. They will allow surgery, drugs with violent and dangerous +side effects, painful and invasive testing procedures and radiation--all unpleasant +and sometimes extremely uncomfortable. These therapies are accepted because someone +else with authority is doing it to them. And, they have been told that it they don"t +submit they will not ever feel better and probably will die in the near future. Also +people think that they have no alternative, that the expert in front of them knows +what is best, so they feel relieved to have been relieved of the responsibility for +their own condition and its treatment.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Preventative Fasting</B><BR> +    During the years it takes for a body to degenerate enough +to prompt a fast, the body has been storing up large quantities of unprocessed toxins +in the cells, tissues, fat deposits, and organs. The body in its wisdom will always +choose to temporarily deposit overwhelming amounts of toxins somewhere harmless rather +than permit the blood supply to become polluted or to use secondary elimination routes. +A body will use times when the liver is less burdened to eliminate these stored toxic +debris. The hygienists" paradigm asserts that the manifestation of symptoms +or illness are all by themselves, absolute, unassailable proof that further storage +of toxic wastes in the cells, tissues, fat deposits, and organs is not possible and +that an effort toward elimination is absolutely necessary. Thus the first time a +person fasts a great quantity of toxins will normally be released. Being the resident +of a body when this is happening can be quite uncomfortable. For this reason alone, +preventative fasting is a very wise idea. <BR> +    Before the body becomes critically ill, clean up your reserve +fuel supply (fat deposits) by burning off some accumulated fat that is rich in toxic +deposits and then replace it with clean, non-toxic fat that you will make while eating +sensibly. If you had but fasted prophylactically as a preventative or health-creating +measure before you became seriously ill, the initial detoxification of your body +could have been accomplished far more comfortably, while you were healthy, while +your vital force was high and while your body otherwise more able to deal with detoxification. +<BR> +    Each time you fast, even if it is only one day, you allow +your body to go through a partial detox, and each time it becomes easier and more +comfortable than the last time. The body learns how to fast. Each time you fast it, +your body slips into a cleansing mode more quickly, and each time you fast you lighten +the load of stored toxins. Perhaps you have already eliminated the caffeine your +body had stored, which frequently causes severe headaches on withdrawal, not to mention +fatigue. It certainly helps to have this behind you before you go on to the elimination +of other irritating substances. Many people have gone through alcohol or tobacco +withdrawal, and understand that it is very unpleasant, and also that it must be done +in the pursuit of health. Why not withdraw from the rest of the irritating and debilitating +substances we take into our system on an ongoing basis, and why not grit your way +through the eliminative process, withdraw, from food addictions such as sugar or +salt, and from foods that you may be allergic to like wheat, dairy products or eggs.<BR> +    It is very wise to invest in your own insurance plan by systematically +detoxifying while you are still healthy. Plan it into your life, when it is convenient, +such as once a week on Sunday, or even once a month on a quiet day. Take a few days +of vacation, go to a warm, beautiful place and devote part or all of it to cleansing. +Treat yourself by taking an annual trip to Hawaii, fasting at a hotel on the beach--do +whatever it takes to motivate yourself. And consider this: vacations are enormously +cheaper when you stay out of restaurants.<BR> +    If you have accustomed your body to 24 hour fasts, then you +can work on 48 hour fasts, and over time work up to 72 hour fasts, all on a continuum. +You may find it becoming increasingly comfortable, perhaps even pleasant, something +you look forward to. Fasting a relatively detoxified body feels good, and people +eventually really get into the clean, light, clear headed, perhaps spiritually aware +state that goes along with it. <BR> +    By contrast, fasting when you are sick is much more difficult +because your vitality or vital force is very low, you already have no energy, and +probably have unpleasant symptoms that must be dealt with at the same time. There +may be the added stress of being forced into a cleanse because you are too nauseous +to eat. Most people let their health go until they are forced into dealing with it; +they are too busy living, so why bother. <BR> +    The truth is that our body does age, and over time becomes +less able to deal with insults; the accumulated effect of insults and aging eventually +leads most of us to some serious degenerative illness. Normally this begins happening +around age 50 if not sooner. Some of us that were gifted with good genes or what +I call "a good start" may have reached the age of 60 or 75 or even 90 without +serious illness, but those people are few and far between. Why not tip the scales +in your favor by preventing or staving off health problems with systematic detoxification +at your own convenience.<BR> +    Climb into the drivers seat and start to take control and +gain confidence in your own ability to deal with your body, your own health, and +your own life. When it gets right down to the bottom line, there is really only one +thing in the world that is really yours, and that is your life. Take control and +start managing it. The reward will be a more qualitative life.<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<A NAME="Chapter4"></A><B>Chapter Four </B><BR> +<FONT SIZE="4"><B>Colon Cleansing</B></FONT><BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<FONT SIZE="1"><B>From The Hygienic Dictionary </B><BR> +</FONT><FONT SIZE="2"><BR> +<B>Autointoxication.</B> [1] the accumulations on the bowel wall become a breeding +ground for unhealthy bacterial life forms. The heavy mucus coating in the colon thickens +and becomes a host for putrefaction. The blood capillaries to the colon begin to +pick up the toxins, poisons and noxious debris as it seeps through the bowel wall. +All tissues and organs of the body are now taking on toxic substances. Here is the +beginning of true autointoxication on a physiological level. <I>Bernard Jensen, Tissue +Cleansing Through Bowel Management.</I> [2] All maladies are due to the lack of certain +food principles, such as mineral salts or vitamins, or to the absence of the normal +defenses of the body, such as the natural protective flora. When this occurs, toxic +bacteria invade the lower alimentary canal, and the poisons thus generated pollute +the bloodstream and gradually deteriorate and destroy every tissue, gland and organ +of the body. <I>Sir Arbuthnot Lane. </I>[3] The common cause of gastro-intestinal +indigestion is enervation and overeating When food is not digested, it becomes a +poison. Dr. John.H. Tilden, Impaired Health: Its Cause and Cure, 1921. [4] a clogging +up of the large intestine by a building up (on) the bowel wall to such an extent +that feces can hardly pass through. autointoxication is a direct result of intestinal +constipation. Faulty nutrition is a major underlying factor in constipation. The +frequency or quantity of fecal elimination is not an indication of the lack of constipation +in the bowel.<I> Bernard Jensen, Tissue Cleansing Through Bowel Management. </I></FONT><BR> +<BR> +<BR> +    I am not a true believer in any single healing method or +system. I find much truth in many schools and use a wide variety of techniques. The +word for my inclination is eclectic. <BR> +    The most effective medicine in my arsenal is water fasting +followed closely in potency by other, less rigorous detoxifying diets. Colon cleansing +ranks next in healing power. In fact it is difficult to separate colon cleansing +from fasting because detoxification programs should always be accompanied by colon +cleansing. Further down the scale of efficatiousness comes dietary reform to eliminate +allergic reactions and to present the body with foods it is capable of digesting +without creating toxemia. Last, and usually least in effectiveness in my arsenal, +are orthotropic substances (in the form of little pills and capsules) commonly known +as vitamins or food supplements.<BR> +    Interestingly, acceptance of these methods by my clients +runs in exact opposition to their effectiveness. People prefer taking vitamins because +they seem like the allopaths' pills, taking pills demands little or no responsibility +for change. The least popular prescription I can write is a monodiet of water for +several weeks or a month. Yet this is my most powerful medicine. <BR> +    It is possible to resolve many health complaints without +fasting, simply by cleansing the colon and regaining normal lower bowel function. +Colonics take little personal effort and are much easier to get people to accept +than fasting. So I can fully understand how perfectly honest and ethical naturopaths +have developed obsessions with colon cleansing. Some healers have loudly and repeatedly +(and wrongly) proclaimed that constipation is the sole cause of disease, and thus, +the only real cure for any illness is colon cleansing. <BR> +    Even though it is possible to have a lot of successes with +the simple (though unpleasant to administer) technique of colon cleansing, degenerated +lower bowels are the only cause of disease. I prefer to use bowel cleansing as an +adjunct to more complete healing programs. However, old classics of hygiene and even +a few new books strongly make the case for colonics. Some of these books are entirely +one-sided, single-cause single-cure approaches, and sound convincing to the layperson. +For this reason, I think I should take a few paragraphs and explain why some otherwise +well-intentioned health professionals have overly-advocated colonics (and other practices +as well).<BR> +<BR> +<B>Most Diseases Cure Themselves</B><BR> +    If you ask any honest medical doctor how they cure diseases, +they will tell you that most acute disease conditions and a smaller, though significant +percentage (probably a majority) of chronic disease conditions are self-limiting +and will, given time, get better all by themselves. So for most complaints, the honest +allopathic doctor sees their job as giving comfort and easing the severity of the +symptoms until a cure happens.<BR> +    This same scenario, when viewed from a hygienist's perspective, +is that almost all acute and many chronic conditions are simply the body's attempt +to handle a crisis of toxemia. For two reasons the current crisis will probably go +away by itself. The positive reason is that the toxic overload will be resolved: +the person changes their dietary habits or the stressor that temporarily lowered +their vital force and produced enervation is removed, then digestion improves and +the level of self-generated toxins is reduced. The negative reason for a complaint +to "cure" itself is that the suffering person's vital force drops below +the level that the symptom can be manifested and the complaint goes away because +a new, more serious disease is developing. <BR> +    I view this second possibility as highly undesirable because +strong, healthy bodies possessing a high degree of vital force are able to eliminate +toxins rather violently, frequently producing very uncomfortable symptoms that are +not life-threatening. However, as the vital force drops, the body changes its routes +of secondary elimination and begins using more centrally located vital organs and +systems to dispose of toxemia. This degeneration producing less unpleasant symptoms, +but in the long run, damages essential organs and moves the person closer to their +final disease.<BR> +    A young vigorous body possessing a large degree of vital +force will almost always route surplus toxins through skin tissues and skin-like +mucus membranes, producing repeated bouts of sinusitis, or asthma, or colds, or a +combination of all these. Each acute manifestation will "cure" itself by +itself eventually. But eventually the body's vital force can no longer create these +aggressive cleansing phenomena and the toxemia begins to go deeper. When the allopathic +doctor gets a patient complaining of sinusitis, they know they will eventually get +a cure. The "cure" however, might well be a case of arthritis. <BR> +    This unfortunate reality tends to make young, idealistic +physicians become rather disillusioned about treating degenerative conditions because +the end result of all their efforts is, in the end, death anyway. The best they can +do is to alleviate suffering and to a degree, prolong life. The worst they can do +is to prolong suffering. <BR> +    Thus, the physicians main job is to get the patient to be +patient, to wait until the body corrects itself and stops manifesting the undesired +symptom. Thus comes the prime rule of all humane medicine: first of all, do no harm! +If the doctor simply refrains from making the body worse, it will probably get better +by itself. But the patient, rarely resigned to quiet suffering, comes in demanding +fast relief, demanding a cure. In fact, if the patient were resigned to quiet suffering +they would not consult a doctor. So if the doctor wants to keep this patient and +make a living they must do something. If that something the doctor must do does little +or no harm and better yet, can also alleviate the symptoms, the doctor is practicing +good medicine and will have a very high cure rate and be financially successful if +they have a good bedside manner. This kind of doctor may be allopathic and/or "natural," +may use herbs or practice homeopathy. <BR> +    The story of Dr. Jennings, a very successful and famous or +infamous (depending on your viewpoint) physician, who practiced in Connecticut in +the early 1800s exemplifies this type of approach. <BR> +    Dr. Jennings had his own unique medicines. Their composition +was of his own devising, and were absolutely secret. He had pills and colored bitter +drops of various sorts that were compounded himself in his own pharmacy. Dr. Jennings' +patients generally recovered and had few or no complications. This must be viewed +in contrast to the practices of his fellow doctors of that era, whose black bags +were full of mercury and arsenic and strychnine, whose practices included obligatory +bleeding. These techniques and medicines "worked" by poisoning the body +or by reducing its blood supply and thus lowering its vital force, ending the body's +ability to manifest the undesirable symptom. If the poor patient survived being victimized +by their own physician, they were tough enough to survive both their disease and +the doctor's cure. Typically, the sick had many, lengthy complications, long illnesses, +and many "setbacks" requiring many visits, earning the physician a great +living. <BR> +    Dr. Jennings operated differently. He would prescribe one +or two secret medicines from his black bag and instruct the patient to stay in bed, +get lots of rest, drink lots of water, eat little and lightly, and continue taking +the medicine until they were well. His cure rate was phenomenal. Demand they might, +but Dr. Jennings would never reveal what was in his pills and vials. Finally at the +end of his career, to instruct his fellow man, Dr. Jennings confessed. His pills +were made from flour dough, various bitter but harmless herbal substances, and a +little sugar. His red and green and black tinctures, prescribed five or ten drips +at a time mixed in a glass of water several times daily, were only water and alcohol, +some colorant and something bitter tasting, but harmless. Placebos in other words. +<BR> +    Upon confessing, Dr. Jennings had to run for his life. I +believe he ended up retiring on the western frontier, in Indiana. Some of his former +patients were extremely angry because they had paid good money, top dollar for "real" +medicines, but were given only flour and water. The fact that they got better didn't +seem to count.<BR> +     If the physicians curative procedure suppresses the symptom +and/or lowers the vital force with toxic drugs or surgery, (either result will often +as not end the complaint) the allopathic doctor is practicing bad medicine. This +doctor too will have a high cure rate and a good business (if they have an effective +bedside manner) because their drugs really do make the current symptoms vanish very +rapidly. Additionally, their practice harmonizes with a common but vicious dramatization +of many people which goes: when a body is malfunctioning, it is a bad body and needs +to be punished. So lets punish it with poisons and if that don't work, lets really +punish it by cutting out the offending part. <BR> +    However, if the physician can do something that will do no +harm but raises the vital force and/or lowers the level of toxemia, this doctor will +have a genuine cure rate higher than either of the two techniques. Why does raising +the vital force help? Because it reduces enervation, improves the digestion, lowers +the creation of new toxins and improves the function of the organs of elimination, +also reducing the toxic overload that is causing the complaint. <BR> +    Techniques that temporarily and quickly raise the vital force +include homeopathy, chiropractic, vitamin therapy, massage, acupuncture and acupressure +and many more spiritually oriented practices. Healers who use these approaches and +have a good bedside manner can have a very good business, they can have an especially-profitable +practice if they do nothing to lower the level of toxemia being currently generated. +Their patients do experience prompt relief but must repeatedly take the remedy. This +makes for satisfied customers and a repeat business.<BR> +    The best approach of all focuses on reducing the self-generated +level of toxemia, cleansing to remove deposits of old toxemia, rebuilding the organs +of elimination and digestion to prevent the formation of new toxemia, and then, to +alleviate the current symptoms and make it easier for the patient to be patient while +their body heals, the healer raises artificially and temporarily the vital force +with vitamins, massage, acupressure, etc. This wise and benevolent physician is going +to have the highest cure rate among those wise patients who will accept the prescription, +but will not make as much money because the patients permanently get better and no +longer need a physician. There's not nearly as much repeat business.<BR> +    Colonics are one of the best types of medicine. They clean +up deposits of old toxemia (though there are sure to be other deposits in the body's +tissues colonics do not touch). Colon cleansing reduces the formation of new toxemia +from putrefying fecal matter (but dietary reform is necessary to maximize this benefit). +Most noticeable to the patient, a colonic immediately alleviates current symptoms +by almost instantly reducing the current toxic load. A well-done enema or colonic +is such a powerful technique that a single one will often make a severe headache +vanish, make an onsetting cold go away, end a bout of sinusitis, end an asthmatic +attack, reduce the pain of acute arthritic inflammation, reduce or stop an allergic +reaction. Enemas are also thrifty: they are self-administered and can prevent most +doctor's visits seeking relief for acute conditions.<BR> +    Diseases of the colon itself, including chronic constipation, +colitis, diverteculitis, hemorrhoids, irritable bowel syndrome, and mucous colitis, +are often cured solely by an intensive series of several dozen colonics given close +together. Contrary to popular belief, many people think that if they have dysentery +or other forms of loose stools that a colonic is the last thing they need. Surprisingly, +a series of colonics will eliminate many of these conditions as well. People with +chronic diarrhea or loose stools are usually very badly constipated. This may seem +a contradiction in terms but it will be explained shortly.<BR> +    A century ago there was much less scientific data about the +functioning of the human body. Then it was easy for a hygienically-oriented physician +to come to believe that colonics were the single best medicine available. The doctor +practicing nothing but colonics will have a very high rate of cure and a lot of very +satisfied clients. Most importantly, this medicine will have done no harm. <BR> +<BR> +<B>The Repugnant Bowel</B><BR> +    I don't know why, but people of our culture have a deep-seated +reluctance to relate to the colon or it's functions. People don't want to think about +the colon or personally get involved with it by giving themselves enemas or colonics. +They become deeply embarrassed at having someone else do it for them. People are +also shy about farts, and most Americans have a hard time not smiling or reacting +in some way when someone in their presence breaks wind, although the polite amongst +us pretend that we didn't notice. Comedians usually succeed in getting a laugh out +of an audience when they come up with a fart or make reference to some other bowel +function. People don't react the same way to urinary functions or discharges, although +these also may have an unpleasant odor and originate from the same "private" +area.<BR> +<CENTER> +<P>    When I first mention to clients that they need a minimum +of 12 colonics or many more enemas than 12 during a fasting or cleansing program +they are inevitably shocked. To most it seems that no one in their right mind would +recommend such a treatment, and that I must certainly be motivated by greed or some +kind of a psychological quirk. Then I routinely show them reproductions of X-rays +of the large intestine showing obvious loss of normal structure and function resulting +from a combination of constipation, the effects of gravity, poor abdominal muscle +tone, emotional stress, and poor diet. In the average colon more than 50% of the +hastrum (muscles that impel fecal matter through the organ) are dysfunctional due +to loss of tone caused by impaction of fecal matter and/or constriction of the large +intestine secondary to stress (holding muscular tension in the abdominal area) and +straining during bowel movement. +<B>A typical diseased colon</B></P> +</CENTER> +<P>    The average person also has a prolapsed (sagging) transverse +colon, and a distorted misplaced ascending and descending colon. I took a course +in colon therapy before purchasing my first colonic machine. The chiropractor teaching +the class required all of his patients scheduled for colonics to take a barium enema +followed by an X-ray of their large intestine prior to having colonics and then make +subsequent X-rays after each series of 12 colonics. Most of his patients experienced +so much immediate relief they voluntarily took at least four complete series, or +48 colonics, before their X-rays began to look normal in terms of structure. It also +took about the same number, 48 colonics, for the patients to notice a significant +improvement in the function of the colon. In reviewing over 10,000 X-rays taken at +his clinic prior to starting colonics, the chiropractor had seen only two normal +colon X-rays and these were from farm boys who grew up eating simple foods from the +garden and doing lots of hard work. <BR> +    The X-rays showed that it took a minimum of 12 colon treatments +to bring about a minimal but observable change in the structure of the colon in the +desired direction, and for the patient to begin to notice that bowel function was +improving, plus the fact that they started to feel better. </P> +<CENTER> +<P><B>A Healthy Colon</B></P> +</CENTER> +<P><BR> +<BR> +    From my point of view the most amazing part of this whole +experience was that the chiropractor did not recommend any dietary changes whatsoever. +His patients were achieving great success from colonics alone. I had thought dietary +changes would be necessary to avoid having the same dismal bowel condition return. +I still think colonics are far more effective if people are on a cleansing diet too. +However, I was delighted to see the potential for helping people through colonics.<BR> +    For me, the most interesting part of this colonic school +was that I personally was required to have my own barium enema and X-ray. I was privately +certain that mine would look normal, because after all, I had been on a raw food +diet for six years, and done considerable amount of fasting, all of which was reputed +to repair a civilized colon. Much to my surprise my colon looked just as mangled +and dysfunctional as everyone else's', only somewhat worse because it had a loop +in the descending colon similar to a cursive letter "e" which doctors call +a volvulus. Surgeons like to cut volvululii out because they frequently cause bowel +obstructions. It seemed quite unfair. All those other people with lousy looking colons +had been eating the average American diet their whole life, but I had been so 'pure!' +<BR> +    On further reflection I remembered that I had a tendency +toward constipation all through my childhood and young adulthood, and that during +my two pregnancies the pressure of the fetus on an already constipated bowel had +made it worse resulting in the distorted structure seen in the X-ray. This experience +made it very clear that fasting, cleansing diets, and corrected diet would not reverse +damage already done. Proper diet and fasting would however, prevent the condition +of the colon from getting any worse than it already was. <BR> +    I then realized that I had just purchased the very tool I +needed to correct my own colon, and I was eager to get home to get started on it. +I had previously thought that I was just going to use this machine for my patients, +because they had been asking for this kind of an adjunct to my services for some +time. I ended up giving myself over a hundred colonics at the rate of three a week +over many months. I then out of curiosity had another barium enema and X-ray to validate +my results. Sure enough the picture showed a colon that looked far more 'normal' +with no vulvulus. That little "e" had disappeared.<BR> +<BR> +<B>What Is Constipation?</B><BR> +    Most people think they are not constipated because they have +a bowel movement almost every day, accomplished without straining. I have even had +clients tell me that they have a bowel movement once a week, and they are quite certain +that they are not constipated. The most surprising thing to novice fasters is that +repeated enemas or colonics during fasting begins to release many pounds of undeniably +real, old, caked fecal matter and/or huge mucus strings. The first-time faster can +hardly believe these were present. These old fecal deposits do not come out the first +time one has enemas or necessarily the fifth time. And all of them will not be removed +by the tenth enema. But over the course of extended fasting or a long spell of light +raw food eating with repeated daily enemas, amazing changes do begin to occur. It +seems that no one who has eaten a civilized diet has escaped the formation of caked +deposits lining the colon's walls, interfering with its function. This material does +not respond to laxatives or casually administered enemas.<BR> +    Anyone who has not actually seen (and smelled) what comes +out of an "average" apparently healthy person during colonics will really +believe it could happen or can accurately imagine it. Often there are dark black +lumpy strings, lumps, or gravel, evil smelling discs shaped like sculpted hemispheres +similar to the pockets lining the wall of the colon itself. These discs are rock-hard +and may come out looking like long black braids. There may also be long tangled strings +of gray/brown mucous, sheets and flakes of mucous, and worse yet, an occasional worm +(tape worm) or many smaller ones. Once confronted however, it is not hard to imagine +how these fecal rocks and other obnoxious debris interfere with the proper function +of the colon. They make the colon's wall rigid and interfere with peristalsis thus +leading to further problems with constipation, and interfere with adsorption of nutrients.<BR> +    Our modern diet is by its "de-"nature, very constipating. +In the trenches of the First World War, cheese was given the name 'chokem ass' because +the soldiers eating this as a part of their daily ration developed severe constipation. +Eaten by itself or with other whole foods, moderate amounts of cheese may not produce +health problems in people who are capable of digesting dairy products. But cheese +when combined with white flour becomes especially constipating. White bread or most +white-flour crackers contain a lot of gluten, a very sticky wheat protein that makes +the bread bind together and raise well. But white flour is lacking the bran, where +most of the fiber is located. And many other processed foods are missing their fiber.<BR> +    In an earlier chapter I briefly showed how digestion works +by following food from the mouth to the large intestine. To fully grasp why becoming +constipated is almost a certainty in our civilization a few more details are required. +Food leaving the small intestine is called chyme, a semi-liquid mixture of fiber, +undigested bits, indigestible bits, and the remains of digestive enzymes. Chyme is +propelled through the large intestine by muscular contractions. The large intestine +operates on what I dub the "chew chew train" principle, where the most +recent meal you ate enters the large intestine as the caboose (the last car of a +train) and helps to push out the train engine (the car at the front that toots), +which in a healthy colon should represent the meal eaten perhaps twelve hours earlier. +The muscles in the colon only contract when they are stretched, so it is the volume +of the fecal matter stretching the large intestine that triggers the muscles to push +the waste material along toward the rectum and anus. <BR> +    Eating food lacking fiber greatly reduces the volume of the +chyme and slows peristalsis. But moving through fast or slow, the colon still keeps +on doing another of its jobs, which is to transfer the water in the chime back into +the bloodstream, reducing dehydration. So the longer chime remains in the colon, +the dryer and harder and stickier it gets. That's why once arrived at the "end +of the tracks" fecal matter should be evacuated in a timely manner before it +gets to dry and too hard to be moved easily. Some constipated people do have a bowel +movement every day but are evacuating the meal eaten many days or even a week previously. +<BR> +    Most hygienists believe that when the colon becomes lined +with hardened fecal matter it is permanently and by the very definition of the word +itself, constipated. This type of constipation is not perceived as an uncomfortable +or overly full feeling or a desire to have a bowel movement that won't pass. But +it has insidious effects. Usually constipation delays transit time, increasing the +adsorption of toxins generated from misdigestion of food; by coating and locking +up significant portions of colon it also reduces the adsorption of certain minerals +and electrolytes. <BR> +    Sometimes, extremely constipated people have almost constant +runny bowels because the colon has become so thickly and impenetrably lined with +old fecal matter that it no longer removes much moisture. This condition is often +misinterpreted as diarrhea. The large intestine's most important task is to transfer +water-soluble minerals from digested food to the blood. When a significant part of +the colon's surface becomes coated with impermeable dried rigid fecal matter or mucus +it can no longer assimilate effectively and the body begins to experience partial +mineral starvation in the presence of plenty. It is my observation from dozens of +cases that when the colon has been effectively cleansed the person has a tendency +to gain weight while eating amounts of food that before only maintained body weight, +while people who could not gain weight or who were wasting away despite eating heavily +begin to gain. And problems like soft fingernails, bone loss around teeth or porous +bones tend to improve.<BR> +<BR> +<B>The Development Of My Own Constipation</B><BR> +    The history of my own constipation, though it especially +relates to a very rustic childhood, is typical of many people. I was also raised +on a very constipating diet which consisted largely of processed cheese and crackers. +Mine was accelerated by shyness, amplified by lack of comfortable facilities. <BR> +    I spent my early years on the Canadian prairies, where everybody +had an outhouse. The fancy modern versions are frequently seen on construction sites. +These are chemical toilets, quiet different than the ones I was raised with because +somebody or something mysteriously comes along, empties them and installs toilet +paper. The ones I'm familiar with quickly developed a bad-smelling steaming mound +in the center--or it was winter when the outhouse was so cold that everything froze +almost before it hit the ground in the hole below. (And my rear end seemed to almost +freeze to the seat!) The toilet paper was usually an out of season issue of Eatons +mail order catalogue with crisp glossy paper. Perhaps it is a peculiarity of the +north country, but at night there are always monsters lurking along the path to the +outhouse, and darkness comes early and stays late. <BR> +    When nature called and it was daylight, and there was no +blizzard outside, the outhouse received a visit from me. If on the other hand, when +it was dark (we had no electricity), and there was a cold wind creating huge banks +of snow, I would 'just skip it,' because the alternative--an indoor chamber pot, +white enamel with a lid--was worse. This potty had to be used more or less publicly +because the bedrooms were shared and there was no indoor bathroom. I was always very +modest about my private parts and private functions, and potty's were only used in +emergencies, and usually with considerable embarrassment. No one ever explained to +me that it was not good for me to retain fecal matter, and I never thought about +it unless my movements became so hard that it was painful to eliminate. <BR> +    Later in life, I continued this pattern of putting off bowel +movements, even though outhouses and potties were a thing of the past. As a young +adult I could always think of something more interesting to do than sitting on a +pot, besides it was messy and sometimes accompanied by embarrassing sound effects +which were definitely not romantic if I was in the company of a young man. During +two pregnancies the tendency to constipation was aggravated by the weight of the +fetus resting on an already sluggish bowel, and the discomfort of straining to pass +my first hard bowel movement after childbirth with a torn perineum I won't forget. +<BR> +<BR> +<B>Rapid Relief From Colon Cleansing</B><BR> +    During fasting the liver is hard at work processing toxins +released from fat and other body deposits. The liver still dumps its wastes into +the intestines through the bile duct. While eating normally, bile, which contains +highly toxic substances, is passed through the intestines and is eliminated before +too much is reabsorbed. (It is the bile that usually makes the fecal matter so dark +in color.) However, reduction of food bulk reduces or completely eliminates peristalsis, +thus allowing intestinal contents to sit for extended periods. And the toxins in +the bile are readsorbed, forming a continuous loop, further burdening the liver.<BR> +    The mucus membranes lining the colon constantly secrete lubricants +to ease fecal matter through smoothly. This secretion does not stop during fasting; +in fact, it may increase because intestinal mucus often becomes a secondary route +of elimination. Allowed to remain in the bowel, toxic mucus is an irritant while +the toxins in it may be reabsorbed, forming yet another closed loop and further burdening +the liver.<BR> +    Daily enemas or colonics administered during fasting or while +on cleansing diets effectively remove old fecal material stored in the colon and +immediately ease the livers load, immediately relieve discomfort by allowing the +liver's efforts to further detoxify the blood, and speed healing. Fasters cleansing +on juice or raw food should administer two or three enemas in short succession every +day for the first three days to get a good start on the cleansing process, and then +every other day or at very minimum, every few days. Enemas or colonics should also +be taken whenever symptoms become uncomfortable, regardless of whether you have already +cleaned the colon that day or not. Once the faster has experienced the relief from +symptoms that usually comes from an enema they become more than willing to repeat +this mildly unpleasant experience. <BR> +    Occasionally enemas, by filling the colon and making it press +on the liver, induce discharges of highly toxic bile that may cause temporary nausea. +Despite the induced nausea it is still far better to continue with colonics because +of the great relief experienced after the treatment. If nausea exists or persists +during colon cleansing, consider trying slight modifications such as less or no massage +of the colon in the area of the gall bladder (abdominal area close to the bottom +of the right rib cage), and putting slightly less water in the colon when filling +it up. It also helps to make sure that the stomach is empty of any fluid for one +hour prior to the colonic. Resume drinking after the colonic sessions is completed. +If you are one of these rare people who 'toss their bile', just keep a plastic bucket +handy and some water to rinse out the mouth after, and carry on as usual.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Enemas Versus Colonics</B><BR> +    People frequently wonder what is the difference between a +colonic and an enema. <BR> +    First of all enemas are a lot cheaper because you give them +to yourself; an enema bag usually costs about ten dollars, is available at any large +drug store, and is indefinitely reusable. Colonics cost anywhere from 30 to 75 dollars +a session.<BR> +    Chiropractors and naturopaths who offer this service hire +a colonic technician that may or may not be a skilled operator. It is a good idea +to find a person who has a very agreeable and professional manner, who can make you +feel at ease since relaxation is very important. It is also beneficial to have a +colonic therapist who massages the abdomen and foot reflexes appropriately during +the session. <BR> +    Enemas and colonics can accomplish exactly the same beneficial +work. But colonics accomplish more improvement in less time than enemas for several +reasons. During a colonic from 30 to 50 gallons of water are flushed through the +large intestines, usually in a repetitive series of fill-ups followed by flushing +with a continuous flow of water. This efficiency cannot even be approached with an +enema. But by repeating the enema three times in close succession a satisfactory +cleanse can be achieved. Persisted with long enough, enemas will clean the colon +every bit as well as a colonic machine can.<BR> +    Enemas given at home take a lot less time than traveling +to receive a colonics at someone's clinic, and can be done entirely at you own convenience--a +great advantage when fasting because you can save your energy for internal healing. +But colonics are more appropriate for some. There are fasters who are unable to give +themselves an enema either because their arms are too short and their body is too +long and they lack flexibility, or because of a physical handicap or they can't confront +their colon, so they let someone else do it. Some don't have the motivation to give +themselves a little discomfort but are comfortable with someone else doing it to +them. Some very sick people are too weak to cleanse their own colon, so they should +find someone to assist them with an at-home enema or have someone take them to a +colonic therapist. <BR> +    Few people these days have any idea how to properly give +themselves an enema. The practice has been discredited by traditional medical doctors +as slightly dangerous, perhaps addictive and a sign of psychological weirdness. Yet +Northamericans on their civilized, low fiber, poorly combined diets suffer widely +from constipation. One proof of this is the fact that chemical laxatives, with their +own set of dangers and liabilities, occupy many feet of drug store shelf space and +are widely advertised. Is the medical profession's disapproval of the enema related +to the fact that once the initial purchase of an enema bag has been made there are +no further expenses for laxatives? Or perhaps it might be that once a person discovers +they can cure a headache, stop a cold dead in its tracks with an enema, they aren't +visiting the M.D.s so often. <BR> +    The enema has also been wrongly accused of causing a gradual +loss of colon muscle tone, eventually preventing bowel movements without the stimulation +of an enema, leading finally to flaccidity and enlargement of the lower bowel. This +actually can happen; when it does occur it is the result of frequent administration +of small amounts of water (fleet enemas) for the purpose of stimulating a normal +bowel movement. The result is constant stretching of the rectum without sufficient +fluid to enter the descending colon. A completely opposite, highly positive effect +comes from properly administered enemas while cleansing.<BR> +    The difference between helpful and potentially harmful enemas +lies in the amount of water injected and the frequency of use. Using a cup or two +of water to induce a bowel movement may eventually cause dependency, will not strengthen +the colon and may after years of this practice, result in distention and enlargement +of the rectum or sigmoid colon. However, a completely empty average-sized colon has +the capacity of about a gallon of water. When increasingly larger enemas are administered +until the colon is nearly emptied of fecal matter and the injection of close to a +gallon of water is achieved, beneficial exercise and an increase in overall muscle +tone are the results. <BR> +    Correctly given, enemas (and especially colonics) serve as +strengthening exercises for the colon. This long tubular muscle is repeatedly and +completely filled with water, inducing it to vigorously exercise while evacuating +itself multiple times. The result is a great increase in muscle tone, acceleration +of peristalsis and eventually, after several dozens of repetitions, a considerable +reduction of transit time. Well-done enemas work the colon somewhat less effectively +and do not improve muscle tone quite as much as colonics.<BR> +    Injecting an entire gallon of water with an enema bag is +very impractical when a person is eating normally. But on a light cleansing diet +or while fasting the amount of new material passing into the colon is small or negligible. +During the first few days of fasting if two or three enemas are administered each +day in immediate succession the colon is soon completely emptied of recently eaten +food and it becomes progressively easier to introduce larger amounts of water. Within +a few days of this regimen, injecting half a gallon or more of water is easy and +painless. <BR> +    Probably for psychological reasons, some peoples' colons +allow water to be injected one time but then "freeze up" and resist successive +enemas. For this reason better results are often obtained by having one enema, waiting +a half hour, another enema, wait a half hour, and have a final enema. <BR> +    A colonic machine in the hands of an expert operator can +administer the equivalent of six or seven big enemas in less than one hour, and do +this without undue discomfort or effort from the person receiving the colonic. However, +the AMA has suppressed the use of colonics; they are illegal to administer in many +states. Where colonics are legal, the chiropractors now consider this practice messy +and not very profitable compared to manipulations. So it is not easy to find a skilled +and willing colonic technician. <BR> +    Anyone who plans to give themselves therapeutic enemas while +fasting would be well advised to first seek out a colonic therapist and receive two +or three colonics delivered one day apart while eating lightly and then immediately +begin the fast. Three colonics given on three successive days of a light, raw food +diet are sufficient to empty all recently eaten food even from a very constipated, +distended and bloated colon, while acquainting a person with their own bowel. Having +an empty colon is actually a pleasant and to most people a thoroughly novel experience. +A few well-delivered colonics can quickly accustom a person to the sensations accompanying +the enema and demonstrate the effect to be achieved by oneself with an enema bag, +something not quickly discoverable any other way.<BR> +<BR> +<B>How To Give Yourself An Enema</B><BR> +    Enemas have been medically out of favor for a long time. +Most people have never had one. So here are simple directions to self-administer +an effective enema series.<BR> +    The enema bag you select is important. It must hold at least +two quarts and be rapidly refillable. The best American-made brand is made of rubber +with about five feet of rubber hose ending in one of two different white hard plastic +insertion tips. The bag is designed for either enemas or vaginal douches. It hangs +from a detachable plastic "S" hook. When filled to the brim it holds exactly +one-half gallon. The maker of this bag offers another model that costs about a dollar +more and also functions as a hot water bottle. A good comforter it may make, but +the dual purpose construction makes the bag very awkward to rapidly refill. I recommend +the inexpensive model. <BR> +    The plastic insertion tips vary somewhat. The straight tubular +tip is intended for enemas; the flared vaginal douche tip can be useful for enemas +too, in that it somewhat restrains unintentional expulsion of the nozzle while filling +the colon. However, its four small holes do not allow a very rapid rate of flow. +<BR> +    To give yourself an enema, completely fill the bag with tepid +water that does not exceed body temperature. The rectum is surprisingly sensitive +to heat and you will flinch at temperatures only a degree or two higher than 98 Fahrenheit. +Cooler water is no problem; some find the cold stimulating and invigorating. Fasters +having difficulty staying warm should be wary of cold water enemas. These can drop +core body temperature below the point of comfort. <BR> +    Make sure the flow clamp on the tube is tightly shut and +located a few inches up the tube from the nozzle. Hang the filled bag from a clothes +or towel hook, shower nozzle, curtain rod, or other convenient spot about four to +five feet above the bathroom floor or tub bottom. The higher the bag the greater +the water pressure and speed of filling. But too much pressure can also be uncomfortable. +You may have to experiment a bit with this.<BR> +    Various body positions are possible for filling the colon. +None is correct or necessarily more effective than another. Experiment and find the +one you prefer. Some fill their colon kneeling and bending forward in the bathtub +or shower because there will likely be small dribbles of water leaking from around +the nozzle. Usually these leaks do not contain fecal matter. Others prefer to use +the bathroom floor. For the bony, a little padding in the form of a folded towel +under knees and elbows may make the process more comfortable. You may kneel and bend +over while placing your elbows or hands on the floor, reach behind yourself and insert +the nozzle. You may also lie on your back or on your side. Some think the left side +is preferable because the colon attaches to the rectum on the left side of the body, +ascends up the left side of the abdomen to a line almost as high as the solar plexus, +then transverses the body to the right side where it descends again on the right +almost to the groin. The small intestine attaches to the colon near its lower-right +extremity. In fact these are the correct names given for the parts of the colon: +Ascending, Descending and Transverse Colon along with the Sigmoid Colon or Rectum +at the exit end. <BR> +    As you become more expert at filling your colon with water +you will begin to become aware of its location by the weight, pressure and sometimes +temperature of the water you're injecting. You will come to know how much of the +colon has been filled by feel. You will also become aware of peristalsis as the water +is evacuated vigorously and discover that sensations from a colon hard at work, though +a bit uncomfortable, are not necessarily pain.<BR> +    Insertion of the nozzle is sometimes eased with a little +lubricant. A bit of soap or KY jelly is commonly used. If the nozzle can be inserted +without lubricant it will have less tendency to slip out. However, do not tear or +damage the anus by avoiding necessary lubrication. After insertion, grip the clamp +with one hand and open it. The flow rate can be controlled with this clamp. Keeping +a hand on the clamp also prevents the nozzle from being expelled.<BR> +    Water will begin flowing into the colon. Your goal is to +empty the entire bag into the colon before sensations of pressure or urgency to evacuate +the water force you to remove the nozzle and head for the toilet. Relaxation of mind +and body helps achieve this. You are very unlikely to achieve a half-gallon fill +up on the first attempt. If painful pressure is experienced try closing the clamp +for a moment to allow the water to begin working its way around the obstacle. Or, +next time try hanging the bag lower, reducing its height above the body and thus +lowering the water pressure. Or, try opening the clamp only partially. Or, try panting +hard, so as to make the abdomen move rapidly in and out, sort of shaking the colon. +This last technique is particularly good to get the water past a blockage of intestinal +gas.<BR> +    It is especially important for Americans, whose culture does +not teach one to be tolerant of discomfort, to keep in mind that pain is the body's +warning that actual damage is being done to tissues. Enemas can do no damage and +pose no risk except to that rare individual with weak spots in the colon's wall from +cancers. When an enema is momentarily perceived unpleasantly, the correct name for +the experience is a sensation, not pain. You may have to work at increasing your +tolerance for unpleasant sensations or it will take you a long time to achieve the +goal of totally filling the colon with water. Be brave! And relax. A wise philosopher +once said that it is a rough Universe in which only the tigers survive--and sometimes +they have a hard time.<BR> +    Eventually it will be time to remove the nozzle and evacuate +the water. Either a blockage (usually fecal matter, an air bubble, or a tight 'U' +turn in the colon, usually at either the splenetic, or hepatic flexures located right +below the rib cage) will prevent further inflow (undesirable) or else the bag will +completely empty (good!) or the sensation of bursting will no longer be tolerable. +Go sit on the toilet and wait until all the water has passed. Then refill the bag +and repeat the process. Each time you fill the colon it will allow more water to +enter more easily with less unpleasantness. Fasters and cleansers should make at +least three attempts at a complete fill-up each time they do an enema session. <BR> +    Water and juice fasters will find that after the first few +enemas, it will become very easy to inject the entire half-gallon of water. That +is because there is little or no chime entering the colon. After a few days the entire +colon will seem (this is incorrect) to be empty except when it is filled with water. +This is the point to learn an advanced self-administered enema technique. An average +colon empty of new food will usually hold about one gallon of water. That is average. +A small colon might only hold 3/4 gallon, a large one might accept a gallon and a +half, or even more. You'll need to learn to simultaneously refill the bag while injecting +water, so as to achieve a complete irrigation of the whole colon. There are several +possible methods. You might try placing a pitcher or half-gallon mason jar of tepid +water next to the bag and after the bag has emptied the first time, stand up while +holding the tube in the anus, refill the bag and then lie down again and continue +filling. You might have an assistant do this for you. You might try hanging the bag +from the shower head and direct a slow, continuous dribble of lukewarm water from +the shower into the bag while you kneel or lie relaxed in the tub. This way the bag +will never empty and you stop filling only when you feel fullness and pressure all +the way back to the beginning of the ascending colon. Of course, hanging from a slowly +running shower head the bag will probably overflow and you will get splashed and +so will the bathroom floor when your wet body moves rapidly from the tub to the toilet. +I've imagined making an enema bag from a two gallon plastic bucket with a small plastic +hose barb glued into a hole drilled in the bottom or lower edge. If I were in the +business of manufacturing enema bags I'd make them hold at least one gallon. <BR> +    A word of caution to those folks who have a pattern of overdoing +it, or tend to think that more is better. This is not true when it comes to colon +cleansing. Do not make more than three attempts to fill and clean the colon with +an enema bag. Usually the colon begins to protest and won't accept any more fill-ups. +When having colonics on a colonic machine it is a good idea to continue until the +water comes back reasonably clear for that session. It is not a good idea for a faster +to have colonics that last more than three-quarters of an hour to an hour maximum, +or it will be too tiring. Even non-fasters find colonics tiring. After all, the colon +is basically a big muscle that has become very lazy on a low-fiber diet.<BR> +    I've personally administered over five thousand colonics, +taught several dozen fasters to self-administer their own and stood by while they +gave themselves one until they were quite expert. In all that experience I've only +seen one person have a seriously bad result. This was a suicidally depressed water +faster that I (mistakenly) allowed to administer their own colonics with my machine. +This person not only took daily colonics, but allowed water to flow through their +colon for as long as two hours at a time. Perhaps they were trying to wash out their +mind? After several weeks of this extreme excess, the faster became highly confused +and disoriented due to a severe electrolyte imbalance. They had to be taken off water +fasting immediately and recovered their mental clarity in a few days. The loss of +blood electrolytes happened because during colonics there occurs a sort of low-grade +very slow reverse osmosis.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Curing With Enemas</B><BR> +    It is not wise to continue regular colonics or enemas once +a detoxification program has been completed and you have returned to a maintenance +diet. The body should be allowed its regular functioning.<BR> +    But because enemas immediately lower the toxic load on the +liver, I do recommend people use them for prevention of an acute illness (you feel +like you are coming down with something), and for the treatment of acute illnesses +such as a cold. I also like to take one if I have been away traveling for extended +periods, eating carelessly. But do not fall into a pattern of bingeing on bad food, +and then trying to get rid of it through colonics or laxative. This is bulimia, the +eating disorder discussed earlier.<BR> +    The Sheltonite capital "N" Natural capital "H" +Hygienists do not recommend any colon cleansing, ever!. They think that the colon +will spontaneously cleanse itself on a long water fast, but my experience learned +from monitoring hundreds of fasters is that it doesn't really. Herbert Shelton also +considered colon cleansing enervating and therefore undesirable. Colon cleansing +does use the faster's energy but on the balance, colon cleansing saves more work +on the part of an overburdened liver than it uses up.<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<A NAME="Chapter5"></A><B>Chapter Five</B> <BR> +<FONT SIZE="4"><B>Diet and Nutrition</B></FONT><BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<FONT SIZE="1"><B>From The Hygienic Dictionary<BR> +<BR> +</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Food</B>. [1] Life is a tragedy of nutrition. In food +lies 99.99% of the causes of all diseases and imperfect health of any kind. <I>Prof. +Arnold Ehret, Mucusless Diet Healing System.</I> [2] But elimination will never heal +perfectly just so long as you fail to discontinue the supply of inside waste caused +by eating and "wrong" eating. You may clean and continue to clean indefinitely, +but never with complete results up to a perfect cleanliness, as long as the intake +of wrong or even too much right foods, is not stopped.<I> Prof. Arnold Ehret, Mucusless +Diet Healing System.</I> [3] Cooked food favors bacterial, or organized, ferment +preponderance, because cooking kills the unorganized and organized ferments, and +both are needed to carry on the body's digestion. Raw foods--fruits and vegetables--favor +unorganized ferment digestion, because these foods carry vitamins, which are unorganized +ferments--enzymes. <I>Dr. John.H. Tilden, Impaired Health: Its Cause and Cure, 1921. +</I></FONT><BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +    Recently, my younger (adult) daughter asked my advice choosing +between a root canal or having a bridge made. This led to a discussion of her eating +habits in general. Defending her currently less-than-optimum diet against my gentle +criticism, she threw me a tough riposte. "Why," she asked, when I was raised +so perfectly as a child, "when I ate only Organic food until I was ten and old +enough to make you send me to public school where I could eat those lousy school +lunches" (her unfeeling, heartless mother home-schooled her), "why even +at that young age, (before she spent her adolescent rebellion eating junk food) why +at that point did I still have a mouthful of cavities?" And she did. At age +ten my daughter needed about ten fillings. <BR> +    This beautiful daughter of a practicing naturopath had received +what, at the time, I considered virtually perfect nutrition. She suckled hugely at +her mother's abundant breast until age two. During this time her mother ate a natural +foods diet. After weaning my daughter got only whole grains, a little fresh goat's +milk from my goat, fruits and lots of Organic vegetables. I started my spa when my +daughter was about five years old and from that point she was, like it or not, a +raw fooder. And all that raw food was Organic and much of it from Great Oaks School's +huge vegetable garden.<BR> +    For my daughter to develop cavities on this diet is reminiscent +of Woody Allen's joke in his movie "Sleeper." Do you recall this one, made +about 1973? The plot is a take off on Rip Van Winkle. Woody goes into the hospital +for minor surgery. Unexpectedly he expires on the operating table and his body is +frozen in hopes that someday he can be revived. One hundred and fifty years later +he is revived.<BR> +    The priceless scene I always think of takes place in his +hospital room immediately after he comes to consciousness. The doctor in charge of +his case is explaining to Woody what has happened. Woody refuses to believe he died +and was frozen, asserting that the whole story is a put on. Woody insists that the +'doctor' is clearly an actor hired by his friends! It absolutely can't be the year +2123. 'Oh, but it really is 2123,' insists the doctor. 'And it is no put on by his +friends; all his friends are long dead; Woody knows no one at all in 2123 and had +better prepare himself to start a new life.' <BR> +    Woody still insists it is a put on. "I had a healthfood +store," he says, "and all my friends ate brown rice. They can't be dead!"<BR> +    And my perfectly nourished daughter couldn't have developed +cavities! But she did. And if she cheated on her perfect diet, bad food could not +have amounted to more than two percent of her total caloric intake from birth to +age ten. I was a responsible mom and I made sure she ate right! Now my daughter was +demanding to know why she had tooth decay. Fortunately, I now know the answer. The +answer is rather complex, but I can give a simplified explanation.<BR> +<BR> +<B>The Confusions About Diets and Foods</B><BR> +    Like my daughter, many people of all ages are muddled about +the relationship between health and diet. Their confusions have created a profitable +market for health-related information. And equally, their confusions have been created +by books, magazine articles, and TV news features. This avalanche of data is highly +contradictory. In fact, one reason I found it hard to make myself write my own book +is that I wondered if my book too would become just another part of the confusion.<BR> +    Few people are willing to tolerate very much uncertainty. +Rather than live with the discomfort of not knowing why, they will create an explanation +or find some answer, any answer, and then ever after, assert its rightness like a +shipwrecked person clings to a floating spar in a storm. This is how I explain the +genesis of many contemporary food religions. <BR> +    Appropriately new agey and spiritual, Macrobiotics teaches +the way to perfect health is to eat like a Japanese whole foods vegetarian--the endless +staple being brown rice, some cooked vegetables and seaweeds, meanwhile balancing +the "yin" and "yang" of the foods. And Macrobiotics works great +for a lot of people. But not all people. Because there's next to nothing raw in the +Macrobiotic diet and some people are allergic to rice, or can get allergic to rice +on that diet.<BR> +    Linda Clark's Diet for a Small Planet also has hundreds of +thousands of dedicated followers. This system balances the proportions of essential +amino acids at every, single meal and is vegetarian. This diet also works and really +helps some people, but not as well as Macrobiotics in my opinion because obsessed +with protein, Clark's diet contains too many hard-to-digest soy products and makes +poor food combinations from the point of digestive capacity.<BR> +    Then there are the raw fooders. Most of them are raw, Organic +fooders who go so far as to eat only unfired, unground cereals that have been soaked +in warm water (at less than 115 degrees or you'll kill the enzymes) for many hours +to soften the seeds up and start them sprouting. This diet works and really helps +a lot of people. Raw organic foodism is especially good for "holy joes," +a sort of better-than-everyone-else person who enjoys great self-righteousness by +owning this system. But raw fooding does not help all people nor solve all diseases +because raw food irritates the digestive tracts of some people and in northern climates +it is hard to maintain body heat on this diet because it is difficult to consume +enough concentrated vegetable food in a raw state. And some raw fooders eat far too +much fruit. I've seen them lose their teeth because of fruit's low mineral content, +high sugar level and constant fruit acids in their mouths.<BR> +    Then there are vegetarians of various varieties including +vegans (vegetarians that will not eat dairy products and eggs), and then, there are +their exact opposites, Atkins dieters focusing on protein and eating lots of meat. +There's the Adelle Davis school, people eating whole grains, handfuls of vitamins, +lots of dairy and brewers yeast and wheat germ, and even raw liver. Then there's +the Organic school. These folks will eat anything in any combination, just so long +as it is organically produced, including organically raised beef, chicken, lamb, +eggs, rabbit, wild meats, milk and diary products, natural sea salt in large quantities +and of course, organically grown fruits, vegetables grains and nuts. And what is +"Organic?" The word means food raised in compliance with a set of rules +contrived by a certification bureaucracy. When carefully analyzed, the somewhat illogical +rules are not all that different in spirit than the rules of kashsruth or kosher. +And the Organic certification bureaucrats aren't all that different than the rabbis +who certify food as being kosher, either.<BR> +    There are now millions of frightened Americans who, following +the advice of mainstream Authority, have eliminated red meat from their diets and +greatly reduced what they (mistakenly) understand as high-cholesterol foods. <BR> +    All these diets work too--or some--and all demonstrate some +of the truth.<BR> +    The only area concerning health that contains more confusion +and contradictory data than diet is vitamins. What a rats nest that is!<BR> +<BR> +<B>The Fundamental Principle</B><BR> +    If you are a true believer in any of the above food religions, +I expect that you will find my views unsettling. But what I consider "good diet" +results from my clinical work with thousands of cases. It is what has worked with +those cases. My eclectic views incorporate bits and pieces of all the above. In my +own case, I started out by following the Organic school, and I was once a raw food +vegetarian who ate nothing but raw food for six years. I also ate Macrobiotic for +about one year until I became violently allergic to rice. <BR> +    I have arrived at a point where I understand that each person's +biochemistry is unique and each must work out their own diet to suit their life goals, +life style, genetic predisposition and current state of health. There is no single, +one, all-encompassing, correct diet. But, there is a single, basic, underlying Principle +of Nutrition that is universally true. In its most simplified form, the basic equation +of human health goes: Health = Nutrition / Calories. The equation falls far short +of explaining the origin of each individuals diseases or how to cure diseases but +Health = Nutrition / Calories does show the general path toward healthful eating +and proper medicine.<BR> +    All animals have the exact same dietary problem: finding +enough nutrition to build and maintain their bodies within the limits of their digestive +capacity. Rarely in nature (except for predatory carnivores) is there any significant +restriction on the number of calories or serious limitation of the amount of low-nutrition +foods available to eat. There's rarely any shortage of natural junk food on Earth. +Except for domesticated house pets, animals are sensible enough to prefer the most +nutritional fare available and tend to shun empty calories unless they are starving. +<BR> +    But humans are perverse, not sensible. Deciding on the basis +of artificially-created flavors, preferring incipid textures, we seem to prefer junk +food and become slaves to our food addictions. For example, in tropical countries +there is a widely grown root crop, called in various places: tapioca, tavioca, manioc, +or yuca. This interesting plant produces the greatest tonnage of edible, digestible, +pleasant-tasting calories per acre compared to any other food crop I know. Manioc +might seem the answer to human starvation because it will grow abundantly on tropical +soils so infertile and/or so droughty that no other food crop will succeed there. +Manioc will do this because it needs virtually nothing from the soil to construct +itself with. And consequently, manioc puts next to nothing nourishing into its edible +parts. The bland-tasting root is virtually pure starch, a simple carbohydrate not +much different than pure corn starch. Plants construct starches from carbon dioxide +gas obtained the air and hydrogen obtained from water. There is no shortage ever +of carbon from CO2 in the air and rarely a shortage of hydrogen from water. When +the highly digestible starch in manioc is chewed, digestive enzymes readily convert +it into sugar. Nutritionally there is virtually no difference between eating manioc +and eating white sugar. Both are entirely empty calories.<BR> +    If you made a scale from ideal to worst regarding the ratio +of nutrition to calories, white sugar, manioc and most fats are at the extreme undesirable +end. Frankly I don't know which single food might lie at the extreme positive end +of the scale. Close to perfect might be certain leafy green vegetables that can be +eaten raw. When they are grown on extremely fertile soil, some greens develop 20 +or more percent completely digestible balanced protein with ideal ratios of all the +essential amino acids, lots of vitamins, tons of minerals, all sorts of enzymes and +other nutritional elements--and very few calories. You could continually fill your +stomach to bursting with raw leafy greens and still have a hard time sustaining your +body weight if that was all you ate. Maybe Popeye the Sailorman was right about eating +spinach.<BR> +    For the moment, lets ignore individual genetic inabilities +to digest specific foods and also ignore the effects stress and enervation can have +on our ability to extract nutrition out of the food we are eating. Without those +factors to consider, it is correct to say that, to the extent one's diet contains +the maximum potential amount of nutrition relative to the number of calories you +are eating, to that extent a person will be healthy. To the extent the diet is degraded +from that ideal, to that extent, disease will develop. Think about it!<BR> +<BR> +<B>Lessons From Nutritional Anthropology</B><BR> +    The next logical pair of questions are: how healthy could +good nutrition make people be, and, how much deviation from ideal nutrition could +we allow ourselves before serious disease appears? Luckily, earlier in this century +we could observe living answers to those questions (before the evidence disappeared). +The answers are: we could be amazingly healthy, and, if we wish to enjoy excellent +health we can afford to cut ourselves surprisingly little slack. <BR> +    Prior to the Second World War there were several dozen sizable +groups of extraordinarily healthy humans remaining on Earth. Today, their descendants +are still in the same remote places, are speaking the same languages and possess +more or less the same cultures. Only today they're watching satellite TV. wearing +jeans, drinking colas--and their superior health has evaporated. <BR> +    During the early part of this century, at the same era vitamins +and other basic aspects of nutrition were being discovered, a few farsighted medical +explorers sought out these hard-to-reach places with their legendarily healthy peoples +to see what caused the legendary well-being they'd heard of. Enough evidence was +collected and analyzed to derive some very valid principles.<BR> +    First lets dismiss some apparently logical but incorrect +explanations for the unusually good health of these isolated peoples. It wasn't racial, +genetic superiority. There were extraordinarily healthy blacks, browns, Orientals, +Amerinds, Caucasians. It wasn't living at high altitude; some lived at sea level. +It wasn't temperate climates, some lived in the tropics, some in the tropics at sea +level, a type of location generally thought to be quite unhealthful. It wasn't a +small collection of genetically superior individuals, because when these peoples +left their isolated locale and moved to the city, they rapidly began to lose their +health. And it wasn't genetics because when a young couple from the isolated healthy +village moved to town, their children born in town were as unhealthy as all the other +kids.<BR> +    And what do I mean by genuinely healthy? Well, imagine a +remote village or a mountain valley or a far island settlement very difficult to +get to, where there lived a thousand or perhaps ten thousand people. Rarely fewer, +rarely more. Among that small population there were no medical doctors and no dentists, +no drugs, no vaccinations, no antibiotics. Usually the isolation carried with it +illiteracy and precluded contact with or awareness of modern science, so there was +little or no notion of public hygiene. And this was before the era of antibiotics. +Yet these unprotected, undoctored, unvaccinated peoples did not suffer and die from +bacterial infections; and the women did not have to give birth to 13 children to +get 2.4 to survive to breeding age--almost all the children made it through the gauntlet +of childhood diseases. There was also virtually no degenerative disease like heart +attacks, hardening of the arteries, senility, cancer, arthritis. There were few if +any birth defects. In fact, there probably weren't any aspirin in the entire place. +Oh, and there was very little mortality during childbirth, as little or less than +we have today with all our hospitals. And the people uniformly had virtually perfect +teeth and kept them all till death, but did not have toothbrushes nor any notion +of dental hygiene. Nor did they have dentists or physicians. (Price, 1970)<BR> +    And in those fortunate places the most common causes of death +were accident (trauma) and old age. The typical life span was long into the 70s and +in some places quite a bit longer. One fabled place, Hunza, was renowned for having +an extraordinarily high percentage of vigorous and active people over 100 years old. +<BR> +    I hope I've made you curious. "How could this be?" +you're asking. Well, here's why. First, everyone of those groups lived in places +so entirely remote, so inaccessible that they were of necessity, virtually self-sufficient. +They hardly traded at all with the outside world, and certainly they did not trade +for bulky, hard-to-transport bulk foodstuffs. Virtually everything they ate was produced +by themselves. If they were an agricultural people, naturally, everything they ate +was natural: organic, whole, unsprayed and fertilized with what ever local materials +seemed to produce enhanced plant growth. And, if they were agricultural, they lived +on a soil body that possessed highly superior natural fertility. If not an agricultural +people they lived by the sea and made a large portion of their diets sea foods. If +their soil had not been extraordinarily fertile, these groups would not have enjoyed +superior health and would have conformed to the currently widely-believed notion +that before the modern era, people's lives were brutish, unhealthful, and short. +<BR> +    What is common between meat-eating Eskimos, isolated highland +Swiss living on rye bread, milk and cheese; isolated Scottish island Celts with a +dietary of oat porridge, kale and sea foods; highland central Africans (Malawi) eating +sorghum, millet tropical root crops and all sorts of garden vegetables, plus a little +meat and dairy; Fijians living on small islands in the humid tropics at sea level +eating sea foods and garden vegetables. What they had in common was that their foods +were all were at the extreme positive end of the Health = Nutrition / Calories scale. +The agriculturists were on very fertile soil that grew extraordinarily nutrient-rich +food, the sea food gatherers were obtaining their tucker from the place where all +the fertility that ever was in the soil had washed out of the land had been transported--sea +foods are also extraordinarily nutrient rich.<BR> +    The group with the very best soil and consequently, the best +health of all were, by lucky accident, the Hunza. I say "lucky" and "accident" +because the Hunza and their resource base unknowingly developed an agricultural system +that produced the most nutritious food that is possible to grow. The Hunza lived +on what has been called super food. There are a lot of interesting books about the +Hunza, some deserving of careful study. (Wrench, 1938; Rodale, 1949)<BR> +<BR> +<B>Finding Your Ideal Dietary</B><BR> +    Anyone that is genuinely interested in having the best possible +health should make their own study of the titles listed in the bibliography in the +back of this book. After you do, award yourself a BS nutrition. I draw certain conclusions +from this body of data. I think they help a person sort out the massive confusion +that exists today about proper diet.<BR> +    First principle: Homo Sapiens clearly can posses extreme +health while eating very different dietary regimens. There is no one right diet for +humans. <BR> +    Before the industrial era almost everyone on Earth ate what +was produced locally. Their dietary choices were pretty much restricted to those +foods that were well adapted and productive in their region. Some places grew rye, +others wheat, others millet, others rice. Some places supported cows, others goats, +others had few on no domesticated animals. Some places produced a lot of fruits and +vegetables. Others, did not. Whatever the local dietary, during thousands of years +of eating that dietary natural selection prevailed; most babies that were allergic +to or not able to thrive on the available dietary, died quickly. Probably of childhood +bacterial infections. The result of this weeding out process was a population closely +adapted to the available dietary of a particular locale. <BR> +    This has interesting implications for Americans, most of +whose ancestors immigrated from somewhere else; many of our ancestors also "hybridized" +or crossed with immigrants from elsewhere. Trying to discover what dietary substances +your particular genetic endowment is adapted to can be difficult and confusing. If +both your parents were Italian and they were more or less pure Italian going way +back, you might start out trying to eat wheat, olives, garlic, fava beans, grapes, +figs, cow dairy. If pure German, try rye bread, cow dairy, apples, cabbage family +vegetables. If Scottish, try oats, mutton, fish, sheep dairy and cabbage family vegetables. +If Jewish, try goat dairy, wheat, olives and citrus. And certainly all the above +ethnic derivations will thrive on many kinds of vegetables. Afro-Americans, especially +dark-complexioned ones little mixed with Europeans, might do well to avoid wheat +and instead, try sorghum, millet or tropical root crops like sweet potatoes, yams +and taro.<BR> +    Making it even more difficult for an individual to discover +their optimum diet is the existence of genetic-based allergies and worse, developed +allergies. Later in this chapter I will explain how a body can develop an allergy +to a food that is probably irreversible. A weakened organ can also prevent digestion +of a food or food group.<BR> +    One more thing about adaptation to dietaries. Pre-industrial +humans could only be extraordinarily healthy on the dietary they were adapted to +if and only if that dietary also was extraordinarily high in nutrients. Few places +on earth have naturally rich soil. Food grown on poor soil is poor in nutrition; +that grown on rich soil is high in nutrition. People do not realize that the charts +and tables in the backs of health books like Adelle Davis's Lets Cook It Right, are +not really true. They are statistics. It is vital to keep in mind the old saying, +"there are lies, there are damned lies, and then there are statistics. The best +way to lie is with statistics." <BR> +    Statistical tables of the nutrient content of foods were +developed by averaging numerous samples of food from various soils and regions. These +tables basically lie because they do not show the range of possibility between the +different samples. A chart may state authoritatively that 100 grams of broccoli contains +so many milligrams of calcium. What it does not say is that some broccoli samples +contain only half that amount or even less, while other broccoli contains two or +three times that amount. Since calcium is a vital nutrient hard to come by in digestible +form, the high calcium broccoli is far better food than the low calcium sample. But +both samples of broccoli appear and taste more or less alike. Both could even be +organically grown. Yet one sample has a very positive ratio of nutrition to calories, +the other is lousy food. (Schuphan, 1965) Here's another example I hope will really +dent the certainties the Linda Clarkites. Potatoes can range in protein from eight +to eleven percent, depending on the soil that produced them and if they were or were +not irrigated. Grown dry (very low yielding) on semiarid soils, potatoes can be a +high-protein staff of life. Heavily irrigated and fertilized so as to produce bulk +yield instead of nutrition, they'll produce two or three times the tonnage, but at +8 percent protein instead of 11 percent. Not only does the protein content drop just +as much as yield is boosted, the amino acid ratios change markedly, the content of +scarce nutritional minerals drops massively, and the caloric content increases. In +short, subsisting on irrigated commercially-grown potatoes, or on those grown on +relatively infertile soils receiving abundant rainfall will make you fat and sick. +They're a lot like manioc.<BR> +    Here's another. Wheat can range from 7 to 19 percent protein. +Before the industrial era ruined most wheat by turning it into white flour, wheat-eating +peoples from regions where the cereal naturally contains abundant protein tended +to be tall, healthy and long-lived. Wheat-eating humans from regions that produce +low protein grain tended to be small, sickly and short-lived. (McCarrison, 1921, +1936, 1982; Albrecht, 1975)<BR> +    Even cows have to pay attention to where their grass is coming +from. Some green grass is over 15 percent protein and contains lots of calcium, phosphorus +and magnesium to build strong bodies. Other equally or even better looking green +grass contains only six or seven percent protein and contains little calcium, phosphorus +or magnesium. Cows forced to eat only this poor type of grass can literally starve +to death with full bellies. And they have a hard time breeding successfully. The +reason for the difference: different soil fertility profiles. (Albrecht, 1975)<BR> +    When people ate local, those living on fertile soils or getting +a significant portion of their diet from the sea and who because of physical isolation +from industrial foods did not make a practice of eating empty calories tended to +live a long time and be very healthy. But those unfortunates on poor soils or with +unwise cultural life-styles tended to be short-lived, diseased, small, weak, have +bad teeth, and etc. The lesson here is that Homo Sapiens can adapt to many different +dietaries, but like any other animal, the one thing we can't adapt to is a dietary +deficient in nutrition. <BR> +    So here's another "statistic" to reconsider. Most +people believe that due to modern medical wonders, we live longer than we used to. +Actually, that depends. Compared to badly nourished populations of a century ago, +yes! We do. Chemical medicine keeps sickly, poorly nourished people going a lot longer +(though one wonders about the quality of their dreary existences.) I hypothesize +that before the time most farmers purchased and baked with white flour and sold their +whole, unground wheat, many rural Americans (the ones on good soil, not all parts +of North America have rich soil) eating from their own self-sufficient farms, lived +as long or even longer than we do today. You also have to wonder who benefits from +promulgating this mistaken belief about longevity. Who gets rich when we are sick? +And what huge economic interests are getting rich helping make us sick?<BR> +<BR> + +<TABLE BORDER="1" WIDTH="100%" SUMMARY="The Human Comedy"> + <CAPTION><B>The Human Comedy</B></CAPTION> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="100%">I know most of my readers have been heavily indoctrinated about food and think they + already know the truth about dietetics. I also know that so much information (and + misinformation) is coming out about diet that most of my readers are massively confused + about the subject. These are two powerful reasons many readers will look with disbelief + at what this chapter has to say and take no action on my data, even to prove me wrong.<BR> +     Let me warn you. There is a deep-seated human tendency to + put off taking responsibilities, beautifully demonstrated by this old joke.<BR> +     A 14 year old boy was discovered masturbating by his father, + who said, "son, you shouldn't do that! If you keep it up you'll eventually go + blind!" ` "But father, came the boy's quick reply. "It feels good. + How about if I don't quit until I need to wear glasses?"</TD> + </TR> +</TABLE> +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<B>The Organic Versus Chemical Feud</B><BR> +    Now, regrettably, and at great personal risk to my reputation, +I must try to puncture the very favorite belief of food religionists, the doctrine +that organically grown food is as nutritious as food can possibly be, Like Woody +Allen's brown-rice-eating friends, people think if you eat Organic foods, you will +inevitably live a very long time and be very healthy. Actually, the Organic vs. chemical +feud is in many ways false. Many (not all) samples of organically grown food are +as low or lower in nutrition as foods raised with chemical fertilizers. Conversely, +wisely using chemical fertilizers (not pesticides) can greatly increase the nutritional +value of food. Judiciously used Organic fertilizing substances can also do that as +well or better. And in either case, using chemical fertilizers or so-called organic +fertilizers, to maximize nutrition the humus content of the soil must be maintained. +But, raising soil organic matter levels too high can result in a massive reduction +in the nutritional content of the food being grown--a very frequent mistake on the +part of Organic devotees. In other words, growing nutrition is a science, and is +not a matter of religion.<BR> +    The food I fed to my daughter in childhood, though Organic +according to Rodale and the certification bureaucrats, though providing this organic +food to my family and clients gave me a feeling of self-righteousness, was not grown +with an understanding of the nutritional consequences of electing to use one particular +Organic fertilizing substance over another. So we and a lot of regional Organic market +gardeners near us that we bought from, were raising food that was far from ideally +nutritious. At least though, our food was free of pesticide residues. <BR> +    The real dichotomy in food is not "chemical" fertilizer +versus "Organic," It is between industrial food and quality food. What +I mean by industrial food is that which is raised with the intention of maximizing +profit or yield. There is no contradiction between raising food that the "rabbis" +running Organic certification bureaucracies would deem perfectly "kosher" +and raising that same food to make the most possible money or the biggest harvest. +When a farmer grows for money, they want to produce the largest number of bushels, +crates, tons, bales per acre. Their criteria for success is primarily unit volume. +Many gardeners think the same way. To maximize bulk yield they build soil fertility +in a certain direction (organically or chemically) and choose varieties that produce +greater bulk. However, nature is ironic in this respect. The most nutritious food +is always lower yielding. The very soil management practices that maximize production +simultaneously reduce nutrition.<BR> +    The real problem we are having about our health is not that +there are residues of pesticides in our food. The real problem is that there are +only residues of nutrition left in our foods. Until our culture comes to understand +this and realizes that the health costs of accepting less than optimum food far exceeds +the profits made by growing bulk, it will not be possible to frequently find the +ultimate of food quality in the marketplace, organically grown or not. It will not +be possible to find food that is labeled or identified according to its real nutritional +value. The best I can say about Organic food these days is that it probably is no +less nutritious than chemically-grown food while at least it is free of pesticide +residues. <BR> +<BR> +<B>The Poor Start</B><BR> +    For this reason it makes sense to take vitamins and food +supplements, to be discussed in the next chapter. And because our food supply, Organic +or "conventional," is far from optimum, if a person wants to be and remain +healthy and have a life span that approaches their genetic potential (and that potential, +it seems, approaches or exceeds a century), it is essential that empty calories are +rigorously avoided. <BR> +    An accurate and quick-to-respond indicator of how well we +are doing in terms of getting enough nutrition is the state of our teeth. One famous +dentally-oriented nutritional doctor, Melvin Page, suggested that as long as overall +nutrition was at least 75 percent of perfection, the body chemistry could support +healthy teeth and gums until death. By healthy here Page means free of cavities, +no bone loss around the teeth (no wobblers), no long-in-the-teeth mouths from receding +gums, no gum diseases at all. But when empty calories or devitalized foods or misdigestion +cuts our nutrient intake we begin experiencing tooth decay, gum disease and bone +loss in the jaw. How are your teeth?<BR> +    I suppose you could say that I have a food religion, but +mine is to eat so that the equation Nutrition = Health / Calories is strongly in +my favor.<BR> +    Back to my daughter's teeth. Yes, I innocently fed her less +than ideally nutritious food, but at that time I couldn't buy ideal food even had +I known what I wanted, nor did I have any scientific idea of how to produce ideal +food, nor actually, could I have done so on the impoverished, leached-out clay soil +at Great Oaks School even had I known how. The Organic doctrine says that you can +build a Garden of 'Eatin with large quantities of compost until any old clay pit +or gravel heap produces highly nutritious food. This idea is not really true. Sadly, +what is true about organic matter in soil is that when it is increased very much +above the natural level one finds in untilled soil in the climate you're working +with, the nutritional content of the food begins to drop markedly. I know this assertion +is shocking and perhaps threatening to those who believe in the Organic system; I +am sorry. <BR> +    But there is another reason my daughter's teeth were not +perfect, probably could not have been perfect no matter what we fed her, and why +she will probably have at least some health problems as she ages no matter how perfectly +she may choose to eat from here on. My daughters had what Dr. G.T. Wrench called +"a poor start." Not as poor as it could have been by any means, but certainly +less than ideal.<BR> +    You see, the father has very little to do with the health +of the child, unless he happens to carry some particularly undesirable gene. It is +the mother who has the job of constructing the fetus out of prepartum nourishment +and her own body's nutritional reserves. The female body knows from trillenia of +instinctual experience that adequate nutrition from the current food supply during +pregnancy can not always be assured, so the female body stores up very large quantities +of minerals and vitamins and enzymes against that very possibility. When forming +a fetus these reserves are drawn down and depleted. It is virtually impossible during +the pregnancy itself for a mother to extract sufficient nutrition from current food +to build a totally healthy fetus, no matter how nourishing the food she is eating +may be. Thus a mother-to-be needs to be spending her entire childhood and her adolescence +(and have adequate time between babies), building and rebuilding her reserves. <BR> +    A mother-to-be also started out at her own birth with a vitally +important stock of nutritional reserves, reserves put there during her own fetal +development. If that "start" was less than ideal, the mother-to-be (as +fetus) got "pinched" and nutritionally shortchanged in certain, predictable +ways. Even minor mineral fetal deficiencies degrade the bone structure: the fetus +knows it needs nutritional reserves more than it needs to have a full-sized jaw bone +or a wide pelvic girdle, and when deprived of maximum fetal nourishment, these non-vital +bones become somewhat smaller. Permanently. If mineral deficiencies continue into +infancy and childhood, these same bones continue to be shortchanged, and the child +ends up with a very narrow face, a jaw bone far too small to hold all the teeth, +and in women, a small oven that may have trouble baking babies. More importantly, +those nutrient reserves earmarked especially for making babies are also deficient. +So a deficient mother not only shows certain structural evidence of physiological +degeneration, but she makes deficient babies. A deficient female baby at birth is +unlikely to completely overcome her bad start before she herself has children.<BR> +    So with females, the quality of a whole lifetime's nutrition, +and the life-nutrition of her mother (and of her mother's mother as well) has a great +deal to do with the outcome of a pregnancy. The sins of the mother can really be +visited unto the third and fourth generation.<BR> +    This reality was powerfully demonstrated in the 1920s by +a medical doctor, Francis Pottenger. He was not gifted with a good bedside manner. +Rather than struggling with an unsuccessful clinical practice, Dr. Pottenger decided +to make his living running a medical testing laboratory in Pasadena, California. +Dr. Pottenger earned his daily bread performing a rather simple task, assaying the +potency of adrenal hormone extracts. At that time, adrenaline, a useful drug to temporarily +rescue people close to death, was extracted from the adrenal glands of animals. However, +the potency of these crude extracts varied greatly. Being a very powerful drug, it +was essential to measure exactly how strong your extract was so its dosage could +be controlled. <BR> +    Quantitative organic chemistry was rather crude in those +days. Instead of assaying in a test tube, Dr. Pottenger kept several big cages full +of cats that he had adrenalectomized. Without their own adrenals, the cats could +not live more than a short time By finding out how much extract was required to keep +the cats from failing, he could measure the strength of the particular batch. <BR> +    Dr. Pottenger's cats were economically valuable so he made +every effort to keep them healthy, something that proved to be disappointingly difficult. +He kept his cats clean, in airy, bright quarters, fed them to the very best of his +ability on pasteurized whole milk, slaughterhouse meat and organs (cats in the wild +eat organ meats first and there are valuable vitamins and other substances in organ +meats that don't exist in muscle tissue). The meat was carefully cooked to eliminate +any parasites, and the diet was supplemented with cod liver oil. However, try as +he might, Pottenger's cats were sickly, lived short and had to be frequently replaced. +Usually they bred poorly and died young of bacterial infections, there being no antibiotics +in the 1920s. I imagine Dr. Pottenger was constantly visiting the animal shelter +and perhaps even paid quarters out the back door to a steady stream of young boys +who brought him cats in burlap sacks from who knows where, no questions asked.<BR> +    Dr. Pottenger's assays must have been accurate, for his business +grew and grew. Eventually he needed more cats than he had cages to house, so he built +a big, roofed, on-the-ground pen outdoors. Because he was overworked, he was less +careful about the feeding of these extra animals. They got the same pasteurized milk +and cod-liver oil, but he did not bother to cook their slaughterhouse meat. Then, +a small miracle happened. This poorly cared for cage of cats fed on uncooked meat +became much healthier than the others, suffering far fewer bacterial infections or +other health problems. Then another miracle happened. Dr. Pottenger began to meditate +on the first miracle.<BR> +    It occurred to him that cats in the wild did not cook their +food; perhaps cats had a digestive system that couldn't process or assimilate much +out of cooked food. Perhaps the problem he had been having was not because the cats +were without adrenal glands but because they were without sustenance, suffering a +sort of slow starvation in the midst of plenty. So Dr. Pottenger set up some cat +feeding experiments.<BR> +    There were four possible combinations of his regimen: raw +meat and unpasteurized milk; raw meat and pasteurized milk; cooked meat and raw milk; +cooked meat and pasteurized milk, this last one being what he had been feeding all +along. So he divided his cats into four groups and fed each group differently. The +first results of Pottenger's experiments were revealed quickly though the most valuable +results took longer to see. The cats on raw meat and raw milk did best. The ones +on raw meat and pasteurized milk did okay but not as well. The ones on cooked meat +and raw milk did even less well and those on all cooked food continued to do as poorly +as ever. <BR> +    Clearly, cats can't digest cooked food; all animals do better +fed on what they can digest. A lot of people have taken Pottenger's data and mistakenly +concluded that humans also should eat only raw food. This idea is debatable. However, +the most important result of the cat experiments took years to reveal itself and +is not paid much attention to, probably because its implications are very depressing. +Dr. Pottenger continued his experiments for several generations. It was the transgenerational +changes that showed the most valuable lesson. Over several generations, the cats +on all raw foods began to alter their appearance. Their faces got wider, their pelvic +girdles broader, bones solider, teeth better. They began to breed very successfully. +<BR> +    After quite a few generations, the healthiest group, the +one on all raw foods, seemed to have improved as much as it could. So Dr. Pottenger +took some of these cats and began feeding them only cooked food to study the process +of nutritional degeneration. After three "de"generations on cooked fodder +the group had deteriorated so much that the animals could barely breed. Their faces +had become narrow, their teeth crooked, their pelvic girdles narrow, their bones +and body structure very small, and their dispositions poor. Mothers wouldn't nurse +their young and sometimes became cannibalistic. They no longer lived very long.<BR> +    Before the degenerating group completely lost the ability +to breed, Pottenger began to again feed them all raw food. It took four generations +on a perfect, raw food diet before some perfect appearing individuals showed up in +the group. It takes longer to repair the damage than it does to cause it and it takes +generations of unflagging persistence.<BR> +    I think much the same process has happened to humans in this +century. With the invention of the roller mill and the consequent degradation of +our daily bread to white flour; with the birth of industrial farming and the generalized +lowering of the nutritional content of all of our crops; our overall ratio of nutrition +to calories worsened. Then it worsened again because we began to have industrial +food manufacturing and national brand prepared food marketing systems; we began subsisting +on devitalized, processed foods. The result has been an even greater worsening of +our ratio of nutrition to calories. <BR> +    And just like Pottenger's cats, we civilized humans in so-called +advanced countries are losing the ability to breed, our willingness (or the energy) +to mother our young; we're losing our good humor in the same way Pottenger's degenerated +cats became bad tempered. As a group we feel so poorly that we desperately need to +feel better fast, and what better way to do that than with drugs. Is it any wonder +that the United States, the country furthest down the road of industrial food degeneration, +spends 14 percent of its gross domestic product on medical services. Any wonder that +so many babies are born by Cesarean, any wonder that so many of our children have +crooked teeth needing an orthodontist? The most depressing aspect of this comes into +view when considering that Pottenger's cats took four generations on perfect food +to repair most of the nutritional damage.<BR> +    In the specific case of my daughter, I know somethings about +the nutritional history of her maternal ancestors. My daughter's grandmother grew +up on a Saskatchewan farm. Though they certainly grew their own rich wheat on virgin +semi-arid prairie soil, I'm sure the family bought white flour at the store for daily +use. Still, there was a garden and a cow producing raw milk and free-range fertile +eggs and chicken and other animals. There probably were lots of canned vegetables +in winter, canned but still highly nutritious because of the fertility of their prairie +garden. My mother consequently had perfect teeth until the Great Depression forced +her to live for too many years on lard and white bread. <BR> +    During this time of severe malnutrition she had her three +babies. The first one got the best of her nutritional reserves. The second, born +after the worst of the malnutrition, was very small and weak and had a hard time +growing up. Fortunately for me, for a few years before I (the last child) was born, +the worst of the economic times had past and the family had been living on a farm. +There were vegetables and fresh raw milk and fruit. My mother had two good years +to rebuild her nutritional reserves. But "Grannybell" did not managed to +replace enough. Shortly after I was born my mother lost every one of her teeth all +at once. The bone just disappeared around them. <BR> +    Thus, I was born deficient. And my childhood and adolescent +nutrition was poor too: soda crackers, pasteurized processed artificial cheese, evaporated +milk from cans, hotdogs and canned beans, hotdogs and cabbage. It wasn't until I +was pregnant with my first baby that I started to straighten up my diet. I continued +eating very well after my first daughter, so my youngest daughter had another three +years of good diet to draw on. Thus both my own daughters got a somewhat better start +than I had had.<BR> +    My teeth were not as good as my mother's had been before +those years of malnutrition took them all. Instead of perfect straight undecayed +teeth like a healthy farm girl should have, mine were somewhat crowded, with numerous +cavities. My jaw bone had not received enough minerals to develop to its full size. +My pelvic girdle also was smaller than my mother's was. I had had a poor start. <BR> +    My daughters did better. The older one (the first child typically +gets the best of the nutritional reserves) has such a wide jaw that there are small +spaces between her teeth. My second daughter has only one crooked tooth, she has +wider, more solid hips, stronger bones and a broader face than I do. If my younger +daughter will but from this point in her life, eat perfectly and choose her food +wisely to responsibly avoid empty calories and maximize her ratio of nutrition to +calories, her daughter (if she gives us granddaughters as her older sister already +has done) may exhibit the perfect physiology that her genes carry.<BR> +    Along the lines of helping you avoid empty calories I will +give you some information about various common foods that most people don't know +and that most books about food and health don't tell, or misunderstand. <BR> +<BR> +<B>Butter, Margarine and Fats in General. </B><BR> +    Recently, enormous propaganda has been generated against +eating butter. Its been smeared in the health magazines as a saturated animal fat, +one containing that evil substance, cholesterol. Many people are now avoiding it +and instead, using margarine.<BR> +<BR> + +<TABLE BORDER="1" WIDTH="100%" SUMMARY="Composition of Oils"> + <CAPTION><B>Composition of Oils</B></CAPTION> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%"><FONT SIZE="2"><B> </B></FONT></TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%"><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Saturated</B></FONT></TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%"><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Monosaturated</B></FONT></TD> + <TD WIDTH="30%"><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Unsaturated</B></FONT></TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Butter</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">66%</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">30%</TD> + <TD WIDTH="30%">4%</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Coconut Oil</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">87%</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">6%</TD> + <TD WIDTH="30%">2%</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Cottonseed Oil</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">26%</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">18%</TD> + <TD WIDTH="30%">52%</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Olive Oil</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">13%</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">74%</TD> + <TD WIDTH="30%">8%</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Palm Oil</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">49%</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">37%</TD> + <TD WIDTH="30%">9%</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Soybean Oil</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">14%</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">24%</TD> + <TD WIDTH="30%">58%</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Sunflower Oil</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">4%</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">8%</TD> + <TD WIDTH="30%">83%</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Safflower Oil</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">3%</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">5%</TD> + <TD WIDTH="30%">87%</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Sesame Oil</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">5%</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">9%</TD> + <TD WIDTH="30%">80%</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Peanut Oil</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">6%</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">12%</TD> + <TD WIDTH="30%">76%</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Corn Oil</TD> + <TD WIDTH="20%">3%</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">7%</TD> + <TD WIDTH="30%">84%</TD> + </TR> +</TABLE> +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +    This is a major and serious misunderstanding. First of all, +margarine is almost indigestible, chemically very much like shortening--an artificially +saturated or hydrogenated vegetable fat. Hydrogenated fats can't be properly broken +down by the body's digestive enzymes, adding to the body's toxic load. Margarine, +being a chemically-treated vegetable oil with artificial yellow color and artificial +flavorings to make it seem like butter, also releases free radicals in the body that +accelerate aging. So, to avoid the dangers of eating cholesterol-containing butter, +people eat something far worse for them!<BR> +    There are severe inconsistencies with the entire "cholesterol-is-evil" +theory. Ethnic groups like the Danes, who eat enormous quantities of cholesterol-containing +foods, have little circulatory disease. Actually, the liver itself produces cholesterol; +it's presence in the blood is an important part of the body chemistry. Cholesterol +only becomes a problem because of deranged body chemistry due to the kind of overall +malnutrition Americans usually experience on their junk food diets. Avoiding cholesterol +in foods does little good, but eating a low-fat, low-sugar, complex-carbohydrate +(whole foods) diet high in minerals does lower blood cholesterol enormously. <BR> +    Actually, high quality fresh (not rancid) butter in moderate +quantities is about the finest fat a person could eat. But high quality butter is +almost unobtainable. First of all, it has to be raw, made from unpasteurized cream. +Second, butter can contain very high levels of fat-soluble vitamins, but doesn't +have to. Vitamin-rich butter's color is naturally bright yellow, almost orange. This +color does not come from a test tube. Pale yellow butter as is found in the commercial +trade was probably almost white before it was artificially tinted. Butter from grass-pastured +cows naturally changes from yellow-orange to white and back again through the year +as the seasons change. Spring grass, growing in the most intense sunlight of the +year contains very high levels of chlorophyll and vitamins. Cows eating this grass +put high levels of vitamins A and D into their cream, evidenced by the orange color +of vitamin A. By July, natural butter has degraded to medium-yellow in color. By +August, it is pale yellow. Industrial dairy cows fed exclusively on hay or artificial, +processed feeds (lacking in these vitamins), produce butterfat that is almost white. +<BR> +    I prefer to obtain my butter from a neighbor who has several +dairy cows grazing on fertile bottom land pasture. We always freeze a year's supply +in late spring when butter is at its best. Interestingly, that is also the time of +year when my neighbor gets the most production from her cows and is most willing +to part with 25 pounds of extra butter. <BR> +    In general, fats are poor foods that should be avoided. Their +ratio of nutrition to calories is absolutely the worst of all food types, except +perhaps for pure white sugar, which is all calories and absolutely no nutrition (this +is also true for other forms of sugar. Honey, too, contains almost no nutrition.). +Gram for gram, fats contain many more calories than do sugars or starches. Yet gram +for gram, fats contain virtually no nutrition except for small quantities of essential +fatty acids.<BR> +    The perverse reason people like to eat fats is that they +are very hard to digest and greatly slow the digestive action of the stomach. Another +way of saying that is that they have a very high satiety value. Fats make a person +feel full for a long time because their presence in the stomach makes it churn and +churn and churn. Fats coat proteins and starches and delay their digestion, often +causing them to begin fermenting (starches) or putrefying (proteins) in the digestive +tract.<BR> +    The best fats contain high levels of monosaturated vegetable +oils that have never been exposed to heat or chemicals--like virgin olive oil. Use +small quantities of olive oil for salad dressing. Monosaturated fats also have far +less tendency to go rancid than any other type. Vegetable oils with high proportions +of unsaturated fats, the kind that all the authorities push because they contain +no cholesterol, go rancid rapidly upon very brief exposure to air. The danger here +is that rancidity in vegetable oil is virtually unnoticeable. Rancid animal fat on +the other hand, smells "off." Eating rancid oil is a sure-fire way to accelerate +aging, invite degenerative conditions in general, and enhance the likelihood of cancer. +I recommend that you use only high-quality virgin olive oil, the only generally-available +fat that is largely monosaturated. (Pearson and Shaw, 1983)<BR> +    When you buy vegetable oil, even olive oil, get small bottles +so you use them up before the oil has much time being exposed to air (as you use +the oil air fills the bottle) or, if you buy olive oil in a large can to save money, +immediately upon opening it, transfer the oil to pint jars filled to the very brim +to exclude virtually all air, and seal the jars securely. In either case, keep now-opened, +in-use small bottles of oil in the refrigerator because rancidity is simply the combination +of oil with oxygen from the air and this chemical reaction is accelerated at warmer +temperatures and slowed greatly at cold ones.<BR> +    Chemical reactions typically double in speed with every 10 +degrees C. increase in temperature. So oil goes rancid about six times faster at +normal room temperature than it does in the fridge. If you'll think about the implications +of this data you'll see there are two powerful reasons not to fry food. One, the +food is coated with oil and gains in satiety value at the expense of becoming relatively +indigestible and productive of toxemia. Secondly, if frying occurs at 150 degrees +Centigrade and normal room temperature is 20 degrees Centigrade, then oil goes rancid +2 to the 13th power faster in the frying pan, or about 8,200 times faster. Heating +oil for only ten minutes in a hot skillet induces as much rancidity as about 6 weeks +of sitting open and exposed to air at room temperature. Think about that the next +time you're tempted to eat something from a fast food restaurant where the hot fat +in the deep fryer has been reacting with oxygen all day, or even for several days.<BR> +    Back to butter, where we started. If you must have something +traditionally northern European on your bread, you are far better off to use butter, +not margarine. However, Mediterranean peoples traditionally dip their bread in high-quality +extra-virgin olive oil that smells and tastes like olives. Its delicious, why not +try it. But best yet, put low-sugar fruit preserves on your toast or develop a taste +for dry toast. Probably the finest use for butter is melted over steamed vegetables. +This way only small quantities are needed and the fat goes on something that is otherwise +very easy to digest so its presence will not produce as many toxins in the digestive +tract.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Milk, Meat, And Other Protein Foods</B><BR> +    Speaking of butter, how about milk? The dairy lobby is very +powerful in North America. Its political clout and campaign contributions have the +governments of both the United States and especially that of Canada eating out of +its hand (literally), providing the dairy industry with price supports. Because of +these price supports, in Canada cheese costs half again more than it does in the +United States. The dairy lobby is also very cozy with the medical profession so licensed +nutritionists constantly bombard us with "drink milk" and "cheese +is good for you" propaganda. <BR> +    And people naturally like dairy foods. They taste good and +are fat-rich with a high satiety value. Dairy makes you feel full for a long time. +Dairy is also high in protein; protein is hard to digest and this too keeps one feeling +full for a long time. But many people, especially those from cultures who traditionally +(genetically) didn't have dairy cows, particularly Africans, Asians and Jews, just +do not produce the enzymes necessary to digest cows milk. Some individuals belonging +to these groups can digest goats milk. Some can't digest any kind except human breast +milk. And some can digest fermented milk products like yogurt and kiefer. Whenever +one eats a protein food that is not fully digestible, it putrefies in the digestive +tract, with all the bad consequences previously described.<BR> +    But no one, absolutely no one can fully digest pasteurized +cows milk, which is what most people use because they have been made to fear cow-transmitted +diseases and/or they are forced to use pasteurized dairy products by health authorities. +I suspect drinking pasteurized milk or eating cheese made from pasteurized milk is +one of the reasons so many people develop allergic reactions to milk. Yet many states +do not allow unpasteurized dairy to be sold, even privately between neighbors. To +explain all this, I first have to explain a bit more about protein digestion in general +and then talk about allergies and how they can be created.<BR> +    Proteins are long, complex molecules, intricate chains whose +individual links are amino acids. Proteins are the very stuff of life. All living +protoplasm, animal or plant, is largely composed of proteins. There are virtually +an infinite number of different proteins but all are composed of the same few dozen +amino acids hooked together in highly variable patterns. Amino acids themselves are +highly complex organic molecules too. The human body custom-assembles all its proteins +from amino acids derived from digesting protein foods, and can also manufacture small +quantities of certain of its own amino acids to order, but there are eight amino +acids it cannot make and these are for that reason called essential amino acids. +Essential amino acids must be contained in the food we eat. .<BR> +    Few proteins are water soluble. When we eat proteins the +digestive apparatus must first break them down into their water-soluble components, +amino acids, so these can pass into the blood and then be reassembled into the various +proteins the body uses. The body has an interesting mechanism to digest proteins; +it uses enzymes. An enzyme is like the key for a lock. It is a complex molecule that +latches to a protein molecule and then breaks it apart into amino acids. Then the +enzyme finds yet another protein molecule to free. Enzymes are efficient, reusable +many many times. <BR> +    Enzymes that digest proteins are effective only in the very +acid environment of the stomach, are manufactured by the pancreas and are released +when protein foods are present. The stomach then releases hydrochloric acid and churns +away like a washing machine, mixing the enzymes and the acid with the proteins until +everything has digested. <BR> +    So far so good. That's how its supposed to be. But. Dr. Henry +Bieler, who wrote Food Is Your Best Medicine, came up with the finest metaphor I +know of to explain how protein digestion goes wrong. He compared all proteins to +the white of an egg (which is actually a form of protein). When raw and liquid, the +long chains of albumen (egg white) proteins are in their natural form. However, cook +the egg and the egg white both solidifies and becomes smaller. What has happened +is that the protein chains have shriveled and literally tied themselves into knots. +Once this happens, pancreatic enzymes no longer fit and cannot separate all the amino +acids. Cooked proteins may churn and churn and churn in the presence of acid and +pancreatic enzymes but they will not digest completely. Part becomes water soluble; +part does not.<BR> +    But, indigestible protein is still subject to an undesirable +form of consumption in the gut. Various bacteria make their home in our airless, +warm intestines. Some of these live on protein. In the process of consuming undigested +proteins, they release highly toxic substances. They poison us. <BR> +    What is true of the white of an egg is also true of flesh +foods and dairy. Raw meat and raw fish are actually easily digestible foods and if +not wrongly combined will not produce toxemia in a person that still has a strong +pancreas. However, eating raw meat and fish can be a dicey proposition, both for +reasons of cultural sensibility (people think it is disgusting) and because there +may be living parasites in uncooked flesh that can attack, sicken and even kill people. +It has been argued that a healthy stomach containing its proper degree of acidity +provides an impenetrable barrier to parasites. Perhaps. But how many of us are that +healthy these days? Cooked flesh and fish seems more delicious to our refined, civilized +sensibilities, but are a poor food. <BR> +    In my household we have no moral objection to eating meat. +We do have an ethical objection in that meat eating does not contribute to our health. +But still, we do eat it. A few times a year, for traditional celebrations we may +invite the children over and cook a turkey. A few times for Thanksgiving when the +children were going through their holier-than-thou vegetarian stage, I purchased +the largest, thickest porterhouse steak I could find at the natural meat store and +ate it medium-rare, with relish. It was delicious. It made me feel full for hours +and hours and hours. I stayed flat on the couch and groggily worked on digesting +it all evening. After that I'd had enough of meat to last for six months. <BR> +    When milk is pasteurized, the proteins in it are also altered +in structure. Not so severely as egg white is altered by cooking because pasteurization +happens at a lower temperature. But altered none the less. And made less digestible. +Pasteurizing also makes milk calcium far less assimilable. That's ironic because +so many people are drinking milk because they fear they need more calcium to avoid +osteoporosis and to give their children good teeth. What pasteurized milk actually +does to their children is make them calcium deficient and makes the children toxic, +provoking many colds, ear infections, sinusitis, inflammations of the tonsils and +lung infections, and, induces an allergy to milk in the children. <BR> +<BR> +<B>The Development Of Allergies</B><BR> +    There are three ways a body can become allergic. (1) It can +have a genetic predisposition for a specific allergy to start with. (2) It can be +repeatedly exposed to an irritating substance such as pollen when, at the same time, +the body's mechanism for dealing with irritations is weakened. Generally weak adrenals +causes this because the adrenal's job is to produce hormones that reduce inflammation. +Once the irritating substance succeeds at producing a significant inflammation, a +secondary reaction may be set up, called an allergy. Once established, an allergy +is very hard to get rid of.<BR> +    (3) in a way very similar to the second, but instead of being +irritated by an external substance, it is irritated by repeatedly failing to properly, +fully digest something. Pasteurized milk for example, basically impossible to completely +digest even in its low-fat form, often sets up an allergy that applies to other forms +of cows milk, even raw, unpasteurized cows milk or yogurt. Eating too much white +flour can eventually set off a wheat allergy. My husband developed a severe allergy +to barley after drinking too much home-brewed beer; he also became highly intolerant +to alcohol. Now he has allergic reactions to both alcohol and barley. And gets far +sicker from drinking beer (two separate allergies) than from wheat beer, hard liquor +or wine (only one allergy). <BR> +    Eating too much of any single food, or repeatedly eating +too much of an otherwise very good food at one time, can eventually overwhelm the +body's ability to digest it fully. Then, the finest whole food products may set up +an allergic reaction. Worse, this allergic reaction itself subsequently prevents +proper digestion even when only moderate quantities are eaten. <BR> +    An allergy may not be recognized as an allergy because it +may not manifest as the instant skin rash or stuffy nose or swollen glands or sticky +eyes. that people usually think of when they think "allergic reaction." +Food allergies can cause many kinds of symptoms, from sinusitis to psychosis, from +asthma to arthritis, from hyperactivity to depression, insomnia to narcolepsy--and +commonly the symptoms don't manifest immediately after eating. Frequently, allergic +reactions are so low grade as to be unnoticeable and may not produce an observable +condition until many years of their grinding down the vital force has passed. When +the condition finally appears it is hard to associate it with some food that has +been consumed for years, apparently with impunity.<BR> +    Thus it is that many North Americans have developed allergies +to wheat, dairy, soy products (because many soy foods are very hard to digest), corn +and eggs. These are such common, widespread, frequently found allergies that anyone +considering a dietary cause of their complaints might just cut all these foods out +of the diet for a few weeks just to see what happens. And individuals may be allergic +to anything from broccoli to bacon, strawberries to bean sprouts. Unraveling food +allergies sometimes requires the deductions of a Sherlock Holmes.<BR> +    However, food allergies are very easy to cure if you can +get the suffered to take the medicine. Inevitably, allergic reactions vanish in about +five days of abstinence. Anyone with sufficient self-discipline to water fast for +five days can cure themselves of all food allergies at one step. Then, by a controlled, +gradual reintroduction of foods, they can discover which individual items cause trouble. +See Coca's Pulse Test in the Appendix where you'll find step-by-step instructions +for allergy testing that are less rigorous, not requiring a preliminary fast.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Flour, And Other Matters Relating To Seeds</B><BR> +    One of the largest degradations to human health was caused +by the roller mill. This apparently profitable machine permitted the miller to efficiently +separate wheat flour into three components: bran, germ and endosperm. Since bread +made without bran and germ is lighter and appears more "upper class" it +became instantly popular. Flour without germ and bran also had an industrial application--it +could be stored virtually forever without being infested by insects because white +flour does not contain enough nutrition to support life. Most health conscious people +are aware that white flour products won't support healthful human life either. <BR> +    Essentially, white flour's effect on humans is another demonstration +of Health = Nutrition / Calories. When the bran and germ are discarded, remaining +are the calories and much of the protein, lacking are many vitamins and minerals +and other vital nutritional substances. <BR> +    Whole wheat bread has been called the staff of life. In ages +past, healthy cultures have made bread the predominant staple in their diet. Does +that mean you can just go to the bakery and buy whole grain bread, or go to the healthfood +store and buy organically grown whole wheat flour, bake your own, and be as healthy +as the ancients? Sorry, the answer is almost certainly no. There are pitfalls, many +of them, waiting for the unwary.<BR> +    White flour has one other advantage over whole wheat flour. +It not only remains free of insect infestation, it doesn't become stale (meaning +rancid). In the wheat germ (where the embryo resides) there is considerable oil, +containing among other things, about the best natural source of vitamin E. This oil +is highly unsaturated and once the seed is ground the oil goes rancid in a matter +of days. Whole wheat flour kept on the unrefrigerated shelf of the store is almost +certainly rancid. A lot of its other vitamin content has been oxidized too. If the +wheat flour had flowed directly from the grinder into an airtight sack and from there +directly to the freezer, if it had been flash frozen and kept extremely cold, it +might have a storage life of some months. Of course that was not the case. Maybe +you're lucky and your healthfood store is one of the very few that has its own small-scale +flour mill and grinds daily. Probably not. <BR> +    How about your baker's whole wheat bread? Where does the +baker get flour? From the wholesaler's or distributor's warehouse! In fifty pound +kraftpaper sacks! How much time had elapsed from milling to wholesaler to baker to +baking? The answer has to be in the order of magnitude of weeks. And it might be +months. Was the flour stored frozen? Or airtight? Of course not.<BR> +    If you want bread made from freshly ground flour you are +almost certainly have to grind and bake it yourself. Is it worth the trouble? You +bet. Once you've tasted real bread you'll instantly see by comparison what stale, +rancid whole wheat flour tastes like. Freshly ground flour makes bread that can be +the staff of life and can enormously upgrade your health--if the wheat you use is +any good.<BR> +    But before we talk about wheat quality, a more few words +of warning. If you think wheat goes rancid rapidly, rye is even worse. Rye flour +goes bad so fast that when you buy it in the store it usually is the rye equivalent +of white wheat flour. The germ has been removed. The bag may not say so. But it probably +has. If you are going to make rye breads, even more reason to grind your own. Corn +meal from the grocery store has usually been degerminated too. If it hasn't been, +the oil in the seed's germ has probably gone rancid. <BR> +    Grinding flour at home is easy these days. There is an abundance +of at-home milling products and no shortage of hype about them. You'll find staunch +advocates of stone mills. These produce the finest-textured flour, but are costly. +The sales pitch is that stones grind at low temperature and do not damage the oils +(remember the development of rancidity is a function of temperature) or the vitamins, +which are also destroyed at high temperature. This assertion is half true. If you +are going to store your flour it is far better to grind it cool. However, if you +are, as we do, going to immediately bake your flour, what difference does it make +if it gets a little warm before baking. That only accelerates the action of the yeast. +<BR> +    On the negative side, stone mills grind slowly and are very +fussy about which grains they will grind. If the cereal is a bit moist or if the +seed being ground is a little bit oily, the mill becomes instantly blocked. <BR> +    Steel burr mills grind fast and coarsely and are inexpensive. +Coarse flour makes heavy bread. The metal grinding faces tend to wear out and have +to be replaced occasionally--if they can be replaced. Breads on the heavy side are +still delicious; for many years I made bread with an inexpensive steel burr mill +attachment that came with my juicer. <BR> +    Some steel burr mills will also grind oily seed like sesame +and sunflower. However, oily seeds can be ground far more easily half-a-cup at a +time in a little inexpensive electric spice/coffee mill, the sort with a single fast-spinning +propeller.<BR> +    I currently think the best compromise are hammermills. The +grain dribbles into a chamber full of fast-spinning teeth that literally pound the +grain into powder. Since air flows through with the grain the flour is not heated +very much. This type of mill is small, very fast, intermediate in price between steel +mills and stone mill, lasts a long time, but when grinding, sounds like a Boeing +747 about to take off. It is essential to wear hearing protectors when using it.<BR> +    Awareness of bread quality is growing. One excellent new +U.S. business, called Great Harvest Bakery is a fast-growing national franchise chain. +They bake and sell only whole grain breads; all their wheat flour is freshly ground +daily on the premises in the back. Unfortunately, as of the writing of this book, +they do not grind their rye flour but bring it in sacks. I can't recommend their +rye breads. The founder of Great Harvest is a knowledgeable buyer who fully understands +my next topic, which is that wheat is not wheat. <BR> +    There are great differences between hard bread wheats; being +organically grown is no cure all for making good or nutritious bread. Great Harvest +understands this and uses top quality grain that is also Organic. <BR> +    When I first stated making my own bread from my own at-home-ground +flour I was puzzled by variations in the dough. Sometimes the bread rose well and +was spongy after baking like I wanted it to be. Sometimes it kneaded stickily and +ended up flat and crumbly like a cake. Since I had done everything the same way except +that I may have bought my wheat berries from different healthfood stores, I began +to investigate the subject of wheat quality.<BR> +    The element in the cereal that forms the rubbery sponge in +risen bread so it doesn't crumble and rises high without collapsing, is gluten. The +word glue derives from gluten. The gluten content of various wheats varies. Bread +bakers use "hard wheat" because of its high gluten content. Gluten is a +protein and gluten comprises most of the protein in bread wheat; the protein content +and the gluten content are almost identical. <BR> +    Try this. Ask your healthfood store buyer or owner what the +protein content is of the hard red wheat seeds they're selling. You'll almost certainly +get a puzzled look and your answer will almost certainly be, "we have Organic +and conventional." Demand that the store buyer ask this question of their distributor/wholesaler +and then report back to you. If the distributor deigns to answer, the answer will +be the same--I sell Organic or conventional hard red wheat. Period. When I got these +non-answers I looked further and discovered that hard bread wheats run from about +12 percent protein to about 19 percent and this difference has everything to do with +the soil fertility (and to an extent the amount of rainfall during the season), and +almost nothing to do with Organic or conventional. <BR> +    This difference also has everything to do with how your dough +behaves and how your bread comes out. And how well your bread nourishes you. Thirteen +percent wheat will not make a decent loaf--fourteen percent is generally considered +#2 quality and comprises the bulk of cheap bread grain. When you hear in the financial +news that a bushel of wheat is selling for a certain price, they mean #2. Bakers +compete for higher protein lots and pay far higher prices for more protein. <BR> +    We prefer our bread about 25% rye, but rye contains no gluten +at all. Mix any rye flour into fourteen percent wheat flour and the dough becomes +very heavy, won't rise, and after baking, crumbles. So I kept looking for better +grain and finally discovered a knowledgeable lady that sold flour mills and who also +was a serious baker herself. She had located a source of quality wheat with an assayed +protein content and sold it by the 50 pound sack. When I asked her if her wheat was +Organic she said it was either sixteen or seventeen percent protein depending on +whether you wanted hard red spring wheat or hard white spring wheat. Organic or conventional? +I persisted. No, she said. High protein! <BR> +    So, I said to myself, since protein content is a function +of soil fertility and since my body needs protein, I figured I am better off eating +the best quality wheat, pesticide/herbicide residues (if there are any) be damned. +Think about it! The difference between seventeen percent and fourteen percent protein +is about 25 percent. That percentage difference is the key threshold of nutritional +deficiency that makes teeth fall out. We can't afford to accept 25% degradations +in our nutritional quality in something that we eat every day and that forms the +very basis of our dietary. <BR> +    Please understand here that I am not saying that high protein +wheats can't be grown organically. They certainly can. The founder of Great Harvest +Bakery performs a valuable service locating and securing high-protein lots of organically +grown wheats for his outlets. But often as not Organic products are no more nourishing +than those grown with chemicals. Until the buyers at Organic whole food wholesalers +get better educated about grain, obtaining one's personal milling stock from them +will be a dicey proposition.<BR> +    Sometimes Organic cereal can be far worse than conventional. +To make a cereal Organic is a negative definition; if it hasn't had chemicals, then +its Organic. Grain is one of the few foods that will still produce economic yields +of low quality seed on extremely infertile soil or when half-smothered in weeds because +herbicides weren't used for reasons of ideological purity. Vegetables will hardly +produce anything under those conditions; carelessly grown fruits and vegetables are +inevitably small, misshapen, unmarketable. But seed cleaning equipment can remove +the contamination of weed seeds in cereal grains (at a cost.)<BR> +    The price the farmer receives for Organic cereal grain is +much higher, so it is possible to accept rather low yields or expend more money for +cleaning out high levels of weed seeds from the field-run harvest, and still make +a good profit. A lousy Organic cereal crop like this might even make a higher profit +because the farmer has been spared the expense of fertilization, of rotation, of +weed control. I remember once I bought a sack of Organic whole oats that were the +smallest, most shriveled, bitterest oats I've ever tried to eat. We ended up throwing +out that tiny, light (lacking density) seed in favor of using the "conventional" +whole oats that were plump, heavy and sweet. <BR> +    Wheat is not the only cereal that is damaged by industrial +milling. So are oats. Most consumers have never seen whole oats; they look very much +like wheat berries. But rolled oats become rancid and stale on the shelf much like +wheat flour on the shelf.<BR> +    Another pitfall about using whole grains is that to be nutritious +they must still be fresh enough to sprout vigorously. A seed is a package of food +surrounding an embryo. The living embryo is waiting for the right conditions (temperature +and moisture) to begin sprouting. Sprouting means the embryo begins eating up stored +food and making a plant out of it. All foods are damaged by exposure to oxygen, so +to protect the embryo's food supply, the seed is surrounded by a virtually airtight +seed coat that permits only enough oxygen to enter for the embryo's respiration (yes, +seed breaths slowly). Often the embryo is located at the edge of the seed and has +its own air intake port. When the seed coat is removed or damaged, the innards are +exposed to air and begin deteriorating rapidly. In the case of oats, especially rapidly, +because oats are the only grass-based cereal that contains large quantities of oil--five +percent oil, more or less. That's why oats "stick to your ribs." Rolled +oats become stale and lose their flavor (and nutritional content) and perhaps become +rancid very rapidly. So we make porridge from whole oat groats that we coarsely grind +to grits (steel-cut oats) in an electric seed/spice mill just before cooking. <BR> +    It is not easy to cook oat grits. They take a lot longer +than rolled oats and if not done exactly to the recipe I'm about to give you, will +almost inevitably stick to the pot badly and may also froth over and mess the stove. +Here's how to cook them. Coarsely grind (like corn meal) your whole oats until you +have one cup of oat grits. Bring exactly four cups of water (no salt) to a very hard +boil at your highest heat. You may add a handful of raisins. Light or turn on a second, +small-sized burner on the stove and set it as low as possible. Into the fast boiling +water, slowly pour the ground oats, stirring continuously. Take about 30 seconds +to pour it all or you'll make clumps. Keep on the high heat until the water again +boils vigorously. Suddenly, the mixture will begin rising in the pot and will try +to pour all over the stove. This means it is all at boiling temperature again. Quickly +move the pot to the low burner; that instantly stops the frothing. Then cover. Let +the porridge cook for 30 minutes, stirring once or twice to prevent sticking. Then, +keeping it covered, turn off the heat. They can be eaten at this point but I think +it is better to let the oats finish soaking on the stove for at least two to four +hours. Then reheat in a double boiler, or warm in a microwave. <BR> +    We usually start a pot of oats at bedtime for the next morning. +See why people prefer the convenience of using rolled oats? But once you've eaten +oats made right, you'll never prefer the flavor of rolled oats again. And if the +human body has any natural method of assaying nutritional content, it is flavor. +<BR> +    Nutritionally, millet is almost the same story as oats. Millet +seed is protected by a very hard hull. Cooking unhulled millet is almost impossible. +After hours of boiling the small round seeds will still be hard and the hulls remain +entirely indigestible. Worse, the half-round hulls (they split eventually) stick +in your teeth. But prehulled millet, sitting in the sack for weeks and months, loses +a lot of nutrition and tastes very second-rate compared to freshly-hulled millet. +It is possible to buy unhulled millet, usually by special order from the health food +distributor--if you'll take a whole sack. Millet can be hulled at home in small batches. +Here's how we figured out how to do it. There probably are better ways.<BR> +    Using a cheap steel-burr flour mill, set the burrs just far +enough apart that the seed is ground to grits, but not flour. This pops the hulls +loose. An old mill with worn-out burrs works great for this job. Then you have to +get some hand seed cleaning screens just large enough to pass the grits but not pass +the hulls (most of them). Window screen or other hardware cloths won't work. Seed +cleaning screens come in increments of 1/128 inch; we use a 6/64" round screen. +Other batches of millet might work better with a screen one step larger or smaller. +It will take you a little ingenuity to find hand-held screens. They're used by seed +companies and farmers to clean small batches of seed for inspection and are usually +about one square foot in size with a quality wooden frame. Larger frames made of +the same screening material are used in big seed cleaning machines. (The hulls could +also be winnowed out by repeatedly pouring the grit/hulls mixture back and forth +between two buckets in a gentle breeze.)<BR> +    After you've screened out most of the hulls, the rest will +rinse out, floating off as you wash the grain prior to cooking. We never hull more +than enough millet for two or three meals and keep the uncooked (unwashed) millet +in the freezer in an airtight jar. It is interesting how people will accept poor +nutrition and its consequent sickness as the price of convenience. <BR> +    If you eat much buckwheat you should also figure out how +to hull (sometimes called groating) it yourself. Someone should write a thorough +book on the home milling of cereals. And perhaps sell the equipment by mail. Probably +would be a good little homestead business.<BR> +    Something else you need to keep in mind about seed. Even +though the embryo's food supply is protected by the seed coat, it still slowly deteriorates, +steadily oxidizing and losing nutritional value. Eventually old seed looses the ability +to sprout. The decline in germination ability matches a decline in nutritional quality. +Any seed you are going to use for eating should possess the ability to sprout, strongly +and rapidly. (After you've comparatively sprouted a few grain samples, you'll know +what I mean by this.) Fortunately, cereal grains usually sprout well for quite a +few years after harvest if they have been stored cool and dry. Eating dead or near-dead +seeds will help move you closer to the same condition yourself.<BR> +    Finally, one more warning about buying store bread. Salt-free +bread tastes "funny" to most people. It bakes fine, salt is not necessary +to the leavening process, but no bakery could stay in business without salting their +bread. The standard level of salt is two percent by weight. That is quite a lot! +Two percent equals one teaspoonful per pound. I'll have more to say about the evils +of salt later on.<BR> +    I imagine some of my readers are feeling a little overwhelmed +by all these warnings and "bewares ofs," and intricacies. They are used +to taking no responsibility for securing their own food supply quality and have come +to expect the "system" to protect them. I believe it is not because of +lack of government intervention, but because of government intervention itself, our +food system is very perverse. Until our mass consciousness changes, if you wish to +make yourself and your family truly healthy, you are going to have to take charge +and become quite a discriminating shopper. Unconscious consumers are on a rapid road +to the total unconsciousness of death.<BR> +    And again, let me remind you here that this one small book +cannot contain everything you should know. The bibliography at the end of should +become your guide to earning your post-graduate education in nutritional health.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Freshness Of Fruits And Vegetables</B> <BR> +    Most people do not realize the crucial importance of freshness +when it comes to produce. In the same way that seeds gradually die, fruits and vegetables +go through a similar process as their nutritional content gradually oxidizes or is +broken down by the vegetables own enzymes, but vegetables lose nutrition hundreds +of times more rapidly than cereals. Produce was recently part of a living plant. +It was connected to the vascular system of a plant and with few exceptions, is not +intended by nature to remain intact after being cut. A lettuce or a zucchini was +entirely alive at the moment of harvest, but from that point, its cells begin to +die. Even if it is not yet attacked by bacteria, molds and fungi, its own internal +enzymes have begun breaking down its own substances.<BR> +    Vegetables, especially leafy vegetables, are far more critical +in this respect than most ripe fruits. All, however, deteriorate much like radioactive +material; they have a sort of half-life. The mineral content is stable, but in respect +to the vitamins and enzymes and other complex organic components, each time period +or "half life" results in the loss of half the nutrition. Suppose a lettuce +has a half life of 48 hours, two days after harvest only 50 percent of the original +nutrition remains. After two more days, half the remaining half is gone and only +25 percent is left. After two more days half of that 25 percent is lost. Thus six +days after harvest and a lettuce contains only bout 12 percent of its original nutrition. +A two day half-life is only hypothetical. Those types of produce I classify as very +perishable probably do have a half-life of from 36 to 48 hours. Moderately perishable +produce has a half life of about 72 hours; durable types of produce have half lives +of 96 hours or longer.<BR> +<BR> + +<TABLE BORDER="1" WIDTH="100%" SUMMARY="Vegetable Storage Potential"> + <CAPTION><B>Vegetable Storage Potential</B></CAPTION> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="33%"><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Very Perishable</B></FONT></TD> + <TD WIDTH="33%"><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Moderately Perishable</B></FONT></TD> + <TD WIDTH="34%"><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Durable</B></FONT></TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="33%">lettuce</TD> + <TD WIDTH="33%">zucchini</TD> + <TD WIDTH="34%">apple</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="33%">spinach</TD> + <TD WIDTH="33%">eggplant</TD> + <TD WIDTH="34%">squash</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="33%">Chinese cabbage</TD> + <TD WIDTH="33%">sweet peppers</TD> + <TD WIDTH="34%">oranges</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="33%">kale</TD> + <TD WIDTH="33%">broccoli</TD> + <TD WIDTH="34%">cabbage</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="33%">endive</TD> + <TD WIDTH="33%">cauliflower</TD> + <TD WIDTH="34%">carrot</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="33%">peaches</TD> + <TD WIDTH="33%">apricots</TD> + <TD WIDTH="34%">lemons</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="33%">parsley</TD> + <TD WIDTH="33%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="34%">beets</TD> + </TR> +</TABLE> +<BR> +<BR> +    <BR> +    The half life of produce can be lengthened by lowering its +temperature. For that reason, sophisticated produce growers usually use hydrocooling. +This process dumps a just-cut vegetable into icy water within minutes of being harvested, +lowering core temperature to a few degrees above freezing almost immediately. When +cut vegetables are crated up at field temperatures, and stacks of those crates are +put in a cooler, it can take the inside of the stack 24 hours, or longer, to become +chilled. Home gardeners should also practice hydrocooling. Fill your sink with cold +water and wash/soak your harvest until it is thoroughly chilled before draining and +refrigerating it. Or, harvest your garden early in the morning when temperatures +are lowest.<BR> +    Still, when you buy produce in the store it may have been +sitting at room temperature for hours or possibly days. <BR> +    The bottom line here: fresh is equally as important as unsprayed +or organically grown!<BR> +<BR> +<B>The Real Truth About Salt And Sugar</B> <BR> +    First, let me remind certain food religionists: salt is salt +is salt is salt and sugar is sugar is sugar. There are no good forms of salt and +no good forms of sugar. Salt from a mine and salt from the sea both have the same +harmful effect; white sugar, natural brown sugar, honey, molasses, corn syrup, maple +syrup, whatever sweet have you. All are sugars and all have the similar harmful effects. +I know of no harmless salt substitute that really tastes salty. Nutrisweet is basically +harmless to most people and can be used as a very satisfactory replacement for sugars. +(A few people are unable to tolerate nutrisweet, causing the anti-chemicalists to +circulate much anti-nutrisweet propaganda, but you should carefully consider this +thought before dismissing nutrisweet--there is almost no food substance that some +people are not allergic to or unable to digest. The fact that nutrisweet is made +in a chemical vat and the fact that some cannot handle nutrisweet does not make it +"of the devil."<BR> +    And its not all black and white with the other items either. +Sea salt does have certain redeeming qualities not found in mined salt and under +certain very special conditions, eating small quantities of salt may be acceptable. +Similarly, some forms of sugar are not quite as harmful as other forms, though all +are harmful. <BR> +    The primary health problem caused by table salt is not that +it contributes to high blood pressure in people with poor kidneys, though it does +that. It is not that eating salt ruins the kidneys; salt probably does not do that. +The real problem with salt is that sodium chloride is an adrenal stimulant, triggering +the release of adrenal hormones, especially natural steroids that resist inflammation. +When these hormones are at high levels in the blood, the person often feels very +good, has a sense of well-being. Thus salt is a drug! And like many drugs of its +type, salt is a habituating drug. However, we are so used to whipping our adrenals +with salt that we don't notice it. What we do notice is that we think we like the +taste of salted food and consider that food tastes flat without it. But take away +a person's salt shaker and they become very uncomfortable. That's because the addict +isn't getting their regular dose. <BR> +    What's wrong with repetitive adrenal whipping is that adrenal +fortitude is variable; many people's adrenals eventually fail to respond to the prod +of salt and the body begins to suffer from a lack of adrenal hormones. Often those +inheriting weak adrenals manifest semi-failure in childhood. The consequence is that +ordinary, irritating substances begin causing severe irritation. The person becomes +allergic to pollen, dust, foods, animal danders, etc. We see asthma, hay fever, sinusitis, +etc. Though one can then discover specific allergens and try to remove them from +the environment or diet, often this case can be solved far more easily by complete +withdrawal from all salt. This rests the adrenals and they may recover their full +function; almost certainly their function will improve. The asthma, allergies and +etc., gradually vanish.<BR> +    Most of us don't need to eat salt as a nutrient. There's +enough sodium in one dill pickle to run a human body for a year. There's enough natural +sodium in many types of vegetables to supply normal needs without using table salt. +Perhaps athletes or other hard working people in the tropics eating deficient food +grown on leached-out depleted soils, people that sweat buckets day after day may +need a little extra sodium. Perhaps. Not having practiced in the humid tropics myself, +I have no definitive answer about this. <BR> +    Unfortunately, the average American is entirely addicted +to salt and thinks food tastes lousy without it. To please the average consumer, +almost all prepared foods contain far too much salt for someone suffering from exhausted +adrenals. Interestingly, Canadians do not like their foods nearly as salty as Americans, +and prepared foods like soups and the like in cans and packages that look just like +the ones in American supermarkets (though with French on the back panel) have to +be reformulated for our northern neighbors. I've observed that Canadians are generally +healthier than Americans in many respects.<BR> +    We would all be far better off consuming no salt at all. +Those with allergies or asthma should completely eliminate it for a month or two +and discover if that simple step doesn't pretty much cure them. The trouble is that +bakery bread is routinely two percent salt by weight. Cheese is equally salted or +even more so. Canned and frozen prepared food products are all heavily salted. Restaurant +meals are always highly salted in the kitchen. If you want to avoid salt you almost +have to prepare everything yourself, bake your own bread, abstain from cheese (though +there are unsalted cheeses but even I don't like the flavor of these), and abstain +from restaurants. My family has managed to eliminate all salt from our own kitchen +except for that in cheese, and we eat cheese rather moderately.<BR> +    Sugar is a high-caloric non-food with enormous liabilities. +First, from the viewpoint of the universal formula for health, no form of non-artificial +sweetener carries enough nutrients with it to justify the number of calories it contains, +not even malt extract. White refined sugar contains absolutely no nutrients at all; +the "good" or "natural" sweets also carry so little nutrition +as to be next to useless. Sweets are so far over on the bad end of the Health = Nutrition +/ Calories scale that for this reason alone they should be avoided. <BR> +    However, healthy people can usually afford a small amount +of sin; why not make it sweets? In small quantity, sugars are probably the easiest +indiscretion to digest and the least damaging to the organ systems. Although, speaking +of sin, as Edgar Guest, the peoples' poet, once so wisely quipped, (and my husband +agrees) "Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker." Sugar is a powerful drug! +People who abuse sweets set up a cycle of addiction that can be very hard to break. +It starts when the body tries to regulate blood sugar. Kicked up to high levels by +eating sugar, the pancreas releases insulin. But that is not the end of the chain +reaction. Insulin regulates blood sugar levels but also raises brain levels of an +amino acid called tryptophan. Tryptophan is the raw material the brain uses to manufacture +a neurotransmitter called serotonin. And serotonin plays a huge role in regulating +mood. Higher brain levels of serotonin create a feeling of well-being. Eating sugar +gives a person a chemical jolt of happiness. Heavy hits of high-glycemic index starch +foods are also rapidly converted to sugar. So don't give your kids sweets! Or huge +servings of starch to mellow them out. It is wise not to start out life a happiness +addict with a severe weight problem.<BR> +    Now that the chemistry of sugar addiction is understood, +there currently is a movement afoot to cast the obese as helpless victims of serotonin +imbalances and to "treat" them with the same kinds of serotonin-increasing +happy drugs (like Prozac) that are becoming so popular with the psychiatric set. +This promises to be a multiple billion dollar business that will capture all the +money currently flowing into other dieting systems and bring it right back to the +AMA/drug company/FDA nexus. The pitch is that when serotonin levels are upped, the +desire to eat drops and so is weight. This approach is popular with the obese because +it requires no personal responsibility other than taking a pill that really does +make them feel happy. However, the same benefit can be had by strict adherence to +a low-fat, low-carbohydrate diet. Eventually, the brain chemistry rebalances itself +and serotonin levels stabilize.<BR> +<BR> + +<TABLE BORDER="1" WIDTH="100%" SUMMARY="Glycemic Index"> + <CAPTION><B>Glycemic Index</B><BR> + <FONT SIZE="1">(compared to glucose, which is 100)</FONT></CAPTION> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="35%"><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Grains</B></FONT></TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%"><FONT SIZE="2"><B> </B></FONT></TD> + <TD WIDTH="21%"><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Fruits</B></FONT></TD> + <TD WIDTH="9%"><FONT SIZE="2"><B> </B></FONT></TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%"><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Vegetables</B></FONT></TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%"> </TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="35%">all bran</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">51</TD> + <TD WIDTH="21%">apples</TD> + <TD WIDTH="9%">39</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">baked beans</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">40</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="35%">brown rice</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">66</TD> + <TD WIDTH="21%">bananas</TD> + <TD WIDTH="9%">62</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">beets</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">64</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="35%">buckwheat</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">54</TD> + <TD WIDTH="21%">cherries</TD> + <TD WIDTH="9%">23</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">black-eyed peas</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">33</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="35%">cornflakes</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">80</TD> + <TD WIDTH="21%">grapefruit</TD> + <TD WIDTH="9%">26</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">carrots</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">92</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="35%">oatmeal</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">49</TD> + <TD WIDTH="21%">grapes</TD> + <TD WIDTH="9%">45</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">chic peas</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">36</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="35%">shred. wheat</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">67</TD> + <TD WIDTH="21%">orange juice</TD> + <TD WIDTH="9%">46</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">parsnips</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">97</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="35%">muesli</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">66</TD> + <TD WIDTH="21%">peach</TD> + <TD WIDTH="9%">29</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">potato chips</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">51</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="35%">white rice</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">72</TD> + <TD WIDTH="21%">orange</TD> + <TD WIDTH="9%">40</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">baked potato</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">98</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="35%">white spagetti</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">50</TD> + <TD WIDTH="21%">pear</TD> + <TD WIDTH="9%">34</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">sweet potato</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">48</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="35%">whole wheat spagetti</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">42</TD> + <TD WIDTH="21%">plum</TD> + <TD WIDTH="9%">25</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">yams</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">51</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="35%">sweet corn</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">59</TD> + <TD WIDTH="21%">raisins</TD> + <TD WIDTH="9%">64</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">peas</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">51</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="35%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="21%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="9%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%"> </TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="35%"><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Nuts</B></FONT></TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%"><FONT SIZE="2"> </FONT></TD> + <TD WIDTH="21%"><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Baked Goods</B></FONT></TD> + <TD WIDTH="9%"><FONT SIZE="2"><B> </B></FONT></TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%"><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Sugars</B></FONT></TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%"> </TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="35%">peanuts</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">13</TD> + <TD WIDTH="21%">pastry</TD> + <TD WIDTH="9%">59</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">fructose</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">20</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="35%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="21%">sponge cake</TD> + <TD WIDTH="9%">46</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">glucose</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">100</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="35%"><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Meats</B></FONT></TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="21%">white bread</TD> + <TD WIDTH="9%">69</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">honey</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">87</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="35%">sausage</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">28</TD> + <TD WIDTH="21%">w/w bread</TD> + <TD WIDTH="9%">72</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">maltose</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">110</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="35%">fish sticks</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">38</TD> + <TD WIDTH="21%">whole rye bread</TD> + <TD WIDTH="9%">42</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">sucrose</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">59</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="35%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="21%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="9%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%"> </TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="35%"><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Dairy Products</B></FONT></TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="21%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="9%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%"> </TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="35%">yogurt</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">36</TD> + <TD WIDTH="21%">whole milk</TD> + <TD WIDTH="9%">34</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">skim milk</TD> + <TD WIDTH="5%">32</TD> + </TR> +</TABLE> +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +    Remember, the pancreas has another major service to perform +for the body: secreting digestive enzymes to aid in the digestion of proteins. When +the diet contains either too much protein or too much sugar and/or high-glycemic +index starch foods, the overworked pancreas begins to be less and less efficient +at maintaining both of these functions. <BR> +    Sometimes a stressed-out pancreas gets overactive and does +too good a job lowering the blood sugar, producing hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia is +generally accompanied by unpleasant symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, blurred +vision, irritability, confusion, headache, etc. This condition is typically alleviated +by yet another hit of sugar which builds an addiction not only to sugar, but to food +in general. If the hypoglycemic then keeps on eating sugar to relieve the symptoms +of sugar ingestion, eventually the pancreas becomes exhausted, producing an insulin +deficiency, called diabetes. Medical doctors treat diabetes with insulin supplements +either oral or intramuscular plus a careful diet with very low and measured amounts +of sugar and starch for the remainder of the persons inevitably shortened and far +less pleasant life. However, sometimes diabetes can be controlled with diet alone, +though medical doctors have not had nearly as much success with this approach as +talented naturopaths. Sometimes, long fasting can regenerate a pancreas. It is far +better to avoid creating this disease!<BR> +    The dietary management of hypoglycemia requires that not +only refined but also unrefined sugars and starches with a high glycemic index be +removed from the diet. (The glycemic index measures the ease with which the starch +is converted into glucose in the body, and estimates the amount of insulin needed +to balance it out.) This means no sugar, no honey, no white flour, no whole grains +sweetened with honey, no sweet fruits such as watermelons, bananas, raisins, dates +or figs. Potatoes are too readily converted into sugar. Jerusalem artichokes are +a good substitute. <BR> +    People with hypoglycemia can often control their symptoms +with frequent small meals containing vegetable protein every two hours. When a non-sweet +fruit is eaten such as an apple, it should be eaten with some almonds or other nut +or seed that slows the absorption of fruit sugar. Hypoglycemics can improve their +condition with vitamins and food supplements. See the next chapter.<BR> +    Allergies to foods and environmental irritants are frequently +triggered by low blood sugar. Mental conditions are also triggered by low blood sugar +levels, frequently contributing to or causing a cycle of acting out behavior accompanied +by destruction of property and interpersonal violence, as well as psychosis and bouts +of depression. It is not possible to easily deal with the resulting behavior problems +unless the hypoglycemia is controlled. Unfortunately most institutions such as mental +hospitals and jails serve large amounts of sugar and starch and usually caffeinated +beverages, with a high availability of soda pop, candy, and cigarettes at concessions. +If the diet were drastically improved, the drugs given to control behavior in mental +hospitals would be much more effective at a lower dose, or unnecessary.<BR> +    The insulin-cycle overworked pancreas may eventually not +be able to secrete enough enzymes to allow for the efficient digestion of foods high +in protein. As stated earlier, poor protein digestion leads to a highly toxic condition +from putrefied protein in the intestines. This condition is alleviated by eliminating +animal proteins from the diet and taking digestive aids such as pancreatin pills +with meals to assist in the digestion of vegetable proteins.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Food Combining And "Healthfood Junkfood."</B> <BR> +    This brings us to a topic I call healthfood junkfood. Many +people improve their diet, eliminating meat and chemicalized food in favor of whole +grains and organically grown foods, but they then proceed to make these otherwise +good foods into virtual junkfood by preparing them incorrectly. In my travels, I've +noticed this same thing happens everywhere on Earth. What should be health-producing +dietaries are ruined by frying, salting and sugaring. <BR> +    Healthfood junkfoods include organically grown potato chips +deep fried in cold pressed organic unsaturated canola oil (made rancid by frying) +sprinkled with natural sea salt; organically grown oat and nut granola roasted with +cold-pressed unsaturated oil (made rancid by roasting) hideously sweetened with honey; +carrot cake made with rancid whole wheat flour, cold pressed unsaturated oil (made +rancid by baking), honey, and cream cheese (salted); whole wheat cookies (stale, +rancid flour) sweetened with honey, made with vegetable oil baked at high heat (rancid); +whole wheat pizza vegetarian style with lots of soy cheese; whole wheat pizza vegan +style with lots of real raw milk cheese; organically grown corn chips deep fried +in cold pressed vegetable oil with or without natural sea salt, yogurts made from +powdered milk without an active culture of beneficial bacteria and covered with highly +sugared fruits, etc. These foods may well represent an improvement over the average +American diet, but they still are not healthy foods, and should never be used in +a diet for a sick person. Nor are they worthy of a person attempting to maximize +health. <BR> +    The problem with healthfood junkfoods is not their major +ingredients, but how they were combined and processed and adulterated. Remember, +fats, animal or vegetable, subjected to high heat become indigestible and toxic and +make anything they're cooked with indigestible; salt is a toxic drug; cheese, hard +enough to digest as it is, when raised to high temperatures as it is when making +pizza, becomes virtually indigestible and cheese inevitably contains a lot of butterfat +which, though saturated animal fat, when raised to high temperatures, still becomes +slightly rancid. And all these foods represent indigestible combinations.<BR> +    My clients almost never believe me when I first explain the +idea of food combining. They think if it goes in one end, comes out the other, and +they don't feel any unpleasant symptoms in between, then it was digested. But bad +food combinations have a cumulative degenerative effect over a long period of time. +When the symptoms arrive the victim never associates the food combination with the +symptom because it seems to them that they've always been eating the food.<BR> +    Mainstream nutritionists have brainwashed the public into +thinking that we should have a representative serving from each of the "four +basic food groups" at each and every meal, plus a beverage and a desert. Or, +as my husband Steve is fond of quipping, a "balanced meal" has four colors +on every plate: something red, something green, something white and something yellow. +But the balanced meal is a gastronomic catastrophe that can only be processed by +the very young with high digestive vitality, the exceptionally vital of any age, +people with cast iron stomachs which usually refers to their good heredity, and those +who are very physically active. <BR> +    Few seem to realize that each type of food requires specific +and different digestive enzymes in the mouth, stomach, and intestine. Carbohydrates, +fats, proteins--each requires differing acid or alkaline environments in order to +be digested. Proteins require an acid environment. Starch digestion requires an alkaline +environment. When foods in complex combinations are presented to the stomach all +together, like a meal with meat, potatoes, gravy, vegetables, bread, butter, a glass +of milk, plus a starchy sweet desert, followed by coffee or tea, the stomach, pancreas, +liver and small intestine are overwhelmed, resulting in the fermentation of the sugars +and starches, and the putrefaction of the proteins, and poor digestion of the whole. +It is little wonder that most people feel so tired after a large meal and need several +cups of strong coffee to be able to even get up from the table. They have just presented +their digestive tract with an immensely difficult and for some an impossible task. +<BR> +    For the most efficient digestion, the body should be presented +with one simple food at a time, the one bowl concept, easily achieved by adherence +to the old saying, "one food at a meal is the ideal." An example of this +approach would be eating fruits for breakfast, a plain cereal grain for lunch, and +vegetables for supper. If you can't eat quite that simply, then proper food combining +rules should be followed to minimize digestive difficulty, maximize the adsorption +of nutrients from your food, and reduce or eliminate the formation of toxemia, and +of course foul gas. <BR> +    In general, fruit should be eaten alone unless you happen +to be hypoglycemic or diabetic in which case fruit should be eaten with small quantities +of a vegetable protein such as nuts, or yogurt and/or cheese if able to digest dairy. +Starches should be eaten with vegetables, which means that a well combined meal would +include a grain such as rice, millet, buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa, corn, wheat, rye, +oats, spelt, potatoes, or starchy winter squash combined with raw or cooked vegetables. +Protein foods such as meat, eggs, beans, lentils, tofu, split peas, should be combined +with vegetables, raw or cooked. But protein should never be combined with starches. +The most popular North American snacks and meals always have a starch/protein combination, +for example: meat and potatoes, hamburger in a bun, hot dog with bun, burrito with +meat or cheese, meat sandwiches, etc. It is little wonder that intestinal gas is +accepted as normal, and that over time these hard to digest combinations eventually +cause health problems that demand attention.<BR> +    Another sure fire way to ruin any food, including the very +best available is to eat in the presence of negative emotions generated by yourself +or others. Negative emotions include fear, anger, frustration, envy, resentment, +etc. The digestive tract is immediately responsive to stress and or negative thoughts. +It becomes paralyzed in negative emotional states; any foods eaten are poorly digested, +causing toxemia. <BR> +    It is natural for a person who has lost a loved one or suffered +a great loss of any kind to lose their appetite for a period of time. This reaction +is pro-survival, because while grieving, the body is griped by powerful negative +emotions. There are people who, under stress or when experiencing a loss, eat ravenously +in an attempt to comfort themselves. If this goes on for long the person can expect +to create a serious illness of some kind. <BR> +    Individual sensitivity to this type of overeating is dependent +upon genetics and personality and who is generating the negative emotions. Self generated +negative emotions are very difficult to avoid. If you are unable to change your own +emotional tone or that of others around you, then it is important to eat very lightly, +eat only easily digested foods such as raw fruits and vegetables, raw juices, steamed +vegetables, and small servings of whole grains, nuts and seeds.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Diets To Heal The Critically Ill </B><BR> +    A critically ill person is someone who could expire at any +moment; therapeutic interventions are racing against death. Can the body repair itself +enough before some essential function ceases altogether? If there already exists +too much damage to vital organs the person will die. If there remains sufficient +organ function to support life, enough vital force to power those functions, and +a will to live, the body may heal itself if helped by the correct therapeutic approach. +But the therapy does not do the healing; the body does that by itself--if it can. +This reality is also true of allopathic medicine.<BR> +    I believe fasting is the therapy that almost invariably gives +a critically ill person their very best chance of recovery. If a patient dies while +fasting they almost certainly would have died anyway, and if death comes while fasting, +it will be more comfortable, with less pain, and with more mental clarity.<BR> +    Critically ill people may have, among other things, any of +the following diagnoses: advanced cancer, advanced aids, heart failure, very high +blood pressure, kidney failure, advanced liver disease, advanced emphysema, pneumonia +or other catastrophic infections, especially those that seem unresponsive to antibiotics, +strokes, emboli, sclerotic vessels as found in arteriosclerosis, severe nerve degeneration +interfering with nerve transmission to vital organs.<BR> +    Treating the critically ill does not have to be an all or +nothing, ideological choice between holistic medicine and AMA style medicine. It +is important for the critically ill and their families to know that if they use standard +medical treatment such as drugs or surgery, these measures can and should be combined +with natural healing methods. It is always desirable to quit all addicting substances, +start a whole foods diet, (as light as possible), and add meganutrition (supplements) +to the medical doctor's treatments. Few medical doctors are so arrogantly partisan +as to assert that natural measures will do any harm as long as the MD is still allowed +to prescribe as they please.<BR> +    Holistic support will not only lessen the side effects of +the medical treatments but will speed up healing and often reduce the required dose +of prescribed drugs. I have had several clients with cancer who chose to have surgery, +radiation and chemotherapy, but stayed on a raw food diet and took high doses of +supplements throughout the treatment. These people amazed the attending physician +by feeling good with little if any fatigue, no hair loss, or flu symptoms. The same +can be true of other conditions.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Food In The Order Of Digestive Difficulty</B> <BR> +    Individual digestive weaknesses and allergies are not taken +into account in this list. + +<UL> + <LI><B>Hard To Digest:</B> Meat, fish, chicken, eggs (if cooked), all legumes including + soy products, peanuts and peanut butter, beans, split peas, lentils, chick peas, + dairy products such as cheese, milk, butter milk, nuts and seeds and their butters. + <BR> + <BR> + + <LI><B>Intermediate:</B> all grains--quinoa, amaranth, millet, spelt, rye, wheat, + oats, barley. <BR> + <BR> + + <LI><B>Fairly Easy:</B> Brussels sprouts, green beans, green peas, broccoli, cauliflower, + raw cultured milk products, asparagus, cabbage, sprouts especially bean sprouts, + kale, other leafy greens. <BR> + <BR> + + <LI><B>Very Easy:</B> fruits, vegetable juices, fruit juices, broth (clear). <BR> + <BR> + + <LI><B>No Effort:</B> herb tea, water. +</UL> + +<P>    Ethyl always comes to my mind when I think of how much +healing power can still be left in a dying body. She (accompanied by her husband +for support) came to Great Oaks School with terminal cancer, heart failure, advanced +diabetes, extreme weakness, and complete inability to digest. Any food ingested just +came back up immediately. Ethyl had large tumors taking over the breast, sticking +out from her skull, and protruding from her body in general. The largest was the +one in the left breast which was the size of a big man's fist. <BR> +    She did have one crucial thing going for her, Ethyl was a +feisty Irish red head who still had a will to live, and a reason to do so. She and +her husband, who had just retired, had dreamed their whole life of touring the US +and Canada in their own RV the minute he retired. The time had finally arrived but +Ethyl was too ill to support her own weight (only 90 pounds) and to top it off was +blind from diabetic retinopathy. The doctors had done everything they could to her, +and now judged her too weak to withstand any more surgery (she had already had her +right breast removed). Radiation or chemotherapy were also considered impossible +due to heart failure. They sent Ethyl home to die, giving her a few days to a month +at most. <BR> +    Any sensible hygienist trying to stay out of jail would have +refused to take on this type of case because it was a cancer case where death was +likely. Treatment of this highly lucrative disease is considered the AMA's exclusive +franchise, even when the medical doctors have given up after having done everything +to a body the family can pay for or owe for. Whenever a person dies under the care +of any person who is not a licensed M.D. there must be an autopsy and a criminal +investigation in search of negligence. If the person dies under the care of an M.D. +the sheriff's assumption is that the doctor most assuredly did everything he could +and should have done and death was inevitable. By accepting Ethyl I had a reasonable +likelihood of ending up in trouble; but being foolish, brave and (stupidly) feeling +relatively immune to such consequences (I was under 40 at the time), it seemed important +to try to help her. So, undaunted by the task, regardless of the outcome, I proceeded +logically, one step at a time. Today, with more experience and a modest net worth +I wouldn't want to have to defend in a lawsuit, and at age 55. possessing no spare +five to ten years to give to the State to "pay" for my bravery, I would +probably refuse such a case. Fortunately I have not been confronted with this problem +lately.<BR> +    Since Ethyl was unable to digest anything given by mouth, +she was fed rectally with wheat grass juice implants three times a day. She was carried +to the colonic table for a daily colonic. Wheat grass and clay poultices were applied +to her tumors three times a day. She received an acupressure massage and reflexology +treatments during the day, plus a lot of tender loving care. This program continued +for a month during which the tumors were being reabsorbed by the body, including +the large, extremely hard tumor sticking out the flesh of the right breast. <BR> +    Ethyl complained of severe pain as the large tumor in her +breast shrank. While it had been getting larger and pressing ever harder on all the +nerves, she had little or no sensation, but as it shrank, the nerves were reactivated. +Most people think that a growing tumor would cause more pain than a shrinking one. +Often the opposite is true. Pain can be a good sign that the body is winning, an +indicator to proceed. <BR> +    By the second month, Ethyl, gradually gaining strength, was +able to take wheat grass and carrot juice orally, and gradually eased into raw foods, +mostly sprouts and leafy greens such as sunflower and buckwheat greens grown in trays. +She started to walk with assistance up and down the halls, no longer experiencing +the intense pain formerly caused by a failing heart, and most surprising of all, +her eyesight returned, at first seeing only outlines, and then details. <BR> +    The third month Ethyl enlarged her food intake to include +raw foods as well as the carrot and wheat grass juice and sprouts, plus vitamin and +mineral supplements to help support her immune system and the healing process. All +the tumors had been reabsorbed by her body and were no longer visible, her heart +was able to support normal activity such as walking, and nonstrenuous household chores, +and her diabetes had corrected itself to the point that she no longer required insulin +and was able to control her blood sugar with diet. <BR> +    Her husband was then instructed in her maintenance and they +went home to continue the program. The last I heard from them they had made two lengthy +trips around the US in their RV and were enjoying their retirement together after +all. <BR> +    My treatment worked because the most important factor in +the healing of the critically ill person is not give them more nourishment than their +body is able to process. The moment the digestive capacity of the sick person is +exceeded, the condition will be exacerbated and in a critically illness, the person +is likely to die. If the body still has sufficient organ integrity and vital force +to heal itself, it will do so only if given the least possible nourishment that will +support life--provided no essential organs are hopelessly damaged. If the liver and +kidneys are functional, and the person has done some previous dietary improvement +and/or cleansing, success is likely, especially if the person wants to live. <BR> +    A person in critical condition does not have time to ease +into fasting by first spending a month or two on a raw foods diet. This means that +the person who is taking care of the critically ill person must be experienced enough +to adjust the intensity of the body's healing efforts and accurately assess the ability +of the person to process toxic waste products clamoring for removal so the ailing +body is not drowned in it's own poisons. It is often necessary to use clear vegetable +broth, vegetable and wheat grass juices, and fruits juices, or whole sprouts to slow +down the cleansing gradient and sometimes, to resupply the tissue's exhausted nutritional +reserves.<BR> +    I wish all cases of critical illness had such a positive +outcome as Ethyl's, but unfortunately they don't. I had Marge on the same program +at the same time. She also had cancerous tumors all over her body and had similarly +been sent home to die. In some ways Marge's body was a more likely candidate for +survival than Ethyl's. Marge did not have heart failure or diabetes and was still +able on arrival to at least take small amount of water orally and walk to the bathroom. +Put on a similar program, her tumors also shrunk and were reabsorbed and she too +went home. <BR> +    But Marge did not really have a strong reason to live. Although +her husband was by her side throughout the treatment program, Marge was deeply upset +because she was estranged from one of her sons who she had not seen for over 10 years. +When she went home from Great Oaks, the son finally consented to see his mother, +went to the effort of trying to work things out with her, and finally confessed that +under it all he still loved her. <BR> +    At that point Marge died in peace. She had accomplished the +last thing she wanted to take care of and her will to live did not extend beyond +that point. Had she died several months earlier as predicted by the medical profession, +Marge would have been unable to resolve this relationship. This was what Marge's +life was pivoting on at the end. I was glad to assist her in doing what she needed +to do. Her husband and other family members found it difficult to understand, and +they were hurt that Marge did not wish to continue her life with them.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Diet For The Chronically Ill.</B> <BR> +    The chronically ill person has a long-term degenerative condition +that is not immediately life threatening. This condition usually causes more-or-less +continuous symptoms that are painful, perhaps unsightly, and ultimately will be disabling +or eventually capable of causing death. To qualify as "chronic" the symptoms +must have been present a minimum of six months, with no relief in sight. People with +these conditions have usually sought medical assistance, frequently have had surgery, +and have taken and probably are taking numerous prescription drugs.<BR> +    Some examples of chronic conditions are: arthritis, rheumatism, +diabetes, early onset of cancer and aids, asthma, colitis, diverticulitis, irritable +bowel syndrome, some mental disorders, arterial deposit diseases, most of the itises +(inflammations).<BR> +    Before fasting, the chronically ill often do have time to +prepare the way with limited dietary reform, and frequently begin to feel relief +quite quickly. Before actually fasting they should limit their diet to raw foods +and eliminate all toxic foods like alcohol, coffee, tea, salt, sugar and recreational +drugs for two months if they have been following a typical American diet. <BR> +    If the chronically ill had been following a vegetarian diet, +perhaps a diet including with eggs and dairy, if they had been using no addicting +substances, then one month on raw foods is sufficient preparation for fasting. If +the person had water or juice fasted for at least a week or two within the last two +years, and followed a healthy diet since that time, one or two weeks on raw foods +should be a sufficient runway.<BR> +    During preparation for a fast, I never recommend that a chronically +ill person quit taking prescription medicines because doing so can seriously disrupt +their homeostasis. However, if their symptoms lessen or vanish during the pre-fasting +clean up, the person might try tapering off medications.<BR> +    The length and type of fast chosen to resolve a chronic illness +depends largely on available time, finances, availability of support people, work +responsibilities, and mental toughness. If you are one of those fortunate people +'rich' enough to give their health first priority, long water fasting is ideal. If +on the other hand you can't afford to stop working, have no one to take care of you +and assist with some household chores, and/or you are not mentally tough enough to +deal with self-denial, compromise is necessary. <BR> +    Ideally the chronically ill person would fast for an extended +period under supervision until their symptoms were gone or greatly improved, with +a fall-back plan to repeat the whole process again in three to six months if necessary. +If you are not able to do that, the next best program is to fast for a short period, +like one or two weeks, with a plan to repeat the process as often as possible until +you are healed.<BR> +    I have had clients with potentially life-threatening conditions +such as obesity with incipient heart failure, or who came to me with cancer, that +were unable to stop work for financial reasons, or who could not afford a residential +fasting program, or who felt confident in their own ability to deal with detoxification +in their own home. These people have fasted successfully at home, coming to see me +once a week. Almost inevitably, successful at-home fasters had already done a lot +of research on self healing, believed in it, and had the personal discipline to carry +it out properly, including breaking the fast properly without overeating.<BR> +<BR> + +<TABLE BORDER="1" WIDTH="100%" SUMMARY="Foods To Heal Chronic Illness"> + <CAPTION><B>Foods To Heal Chronic Illness</B></CAPTION> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="16%"><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Sprouts</B></FONT></TD> + <TD WIDTH="23%"><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Baby Greens</B></FONT></TD> + <TD WIDTH="22%"><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Salad</B></FONT></TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%"><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Juices</B></FONT></TD> + <TD WIDTH="14%"><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Fruit</B></FONT></TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="16%">alfalfa</TD> + <TD WIDTH="23%">sunflower</TD> + <TD WIDTH="22%">lettuce</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">beet</TD> + <TD WIDTH="14%">grapefruit</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="16%">radish</TD> + <TD WIDTH="23%">buckwheat</TD> + <TD WIDTH="22%">celery</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">celery</TD> + <TD WIDTH="14%">lemon</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="16%">bean</TD> + <TD WIDTH="23%">zucchini</TD> + <TD WIDTH="22%">zucchini</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">lime</TD> + <TD WIDTH="14%">lime</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="16%">clover</TD> + <TD WIDTH="23%">kale</TD> + <TD WIDTH="22%">kale</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">orange</TD> + <TD WIDTH="14%">orange</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="16%">fenugreek</TD> + <TD WIDTH="23%">endive</TD> + <TD WIDTH="22%">radish</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">parsley</TD> + <TD WIDTH="14%">apple</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="16%">wheat</TD> + <TD WIDTH="23%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="22%">tomato</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">tomato</TD> + <TD WIDTH="14%">raspberries</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="16%">cabbage</TD> + <TD WIDTH="23%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="22%">cabbage</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">cabbage</TD> + <TD WIDTH="14%">blueberries</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="16%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="23%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="22%">carrot</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">carrot</TD> + <TD WIDTH="14%">grapes</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="16%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="23%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="22%">spinach</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">apple</TD> + <TD WIDTH="14%">peaches</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="16%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="23%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="22%">parsley</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">grapefruit</TD> + <TD WIDTH="14%">apricots</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="16%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="23%"> </TD> + <TD WIDTH="22%">sweet pepper</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">lemon</TD> + <TD WIDTH="14%">strawberry</TD> + </TR> +</TABLE> +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +    Fruits should be watery and lower in sugar. Some examples +of poor fruit choices would be pineapple, ripe mango, bananas, dates, raisins, figs. +Fruits should not be combined with vegetables.<BR> +    Vegetables should not be starchy, packed-full of energy. +Poor vegetable choices would be potato, parsnip, turnip, corn, sweet potato, yam, +beet, winter squash. Sprouts and baby greens are vegetables and may be included in +salads.<BR> +    Juices should not be extremely sweet. Apple, orange, beet +and carrot juice should be diluted with 50% water. Fruit juices should not be mixed +with vegetable juices or with vegetables at the same meal.<BR> +    Salads should include no fruit. Salad dressings should be +lemon or lime juice, very small quantities of olive oil, and herbs. No salt, soy +sauce nor black pepper. Cayenne can be okay for some. <BR> +    I have also helped chronically ill people that were not mentally +prepared to water fast, but were able to face the long-term self-control and deprivation +of a raw food cleansing diet that included careful food combining. These people also +regained their health, but it took them a year at minimum, and once well they had +to remain on a diet tailor-made to their digestive capacity for the rest of their +life, usually along with food supplements.<BR> +    Jim was such a case. He was 55 years old, very obese, had +dangerously high blood pressure poorly controlled with medication, and was going +into congestive heart failure. He was on digitalis and several other heart medications +plus diuretics, but in no way was his condition under control. He had severe edema +in the feet and legs with pitting, and fluid retention in the abdominal region caused +a huge paunch that was solid to the touch not soft and squishy like fatty tissue.<BR> +    Jim had dreamed of having his own homestead with an Organic +garden, now he had these things but was too sick to enjoy them or work in his garden +without severe heart pain and shortness of breath. Jim had retired early in order +to enjoy many years without the stresses of work, and he was alarmed to realize that +he was unlikely to survive a year. <BR> +    The day Jim came to see me the first time I would have classified +his condition as critically ill because his life was in immediate danger; but he +responded so quickly to his detox program that he was very soon out of danger and +would be more accurately described as a chronically ill person. Jim was not prepared +to water fast. He was attached to having his food and he was aware that at his extreme +weight he was going to have stay on a dietary program for a long, long time. He also +wanted to choose a gradient that he could manage by himself at home with little assistance +from his wife. He had been on a typical American diet with meat, coffee, etc., so +that in spite of his dangerous condition it did not seem wise to me to add the heavy +eliminatory burden of a water fast to a body that was already overwhelmed with fluids +and waste products. <BR> +    Jim immediately went on a raw food cleansing diet, with no +concentrated foods like nuts, seeds, or avocados, and with one day each week fasting +on vegetable juice and broth. He did enemas daily even though it wasn't his favorite +thing. In one month he had lost 30 pounds, his eyes had started to sparkle, and his +complexion was rosy. The swelling had disappeared from his feet and legs, and he +had to buy new pants. <BR> +    Starting the second month he gradually withdrew from prescription +medications. From the beginning I had put Jim on a program of nutritional supplements +including protomorphogens (see chapter on vitamins and food supplements) to help +the body repair it's heart and the kidneys. In only four months he had returned his +body to glowing health, and looked great for his age, though he was still overweight. +At the end of one year he had returned to a normal weight for his height, and only +cheated on the diet a couple of times when attending a social event, and then it +was only a baked potato with no dressing. <BR> +    He was probably going to have many qualitative years working +his garden and living out his dreams. The local intensive care ward lost a lot of +money when they failed to get Jim.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Diet For The Acutely Ill</B><BR> +    The acutely ill person experiences occasional attacks of +distressing symptoms, usually after indiscretions in living or emotional upsets. +They have a cold, or a flu, or sinusitis, or a first bout of pneumonia, or a spring +allergy attack. The intense symptoms knock them flat and force them to bed for a +few days or a week. If they are sick more often than that, they are moving toward +the chronically ill category. <BR> +    People who are acutely ill should stop eating to whatever +extent that they are able until the symptoms are gone. During an acute illness, the +appetites is probably pretty dull anyway, so why not give a brief fast on water or +fruit juice a try. <BR> +    Most acute conditions are short in duration, usually not +lasting more than a week. Allergy attacks, some types of flu, and a first bout of +pneumonia may well last for three weeks or a month. The general rule is to eat as +little as possible until the symptoms have passed, self-administer colon cleansing, +even if you have a horror of such things, and take vitamin supplements, including +megadoses of Vitamin C, bioflavinoids, and zinc. (See the chapter on vitamins.) Those +having a little experience with natural medicine make teas of echinacea, fenugreek +seeds and red clover and quit eating. Eating as little as possible can mean only +water and herb teas, only vegetable broth, only vegetable juice or non-sweet fruit +juice, even only cleansing raw foods. If you eat more than this you have not relieved +your system of enough digestive effort. <BR> +    After your symptoms are gone it is very important to change +your life-style and improve your diet so that you aren't so toxic and don't have +to experience an acute illness several times a year when your body is forced to try +an energetic detox. <BR> +<BR> +<B>Diet For A Healthy Person</B><BR> +    I doubt that it is possible to be totally healthy in the +twentieth century. Doctors Alsleben and Shute in their book How to Survive the New +Health Catastrophes state that in-depth laboratory testing of the population at large +demonstrated four universally present pathological conditions: heavy metal poisoning, +arteriosclerosis, sub-clinical infections, and vitamin/mineral deficiencies. Those +of us who consider ourselves healthy, including young people, are not really healthy, +and at the very least would benefit from nutritional supplementation. In fact the +odds against most people receiving adequate vitamin and mineral nutrition without +supplements are very poor as demonstrated by the following chart.<BR> +<BR> + +<TABLE BORDER="1" WIDTH="100%"SUMMARY="Problem Nutrients in America"> + <CAPTION><B>Problem Nutrients in America</B></CAPTION> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="38%"><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Nutrient</B></FONT></TD> + <TD WIDTH="62%"><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Percent Receiving Less than the RDA</B></FONT></TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="38%">B-6</TD> + <TD WIDTH="62%">80%</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="38%">Magnesium</TD> + <TD WIDTH="62%">75</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="38%">Calcium</TD> + <TD WIDTH="62%">68</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="38%">Iron</TD> + <TD WIDTH="62%">57</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="38%">Vitamin A</TD> + <TD WIDTH="62%">50</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="38%">B-1</TD> + <TD WIDTH="62%">45</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="38%">C</TD> + <TD WIDTH="62%">41</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="38%">B-2</TD> + <TD WIDTH="62%">36</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="38%">B-12</TD> + <TD WIDTH="62%">36</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="38%">B-3</TD> + <TD WIDTH="62%">33</TD> + </TR> +</TABLE> +<BR> +     <BR> +<BR> +    A genuinely healthy person almost never becomes acutely ill, +and does not have any disturbing or distracting symptoms; nothing interferes with +or handicaps their daily life or work. A healthy person has good energy most of the +time, a positive state of mind, restful sleep, good digestion and elimination. <BR> +    Healthy people do not have to live simon-pure lives to remain +that way. Healthy people can afford 10% dietary indiscretions by calorie count--eating +or drinking those things that they know are not good for them but that are fun to +eat or are "recreational foods or beverages." Such "sinning" +could mean a restaurant bash twice a month, having a pizza, French bread, beer or +wine in moderation, ice cream, cookies, cake, turkey for festive occasions, etc. +The key concept of responsible sinning is keeping within that ten percent limit.<BR> +    A diet for a healthy person that wants to remain healthy +should not exceed the digestive capacity of the individual, either in terms of quantity +or quality. All foods that can not be efficiently digested should be removed from +the regular diet and relegated to the "sin" category, including those you +are allergic to and those for which you have inadequate digestive enzymes. I have +encountered very few people that can efficiently digest cooked meat, chicken, or +fish, but some can, and some can with the assistance of digestive enzyme supplements. +In order to digest meats, the stomach must be sufficiently acid, there must be enough +pepsin, pancreatin, and bile, etc., and the meat should be eaten on the extremely +rare side (not pork), in small quantities (not more than five or six ounces), and +not combined with anything except nonstarchy vegetables. If you must include meat +in your dietary, it should represent a very small percentage of your total caloric +intake, be eaten infrequently, with the bulk of the calories coming from complex +carbohydrates such grains, legumes and nuts, as well as large quantities of vegetables +and fruits. <BR> +    The healthy person that wants to stay that way for many, +years is advised to fast one day a week, to give the organs of elimination a chance +to catch up on their internal housecleaning. If water fasting seems impossible, try +a day of juicing it; if that is too rigorous, try a day on raw foods. A similar technique, +though less beneficial than even a one day each week on raw foods, is delaying breaking +your overnight fast for as long as possible each day. Try giving up breakfast altogether +or postponing breaking your overnight fast, because from the time you stop eating +at the end of one day to the time you start eating the next is actually a brief, +detoxifying fast. <BR> +    Eggs, milk, cheese and yogurt can be assimilated by some +healthy people with or without digestive aids. It is possible to take lactase to +break down the milk sugars for example; sometimes aids such as hydrochloric acid, +pepsin, and pancreatin help. If you can buy it or are willing to make it raw milk +yogurt containing lactobacillus bulgaris or acidophilus may be digested more readily, +especially if it prepared from healthy cows or goats fed on unsprayed food, and served +very fresh. Eggs should come from chickens that run around outside, eating weeds, +and scratching bugs. The yokes of those eggs will be intense orange, not yellow. +Few people these days have ever eaten a real egg. Surprisingly, for those of you +who fear cholesterol, the healthy way to eat eggs is use just the raw yolk from fertile +eggs. It is enjoyed by many people in a smoothie--fresh fruit blended up with water +or milk. Eggs contain lecithin, a nutrient that naturally prevents the body from +forming harmful fatty deposits in the arteries.<BR> +    Sea weeds are a wonderful source of minerals and should be +eaten in soups and salads. Other invaluable fortifying foods are algae of all kinds +(such as chlorella and spirulina), lecithin, brewers yeast, and fresh bakers yeast. +Many people have had very unpleasant experiences trying to eat living bakers yeast +and so use brewers yeast instead. But brewers yeast is cooked and the proteins it +contains are not nearly as assimilable as those in raw yeast. Raw yeast is so powerful, +it feels like pep pills! <BR> +    It takes a special technique to eat raw yeast because in +the stomach and intestines the yeast does the job it is supposed to do: convert sugars +into alcohol and carbon dioxide gas. The entire digestive tract then bloats with +gas and the person will feel very uncomfortable for some time. However, raw yeast +is a marvelous source of B vitamins and proteins and can make someone feel very energetic--if +they know how to use it. The secret is to eat live yeast very first thing in the +morning on an empty stomach and then, not eat anything at all for about two hours, +giving the stomach acids and enzymes time to kill the yeasts and digest them before +adding sugars from another meal. Some like to eat yeast in fresh cake form, buying +it from a bakery. Others prefer dry granular baker's yeast blended with water into +a sort of "shake." This is not a bad place to put your raw egg yoke either. +If you need it sweetened to drink it, use an artificial or herbal sweetener like +nutrisweet or stevia. Live yeast cannot consume milk sugars very well. So if you +can handle dairy, try one or two tablespoons of granulated live yeast, an egg yoke +and a little raw milk or yogurt, well whizzed.<BR> +    Wheat germ is also a great, rich food, but is usually rancid +unless it is taken out of the refrigerated display; unless it is refrigerated, in +a dated package and fresh, don't eat it. Herb teas and roasted grain beverages are +healthy beverages, along with mineral and distilled water avoiding where possible +chlorinated and fluoridated water.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Diet Is Not Enough</B><BR> +    Those isolated, long-lived peoples discovered by Weston A. +Price had to do hard physical labor to eat, had to walk briskly up and down steep +terrain to get anywhere. But today, few North Americans output very much physical +energy in process of daily life or work. Not only cars, but all of our modern conveniences +make it possible to live without ever breaking into a sweat. We pay for this ease; +it costs us a significant degree of health. <BR> +    Exercise has many benefits when combined with excellent nutrition. +It creates an overall feeling of well-being that can not be created by diet alone. +Exercising temporarily makes the heart beat faster, increasing blood circulation +throughout the body right out to the tips of your fingers and toes. This short-term +elevated flow of blood flow brings increased supplies of oxygen and nutrients to +all parts of the body, facilitating healing and repair. Without revving up your engine +every day many of the body's systems never get the sludge burned out of them and +never perform optimally. <BR> +    Exercise also changes the metabolic rate so your body burns +more calories--not only while you are exercising, but also for a 24 hour period following +exercise. This maintains a healthful body weight into old age, or helps to lose weight. +Most people find that exercise in moderation does not increase appetite, so that +it is possible to consistently burn more calories in a day, and gradually reduce +weight if that is desirable. It is necessary to burn 3,500 calories to lose a pound +of weight. Most forms of exercise allow you to burn 300 to 600 calories per hour +at a moderate pace which would be achieved by doubling the resting pulse. Without +even considering the weight-loss benefit of achieving a raised metabolism, an hour +of daily exercise continued for a week or two dependent upon the type of exercise +and pace should lead to one pound of weight loss if the caloric intake is held constant.<BR> +    The flip side of having a higher metabolism is rarely appreciated +but is extremely important. Recall the basic equation of health: Health = Nutrition +/ Calories. Exercise permits a person to eat somewhat more while not gaining weight. +If the food is nutrient rich, the body has a chance to extract more vitamins, more +minerals, more amino acids. The person who remains slender by rigidly reducing their +food intake to near starvation levels may lack vital, health-building nutrition.<BR> +    And only exercise moves lymphatic fluid. The blood is pumped +through the body by the heart, but the lymphatic system, lacking a heart, requires +muscular contractions to move from the extremities of the body to the central cavity. +The lymphatic system picks up cellular waste products and conducts these toxins to +disposal. Frequently, people with rheumatic aches and pains or other generalized +muscular discomforts physicians like to give Latin diagnostic names to can give up +taking pain pills if they will but begin exercising regularly. Only when they begin +moving their lymph can they begin to detoxify properly.<BR> +    There is another benefit from exercise which is not to be +ignored, and that is that it gives the person a chemical sense of well being. It +actually will help to emotionally boost up people who are chronically depressed and +make them smile. After a good workout, especially one done outside, everything seems +brighter, more positive; whatever was bothering you somehow just doesn't seem like +that big of a deal now. I am not making pro-exercise propaganda. This is not a figment +of the imagination. An exercising body really does make antidepressant neurochemicals +called endorphins, but only after about 45 minutes to an hour of aerobic workout. +<BR> +    Endorphins are powerful, with painkilling and euphoric effects +equal to or greater than heroin, but without any undesirable side effects. If chemists +could learn to cheaply synthesize endorphins I'm sure that millions of people would +want to become addicted to them. Because I make such a point of getting in my workout +every day, my husband has accused me of being an endorphin junkie, and he is right! +I admit it, I'm really hooked on the feeling of well being I consistently get from +any sustained exercise. I defend my addiction staunchly because it is the healthiest +addiction I know of. <BR> +    I have also been accused of carrying exercise to extremes, +and I admit to that also. For a few years I trained for Ironman triathlons. I now +think doing ironman distances is immoderate and except for a few remarkable individuals +with "iron" constitutions, training that hard can only lead to a form of +exhaustion that is not health promoting. I have become much more sensible in my "old" +age, and in recent years have limited my participation to the Olympic distance triathlons. +I was on the Canadian team at the World Championship in 1992, and intend to do it +again in 1995. I do not find the Olympic distance exhausting, in fact I think it +is great fun and truly exhilarating. I get to see all these wonderful age group competitors +from all over the world who look and feel fantastic. It does my soul good to see +a group of people aging so gracefully, not buying into the popular notion that old +age is inevitably disabling, depressing, and ugly. Sport brings a degree of balance +to my life after spending so much time in the presence of the sick. I plan to maintain +my athletic activities into old age, barring accident or other unforeseen obstacles +to fitness.<BR> +    To maintain basic fitness it does not matter so much what +form of exercise is chosen, as long as it is not damaging to the skeletal system +or connective tissues. Many people are unable to run due to foot, knee, hip, or back +problems, but almost everyone can walk. Walking outside is better than inside on +a treadmill, and walking hills is better than walking on flat ground. Exercise machines +such as stationary bikes, cross country ski machines, and stair steppers work well +for a lot of people who live in the city, especially in the winter, or for those +who hate exercise. Whatever you choose to do, it is important to at least double +the resting pulse for 30 minutes no less than four days a week. This is the absolute +minimum required to maintain the health and function of the cardiovascular-pulmonary +system. If your resting pulse is 70, you must walk, jog, ski, bike, swim or what +have you, fast enough to keep the pulse at 140 beats per minute for at least 30 minutes.<BR> +    I have a strong preference to exercising outside in isolated +places where there is only me and the forest, or only me and the river. Running along +logging roads in the hilly back country, or swimming in the green unpolluted water +of a forest river is a spiritual experience for me. It is a time to meditate, to +commune with nature, and to clear my mind and create new solutions. The repetitive +action of running or walking or swimming, along with the regular deep breathing in +clean air, with no distractions except what nature provides is truly health promoting. +Sharing these activities with friends or family can also be great fun and some of +the best in social interactions. It is one of my favorite ways of visiting with people. +I don't expect other people to be as enthusiastic about exercise as I am, but I do +hope that everyone will make an effort to be minimally fit as an ongoing part of +their health program into old age.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Diet For A Long, Long Life</B><BR> +    Some people not only want to be healthy, but they want to +live in good health long past the normal life span projected by statistical tables +for Homo Sapiens. Dr. Roy Walford, a well-respected medical research gerontologist +who has been actively studying longevity for many years, is one of those. He has +scientifically demonstrated with accepted studies that a qualitative life span up +to at least 115 years of age is reasonably attainable by the average person if they +start working on it no later than about 50 years of age, though earlier is much better.<BR> +    Walford's principles of extending life are very simple. All +you have to do is restrict your caloric intake to about 1,500 per day, and water +fast two days a week. Or alternatively, reduce your caloric intake to 1,200 per day +and fast only one day a week on water. And make sure that every single bit of food +you do eat is packed with nutrition, every single calorie, without exception. You +continue this program for the rest of your life along with moderate daily exercise +and high but reasonable dosages of vitamins, minerals, and also take a few exotic +food supplements. The supplement program is not particularly expensive nor extreme, +Walford's supplement program is more moderate than the life extension program I recommend +for all middle-aged and older people. The best foods for this type of program is +a largely raw food diet (80%) with a predominance of sprouts and baby greens, some +cooked vegetables, and raw nuts and seeds. And make sure you get 30 minutes of cardiovascular +exercise every other day.<BR> +    While Dr. Walford's focus is on caloric reduction while maintaining +sufficient nutrition, most other life extensionists focus on increasing the nutrition +side of the equation for health without bothering to reduce caloric intake. This +approach is much easier because essentially, it involves gobbling nutritional supplements +by the handfuls without requiring self-discipline, though it can get quite expensive. +I'll have more to say about this approach in the next chapter, which is about vitamins.<BR> +    In this book I can't explain all the aspects of prolongation +of life through conscious life-style choice. Those who are interested are referred +to the Bibliography. <BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<A NAME="Chapter6"></A><B>Chapter Six </B><BR> +<FONT SIZE="4"><B>Vitamins and Other Food Supplements</B></FONT><BR> +<FONT SIZE="1"><B><BR> +<BR> +From The Hygienic Dictionary<BR> +<BR> +</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Vitamins.</B> [1] The staple foods may not contain the +same nutritive substances as in former times. . . . Chemical fertilizers, by increasing +the abundance of the crops without replacing all the exhausted elements of the soil, +may have indirectly contributed to change the nutritive value of cereal grains and +of vegetables. . . . Hygienists have not paid sufficient attention to the genesis +of diseases. Their studies of conditions of life and diet, and of their effects on +the physiological and mental state of modern man are superficial, incomplete, and +of too short duration. They have, thus, contributed to the weakening of our body +and our soul. <I>Alexis Carrel, Man the Unknown.</I></FONT><BR> +<BR> +<BR> +    I have already explained the hygienist's view of why people +get sick. The sequence of causation goes: enervation, toxemia, alternative elimination, +disease. However, there is one more link in this chain, a precursor to enervation +that, for good and understandable reasons, seemed unknown to the earlier hygienists. +That precursor is long term sub-clinical malnutrition. Lack of nutrition effects +virtually everybody today. Almost all of us are overfed but undernourished.<BR> +    I have already explained that one particular head of broccoli +does not necessarily equal another head of broccoli; the nutritional composition +of apparently identical foods can be highly variable. Not only do different samples +of the same type of food differ wildly in protein content, amino acid ratios and +mineral content, their vitamin and vitamin-like substances also vary according to +soil fertility and the variety grown. <BR> +    These days, food crop varieties are bred for yield and other +commercial considerations, such as shipability, storage life, and ease of processing. +In pre-industrial times when each family propagated its own unique open-pollinated +varieties, a natural selection process for healthy outcomes prevailed. If the family's +particular, unique varieties carried genes for highly nutritious food, and if the +family's land was fertile enough to allow those genes to manifest, and if the family +kept up its land's fertility by wise management, their children tended to survive +the gauntlet of childhood illness and lived to propagate the family's varieties and +continue the family name. Thus, over time, human food cultivars were selected for +their nutritional content. <BR> +    But not any longer! These days, farming technology with its +focus on bulk yield and profit, degrades the nutritional content of our entire food +supply. Even commercial organically grown food is no better in this respect.<BR> +    Sub-clinical, life-long, vitamin and mineral deficiencies +contribute to the onset of disease; the malnourished body becomes increasingly enervated, +beginning the process of disease. Vitamin supplements can increase the body's vital +force, reversing to a degree the natural tendency towards degeneration. In fact, +some medical gerontologists theorize that by using vitamins it might be possible +to restore human life span to its genetically programmed 115 years without doing +anything else about increasing nutrition from our degraded foods or paying much attention +to dietary indiscretions. Knowing what I do about toxemia's effects I doubt vitamins +can allow us to totally ignore what we eat, though supplements can certainly help.<BR> +    More than degraded nutritional content of food prompts a +thinking person to use food supplements. Our bodies and spirits are constantly assaulted +and insulted by modern life in ways our genetics never intended us to deal with. +Today the entire environment is mildly toxic. Air is polluted; water is polluted; +our food supply contains traces of highly poisonous artificial molecules that our +bodies have no natural ability to process and eliminate. Our cities and work places +are full of loud, shocking noises that trigger frequent adrenaline rushes and other +stress adaptations. Our work places are full of psychological stresses that humans +never had to deal with before. <BR> +    Historically, humans who were not enslaved have been in control +of determining their own hour to hour, day to day activities, living on their own +largely self-sufficient farms. The idea of working for another, at regular hours, +without personal liberty, ignoring or suppressing one's own agenda and inclinations +over an entire lifetime is quite new and not at all healthy. It takes continual subconscious +applications of mental and psychic energies to protect ourselves against the stresses +of modern life, energies that we don't know we're expending. This is also highly +enervating. Thus to remain healthy we may need nutrition at levels far higher than +might be possible through eating food; even ideal food might not contain enough vitamins +to sustain us against the strains and stresses of this century.<BR> +    And think about Dr. Pottenger's cats. Our bodies are at the +poorer end of a century-long process of mass degeneration that started with white +flour from the roller mill. Compared to my older clients I have noticed that my younger +patients seem to possess less vital force on the average, show evidence of poorer +skeletal development, have poorer teeth, less energy, have far more difficulty breeding +and coping with their family life, and are far more likely to develop degenerative +conditions early. Most of my younger patients had a poor start because they were +raised on highly refined, devitalized, deficient foods, and grew up without much +exercise. Their parents had somewhat better food. Some of their grandparents may +have even grown up on raw milk and a vegetable garden, and actually had to walk, +not owning cars when they were young. Their great grandparents had a high likelihood +of enjoying decent nutrition and a healthful life-style. <BR> +    Unfortunately, most of my patients like the idea of taking +vitamins too much for their own good. The AMA medical model has conditioned people +to swallow something for every little discomfort, and taking a pill is also by far +the easiest thing to do because a pill requires no life-style changes, nor self-discipline, +nor personal responsibility. But vitamins are much more frugal than drugs. Compared +to prescriptions, even the most exotic life extension supplements are much less expensive. +I am saddened when my clients tell me they can't afford supplements. When their MD +prescribes a medicine that costs many times more they never have trouble finding +the money. <BR> +    I am also saddened that people are so willing to take supplements, +because I can usually do a lot more to genuinely help their bodies heal with dietary +modification and detoxification. Of all the tools at my disposal that help people +heal, last in the race comes supplements.<BR> +    One of the best aspects of using vitamins as though they +were healing agents is that food supplements almost never have harmful side effects, +even when they are taken in what might seem enormous overdoses. If someone with a +health condition reads or hears about some vitamin being curative, goes out and buys +some and takes it, they will at very least have followed the basic principle of good +medicine: first of all do no harm. At worst, if the supplements did nothing for them +at all, they are practicing the same kind of benevolent medicine that Dr. Jennings +did almost two centuries ago. Not only that, but having done something to treat their +symptoms, they have become patients facilitating their own patience, giving their +body a chance to correct its problem. They well may get better, but not because of +the action of the particular vitamin they took. Or, luckily, the vitamin or vitamins +they take may have been just what was needed, raising their body's vital force and +accelerating the body's ability to solve its problem.<BR> +    One reason vitamin therapies frequently do not work as well +as they might is that, having been intimidated by AMA propaganda that has created +largely false fears in the public mind about harmful effects of vitamin overdoses, +the person may not take enough of the right vitamin. The minimum daily requirements +of vitamins and minerals as outlined in nutrition texts are only sufficient to prevent +the most obvious forms of deficiency diseases. If a person takes supplements at or +near the minimum daily requirement (the dose recommended by the FDA as being 'generally +recognized as safe') they should not expect to see any therapeutic effect unless +they have scurvy, beri beri, rickets, goiter, or pellagra.<BR> +    In these days of vitamin-fortified bread and iodized salt, +and even vitamin C fortified soft drinks, you almost never see the kind of life-threatening +deficiency states people first learned to recognize, such as scurvy. Sailors on long +sea voyages used to develop a debilitating form of vitamin C deficiency that could +kill. Scurvy could be quickly cured by as little as one lime a day. For this reason +the British Government legislated the carrying of limes on long voyages and today +that is why British sailors are still called limeys. A lime has less than 30 milligrams +of vitamin C. But to make a cold clear up faster with vitamin C a mere 30 mg does +absolutely nothing! To begin to dent an infection with vitamin C takes 10,000 milligrams +a day, and to make a life threatening infection like pneumonia go away faster might +require 25,000 to 150,000 milligrams of vitamin C daily, administered intravenously. +In terms of supplying that much C with limes, that's 300 to 750 of them daily--clearly +impossible.<BR> +    Similarly, pellagra can be cured with a few milligrams of +vitamin B 3, but schizophrenia can sometimes be cured with 3,000 milligrams, +roughly a thousand times as much as the MDR.<BR> +    There are many many common diseases that the medical profession +does not see as being caused by vitamin deficiencies. Senility and many mental disorders +fall in this category. Many old people live on extremely deficient diets comprised +largely of devitalized starches, sugars, and fats, partly because many do not have +good enough teeth to chew vegetables and other high roughage foods, and they do not +have the energy it takes to prepare more nourishing foods. Virtually all old people +have deficiency diseases. As vital force inevitably declines with age, the quantity +and quality of digestive enzymes decreases, then the ability to breakdown and extract +soluble nutrients from food is diminished, frequently leading to serious deficiencies. +These deficiencies are inevitably misdiagnosed as disease and as aging.<BR> +    Suppose a body needs 30 milligrams a day of niacin to not +develop pellagra, but to be fully healthy, needs 500 milligrams daily. If that body +receives 50 milligrams per day from a vitamin pill, to the medical doctor it could +not possibly be deficient in this vitamin. However, over time, the insidious sub-clinical +deficiency may degrade some other system and produce a different disease, such as +colitis. But the medical doctor sees no relationship. Let me give you an actual example. +Medical researchers studying vitamin B 5 or pantothenic acid noticed that it +could, in what seemed to be megadoses (compared to the minimum daily requirement) +largely reverse certain degenerative effects of aging. These researchers were measuring +endurance in rats as it decreased through the aging process. How they made this measurement +may appear to some readers to be heartless, but the best way to gauge the endurance +of a rat is to toss it into a five gallon bucket of cold water and see how long it +swims before it drowns. Under these conditions, the researcher can be absolutely +confident that the rat does its very best to stay alive.<BR> +    Young healthy rats can swim for 45 minutes in 50° Fahrenheit +water before drowning. Old rats can only last about 15 minutes. And old rats swim +differently, less efficiently, with their lower bodies more or less vertical, sort +of dog paddling. But when old rats were fed pantothenic acid at a very high dose +for a few weeks before the test, they swam 45 minutes too. And swam more efficiently, +like the young rats did. More interestingly, their coats changed color (the gray +went away) and improved in texture; they began to appear like young rats. And the +rats on megadoses of B 5 lived lot longer--25 to 33 percent longer than rats +not on large doses of B 5. Does that mean "megadoses" of B 5 +have an unknown drug-like effect? Or does that mean the real nutritional requirement +for B 5 is a lot higher than most people think? I believe the second choice +is correct. To give you an idea of how much B 5 the old rats were given in human +terms, the FDA says the minimum daily requirement for B 5 is about 10 milligrams +but if humans took as much B 5 as the rats, they would take about 750 milligrams +per day. Incidentally, I figure I am as worthy as any lab rat and take over 500 milligrams +daily.<BR> +    My point is that there is a big difference between preventing +a gross vitamin deficiency disease, and using vitamins to create optimum functioning. +Any sick person or anyone with a health complaint needs to improve their overall +functioning in any way that won't be harmful over the long term. Vitamin therapy +can be an amazingly effective adjunct to dietary reform and detoxification. <BR> +    Some of the earlier natural hygienists were opposed to using +vitamins. However, these doctors lived in an era when the food supply was better, +when mass human degeneration had not proceeded as far as it has today. From their +perspective, it was possible to obtain all the nutrition one needed from food. In +our time this is unlikely unless a person knowingly and intelligently produces virtually +all their own food on a highly fertile soil body whose fertility is maintained and +adjusted with a conscious intent to maximize the nutritive content of the food. Unfortunately, +ignorance of the degraded nature of industrial food seems to extend to otherwise +admirable natural healing methods such as Macrobiotics and homeopathy because these +disciplines also downplay any need for food supplementation. <BR> +<BR> +<B>Vitamins For Young Persons And Children</B><BR> +    Young healthy people from weaning through their thirties +should also take nutritional supplements even though young people usually feel so +good that they find it impossible to conceive that anything could harm them or that +they ever could become seriously sick or actually die. I know this is true because +I remember my own youth and besides, why else would young people so glibly ride motorcycles +or, after only a few months of brainwashing, charge up a hill into the barrel of +a machine gun. Or have unsafe sex in this age of multiple venereal diseases. Until +they get a little sense, vitamin supplements help to counteract their inevitable +and unpreventable use of recreational foods. Vitamins are the cheapest long life +and health insurance plan now available. Parents are generally very surprised at +the thought that even their children need nutritional supplements; very few healthy +children receive them. A few are given extra vitamin C when acutely ill, when they +have colds or communicable diseases such as chicken pox.<BR> +    Young people require a low dose supplement compared to those +of us middle-aged or older, but it should be a broad formula with the full range +of vitamins and minerals. Some of the best products I have found over 25 years of +research and experimentation with young people are Douglas Cooper's "Basic Formula" +(low dose and excellent for children) and "Super T Formula" (double the +dose of Basic Formula, therefore better for adolescents and young adults), also from +Douglas Cooper Company; Bronson's "Vitamin and Mineral Formula for Active Men +and Women" and Bronson's "Insurance Formula." "Vitamin 75 Plus;" +and "Formula 2" from Now Natural Foods are also good and less costly. <BR> +    Healthy very small children who will swallow pills can take +these same products at half the recommended dose. If they won't swallow pills the +pills can be blended into a fruit smoothie or finely crushed and then stirred into +apple sauce. There are also "Children's Chewable Multi-Vitamins + Iron" +(1-5 years old) from Douglas Cooper that contains no minerals except iron, Bronson's +"Chewable Vitamins" (make sure it is the one for small children, Bronson +makes several types of chewables) and a liquid vitamin product from Bronson called +Multivitamin Drops for Infants . These will be a little more costly than cutting +pills in half.<BR> +    There is also an extraordinarily high quality multivitamin/mineral +formula for children called "Children's Formula Life Extension Mix" from +Prolongevity, Ltd. (the Life Extension Foundation), it is in tablet form, and slightly +more expensive.<BR> +    I hope that my book will be around for several generations. +The businesses whose vitamin products I recommend will not likely exist in twenty +years. Even sooner than that the product names and details of the formulations will +almost certainly be altered. So, for future readers discovering this book in a library +or dusty shelve of a used book store, if I, at my current level of understanding, +were manufacturing a childrens and young adults vitamin formula myself, this is what +it would contain. Any commercial formulation within 25 percent of these figures plus +or minus would probably be fine as long as the vitamins in the pills were of high +quality.     + + +<BLOCKQUOTE> + <P>     + <TABLE BORDER="1" WIDTH="76%" SUMMARY="Vitamin Doses"> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="23%">Vitamin C</TD> + <TD WIDTH="30%">500 mg</TD> + <TD WIDTH="32%">B-1</TD> + <TD WIDTH="15%">30 mg</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="23%">Vitamin E</TD> + <TD WIDTH="30%">50 iu</TD> + <TD WIDTH="32%">B-2</TD> + <TD WIDTH="15%">30 mg</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="23%">Vitamin A</TD> + <TD WIDTH="30%">500 iu</TD> + <TD WIDTH="32%">B-3 niacinamide</TD> + <TD WIDTH="15%">100 mg</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="23%">Vitamin D</TD> + <TD WIDTH="30%">25 iu</TD> + <TD WIDTH="32%">B-5</TD> + <TD WIDTH="15%">50 mg</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="23%">Magnesium</TD> + <TD WIDTH="30%">100 mg</TD> + <TD WIDTH="32%">B-6</TD> + <TD WIDTH="15%">30 mg</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="23%">Calcium</TD> + <TD WIDTH="30%">400 mg</TD> + <TD WIDTH="32%">B-12</TD> + <TD WIDTH="15%">30 mcg</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="23%">Selenium</TD> + <TD WIDTH="30%">10 mcg</TD> + <TD WIDTH="32%">Chromium</TD> + <TD WIDTH="15%">20 mcg</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="23%">Manganese</TD> + <TD WIDTH="30%">2 mcg</TD> + <TD WIDTH="32%">Biotin</TD> + <TD WIDTH="15%">30 mg</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="23%">Zinc</TD> + <TD WIDTH="30%">5 mg</TD> + <TD WIDTH="32%">Iodine (as kelp)</TD> + <TD WIDTH="15%">5 mg</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="23%">PABA</TD> + <TD WIDTH="30%">20 mg</TD> + <TD WIDTH="32%">Bioflavinoids</TD> + <TD WIDTH="15%">100 mg</TD> + </TR> + </TABLE> + + +</BLOCKQUOTE> + +<P><BR> +<B>Vitamins For An Older Healthy Person</B><BR> +    Someone who is beyond 35 to 40 years of age should still +feel good almost all of the time. That is how life should be. But enjoying well-being +does not mean that no dietary supplementation is called for. The onset of middle +age is the appropriate time to begin working on continuing to feel well for as long +as possible. Just like a car, if you take very good care of it from the beginning, +it is likely to run smoothly for many years into the future. If on the other hand +you drive it hard and fast with a lot of deferred maintenance you will probably have +to trade it in on a new one after a very few years. Most people in their 70s and +older who are struggling with many uncomfortable symptoms and low energy lament, +'if I'd only known I was going to live so long I would have taken better care of +myself.' But at that point it is too late for the old donkey; time for a trade in.<BR> +    Gerontologists refer to combating the aging process as "squaring +the curve." We arrive at the peak of our physical function at about age eighteen. +How high that peak level is depends on a person's genetic endowment, the quality +of the start they received through their mother's nutritional reserves, and the quality +of their childhood nutrition and life experience. From that peak our function begins +to drop. The rate of drop is not uniform, but is a cascade where each bit of deterioration +creates more deterioration, accelerating the rate of deterioration. If various aging +experiences were graphed, they would make curves like those on the chart on this +page. + + + +<P><BR> +    Because deterioration starts out so slowly, people usually +do not begin to notice there has been any decline until they reach their late 30s. +A few fortunate ones don't notice it until their 40s. A few (usually) dishonest ones +claim no losses into their 50s but they are almost inevitably lying, either to you +or to themselves, or both. Though it might be wisest to begin combating the aging +process at age 19, practically speaking, no one is going to start spending substantial +money on food supplements until they actually notice significant lost function. For +non-athletes this point usually comes when function has dropped to about 90 percent +of what it was in our youth. If they're lucky what people usually notice with the +beginnings of middle age is an increasing inability for their bodies to tolerate +insults such as a night on the town or a big meal. Or they may begin to get colds +that just won't seem to go away. Or they may begin coming home after work so tired +that they can hardly stay awake and begin falling asleep in their Lazy Boy recliner +in front of the TV even before prime time. If they're not so lucky they'll begin +suffering the initial twinges of a non-life-threatening chronic condition like arthritis.<BR> +    The thinnest line demonstrates the worst possible life from +a purely physical point of view, where a person started out life with significantly +lowered function, lost quite a bit more and then hung on to life for many years without +the mercy of death.<BR> +    If one can postpone the deterioration of aging, they extend +and hopefully square the curve (retard loss of function until later and then have +the loss occur more rapidly). Someone whose lifetime function resembled a "square +curve"(the thickest, topmost line) would experience little or no deterioration +until the very end and then would lose function precipitously. At this point we do +not know how to eliminate the deterioration but we do know how to slow it down, living +longer and feeling better, at least to a point close to the very end.<BR> +    Vitamin supplements can actually slow or even to a degree, +reverse, the aging process. However, to accomplish that task, they have to be taken +in amounts far greater than so-called minimum daily requirements, using vitamins +as though they were drugs, a therapeutic approach to changing body chemistry profiles +and making them resemble a younger body. For example, research gerontologists like +Walford reason that if pantothenic acid (vitamin B 5, in fairly substantial +(but quite safe) doses can extend the life and improve the function of old rats, +there is every indication that it will do a similar job on humans. Medical researchers +and research gerontologists have noticed that many other vitamin and vitamin-like +substances have similar effects on laboratory animals. <BR> +    Some will object that what helps rats and mice is in no way +proven to cause the same result on humans. I agree. Proven with full scientific rigor, +no. In fact, at present, the contention is unprovable. Demonstrable as having a high +likelihood's of being so, yes! So likely so as to be almost incontrovertible, yes! +But provable to the most open-minded, scientific sort--probably not for a long time. +However, the Life Extension Foundation is working hard to find some quantifiable +method of gauging the aging process in humans without waiting for the inarguable +indicator, death. Once this is accomplished and solidly recognized, probably no rational +person will be able to doubt that human life span can be increased.<BR> +    Experiments work far better with short-lived laboratory animals +for another reason; we can not control the food and supplement intakes of humans +as we can with caged mice. In fact, there are special types of laboratory mice that +have been bred to have uniformly short life spans, especially to accelerate this +kind of research. With mice we can state accurately that compared to a control group, +feeding such and such a dose of such and such a supplement extended the life-span +or functional performance by such and such a percent. <BR> +    A lot of these very same medical gerontologists nourish their +own bodies as thoroughly as the laboratory animals they are studying, taking broad +mixes of food supplements at doses proportional to those that extend the life spans +of their research animals. This approach to using supplementation is at the other +end of the scale compared to using supplements to prevent gross deficiencies. In +the life extension approach, vitamins and vitamin-like substances are used as a therapy +against the aging process itself. <BR> +    Will it work? Well, some of these human guinea pigs have +been on heavy vitamin supplementation for over thirty years (as of 1995) and none +seem to be suffering any damage. Will they live longer? It is impossible to say with +full scientific rigor? To know if life extension works, we would have to first determine +"live longer than what?" After all, we don't know how long any person might +have lived without life extending vitamin supplements. Though it can't be "proven," +it makes perfect sense to me to spend far less money on an intensive life extension +vitamin program than I would certainly lose as a result of age-related sickness.<BR> +    Besides, I've already observed from personal use and from +results in my clinical practice that life extension vitamin programs do work. Whether +I and my clients will ultimately live longer or not, the people who I have put on +these programs, including myself and my husband, usually report that for several +years after starting they find themselves feeling progressively younger, gradually +returning to an overall state of greater well-being they knew five or ten or fifteen +years ago. They have more energy, feel clearer mentally, have fewer unwanted somatic +symptoms. <BR> +    Sometimes the improvements seem rather miraculous. After +a few months on the program one ninety year old man, an independent-minded Oregonian +farmer, reported that he began awakening with an erection every morning; unfortunately, +his 89 year old cranky and somewhat estranged wife, who would not take vitamins, +did not appreciate this youthfulness. A few months later (he had a small farm) he +planted a holly orchard. Most of you won't appreciate what this means without a bit +of explanation, but in Oregon, holly is grown as a high-priced and highly profitable +ornamental for the clusters of leaves and berries. But a slow-growing holly orchard +takes 25 years to began making a profit! <BR> +    A few older clients of mine reported that they noticed nothing +from the life extension program, but these are unique people who have developed the +ability to dominate their bodies with their minds and routinely pay their bodies +absolutely no attention, driving them relentlessly to do their will. Usually they +use their energies to accomplish good, Christian works. Eventually, these dedicated +and high-toned people break down and die like everyone else. Will they do so later +on life extending vitamins than they would have otherwise? I couldn't know because +I can't know how long they might have lived without supplementation and since they +refuse to admit the vitamins do them any good, they won't pay for them.<BR> +    Many on life extension programs experience a reverse aging +process for awhile. However, after the full benefit of the supplementation has worked +itself through their body chemistry, they again begin to experience the aging process. +I believe the process will then be slowed by their vitamins compared to what it would +have been without supplements. But I can't prove it. Maybe we will have some idea +if the program worked 20 to 40 years from now.<BR> +    At this time I know of only two companies that make top quality +life extension vitamin supplement formulas. One is Prolongevity (Life Extension Foundation), +the other, Vitamin Research Products. I prefer to support what I view as the altruistic +motives behind Prolongevity and buy my products from them. Unfortunately, these vitamin +compounders can not put every possibly beneficial substance in a single bottle of +tablets. The main reason they do not is fear of the power-grabbing Food and Drug +Administration. This agency is threatening constantly to remove certain of the most +useful life-extending substances from the vitamin trade and make them the exclusive +property of prescription-writing medical doctors. So far, public pressure has been +mobilized against the FDA every time action was threatened and has not permitted +this. If some product were included in a mix and that product were prohibited, the +entire mixed, bottled and labeled batch that remained unsold at that time would be +wasted, at enormous cost. <BR> +    Were I manufacturing my own life extension supplement I would +include the following. By the way, to get this all in one day, it is necessary to +take 6 to 12 large tablets daily, usually spread throughout the day, taken a few +at a time with each meal. If you compare my suggested formulation to another one, +keep in mind that variations of 25 percent one way or another won't make a significant +difference, and adding other beneficial substances to my recommendations probably +is only helpful. However, I would not want to eliminate anything in the list below, +it is the minimum:<BR> +<BR> + +<TABLE BORDER="1" WIDTH="100%" SUMMARY="Vitamin Doses"> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Beta-Carotene</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">25,000 iu</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Selenium</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">100 mcg</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Vitamin A</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">5,000 iu</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Taurine</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">500 mg</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">B-1</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">250 mg</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Cyctine</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">200 mg</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">B-2</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">50 mg</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Gluthaianone</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">15 mg</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">B-3 niacinamid</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">850 mg</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Choline</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">650 mg</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">B-5</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">750 mg</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Inositol</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">250 mg</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">B-6</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">200 mg</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Flavanoids</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">500 mg</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">B-12</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">100 mcg</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Zinc</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">35 mg</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">PABA</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">50 mg</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Chromium</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">100 mcg</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Folic Acid</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">500 mcg</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Molybdenum</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">123 mg</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Biotin</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">200 mcg</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Manganese</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">5 mg</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Vitamin C</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">3,000mg</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Iodine (as kelp)</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">10 mg</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Vitamin E</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">600 iu</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Co-Enzyme Q-10</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">60 mg</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Magnesium</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">1,000 mg</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">DMAE</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">100 mg</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Potassium</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">100 mg</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Ginko biloba</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">120 mg</TD> + </TR> + <TR> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Calcium</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">1,000 mg</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">Vitamin D-3</TD> + <TD WIDTH="25%">200 iu</TD> + </TR> +</TABLE> +<BR> +    <BR> +<BR> +    Please also keep in mind that there are many other useful +substances not listed above. For example, every day I have a "green drink," +an herbal preparation containing numerous tonic substances like ginseng and also +various forms of algae and chlorophyll extracts. My green drink makes my body feel +very peppy all day, so it certainly enhances my life and may extend it. It costs +about $25,00 a month to enjoy that. I also use various pure amino acids at times. +Phenylalyanine will make me get more aggressive whenever I am feeling a little lackluster; +this nutrient has also been used as an effective therapy against depression. Melatonin +taken at bedtime really does help me get to sleep and may have remarkable life-extending +properties. Other amino acids help my body manufacture growth hormones and I use +them from the time I begin training seriously in spring through the end of the summer +triathlon competition season. Pearson and Shaw's book (see Bibliography) is a good +starting point to begin learning about this remarkably useful subject. <BR> +<BR> +<B>The Future Of Life Extension</B><BR> +    I beg the readers indulgence for a bit of futurology about +what things may look like if the life extension movement continues to develop. <BR> +    Right now, a full vitamin and vitamin-like substance life +extension program costs between $50 and $100 dollars per month. However, pharmaceutical +researchers occasionally notice that drugs meant to treat and cure diseases, when +tested on lab animals for safety, make these animals live quite a bit longer and +function better. Though the FDA doesn't allow any word of this to be printed in official +prescribing data, the word does get around to other researchers, to gerontologists +and eventually to that part of the public that is eagerly looking for longer life. +Today there are numerous people who routinely take prescription medicines meant to +cure a disease they do not have and plan to take those medicines for the rest of +their long, long life. <BR> +    These drugs being patented, the tariff gets a lot steeper +compared to taking vitamins. (Since they are naturally-occurring substances, vitamins +can't be patented and therefore, aren't big-profit items. Perhaps that's one reason +the FDA is so covertly opposed to vitamins.) Right now it would be quite possible +to spend many hundred dollars per month on a life extension program that included +most of these potentially beneficent prescription drugs. <BR> +    As more of life-extending substances are discovered, the +cost of participating in a maximally effective life extension program will escalate. +However, those who can afford chemically enhanced functioning will enjoy certain +side-benefits. Their productive, enjoyable life spans may measure well over a century, +perhaps approaching two centuries or more. Some of these substances greatly improve +intelligence so they will become brighter and have faster reaction times. With more +time to accumulate more wisdom and experience than "short livers" these +folks will become wiser, too. They will have more time to compound their investment +assets and thus will become far more wealthy. They will become an obvious and recognizable +aristocracy. This new upper class will immediately recognize each other on the street +because they will look entirely different than the short-lived poorer folk and will +probably run the political economic system.<BR> +    And this new aristocratic society I see coming may be far +more pleasant than the one dominated by the oligarchy we now have covertly running +things. For with greater age and experience does really come greater wisdom. I have +long felt that the biggest problem with Earth is that we did not live long enough. +As George Bernard Shaw quipped when he was 90 (he lived to 96), "here I am, +90 years old, just getting out of my adolescence and getting some sense, and my body +is falling apart as fast as it can." <BR> +<BR> +<B>Vitamin Program For The Sick</B><BR> +    No matter which way you look at it or how well insured you +may be against it, being sick is expensive (not to mention what it does to one's +quality of life), and by far the best thing to do is to prevent it from happening +in the first place. However, most people do not do anything about their health until +forced to by some painful condition. If you are already sick there are a number of +supplements you can take which have the potential to shorten the duration and severity +of the illness, and hopefully prevent a recurrence. <BR> +    The sicker you are, the more supplements you will require; +as health is regained, the dosage and variety of substances can be reduced. In chronic +illness, megadoses of many nutrients are usually beneficial. Any sick adult should +begin a life extension vitamin program unless they are highly allergic to so many +things already that they can not tolerate many kinds of vitamins as well. In addition +to the life extension program, vitamin C should be taken by the chronically ill at +a dose from 10 to 25 grams daily, depending on the severity of the condition.<BR> +    Many people want to know whether or not they should take +their regular food supplements during a fast. On a water fast most supplements in +a hard tablet form will not be broken down at all, and often can be seen floating +by in the colonic viewing tube looking exactly like it did when you swallowed it. +This waste can be avoided by crushing or chewing (yuck) the tablets, before swallowing. +Encapsulated vitamins usually are absorbed, but if you want to make sure, open the +capsule and dump it in the back of your mouth before swallowing with water. Powdered +vitamins are well absorbed. <BR> +    On a water fast the body is much more sensitive to any substance +introduced, so as a general rule it is not a good idea to take more than one half +your regular dose of food supplements. Most fasters do fine without any supplements. +Many people get an upset stomach from supplements on an empty stomach, and these +people should not take any during a water fast unless they develop symptoms of mineral +deficiencies (usually a pre-existing condition) such as leg cramps and tremors, these +symptoms necessitate powdered or well-chewed-up mineral supplement. Minerals don't +taste too bad to chew, just chalky. <BR> +    The same suggestions regarding dosage of supplements for +a water fast are also true for a juice fast or vegetable broth fast. On a raw food +cleansing diet the full dose of supplements should be taken with meals.<BR> +    There exists an enormous body of data about vitamins; books +and magazine articles are always touting some new product or explaining the uses +of an old one. If you want to know more about using ordinary vitamins you'll find +leads in the bibliography to guide your reading. However, there is one "old" +vitamin and a few newer and relatively unknown life extending substances that are +so useful and important to handling illness that I would like to tell you more about +them.<BR> +    <B>Vitamin C</B> is not a newly discovered vitamin, but was +one of the first ever identified. If you are one of those people that just hate taking +vitamins, and you were for some reason willing to take only one, vitamin C would +be your best choice. Vitamin C would be the clear winner because it helps enormously +with any infection and in invaluable in tissue healing and rebuilding collagen. If +I was going on a long trip and didn't want to pack a lot of weight, my first choice +would be to insure three to six grams of vitamin C for daily use when I was healthy +(I'd take the optimum dose--ten grams a day--if weight were no limitation). I'd also +carry enough extra C to really beef up my intake when dealing with an unexpected +acute illness or accident. <BR> +    When traveling to far away places, exposed to a whole new +batch of organisms, frequently having difficulty finding healthy foods, going through +time zones, losing nights of sleep, it is easy to become enervated enough to catch +a local cold or flu. If I have brought lots of extra vitamin C with me I know that +my immune system will be able to conquer just about anything--as long as I also stop +eating and can take an enema. I also like to have vitamin C as a part of my first +aid kit because if I experience a laceration, a sprain, broken bone, or a burn, I +can increase my internal intake as well as apply it liberally directly on the damaged +skin surface. Vitamin C can be put directly in the eye in a dilute solution with +distilled water for infections and injuries, in the ear for ear infections, and in +the nose for sinus infections. If you are using the acid form of C (ascorbic acid) +and it smarts too much, make a more dilute solution, or switch to the alkaline form +of C (calcium ascorbate) which can be used as a much more concentrated solution without +a stinging sensation. Applied directly on the skin C in solution makes a very effective +substitute for sun screen. It doesn't filter out ultraviolet, it beefs up the skin +to better deal with the insult.<BR> +    I believe vitamin C can deal with a raging infection such +as pneumonia as well or better than antibiotics. But to do that, C is going to have +to be administered at the maximum dose the body can process. This is easily discoverable +by a 'bowel tolerance test' which basically means you keep taking two or three grams +of C each hour, (preferably in the powdered, most rapidly assimilable form) until +you get a runny stool (the trots). The loose stool happens when there is so much +C entering the small intestine that it is not all absorbed, but is instead, passed +through to the large intestine. At that point cut back just enough that the stool +is only a little loose, not runny. At this dose, your blood stream will be as saturated +by vitamin C as you can achieve by oral ingestion. <BR> +    It can make an important difference which type of vitamin +C is taken because many people are unable to tolerate the acid form of C beyond 8 +or 10 grams a day, but they can achieve a therapeutic dose without discomfort with +the alkaline (buffered) vitamin C products such as calcium ascorbate, sodium ascorbate, +or magnesium-potassium ascorbates. <BR> +    Vitamin C also speeds up the healing of internal tissues +and damaged connective tissue. Damaged internal tissues might include stomach ulcers +(use the alkaline form of vitamin C only), bladder and kidney infections (acid form +usually best), arthritic disorders with damage to joints and connective tissue (alkaline +form usually best). Sports injuries heal up a lot faster with a therapeutic dose +of vitamin C. As medicine, vitamin C should be taken at the rate of one or two grams +every two hours (depending on the severity of the condition), spaced out to avoid +unnecessary losses in the urine which happens if it were taken ten grams at a time. +If you regularly use the acid form of vitamin C powder, which is the cheapest, be +sure to use a straw and dissolve it in water or juice so that the acid does not dissolve +the enamel on your teeth over time.<BR> +    And this is as good a point as any to mention that just like +broccoli is not broccoli, a vitamin is not necessarily a vitamin. Vitamins are made +by chemical and pharmaceutical companies. To make this confusion even more interesting, +the business names that appear on vitamin bottles are not the real manufacturers. +Bronson's Pharmaceuticals is a distributor and marketer, not a manufacturer. The +same is true of every vitamin company I know of. These companies buy bulk product +by the barrel or sack; then encapsulate, blend and roll pills, bottle and label, +advertise and make profit. The point of all this is that some actual vitamin manufacturers +produce very high quality products and others shortcut. Vitamin distributors must +make ethical (or unethical) choices about their suppliers. <BR> +    It is beyond the scope of this book to be a manual for going +into the vitamin business. However, there are big differences in how effective vitamins +with the same chemical name are and the differences hinge on who actually brewed +them up. <BR> +    For example, there are at least two quality levels of vitamin +C on the market right now. The pharmaceutical grade is made by Roche or BASF. Another +form, it could be called "the bargain barrel brew," is made in China. Top +quality vitamin C is quite a bit more costly; as I write this, the price differential +is about 40 percent between the cheap stuff and the best. This can make a big difference +in bottle price and profit. Most of the discount retail vitamin companies use the +Chinese product. <BR> +    There's more than a price difference. The vitamin C from +China contains measurable levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, iron and other toxic +metals. The FDA allows this slightly contaminated product to be sold in the US because +the Recommended Daily Allowance for vitamin C is a mere 60 milligrams per day. Taken +at that level, the toxic metals would, as the FDA sees it, do no harm. However, many +users of vitamin C take 100 -200 times the RDA. The cheap form of C would expose +them to potentially toxic levels of heavy metal poisons. The highly refined top-quality +product removes impurities to a virtually undetectable level. <BR> +    I buy my C from Bronson who ethically gives me the quality +stuff. I know for a fact that the vitamin C sold by Prolongevity is also top quality. +I've had clients who bought cheaper C than Bronson's and discovered it was not quite +like Bronson's in appearance or taste. More importantly, it did not seem to have +the same therapeutic effect. <BR> +    The distributors I've mentioned so far, Bronson, NOW, Cooper, +Prolongevity and Vitamin Research Products are all knowledgeable about differences +between actual manufacturers and are ethical, buying and reselling only high quality +products. Other distributors I believe to be reputable include Twin Labs, Schiff +and Plus. I know there are many other distributors with high ethic levels but I can +not evaluate all their product lines. And as I've mentioned earlier, businesses come +and go rather quickly, but I hope my book will be read for decades. I do know that +I would be very reluctant to buy my vitamins at a discount department store or supermarket; +when experimenting with new suppliers I have at times been severely disappointed.<BR> +    <B>Co-enzyme Q-10.</B> This substance is normally manufactured +in the human body and is also found in minuscule amounts in almost every cell on +Earth. For that reason it is also called "ubiquinone." But this vitamin +has been only recently discovered, so as I write this book Co-enzyme Q-10 is not +widely known. <BR> +    Q-10 is essential to the functioning of the mitochondria, +that part of the cell that produces energy. With less Q-10 in heart cells, for example, +the heart has less energy and pumps less. The same is true of the immune system cells, +the liver cells, every cell. As we age the body is able to make less and less Q-10, +contributing to the loss of energy frequently experienced with age, as well as the +diminished effectiveness of the immune system, and a shortened life span. <BR> +    Q-10 was first used for its ability to revitalize heart cells. +It was a prescription medicine in Japan. But unlike other drugs used to stimulate +the heart, at any reasonable dose Q-10 has no harmful side effects. It also tends +to give people the extra pick up they are trying to get out of a cup of coffee. But +Q-10 does so by improving the function of every cell in the body, not by whipping +exhausted adrenals like caffeine does. Q-10 is becoming very popular with athletes +who measure their overall cellular output against known standards.<BR> +    Besides acting as a general tonic, when fed to lab animals, +Co-Enzyme Q-10 makes them live 33 to 45 percent longer!<BR> +    <B>DMAE</B> is another extremely valuable vitamin-like substance +that is not widely known. It is a basic building material that the body uses to make +acetylcholine, the most generalized neurotransmitter in the body. Small quantities +of DMAE are found in fish, but the body usually makes it in a multi-stage synthesis +that starts with the amino acid choline, arrives at DMAE at about step number three +and ends up finally with acetylcholine.<BR> +    The body's nerves are wrapped in fatty tissue that should +be saturated with acetylcholine. Every time a nerve impulse is transmitted from one +nerve cell to the next, a molecule of acetylcholine is consumed. Thus acetylcholine +has to be constantly replaced. As the body ages, levels of acetylcholine surrounding +the nerves drop and in consequence, the nerves begin to deteriorate. DMAE is rapidly +and easily converted into acetylcholine and helps maintain acetylcholine levels in +older people at a youthful level.<BR> +    When laboratory rats are fed DMAE they solve mazes more rapidly, +remember better, live about 40 percent longer than rats not fed DMAE and most interestingly, +when autopsied, their nervous systems resemble those of a young rat, without any +evidence of the usual deterioration of aging. Human nervous systems also deteriorate +with age, especially those of people suffering from senility. It is highly probable +that DMAE will do the same thing to us. DMAE also smoothes out mood swings in humans +and seems to help my husband, Steve, when he has a big writing project. He can keep +working without getting 'writers block', fogged out, or rollercoastering.<BR> +    DMAE is a little hard to find. Prolongevity and VRP sell +it in powder form. Since the FDA doesn't know any MDR and since the product is not +capped up, the bottle of powder sagely states that one-quarter teaspoonful contains +333 milligrams. Get the hint? DMAE tastes a little like sour salt and one-quarter +teaspoonful dissolves readily in water every morning before breakfast, or anytime +for that matter. DMAE is also very inexpensive considering what it does. A year's +supply costs about $20.<BR> +    <B>Lecithin</B> is a highly tonic and inexpensive food supplement +that is underutilized by many people even though it is easily obtainable in healthfood +stores. It is an emulsifier, breaking fats down into small separate particles, keeping +blood cholesterol emulsified to prevent arterial deposits. Taken persistently, lecithin +partially and slowly eliminates existing cholesterol deposits from the circulatory +system. <BR> +    In our cholesterol-frightened society lecithin should be +a far more popular supplement than it currently is. It is easy to take either as +a food in the granular form or when encapsulated. Lecithin granules have very little +flavor and can be added to a home-made vinegar and oil salad dressing, where they +emulsify the oil and make it blend with the vinegar, thickening the mixture and causing +it to stick to the salad better. Lecithin can also be put in a fruits smoothie. A +scant tablespoon a day is sufficient. Try to buy the kind of lecithin that has the +highest phosphatidyl choline content because this substance is the second benefit +of taking lecithin. Phosphatidyl choline is another precursor used by the body to +build acetylcholine and helps maintain the nervous system.<BR> +    <B>Algae</B>. Spirulina or sun dried chlorella are also great +food supplements. Both make many people feel energized, pepped-up. It is possible +to fast on either product and still maintain sufficient energy levels to take of +minimal work responsibilities. Algae reduces appetite and as a dietary supplement +can assist in weight loss. It contains large amounts of highly-assimilable protein +due to it's high chlorophyll content, as well as a large amount of beta carotene. +It also assists in detoxification of the lymphatic system. It can be purchased as +tablets or powder. Take a heaping teaspoon daily, or at least six tablets.<BR> +<BR> +<B><BR> +<A NAME="Chapter7"></A>Chapter Seven</B> <BR> +<FONT SIZE="4"><B>The Analysis of Disease States: <BR> +Helping the Body Recover<BR> +<BR> +</B></FONT><BR> +<FONT SIZE="1"><B>From the Hygienic Dictionary<BR> +<BR> +</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="2"><B>Diagnosis.</B> [1] In the United States, making a diagnosis +implies that you are a doctor duly licensed to engage in diagnostic function. . . +. The making of a diagnosis is reserved only for doctors. . . . The term "analysis" +does not have such an explicit legal definition. Thus, it is the term of choice of +iridologists and the one most often used by them. It is essential for the survival +and promotion of iridology that those who choose to engage in its practice avoid +naming any disease condition. As we have seen, to do so is to infringe on rights +reserved exclusively for doctors and can land the iridologist, sooner or later, in +a snarl of legal troubles. <BR> +</FONT>    <FONT SIZE="2">It is better for the iridologist to +refrain from suggesting to a person that he has any particular disease, letting such +diagnostics remain the province of licensed doctors. In so doing, the iridologist +will avoid transgressing the law and stepping on the toes of those who are legally +qualified to diagnose. <BR> +</FONT>    <FONT SIZE="2">It is indeed unfortunate that one of +the greatest pitfalls awaiting the iridologist is the temptation to name diseases. +The feelings of satisfaction and power resulting from conferring a name are deeply +rooted in the human psyche. For example, the Bible tells us that man's first task +on Earth was to name the animals, thus giving him power and dominion over them. <BR> +</FONT>    <FONT SIZE="2">Strong is the temptation to name diseases +because nearly everyone has come to expect that his malady has a name. Patients have +come to expect, and doctors have been trained to make, a diagnosis. . . . "After +all," the patient may reason, "how can you hope to deal with my condition +if you aren't knowledgeable enough to call it by name?" <BR> +</FONT>    <FONT SIZE="2">It is not necessary to name diseases +in order to exercise dominion over them. <I>Dr. Bernard Jensen, Visions of Health.</I></FONT><BR> +<BR> +<BR> +    In self defense, I must make it very clear from the first +word that hygienists and most other naturopaths of various persuasions, and especially +I myself, have never in the past, never!, and do not now, diagnose, treat or offer +to cure, disease or illness. Diagnosis and curing are sole, exclusive privileges +of certified, duly-licensed medical doctors and may only be done with a grant of +Authority to do so from the State. Should an unlicensed person diagnose, offer to +treat or attempt to cure disease or illness, they will have committed a felonious +act. With big penalties. Therefore, I do not do it. <BR> +    When one of my clients comes to me and says that a medical +doctor says they have some disease or other, I agree that the medical doctor says +they have some disease or other, and I never dare say that they don't. Or even confirm +on my own authority that I think they do have some disease or other.<BR> +    What I can legally do for a client is to analyze the state +of their body and its organs, looking for weaknesses and apparent allergies. I can +lawfully state that I think their liver tests weak, the pancreas appears not to be +functioning well in terms of handling meat digestion, that the kidney is having a +hard time of it. I can say I see a lump sticking out of their body when one is obviously +sticking out of their body; I can not say that lump is cancerous but I can state +that the cells in that lump test overly strong and that if I myself had a mass of +growing cells testing overly strong and if I believed in the standard medical model, +then I would be rushing my overly strong testing cells to an oncologist. But I don't +dare say the person has a cancer. Or diabetes. Or is getting close to kidney failure. +That is a diagnosis.<BR> +    To me, diagnosis is a form of magic rite in which the physician +discovers the secret name of the devil that is inhabiting one's body and then, knowing +that secret name, performs the correct rite and ritual to cast that demon out. I +don't know why people are made so happy knowing the name of their condition! Does +it really matter? Either the body can heal the condition or it can't. If it can, +you will recover (especially if you give the body a little help). If the body can't +heal a condition you will die or live a long time being miserable. No "scientific" +medical magic can do better than that.<BR> +    By describing a disease in terms of its related organ weaknesses, +instead of pinning a Latin name on it, I am able to assist the body to achieve recovery +in a superior way that the physician rarely does. By discovering that the body with +the lump of overly strong cells also has a weak spleen, liver and thymus gland, I +can take actions to strengthen the spleen, liver and thymus. If the body can strengthen +its spleen, liver and thymus, then the overly strong cells miraculously vanish. But +of course I and what I did did not cure any disease. Any improvements that happen +I assign (correctly) to the body's own healing power. <BR> +    The way I analyze the organic integrity of the body is through +a number of related methods, including the general appearance of the body, the patient's +health history, various clues such as body and breath odor, skin color and tone, +and especially, biokinesiology, the applied science of muscle testing. Biokinesiology +can be used to test the strength or weakness of specific organs and their function. +A weak latissimus dorsi muscle indicates a weak pancreas, for example. Specific acupuncture +points can be tested in conjunction with muscle strength to indicate the condition +of specific organs or glands. The strength of the arm's resistance to downward pressure +could be calibrated with a spring scale and precisely gauged, but experienced practitioners +have no need for this bother, because they are able to pick up subtle changes in +the arms resistance that are not apparent to the testée. Thus muscle testing +becomes an art form, and becomes as effective as the person using it is sensitive +and aware. <BR> +    Biokinesiology works because every organ and gland in the +body is interconnected with other parts of the body through nerve pathways and nerve +transmissions, which are electrical and can be measured through muscle testing. This +may seem too esoteric for the "scientific" among you, but acupuncture points +and energy manifestations around and in the body--are now accepted phenomena, their +reality demonstrated by special kinds of photography. Acupuncturists, who heal by +manipulating the body's energy field with metal needles, are now widely accepted +in the western hemisphere. Kinesiology utilizes the same acupuncture points (and +some others too) for analytic purposes so it is sometimes called "contact reflex +analysis."<BR> +    I have studied and used Kinesiology for 25 years with the +majority of my clients with very good success. There are some few people who are +very difficult to test because they are either too debilitated, lack electrical conductivity, +or their state of mind is so skeptical and negative about this type of approach that +they put up an impenetrable mental barrier and/or hold their body so rigidly that +I can hardly determine a response. A skilled can overcome the obstacle of a weak +body that can barely respond, but the person who is mentally opposed and determined +to prove you wrong should not be tested. If you proceed it is sure to have an unsatisfactory +outcome for all concerned. For even if I manage to accurately analyze the condition +of a skeptical client, they will never believe the analysis and will not follow suggestions.<BR> +    The "scientific," open-minded, "reasonable" +client can be better approached using an academic-like discussion based on published +literature that demonstrates how people with similar symptoms and complaints do very +well on a particular dietary regimen and supplements. This type of person will sometimes +follow dietary recommendations to the last letter, because their scientific background +has trained them to be obedient.<BR> +    When a client comes to me, I like to take a real good look +at who is sitting in front of me. I take my leisure to find out all about their history, +their complaints, their motivation to change, their experience with natural healing, +their level of personal responsibility, whether or not they have to work, whether +or not they can take time out to heal, will they fast or take supplements, do they +have sufficient finances to carry a program through to a successful completion, do +they have people closely connected to them that are strongly opposed to alternative +approaches, can they withstand some discomfort and self-denial, do they have toxic +relationships with other people that are contributing to their condition, are they +willing to read and educate themselves in greater depth about natural healing, etc. +I need to know the answers to these questions in order to help them choose a program +which is most likely to succeed. <BR> +    Even though fasting is the most effective method I know of, +it is not for people who are compelled to keep up a work schedule, nor is it for +people who are very ill and do not have anyone to assist them and supervise them. +Nor is it for people who do not understand fasting and are afraid of it. People who +have associates that are opposed to it, and people who do not have a strongly-functioning +liver or kidneys should not fast either. Seriously ill people that have been on a +meat-heavy diet with lots of addicting substances need a long runway into a fast +so as to not overwhelm their organs of elimination. Does the person in front of me +have an eating disorder, or an otherwise suicidal approach to fasting, etc. Clearly +fasting is not for everyone, and if I recommend it to the wrong person, the result +will be a bad reputation for a marvelous tool. <BR> +    Given that many clients can not fast without a lot of preparation, +the majority of my clients start out with a gentle detox program that takes considerably +more time, but works. These gradients have been outlined under the healing programs +for the chronically ill, acutely ill, etc.<BR> +    To help rebuild poorly functioning organs, I sometimes use +a specialized group of food supplements called protomorphogens. These are not readily +available to the general public and perhaps should not be casually purchasable like +vitamins, because, as with many prescription drugs, supervision is usually necessary +for their successful use. If the FDA ever succeeds at making protomorphogens unavailable +to me, I could still have very good results. (At this time the Canadian authorities +do not allow importation of protomorphogens for resale, though individuals can usually +clear small shipments through Canada Customs if for their own personal use.) But +protomorphogens do facilitate healing and sometimes permit healing to occur at a +lower gradient of handling. Without them a body might have to fast to heal, with +the aid of protomorphogens a person might be able to get better without fasting. +And if protomorphogens are used (chewed up--ugh!) while fasting, healing is accelerated.<BR> +    Protomorphogens are made from freeze-dried, organically-raised +animal organ meats (usually calf or lamb) combined with very specific vitamins, herbs +and other co-factors to potentiate the effect. I view protomorphogens as containing +nutritional supplementation specific for the rebuilding of the damaged organ.<BR> +    Doctor Royal Lee, a medical genius who developed protomorphogens +therapy in the 50s and who spent several stints in prison in exchange for his benevolence +and concern for human well-being, also founded the company that has supplied me with +protomorphogens. After decades of official persecution and denial of the efficacy +of protomorphogens by the power structure, it looks like they are about to finally +have their day. As I write this book cutting-edge medical research companies are +developing therapies using concentrated animal proteins (protomorphogens) to treat +arthritis, multiple sclerosis, eye inflamations and juvenile diabetes. The researchers +talk as though they are highly praiseworthy for "discovering" this approach. +<BR> +    Unfortunately, this development is likely to cut two ways. +On one hand, it vindicates Dr. Lee; on the other, when these drug companies find +a way to patent their materials, they may finally succeed at forcing protomorphogens +(currently quite inexpensive) off the non-prescription market and into the restricted +and profitable province of the MD.<BR> +    I divide clients into two basic types: simple cases and complex +ones. When I was treating mental illness, occasionally I had a client who had not +been sick for too long. I could usually make this client well quite easily. But if +the person had already become institutionalized, had been psychotic for many years, +had received much prior treatment, then their case had been made much more difficult. +This sort had a poor prognosis. A very similar situation exists with physical illnesses. +Many people get sick only because they lack information about how to keep themselves +healthy and about what made them sick. Once they find out the truth, they take my +medicine without complaint and almost inevitably get better very rapidly. Some of +these people can be quite ill when they first come to me but usually they have not +been sick for very long. Their intention when coming into my office is very positive +and have no counter intentions to getting better. There are no spiritual or psychological +reasons that they deserve to be sick. If this person had not found me, they almost +certainly would have found some other practitioner who would have made them well. +This type of person honestly feels they are entitled to wellness. And they are.<BR> +    However, some of the sick are not sick for lack of life-style +information; they suffer from a mental/spiritual malady as well, one that inevitably +preceded their illness by many years. In fact, their physical ailments are merely +reflections of underlying problems. This patient's life is usually a snarl of upsets, +problems, and guilty secrets. Their key relationships are usually vicious or unhealthy. +Their level of interpersonal honesty may be poor. There are usually many things about +their lives they do not confront and so, can not change. With this type of case, +all the physical healing in the world will not make them permanently better because +the mental and emotional stresses they live under serve as a constant source of enervation.<BR> +    Cases like this usually do not have only one thing wrong +with them. They almost always have been sick for a long time; most have been what +I call "doctor hoppers," confused by contrary diagnoses and conflicting +MD opinions. When I get a case like this I know from the first that healing is going +to be a long process, and a dubious one at that. On the physical level, their body +will only repair one aspect of their multiple illnesses at a time. Simultaneously, +they must be urged to confront their life on a gentle gradient. There is usually +a lot of backsliding and rollercoastering. The detoxification process, physical and +psychological, can take several years and must happen on all the levels of their +life. This kind of case sees only gradual improvement interspersed with periods of +worsening that indicate there remains yet another level of mental unawareness that +has to be unraveled. <BR> +    Few medical doctors or holistic therapists really understand +or can help this kind of case. To do so, the doctor has to be in touch with their +own reactive mind and their own negative, evil impulses (which virtually all humans +have). Few people, including therapists, are willing to be aware of their own dark +side. But when we deny it in ourselves, we must pretend it doesn't exist in others, +and become its victim instead of conquering it. Anyone who denies that they have +or are influenced by their own darker aspects who seem to be totally sweet and light, +is lying; proof of this is that they still are here on Earth.<BR> +    All this generalizing about diagnostic methods and clinical +approaches could go on for chapters and more chapters, and writing them would be +fine if I were teaching a group of health clinicians that were reading this book +to become better practitioners. But I'm sure most of my readers are far more interested +in some complaint of their own or in the health problem of a loved one, and are intensely +interested in one might go about handling various conditions and complaints, what +types of organ weaknesses are typically associated with them, and what approaches +I usually recommend to encourage healing. And, most importantly, what kind of success +or lack of it have I had over the past twenty five years, encouraging the healing +of various conditions with hygienic methods.<BR> +    In the case studies that follow I will mostly report the +simpler, easier-to-fix problems because that is what most people have; still, many +of these involve life-threatening or quality-of-life-destroying illnesses. I will +tell the success story of one very complicated, long-suffering case that involved +multiple levels of psychological and spiritual handling as well as considerable physical +healing.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Arthritis</B><BR> +    Some years back my 70 years old mother came from the family +homestead in the wilds of northern British Columbia to visit me at the Great Oaks +School. She had gotten into pathetic physical condition. Fifteen years previously +she had remarried. Tom, her new husband, had been a gold prospector and general mountain +man, a wonderfully independent and cantankerous cuss, a great hunter and wood chopper +and all around good-natured backwoods homestead handyman. Tom had tired of solitary +log cabin life and to solve his problem had taken on the care and feeding of a needy +widow, my mom. He began doing the cooking and menu planning. Tom, a little older +than my mother, had no sense about eating but could still shoot game. Ever since +their marriage she had been living on moose meat stews with potatoes and gravy, white +flour bread with jam, black tea with canned milk, a ritual glass of brandy at bedtime, +and almost no fresh fruit or vegetables. <BR> +    In her youth, my mother had been a concert pianist; now she +had such large arthritic knobs on all of her knuckles that her hands had become claws. +Though there was still that very same fine upright in the cabin that I had learned +to play as a child, she had long since given up the piano. Her knees also had large +arthritic knobs; this proud woman with a straight back and long, flowing strides +was bent over, limping along with a cane. She was also 30 pounds overweight and her +blood pressure was a very dangerous 210 over 140, just asking for a stroke. <BR> +    Instead of a welcoming feast, the usual greeting offered +to a loved one who has not been seen for a few years, I immediately started her on +a juice fast. I gave her freshly prepared carrot juice (one quart daily) mixed with +wheat grass juice (three ounces daily) plus daily colonics. She had no previous experience +with these techniques but she gamely accepted everything I threw her way because +she knew I was doing it because I loved her and wanted to see her in better condition. +She also received a daily full body massage with particular attention to the hand +and knees, stimulating the circulation to the area and speeding the removal of wastes. +Every night her hands and knees were wrapped in warm castor oil compresses held in +place with old sheeting.<BR> +    I did not use any vitamins or food supplements in her case. +I did give her flavorful herbal teas made of peppermint and chamomile because she +needed the comfort of a hot cupa; but these teas were in no way medicinal except +for her morale.<BR> +    In three weeks on this program, Grannybelle, as I and my +daughters called her, had no unsightly knobs remaining on either her knuckles or +knees and she could walk and move her fingers without pain within a normal range +of movement. The big payoff for me besides seeing her look so wonderful (20 years +younger and 20 pounds lighter) was to hear her sit down and treat us to a Beethoven +recital. And her blood pressure was 130 over 90.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Breast Cancer</B><BR> +    I have worked with many young women with breast cancer; so +many in fact, that their faces and cases tend to blur. But whenever I think about +them, Kelly inevitably comes to mind because we became such good friends. Like me, +Kelly was an independent-minded back country Canuck. At the age 26, she received +a medical diagnosis of breast cancer. Kelly had already permitted a lumpectomy and +biopsy, but had studied the statistical outcomes and did not want to treat her illness +with radical mastectomy, radiation and chemotherapy because she knew her odds of +long-term survival without radical medical treatment were equal to or better than +allowing the doctors to do everything possible. Nor did she want to lose even one +of her breasts. She knew how useful her breasts were because she had already suckled +one child, not to mention their contribution to one's own self-image as a whole person. +I admired Kelly's unusual independent-mindedness because she comes from a country +where universal health coverage is in place; her insurance would have paid all the +costs had she been willing to accept conventional medicine, but Canadian national +health insurance does not cover alternative therapy.<BR> +    Kelly stayed with me for nearly two months as a residential +faster, because she needed to be far from the distractions of a troubled family life. +With financial support from her parents and child-care from her friends she was able +to take time out to give the recovery of health top priority in her life without +worrying about whether her small son was being well cared for. This peace of mind +was also very important to her recovery.<BR> +    Analysis with biokinesiology showed a pervasively weak immune +system, including a weak thymus gland, spleen, and an overloaded lymphatic system. +Her liver was weak, but not as weak as it might have been, because she had become +a vegetarian, and had been working on her health in a haphazard fashion for a few +years. Kelly's body also showed weaknesses in pancreatic and adrenal function as +well as a toxic colon. Most immediately worrisome to her, biokinesiology testing +showed several over-strong testing lumpy areas in the breasts and over-strong testing +lumpy lymph nodes in the armpits. Cancerous tumors always test overly strong<BR> +    Kelly's earlier life-style had contributed to her condition +in several ways. She had worked for years in a forestry tree nursery handling seedling +trees treated with highly toxic chemicals. She had worked as a cook in a logging +camp for several seasons, eating too much meat and greasy food. And she had also +spent the usual number of adolescent and young adult years deeply involved in recreational +drug use and the bad diet that went with it. <BR> +    Kelly started right in on a rigorous water fast that lasted +for one entire month. She had a colonic every day, plus body work including reflexology, +holding and massage of neurolymphatic and neurovascular points, and stimulation of +acupuncture points related to weak organ systems and general massage to stimulate +overall circulation and lymphatic drainage. She took protomorphogens to help rebuild +her weakened organs; she took ten grams of vitamin C every day and a half-dose of +life extension vitamin mix in assimilable powdered form; she drank herbal teas of +echinacea and fenugreek seeds and several ounces of freshly squeezed wheat grass +juice every day. Twice each day she made poultices out of clay and the pulp left +over from making her wheat grass juice, filled an old bra with this mixture and pressed +it to her breast for several hours until the clay dried. Shortly, I will explain +all the measures in some detail.<BR> +    These physical therapies were accompanied by counseling sessions +dealing with some severe and long-unresolved problems, response patterns and relationships +that triggered her present illness. Her son's father (Kelly's ex) was suppressive +and highly intimidating. Fearful of him, Kelly seemed unable to successfully extricate +herself from the relationship due to the ongoing contact which revolved over visitation +and care of their son. But Kelly had grit! While fasting, she confronted these tough +issues in her life and unflinchingly made the necessary decisions. When she returned +to Canada she absolutely decided, without any nagging doubts, reservations or qualifications, +to make any changes necessary to ensure her survival. Only after having made these +hard choices could she heal.<BR> +    I one respect, Kelly was a highly unusual faster. Throughout +the entire month on water, Kelly took daily long walks, frequently stopping to lie +down and rest in the sun on the way. She would climb to or from the top of a very +large and steep hill nearby. She never missed a day, rain or shine. <BR> +    At the end of her month on water Kelly's remaining breast +lumps had disappeared, the lymphatic system and immune system tested strong, as well +as the liver, pancreas, adrenals, and large intestine. No areas tested overly strong. +<BR> +    She broke the fast with the same discipline she had conducted +it, on carrot juice, a cup every two hours. After three days on juice she began a +raw food diet with small servings of greens and sprouts well chewed, interspersed +at two hour intervals with fresh juicy fruits. After about ten days on "rabbit +food," she eased into avocados, cooked vegetables, nuts, seeds, and whole grains +and then went home.<BR> +    As I write this, it is eight years since Kelly's long fast. +She still comes to see me every few years to check out her diet and just say hello. +She has had two more children by a new, and thoroughly wonderful husband and suckled +them both for two years each; her peaceful rural life centers around this new, happy +family and the big, Organic garden she grows. She religiously takes her life extension +vitamins and keeps her dietary and life-style indiscretions small and infrequent. +She is probably going to live a long, time. <BR> +    I consider Kelly's cluster of organ weaknesses very typical +of all cancers regardless of type or location, as well as being typical of AIDS and +other critical infections by organisms that usually reside in the human body without +causing trouble (called "opportunistic"). All these diseases are varieties +of immune system failure. All of these conditions present a similar pattern of immune +system weaknesses. They all center around what I call the "deadly triangle," +comprised of a weak thymus gland, weak spleen, and a weak liver. The thymus and spleen +form the core of the body's immune system. The weak liver contributes to a highly +toxic system that further weakens the immune system. To top it off, people with cancer +invariably have a poor ability to digest cooked protein (animal or vegetable) (usually +from a weak pancreas unable to make enough digestive enzymes) and eat too much of +it, giving them a very toxic colon, and an overloaded lymphatic system. <BR> +    Whenever I analyze someone with this pattern, especially +the entire deadly triangle, I let the person know that if I had those particular +weaknesses I would consider my survival to be at immediate risk I'd consider it an +emergency situation demanding vigorous attention. It does not matter if they don't +yet have a tumor, or fibroid, or opportunistic infection; if they don't already have +something of that nature they soon will. <BR> +    Here's yet another example of why I disapprove of diagnosis. +By giving the condition a name like "lymphoma" or "melanoma", +"chronic fatigue syndrome" "Epstein-Barr syndrome" or "AIDS," +"systemic yeast infection", "hepatitis" or what have, people +think the doctor then understands their disease. But the doctor rarely understands +that all these seemingly different diseases are essentially the same disease--a toxic +body with a dysfunctional immune system. What is relevant is that a person with the +deadly triangle must strengthen their immune system, and their pancreas, and their +liver, and detoxify their body immediately. If these repairs are accomplished in +time, the condition goes away, whatever its Latin name may have been. <BR> +    Now, about some of the adjuncts to Kelly's healing. Let me +stress here that had none of these substances or practices been used, she probably +still would have recovered. Perhaps a bit more slowly. Perhaps a bit less comfortably. +Conversely, had Kelly treated her cancer with every herb, poultice and vitamin known +to man but had neglected fasting and colonics, she might well have died. It has been +wisely said that intelligence may be defined as the ability to correctly determine +differences, similarities, and importances. I want my readers to be intelligent about +understanding the relative importances of different hygienic treatment and useful +supporting practices. <BR> +    Echinacea and chaparral leaves, red clover flowers, and fenugreek +seeds are made into medicinal teas that I find very helpful in detoxification programs, +because they all are aggressive blood or lymph cleansers and boost the immune response. +These same teas can be used to help the body throw off a cold, flu, or other acute +illness but they have a much more powerful effect on a fasting body than on one that +is eating. Echinacea and chaparral are extraordinarily bitter and may be better accepted +if ground up and encapsulated, or mixed with other teas with pleasant flavors such +as peppermint or lemon grass. These teas should be simmered until they are at the +strongest concentration palatable, drinking three or four cups of this concentrate +a day. If you use echinacea, then chaparral probably isn't necessary and visa versa. +Red clover is another blood cleanser, perhaps a little less effective but it has +a pleasant, sweet taste and may be better accepted by the squeamish.<BR> +    If there is lymphatic congestion I always include fenugreek +seed tea brewed at the strength of approximately one tablespoon of seeds to a quart +of water. Expect the tea to be brown, thick and mucilaginous, with a reasonably pleasant +taste reminiscent of maple syrup.<BR> +    Kelly used poultices of clay and wheat grass pulp on her +lumps, somewhat like the warm castor oil poultices I used on my mother's arthritic +deposits. Poultices not only feel very comforting, but they have the effect of softening +up deposits and tumors so that a detoxifying, fasting body is more able to re absorb +them. Poultices draw, pulling toxins out through the skin, unburdening the liver. +Clay (freshly-mixed potters clay I purchase from a potters' guild), mixed with finely +chopped or blended young wheat grass (in emergencies I've even used lawn grasses) +makes excellent drawing poultices. Without clay, I've also used vegetable poultices +made of chopped or blended comfrey leaves, comfrey root, slightly cooked (barely +wilted) cabbage leaves, slightly steamed onion or garlic (cooked just enough to soften +it). These are very effective to soften tumors, abscesses and ulcers. Aloe poultices +are good on burns. Poultices should be thought of as helpful adjuncts to other, more +powerful healing techniques and not as remedies all by themselves, except for minor +skin problems.<BR> +    Poultices, to be effective, need to be troweled on half an +inch thick, extending far beyond the effected area, covered with cheese cloth or +rags torn from old cotton sheets so they don't dry out too fast. Fresh poultices +needs to be applied several times daily. They also need to be left on the body until +they do dry. Then poultices are thrown away, to be followed by another as often as +patience will allow. Do not cover poultices tightly with plastic because if they +don't dry out they won't draw much. The drawing is in the drying.<BR> +    Sometimes poultices cause a tumor or deposit to be expelled +through the skin rather than being adsorbed, all with rather spectacular pus and +gore. This phenomena is actually beneficial and should be welcomed because anytime +the body can push toxins out through the skin, the burden on the organs of elimination +are lessened.<BR> +    Wheat grass juice has a powerful anti-tumor effect, is very +perishable, is laborious to make, but is worth the effort because it contains powerful +enzymes and nutrients that help detoxify and heal when taken internally or applied +to the skin. As a last resort with dying patients who can no longer digest anything +taken by mouth I've implanted wheat grass juice rectally (in a cleansed colon). Some +of them haven't died. You probably can't buy wheat grass juice that retains much +medicinal effect because it needs to be very fresh and should be drunk within minutes +of squeezing. Chilled sharply and immediately after squeezing it might maintain some +potency for an hour or two. Extracting juice from grass takes a special press that +resembles a meat grinder. <BR> +    The wheat is grown in transplant or seedling trays in bright +light. I know someone who uses old plastic cafeteria trays for this. The seed is +soaked overnight, spread densely atop a tray, covered shallowly with fine soil, kept +moist but not soggy. When the grass is about four inches high, begin harvesting by +cutting off the leaves with a scissors and juicing them. If the tray contains several +inches of soil you usually get a second cutting of leaves. You need to start a new +tray every few days; one tray can be cut for three or four days. (Kulvinskas, 1975) +<BR> +    More wheat grass juice is not better than just enough; three +ounces a day is plenty! It is a very powerful substance! The flavor of wheat grass +juice is so intense that some people have to mix it with carrot juice to get it down. +DO NOT OVERUSE. The energizing effects of wheat grass can be so powerful that some +people make a regular practice of drinking it. However, I've seen many people who +use wheat grass juice as a tonic become allergic to it much as antibiotic dependent +people do to antibiotics. Better to save wheat grass for emergencies.<BR> +    I also have treated my own breast cancers--twice. The first +time I was only 23 years old. One night I noticed that it hurt to sleep the way I +usually did on my left side because there was a hard lump in my left breast. It was +quite large--about the size of a goose egg. Having just completed RN training two +years prior, I had been well brain washed about my poor prognosis and knew exactly +what requisite actions must taken. <BR> +    I scheduled a biopsy under anesthetic, so that if the tumor +was malignant they could proceed to full mastectomy without delay. I was ignorant +of any alternative course of action at the time.<BR> +    I might add that before I grew my first tumor I had been +consuming large amounts of red meat in a mistaken understanding gained in nursing +school that a good diet contained large amounts of animal protein. In addition to +the stress of being a full time psychology graduate student existing on a very low +budget, I was experiencing I very frustrating relationship with a young man that +left me constantly off center and confused.<BR> +    A biopsy was promptly performed. The university hospital's +SOP required that three pathologists make an independent decision about the nature +of a tumor before proceeding with radical surgery. Two of the pathologist agreed +that my tumor was malignant, which represented the required majority vote. But the +surgeon removed only the lump, which he said was well encapsulated and for some reason +did not proceed with a radical mastectomy. These days many surgeons routinely limit +themselves to lumpectomies. <BR> +    I never did find out why I awakened from general anesthetic +with two breasts, but I have since supposed that due to my tender age the surgeon +was reluctant to disfigure me without at least asking me for permission, or giving +me some time to prepare psychologically. When I came out of anesthesia he told me +that the lump was malignant, and that he had removed it, and that he needed to do +a radical mastectomy to improve my prognosis over the next few years. He asked me +to think it over, but he signed me up on his surgery list for the following Monday. +<BR> +    I did think it over and found I was profoundly annoyed at +the idea of being treated like I was just a statistic, so I decided that I would +be unique. I made a firm decision that I would be well and stay well--and I was for +the next fifteen years. The decision healed me.<BR> +    When I was 37 I had a recurrence. At the time I had in residence +Ethyl and Marge, the two far-gone breast cancer cases I already told you about. I +also had in residence a young woman with a breast tumor who had not undergone any +medical treatment, not even a lumpectomy. (I will relate her case in detail shortly.) +I was too identified emotionally with helping these three, overly-empathetic due +to my own history. I found myself taking on their symptoms and their pain. I went +so far into sympathy as to grow back my tumor--just as it had the first time--a lump +mushroomed from nothing to the size of a goose egg in only three weeks in exactly +the same place as the first one. Just out of curiosity I went in for a needle biopsy. +Once again it was judged to be malignant, and I got the same pressure from the surgeon +for immediate surgery. This time, however, I had an alternative system of healing +that I believed in. So I went home, continued to care for my very sick residents, +and began to work on myself. <BR> +    The first thing I had to confront about myself was that I +was being a compassionate fool. I needed to learn how to maintain my own personal +boundaries, and clearly delineate what stuff in my mind and my body was really mine +and what was another's. I needed to apply certain mental techniques of self-protection +known to and practiced by many healers. I knew beyond doubt that I had developed +sympathetic breast cancer because a similar phenomena had happened to me before. +Once, when I had previously been working on a person with very severe back pain with +hands-on techniques, I suddenly had the pain, and the client was totally free of +it. So I protected myself when working with sick people. I would wash my hands and +arms thoroughly with cold water, or with water and vinegar after contact. I would +shake off their "energy," have a cold shower, walk bare foot on the grass, +and visualize myself well with intact boundaries. These prophylaxes had been working +for me, but I was particularly vulnerable to people with breast cancer. <BR> +    I also began detoxification dieting, took more supplements, +and used acupressure and reflexology as my main lines of attack. My healing diet +consisted of raw food exclusively. I allowed myself fruits (not sweet fruits) and +vegetables (including a lot of raw cabbage because vegetables in the cabbage family +such as cauliflower and broccoli are known to have a healing effect on cancer), raw +almonds, raw apricot kernels, and some sprouted grains and legumes. I drank diluted +carrot juice, and a chlorophyll drink made up of wheat grass and barley green and +aloe vera juice. I took echinaechia, red clover, and fenugreek seeds. I worked all +the acupuncture points on my body that strengthen the immune system, including the +thymus gland, lymph nodes, and spleen. I also worked the meridians, and reflex points +for the liver, and large intestine. I massaged the breast along the natural lines +of lymphatic drainage from the area. <BR> +    Last, and of great importance, I knew that the treatment +would work, and that the tumor would quickly disappear. It did vanish totally in +three months. It would have gone away quicker if I had water fasted, but I was unable +to do this because I needed physical strength to care for my resident patients and +family. <BR> +    Eighteen years have passed since that episode, and I have +had no further reappearance of breast tumors. At age 55 I still have all my body +parts, and have had no surgery except the original lumpectomy. Many, viewing my muscles +and athletic performance, would say my health is exceptional but I know my own frailties +and make sure I do not aggravate them. I still have exactly the same organ deficiencies +as other cancer patients and must keep a very short leash on my lifestyle.<BR> +    If for some reason I wanted to make my life very short, all +I would have to do would be to abandon my diet, stop taking supplements, eat red +meat and ice cream every day and be unhappy about something. Incidentally, I have +had many residential clients with breast cancer since then, and have not taken on +their symptoms, so I can assume that I have safely passed that hurdle.<BR> +    I've helped dozens of cases of simple breast cancer where +my treatment began before the cancer broadly spread. Kelly's case was not the easiest +of this group, nor the hardest. Sometimes there was lymphatic involvement that the +medical doctors had not yet treated in any way. All but one of my early-onset breast +cancer cases recovered. I believe those are far better results than achieved by AMA +treatment. <BR> +    Before I crow too much, let me stress that every one of these +women was a good candidate for recovery--under 40 years old, ambulatory and did not +feel very sick. And most importantly, every one of them had received no other debilitating +medical treatment except a needle biopsy or simple lumpectomy. None of these women +had old tumors (known about for more than six months) and none of the tumors were +enormous (nothing larger than a walnut). <BR> +    Clearly, this group is not representative of the average +breast cancer case. Hygienic therapy for cancer is a radical idea these days and +tends to attract younger people, or older, desperate people who have already been +through the works. In every one of my simple cases the tumors were reabsorbed by +the body during the thirty days of water fasting and the client left happy.<BR> +    Except one. I think I should describe this unsuccessful case, +this "dirty case," so my readers get a more balanced idea of how fearsome +cancer really isn't if the sick person can clearly resolve to get better and has +no problem about achieving wellness.<BR> +    Marie was an artisan and musician from Seattle who grew up +back East in an upper-middle class dysfunctional family. She was in her late twenties. +She had been sexually abused by an older brother, was highly reactive, and had never +been able to communicate honestly with anyone except her lesbian lover (maybe, about +some things). <BR> +    Three years prior to coming to see me Marie had been medically +diagnosed as having breast cancer and had been advised to have immediate surgery. +She ignored this advice; Marie never told her friends, said nothing to her family +and tried to conceal it from her lover because she did not want to disrupt their +life together. <BR> +    On her own, she did begin eating a Macrobiotic diet. In spite +of this diet, the tumor grew, but grew very slowly. After two years the tumor was +discovered by her lover, who after a year of exhausting and upsetting arguments, +forced Marie to seek treatment. Since Marie adamantly refused to go the conventional +medical route, she ended up on my doorstep as a compromise.<BR> +    By this time the tumor was the size of a fist and had broken +through the skin of the left breast. It was very ugly, very hard. Biokinesiology +showed the usual deadly triangle and other associated organ weakneses typical of +cancer. Marie began fasting on water with colonics and poultices and bodywork and +counseling and supplements. At the end of the water fast, Marie looked much healthier, +with clear eyes and clear skin and had a sort of shine about her, but the tumor had +only receded enough for the skin to close over it; it was still large, and very hard. +To fully heal, Marie probably needed at least two more water fasts of equal length +interspersed with a few months on a raw food diet. But she lacked the personal toughness +to confront another fast in the near future. Nor was she emotionally up to what she +regarded as the deprivation of a long-term raw foods healing diet.<BR> +    So I advised her to seek other treatment. Still unwilling +to accept standard medical management of her case, Marie chose to go to the Philippines +to have "psychic surgery." She was excited and optimistic about this; I +was interested myself because I was dubious about this magical procedure; if Marie +went I would have a chance to see the results (if any) on a person I was very familiar +with. Marie had her tickets and was due to leave in days when her lover, against +Marie's directly-stated wishes, called her parents and informed them of what was +happening. <BR> +    The parents had known nothing of Marie's cancer and were +shocked, upset, outraged! They had not known Marie was a lesbian, much less that +their daughter was flirting with (from their view) obvious quackery. Their daughter +needed immediate saving and her parents and brother (the one who had abused her) +flew to Oregon and surprisingly appeared the next day in a state of violent rage. +They threatened lawsuits, police, incarceration, they threatened to have their daughter +civilly committed as unable to take care of herself. They thought everything Marie +had done for the last three years was my fault. I was lucky to stay out of jail. +Of course, all of this was why Marie had not told them in the first place; she had +wanted to avoid this kind of a scene.<BR> +    Marie did not have enough personal integrity to withstand +the domination of her immediate family. They put her in a hospital, where Marie had +a radical mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation. Assured that they had done everything +that should have been done, the self-righteous parents went back home. Marie never +recovered from chemotherapy and radiation. She died in the hospital surrounded by +her lesbian friends who took dedicated, ever-so-sympathetic turns maintaining an +emotional round-the-clock vigil.<BR> +    Marie's death was partly my fault. She was an early case +of mine. At the time I did not yet understand the total effect of lack of ethics +and irresponsibility on illness. Had Marie really wanted to live in the first place, +she would have sought treatment three years earlier. In our counseling sessions she +always evaded this question and I had not been wise enough to pin her down with my +knee on her chest and make her answer up. Marie had too many secrets from everybody +and was never fully honest in any of her relationships, including with me. I think +she only came to Great Oaks at her lover's insistence and to the day she died was +trying to pretend that nothing was wrong. <BR> +    All Marie really wanted from her life was to be loved and +have a lot of loving attention. In the end, her dramatic death scene gave her that, +which is probably why she manifested cancer and kept it and eventually, died from +it.<BR> +    The name for this game is "secondary gain." A lot +of sick people are playing it. Their illness lets them win their deepest desire; +they get love, attention, revenge, sympathy, complete service, pampering, create +guilt in others. When sick people receive too much secondary gain they never get +well.<BR> +    One of the hardest things about being a healer is that one +accumulates an ever-enlarging series of dirty, failed cases like this one. It is +depressing and makes a person want to quit doctoring. Whenever I get involved with +a case I really want them to get better. My life is put entirely out of joint for +several months dealing with a residential faster. My schedule is disrupted; my family +life suffers; my personal health suffers. No amount of mere money could pay for this. +And then some of these people go and waste all my help to accomplish some discreditable +secret agenda that they have never really admitted to themselves or others.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Constant Complaints</B><BR> +    Alice was a middle-aged woman who couldn't understand why +she had always felt tired, even when she was young. Her life had been this way ever +since she could remember. Most puzzling to her was why her life was so Job-like. +She did everything the proper way. Doing things correctly was important to her, and +fitted her Puritan background. Alice supported all the right causes, did good works, +was active in a Unitarian church and bought all her food at the healthfood store--and +made sure it was organically grown.<BR> +    But in spite of Alice's righteous living, her existence was +a treadmill of constant, minor complaints. She was constantly exhausted, so much +so she had difficulty getting up in the morning and feared she might have chronic +fatigue syndrome (whatever that is). Alice suffered bouts of depression over thoughts +like these, and had many acute illnesses like colds that hung on interminably and +would not go away. She had a constant post-nasal drip. Though she enjoyed life, her +body was a millstone around her neck.<BR> +    I've had a lot of clients exactly like Alice. Sometimes they +complain of headaches; sometimes constant yeast or bladder infections. Whatever the +complaints, the symptoms are rarely severe enough to classify themselves as someone +who is seriously ill, but their symptoms rarely go away and they almost never feel +good. Medical doctors rarely find anything wrong with them, though they will frequently +prescribe an antibiotic to treat a somewhat constant infection, or an antihistamine +for sinus symptoms. Getting a new prescription drug makes the complaint go away for +a short time until their resistance is lowered again and the very same complaint +returns. These people frequently depend on over the counter pills and are routinely +prescribed sleeping remedies and antidepressants. If instead of this route they will +but take my medicine they are usually easy to fix and afterwards are amazed that +it was all that simple and that so much of their life has been less than it could +have been.<BR> +    Alice had been through the medical doctor route. She had +become quite familiar with antibiotics for her colds and flu, and also took synthetic +thyroid hormone--the doctor had diagnosed her fatigue as being caused by an underactive +thyroid, which was partly correct--but the thyroid medication didn't give her much +more energy. Alice had been supporting this medical doctor in grand style for over +thirty years but never obtained the relief she sought. <BR> +    I put Alice through my usual two hour first-time-visit thorough +analysis. For two weeks before coming to see me she had saved tiny samples of everything +she ate, wrapped them in plastic film, carefully labeled, and put them in the freezer. +Along with these food samples and a typed list of all these foods, she brought a +big box full of her condiments, herb teas, vitamins, spices, prescription medications, +over the counter drugs, oils, grains, breads, crackers and small samples of her usual +fresh vegetables and fruits. Even her water. Her entire kitchen! By biokinesiology +we proceeded to test all of her foods for allergic reactions. I also tested the integrity +of her organs and glands and in the process, got a detailed medical history and list +of her complaints.<BR> +    Alice had exhausted adrenals, and they probably had been +that way for thirty years. Her pancreas was now too weak to digest the legumes that +made up a large part of her vegetarian diet. She was allergic to wheat, soy, and +dairy products and had especially been eating dairy in the mistaken notion that it +was necessary to keep up her protein intake. Really very typical. So many health +food store shoppers these days mistakenly believe that, because they are vegetarian +and do not eat meat, they especially need to boost their protein intake with dairy +and soy. Unfortunately, so many North Americans are highly allergic to dairy and +unfortunately, soy products are as hard or harder to digest than cooked meats. <BR> +    Alice was especially shocked to discover that she was allergic +to such foods as cabbage family vegetables, alfalfa sprouts and citrus. Most people +don't think that anyone could be allergic to something as healthy as alfalfa sprouts. +The doctor was right about one thing; her thyroid was underperforming. He had not +noticed that her heart was weak.<BR> +    Medical doctors rarely discover an organ weakness until that +organ actually begins to catastrophically fail. A busy honest doctor will usually +tell the complaining patient there is nothing wrong with them: go home, take two +aspirin, accept the fact that your body is not perfect and don't worry about it. +A hungry doctor will be delighted to perform countless lab tests, seeking any possible +reason for the complaint. This can go on as long as the patient has money or as long +as the insurance company will pay. They rarely find anything "wrong" and +the patient is far better off if the doctor doesn't discover something "serious" +to treat because their treatment may carry with it consequences far more severe than +the complaint. For example, I have seen dozens of people whose lives were virtually +ruined after surgical treatment for chronic back pain.<BR> +    Biokinesiology is actually a far more sensitive system of +analysis than lab tests. It picks up weaknesses at a very early stage so total organ +failure can be prevented. Rarely will any of the organ weaknesses I discover be confirmed +by a medical doctor. First I put Alice on a six week cleanse. She did one week on +fresh, raw food; one week on dilute carrot juice with some green leafy vegetables +juice too; one week on water fasting; and then she repeated the series. After six +weeks of detoxification, I gave Alice a life extension megavitamin formula, discovered +she could not handle the acid form of vitamin C (that she had already been taking) +and had her start on protomorphogens to rebuild her weakened endocrine system, her +exhausted adrenals and weak pancreas. She also began taking pancreatic enzymes when +she ate vegetable protein. She was put on a maintenance diet that eliminated foods +she was allergic to; the diet primarily consisted of whole grains, nuts, cooked and +raw vegetables, and raw fruits. On her maintenance diet Alice had a profound resurgence +of energy and rediscovered a sense of well-being she had not known for decades. She +began to feel like she had when she was a child. Her constant sinus drip was gone. +She was able to stop taking synthetic thyroid hormones and instead, supported her +endocrine system with protomorphogens.<BR> +<BR> +<B>A Rampaging Infection</B><BR> +    At the age of 40, John, an old bohemian client of mine, came +into a moderate inheritance and went "native" in the Fiji Islands in the +South Pacific. He spent about four months hanging out with the locals. Life there +was so much fun that John completely forgot that his body was actually rather delicate, +that many of his organs were weak, and that to feel good, he had to live a fairly +simon-pure life. <BR> +    But the jovial, accepting, devil-may-care Fijians enjoyed +a constant party, even more so because John's money allowed the Fijians to manifest +powerful, tropical, home-grown strains of recreational herbs to smoke in abundance, +beer and rum and worse, the Fijians (and John) constantly used a very toxic though +only mildly-euphoric narcotic called kava, something Europeans usually have no genetic +resistance to. The Fijians (and John) also ate a lot of freshly-caught fish fried +in grease, well-salted, and huge, brain-numbing bowls of greasy starches, foods that +they call i'coi, or "real food" as opposed to things like fruit and vegetables +that aren't real food because they don't knock you to the floor for hours trying +to digest them in a somnambulant doze.<BR> +    John miraculously kept up with this party for a few months +and then, while scuba diving, got some small coral scratches on his leg. These got +infected. The infections got worse. Soon he had several huge, suppurating, ulcerous +sores on his legs and worse, the infections became systemic and began spreading rapidly. +He was running a fever and was in considerable pain. So John booked an emergency +ticket home and fled to find Doctor Isabelle. When I met his plane he was rolled +out in a wheelchair, unable to walk because of pain and swelling in his legs.<BR> +    John was violently opposed to ordinary medical treatment; +he especially would not have taken antibiotics even if he had died without them because +previous courses of antibiotics had been the precipitant of life-threatening conditions +that first brought John to my care. John used his last strength to get to me because +he knew that had a hospital gotten its clutches on him the medical doctors would +have done exactly as they pleased. <BR> +    I gave John a colonic, a gentle, mental spanking, and put +him to bed without any supper. He started water fasting and did colonics every day. +He began gobbling vitamin C (as calcium ascorbate) a few grams every hour. I put +huge poultices on his sores made of clay and chopped lawn grass (we needed a week +or so before a tray of wheat grass would be ready). John's sores were amazing. Every +day a new one seemed to appear on a different part of the body. The old ones kept +getting bigger and deeper. The largest original ones were about three inches in diameter, +smelled horribly and had almost eaten the flesh down to the bone. His pain was severe; +there was no position John could assume that didn't irritate one sore or another, +and it was a good thing my house was remote because John frequently relieved his +pain by screaming. John was never delirious, but he was always original. He did not +have to scream, but enjoyed its relief and howled quite dramatically. I wore earplugs.<BR> +    After about two weeks of water fasting, John counted up the +total of his sores. There were forty three. Seven or eight of them were enormous, +two or three inches in diameter and well into the flesh, but the last ones to appear +were shallow, small and stayed small. After that point no more new ones showed up +and the body began to make visible headway against the infection. Very slowly and +then more and more rapidly, the sores began to close up and heal from the edges. +John's fever began to drop. And he had less pain. I should mention that John brought +an extremely virulent and aggressive pathogenic organism into our house to which +we Americans had no resistance. Both my husband and I were attacked where the skin +had been broken. However, unlike John, in our cases, our healthy bodies immediately +walled-off the organism and the small, reddened pustules, though painful, did not +grow and within a week, had been conquered by our immune systems. And after that +we had an immunity.<BR> +    After about three weeks of his fasting we were thoroughly +tired of hearing John's cathartic howls, tired of nursing a sick person. We needed +a break. John at this point could walk a bit and was feeling a lot better. John had +previously water fasted for 30 days and knew the drill very well. So we stocked up +the vitamin C bottle by his bed and went to town for the weekend to stay in a motel +and see a movie. As they say in the Canadian backwoods, we were bushed.<BR> +    John had promised to be good. But as soon as we left he decided +that since he felt so very much better, he could break his fast. He knew how to do +this and fortunately for him, (it was very much premature for John to eat) did it +more or less correctly, only eating small quantities of raw fruits and vegetables. +But by the time we got back home three days later, John had relapsed. The pain was +rapidly getting much worse; the sores were growing again and a few small new ones +appeared. Dr. Isabelle again took away his food and gave him another verbal spanking +a little more severe than the one he'd had a few weeks earlier and put him to bed +again without his supper. <BR> +    After two more weeks on water, John had gained a great deal +on the sores. They were filling in and weren't oozing pus, looked clean and the new +forming meat looked a healthy pink instead of purple-black. But John had been very +slender to start with and by now he was getting near the end of his food reserves. +He probably couldn't have fasted on water for more than one more week without starvation +beginning. But this time, when he broke his fast, it was under close supervision. +I gave him dilute juice only, introduced other sustenance very cautiously and made +absolutely sure that reintroducing nourishment would not permit the organism to gain. +This time it didn't. John's own immune system, beefed up by fasting, had conquered +a virulent organism that could have easily killed him.<BR> +    Before the era of antibiotics, before immunizations to the +common childhood illnesses, people frequently died of infections as virulent as the +one that attacked John. They usually died because they "ate to keep up their +strength." Most of these deaths were unnecessary, caused by ignorance and poor +nursing care. For example, standard medical treatment for typhoid fever used to consist +of spoon-fed milk--sure to kill all but the strongest constitution. Even without the +assistance of massive doses of vitamin C, if people would but fast away infections +they could cure themselves of almost all of them with little danger, without the +side effects of antibiotics or creating mutated antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria.<BR> +    Dr. John Tilden, a hygienist who practiced in the '20s, before +the era of antibiotics, routinely fasted patients with infectious illnesses. Supporting +the sick body with wise nursing, he routinely healed scarlet fever, whopping cough, +typhoid, typhus, pneumonia, peritonitis, Rocky Mountain fever, tuberculosis, gonorrhea, +syphilis, cholera, and rheumatic fever. The one common infection he could not cure +was diphtheria involving the throat. (Tilden, Impaired Health, Vol. II).<BR> +    Recently, medical gerontologists have discovered another +reason that fasting heals infections. One body function that deteriorates during +the aging process is the production of growth hormone so the effects of growth hormone +have been studied. This hormone also stimulates the body to heal wounds and burns, +repair broken bones, generally replace any tissues that have been destroyed and, +growth hormone stimulates the immune response. Growth hormone also maintains muscle +tone and its presence generally slows the aging process.<BR> +    Growth hormone might make a wonderful life-extension supplement; +on it a middle-aged person might readily maintain the muscle tone of youth while +slowing aging in general. Unfortunately, growth hormone cannot at this time be inexpensively +synthesized and is still far too costly to be used therapeutically except to prevent +dwarfism. However, any technique that encourages a body to produce more of this hormone +would be of great interest to life extensionists. <BR> +    The body only produces growth hormone at certain times and +only when certain nutrients are present in the blood. Gerontologists call these nutrients +"precursors." The precursors are two essential amino acids, argenine and +ornithine and certain vitamins such as C and B 6. But having the precursors +present is not enough. Growth hormone is only manufactured under certain, specific +circumstances: for about one hour immediately after going to sleep and then only +if the blood supply is rich with argenine and ornithine but contains few other amino +acids; it is also manufactured during heavy aerobic exercise that goes on for more +than thirty minutes; and growth hormone is produced at an accelerated rate when fasting. +(Pearson and Shaw, 1983). I did not know this when I was fasting John, but now, I +would give argenine and ornithine to someone with a serious infection as well as +massive quantities of vitamin C.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Chronic Back Pain</B><BR> +    Barry was a carpenter who couldn't afford to lose work because +he was unable to bend or twist or lift. He frequently had bouts of severe back pain +that made working almost impossible. Upon analysis by biokinesiology I found that +he had a major problem with large intestine weakness and secondarily, adrenal weakness.<BR> +    Constipation frequently causes back pain. The muscles of +the back have nerve pathway connections to the large intestines; weakness in the +intestine causes weakness of the back and makes it prone to injury. But the problem +is the intestine, not the back. And the only way to make the back stay better is +to heal the intestine. Many athletes have very similar problems. For example, they +get knee injuries and think there is something wrong with their knee. Or they get +shoulder injuries and think their shoulder is weak. These people are only half right. +Yes, their knee or their shoulder is weak. But it could become strong and almost +uninjurable if the underlying cause of the weakness is corrected.<BR> +    The knee for example, has nerve pathway connections to the +adrenal glands and kidneys. The shoulder has similar connections to the thyroid. +The foot is weakened by the bladder. The treatment should first be on the weakened +gland or organ and secondarily, on the damaged muscle tissue. I have solved numerous +sports-related knee problems with protomorphogens for the adrenals and elimination +of food allergies that make the adrenals work overtime. I have fixed bad shoulders +by rebuilding the thyroid.<BR> +    In Barry's case, it was the intestine. I asked him about +his bowel function and he said that he was never constipated, had "a daily bowel +movement without a lot of straining." But having given some 6,000 colonics, +I knew better. There should have been no straining; Barry was trying very hard to +be regular--he should not have had to effort. Fortunately, it struck him as true that +he needed to detoxify and I managed to convince him to water fast. He probably figured, +why not since he couldn't work anyway. Barry was a tall, skinny man to start with +and you would think he hardly carried any fat at all, but he fasted on water for +30 days, receiving a colonic every day, while I did bodywork on his damaged back. +He sure was constipated and couldn't deny the evidence that floated by through the +sight tube of the colonic machine. By the end of the fast his colon was fairly repaired +and free of old fecal material. And Barry had become a tall, gaunt-looking guy who +had lost about 20 pounds you wouldn't think he had to spare.<BR> +    After a few weeks of careful weaning back on to food, Barry +felt pretty good, terrific even. He had no back pain and found out for the first +time what not being constipated meant. It no longer took "not very much effort" +to move his bowels; they moved themselves. That was ten years ago. A few months ago, +Barry looked me up, just to say thanks and to let me know that he had not had any +more back problems and had generally felt good because he had more or less stayed +on the improved diet I had instructed him about during his fast.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Painful Menstruation</B><BR> +    Elsie was twenty. She came to see me because I had helped +Elsie's mother overcome breast cancer many years earlier. Elsie began to have very +painful periods with profuse bleeding and abdominal pain. Her nutrition had been +generally good because her mother couldn't survive on the average American diet and +had long ago converted her family to vegetarianism. And like her mother, Elsie had +been taking vitamins for many years. <BR> +    A medical doctor diagnosed Elsie as having endometriosis, +meaning, the lining of her uterus had migrated to the fallopian tubes, where it continued +to bleed regularly into the abdominal cavity, following the same hormonal cycle as +the endometritial tissue that lines the uterus. The doctor offered to try hormonal +manipulation and if this proved unsuccessful, offered a hysterectomy. That would +certainly eliminate the symptoms!<BR> +    But Elsie did not wish to eliminate her ability to have children +and preferred not to risk throwing her hormones off balance. So she came to me. My +analysis showed that she had weak ovaries and weak uterus. These were secondary to +a toxic colon, toxic because she had a weak gall bladder and weak pancreas that reduced +her digestive capacity and turned her improperly combined Organic, vegetarian legume-rich +diet into toxemia. Checking her foods for allergies I discovered the normal pattern: +Elsie was intolerant to dairy, wheat, eggs, corn, soy and concentrated sugars.<BR> +    Being no stranger to fasting (her mother had fasted at length +ten years previously) Elsie undertook a 30 day cleanse on vegetable juice with daily +enemas, taking vitamins in powdered form. After the fast I put her on protomorphogens +for her reproductive organs and pancreas. The gall bladder had healed by itself during +fasting--gall bladders usually heal easily. Her maintenance diet included using pancreatic +enzyme supplements when eating vegetable proteins and Elsie eliminated most fats +so her gall bladder would not be stressed. The fasting also overcame her allergic +reactions to corn and wheat but she was still unable to handle soy products, eggs +or dairy. After six months Elsie no longer needed protomorphogens, had no abdominal +pain and her periods were normal. <BR> +    You may well be wondering how or why detoxification of the +bowels allowed the body to repair the uterus. The large intestine is a sort of nest +that cradles the reproductive organs, including the ovaries, uterus, and in the case +of the male, the prostate gland. A toxic colon is like having one rotten apple in +a basket, it contaminates the whole batch. Many problems in the abdominal area are +caused by a toxic colon, including chronic back pain, ovarian cysts, infertility, +birth abnormalities, bladder infections and bladder cancer, painful menstruation, +fibroids and other benign growths as well as malignant ones, and prostatitis or prostate +cancer. Detoxing the body and cleaning out the colon should be a part of the healing +of all of these conditions. <BR> +<BR> +<B>Irritable Bowels</B><BR> +    Some peoples' lives don't run smoothly. Jeanne's certainly +didn't. She was abandoned to raise three little kids on welfare. Her college diploma +turned out to be useless. Jeanne used to help me at Great Oaks in exchange for treatment. +During those early years she had done a 30 day juice fast with colonics. Twenty years +later at age 60, having survived three children's growing up, surviving the profound, +enduring loss of one who died as an adult, after starting up and running a small +business that for many years barely paid its way, and experiencing an uninsured fire +that took her house, she began to develop abdominal pains the doctors named "irritable +bowel syndrome" or "colitis." The MD offered antibiotics and antispasmodics +but Jeanne had no insurance, the remedies were unaffordable. She also retained considerable +affinity for natural medicine.<BR> +    Prior to these symptoms her diet had been vegetarian, and +had included large quantities of raw fruits and vegetables and whole grains. But +the bran in bread was irritating to her bowels, she could no longer digest raw vegetables +or most raw fruit.<BR> +    Jeanne's vital force was low; her healing took time. She +started on a long fast supported by powdered vitamins, vegetable broth and herb teas, +but after three weeks was too weak to do her own enemas at home and could not shop +for vegetables to cook into broth. So she had to add one small serving of cooked +vegetable per day, usually broccoli or steamed kale. This lasted for one more week +but Jeanne, having no financial reserves, had to return to work, and needed to regain +energy quickly. Though not totally healed, she progressed to a maintenance diet of +cooked grains and vegetables and food supplements, very much like a Macrobiotic diet. +She felt better for awhile but wore down again after another stressful year.<BR> +    Her abdominal pains gradually returned though this time she +noticed they were closely associated with her stresses. About one year after ending +her first fast, as soon as she could arrange to take time off, she began another. +This time to avoid extreme weakness, she took vegetable broth from the outset, as +well as small amounts of carrot juice and one small serving of cooked vegetable a +day for three weeks. Again, this rest allowed the digestive tract to heal and the +pain went away. She returned to her Macrobiotic diet with selected raw foods that +she could now handle without irritating her bowel.<BR> +    She was now healthier then she had been in many years. With +improved energy and a more positive attitude, Jeanne returned to University at age +65 and obtained a teaching certificate. Now she is making good money, doing work +she enjoys for the first time in 35 years. I hope she has a long and happy life. +She is entitled to one!<BR> +<BR> +<B>A Collection of Gallbladders</B><BR> +    Gallbladder cases are rather ho-hum to me; they are quick +to respond to hygienic treatment and easy to resolve. I've fixed lots of them. But +an inflamed gallbladder is in no way ho-hum to the person afflicted with it. I've +been frequently told that there are no worse pains a body can create than an inflamed +gallbladder or the sensations accompanying the passing of a gall stone. I hear from +kidney patients that passing a kidney stone is worse but I've never had a patient +who experienced both kinds of stones to give me an honest comparative evaluation.<BR> +    The only thing dangerous about simple gallbladder problems +is ignoring them (between the bouts of severe pain they can cause) because then the +inflamed gallbladder can involve the liver. I already told the story of how my own +mother lost half her liver this way. <BR> +    The condition is usually caused by a combination of hereditary +tendency, general toxemia, and/or a high-fat diet, especially one high in animal +fats. The liver makes bile that is stored in the gallbladder, to be released on demand +into the small intestine to digest fat. A toxic, overloaded liver makes irritating +sediment-containing bile that inflames the gallbladder and forms stones. A high-fat +diet forces the liver to make even more of this irritant. <BR> +    A toxic, overloaded, inflamed, blocked gallbladder is capable +of causing an enormous array of symptoms that can seem to have no connection at all +to their cause. In part these same symptoms are caused by a toxic, constipated colon +that, in part, got that way because of poor fat digestion over a long time. These +symptoms include: severe back pain; headache; bloating; burping; nausea; insomnia; +intestinal gas; generalized aches and pains.<BR> +    Medical doctors used to remove a troublesome gallbladder +without hesitation; it was an organ they considered to be highly dispensable. Without +one, the bile duct takes over as a bladder but its capacity is much smaller so the +person's ability to digest fats has been permanently crippled, leading to increased +toxemia and earlier aging if fats are not eliminated from the diet. These days the +medicos have a new, less invasive procedure to eliminate stones; they are vibrated +and broken-up by ultrasonics without major surgery. Inflamed gallbladders are usually +removed because gallbladder inflammations resist treatment by antibiotics.<BR> +    There are several very effective natural gallbladder remedies. +The best is a three week fast, taking the juice of one or two lemons every day, along +with colonics. The lemon juice tends to clear the bile duct. The fast allows the +gallbladder to heal from inflammation. In cases that aren't too severe I have had +very good results simply eliminating fats from the diet and using a food supplement +derived from beet tops called AF Betafood. However, in all these cases, once the +gallbladder is no longer "acting up," the person must stay on a low fat +diet. Any fats they do eat must be vegetable and in small quantities.<BR> +    By healing their gallbladders and cleansing their colons, +several of my clients have resolved severe, debilitating back pain, pain so severe +that the suffers were becoming bedridden. Medical doctors don't associate gallbladder +disease with back pain.<BR> +<BR> +<B>The Frightening Heart</B><BR> +    Heart disease is one of the major causes of death among North +Americans. It evokes images of resuscitation, of desperate races against time, trying +to restart an arrested heart before the brain dies. It makes people think of horribly +expensive surgery, last wills and testaments, terrible, paralyzing pain. Heart disease +is a great profit center for the medical profession.<BR> +    Most heart problems are very easy to fix by holistic approaches, +even many hereditary weaknesses and malfunctions can be healed, if the work is done +before too much organic damage occurs. But it rarely is easy to get the people to +take the necessary medicine; everything in their lives must change--and fast.<BR> +    First of all, people with heart problems must rapidly reach +and maintain normal weight. This can be done by fasting or by dietary change, usually +by eliminating all fats, sugars and refined starches. Alcohol and tobacco must instantly +and forever become only past memories. It is almost as essential to eliminate flesh +protein foods and dairy. Should that prove entirely too painful, fish in small quantities +and only one or two times a week is tolerable. <BR> +    For starters, a long fast, especially one involving lots +of bed rest, is ideal. This gives the heart a chance to heal while the body weight +is adjusted. A period of intense rest even without water fasting will accomplish +almost as much. Even someone with the potential for heart disease who has not yet +had a heart attack would be well-served to spend a month in bed, losing weight on +juice, or sitting in a rocker on the porch eating only raw foods. After the weight +is down to normal or close to normal and the heart tests stronger, an exercise program +should be started.<BR> +    Exercise has to become a religion. A daily aerobic program +must be started on a carefully managed gradient, using the pulse rate as an regulator, +at first raising their maximum heart rate to a point just below 150 percent of its +resting pulse and keeping it there for thirty minutes. One can walk, jog, ride a +bicycle or use an exercise machine. Actually, everyone should do this, even those +with no heart problems. My husband, who hates the boredom of exercise, enjoys a ski +machine in front of the TV while the stock market program is on. He finds the TV +interesting enough that he pays no attention to his workout. Daily aerobic exercise +will strengthen the heart, gradually slowing the heart's resting pulse rate, indicating +that the heart has become much stronger, pumping more blood with each pulse. As the +resting pulse drops the exercising heartbeat can be increased to double the resting +rate. <BR> +    Highly aggressive, competitive, stress-oriented people have +to give up being adrenaline junkies and learn to relax and assume a laid-back approach +to living. Or die soon. An adrenaline junkie is someone that enjoys the feeling they +get when operating under stress. Stress and the adrenaline it releases produce a +kind of a drug-high. Many stressaholics cannot give up their adrenaline addiction +while maintaining their previous employment and life-style, even though their life +is at stake. In this sense they are like alcoholics, who should not take employment +tending bar. To survive for long these people may have to retire or change professions. +Stockbrokers may have to become Organic farmers; journalists may have to operate +a news stand or bookstore, or work part-time covering the society page and dog shows. +Women frequently turn their family life into a stress-filled drama too.<BR> +    With heart problems a life extension megavitamin program +is essential, even for twenty somethings if they have heart disease. The sixty milligrams +of Co-Enzyme Q-10 I recommend for the average middle aged person will not be enough +for heart cases; they should take at least 120 milligrams daily and consider up to +250 mg. This much Q-10 greatly boosts the energy output of the heart on a cellular +level. Vitamin E should also be increased, to between 600 and 2,000 iu daily. I also +rebuild diseased hearts with protomorphogens; usually they must stay on protomorphogens +for the rest of their lives. Niacin taken several times a day in doses, sufficient +to dilate the capillaries and cause a skin flush (50 to 200 milligrams), increases +the blood flow to nourish the heart. The amino acid L. Carnitine is also useful by +increasing the energy output of the heart much like Co-Enzyme Q-10.<BR> +    When I put people on this program, the supplements and other +measures gradually take effect, and over months the patient begins to feel enormously +better. Inevitably they come to dislike the side-effects of the various medications +their medical doctor has put them on and they begin to wean themselves off of heart-stimulating +poisons like digitalis. Another benefit of my program is that inevitably, blood pressure +also drops to a normal range so if they have been on blood pressure medication they +quit that too. Their diuretics also become unnecessary. The money they save more +than pays for their supplements and the sense of well-being they feel is beyond value.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Other Kinds Of Cancer</B><BR> +    There seem to be many other kinds of cancer, at least if +you believe the medical doctors. They divide up cancers and their treatments by their +location in the body and by the type of cancer cells present. I do not see it that +way. To me, a cancer is a cancer is a cancer, and there is only one kind: it is an +immune system collapse, consequence of the deadly triangle of weak spleen, thymus +and liver, plus a toxic large intestine and weak pancreas. That organ profile is +found in skin cancer, prostate cancer, leukemia, brain cancer, cancer of what have +you. How fast or how slowly the cells multiply or spread, where they are located, +what the cancer cells look like in a microscope, these are irrelevant factors compared +to the body's ability to conquer the disease. Or die from it.<BR> +    If the body's immune system can stop the growth of the cancers +and begin to turn them back before the cancer cells impinge catastrophically on some +vital function, the person can usually survive. Even if the body cannot completely +eliminate all the cancer cells, but regains enough immune function to keep the existing +cancers in permanent check, a person can survive many years with an existing, stable +cancer without undue pain or discomfort. Still having a non-growing tumor after a +long fast indicates that a person is a lot better than they were before fasting. +<BR> +    I believe that virtually everyone has cancer cells in their +body, just like viruses and bacteria. But most people do not develop cancer as a +disease because their immune function is strong so these misbehaving cells are destroyed +as fast as they appear. Mutated, freely-multiplying cells are caused by peroxidized +fats, by free radicals in the body, by radiation (there has always been background +radiation on Earth), by chance mutation. There are naturally occurring highly carcinogenic +substances in ordinary foods that are unavoidable. In fact some of these naturally +occurring substances are far more dangerous than the toxic residues of pesticides +in our foods. The body is supposed to deal with all these things; they are all called +insults. It is rarely the insult, but the failure of the body to eliminate cancerous +cells promptly that causes the disease called cancer. So the treatment I recommend +for cancer in general is the same as the one described for breast cancer cases. Restore +the immune function.<BR> +    However, as much as I lack respect for conventional medical +cancer therapies, I do think surgery can have a useful place in cancer treatment +along with hygienic methods. Some people just cannot confront the lump(s). Or they +are so terrified of having a cancer in their body that their emotions suppresses +their own immune function. Even though surgery prompts a cancer to spread more rapidly, +without their lumps some cancer patients feel more positive. If surgery is done in +conjunction with rebuilding the immune system, the body will prevent new cancers +from forming. <BR> +    Removal of a large mass of cancer cells can also lighten +the immune system's task. Not having to kill off and reabsorb all those cells one-by-one +from a huge cancer mass, the body can better conquer smaller groups of cancer cells. +And the die-off of large cancers produces a lot of toxins, burdening the organs of +elimination. This is an argument for the potential benefit of a lumpectomy. However, +I do not support mastectomies, or the type of surgery that cause massive damage to +the body in a foolish attempt to remove every last cancer cell, as though the cells +themselves were the disease. <BR> +    Sometimes cancer tumors are well-encapsulated, walled off +and can be easily removed without prompting metastasis. This type of tumor may not +be completely reabsorbed by the body in any case; though the immune system may have +killed it, an empty shell remains, like a peanut shell. Sometimes the judgment calls +about surgery can get dicey. When surgery involves removing an organ. I oppose the +loss of useful body parts.<BR> +    I have also known and helped people who believed they couldn't +recover without radiation and chemotherapy. What people believe is, is. The emotions +generated when a personal reality is suppressed, ignored or invalidated will overwhelm +an immune system. I always tell those people who sincerely believe in it to go ahead +with standard medical treatment (while I'm privately praying the doctors won't cause +too much damage). However, when I am supporting a body with supplements and dietary +reform, have put that body on a raw-food cleansing diet or even a raw food diet with +nuts and grains that hardly detoxifies, and then the person has had chemotherapy +and radiation, the medical doctors in attendance are inevitably amazed that the side +effects are much milder than anticipated, or non-existent. And fewer courses of chemotherapy +are needed than the doctors expected. <BR> +    For example, I worked with a little boy with leukemia. His +mother brought him to me while trying to resolve a conflict with her ex-husband about +the boy's treatment. The father demanded the standard medical route; the mother was +for natural therapy. Eventually the father won in court, but I had the boy on my +program for three months before the doctors got their hands on him. Even during chemotherapy +and radiation the mother kept the boy on my program. Throughout the doctors' treatment +he had so few bad side effects that he was able to continue in school and play with +the other children; he did not lose his hair (which would have made him feel like +a freak). He recovered. I don't mind that the medical doctors took credit, but to +my thinking, he recovered despite their therapy.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Onion Cases</B><BR> +    All too many of my cases are what I privately refer to as +onion cases. By this I mean the opposite of a simple case. There are multiple complaints. +I call them onion cases because these people get better in layers, like pealing an +onion. As each skin comes off, the next becomes visible. Sometimes when the patient +overcomes an existing complaint, another appears that was not there in the beginning, +probably this new one is a complaint that they had at an earlier point in their life, +one that had gone away. Onion cases take a long time to completely heal, sometimes +years. There frequently are psychological aspects to the case that surface with different +physical problems. If I were not an effective psychologist I could not succeed with +most of them. The average medical doctor probably considers onion cases to be hypochondriacs, +but they usually are not. <BR> +    Almost always the first symptoms that demand attention are +the most life-threatening, like immune system failures, liver failures, pancreatic +failures, nervous system failures and heart failures. With these eliminated, new +complaints appear. Often these are endocrine system imbalances or weak endocrine +glands, anemias, mild heart conditions. Then it gets down to eye or ear infections, +muscular or skeletal weaknesses, mild skin problems, sinusitis, teeth problems; things +that aren't serious but that do degrade the quality of life. Each one of these layers +also carries with it a psychological component; each of these layers can take three +to six months to resolve.<BR> +    I had a pretty good idea from the first visit that Daniel, +not yet 30, was going to take some time to get well. He already had a degenerative +condition not usually seen until middle age--crippling gout and arthritis. He had +badly distorted joints, walked with considerable pain, lacked a full range of movement, +had enormous fatigue and consequently, a well-justified depression. Daniel was about +to give up working as no longer possible, but he liked his job. And he certainly +needed it.<BR> +    Daniel's analysis showed massive allergies to foods, a systemic +yeast and multiple virus infections and multiple organ weaknesses: a life-threateningly +weak immune system, weak pancreas, weak adrenals, weak large intestine. Because he +could hardly accept anything he wasn't allergic to and because he could not afford +to quit working even for a few weeks (though he was about to be forced into complete +disability) I put him on a Bieler fast. This is a monodiet of fairly substantial +quantities of either well-cooked green beans or well-cooked zucchini, the choice +between these two foods depending on the acid-base balance of the blood. (Henry Bieler, +1965) In Daniel's case my choice was zucchini, one pint of plain zucchini puree with +a little kelp and garlic added (no salt, no butter, no nothing else) every few hours. +I also put him on heavy vitamin support and protomorphogens for his desperate immune +system. While on the Bieler fast he did daily enemas at home. Had colonics been available +to him, Daniel couldn't have afforded them.<BR> +    Within three weeks he was far more comfortable, had less +pain, more energy even though he was still eating nothing but zucchini, had less +swelling in his joints. During the first month he lost about ten pounds and had been +skinny to start with. I then added other cooked nonstarchy vegetables to his diet +and we continued the same protomorphogen and supplement program for another month. +<BR> +    Once each month Daniel came to see me. Each time he had slightly +improved organ strength and was able to tolerate a few more foods. By the third month +he stopped losing weight because we added small quantities of cooked rice and millet +to his diet. However, to continue his detox, I had him water fast one day a week, +staying in bed and resting all day. At the start and end of the fasting day he also +took an enema. He continued a weekly one-day fast for many months. By the fourth +month, his immune system testing stronger, a new problem appeared. Daniel had intestinal +parasites. So I also put him on a six month program to eliminate those.<BR> +    Daniel required monthly dietary adjustments because he quickly +became allergic if he ate very much of anything very often--broccoli or rice for example. +During this time he became aware of many negative emotions associated with childhood, +of young adult frustrations and disappointments. He was really very angry about many +things in his life, even though he had for many years maintained an invariably pleasant +social veneer. But now he began expressing some of these feelings to me and to his +associates.<BR> +    Daniel had an abusive girlfriend, but as he improved this +relationship became insufferable. So he broke off with this woman and found a new +relationship that was much more positive, one based on mutual respect and admiration. +There are frequently strong connections between repressed anger and depository diseases +like arthritis and gout. Daniel could not permit himself to constantly be made angry +and still get well.<BR> +    His next layer of symptoms did not appear until nearly eighteen +months after he had first come to see me. By this time he had good energy, had returned +to hiking and skiing, camping and canoeing. He had worked as a printer but was now +bootstrapping his own print shop on a shoestring, and became entirely self-employed. +He had a good romantic relationship. The parasites were gone; his gout and arthritis +was virtually gone; many of his food allergies were gone. Now his body was demanding +that its acid/base balance be adjusted and he began to pay attention to the minor +back problems he had all along. Daniel had also developed a new problem--inflammation +of the eye. It was so severe that he went to an opthamologist seeking immediate relief +because he could hardly see. I put him on massive doses of vitamin C and protomorphogens +for the eye and we attacked the other problems.<BR> +    Now I still see Daniel every three months for minor dietary +and supplement adjustments. His emotional space is very positive. His business is +doing well. His love life is doing well. He has developed no new problems and all +the old ones are under control. His organ systems, though better, will never tolerate +many insults, physical or mental, but if he lives within his limits, he has every +chance of a long and happy life. <BR> +    Daniel has become a friend of mine by now and I like to see +him but I expect I won't see Daniel very much at all any more. He has learned what +he needs to know to take care of himself. This is a typical onion case that resolved +successfully. However this case might not have worked out so well had Daniel not +possessed a high degree of personal integrity and bravery, had he not faced and resolved +his emotional conflicts. Fortunately, Daniel had always conducted an ethical life, +without dishonesty or a secret collection of disreputable acts. Bodies are easy to +fix; they are carbon oxygen engines that work on chemistry and respond unfailingly +to physical measures. But the entity that runs the body is not so simple. The thoughts +and emotions of the spirit impinge on a body as powerfully or more powerfully than +all the vitamins, dietary reform or protomorphogens I can provide. The mind, and +the spirit behind that mind, can make a body sick or can prevent it from getting +well or staying well despite everything I do.<BR> +<BR> +<B>Unethical Illness</B><BR> +    I see a lot of spiritually-induced physical illness in my +practice. Maybe more than my share. Maybe its karmic; it tends to find me because +I understand it. And it comes up my driveway because people who have it often become +doctor shoppers, and seek out a naturopath as a last resort after exhausting everything +that modern medical science has to offer. I have had large numbers of undiagnosable +people that suffer greatly but who medical doctors can find nothing wrong with and +label psychosomatic. I have also repaired people given specific medical diagnoses +that standard physical remedies cannot make better.<BR> +    In most of these cases, the physical illness is secondary +to, is an overlay of a more fundamental spiritual cause. On this type of case there +are inevitably severe problems connected with close friends, relatives and business +associates. The sick person inevitably blames the friends, relatives and business +associates and takes no responsibility. The problems seem unresolvable. When I probe +deeply enough into these problems, I begin to discover the real infection below. +The sick person, so fond of complaining about all the terrible things done to them +by the people they have or have had problems with, or sometimes, so proud of not +complaining about all the terrible things done to them. Actually, almost inevitably +this person has committed a huge mass of secret crimes, viciousness and betrayals, +rarely indictable felonious acts, but crimes none the less, disreputable deeds that +must be kept secret. <BR> +    These deeds are always completely justified; the sick person +always claims to have been right for having done them and it is next to impossible +for me as a therapist to get them to take responsibility for their sins. But at the +deep, center of almost all people is an honest, decent soul that knows what it has +really done and feels guilty and judges itself. That is why it says in the Bible, +'judge not, lest you be judged'. It is not the judgment of the Deity we have so much +to fear; we are own worst judge, jury, and executioner, and eventually extract from +ourselves full payment with compound interest for all harmful acts. <BR> +    People frequently punish themselves with severe, incapacitating +illness or even death. A spiritual illness will not respond very well to physical +treatment until the spiritual malaise's is resolved. This case has to find enough +courage to become honest with themselves, to admit their deeds in all their disgusting +detail and then to make amends, or if amends are not possible, to at least cease +and desist. They have to take personal responsibly for what they really are being +and what they have really done and most importantly, accept that they are responsible +for creating their own illness. It is not a virus, a cancer cell or something that +just fell out of the universe and struck them, innocent victims that they are. They +have made their illness and only they can uncreate it.<BR> +    Unfortunately, few people who have spent a lifetime indulging +themselves in this degree of irresponsibility have the integrity to change. This +is a tough case. Especially so because they think they are physically ill, they did +not come to me to be defined as a "mental" case and tend to reject such +approaches.<BR> +<CENTER> +<BR><HR width="100"><BR> +</CENTER> +<P>    There is no shortage of additional degenerative conditions +that I could describe. There are eating disorders, shingles, skin problems, kidney +disease, Alzheimer's, senility, mental illness, addictions, chronic fatigue syndrome, +aids. There's macular degeneration, carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic ear infections +(especially in children), tonsillitis, bronchitis, pancreatitis, cystitis, urethritis, +prostatitis, colitis, sinusitis, osteomyelitis and a dozen other itises, including +appendicitis. There's algias (itises of the nerves): neuralgia, fibromyalgia. There's +ism's (really itises of the muscles). There are 'onias like pneumonia; omas like +carcinoma, melanoma and lymphoma.<BR> +    I could (but won't) write a page or two on every one of these +conditions and turn this book into an encyclopedia. After twenty five years of practice, +there is little I have not seen. Or helped a body repair. Generally, everyone of +those following pages I'm not going to bother to write would repeat the same message. +That the medical profession has little understanding of the real causes or cures +of disease; that the world is full of unnecessary suffering; that there are simple, +painless, effective, harmless approaches to eliminating most of the ailments of mankind +except the ultimate ailment, old age, the thing that takes us all eventually; that +essentially all the diseases resolve from the same approach.<BR> +    But I have already explained the theoretical basis of natural +hygiene, the key role of toxemia, enervation, constipation, the essentials of good +diet, fasting and colon cleansing, the importance of regular exercise, and the rational +for vitamin supplementation. I have revealed a lot of the secrets in my bag of tricks, +like my favorite herbs, poultices and wheat grass.<BR> +    What concerns me most about medicine today is that there +seems to be ever fewer hygienists practicing. The young holistic practitioner is +overwhelmed with confusing data and approaches and is increasingly less able to discern +what is really important and what is distraction, and is increasingly intimidated +by the AMA, made fearful of accepting people with serious conditions. Too many young +practitioners become ideologues, clinging to the rightness of a single rigid discipline, +missing the truths that exist in other approaches and worse, missing the limitations +that exist in their own personal healing methods.<BR> +    The current concern about the cost of medical care and resorting +to government-run insurance programs and regulations will do little or nothing to +reverse the trend to more and more sickness that costs more and more to treat. The +root causes of our current crisis are two fold. One, our food, just as it comes off +the farm, is getting ever worse. This is not even recognized as a problem. After +we process it for an industrial food distribution system, much nutrition is lost +too. This is barely recognized as a problem. Until we are better nourished, we will +be ever sicker and each generation will become a degeneration. Secondly, our society +is suffering from all the evils of monopoly medicine. This is barely recognized. +The AMA has a stranglehold on the sick. There is no effective competition for its +methods. Alternatives are suppressed. In my version of a better world, if anyone +that wanted to could hang out a shingle and offer to diagnose, treat and cure disease, +a few quacks would really hurt a few people. But many genuine therapies would appear +and the public would be exposed to workable alternatives. If anyone that wanted to +market it could put a label on a bottle of pills, power or tincture that said its +contents would heal or cure disease, yes, a few people would be poisoned. And a few +would die needlessly by failing to get the right treatment. But on the positive side, +all this liberty would result in countless new therapies being rediscovered and many +new uses for existing substances would appear.<BR> +    Fundamentally, this is the issue of liberty. I believe it +is better to allow choice and options, to permit the dangers that go with liberty +to exist. And to allow unfortunate outcomes to occur without intervention into individual +lack of intelligence and irresponsibilities. The opposite is our current path--an +attempt to regulate and control away all dangers. But this overcontrol results in +institutionalized violence and cruelty, inefficiency that is not checked or exposed +by the bright light of a better way. As Churchill said, 'democracy is the worst form +of government there is--except for all the others.' What he meant is that we must +accept that this is an imperfect world. The best this planet can be is when it is +at its freest, when restrictions are minimized and when people are allowed to make +their own choices, be responsible for their own outcomes and experience the consequences +of their own stupidities. <BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<A NAME="Appendix"></A><FONT SIZE="4"><B>Appendix</B></FONT><BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<B>Pulse Testing For Allergies</B> <BR> +    Coca's Pulse Tests are extraordinarily useful and simple +tools for at-home allergy detection. My clients have succeeded at using this approach +without supervision. Coca's test works on this simple principle: pulse elevations +are caused by any allergic reaction. If you know what your normal range of pulse +rates are, you can isolate an offending food or substance and eliminate it. Success +with Coca's Pulse Test requires only motivation and a little perseverance, because +in order to test for food allergies, the diet must be restricted for a few days and +your pulse must be accurately taken at specific intervals during the testing period.<BR> +    The test is based on measurement of the resting pulse rate, +something most people have no difficulty learning how to do. The resting rate is +how fast the heart beats after a person has been sitting still, comfortably relaxing +for three to five minutes. When a person is active the heart beats faster than the +resting rate. One measure of aerobic fitness is how quickly the heart is able to +return to its resting rate. Well-trained athletes' hearts can adjust from working +very hard to a resting rate in only a minute or so; those who are deconditioned can +take three to five minutes for their heart to slow from even mild exertion to its +stable, resting pace. Those who cannot readily find their own pulse on their wrist +or throat can inexpensively purchase a digital watch that gives a pulse reading; +this kind of watch is used by athletes to make sure their training pulse is in an +acceptable range. <BR> +    Preparatory to doing Coca's Pulse Test it is necessary to +as much as possible eliminate allergic food reactions. This requires the application +of discipline for a few days before testing begins. Allergic reactions can go on +for several days after a food has been eaten and if you are having a reaction to +something eaten many hours or several days previously, it may obscure a reaction +to a food just eaten.<BR> +    1. Stop smoking entirely for at least five days before you +do a cigarette test; allergies to cigarettes can take five days to clear. Besides, +you shouldn't smoke, anyway!<BR> +    2. For the first three days, count your resting pulse immediately +after awakening in the morning (for one entire minute), and record the reading.<BR> +    3. During the first three days, take your resting pulse half +an hour and again one hour after each meal. It if has elevated more than 12 beats +above the resting rate you found upon arising that morning, you may assume that some +food at the meal you just ate was an allergen. Temporarily, eliminate from your diet +all the foods eaten at the previous meal until you can check them one-by-one a few +days later. At the end of these first three days you may not have many foods left +that you can eat. That is okay and to be expected; it is time to begin adding foods +back to the diet.<BR> +    4. Most people who are allergic to foods are allergic to +one or more of the following: corn, wheat, milk and cheese, yogurt, meat, alcohol, +tobacco. It would be very wise to eliminate these foods too for the first three days, +until they are tested.<BR> +    After three days on this regimen, you can assume that many +of your usual allergic food reactions have ceased or at least diminished significantly +and that you probably can get reasonably accurate testing results on individual foods. +A good indicator of having problems with food allergies in general can also show +up during these initial days. If you have eliminated a large number of foods and +your resting pulse upon awakening has slowed down by several beats, you can assume +you are allergic to foods you were eating.<BR> +    I would not be at all surprised that by the end of the third +day you were only eating a very few fruits and vegetables and had eliminated everything +else. A more effective variant of the testing procedure calls for a three or four +day water fast to clear all allergies with absolute certainty, and then to introduce +foods one at a time as described below.<BR> +    On the fourth and subsequent few days, take your resting +pulse upon arising and then eat a modest quantity of a single food: for example, +eat a slice of bread, or a medium sized glass of milk, or an orange, or two tablespoons +sugar in dissolved in water, or a few dried prunes, or a peach, or an egg, or a medium-sized +potato, or a cup of black coffee without sweetener, or a few ounces of meat, or a +stick of celery, or half a cup of raw cabbage, or an onion, or a date, or a few hazelnuts, +etc. Count the pulse one half hour later and again one hour after eating the test +item. <BR> +    If any food raises the resting pulse over 12 beats per minute +above your morning resting pulse, that food should be eliminated; you are certainly +allergic to it or can't digest that much of it. If your pulse has not returned to +its morning resting rate one hour later, you are still having an allergic reaction +to the food you ate previously and cannot get a decent result on another food until +either your pulse slows again or until the next morning. You may, however, continue +to eat other foods that you know do not provoke allergic reactions. Because reactions +to a food may not clear for many hours, it is wise to eat only small quantities of +individual foods if you wish to test many of them in a single day. If a food causes +no acceleration of pulse (at least 6 beats above your estimated normal maximal) that +food can be tentatively labeled non-allergenic.<BR> +    After a few days of testing one food an hour, you will become +weary of the routine and wish to eat more normally. It may also occur that you cannot +test more than one or two foods a day from the very first day because allergic reactions +do not clear quickly enough. No problem, the testing period can go on at a lower +level of intensity for many weeks, trying one new food each morning upon arising. +As you eliminate allergens from your diet one by one, your resting pulse should drop +somewhat and it should be easier to discern allergic reactions. After you have worked +through all the items in your normal dietary, it would be wise to retest the foods +a second time, breaking your fast with one different test item each morning. This +second testing round may reveal a few more allergic reactions that were obscured +by other allergic reactions the first time through.<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<B>Vitamin and Supplement Suppliers</B> <BR> +<BR> +Bronson Pharmaceutical<BR> +1945 Craig Road<BR> +P.O. Box 46903<BR> +St. Louis, MO 63146<BR> +[800] 525-8466 <BR> +<BR> +Douglas Cooper Products<BR> +Box 65976<BR> +Los Angeles, CA 90065<BR> +[800] 234-8686<BR> +<BR> +Prolongevity, Ltd.<BR> +10 Alden Road, Unit 6<BR> +Markham, Ontario L3R 2S1 <BR> +Canada<BR> +[800] 544-4440<BR> +<BR> +Prolongevity, Inc.<BR> +1142 W. Indian School Road<BR> +Phoenix, AZ 85013<BR> +[800] 544-4440<BR> +<BR> +Vitamin Research Products<BR> +3579 Hwy. 50 E.<BR> +Carson City, NV 89701<BR> +[800] 877-2447<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<B>Publishers Of Books Not Readily Findable</B><BR> +<BR> +Life Extension Foundation<BR> +2835 Hollywood Blvd.<BR> +Hollywood, Florida 33020<BR> +[800] 544-0577<BR> +I strongly recommend joining and regularly studying their newsletter. Besides, when +you do, Prolongevity will give you a significant discount that amounts to far more +than the cost of a membership if you use many food supplements.<BR> +<BR> +Health Research Publishing<BR> +P.O. Box 70<BR> +Mokelumne Hill, CA 95245<BR> +Find here reprints of all the old classics of natural hygiene.<BR> +<BR> +American Natural Hygiene Society<BR> +Herbert Shelton Library<BR> +P.O. Box 30630<BR> +Tampa, Florida 33630<BR> +Find here all of Herbert Shelton's works.<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<B>Bibliography</B> + +<OL> + <LI>Airola, P. N. D., PhD (1974). <I>How to Get Well.</I> Phoenix: Health Plus Publishers. + <LI>Albrecht, W. A. (1975). <I>The Albrecht Papers</I>. Kansas City: Acres, USA. + <LI>Alexander, J. (1990). <I>Blatant Raw Foodist Propaganda!</I> Nevada City, California: + Blue Dolphin Publishing, Inc. + <LI>Alsleben, Rudolph H. and Shute, Wilfred E. (1973).<I> How to Survive the New + Health Catastrophes.</I> Anaheim, CA: Survival Publications. + <LI>de Baïracli Levy, Juliette. (1953) <I>The Complete Herbal Handbook for The + Dog and Cat.</I> London: Faber and Faber. + <LI>de Baïracli Levy, Juliette. (1954) <I>The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm + and Stable.</I> London: Faber and Faber. + <LI>Bieler, H. G., M.D. (1965). <I>Food Is Your Best Medicine</I>. New York: Random + House. Also Bantam paperback. + <LI>Bliznakov, Emile G., M.D. and Hunt, Gerald L. (1987) <I>The Miracle Nutrient: + Coenzyme Q-10.</I> New York: Bantam Books. + <LI>Carrel, A. (1939). <I>Man the Unknown.</I> London. + <LI>Carrington, H. (1963). <I>Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition</I> (reprint of original + ca. 1900 edition). Mokelumne Hill, California: Health Research. + <LI>Clark, J. (1957). <I>Hunza: Lost Kingdom of the Himalayas.</I> London: Hutchinson. + <LI>Coca, Arthur F., M.D. (1956) <I>The Pulse Test: Easy Allergy Detection.</I> New + York: Lyle Stuart, Inc. (Also 1978 paperback edition. New York: Arco Publishing Co.) + <LI>Cornaro, L. (1566). <I>Discourses on the Sober Life</I> (reprint: has been through + many reprintings by various publishers). Mokelumne Hill, California: Health Research. + <LI>Densmore, E. M. D. (1892). <I>How Nature Cures</I> (Reprinted 1976 by Health + Research, Mokelumne Hill, California). New York: Stillman & Co. + <LI>DeVries, A. (1963). <I>Therapeutic Fasting.</I> Greene, Iowa: Chandler Book Co. + <LI>Garten, M.O., D.C. (1958) <I>The Dynamics of Vibrant Health.</I> Dulzura, CA: + Author. + <LI>Gerson, M., M.D. (1958). <I>A Cancer Therapy: Results of Fifty Cases. </I>DelMar, + California: Totality Books. + <LI>Gray, R. (1980). <I>The Colon Health Handbook</I>. Oakland, California: Rockridge + Publishing Company. + <LI>Hazzard, L. B. D. O. (1927). <I>Scientific Fasting: The Ancient and Modern Key + to Health</I> (also Mokelume Hill reprint of original). New York: Grant Publications. + <LI>Hawking, David and Pauling, Linus, editors. (1973) <I>Orthomolecular Psychiatry: + Treatment of Schizophrenia.</I> San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Company. + <LI>Hoffer, Abram and Walker, Morton. 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(1946). <I>Getting Well.</I> San Antonio, Texas: Dr. Shelton's + Health School. + <LI>Shelton, H. M. (1951). <I>Food Combining Made Easy.</I> San Antonio, Texas: Dr. + Shelton's Health School. + <LI>Shelton, H. M. (1958). <I>Human Beauty: Its Culture and Hygiene.</I> San Antonio: + Shelton's Health School. + <LI>Shelton, H. M. (1971). <I>Exercise!</I> Chicago: Natural Hygiene Press. + <LI>Sherton, H. M. (1968). <I>Natural Hygiene: Man's Pristine Way of Life. </I>San + Antonio, Texas: Shelton's Health School. + <LI>Sinclair, H. M. (Ed.). (1953). <I>The Work of Sir Robert McCarrison. </I>London: + Faber and Faber. + <LI>Sinclair, Upton. (1921). <I>The Fasting Cure</I> (Health Research Reprint, Mokelumne + Hill, California, 1955). Pasedena, California: Originally published by the author. + <LI>Taylor, R. (1964). <I>Hunza Health Secrets for Long Life and Happiness</I>. New + York: Award Books. + <LI>Tilden, J. H., M.D. (1912). <I>Diseases of Women and Easy Childbirth </I>(Reprinted + 1962 by Health Research, Mokelumne Hill, CA). Denver: Smith Books Press. + <LI>Tilden, J. H., M.D. (1921). <I>Appendicitis</I> (Reprinted by Health Research, + Mokelumne Hill, CA, 1976). Denver: John Tilden. + <LI>Tilden, J. H., M.D. (1921). <I>Impaired Health: Its Cause and Cure</I> (reprint + of original ca. 1920). Mokelumne Hill, California: Health Research. + <LI>Tilden, J. H., M.D. (1939). <I>Constipation: A New Reading on the Subject</I> + (Reprinted 1960 by Health Research, Mokelumne Hill, California). Denver, Colorado: + John Tilden. + <LI>Tilden, J. H., M.D., & Trail, R. T., M.D. (1926). <I>Toxemia Explained & + The True Healing Art</I> (reprint of two original articles; also available through + Health Research). Yorktown, Texas: Life Science. + <LI>Voisin, André. (1959). <I>Soil, Grass and Cancer.</I> New York: Philos. + Library. + <LI>Voisin, A. (1963). <I>Grass Tetany.</I> London: Crosby Lockwood and Son Ltd. + <LI>Walford, Roy L. M.D. (1983) <I>Maximum Lifespan.</I> New York: Avon, 1983. + <LI>Walford, Roy L. M.D. (1986) <I>The 120-Year Diet: How to Double Your Vital Years.</I> + New York: Simon and Schuster. + <LI>Weindruch, Richard and Walford, Roy L. (1989) <I>The Retardation of Aging and + Disease by Dietary Restriction.</I> Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas. + <LI>Whorton, J. (1974). <I>Before Silent Spring: Pesticides and Public Health in + Pre-DDT America.</I> Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. + <LI>Wigmore, Ann D.D. (1964) <I>Why Suffer? The Answer? Wheatgrass God's Manna!</I> + Boston: Hippocrates Health Institute. + <LI>Williams, R. J. (1971). <I>Nutrition Against Disease.</I> New York: Pitmann. + <LI>Williams, R. J. (1975). <I>Physicians' Handbook of Nutritional Science.</I> Springfield, + Illinois: Charles W. Thomas. + <LI>Wrench, G. T., M.D. (1938). <I>The Wheel of Health </I>(Reprinted 1960 by the + Lee Foundation for Nutritional Research; Reprinted by Bernard Jensen International, + Escondido, CA, 1990. ed.). London: C.W. Daniel Company Ltd. + <LI>Wylie, H. W. (1915). <I>Not By Bread Alone: The Principles of Human Nutrition.</I> + New York: Hearst's International Library. + <LI>Wylie, H. W. (1929). <I>The History of a Crime Against the Food Law </I>(Reproduced + by Lee Foundation for Nutritional Research, Milwaukee, 1955 ed.). Washington, D.C.: + H. W. Wylie. + <LI>Wylie, H. W. (1930). <I>An Autobiography.</I> Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill. +</OL> + +</BODY> + +</HTML> diff --git a/old/4343.txt b/old/4343.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..011eecc --- /dev/null +++ b/old/4343.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11223 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of How and When to Be Your Own Doctor +by Dr. Isabelle A. Moser with Steve Solomon + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. 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Hart +and may be reprinted only when these Etexts are free of all fees.] +[Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be used in any sales +of Project Gutenberg Etexts or other materials be they hardware or +software or any other related product without express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.10/04/01*END* + + + + + + +Created by: Steve Solomon ssolomon@soilandhealth.org + + + + +How and When to Be Your Own Doctor + +by Dr. Isabelle A. Moser with Steve Solomon + +Steve Solomon, June, 1997. + + + + + + +Table of Contents + +Forward by Steve Solomon +Chapter One: How I Became a Hygienist +Chapter Two: The Nature and Cause of Disease +Chapter Three: Fasting +Chapter Four: Colon Cleansing +Chapter Five: Diet and Nutrition +Chapter Six: Vitamins and Other Food Supplements +Chapter Seven: The Analysis of Disease States--Helping the Body +Recover +Appendices + + + + + + +Forward + +_Tis a gift to be simple +Tis a gift to be free, +Tis a gift to come down +Where we ought to be. +And when we find ourselves +In a place just right, +It will be in the valley +Of love and delight._ + +Old Shaker Hymn + +Favorite of Dr. Isabelle Moser + + + + + +I was a physically tough, happy-go-lucky fellow until I reached my +late thirties. Then I began to experience more and more off days +when I did not feel quite right. I thought I possessed an iron +constitution. Although I grew a big food garden and ate mostly +"vegetablitarian" I thought I could eat anything with impunity. I +had been fond of drinking beer with my friends while nibbling on +salty snacks or heavy foods late into the night. And until my health +began to weaken I could still get up the next morning after several +homebrewed beers, feeling good, and would put in a solid day's work. + +When my health began to slip I went looking for a cure. Up to that +time the only use I'd had for doctors was to fix a few traumatic +injuries. The only preventative health care I concerned myself with +was to take a multivitamin pill during those rare spells when I felt +a bit run down and to eat lots of vegetables. So I'd not learned +much about alternative health care. + +Naturally, my first stop was a local general practitioner/MD. He +gave me his usual half-hour get-acquainted checkout and opined that +there almost certainly was nothing wrong with me. I suspect I had +the good fortune to encounter an honest doctor, because he also said +if it were my wish he could send me around for numerous tests but +most likely these would not reveal anything either. More than +likely, all that was wrong was that I was approaching 40; with the +onset of middle age I would naturally have more aches and pains. +'Take some aspirin and get used to it,' was his advice. 'It'll only +get worse.' + +Not satisfied with his dismal prognosis I asked an energetic old guy +I knew named Paul, an '80-something homesteader who was renowned for +his organic garden and his good health. Paul referred me to his +doctor, Isabelle Moser, who at that time was running the Great Oaks +School of Health, a residential and out-patient spa nearby at +Creswell, Oregon. + +Dr. Moser had very different methods of analysis than the medicos, +was warmly personal and seemed very safe to talk to. She looked me +over, did some strange magical thing she called muscle testing and +concluded that I still had a very strong constitution. If I would +eliminate certain "bad" foods from my diet, eliminate some generally +healthful foods that, unfortunately, I was allergic to, if I would +reduce my alcohol intake greatly and take some food supplements, +then gradually my symptoms would abate. With the persistent +application of a little self-discipline over several months, maybe +six months, I could feel really well again almost all the time and +would probably continue that way for many years to come. This was +good news, though the need to apply personal responsibility toward +the solution of my problem seemed a little sobering. + +But I could also see that Dr. Moser was obviously not telling me +something. So I gently pressed her for the rest. A little shyly, +reluctantly, as though she were used to being rebuffed for making +such suggestions, Isabelle asked me if I had ever heard of fasting? +"Yes," I said. "I had. Once when I was about twenty and staying at a +farm in Missouri, during a bad flu I actually did fast, mainly +because I was too sick to take anything but water for nearly one +week." + +"Why do you ask?" I demanded. + +"If you would fast, you will start feeling really good as soon as +the fast is over." she said. + +"Fast? How long?" + +"Some have fasted for a month or even longer," she said. Then she +observed my crestfallen expression and added, "Even a couple of +weeks would make an enormous difference." + +It just so happened that I was in between set-up stages for a new +mail-order business I was starting and right then I did have a +couple of weeks when I was virtually free of responsibility. I could +also face the idea of not eating for a couple of weeks. "Okay!" I +said somewhat impulsively. "I could fast for two weeks. If I start +right now maybe even three weeks, depending on how my schedule works +out." + +So in short order I was given several small books about fasting to +read at home and was mentally preparing myself for several weeks of +severe privation, my only sustenance to be water and herb tea +without sweetener. And then came the clinker. + +"Have you ever heard of colonics?" she asked sweetly. + +"Yes. Weird practice, akin to anal sex or something?" + +"Not at all," she responded. "Colonics are essential during fasting +or you will have spells when you'll feel terrible. Only colonics +make water fasting comfortable and safe." + +Then followed some explanation about bowel cleansing (and another +little book to take home) and soon I was agreeing to get my body +over to her place for a colonic every two or three days during the +fasting period, the first colonic scheduled for the next afternoon. +I'll spare you a detailed description of my first fast with +colonics; you'll read about others shortly. In the end I withstood +the boredom of water fasting for 17 days. During the fast I had +about 7 colonics. I ended up feeling great, much trimmer, with an +enormous rebirth of energy. And when I resumed eating it turned out +to be slightly easier to control my dietary habits and appetites. + +Thus began my practice of an annual health-building water fast. Once +a year, at whatever season it seemed propitious, I'd set aside a +couple of weeks to heal my body. While fasting I'd slowly drive +myself over to Great Oaks School for colonics every other day. By +the end of my third annual fast in 1981, Isabelle and I had become +great friends. About this same time Isabelle's relationship with her +first husband, Douglas Moser, had disintegrated. Some months later, +Isabelle and I became partners. And then we married. + +My regular fasts continued through 1984, by which time I had +recovered my fundamental organic vigor and had retrained my dietary +habits. About 1983 Isabelle and I also began using Life Extension +megavitamins as a therapy against the aging process. Feeling so much +better I began to find the incredibly boring weeks of prophylactic +fasting too difficult to motivate myself to do, and I stopped. Since +that time I fast only when acutely ill. Generally less than one week +on water handles any non-optimum health condition I've had since +'84. I am only 54 years old as I write these words, so I hope it +will be many, many years before I find myself in the position where +I have to fast for an extended period to deal with a serious or +life-threatening condition. + +I am a kind of person the Spanish call _autodidactico,_ meaning that +I prefer to teach myself. I had already learned the fine art of +self-employment and general small-business practice that way, as +well as radio and electronic theory, typography and graphic design, +the garden seed business, horticulture, and agronomy. When Isabelle +moved in with me she also brought most of Great Oak's extensive +library, including very hard to obtain copies of the works of the +early hygienic doctors. Naturally I studied her books intensely. + +Isabelle also brought her medical practice into our house. At first +it was only a few loyal local clients who continued to consult with +her on an out-patient basis, but after a few years, the demands for +residential care from people who were seriously and sometimes +life-threateningly sick grew irresistibly, and I found myself +sharing our family house with a parade of really sick people. True, +I was not their doctor, but because her residential clients became +temporary parts of our family, I helped support and encourage our +residents through their fasting process. I'm a natural teacher (and +how-to-do-it writer), so I found myself explaining many aspects of +hygienic medicine to Isabelle's clients, while having a first-hand +opportunity to observe for myself the healing process at work. Thus +it was that I became the doctor's assistant and came to practice +second-hand hygienic medicine. + +In 1994, when Isabelle had reached the age of 54, she began to think +about passing on her life's accumulation of healing wisdom by +writing a book. She had no experience at writing for the popular +market, her only major writing being a Ph.D. dissertation. I on the +other hand had published seven books about vegetable gardening. And +I grasped the essentials of her wisdom as well as any +non-practitioner could. So we took a summer off and rented a house +in rural Costa Rica, where I helped Isabelle put down her thoughts +on a cheap word-processing typewriter. When we returned to the +States, I fired-up my "big-mac" and composed this manuscript into a +rough book format that was given to some of her clients to get what +is trendily called these days, "feedback." + +But before we could completely finish her book, Isabelle became +dangerously ill and after a long, painful struggle with abdominal +cancer, she died. After I resurfaced from the worst of my grief and +loss, I decided to finish her book. Fortunately, the manuscript +needed little more than polishing. I am telling the reader these +things because many ghost-written books end up having little direct +connection with the originator of the thoughts. Not so in this case. +And unlike many ghost writers, I had a long and loving +apprenticeship with the author. At every step of our colaboration on +this book I have made every effort to communicate Isabelle's +viewpoints in the way she would speak, not my own. Dr. Isabelle +Moser was for many years my dearest friend. I have worked on this +book to help her pass her understanding on. + +Many people consider death to be a complete invalidation of a +healing arts practitioner. I don't. Coping with her own dicey health +had been a major motivator for Isabelle's interest in healing +others. She will tell you more about it in the chapters to come. +Isabelle had been fending off cancer since its first blow up when +she was 26 years old. I view that 30 plus years of defeating Death +as a great success rather than consider her ultimate defeat as a +failure. + +Isabelle Moser was born in 1940 and died in 1996. I think the +greatest accomplishment of her 56 years was to meld virtually all +available knowledge about health and healing into a workable and +most importantly, a simple model that allowed her to have amazing +success. Her "system" is simple enough that even a generally +well-educated non-medico like me can grasp it. And use it without +consulting a doctor every time a symptom appears. + +Finally, I should mention that over the years since this book was +written I have discovered contains some significant errors of +anatomical or psysiological detail. Most of these happened because +the book was written "off the top of Isabelle's head," without any +reference materials at hand, not even an anatomy text. I have not +fixed these goofs as I am not even qualified to find them all. Thus, +when the reader reads such as 'the pancreas secreates enzymes into +the stomach,' (actually and correctly, the duodenum) I hope they +will understand and not invalidate the entire book. + + + + + + +Chapter One + +How I Became a Hygienist + + + + + +From The Hygienic Dictionary + +Doctors. [1] In the matter of disease and healing, the people have +been treated as serfs. The doctor is a dictator who knows it all, +and the people are stupid, dumb, driven cattle, fit for nothing +except to be herded together, bucked and gagged when necessary to +force medical opinion down their throats or under their skins. I +found that professional dignity was more often pomposity, sordid +bigotry and gilded ignorance. The average physician is a +fear-monger, if he is anything. He goes about like a roaring lion, +seeking whom he may scare to death. _Dr. John. H. Tilden, Impaired +Health: Its Cause and Cure, Vol. 1, 1921._ [2] Today we are not only +in the Nuclear Age but also the Antibiotic Age. Unhappily, too, this +is the Dark Age of Medicine--an age in which many of my colleagues, +when confronted with a patient, consult a volume which rivals the +Manhattan telephone directory in size. This book contains the names +of thousands upon thousands of drugs used to alleviate the +distressing symptoms of a host of diseased states of the body. The +doctor then decides which pink or purple or baby-blue pill to +prescribe for the patient. This is not, in my opinion, the practice +of medicine. Far too many of these new "miracle" drugs are +introduced with fanfare and then reveled as lethal in character, to +be silently discarded for newer and more powerful drugs. _Dr. Henry +Bieler: Food is Your Best Medicine; 1965._ + +I have two reasons for writing this book. One, to help educate the +general public about the virtues of natural medicine. The second, to +encourage the next generation of natural healers. Especially the +second because it is not easy to become a natural hygienist; there +is no school or college or licensing board. + +Most AMA-affiliated physicians follow predictable career paths, +straight well-marked roads, climbing through apprenticeships in +established institutions to high financial rewards and social +status. Practitioners of natural medicine are not awarded equally +high status, rarely do we become wealthy, and often, naturopaths +arrive at their profession rather late in life after following the +tangled web of their own inner light. So I think it is worth a few +pages to explain how I came to practice a dangerous profession and +why I have accepted the daily risks of police prosecution and civil +liability without possibility of insurance. + +Sometimes it seems to me that I began this lifetime powerfully +predisposed to heal others. So, just for childhood warm-ups I was +born into a family that would be much in need of my help. As I've +always disliked an easy win, to make rendering that help even more +difficult, I decided to be the youngest child, with two older +brothers. + +A pair of big, capable brothers might have guided and shielded me. +But my life did not work out that way. The younger of my two +brothers, three years ahead of me, was born with many health +problems. He was weak, small, always ill, and in need of protection +from other children, who are generally rough and cruel. My father +abandoned our family shortly after I was born; it fell to my mother +to work to help support us. Before I was adolescent my older brother +left home to pursue a career in the Canadian Air Force. + +Though I was the youngest, I was by far the healthiest. +Consequently, I had to pretty much raise myself while my single +mother struggled to earn a living in rural western Canada. This +circumstance probably reinforced my constitutional predilection for +independent thought and action. Early on I started to protect my +"little" brother, making sure the local bullies didn't take +advantage of him. I learned to fight big boys and win. I also helped +him acquire simple skills, ones that most kids grasp without +difficulty, such as swimming, bike riding, tree climbing, etc. + +And though not yet adolescent, I had to function as a responsible +adult in our household. Stressed by anger over her situation and the +difficulties of earning our living as a country school teacher +(usually in remote one-room schools), my mother's health +deteriorated rapidly. As she steadily lost energy and became less +able to take care of the home, I took over more and more of the +cleaning, cooking, and learned how to manage her--a person who feels +terrible but must work to survive. + +During school hours my mother was able to present a positive +attitude, and was truly a gifted teacher. However, she had a +personality quirk. She obstinately preferred to help the most able +students become even more able, but she had little desire to help +those with marginal mentalities. This predilection got her into no +end of trouble with local school boards; inevitably it seemed the +District Chairman would have a stupid, badly-behaved child that my +mother refused to cater to. Several times we had to move in the +middle of the school year when she was dismissed without notice for +"insubordination." This would inevitably happen on the frigid +Canadian Prairies during mid-winter. + +At night, exhausted by the day's efforts, my mother's positiveness +dissipated and she allowed her mind to drift into negative thoughts, +complaining endlessly about my irresponsible father and about how +much she disliked him for treating her so badly. These emotions and +their irresponsible expression were very difficult for me to deal +with as a child, but it taught me to work on diverting someone's +negative thoughts, and to avoid getting dragged into them myself, +skills I had to use continually much later on when I began to manage +mentally and physically ill clients on a residential basis. + +My own personal health problems had their genesis long before my own +birth. Our diet was awful, with very little fresh fruit or +vegetables. We normally had canned, evaporated milk, though there +were a few rare times when raw milk and free-range fertile farm eggs +were available from neighbors. Most of my foods were heavily salted +or sugared, and we ate a great deal of fat in the form of lard. My +mother had little money but she had no idea that some of the most +nutritious foods are also the least expensive. + +It is no surprise to me that considering her nutrient-poor, +fat-laden diet and stressful life, my mother eventually developed +severe gall bladder problems. Her degeneration caused progressively +more and more severe pain until she had a cholecystectomy. The +gallbladder's profound deterioration had damaged her liver as well, +seeming to her surgeon to require the removal of half her liver. +After this surgical insult she had to stop working and never +regained her health. Fortunately, by this time all her children were +independent. + +I had still more to overcome. My eldest brother had a nervous +breakdown while working on the DEW Line (he was posted on the Arctic +Circle watching radar screens for a possible incoming attack from +Russia). I believe his collapse actually began with our childhood +nutrition. While in the Arctic all his foods came from cans. He also +was working long hours in extremely cramped quarters with no leave +for months in a row, never going outside because of the cold, or +having the benefit of natural daylight. + +When he was still in the acute stage of his illness (I was still a +teenager myself) I went to the hospital where my bother was being +held, and talked the attending psychiatrist into immediately +discharging him into my care. The physician also agreed to refrain +from giving him electroshock therapy, a commonly used treatment for +mental conditions in Canadian hospitals at that time. Somehow I knew +the treatment they were using was wrong. + +I brought my brother home still on heavy doses of thorazine. The +side effects of this drug were so severe he could barely exist: +blurred vision, clenched jaw, trembling hands, and restless feet +that could not be kept still. These are common problems with the +older generation of psycho tropic medications, generally controlled +to some extent with still other drugs like cogentin (which he was +taking too). + +My brother steadily reduced his tranquilizers until he was able to +think and do a few things. On his own he started taking a lot of B +vitamins and eating whole grains. I do not know exactly why he did +this, but I believe he was following his intuition. (I personally +did not know enough to suggest a natural approach at that time.) In +any case after three months on vitamins and an improved diet he no +long needed any medication, and was delighted to be free of their +side effects. He remained somewhat emotionally fragile for a few +more months but he soon returned to work, and has had no mental +trouble from that time to this day. This was the beginning of my +interest in mental illness, and my first exposure to the limitations +of 'modern' psychiatry. + +I always preferred self-discipline to being directed by others. So I +took every advantage of having a teacher for a mother and studied at +home instead of being bored silly in a classroom. In Canada of that +era you didn't have to go to high school to enter university, you +only had to pass the written government entrance exams. At age 16, +never having spent a single day in high school, I passed the +university entrance exams with a grade of 97 percent. At that point +in my life I really wanted to go to medical school and become a +doctor, but I didn't have the financial backing to embark on such a +long and costly course of study, so I settled on a four year nursing +course at the University of Alberta, with all my expenses paid in +exchange for work at the university teaching hospital. + +At the start of my nurses training I was intensely curious about +everything in the hospital: birth, death, surgery, illness, etc. I +found most births to be joyful, at least when everything came out +all right. Most people died very alone in the hospital, terrified if +they were conscious, and all seemed totally unprepared for death, +emotionally or spiritually. None of the hospital staff wanted to be +with a dying person except me; most hospital staff were unable to +confront death any more bravely than those who were dying. So I made +it a point of being at the death bed. The doctors and nurses found +it extremely unpleasant to have to deal with the preparation of the +dead body for the morgue; this chore usually fell to me also. I did +not mind dead bodies. They certainly did not mind me! + +I had the most difficulty accepting surgery. There were times when +surgery was clearly a life saving intervention, particularly when +the person had incurred a traumatic injury, but there were many +other cases when, though the knife was the treatment of choice, the +results were disastrous. + +Whenever I think of surgery, my recollections always go to a man +with cancer of the larynx. At that time the University of Alberta +had the most respected surgeons and cancer specialists in the +country. To treat cancer they invariably did surgery, plus radiation +and chemotherapy to eradicate all traces of cancerous tissue in the +body, but they seemed to forget there also was a human being +residing in that very same cancerous body. This particularly +unfortunate man came into our hospital as a whole human being, +though sick with cancer. He could still speak, eat, swallow, and +looked normal. But after surgery he had no larynx, nor esophagus, +nor tongue, and no lower jaw. + +The head surgeon, who, by the way, was considered to be a virtual +god amongst gods, came back from the operating room smiling from ear +to ear, announcing proudly that he had 'got all the cancer'. But +when I saw the result I thought he'd done a butcher's job. The +victim couldn't speak at all, nor eat except through a tube, and he +looked grotesque. Worst, he had lost all will to live. I thought the +man would have been much better off to keep his body parts as long +as he could, and die a whole person able to speak, eating if he felt +like it, being with friends and family without inspiring a gasp of +horror. + +I was sure there must be better ways of dealing with degenerative +conditions such as cancer, but I had no idea what they might be or +how to find out. There was no literature on medical alternatives in +the university library, and no one in the medical school ever hinted +at the possibility except when the doctors took jabs at +chiropractors. Since no one else viewed the situation as I did I +started to think I might be in the wrong profession. + +It also bothered me that patients were not respected, were not +people; they were considered a "case" or a "condition." I was +frequently reprimanded for wasting time talking to patients, trying +to get acquainted. The only place in the hospital where human +contact was acceptable was the psychiatric ward. So I enjoyed the +rotation to psychiatry for that reason, and decided that I would +like to make psychiatry or psychology my specialty. + +By the time I finished nursing school, it was clear that the +hospital was not for me. I especially didn't like its rigid +hierarchical system, where all bowed down to the doctors. The very +first week in school we were taught that when entering a elevator, +make sure that the doctor entered first, then the intern, then the +charge nurse. Followed by, in declining order of status: graduate +nurses, third year nurses, second year nurses, first year nurses, +then nursing aids, then orderlies, then ward clerks, and only then, +the cleaning staff. No matter what the doctor said, the nurse was +supposed to do it immediately without question--a very military sort +of organization. + +Nursing school wasn't all bad. I learned how to take care of all +kinds of people with every variety of illness. I demonstrated for +myself that simple nursing care could support a struggling body +through its natural healing process. But the doctor-gods tended to +belittle and denigrate nurses. No wonder--so much of nursing care +consists of unpleasant chores like bed baths, giving enemas and +dealing with other bodily functions. + +I also studied the state-of-the-art science concerning every +conceivable medical condition, its symptoms, and treatment. At the +university hospital nurses were required to take the same pre-med +courses as the doctors--including anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, +and pharmacology. Consequently, I think it is essential for holistic +healers to first ground themselves in the basic sciences of the +body's physiological systems. There is also much valuable data in +standard medical texts about the digestion, assimilation, and +elimination. To really understand illness, the alternative +practitioner must be fully aware of the proper functioning of the +cardiovascular/pulmonary system, the autonomic and voluntary nervous +system, the endocrine system, plus the mechanics and detailed +nomenclature of the skeleton, muscles, tendons and ligaments. Also +it is helpful to know the conventional medical models for treating +various disorders, because they do appear to work well for some +people, and should not be totally invalidated simply on the basis of +one's philosophical or religious viewpoints. + +Many otherwise well-meaning holistic practitioners, lacking an +honest grounding in science, sometimes express their understanding +of the human body in non-scientific, metaphysical terms that can +seem absurd to the well-instructed. I am not denying here that there +is a spiritual aspect to health and illness; I believe there are +energy flows in and around the body that can effect physiological +functioning. I am only suggesting that to discuss illness without +hard science is like calling oneself a abstract artist because the +painter has no ability to even do a simple, accurate +representational drawing of a human figure. + +Though hospital life had already become distasteful to me I was +young and poor when I graduated. So after nursing school I buckled +down and worked just long enough to save enough money to obtain a +masters degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of British +Columbia. Then I started working at Riverview Hospital in Vancouver, +B.C., doing diagnostic testing, and group therapy, mostly with +psychotic people. At Riverview I had a three-year-long opportunity +to observe the results of conventional psychiatric treatment. + +The first thing I noticed was the 'revolving door' phenomena. That +is, people go out, and then they're back in, over and over again, +demonstrating that standard treatment--drugs, electroshock and group +therapy--had been ineffective. Worse, the treatments given at +Riverside were dangerous, often with long term side effects that +were more damaging than the disease being treated. It felt like +nursing school all over again; in the core of my being I somehow +knew there was a better way, a more effective way of helping people +to regain their mental health. Feeling like an outsider, I started +investigating the hospital's nooks and crannies. Much to my +surprise, in a back ward, one not open to the public, I noticed a +number of people with bright purple skins. + +I asked the staff about this and every one of the psychiatrists +denied these patients existed. This outright and widely-agreed-upon +lie really raised my curiosity. Finally after pouring through the +journals in the hospital library I found an article describing +psycho tropic-drug-induced disruptions of melanin (the dark skin +pigment). Thorazine, a commonly used psychiatric drug, when taken in +high doses over a long period of time would do this. Excess melanin +eventually was deposited in vital organs such as the heart and the +liver, causing death. + +I found it especially upsetting to see patients receive electroshock +treatments. These violent, physician-induced traumas did seem to +disrupt dysfunctional thought patterns such as an impulse to commit +suicide, but afterwards the victim couldn't remember huge parts of +their life or even recall who they were. Like many other dangerous +medical treatments, electroshock can save life but it can also take +life away by obliterating identity. + +According the Hippocratic Oath, the first criteria of a treatment is +that it should do no harm. Once again I found myself trapped in a +system that made me feel severe protest. Yet none of these +specialists or university professors, or academic libraries had any +information about alternatives. Worse, none of these mind-doctor-gods +were even looking for better treatments. + +Though unpleasant and profoundly disappointing, my experience as a +mental hospital psychologist was, like being in nursing school, also +very valuable. Not only did I learn how to diagnose, and evaluate +the severity of mental illness and assess the dangerousness of the +mentally ill, I learned to understand them, to feel comfortable with +them, and found that I was never afraid of them. Fearlessness is a +huge advantage. The mentally ill seem to have a heightened ability +to spot fear in others. If they sense that you are afraid they +frequently enjoy terrorizing you. When psychotic people know you +feel comfortable with them, and probably understand a great deal of +what they are experiencing, when they know that you can and intend +to control them, they experience a huge sense of relief. I could +always get mentally ill people to tell me what was really going on +in their heads when no one else could get them to communicate. + +A few years later I married an American and became the Mental Health +Coordinator for Whatcom County, the northwestern corner of +Washington State. I handled all the legal proceedings in the county +for mentally ill people. After treatment in the state mental +hospital I supervised their reentry into the community, and +attempted to provide some follow up. This work further confirmed my +conclusions that in most cases the mentally ill weren't helped by +conventional treatment. Most of them rapidly became social problems +after discharge. It seemed the mental hospital's only ethically +defensible function was incarceration--providing temporary relief +for the family and community from the mentally ill person's +destructiveness. + +I did see a few people recover in the mental health system. +Inevitably these were young, and had not yet become +institutionalized, a term describing someone who comes to like being +in the hospital because confinement feels safe. Hospitalization can +mean three square meals and a bed. It frequently means an +opportunity to have a sex life (many female inmates are highly +promiscuous). Many psychotics are also criminal; the hospital seems +far better to them than jail. Many chronically mentally ill are also +experts at manipulating the system. When homeless, they deliberately +get hospitalized for some outrageous deed just before winter. They +then "recover" when the fine weather of spring returns. + +After a year as Mental Health Co-ordinator, I had enough of the +"system" and decided that it was as good a time as any to return to +school for a Ph.D., this time at University. of Oregon where I +studied clinical and counseling psychology and gerontology. While in +graduate school I became pregnant and had my first child. Not +surprisingly, this experience profoundly changed my consciousness. I +realized that it had perhaps been all right for me to be somewhat +irresponsible about my own nutrition and health, but that it was not +okay to inflict poor nutrition on my unborn child. At that time I +was addicted to salty, deep-fat fried corn chips and a diet pop. I +thought I had to have these so-called foods every day. I tended to +eat for taste, in other words, what I liked, not necessarily what +would give me the best nutrition. I was also eating a lot of what +most people would consider healthy food: meat, cheese, milk, whole +grains, nuts, vegetables, and fruits. + +My constitution had seemed strong and vital enough through my +twenties to allow this level of dietary irresponsibility. During my +early 20s I had even recovered from a breast cancer by sheer will +power. (I will discuss this later.) So before my pregnancy I had not +questioned my eating habits. + +As my body changed and adapted itself to it's new purpose I began +visiting the libraries and voraciously read everything obtainable +under the topic of nutrition--all the texts, current magazines, +nutritional journals, and health newsletters. My childhood habit of +self-directed study paid off. I discovered alternative health +magazines like Let's Live, Prevention, Organic Gardening, and Best +Ways, and promptly obtained every back issue since they were first +published. Along the way I ran into articles by Linus Pauling on +vitamin C, and sent away for all of his books, one of these was +co-authored with David Hawkins, called The Orthomolecular Approach +to Mental Disorders. + +This book had a profound effect on me. I instantly recognized that +it was Truth with a capital "T", although the orthomolecular +approach was clearly in opposition to the established medical model +and contradicted everything I had ever learned as a student or +professional. Here at last was the exciting alternative approach to +treating mental disorders I had so long sought. I filed this +information away, waiting for an opportunity to use it. And I began +to study all the references in The Orthomolecular Approach to Mental +Disorders dealing with correcting the perceptual functioning of +psychotic people using natural substances. + +In the course of delving through libraries and book stores, I also +came across the Mokelumne Hill Publishing Company (now defunct). +This obscure publisher reprinted many unusual and generally crudely +reproduced out-of-print books about raw foods diets, hygienic +medicine, fruitarianism, fasting, breathairianism, plus some works +discussing spiritual aspects of living that were far more esoteric +than I had ever thought existed. I decided that weird or not, I +might as well find out everything potentially useful. So I spent a +lot of money ordering their books. Some of Mokelumne Hill's material +really expanded my thoughts. Though much of it seemed totally +outrageous, in every book there usually was one line, one paragraph, +or if I was lucky one whole chapter that rang true for me. + +Recognizing capital "T" Truth when one sees it is one of the most +important abilities a person can have. Unfortunately, every aspect +of our mass educational system attempts to invalidate this skill. +Students are repeatedly told that derivation from recognized +authority and/or the scientific method are the only valid means to +assess the validity of data. But there is another parallel method to +determine the truth or falsehood of information: Knowing. We Know by +the simple method of looking at something and recognizing its +correctness. It is a spiritual ability. I believe we all have it. +But in my case, I never lost the ability to Know because I almost +never attended school. + +Thus it is that I am absolutely certain How and When to Be Your Own +Doctor will be recognized as Truth by some of my readers and +rejected as unscientific, unsubstantiated, or anecdotal information +by others. I accept this limitation on my ability to teach. If what +you read in the following pages seems True for you, great! If it +doesn't, there is little or nothing I could do to further convince. + +I return now to the time of my first pregnancy. In the face of all +these new Truths I was discovering concerning health and nutrition, +I made immediate changes in my diet. I severely reduced my animal +protein intake and limited cooked food in general. I began taking +vitamin and mineral supplements. I also choose a highly atypical +Ph.D. dissertation topic, "The Orthomolecular Treatment of Mental +Disorders." This fifty cent word, orthomolecular, basically means +readjusting the body chemistry by providing unusually large amounts +of specific nutrient substances normally found in the human body +(vitamins and minerals). Orthomolecular therapy for mental disorders +is supported by good diet, by removal of allergy-producing +substances, by control of hypoglycemia, plus counseling, and +provision of a therapeutic environment. + +My proposed dissertation topic met with nothing but opposition. The +professors on my doctoral committee had never heard of the word +orthomolecular, and all of them were certain it wasn't an accepted, +traditional area of research. Research in academia is supposed to be +based on the works of a previous researchers who arrived at +hypothesis based on data obtained by strictly following scientific +methodology. "Scientific" data requires control groups, matched +populations, statistical analysis, etc. In my case there was no +previous work my dissertation committee would accept, because the +available data did not originate from a medical school or psychology +department they recognized. + +Due to a lot of determination and perseverance I finally did succeed +in getting my thesis accepted, and triumphed over my doctoral +committee. And I graduated with a dual Ph.D. in both counseling +psychology and gerontology. My ambition was to establish the +orthomolecular approach on the west coast. At that time I knew of +only two clinics in the world actively using nutritional therapy. +One was in New York and the other, was a Russian experimental +fasting program for schizophrenics. Doctors Hoffer and Osmond had +used orthomolecular therapy in a Canadian mental hospital as early +as 1950, but they had both gone on to other things. + +The newly graduated Dr. Isabelle Moser, Ph.D. was at this point +actually an unemployed mother, renting an old, end-of-the-road, +far-in-the-country farmhouse; by then I had two small daughters. I +strongly preferred to take care of my own children instead of +turning them over to a baby sitter. My location and my children made +it difficult for me to work any place but at home. So naturally, I +made my family home into a hospital for psychotic individuals. I +started out with one resident patient at a time, using no +psychiatric drugs. I had very good results and learned a tremendous +amount with each client, because each one was different and each was +my first of each type. + +With any psychotic residing in your home it is foolhardy to become +inattentive even for one hour, including what are normally +considered sleeping hours. I have found the most profoundly ill +mentally ill person still to be very crafty and aware even though +they may appear to be unconscious or nonresponsive. Psychotics are +also generally very intuitive, using faculties most of us use very +little or not at all. For example one of my first patients, +Christine, believed that I was trying to electrocute her. Though she +would not talk, she repeatedly drew pictures depicting this. She +had, quite logically within her own reality, decided to kill me with +a butcher knife in self-defense before I succeeded in killing her. I +had to disarm Christine several times, hide all the household +knives, change my sleeping spot frequently, and generally stay +sufficiently awake at night to respond to slight, creaky sounds that +could indicate the approach of stealthily placed small bare feet. + +With orthomolecular treatment Christine improved but also became +more difficult to live with as she got better. For example, when she +came out of catatonic-like immobility, she became extremely +promiscuous, and was determined to sleep with my husband. In fact +she kept crawling into bed with him with no clothes on. Either we +had to forcefully remove her or the bed would be handed over to +her--without a resident man. Christine then decided (logically) that +I was an obstacle to her sex life, and once more set out to kill me. +This stage also passed, eventually and Christine got tolerably well. + +Christine's healing process is quite typical and demonstrates why +orthomolecular treatment is not popular. As a psychotic genuinely +improves, their aberrated behavior often becomes more aggressive +initially and thus, harder to control. It seems far more convenient +for all concerned to suppress psychotic behavior with stupefying +drugs. A drugged person can be controlled when they're in a sort of +perpetual sedation but then, they never get genuinely well, either. + +Another early patient, Elizabeth, gave me a particularly valuable +lesson, one that changed the direction of my career away from curing +insanity and toward regular medicine. Elizabeth was a catatonic +schizophrenic who did not speak or move, except for some waxy +posturing. She had to be fed, dressed and pottied. Elizabeth was a +pretty little brunette who got through a couple of years of college +and then spent several years in a state mental hospital. She had +recently run away from a hospital, and had been found wandering +aimlessly or standing rigidly, apparently staring fixedly at +nothing. The emergency mental health facility in a small city nearby +called me up and asked if I would take her. I said I would, and +drove into town to pick her up. I found Elizabeth in someone's back +yard staring at a bush. It took me three hours to persuade her to +get in my car, but that effort turned out to be the easiest part of +the next months. + +Elizabeth would do nothing for herself, including going to the +bathroom. I managed to get some nutrition into her, and change her +clothes, but that was about all I could do. Eventually she wore me +down; I drifted off for an hour's nap instead of watching her all +night. Elizabeth slipped away in the autumn darkness and vanished. +Needless to say, when daylight came I desperately searched the +buildings, the yard, gardens, woods, and even the nearby river. I +called in a missing person report and the police looked as well. We +stopped searching after a week because there just wasn't any place +else to look. Then, into my kitchen, right in front of our round +eyes and gaping mouths, walked a smiling, pleasant, talkative young +woman who was quite sane. + +She said, "Hello I'm Elizabeth! I'm sorry I was such a hassle last +week, and thank you for trying to take care of me so well. I was too +sick to know any better." She said she had gone out our back door +the week before and crawled under a pile of fallen leaves on the +ground in our back yard with a black tarp over them. We had looked +under the tarp at least fifty times during the days past, but never +thought to look under the leaves as well. + +This amazing occurrence made my head go bong to say the least; it +was obvious that Elizabeth had not been 'schizophrenic' because of +her genetics, nor because of stress, nor malnutrition, nor +hypoglycemia, nor because of any of the causes of mental illness I +had previously learned to identify and rectify, but because of food +allergies. Elizabeth was spontaneously cured because she'd had +nothing to eat for a week. The composting pile of leaves hiding her +had produced enough heat to keep her warm at night and the heap +contained sufficient moisture to keep her from getting too +dehydrated. She looked wonderful, with clear shiny blue eyes, clear +skin with good color, though she was slightly slimmer than when I +had last seen her. + +I then administered Coca's Pulse Test (see the Appendix) and quickly +discovered Elizabeth was wildly intolerant to wheat and dairy +products. Following the well known health gurus of that time like +Adelle Davis, I had self-righteously been feeding her home-made +whole wheat bread from hand-ground Organic wheat, and home-made +cultured yogurt from our own organically-fed goats. But by doing +this I had only maintained her insanity. Elizabeth was an +intelligent young woman, and once she understood what was causing +her problems, she had no trouble completely eliminating certain +foods from her diet. She shuddered at the thought that had she not +come to my place and discovered the problem, she would probably have +died on the back ward of some institution for the chronically +mentally ill. + +As for me, I will always be grateful to her for opening my eyes and +mind a little wider. Elizabeth's case showed me why Russian +schizophrenics put on a 30 day water fast had such a high recovery +rate. I also remembered all the esoteric books I had read extolling +the benefits of fasting. I also remembered two occasions during my +own youth when I had eaten little or nothing for approximately a +month each without realizing that I was "fasting." And doing this +had done me nothing but good. + +Once when I was thirteen my mother sent my "little" brother and I to +a residential fundamentalist bible school. I did not want to go +there, although my brother did; he had decided he wanted to be a +evangelical minister. I hated bible school because I was allowed +absolutely no independence of action. We were required to attend +church services three times a day during the week, and five services +on Sunday. As I became more and more unhappy, I ate less and less; +in short order I wasn't eating at all. The school administration +became concerned after I had dropped about 30 pounds in two months, +notified my mother and sent me home. I returned to at-home +schooling. I also resumed eating. + +I fasted one other time for about a month when I was 21. It happened +because I had nothing to do while visiting my mother before +returning to University except help with housework and prepare +meals. The food available in the backwoods of central B.C. didn't +appeal to me because it was mostly canned vegetables, canned milk, +canned moose meat and bear meat stews with lots of gravy and greasy +potatoes. I decided to pass on it altogether. I remember rather +enjoying that time as a fine rest and I left feeling very good ready +to take on the world full force ahead. At that time I didn't know +there was such a thing as fasting, it just happened that way. + +After Elizabeth went on her way, I decided to experimentally fast +myself. I consumed only water for two weeks. But I must have had +counter intentions to this fast because I found myself frequently +having dreams about sugared plums, and egg omelets, etc. And I +didn't end up feeling much better after this fast was over (although +I didn't feel any worse either), because I foolishly broke the fast +with one of my dream omelets. And I knew better! Every book I'd ever +read on fasting stated how important it is to break a fast +gradually, eating only easy-to-digest foods for days or weeks before +resuming one's regular diet. + +From this experiment I painfully learned how important it is to +break a fast properly. Those eggs just didn't feel right, like I had +an indigestible stone in my belly. I felt very tired after the +omelet, not energized one bit by the food. I immediately cut back my +intake to raw fruits and vegetables while the eggs cleared out of my +system. After a few days on raw food I felt okay, but I never did +regain the shine I had achieved just before I resumed eating. + +This is one of the many fine things about fasting, it allows you to +get in much better communication with your own body, so that you can +hear it when it objects to something you're putting in it or doing +to it. It is not easy to acquire this degree of sensitivity to your +body unless you remove all food for a sufficiently long period; this +allows the body to get a word in edgewise that we are willing and +able to listen to. Even when we do hear the body protesting, we +frequently decide to turn a deaf ear, at least until the body starts +producing severe pain or some other symptom that we can't ignore. + +Within a few years after Elizabeth's cure I had handily repaired +quite a few mentally ill people in a harmless way no one had heard +of; many new people were knocking at my door wanting to be admitted +to my drug free, home-based treatment program. So many in fact that +my ability to accommodate them was overwhelmed. I decided that it +was necessary to move to a larger facility and we bought an old, +somewhat run-down estate that I called Great Oaks School of Health +because of the magnificent oak trees growing in the front yard. + +At Great Oaks initially I continued working with psychotics, +employing fasting as a tool, especially in those cases with obvious +food allergies as identified by Coca's Pulse Test, because it only +takes five days for a fasting body to eliminate all traces of an +allergic food substance and return to normal functioning. If the +person was so severely hypoglycemic that they were unable to +tolerate a water fast, an elimination diet (to be described in +detail later) was employed, while stringently avoiding all foods +usually found to be allergy producing. + +I also decided that if I was going to employ fasting as my primary +medicine, it was important for me to have a more intense personal +experience with it, because in the process of reviewing the +literature on fasting I saw that there were many different +approaches, each one staunchly defended by highly partisan +advocates. For example, the capital "N" Natural, capital "H" +Hygienists, such a Herbert Shelton, aggressively assert that only a +pure water fast can be called a fast. Sheltonites contend that juice +fasting as advocated by Paavo Airola, for example, is not a fast but +rather a modified diet without the benefits of real fasting. Colon +cleansing was another area of profound disagreement among the +authorities. Shelton strongly insisted that enemas and colonics +should not be employed; the juice advocates tend to strongly +recommend intestinal cleansing. + +To be able to intelligently take a position in this maze of conflict +I decided to first try every system on myself. It seems to me that +if I can be said to really own anything in this life it is my own +body, and I have the absolute right to experiment with it as long as +I'm not irresponsible about important things such as care of my +kids. I also feel strongly that it was unethical to ask anyone to do +anything that I was not willing or able to do myself. Just imagine +what would happen if all medical doctors applied this principal in +their practice of medicine, if all surgeons did it too! + +I set out to do a complete and fully rigorous water fast according +to the Natural Hygiene model--only pure water and bed rest (with no +colon cleansing) until hunger returns, something the hygienists all +assured me would happen when the body had completed its +detoxification process. The only aspect of a hygienic fast I could +not fulfill properly was the bed rest part; unfortunately I was in +sole charge of a busy holistic treatment center (and two little +girls); there were things I had to do, though I did my chores and +duties at a very slow pace with many rest periods. + +I water fasted for 42 days dropping from 135 pounds to 85 pounds on +a 5' 7" frame. At the end I looked like a Nazi concentration camp +victim. I tended to hide when people came to the door, because the +sight of all my bones scared them to death. Despite my assurances +visitors assumed I was trying to commit suicide. In any case I +persevered, watching my body change, observing my emotions, my +mental functioning, and my spiritual awareness. I thought, if Moses +could fast for 42 days so can I, even though the average length of a +full water fast to skeletal weight for a person that is not +overweight is more in the order of 30 days. I broke the fast with +small amounts of carrot juice diluted 50/50 with water and stayed on +that regimen for two more weeks. + +After I resumed eating solid food it took six weeks to regain enough +strength to be able to run the same distance in the same time I had +before fasting, and it took me about six months to regain my +previous weight. My eyes and skin had become exceptionally clear, +and some damaged areas of my body such as my twice-broken shoulder +had undergone considerable healing. I ate far smaller meals after +the fast, but food was so much more efficiently absorbed that I got +a lot more miles to the gallon from what I did eat. I also became +more aware when my body did not want me to eat something. After the +fast, if I ignored my body's protest and persisted, it would +immediately create some unpleasant sensation that quickly persuaded +me to curb my appetite. + +I later experimented with other approaches to fasting, with juice +fasts, with colon cleansing, and began to establish my own eclectic +approach to fasting and detoxification, using different types of +programs for different conditions and adjusting for psychological +tolerances. I'll have a lot more to say about fasting. + +After my own rigorous fasting experience I felt capable of +supervising extended fasts on very ill or very overweight people. +Great Oaks was gradually shifting from being a place that mentally +ill people came to regain their sanity to being a spa where anyone +who wanted to improve their health could come for a few days, some +weeks or even a few months. It had been my observation from the +beginning that the mentally ill people in my program also improved +remarkably in physical health; it was obvious that my method was +good for anyone. Even people with good health could feel better. + +By this time I'd also had enough of psychotic people anyway, and +longed for sane, responsible company. + +So people started to come to Great Oaks School of Health to rest up +from a demanding job, to drop some excess weight, and generally to +eliminate the adverse effects of destructive living and eating +habits. I also began to get cancer patients, ranging from those who +had just been diagnosed and did not wish to go the AMA-approved +medical route of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, to those with +well-advanced cancer who had been sent home to die after receiving +all of the above treatments and were now ready to give alternative +therapies a try since they expected to die anyway. I also had a few +people who were beyond help because their vital organs had been so +badly damaged that they knew they were dying, and they wanted to die +in peace without medical intervention, in a supportive hospice cared +for by people who could confront death. + +Great Oaks School was intentionally named a "school" of health +partially to deflect the attentions of the AMA. It is, after all, +entirely legal to teach about how to maintain health, about how to +prevent illness, and how to go about making yourself well once you +were sick. Education could not be called "practicing medicine +without a license." Great Oaks was also structured as a school +because I wanted to both learn and teach. Toward this end we started +putting out a holistic health newsletter and offering classes and +seminars to the public on various aspects of holistic health. From +the early 1970s through the early 1980s I invited a succession of +holistic specialists to reside at GOSH, or to teach at Great Oaks +while living elsewhere. These teachers not only provided a service +to the community, but they all became my teachers as well. I +apprenticed myself to each one in turn. + +There came and went a steady parade of alternative practitioners of +the healing arts and assorted forms of metapsychology: +acupuncturists, acupressurists, reflexologists, polarity therapists, +massage therapists, postural integrationists, Rolfers, Feldenkries +therapists, neurolinguistic programmers, biokinesiologists, +iridologists, psychic healers, laying on of handsers, past life +readers, crystal therapists, toning therapists in the person of +Patricia Sun, color therapy with lamps and different colored lenses +a la Stanley Bourroughs, Bach Flower therapists, aroma therapists, +herbalists, homeopaths, Tai Chi classes, yoga classes, Arica +classes, Guergieff and Ouspensky fourth-way study groups, EST +workshops, Zen Meditation classes. Refugee Lamas from Tibet gave +lectures on The Book of the Dead and led meditation and chanting +sessions, and we held communication classes using Scientology +techniques. There were anatomy and physiology classes, classes on +nutrition and the orthomolecular approach to treating mental +disorders (given by me of course); there were chiropractors teaching +adjustment techniques, even first aid classes. And we even had a few +medical doctors of the alternative ilk who were interested in life +style changes as an approach to maintaining health. + +Classes were also offered on colon health including herbs, clays, +enemas, and colonics. So many of my client at Great Oaks were +demanding colonics in conjunction with their cleansing programs, +that I took time out to go to Indio, Calif. to take a course in +colon therapy from a chiropractor, and purchase a state of the art +colonic machine featuring all the gauges, electric water solenoids +and stainless steel knobs one could ask for. + +During this period almost all alternative therapists and their +specialties were very interesting to me, but I found that most of +the approaches they advocated did not suit my personality. For +example, I think that acupuncture is a very useful tool, but I +personally did not want to use needles. Similarly I thought that +Rolfing was a very effective tool but I did not enjoy administering +that much pain, although a significant number of the clients really +wanted pain. Some of the techniques appealed to me in the beginning, +and I used them frequently with good results but over time I decided +to abandon them, mostly because of a desire to simplify and lighten +up my bag of tricks. + +Because of my enthusiasm and successes Great Oaks kept on growing. +Originally the estate served as both the offices of the Holt +Adoption Agency and the Holt family mansion. The Holt family had +consisted of Harry and Bertha Holt, six of their biological +children, and eight adopted Korean orphans. For this reason the ten +thousand square foot two story house had large common rooms, and +lots and lots of bedrooms. It was ideal for housing spa clients and +my own family. The adjoining Holt Adoption Agency office building +was also very large with a multitude of rooms. It became living +space for those helpers and hangers-on we came to refer to as +"community members." My first husband added even more to the +physical plant constructing a large, rustic gym and workshop. + +Many "alternative" people visited and then begged to stay on with +room and board provided in exchange for their work. A few of these +people made a significant contribution such as cooking, child care, +gardening, tending the ever-ravenous wood-fired boiler we used to +keep the huge concrete mansion heated, or doing general cleaning. +But the majority of the 'work exchangers' did not really understand +what work really was, or didn't have sufficient ethical presence to +uphold the principle of fair exchange, which is basically giving +something of equal value for getting something of value and, perhaps +more importantly, giving in exchange what is needed and asked for. + +I also found that community members, once in residence, were very +difficult to dislodge. My healing services were supporting far too +much dead wood. This was basically my own fault, my own poor +management. + +Still, I learned a great deal from all of this waste. First of all +it is not a genuine service to another human being to give them +something for nothing. If a fair exchange is expected and received, +positive ethical behavior is strengthened, allowing the individual +to maintain their self-respect. I also came to realize what an +important factor conducting one's life ethically is in the +individual healing process. Those patients who were out exchange in +their relationships with others in one or more areas of their life +frequently did not get well until they changed these behaviors. + +Toward the end of 1982, after providing a decade of services to a +great many clients, many of these in critical condition, I reached +to point where I was physically, mentally, and spiritually drained. +I needed a vacation desperately but no one, including my first +husband, could run Great Oaks in my absence much less cover the +heavy mortgage. So I decided to sell it. This decision stunned the +community members and shocked the clientele who had become dependent +on my services. I also got a divorce at this time. In fact I went +through quite a dramatic life change in many areas--true to pattern, +a classic mid-life crisis. All I kept from these years was my two +daughters, my life experiences, and far too many books from the +enormous Great Oaks library. + +These changes were however, necessary for my survival. Any person +who works with, yes, lives on a day-to-day basis with sick people +and who is constantly giving or outflowing must take time out to +refill their vessel so that they can give again. Failure to do this +can result in a serious loss of health, or death. Most healers are +empathic people who feel other peoples' pains and stresses and +sometimes have difficulty determining exactly what is their own +personal 'baggage' and what belongs to the clients. This is +especially difficult when the therapy involves a lot of 'hands on' +techniques. + +After leaving Great Oaks it took me a couple of years to rest up +enough to want to resume practicing again. This time, instead of +creating a substantial institution, Steve, my second husband and my +best friend, built a tiny office next to our family home. I had a +guest room that I would use for occasional residential patients. +Usually these were people I had known from Great Oaks days or were +people I particularly liked and wanted to help through a life +crisis. + +At the time I am writing this book over ten years have passed since +I sold Great Oaks. I continue to have an active outpatient practice, +preferring to protect the privacy of my home and family life since I +was remarried by limiting inpatients to a special few who required +more intensive care, and then, only one at a time, and then, with +long spells without a resident. + + + + + + +Chapter Two + +The Nature and Cause of Disease + + + + + +From The Hygienic Dictionary + +Toxemia. [1] "Toxemia is the basic cause of all so-called diseases. +In the process of tissue-building (metabolism), there is +cell-building (anabolism) and cell destruction (catabolism). The +broken-down tissue is toxic. In the healthy body (when nerve energy +is normal), this toxic material is eliminated from the blood as fast +as it is evolved. But when nerve energy is dissipated from any cause +(such as physical or mental excitement or bad habits) the body +becomes weakened or enervated. When the body is enervated, +elimination is checked. This, in turn, results in a retention of +toxins in the blood--the condition which we speak of as toxemia. +This state produces a crisis which is nothing more than heroic or +extraordinary efforts by the body to eliminate waste or toxin from +the blood. It is this crisis which we term disease. Such +accumulation of toxin when once established, will continue until +nerve energy has been restored to normal by removing the cause. +So-called disease is nature's effort to eliminate toxin from the +blood. All so-called diseases are crises of toxemia." _John H. +Tilden, M.D., Toxemia Explained._ [2] Toxins are divided into two +groups; namely exogenous, those formed in the alimentary canal from +fermentation and decomposition following imperfect or faulty +digestion. If the fermentation is of vegetables or fruit, the toxins +are irritating, stimulating and enervating, but not so dangerous or +destructive to organic life as putrefaction, which is a fermentation +set up in nitrogenous matter--protein-bearing foods, but +particularly animal foods. Endogenous toxins are autogenerated. They +are the waste products of metabolism. _Dr. John. H. Tilden, Impaired +Health: Its Cause and Cure, 1921._ + +Suppose a fast-growing city is having traffic jams. "We don't like +it!" protest the voters. "Why are these problems happening?" asks +the city council, trying to look like they are doing something about +it. + +Experts then proffer answers. "Because there are too many cars," +says the Get A Horse Society. The auto makers suggest it is because +there are uncoordinated traffic lights and because almost all the +businesses send their employees home at the same time. Easy to fix! +And no reason whatsoever to limit the number of cars. The asphalt +industry suggests it is because the size and amount of roads is +inadequate. + +What do we do then? Tax cars severely until few can afford them? +Legislate opening and closing hours of businesses to stagger to'ing +and fro'ing? Hire a smarter municipal highway engineer to +synchronize the traffic lights? Build larger and more efficient +streets? Demand that auto companies make cars smaller so more can +fit the existing roads? Tax gasoline prohibitively, pass out and +give away free bicycles in virtually unlimited quantities while +simultaneously building mass rail systems? What? Which? + +When we settle on a solution we have simultaneously chosen what we +consider the real, underlying cause of the problem. If our chosen +reason was the real reason. then our solution results in a real +cure. If we picked wrongly, our attempt at solution may result in no +cure, or create a worse situation than we had before. + +The American Medical Association style of medicine (a philosophy I +will henceforth call allopathic) has a model that explains the +causes of illness. It suggests that anyone who is sick is a victim. +Either they were attacked by a "bad" organism--virus, bacteria, +yeast, pollen, cancer cell, etc.--or they have a "bad" organ--liver, +kidney, gall bladder, even brain. Or, the victim may also have been +cursed by bad genes. In any case, the cause of the disease is not +the person and the person is neither responsible for creating their +own complaint nor is the victim capable of making it go away. This +institutionalized irresponsibility seems useful for both parties to +the illness, doctor and patient. The patient is not required to do +anything about their complaint except pay (a lot) and obediently +follow the instructions of the doctor, submitting unquestioningly to +their drugs and surgeries. The physician then acquires a role of +being considered vital to the survival of others and thus obtains +great status, prestige, authority, and financial remuneration. + +Perhaps because the sick person is seen to have been victimized, and +it is logically impossible to consider a victimizer as anything but +something evil, the physician's cure is often violent, +confrontational. Powerful poisons are used to rejigger body +chemistry or to arrest the multiplication of disease bacteria or to +suppress symptoms; if it is possible to sustain life without them, +"bad," poorly-functioning organs are cut out. + +I've had a lot of trouble with the medical profession. Over the +years doctors have made attempts to put me in jail and keep me in +fear. But they never stopped me. When I've had a client die there +has been an almost inevitable coroner's investigation, complete with +detectives and the sheriff. Fortunately, I practice in rural Oregon, +where the local people have a deeply-held belief in individual +liberty and where the authorities know they would have had a very +hard time finding a jury to convict me. Had I chosen to practice +with a high profile and had I located Great Oaks School of Health in +a major market area where the physicians were able to charge top +dollar, I probably would have spent years behind bars as did other +heroes of my profession such as Linda Hazzard and Royal Lee. + +So I have acquired an uncomplimentary attitude about medical +doctors, a viewpoint I am going to share with you ungently, despite +the fact that doing so will alienate some of my readers. But I do so +because most Americans are entirely enthralled by doctors, and this +doctor-god worship kills a lot of them. + +However, before I get started on the medicos, let me state that one +area exists where I do have fundamental admiration for allopathic +medicine. This is its handling of trauma. I agree that a body can +become the genuine victim of fast moving bullets. It can be +innocently cut, smashed, burned, crushed and broken. Trauma are not +diseases and modern medicine has become quite skilled at putting +traumatized bodies back together. Genetic abnormality may be another +undesirable physical condition that is beyond the purview of natural +medicine. However, the expression of contra-survival genetics can +often be controlled by nutrition. And the expression of poor +genetics often results from poor nutrition, and thus is similar to a +degenerative disease condition, and thus is well within the scope of +natural medicine. + +Today's suffering American public is firmly in the AMA's grip. +People have been effectively prevented from learning much about +medical alternatives, have been virtually brainwashed by clever +media management that portrays other medical models as dangerous +and/or ineffective. Legislation influenced by the allopathic +doctors' union, the American Medical Association, severely limits or +prohibits the practice of holistic health. People are repeatedly +directed by those with authority to an allopathic doctor whenever +they have a health problem, question or confusion. Other types of +healers are considered to be at best harmless as long as they +confine themselves to minor complaints; at worst, when naturopaths, +hygienists, or homeopaths seek to treat serious disease conditions +they are called quacks, accused of unlicensed practice of medicine +and if they persist or develop a broad, successful, high-profile and +(this is the very worst) profitable practice, they are frequently +jailed. + +Even licensed MDs are crushed by the authorities if they offer +non-standard treatments. So when anyone seeks an alternative health +approach it is usually because their complaint has already failed to +vanish after consulting a whole series of allopathic doctors. This +highly unfortunate kind of sufferer not only has a degenerative +condition to rectify, they may have been further damaged by harsh +medical treatments and additionally, they have a considerable amount +of brainwashing to overcome. + +The AMA has succeeded at making their influence over information and +media so pervasive that most people do not even realize that the +doctors' union is the source of their medical outlook. Whenever an +American complains of some malady, a concerned and honestly caring +friend will demand to know have they yet consulted a medical doctor. +Failure to do so on one's own behalf is considered highly +irresponsible. Concerned relatives of seriously ill adults who +decline standard medical therapy may, with a great show of +self-righteousness, have the sick person judged mentally incompetent +so that treatment can be forced upon them. When a parent fails to +seek standard medical treatment for their child, the adult may well +be found guilty of criminal negligence, raising the interesting +issue of who "owns" the child, the parents or the State. + +It is perfectly acceptable to die while under conventional medical +care. Happens all the time, in fact. But holistic alternatives are +represented as stupidly risky, especially for serious conditions +such as cancer. People with cancer see no choice but to do +chemotherapy, radiation, and radical surgery because this is the +current allopathic medical approach. On some level people may know +that these remedies are highly dangerous but they have been told by +their attending oncologist that violent therapies are their only +hope of survival, however poor that may be. If a cancer victim +doesn't proceed immediately with such treatment their official +prognosis becomes worse by the hour. Such scare tactics are common +amongst the medical profession, and they leave the recipient so +terrified that they meekly and obediently give up all +self-determinism, sign the liability waiver, and submit, no +questions asked. Many then die after suffering intensely from the +therapy, long before the so-called disease could have actually +caused their demise. I will later offer alternative and frequently +successful (but not guaranteed) approaches to treating cancer that +do not require the earliest-possible detection, surgery or poisons. + +If holistic practitioners were to apply painful treatments like +allopaths use, ones with such poor statistical outcomes like +allopaths use, there would most certainly be witch hunts and all +such irresponsible, greedy quacks would be safely imprisoned. I find +it highly ironic that for at least the past twenty five hundred +years the basic principle of good medicine has been that the +treatment must first do no harm. This is such an obvious truism that +even the AMA doctors pledge to do the same thing when they take the +Hippocratic Oath. Yet virtually every action taken by the allopath +is a conscious compromise between the potential harm of the therapy +and its potential benefit. + +In absolute contrast, if a person dies while on a natural hygiene +program, they died because their end was inevitable no matter what +therapy was attempted. Almost certainly receiving hygienic therapy +contributed to making their last days far more comfortable and +relatively freer of pain without using opiates. I have personally +taken on clients sent home to die after they had suffered everything +the doctors could do to them, told they had only a few days, weeks, +or months to live. Some of these clients survived as a result of +hygienic programs even at that late date. And some didn't. The +amazing thing was that any of them survived at all, because the best +time to begin a hygienic program is as early in the degenerative +process as possible, not after the body has been drastically +weakened by invasive and toxic treatments. Later on, I'll tell you +about some of these cases. + +Something I consider especially ironic is that when the patient of a +medical doctor dies, it is inevitably thought that the blessed +doctor did all that could be done; rarely is any blame laid. If the +physician was especially careless or stupid, their fault can only +result in a civil suit, covered by malpractice insurance. But let a +holistic practitioner treat a sick person and have that person +follow any of their suggestions or take any natural remedies and +have that person die or worsen and it instantly becomes the natural +doctor's fault. Great blame is placed and the practitioner faces +inquests, grand juries, manslaughter charges, jail time and civil +suits that can't be insured against. + +Allopathic medicine rarely makes a connection between the real +causes of a degenerative or infectious disease and its cure. The +causes are usually considered mysterious: we don't know why the +pancreas is acting up, etc. The sick are sympathized with as victims +who did nothing to contribute to their condition. The cure is a +highly technical battle against the illness, whose weapons are +defined in Latin and far beyond the understanding of a layperson. + +Hygienic medicine presents an opposite view. To the naturopath, +illness is not a perplexing and mysterious occurrence over which you +have no control or understanding. The causes of disease are clear +and simple, the sick person is rarely a victim of circumstance and +the cure is obvious and within the competence of a moderately +intelligent sick person themselves to understand and help +administer. In natural medicine, disease is a part of living that +you are responsible for, and quite capable of handling. + +Asserting that the sick are pitiable victims is financially +beneficial to doctors. It makes medical intervention seem a vital +necessity for every ache and pain. It makes the sick become +dependent. I'm not implying that most doctors knowingly are +conniving extortionists. Actually most medical doctors are genuinely +well-intentioned. I've also noticed that most medical doctors are at +heart very timid individuals who consider that possession of a MD +degree and license proves that they are very important, proves them +to be highly intelligent, even makes them fully qualified to +pontificate on many subjects not related to medicine at all. + +Doctors obtain an enormous sense of self-importance at medical +school, where they proudly endured the high pressure weeding out of +any free spirit unwilling to grind away into the night for seven or +more years. Anyone incapable of absorbing and regurgitating huge +amounts of rote information; anyone with a disrespectful or +irreverent attitude toward the senior doctor-gods who arrogantly +serve as med school professors, anyone like this was eliminated with +especial rapidity. When the thoroughly submissive, homogenized +survivors are finally licensed, they assume the status of junior +doctor-gods. + +But becoming an official medical deity doesn't permit one to create +their own methods. No no, the AMA's professional oversight and +control system makes continued possession of the license to practice +(and the high income that usually comes with it) entirely dependent +on continued conformity to what is defined by the AMA as "correct +practice." Any doctor who innovates beyond strict limits or uses +non-standard treatments is in real danger of losing their livelihood +and status. + +Not only are licensed graduates of AMA-sanctioned medical schools +kept on a very tight leash, doctors of other persuasions who use +other methods to heal the sick or help them heal themselves are +persecuted and prosecuted. Extension of the AMA's control through +regulatory law and police power is justified in the name of +preventing quackery and making sure the ignorant and gullible public +receives only scientifically proven effective medical care. + +Those on the other side of the fence view the AMA's oppression as an +effective way to make sure the public has no real choices but to use +union doctors, pay their high fees and suffer greatly by +misunderstanding of the true cause of disease and its proper cure. +If there are any actual villains responsible for this suppressive +tragedy some of them are to be found in the inner core of the AMA, +officials who may perhaps fully and consciously comprehend the +suppressive system they promulgate. + +Hygienists usually inform the patient quite clearly and directly +that the practitioner has no ability to heal them or cure their +condition and that no doctor of any type actually is able to heal. +Only the body can heal itself, something it is eager and usually +very able to do if only given the chance. One pithy old saying among +hygienists goes, "if the body can't heal itself, nothing can heal +it." The primary job of the hygienic practitioner is to reeducate +the patient by conducting them through their first natural healing +process. If this is done well the sick person learns how to get out +of their own body's way and permit its native healing power to +manifest. Unless later the victim of severe traumatic injury, never +again will that person need obscenely expensive medical procedures. +Hygienists rarely make six figure incomes from regular, repeat +business. + +This aspect of hygienic medicine makes it different than almost all +the others, even most other holistic methods. Hygiene is the only +system that does not interpose the assumed healing power of a doctor +between the patient and wellness. When I was younger and less +experienced I thought that the main reason traditional medical +practice did not stress the body's own healing power and represented +the doctor as a necessary intervention was for profit. But after +practicing for over twenty years I now understand that the last +thing most people want to hear is that their own habits, especially +their eating patterns and food choices, are responsible for their +disease and that their cure is to only be accomplished through +dietary reform, which means unremittingly applied self-discipline. + +One of the hardest things to ask of a person is to change a habit. +The reason that AMA doctors have most of the patients is they're +giving the patients exactly what they want, which is to be allowed +to continue in their unconscious irresponsibility. + +The Cause Of Disease + +Ever since natural medicine arose in opposition to the violence of +so-called scientific medicine, every book on the subject of hygiene, +once it gets past its obligatory introductions and warm ups, must +address The Cause of Disease. This is a required step because we see +the cause of disease and its consequent cure in a very different +manner than the allopath. Instead of many causes, we see one basic +reason why. Instead of many unrelated cures, we have basically one +approach to fix all ills that can be fixed. + +A beautiful fifty cent word that means a system for explaining +something is paradigm, pronounced para-dime. I am fond of this word +because it admits the possibility of many differing yet equally true +explanations for the same reality. Of all available paradigms, +Natural Hygiene suits me best and has been the one I've used for +most of my career. + +The Natural Hygienist's paradigm for the cause of both degenerative +and infectious disease is called the Theory of Toxemia, or +"self-poisoning." + +Before explaining this theory it will help many readers if I digress +a brief moment about the nature and validity of alternative +paradigms. Not too many decades ago, scientists thought that reality +was a singular, real, perpetual--that Natural Law existed much as a +tree or a rock existed. In physics, for example, the mechanics of +Newton were considered capital "T" True, the only possible paradigm. +Any other view, not being True, was False. There was capital "N" +natural capital "L" law. + +More recently, great uncertainty has entered science; it has become +indisputable that a theory or explanation of reality is only true +only to the degree it seems to work; conflicting or various +explanations can all work, all can be "true." At least, this +uncertainty has overtaken the hard, physical sciences. It has not +yet done so with medicine. The AMA is convinced (or is working hard +to convince everyone else) that its paradigm, the allopathic +approach, is Truth, is scientific, and therefore, anything else is +Falsehood, is irresponsibility, is a crime against the sick. + +But the actual worth or truth of any paradigm is found not in its +"reality," but in its utility. Does an explanation or theory allow a +person to manipulate experience and create a desired outcome. To the +extent a paradigm does that, it can be considered valuable. Judged +by this standard, the Theory of Toxemia must be far truer than the +hodgepodge of psuedoscience taught in medical schools. Keep that in +mind the next time some officious medical doctor disdainfully +informs you that Theory of Toxemia was disproven in 1927 by Doctors +Jeckel and Hyde. + +Why People Get Sick + +This is the Theory of Toxemia. A healthy body struggles continually +to purify itself of poisons that are inevitably produced while going +about its business of digesting food, moving about, and repairing +itself. The body is a marvelous creation, a carbon, oxygen +combustion machine, constantly burning fuel, disposing of the waste +products of combustion, and constantly rebuilding tissue by +replacing worn out, dead cells with new, fresh ones. Every seven +years virtually every cell in the body is replaced, some types of +cells having a faster turnover rate than others, which means that +over a seven year period several hundred pounds of dead cells must +be digested (autolyzed) and eliminated. All by itself this would be +a lot of waste disposal for the body to handle. Added to that waste +load are numerous mild poisons created during proper digestion. And +added to that can be an enormous burden of waste products created as +the body's attempts to digest the indigestible, or those tasty items +I've heard called "fun food." Add to that burden the ruinous effects +of just plain overeating. + +The waste products of digestion, of indigestion, of cellular +breakdown and the general metabolism are all poisonous to one degree +or another. Another word for this is toxic. If these toxins were +allowed to remain and accumulate in the body, it would poison itself +and die in agony. So the body has a processing system to eliminate +toxins. And when that system does break down the body does die in +agony, as from liver or kidney failure. + +The organs of detoxification remove things from the body's system, +but these two vital organs should not be confused with what +hygienists call the secondary organs of elimination, such as the +large intestine, lungs, bladder and the skin, because none of these +other eliminatory organs are supposed to purify the body of toxins. +But when the body is faced with toxemia, the secondary organs of +elimination are frequently pressed into this duty and the +consequences are the symptoms we call illness. + +The lungs are supposed to eliminate only carbon dioxide gas; not +self-generated toxic substances. The large intestine is supposed to +pass only insoluble food solids (and some nasty stuff dumped into +the small intestine by the liver). Skin eliminates in the form of +sweat (which contains mineral salts) to cool the body, but the skin +is not supposed to move toxins outside the system. But when toxins +are flowed out through secondary organs of elimination these areas +become inflamed, irritated, weakened. The results can be skin +irritations, sinusitis or a whole host of other "itises" depending +on the area involved, bacterial or viral infections, asthma. When +excess toxemia is deposited instead of eliminated, the results can +be arthritis if toxins are stored in joints, rheumatism if in muscle +tissues, cysts and benign tumors. And if toxins weaken the body's +immune response, cancer. + +The liver and the kidneys, the two heroic organs of detoxification, +are the most important ones; these jointly act as filters to purify +the blood. Hygienists pay a lot of attention to these organs, the +liver especially. + +In an ideal world, the liver and kidneys would keep up with their +job for 80 years or more before even beginning to tire. In this +ideal world, the food would of course, be very nutritious and free +of pesticide residues, the air and water would be pure, people would +not denature their food and turn it into junk. In this perfect world +everyone would get moderate exercise into old age, and live +virtually without stress. In this utopian vision, the average +healthy productive life span would approach a century, entirely +without using food supplements or vitamins. In this world doctors +would have next to no work other than repairing traumatic injuries, +because everyone would be healthy. But this is not the way it is. + +In our less-than-ideal world virtually everything we eat is +denatured, processed, fried, salted, sweetened, preserved; thus more +stress is placed on the liver and kidneys than nature designed them +to handle. Except for a few highly fortunate individuals blessed +with an incredible genetic endowment that permits them to live to +age 99 on moose meat, well-larded white flour biscuits, coffee with +evaporated milk and sugar, brandy and cigarettes (we've all heard of +someone like this), most peoples' liver and kidneys begin to break +down prematurely. Thus doctoring has become a financially rewarding +profession. + +Most people overburden their organs of elimination by eating +whatever they feel like eating whenever they feel like it. Or, they +irresponsibly eat whatever is served to them by a mother, wife, +institution or cook because doing so is easy or expected. Eating is +a very habitual and unconscious activity; frequently we continue to +eat as adults whatever our mother fed us as a child. I consider it +unsurprising that when people develop the very same disease +conditions as their parents. they wrongly assume the cause is +genetic inheritance, when actually it was just because they were +putting their feet under the same table as their parents. + +Toxemia also comes about from following the wrongheaded +recommendations of allopathic-inspired nutritional texts and +licensed dietitians. For example, people believe they should eat one +food from each of the four so-called basic food groups at each meal, +thinking they are doing the right thing for their health by having +four colors of food on every plate, when they really aren't. What +they have actually done is force their bodies to attempt the +digestion of indigestible food combinations, and the resulting +indigestion creates massive doses of toxins. I'll have a lot more to +say about that later when I discuss the art of food combining. + +Table 1: The Actual Food Groups + +Starches Proteins Fats Sugars Watery Vegetables +bread meats butter honey zucchini +potatoes eggs oils fruit green beans +noodles fish lard sugar tomatoes +manioc/yuca most nuts nuts molassas peppers +baked goods dry beans avocado malt syrup eggplant +grains nut butters maple syrup radish +winter squash split peas dried fruit rutabaga +parsnips lentils melons turnips +sweet potatoes soybeans carrot juice Brussels sprouts +yams tofu beet juice celery +taro root tempeh cauliflower +plantains wheat grass juice broccoli +beets "green" drinks okra + spirulina lettuce + algae endive + yeast cabbage + dairy carrots + +Standard dietitians divide our foods into four basic food groups +and recommend the ridiculous practice of mixing them at every meal. +This guarantees indigestion and lots of business for the medical +profession. This chart illustrates the actual food groups. It is +usually a poor practice to mix different foods from one group with +those from another. + +The Digestive Process + +After we have eaten our four-color meal--often we do this in a +hurry, without much chewing, under a lot of stress, or in the +presence of negative emotions--we give no thought to what becomes of +our food once it has been swallowed. We have been led to assume that +anything put in the mouth automatically gets digested flawlessly, is +efficiently absorbed into the body where it nourishes our cells, +with the waste products being eliminated completely by the large +intestine. This vision of efficiency may exist in the best cases but +for most there is many a slip between the table and the toilet. Most +bodies are not optimally efficient at performing all the required +functions, especially after years of poor living habits, stress, +fatigue, and aging. To the Natural Hygienist, most disease begins +and ends with our food; most of our healing efforts are focused on +improving the process of digestion. + +Digestion means chemically changing the foods we eat into substances +that can pass into the blood stream and circulate through the body +where nutrition is used for bodily functions. Our bodies use +nutritional substances for fuel, for repair and rebuilding, and to +conduct an incredibly complex biochemistry. Scientists are still +busily engaged in trying to understand the chemical mysteries of our +bodies. But as bewildering as the chemistry of life is, the +chemistry of digestion itself is actually a relatively simple +process, and one doctors have had a fairly good understanding of for +many decades. + +Though relatively straightforward, a lot can and does go wrong with +digestion. The body breaks down foods with a series of different +enzymes that are mixed with food at various points as it passes from +mouth to stomach to small intestine. An enzyme is a large, complex +molecule that has the ability to chemically change other large, +complex molecules without being changed itself. Digestive enzymes +perform relatively simple functions--breaking large molecules into +smaller parts that can dissolve in water. + +Digestion starts in the mouth when food is mixed with ptyalin, an +enzyme secreted by the salivary glands. Pylatin converts insoluble +starches into simple sugars. If the digestion of starchy foods is +impaired, the body is less able to extract the energy contained in +our foods, while far worse from the point of view of the genesis of +diseases, undigested starches pass through the stomach and into the +gut where they ferment and thereby create an additional toxic burden +for the liver to process. And fermenting starches also create gas. + +As we chew our food it gets mixed with saliva; as we continue to +chew the starches in the food are converted into sugar. There is a +very simple experiment you can conduct to prove to yourself how this +works. Get a plain piece of bread, no jam, no butter, plain, and +without swallowing it or allowing much of it to pass down the +throat, begin to chew it until it seems to literally dissolve. +Pylatin works fast in our mouths so you may be surprised at how +sweet the taste gets. As important as chewing is, I have only run +into about one client in a hundred that actually makes an effort to +consciously chew their food. + +Horace Fletcher, whose name has become synonymous with the +importance of chewing food well (Fletcherizing), ran an experiment +on a military population in Canada. He required half his +experimental group to chew thoroughly, and the other half to gulp +things down as usual. His study reports significant improvement in +the overall health and performance of the group that persistently +chewed. Fletcher's report recommended that every mouthful be chewed +50 times for half a minute before being swallowed. Try it, you might +be very surprised at what a beneficial effect such a simple change +in your approach to eating can make. Not only will you have less +intestinal gas, if overweight you will probably find yourself +getting smaller because your blood sugar will elevate quicker as you +are eating and thus your sense of hunger will go away sooner. If you +are very thin and have difficulty gaining weight you may find that +the pounds go on easier because chewing well makes your body more +capable of actually assimilating the calories you are consuming. + +A logical conclusion from this data is that anything that would +prevent or reduce chewing would be unhealthful. For example, food +eaten when too hot tends to be gulped down. The same tends to happen +when food is seasoned with fresh Jalapeno or habaneo peppers. +People with poor teeth should blend or mash starchy foods and then +gum them thoroughly to mix them with saliva. Keep in mind that even +so-called protein foods such as beans often contain large quantities +of starches and the starch portion of protein foods is also digested +in the mouth. + +Once the food is in the stomach, it is mixed with hydrochloric acid, +secreted by the stomach itself, and pepsin, an enzyme. Together +these break proteins down into water-soluble amino acids. To +accomplish this the stomach muscles agitate the food continuously, +somewhat like a washing machine. This extended churning forms a kind +of ball in the stomach called a bolis. + +Many things can and frequently do go wrong at this stage of the +digestive process. First, the stomach's very acid environment +inactivates pylatin, so any starch not converted to sugar in the +mouth does not get properly processed thereafter. And the most +dangerous misdigetion comes from the sad fact that cooked proteins +are relatively indigestible no matter how strong the constitution, +no matter how concentrated the stomach acid or how many enzymes +present. It is quite understandable to me that people do not wish to +accept this fact. After all, cooked proteins are so delicious, +especially cooked red meats and the harder, more flavorful fishes. + +To appreciate this, consider how those enzymes that digest proteins +work. A protein molecule is a large, complex string of amino acids, +each linked to the next in a specific order. Suppose there are only +six amino acids: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. So a particular (imaginary) +protein could be structured: 1, 4, 4, 6, 2, 3, 5, 4, 2, 3, 6, 1, 1, +2, 3, etc. Thus you should see that by combining a limited number of +amino acids there can be a virtually infinite number of proteins. + +But proteins are rarely water soluble. As I said a few paragraphs +back, digestion consists of rendering insoluble foods into +water-soluble substances so they can pass into the blood stream and +be used by the body's chemistry. To make them soluble, enzymes break +down the proteins, separating the individual amino acids one from +the other, because amino acids are soluble. Enzymes that digest +proteins work as though they are mirror images of a particular amino +acid. They fit against a particular amino acid like a key fits into +a lock. Then they break the bonds holding that amino acid to others +in the protein chain, and then, what I find so miraculous about this +process, the enzyme is capable of finding yet another amino acid to +free, and then yet another. + +So with sufficient churning in an acid environment, with enough time +(a few hours), and enough enzymes, all the recently eaten proteins +are decomposed into amino acids and these amino acids pass into the +blood where the body recombines them into structures it wants to +make. And we have health. But when protein chains are heated, the +protein structures are altered into physical shapes that the enzymes +can't "latch" on to. The perfect example of this is when an egg is +fried. The eggwhite is albumen, a kind of protein. When it is +heated, it shrivels up and gets hard. While raw and liquid, it is +easily digestable. When cooked, largely indigestable. + +Stress also inhibits the churning action in the stomach so that +otherwise digestible foods may not be mixed efficiently with +digestive enzymes. For all these reasons, undigested proteins may +pass into the gut. + +Along with undigested starches. When starches convert best to sugars +under the alkaline conditions found in the mouth. Once they pass +into the acid stomach starch digestion is not as efficient. If +starches reach the small intestine they are fermented by yeasts. The +products of starch fermentation are only mildly toxic. The gases +produced by yeast fermentations usually don't smell particularly +bad; bodies that regularly contain starch fermentation usually don't +smell particularly bad either. In otherwise healthy people it can +take many years of exposure to starch fermentation toxins to produce +a life-threatening disease. + +But undigested proteins aren't fermented by yeasts, they putrefy in +the gut (are attacked by anaerobic bacteria). Many of the waste +products of anaerobic putrefaction are highly toxic and evil +smelling; when these toxins are absorbed through the small or large +intestines they are very irritating to the mucous membranes, +frequently contributing to or causing cancer of the colon. Protein +putrefaction may even cause psychotic symptoms in some individuals. +Meat eaters often have a very unpleasant body odor even when they +are not releasing intestinal gasses. + +Adding a heavy toxic burden from misdigested foods to the normal +toxic load a body already has to handle creates a myriad of +unpleasant symptoms, and greatly shortens life. But misdigestion +also carries with it a double whammy; fermenting and/or putrefying +foods immediately interfere with the functioning of another vital +organ--the large intestine--and cause constipation. + +Most people don't know what the word constipation really means. Not +being able to move one's bowels is only the most elementary type of +constipation. A more accurate definition of constipation is "the +retention of waste products in the large intestine beyond the time +that is conducive to health." Properly digested food is not sticky +and exits the large intestine quickly. But improperly digested food +(or indigestible food) gradually coats the large intestine, making +an ever-thicker lining that interferes with the intestine's +functioning. Far worse, this coating steadily putrefies, creating +additional highly-potent toxins. Lining the colon with undigested +food can be compared to the mineral deposits filling in the inside +of an old water pipe, gradually choking off the flow. In the colon, +this deposit can become rock-hard, just like water pipe scale. + +Since the large intestine is also an organ that removes moisture and +water-soluble minerals from the food and moves them into the blood +stream, when the large intestine is lined with putrefying undigested +food waste, the toxins of this putrefaction are also steadily moved +into the bloodstream and place an even greater burden on the liver +and kidneys, accelerating their breakdown, accelerating the aging +process and contributing to a lot of interesting and unpleasant +symptoms that keep doctors busy and financially solvent. I'll have +quite a bit more to say about colon cleansing later. + +The Progress Of Disease: Irritation, Enervation, Toxemia + +Disease routinely lies at the end of a three-part chain that goes: +irritation or sub-clinical malnutrition, enervation, toxemia. +Irritations are something the person does to themselves or something +that happens around them. Stresses, in other words. + +Mental stressors include strong negative emotional states such as +anger, fear, resentment, hopelessness, etc. Behind most diseases it +is common to find a problematic mind churning in profound confusion, +one generated by a character that avoids responsibility. There may +also be job stress or ongoing hostile relationships, often within +the family. + +Indigestible foods and misdigestion are also stressful irritations, +as are mild recreational poisons such as "soft" drugs, tobacco and +alcohol. Opiates are somewhat more toxifying, primarily because they +paralyze the gut and induce profound constipation. Stimulants like +cocaine and amphetamines are the most damaging recreational drugs; +these are highly toxic and rapidly shorten life. + +Repeated irritations and/or malnutrition eventually produce +enervation. The old-time hygienists defined enervation as a lack of +or decline in an unmeasurable phenomena, "nerve energy." They viewed +the functioning of vital organs as being controlled by or driven by +nerve force, sometimes called life force or elan vital. +Whatever this vital force actually is, it can be observed and +subjectively measured by comparing one person with another. Some +people are full of it and literally sparkle with overflowing energy. +Beings like this make everyone around them feel good because they +somehow momentarily give energy to those endowed with less. Others +possess very little and dully plod through life. + +As vital force drops, the overall efficiency of all the body's +organs correspondingly decline. The pancreas creates less digestive +enzymes; the thymus secretes less of its vital hormones that +mobilize the immune system; the pituitary makes less growth hormone +so the overall repair and rebuilding of cells and tissues slows +correspondingly; and so forth. It does not really matter if there is +or is not something called nerve energy that can or cannot be +measured in a laboratory. Vital force is observable to many people. +However, it is measurable by laboratory test that after repeated +irritation the overall functioning of the essential organs and +glands does deteriorate. + +Enervation may develop so gradually that it progresses below the +level of awareness of the person, or times of increased enervation +can be experienced as a complaint--as a lack of energy, as +tiredness, as difficulties digesting, as a new inability to handle a +previously-tolerated insult like alcohol. + +Long-term consumption of poor-quality food causes enervation. The +body is a carbon/oxygen engine designed to run efficiently only on +highly nutritious food and this aspect of human genetic programming +cannot be changed significantly by adaptation. Given enough +generations a human gene pool can adapt to extracting its nutrition +from a different group of foods. For example, a group of isolated +Fijians currently enjoying long healthy lives eating a diet of +seafoods and tropical root crops could suddenly be moved to the +highlands of Switzerland and forced to eat the local fare or starve. +But most of the Fijians would not have systems adept at making those +enzymes necessary to digest cows milk. So the transplanted Fijians +would experience many generations of poorer health and shorter life +spans until their genes had been selected for adaptation to the new +dietary. Ultimately their descendants could become uniformly healthy +on rye bread and dairy products just like the highland Swiss were. + +However, modern industrial farming and processing of foodstuffs +significantly contributes to mass, widespread enervation in two +ways. Humans will probably adjust to the first; the second will, I'm +sure, prove insurmountable. First, industrially processed foods are +a recent invention and our bodies have not yet adapted to digesting +them. In a few more generations humans might be able to accomplish +that and public health could improve on factory food. In the +meanwhile, the health of humans has declined. Industrially farmed +foods have also been lowered in nutritional content compared to what +food could be. I gravely doubt if any biological organism can ever +adapt to an overall dietary that contains significantly lowered +levels of nutrition. I will explain this more fully in the chapter +on diet. + +Secondary Eliminations Are Disease + +However the exact form the chain from irritation or malnutrition to +enervation progresses, the ultimate result is an increased level of +toxemia, placing an eliminatory burden on the liver and kidneys in +excess of their ability. Eventually these organs begin to weaken. +Decline of liver and/or kidney function threatens the stability and +purity of blood chemistry. Rather than risk complete incapacitation +or death from self-poisoning, the overloaded, toxic body, guided by +its genetic predisposition and the nature of the toxins (what was +eaten, in what state of stress), cleverly channels surplus toxins +into its first line of defense--alternative or secondary elimination +systems. + +Most non-life-threatening yet highly annoying disease conditions +originate as secondary eliminations. For example, the skin was +designed to sweat, elimination of fluids. Toxemia is often pushed +out the sweat glands and is recognized as an unpleasant body odor. A +healthy, non-toxic body smells sweet and pleasant (like a newborn +baby's body) even after exercise when it has been sweating heavily. +Other skin-like organs such as the sinus tissues, were designed to +secrete small amounts of mucus for lubrication. The lungs eliminate +used air and the tissues are lubricated with mucus-like secretions +too. These secretions are types of eliminations, but are not +intended for the elimination of toxins. When toxins are discharged +in mucus through tissues not designed to handle them, the tissues +themselves become irritated, inflamed, weakened and thus much more +subject to bacterial or viral infection. Despite this danger, not +eliminating surplus toxins carries with it the greater penalty of +serious disability or death. Because of this liability, the body, in +its wisdom, initially chooses secondary elimination routes as far +from vital tissues and organs as possible. Almost inevitably the +skin or skin-like mucus membranes such as the sinuses, or lung +tissues become the first line of defense. + +Thus the average person's disease history begins with colds, flu, +sinusitis, bronchitis, chronic cough, asthma, rashes, acne, eczema, +psoriasis. If these secondary eliminations are suppressed with drugs +(either from the medical doctor or with over the counter remedies), +if the eating or lifestyle habits that created the toxemia are not +changed, or if the toxic load increases beyond the limits of this +technique, the body then begins to store toxins in fat or muscle +tissues or the joint cavities, overburdens the kidneys, creates +cysts, fibroids, and benign tumors to store those toxins. If toxic +overload continues over a longer time the body will eventually have +to permit damages to vital tissues, and life-threatening conditions +develop. + +Hygienic doctors always stress that disease is remedial effort. +Illness comes from the body's best attempt to lighten its toxic load +without immediately threatening its survival. The body always does +the very best it can to remedy toxemia given its circumstances, and +it should be commended for these efforts regardless of how +uncomfortable they might be to the person inhabiting the body. +Symptoms of secondary elimination are actually a positive thing +because they are the body's efforts to lessen a dangerously toxic +condition. Secondary eliminations shouldn't be treated immediately +with a drug to suppress the process. If you squelch the bodies best +and least-life-threatening method to eliminate toxins, the body will +ultimately have to resort to another more dangerous though probably +less immediately uncomfortable channel. + +The conventional medical model does not view disease this way and +sees the symptoms of secondary elimination as the disease itself. So +the conventional doctor takes steps to halt the body's remedial +efforts, thus stopping the undesirable symptom and then, the symptom +gone, proclaims the patient cured. Actually, the disease is the +cure. + +A common pattern of symptom suppression under the contemporary +medical model is this progression: treat colds with antihistamines +until the body gets influenza; suppress a flu repeatedly with +antibiotics and eventually you get pneumonia. Or, suppress eczema +with cortisone ointment repeatedly, and eventually you develop +kidney disease. Or, suppress asthma with bronkiodialators and +eventually you need cortisone to suppress it. Continue treating +asthma with steroids and you destroy the adrenals; now the body has +become allergic to virtually everything. + +The presence of toxins in an organ of secondary elimination is +frequently the cause of infection. Sinuses and lungs, inflamed by +secondary eliminations, are attacked by viruses or bacteria; +infectious diseases of the skin result from pushing toxins out of +the skin. More generalized infections also result from toxemia; in +this case the immune system has become compromised and the body is +overwhelmed by an organism that it normally should be able to resist +easily. The wise cure of infections is not to use antibiotics to +suppress the bacteria while simultaneously whipping the immune +system; most people, including most medical doctors, do not realize +that antibiotics also goose the immune system into super efforts. +But when one chooses to whip a tired horse, eventually the exhausted +animal collapses and cannot rise again no matter how vigorously it +is beaten. The wise cure is to detoxify the body, a step that +simultaneously eliminates secondary eliminations and rebuilds the +immune system. + +The wise way to deal with the body's eliminative efforts is to +accept that disease is an opportunity to pay the piper for past +indiscretions. You should go to bed, rest, and drink nothing but +water or dilute juice until the condition has passed. This allows +the body to conserve its vital energy, direct this energy toward +healing the disordered body part, and catch up on its waste +disposal. In this way you can help your body, be in harmony with its +efforts instead of working against it which is what most people do. + +Please forgive another semi-political polemic here, but in my +practice I have often been amazed to hear my clients complain that +they have not the time nor the ability to be patient with their +body, to rest it through an illness because they have a job they +can't afford to miss or responsibilities they can't put down. This +is a sad commentary on the supposed wealth and prosperity of the +United States. In our country most people are enslaved by their +debts, incurred because they had been enthralled by the illusion of +happiness secured by the possession of material things. Debt slaves +believe they cannot miss a week of work. People who feel they can't +afford to be sick think they can afford to live on pills. So people +push through their symptoms by sheer grit for years on end, and keep +that up until their exhausted horse of a body breaks down totally +and they find themselves in the hospital running up bills to the +tune of several thousand dollars a day. But these very same people +do not think they can afford the loss of a few hundred dollars of +current income undertaking some virtually harmless preventative +maintenance on their bodies. + +Given half a chance the body will throw off toxic overburdens and +cleanse itself. And once the body has been cleansed of toxemia, +disagreeable symptoms usually cease. This means that to make +relatively mild but unwanted symptoms lessen and ultimately stop it +is merely necessary to temporarily cut back food intake, eating only +what does not cause toxemia. These foods I classify as cleansing, +such as raw fruits and vegetables and their juices. If the symptoms +are extreme, are perceived as overwhelming or are actually +life-threatening, detoxification can be speeded up by dropping back +to only dilute raw juices or vegetable broth made only from greens, +without eating the solids. In the most extreme cases hygienists use +their most powerful medicine: a long fast on herb teas, or just +water. I will have a lot to say about fasting, later. + +When acutely ill, the most important thing to do is to just get out +of the body's way, and let it heal itself. In our ignorance we are +usually our own worst enemy in this regard. We have been very +successfully conditioned to think that all symptoms are bad. But I +know from experience that people can and do learn a new way of +viewing the body, an understanding that puts them at cause over +their own body. It allows you to be empowered in one more area of +life instead of being dependent and at the mercy of other peoples +decisions about your body. + +Finally, and this is why natural medicine is doubly unpopular, to +prevent the recurrence of toxemia and acute disease states, person +must discover what they are doing wrong and change their life. Often +as not this means elimination of the person's favorite +(indigestible) foods and/or (stress-producing) bad habits. +Naturally, I will have a lot more to say about this later, too. + + + + + + +Chapter Three + +Fasting + + + + + +From The Hygienic Dictionary + +Cure. [1] There is no "cure" for disease; fasting is not a cure. +Fasting facilitates natural healing processes. Foods do not cure. +Until we have discarded our faith in cures, there can be no +intelligent approach to the problems presented by suffering and no +proper use of foods by those who are ill. _Herbert Shelton, The +Hygienic System, v. 3, Fasting and Sunbathing._ [2] All cure starts +from within out and from the head down and in reverse order as the +symptoms have appeared._ Hering's Law of Cure._ [3] Life is made up +of crises. The individual establishes a standard of health +peculiarly his own, which must vary from all other standards as +greatly as his personality varies from others. The individual +standard may be such as to favor the development of indigestion, +catarrh, gout, rheumatic and glandular inflammations, tubercular +developments, congestions, sluggish secretions and excretions, or +inhibitions of various functions, both mental and physical, wherever +the environmental or habit strain is greater than usual. The +standard of resistance may be opposed so strenuously by habits and +unusual physical agencies--that the body breaks down under the +strain. This is a crisis. Appetite fails, discomfort or pain forces +rest, and, as a result of physiological rest (fasting) and physical +rest (rest from daily work and habits), a readjustment takes place, +and the patient is "cured." This is what the profession and the +people call a cure, and it is for the time being--until an unusual +enervation is brought on from accident or dissipation; then another +crisis. These crises are the ordinary sickness of all communities-- +all catalogued diseases. When the cold is gone or the hay-fever +fully relieved, it does not mean the patient is cured. Indeed, he +is as much diseased as before he suffered the attack--the +crisis--and he never will be cured until the habits of life that keep +up toxin poisoning are corrected. To recover from a crisis is not a +cure; the tendency is back to the individual standard; hence all +crises are self-limited, unless nature by maltreatment is prevented +from reacting. All so-called healing systems ride to glory on the +backs of self-limited crises, and the self-deluded doctors and their +credulous clients, believe, when the crises are past, that a cure +has been wrought, whereas the real truth is that the treatment may +have delayed reaction. This is largely true of anything that has +been done except rest. A cure consists in changing the manner of +living to such a rational standard that full resistance and a +balanced metabolism is established. I suppose it is not quite human +to expect those of a standardized school of healing to give +utterance to discovered truth which, if accepted by the people, +would rob them of the glory of being curers of disease. Indeed, +nature, and nature only, cures; and as for crises, they come and go, +whether or not there is a doctor or healer within a thousand miles. +_Dr. John. H. Tilden, Impaired Health: Its Cause and Cure, 1921._ + +The accelerated healing process that occurs during fasting can +scarcely be believed by a person who has not fasted. No matter how +gifted the writer, the experiential reality of fasting cannot be +communicated. The great novelist Upton Sinclair wrote a book about +fasting and it failed to convince the multitudes. But once a person +has fasted long enough to be certain of what their own body can do +to fix itself, they acquire a degree of independence little known +today. Many of those experienced with fasting no longer dread being +without health insurance and feel far less need for a doctor or of +having a regular checkup. They know with certainty that if something +degenerates in their body, their own body can fix it by itself. + +Like Upton Sinclair and many others who largely failed before me, I +am going to try to convince you of the virtues of fasting by urging +you to try fasting yourself. If you will but try you will be changed +for the better for the rest of your life. If you do not try, you +will never Know. + +To prompt your first step on this health-freedom road, I ask you to +please carefully consider the importance of this fact: the body's +routine energy budget includes a very large allocation for the daily +digestion and assimilation of the food you eat. You may find my +estimate surprising, but about one-third of a fairly sedentary +person's entire energy consumption goes into food processing. Other +uses for the body's energy include the creation or rebuilding of +tissues, detoxification, moving (walking, running, etc.), talking, +producing hormones, etc. Digestion is one aspect of the body's +efforts that we can readily control, it is the key to having or +losing health. + +The Effort Of Digestion + +Digestion is a huge, unappreciated task, unappreciated because few +of us are aware of its happening in the same way we are aware of +making efforts to use our voluntary muscles when working or +exercising. Digestion begins in the mouth with thorough chewing. If +you don't think chewing is effort, try making coleslaw in your own +mouth. Chew up at least half a big head of cabbage and three big +carrots that have not been shredded. Grind each bit until it +liquefies and has been thoroughly mixed with saliva. I guarantee +that if you even finish the chore your jaw will be tired and you +will have lost all desire to eat anything else, especially if it +requires chewing. + +Making the saliva you just used while chewing the cabbage is by +itself, a huge and unappreciated chemical effort. + +Once in the stomach, chewed food has to be churned in order to mix +it with hydrochloric acid, pepsin, and other digestive enzymes. +Manufacturing these enzymes is also considerable work! Churning is +even harder work than chewing but normally, people are unaware of +its happening. While the stomach is churning (like a washing +machine) a large portion of the blood supply is redirected from the +muscles in the extremities to the stomach and intestines to aid in +this process. Anyone who has tried to go for a run, or take part in +any other strenuous physical activity immediately after a large meal +feels like a slug and wonders why they just can't make their legs +move the way they usually do. So, to assist the body while it is +digesting, it is wise to take a siesta as los Latinos do instead of +expecting the blood to be two places at once like los +norteamericanos. + +After the stomach is through churning, the partially digested food +is moved into the small intestine where it is mixed with more +pancreatin secreted by the pancreas, and with bile from the gall +bladder. Pancreatin further solubilizes proteins. Bile aids in the +digestion of fatty foods. Manufacturing bile and pancreatic enzymes +is also a lot of effort. Only after the carbohydrates (starches and +sugars), proteins and fats have been broken down into simpler water +soluble food units such as simple sugars, amino acids and fatty +acids, can the body pass these nutrients into the blood thorough the +little projections in the small intestines called villi. + +The leftovers, elements of the food that can't be solubilized plus +some remaining liquids, are passed into the large intestine. There, +water and the vital mineral salts dissolved in that water, are +extracted and absorbed into the blood stream through thin permeable +membranes. Mucous is also secreted in the large intestine to +facilitate passage of the dryish remains. This is an effort. +(Intestinal mucous can become a route of secondary elimination, +especially during fasting. While fasting, it is essential to take +steps to expel toxic mucous in the colon before the poisons are re +adsorbed.) The final residue, now called fecal matter, is squeezed +along the length of the large intestines and passes out the rectum. + +If all the digestive processes have been efficient there now are an +abundance of soluble nutrients for the blood stream to distribute to +hungry cells throughout the body. It is important to understand the +process at least on the level of oversimplification just presented +in order to begin to understand better how health is lost or +regained through eating, digestion, and elimination. And most +importantly, through not eating. + +How Fasting Heals + +Its an old hygienic maxim that the doctor does not heal, the +medicines do not heal, only the body heals itself. If the body can't +heal then nothing can heal it. The body always knows best what it +needs and what to do. + +But healing means repairing damaged organs and tissues and this +takes energy, while a sick body is already enervated, weakened and +not coping with its current stressors. If the sick person could but +somehow increase the body's energy resources sufficiently, then a +slowly healing body could heal faster while a worsening one, or one +that was failing or one that was not getting better might heal. + +Fasting does just that. To whatever degree food intake is reduced +the body's digestive workload is proportionately reduced and it will +naturally, and far more intelligently than any physician could +order, redirect energy to wherever it decides that energy is most +needed. A fasting body begins accessing nutritional reserves +(vitamins and minerals) previously stored in the tissues and starts +converting body fat into sugar for energy fuel. During a time of +water fasting, sustaining the body's entire energy and nutritional +needs from reserves and fat does require a small effort, but far +less effort than eating. I would guess a fasting body used about +five percent of its normal daily energy budget on nutritional +concerns rather than the 33 percent it needs to process new food. +Thus, water fasting puts something like 28 percent more energy at +the body's disposal. This is true even though the water faster may +feel weak, energyless. + +I would worry if sick or toxic fasters did not complain about their +weakness. They should expect to feel energyless. In fact, the more +internal healing and detoxification the body requires, the tireder +the faster feels because the body is very hard at work internally. A +great deal of the body's energy will go toward boosting the immune +system if the problem is an infection. Liberated energy can also be +used for healing damaged parts, rebuilding failing organs, for +breaking down and eliminating deposits of toxic materials. Only +after most of the healing has occurred does a faster begin to feel +energetic again. Don't expect to feel anything but tired and weak. + +The only exception to this would be a person who has already +significantly detoxified and healed their body by previous fasting, +or the rare soul that has gone from birth through adulthood enjoying +extraordinarily good nutrition and without experiencing the +stressors of improper digestion. When one experienced faster I know +finds himself getting "run down" or catching a cold, he quits eating +until he feels really well. Instead of feeling weak as most fasters +do, as each of the first four or five days of water fasting pass, he +experiences a resurgence of more and more energy. On the first +fasting day he would usually feel rotten, which was why he started +fasting in the first place. On the second fasting day he'd feel more +alert and catch up on his paper work. By his third day on only water +he would be out doing hard physical chores like cutting the grass, +splitting wood or weeding his vegetable garden. Day four would also +be an energetic one, but if the fast extended beyond that, lowering +blood sugar would begin to make him tired and he'd feel forced to +begin laying down. + +After a day of water fasting the average person's blood sugar level +naturally drops; making a faster feel somewhat tired and "spacey," +so a typical faster usually begins to spend much more time resting, +further reducing the amount of energy being expended on moving the +body around, serendipitously redirecting even more of the body's +energy budget toward healing. By the end of five or six days on +water, I estimate that from 40 to 50 percent of the body's available +energy is being used for healing, repair and detoxification. + +The amount of work that a fasting body's own healing energy can do +and what it feels like to be there when it is happening is +incredible. But you can't know it if you haven't felt it. So hardly +anyone in our present culture knows. + +As I mentioned in the first chapter, at Great Oaks School I +apprenticed myself to the traveling masters of virtually every +system of natural healing that existed during the '70s. I observed +every one of them at work and tried most of them on my clients. +After all that I can say with experience that I am not aware of any +other healing tool that can be so effective as the fast. + +Essentials of a Successful, Safe Fast + +1. Fast in a bright airy room, with exceptionally good ventilation, +because fasters not only need a lot of fresh air; their bodies give +off powerfully offensive odors. 2. Sun bathe if possible in warm +climates for 10 to 20 minutes in the morning before the sun gets too +strong. 3. Scrub/massage the skin with a dry brush, stroking toward +the heart, followed by a warm water shower two to four times a day +to assist the skin in eliminating toxins. If you are too weak to do +this, have an assisted bed bath. 4. Have two enemas daily for the +first week of a fast and then once daily until the fast is +terminated. 5. Insure a harmonious environment with supportive +people or else fast alone if you are experienced. Avoid well-meaning +interference or anxious criticism at all cost. The faster becomes +hypersensitive to others' emotions. 6. Rest profoundly except for a +short walk of about 200 yards morning and night. 7. Drink water! At +least three quarts every day. Do not allow yourself to become +dehydrated! 8. Control yourself! Break a long fast on diluted +non-sweet fruit juice such as grapefruit juice, sipped a teaspoon at +a time, no more than eight ounces at a time no oftener than every 2 +or 3 hours. The second day you eat, add small quantities of fresh +juicy fruit to the same amount of juice you took the day before no +oftener than every 3 hours. By small quantities I mean half an apple +or the equivalent. On the third day of eating, add small quantities +of vegetable juice and juicy vegetables such as tomatoes and +cucumbers. Control yourself! The second week after eating resumed +add complex vegetable salads plus more complex fruit salads. Do not +mix fruit and vegetables at meals. The third week add raw nuts and +seeds no more than 1/2 ounce three times daily. Add 1/4 avocado +daily. Fourth week increase to 3 ounces of raw soaked nuts and seeds +daily and 1/2 avocado daily. Cooked grains may also be added, along +with steamed vegetables and vegetable soups. + +The Prime Rules Of Fasting + +Another truism of natural hygiene is that we dig our own graves with +our teeth. It is sad but true that almost all eat too much quantity +of too little quality. Dietary excesses are the main cause of death +in North America. Fasting balances these excesses. If people were to +eat a perfect diet and not overeat, fasting would rarely be +necessary. + +There are two essential rules of fasting. If these rules are ignored +or broken, fasting itself can be life threatening. But if the rules +are followed, fasting presents far less risk than any other +important medical procedure with a far greater likelihood of a +positive outcome. And let me stress here, there is no medical +procedure without risk. Life itself is fraught with risk, it is a +one-way ticket from birth to death, with no certainty as to when the +end of the line will be reached. But in my opinion, when handling +degenerative illness and infections, natural hygiene and fasting +usually offer the best hope of healing with the least possible risk. + +The first vital concern is the duration of the fast. Two eliminatory +processes go on simultaneously while fasting. One is the dissolving +and elimination of the excess, toxic or dysfunctional deposits in +the body, and second process, the gradual exhaustion of the body's +stored nutritional reserves. The fasting body first consumes those +parts of the body that are unhealthy; eventually these are all gone. +Simultaneously the body uses up stored fat and other reserve +nutritional elements. A well-fed reasonably healthy body usually has +enough stored nutrition to fast for quite a bit longer than it takes +to "clean house." + +While house cleaning is going on the body uses its reserves to +rebuild organs and rejuvenate itself. Rebuilding starts out very +slowly but the repairs increase at an ever-accelerating rate. The +"overhaul" can last only until the body has no more reserves. +Because several weeks of fasting must pass by before the "overhaul" +gets going full speed, it is wise to continue fasting as long as +possible so as to benefit from as much rejuvenation as possible. + +It is best not to end the fast before all toxic or dysfunctional +deposits are eliminated, or before the infection is overcome, or +before the cause for complaint has been healed. The fast must be +ended when most of the body's essential-to-life stored nutritional +reserves are exhausted. If the fast goes beyond this point, +starvation begins. Then, fasting-induced organic damage can occur, +and death can follow, usually several weeks later. Almost anyone not +immediately close to death has enough stored nutrition to water fast +for ten days to two weeks. Most reasonably healthy people have +sufficient reserves to water fast for a month. Later I will explain +how a faster can somewhat resupply their nutritional reserves while +continuing to fast, and thus safely extend the fasting period. + +The second essential concern has to do with adjusting the intensity +of the fast. Some individuals are so toxic that the waste products +released during a fast are too strong, too concentrated or too +poisonous for the organs of elimination to handle safely, or to be +handled within the willingness of the faster to tolerate the +discomforts that toxic releases generate. The highly-toxic faster +may even experience life-threatening symptoms such as violent asthma +attacks. This kind of faster has almost certainly been dangerously +ill before the fast began. Others, though not dangerously sick prior +to fasting, may be nearly as toxic and though not in danger of +death, they may not be willing to tolerate the degree of discomfort +fasting can trigger. For this reason I recommend that if at all +possible, before undertaking a fast the person eat mostly raw foods +for two months and clean up all addictions. This will give the body +a chance to detoxify significantly before the water fast is started, +and will make water fasting much more comfortable. Seriously, +dangerously ill people should only fast with experienced guidance, +so the rapidity of their detoxification process may be adjusted to a +lower level if necessary. + +A fast of only one week can accomplish a significant amount of +healing. Slight healing does occur on shorter fasts, but it is much +more difficult to see or feel the results. Many people experience +rapid relief from acute headache pain or digestive distress such as +gas attacks, mild gallbladder pain, stomach aches, etc., after only +one day's abstention from food. In one week of fasting a person can +relieve more dangerous conditions such as arthritic pain, +rheumatism, kidney pain, and many symptoms associated with allergic +reactions. But even more fasting time is generally needed for the +body to completely heal serious diseases. That's because eliminating +life-threatening problems usually involve rebuilding organs that +aren't functioning too well. Major rebuilding begins only after +major detoxification has been accomplished, and this takes time. + +Yes, even lost organ function can be partially or completely +restored by fasting. Aging and age-related degeneration is +progressive, diminishing organ functioning. Organs that make +digestive enzymes secrete less enzymes. The degenerated immune +system loses the ability to mobilize as effectively when the body is +attacked. Liver and kidney efficiency declines. The adrenals tire, +becoming incapable of dumping massive amounts of stress-handling +hormones or of repeating that effort time after time without +considerable rest in between. The consequences of these +inter-dependent deterioration's is a cascade of deterioration that +contributes to even more rapid deterioration's. The name for this +cascading process is aging. Its inevitable result--death. + +Fasting can, to a degree, reverse aging. Because fasting improves +organ functioning, it can slow down aging. + +Fasters are often surprised that intensified healing can be +uncomfortable. They have been programmed by our culture and by +allopathic doctors to think that if they are doing the right thing +for their bodies they should feel better immediately. I wish it +weren't so, but most people have to pay the piper for their dietary +indiscretions and other errors in living. There will be aches and +minor pains and uncomfortable sensations. More about that later. A +rare faster does feel immediately better, and continues to feel ever +better by the day, and even has incredible energy while eating +nothing, but the majority of us folks just have to tough it out, +keeping in mind that the way out is the way through. It is important +to remind yourself at times that even with some discomfort and +considering the inconvenience of fasting that you are getting off +easy--one month of self-denial pays for those years of indulgence and +buys a regenerated body. + +Length Of The Fast + +How long should a person fast? In cases where there are serious +complaints to remedy but where there are no life threatening disease +conditions, a good rule of thumb is to fast on water for one +complete day (24 hours) for each year that the person has lived. If +you are 30 years old, it will take 30 consecutive days of fasting to +restore complete health. However, thirty fasting days, done a few +days here and a few there won't equal a month of steady fasting; the +body accomplishes enormously more in 7 or l4 days of consecutive +fasting, than 7 or 14 days of fasting accumulated sporadically, such +as one day a week. This is not to say that regular short fasts are +not useful medicine. Periodic day-long fasts have been incorporated +into many religious traditions, and for good reason; it gives the +body one day a week to rest, to be free of digestive obligations, +and to catch up on garbage disposal. I heartily recommend it. But it +takes many years of unfailingly regular brief fasting to equal the +benefits of one, intensive experience. + +Fasting on water much longer than fifteen consecutive days may be +dangerous for the very sick, (unless under experienced supervision) +or too intense for those who are not motivated by severe illness to +withstand the discomfort and boredom. However, it is possible to +finish a healing process initiated by one long water fast by +repeating the fast later. My husband's healing is a good example of +this. His health began to noticeably decline about age 38 and he +started fasting. He fasted on water 14 to 18 days at a time, once a +year, for five consecutive years before most of his complaints and +problems entirely vanished. + +The longest fast I ever supervised was a 90 day water fast on an +extraordinarily obese woman, who at 5' 2" weighed close to 400 +pounds. She was a Mormon; generally members of the LDS Church eat a +healthier diet than most Americans, but her's included far too much +of what I call "healthfood junkfood," in the form of whole grain +cakes and cookies, lots of granola made with lots of honey, oil, and +dried fruit, lots of honey heaped atop heavily buttered whole grain +bread. (I will explain more about the trap of healthfood junkfood +later on.) A whole foods relatively meatless diet is far superior to +its refined white flour, white sugar and white grease (lard) +counterpart, but it still produced a serious heath problem in just +30 years of life. Like many women, she expressed love-for-family in +the kitchen by serving too-much too-tasty food. The Mormons have a +very strong family orientation and this lady was no exception, but +she was insecure and unhappy in her marriage and sought consolation +in food, eaten far in excess of what her body needed. + +On her 90 day water fast she lost about 150 pounds, but was still +grossly overweight when the fast ended. Toward the end it became +clear that it was unrealistic to try to shrink this woman any closer +to normal body weight because to her, fat represented an invaluable +insulation or buffer that she was not prepared to give up. As the +weight melted away on the fast and she was able to actually feel the +outline of a hip bone her neurosis became more and more apparent, +and the ability to feel a part of her skeleton was so upsetting to +her that her choice was between life threatening obesity and +pervasive anxiety. + +Her weight was still excessive but the solace of eating was even +more important. This woman needed intensive counseling not more +fasting. Unfortunately, at the end she choose to remain obese. Fat +was much less frightening to her than confronting her emotions and +fears. The positive side was that after the fast she was able to +maintain her weight at 225 instead of 375 which was an enormous +relief to her exhausted heart. + +Another client I fasted for 90 days was a 6' 1" tall, chronic +schizophrenic man who weighed in at 400 pounds. He was so big he +could barely get through my front door, and mine was an +extraordinarily wide door in what had been an upper-class mansion. +This man, now in his mid twenties, had spent his last seven years in +a mental institution before his parents decided to give him one last +chance by sending to Great Oaks School. The state mental hospitals +at that time provided the mentally ill with cigarettes, coffee, and +lots of sugary treats, but none of these substances were part of my +treatment program so he had a lot of immediate withdrawal to go +through. The quickest and easiest way to get him through it was to +put him on a water fast after a few days of preparation on raw food. + +This was not an easily managed case! He was wildly psychotic, on +heavy doses of chloropromazine, with many bizarre behaviors. Besides +talking to himself continuously in gibberish, he collected bugs, +moss, sticks, piles or dirt, and switched to smoking oak leaves +instead of cigarettes. He was such a fire hazard that I had to move +him to a downstairs room with concrete floor. Even in the basement +he was a fire hazard with his smoking and piles of sticks and other +inflammables next to his bed, but all of this debris was his +"precious." I knew that I was in for trouble if I disturbed his +precious, but the insects and dirt piles seemed to be expanding +exponentially. + +One day the dirt exceeded my tolerance level. To make a long story +short he caught me in the act of cleaning up his precious. Was he +furious! All 350 pounds of him! (By this time he had lost 50 +pounds.) He barreled into me, fists flying, and knocked me into the +pipes next to the furnace and seemed ready to really teach me what +was what. I prefer to avoid fights, but if they are inevitable, I +can really get into the spirit of the thing. I'd had lots of +childhood practice defending myself because I was an incurable +tomboy who loved to wrestle; I could usually pin big boys who +considered themselves tough. So I began using my fists and what +little martial arts training I had to good use. After I hurt him a +bit he realized that I was not going to be easily intimidated, and +that in fact he was in danger of getting seriously damaged. So he +called a truce before either of us were badly beaten up. He had only +a few bruises and welts, nothing serious. + +After that he refrained from collecting things inside the building +(he continued to collect outside). This compromise was fine with me, +and the incident allowed me to maintain the authority I needed to +bully him into co-operating with the program: taking his vitamins, +and sticking to his fast until he finally reached 200 pounds. After +90 days on water he actually looked quite handsome, he no longer +smoked, he was off psychotropic medication, and his behaviors were +within an acceptable range as long as your expectations were not too +high. + +He was well enough to live outside a hospital and also clear-headed +enough to know that if he let too many people know how well he +really was, he might have to give up his mental disability pension +and actually become responsible for himself. No way, Jose! This +fellow knew a good thing when he saw it. So he continued to pull +bizarre stunts just often enough in front of the right audience to +keep his disability checks coming in, while managing to act sane +enough to be allowed to live comfortably at home instead of in the +hospital. By keeping to my program he could stay off mind-numbing +psychotropic medication if he kept up his megavitamins and minerals. +This compromise was tolerable from his point of view, because there +were no side effects like he experienced from his tranquilizers. + +It is very rare for a mentally ill person who has spent more than a +few months in a mental hospital to ever usefully return to society +because they find "mental illness" too rewarding. + +My Own 56 Day Long Fast + +Fasters go through a lot of different emotional states, these can +get intense and do change quite rapidly. The physical body, too, +will manifest transitory conditions. Some can be quite +uncomfortable. But, I don't want to leave the reader with the +impression that fasting is inevitably painful. So I will now recount +my own longest fast in detail. + +When I did my own 42 day water fast followed by two weeks on carrot +juice diluted 50/50 with water, which really amounted to 56 +consecutive days, my predominant sensation for the first three days +was a desire to eat that was mostly a mental condition, and a lot of +rumbling and growling from my stomach. This is not real hunger, just +the sounds the stomach likes to make when it is shrinking. After +all, this organ is accustomed to being filled at regular intervals, +and then, all of a sudden, it gets nothing, so naturally the stomach +wants to know what is going on. Once it realizes it is on temporary +vacation, the stomach wisely decides to reduce itself to a size +suitable for a retired organ. And it shuts up. This process usually +takes three to five days and for most people, no further "hunger +pangs" are felt until the fast is over. + +Real hunger comes only when the body is actually starving. The +intense discomforts many people experience upon missing a meal are +frequently interpreted as hunger but they aren't. What is actually +happening is that their highly toxic bodies are taking the +opportunity presented by having missed a meal or two to begin to +cleanse. The toxins being released and processed make assorted +unpleasant symptoms such as headaches and inability to think +clearly. These symptoms can be instantly eliminated by the intake of +a bit of food, bringing the detox to a screeching halt. + +Two weeks into the fast I experienced sharp abdominal pains that +felt like I imagine appendicitis feels, which compelled me toward +the nearest toilet in a state of great urgency where I productively +busied myself for about half an hour. As I mentioned earlier, I was +experimentally adhering to a rigid type of fast of the sort +recommended by Dr. Herbert Shelton, a famous advocate of the Natural +Hygiene school. Shelton was such a powerful writer and personality +that there still exists a Natural Hygiene Society that keeps his +books in print and maintains his library. The words "Natural +Hygiene" are almost owned by the society like a trademark and they +object when anyone describes themselves as a hygienist and then +advocates any practice that Dr. Shelton did not approve of. + +Per Dr. Shelton, I was going to fast from the time hunger left until +the time it returned and I was not going to use any form of colon +cleansing. Shelton strongly opposed bowel cleansing so I did no +enemas nor colonics, nor herbs, nor clays, nor psyllium seed +designed to clean the bowel, etc. Obviously at day 14 the bowel +said, enough is enough of this crap, and initiated a goods house +cleaning session. When I saw what was eliminated I was horrified to +think that I had left that stuff in there for two weeks. I then +started to wonder if the Sheltonites were mistaken about this aspect +of fasting. Nonetheless, I persevered on the same regimen because my +hunger had not returned, my tongue was still thickly coated with +foul-smelling, foul-tasting mucus and I still had some fat on my +feet that had not been metabolized. + +Shelton said that cleansing is not complete until a skeletal +condition is reached--that is, absolutely no fat reserves are left. +Up until that time I did not even know that I had fat on my feet, +but much to my surprise, as the weeks went on, not only did my +breasts disappear except for a couple of land marks well-known to my +babies, but my ribs and hip bones became positively dangerous to +passersby, and my shoes would not stay on my feet. This was not all +that surprising because I went from 135 pounds down to 85 on a 5' 7" +frame with substantial bone structure. + +Toward the end of the fast my eyes became brighter and clearer blue, +my skin took on a good texture, my breath finally became sweet, my +tongue cleared up and became pink, my mind was clear, and my +spiritual awareness and sensitivity was heightened. In other words, +I was no longer a walking hulk of stored-up toxemia. I also felt +quite weak and had to rest for ten minutes out every hour in +horizontal position. (I should have rested much more.) I also +required very little sleep, although it felt good to just lie +quietly and rest, being aware of what was going on in various parts +of my body. + +During the last few weeks on water I became very attentive to my +right shoulder. Two separate times in the past, while flying head +first over the handlebars of my bicycle I had broken my shoulder +with considerable tearing of ligaments and tendons. At night when I +was totally still I felt a whole crew of pixies and brownies with +picks and shovels at work in the joint doing major repair work. This +activity was not entirely comfortable, but I knew it was +constructive work, not destructive, so I joined the work crew with +my mind's eye and helped the work along. + +It seemed my visualizations actually did help. Ever since, I've had +the fasters I supervised use creative imagery or write affirmations +to help their bodies heal. There are lots of books on this subject. +I've found that the techniques work far better on a faster than when +a person is eating normally. + +After breaking the fast it took me six weeks to regain enough +strength that I could run my usual distance in my regular time; it +took me six months to regain my full 135 pound weight because I was +very careful to break the fast slowly and correctly. Coming off +water with two weeks on dilute carrot juice I then added small +portions of raw food such as apples, raw vegetables, sprouts, +vegetable juices, and finally in the fourth week after I began +drinking dilute carrot juice, I added seven daily well-chewed +almonds to my rebuilding diet. Much later I increased to 14 almonds, +but that was the maximum amount of such highly concentrated fare my +body wanted digest at one time for over one year. I found I got a +lot more miles to the gallon out of the food that I did eat, and did +not crave recreational foods. Overall I was very pleased with my +educational fast, it had taught me a great deal. + +If I had undertaken such a lengthy fast at a time when I was +actually ill, and therefore had felt forced into it, my experience +could have been different. A positive mental attitude is an +essential part of the healing process so fasting should not be +undertaken in a negative, protesting mental state. The mind is so +powerful that fear or the resistance fear generates can override the +healing capacity of the body. For that reason I always recommend +that people who consider themselves to be healthy, who have no +serious complaints, but who are interested in water fasting, should +limit themselves to ten consecutive days or so, certainly never more +than 14. Few healthy people, even those with a deep interest in the +process, can find enough personal motivation to overcome the extreme +boredom of water fasting for longer than that. Healthy people +usually begin protesting severely after about two weeks. If there is +any one vital rule of fasting, one never should fast over strong, +personal protest. Anytime you're fasting and you really desire to +quit, you probably should. Unless, of course, you are critically +ill. Then you may have no choice--its fast or die. + +Common Fasting Complaints And Discomforts + +The most frequently heard complaints of fasters are headaches, dry, +cracked lips, dizziness, blurred vision with black spots that float, +skin rashes, and weakness in the first few days plus what they think +is intense hunger. The dizziness and weakness are really real, and +are due to increased levels of toxins circulating in the blood and +from unavoidably low blood sugar which is a natural consequence of +the cessation of eating. The blood sugar does reestablish a new +equilibrium in the second and third week of the fast and then, the +dizziness may cease, but still, it is important to expect dizziness +at the beginning. + +It always takes more time for the blood to reach the head on a fast +because everything has slowed down, including the rate of the heart +beat, so blood pressure probably has dropped as well. If you stand +up very quickly you may faint. I repetitively instruct all of my +clients to stand up very slowly, moving from a lying to a sitting +position, pausing there for ten or twenty seconds, and then rising +slowly from a sitting to a standing position. They are told that at +the first sign of dizziness they must immediately put their head +between their knees so that the head is lower than the heart, or +squat/sit down on the floor, I once had a faster who forgot to obey +my frequent warnings. About two weeks into a long fast, she got up +rapidly from the toilet and felt dizzy. The obvious thing to do was +to sit back down on the toilet or lie down on the bath rug on the +floor, but no, she decided that because she was dizzy she should +rush back to her bed in the adjoining room. She made it as far as +the bathroom door and fainted, out cold, putting a deep grove into +the drywall with her pretty nose on the way down. We then had to +make an unscheduled visit to a nose specialist, who calmly put a +tape-wrapped spoon inside her bent-over nose and pried it back to +dead center. This was not much fun for either of us; it is well +worthwhile preventing such complications. + +Other common complaints during the fast include coldness, due to low +blood sugar as well as a consequence of weight loss and slowed +circulation due to lessened physical activity. People also dislike +inactivity which seems excruciatingly boring, and some are upset by +weight loss itself. Coldness is best handled with lots of clothes, +bedding, hot water bottles or hot pads, and warm baths. Great Oaks +School of Health was in Oregon, where the endlessly rainy winters +are chilly and the concrete building never seemed to get really +warm. I used to dream of moving my fasters to a tropical climate +where I could also get the best, ripest fruits to wean them back on +to food. + +If the fast goes on for more than a week or ten days, many people +complain of back discomfort, usually caused by over-worked kidneys. +This passes. Hot baths or hot water bottles provide some relief. +Drinking more fluids may also help a bit. Nausea is fairly common +too, due to toxic discharges from the gall bladder. Drinking lots of +water or herbal tea dilutes toxic bile in the stomach and makes it +more tolerable. + +Very few fasters sleep well and for some reason they expect to, +certainly fasters hope to, because they think that if they sleep all +night they will better survive one more deadly dull day in a state +of relative unconsciousness. They find out much to their displeasure +that very little sleep is required on a fast because the body is at +rest already. Many fasters sleep only two to four hours but doze +frequently and require a great deal of rest. Being mentally prepared +for this change of habit is the best handling. Generalized low-grade +aches and pains in the area of the diseased organs or body parts are +common and can often be alleviated with hot water bottles, warm but +not hot bath water and massage. If this type of discomfort exists, +it usually lessens with each passing day until it disappears +altogether. + +Many fasters complain that their vision is blurred, and that they +are unable to concentrate. These are really major inconveniences +because then fasters can't read or even pay close attention to +video-taped movies, and if they can't divert themselves some fasters +think they will go stir crazy. They are so addicted to a hectic +schedule of doingness, and/or being entertained that they just can't +stand just being with themselves, forced to confront and deal with +the sensations of their own body, forced to face their own thoughts, +to confront their own emotions, many of which are negative. People +who are fasting release a lot of mental/emotional garbage at the +same time as they let go of old physical garbage. Usually the +psychological stuff contributed greatly to their illness and just +like the physical garbage and degenerated organs, it all needs to be +processed. + +One of the most distressing experiences that happen occasionally is +hair loss. Deprived of adequate nutrition, the follicles can not +keep growing hair, and the existing hair dies. However, the +follicles themselves do not die and once the fast has ended and +sufficient nutrition is forthcoming, hair will regrow as well or +better than before. + +There are also complaints that occur after the fast has been broken. +Post-fast cravings, even after only two weeks of deprivation, are to +be expected. These may take the form of desires for sweet, sour, +salt, or a specific food dreamed of while fasting, like chocolate +fudge sundays or just plain toast. Food cravings must be controlled +at all costs because if acted upon, each indulgence chips away the +health gains of the previous weeks. A single indulgence can be +remedied by a day of restricting the diet to juice or raw food. +After the repair, the person feels as good as they did when the fast +ended. Repeated indulgences will require another extended bout of +fasting to repair. It is far better to learn self-control. + +The Healing Crisis And Retracing + +Certain unpleasant somatics that occur while fasting (or while on a +healing diet) may not be dangerous or "bad." Two types, the healing +crisis, and retracing, are almost inevitable. A well-educated faster +should welcome these discomforts when they happen. The healing +crisis (but not retracing) also occurs on a healing diet. + +The healing crisis can seem a big surprise to a faster who has been +progressing wonderfully. Suddenly, usually after a few days of +noticeably increased well-being, they suddenly experience a set of +severe symptoms and feel just awful. This is not a setback, not +something to be upset or disappointed about, but a healing crisis, +actually a positive sign + +Healing crises always occur after a period of marked improvement. As +the vital force builds up during the healing process, the body +decides it now has obtained enough energy to throw off some +accumulated toxins, and forcefully pushes them out through a typical +and usually previously used route of secondary elimination, such as +the nose, lungs, stomach, intestines, skin, or perhaps produces a +flu-like experience with fever chills, sweat, aches and pains, etc. +Though unpleasant, this experience is to be encouraged; the body has +merely accelerated its elimination process. Do not attempt to +suppress any of these symptoms, don't even try to moderate fever, +which is the body's effective way to burn out a virus or bacteria +infection, unless it is a dangerously high fever (over 102 degree +Fahrenheit). Fever can be lowered without drugs by putting the +person into a cool/cold bath, or using cold towel wraps and cold +water sponge baths. The good news is that healing crises usually do +not last long, and when they are past you feel better than you did +before the crisis. + +Asthmatics seem to have the worst crises. I have had asthmatics +bring up a quart of obnoxious mucous from their lungs every night +for weeks. They have stayed awake all night for three nights +continuously coughing and choking on the material that was being +eliminated. After that clearing-out process they were able to breath +much more freely. Likewise I have had people who have had sinusitis +have nothing but non-stop pussy discharge from their sinuses for +three weeks. Some of this would run down the throat and cause +nausea. All I could say to encourage the sufferer was that it needed +to come out and to please stand aside and let the body work its +magic. These fasters were not grateful until the sinus problem that +had plagued them since childhood disappeared. + +The interesting thing about healing crises are that the symptoms +produced retrace earlier complaints; they are almost never something +entirely unknown to the patient. Usually they are old, familiar +somatics, often complaints that haven't bothered the faster for many +years. The reason the symptom is familiar but is not currently a +problem is because as the body degenerates it loses vital force; +with less vital force it loses the ability to create such acute +detoxification episodes in non-life-threatening secondary +elimination routes. The degenerated body makes less violent efforts +to cleanse, efforts that aren't as uncomfortable. The negative side +of this is that instead of creating acute discomfort in peripheral +systems, the toxemia goes to more vital organs where it hastens the +formation of life-threatening conditions. + +There is a very normal and typical progress for each person's fatal +illness. Their ultimate disease starts out in childhood or +adolescence as acute inflammations of skin-like organs, viral or +bacterial infections of the same. Then, as vital force weakens, +secondary eliminations are shifted to more vital organs. Allergies +or colds stop happening so frequently; the person becomes rheumatic, +arthritic or experience weakness in joints, tendons, ligaments, or +to have back pains, or to have digestive upsets. These new symptoms +are more constant but usually less acute. Ultimately, vital organs +begin to malfunction, and serious disease develop. But a hygienist +sees the beginning of fatal diseases such as cancer in adolescent +infections and allergies. + +Retracing is generally seen only on water fasts, not on extended +cleansing diets. The body begins to repair itself by healing +conditions in the reverse order to that which they occurred +originally. This means that the body would first direct healing +toward the lungs if the most recently serious illness was an attack +of pneumonia six months previously. In this case you would expect to +quickly and intensely experience a mini-case of pneumonia while the +body eliminates residues in the lungs that were not completely +discharged at the time. Next the body might take you through a +period of depression that you had experienced five years in the +past. The faster may be profoundly depressed for a few days and come +out of it feeling much better. You could then reexperience +sensation-states like those caused by recreational drugs you had +playfully experimented with ten years previously along with the +"trippiness" if it were a hallucinogen, speediness if it was "speed" +or the dopiness if it was heroin. Retracing further, the faster +might then experience something similar to a raging attack of +tonsillitis which you vaguely remember having when you were five +years old, but fortunately this time it passes in three days (or +maybe six hours), instead of three weeks. This is retracing. + +Please do not be surprised or alarmed if it happens to you on a +fast, and immediately throw out the baby with the bath water +thinking that you are doing the wrong thing because all those old +illnesses are coming back to haunt you. It is the body's magnificent +healing effort working on your behalf, and for doing it your body +deserves lots of "well done", "good body" thoughts rather than +gnashing of teeth and thinking what did I do to deserve this. The +body won't tell you what you did to deserve this, but it knows and +is trying its darndest to undo it. + +The Unrelenting Boredom Of Fasting + +Then there's the unrelenting boredom of fasting. Most people have +been media junkies since they were kids; the only way they believe +they can survive another day of fasting is by diverting their minds +with TV. This is far from ideal because often the emotions of a +faster are like an open wound and when they resonate with the +emotions portrayed on most TV shows, the faster gets into some very +unpleasant states that interfere with healing. And the emotions many +movies prompt people to sympathetically generate are powerful ones, +often highly negative, and contrary to healing. Especially unhelpful +are the adrenaline rushes in action movies. But if TV is the best a +faster can do, it is far better that someone fast with television +programming filling their minds than to not fast at all. I keep a +library of positive VHS tapes for these addicts--comedies, stories of +heroic over-comings, depiction's of humans at their best. + +Boredom is probably the most limiting factor to fasting a long time. +That is because boredom is progressive, it gets worse with each +slowly-passing day. But concurrently, the rate of healing is +accelerating with each slowly-passing day. Every day the faster gets +through does them considerably more good than the previous day. +However, fasters rarely are motivated enough to overcome boredom for +more than two weeks or so, unless they started the fast to solve a +very serious or life-threatening condition. For this reason, +basically well people should not expect to be able to fast for more +than a couple of weeks every six months or year, no matter how much +good a longer fast might do. + +Exercise While Fasting + +The issue of how much activity is called for on a fast is +controversial. Natural Hygienists in the Herbert Shelton tradition +insist that all fasters absolutely must have complete bed rest, with +no books, no TV, no visitors, no enemas, no exercise, no music, and +of course no food, not even a cup of herb tea. In my many years of +conducting people through fasts, I have yet to meet an individual +that could mentally tolerate this degree of nothingness. It is too +drastic a withdrawal from all the stimulation people are used to in +the twentieth century. I still don't know how Shelton managed to +make his patients do it, but my guess is that he must have been a +very intimidating guy. Shelton was a body builder of some renown in +his day. I bet Shelton's patients kept a few books and magazines +under their mattress and only took them out when he wasn't looking. +If I had tried to enforced this type of sensory deprivation, I know +my patients would have grabbed their clothes and run, vowing never +to fast again. I think it is most important that people fast, and +that they feel so good about the experience that they want to do it +again, and talk all their sick friends into doing the same thing. + +In contrast to enforced inactivity, Russian researchers who +supervised schizophrenics on 30 day water fasts insisted that they +walk for three hours every day, without stopping. I would like to +have been there to see how they managed to enforce that. I suspect +some patients cheated. I lived with schizophrenics enough years to +know that it is very difficult to get them to do anything that they +don't want to do, and very few of them are into exercise, especially +when fasting. + +In my experience both of these approaches to activity during the +fast are extremes. The correct activity level should be arrived at +on an individual basis. I have had clients who walked six miles a +day during an extended water fast, but they were not feeling very +sick when they started the fast, and they were also physically fit. +In contrast I have had people on extended fasts who were unable to +walk for exercise, or so weak they were unable to even walk to the +bathroom, but these people were critically ill when they started +fasting, and desperately needed to conserve what little vital force +they had for healing. + +Most people who are not critically ill need to walk at least 200 +yards twice a day, with assistance if necessary, if only to move the +lymph through the system. The lymphatic system is a network of ducts +and nodes which are distributed throughout the body, with high +concentrations of nodes in the neck, chest, arm pits, and groin. Its +job is to carry waste products from the extremities to the center of +the body where they can be eliminated. The blood is circulated +through the arteries and veins in the body by the contractions of +the heart, but the lymphatic system does not have a pump. Lymphatic +fluid is moved by the contractions of the muscles, primarily those +of the arms and legs. If the faster is too weak to move, massage and +assisted movements are essential. + +Lymph nodes are also a part of our immune system and produce white +blood cells to help control invading organisms. When the lymph is +overloaded with waste products the ducts and nodes swell, and until +the source of the local irritation is removed, are incapable of +handling further debris. If left in this condition for years they +become so hard they feel like rocks under the skin. Lumps in the +armpits or the groin are prime sites for the future development of a +cancer. Fasting, massage, and poultices will often soften overloaded +lymph nodes and coax them back into operation. + +The Stages Of Fasting + +The best way to understand what happens when we fast is to break up +the process into six stages: preparation for the fast, loss of +hunger, acidosis, normalization, healing, and breaking the fast. + +A person that has consumed the typical American diet most of their +life and whose life is not in immediate danger would be very wise to +gently prepare their body for the fast. Two weeks would be a minimum +amount of time, and if the prospective faster wants an easier time +of it, they should allow a month or even two for preliminary +housecleaning. During this time, eliminate all meat, fish, dairy +products, eggs, coffee, black tea, salt, sugar, alcohol, drugs, +cigarettes, and greasy foods. This de-addiction will make the +process of fasting much more pleasant, and is strongly recommended. +However, eliminating all these harmful substances is withdrawal from +addictive substances and will not be easy for most. I have more to +say about this later when I talk about allergies and addictions. + +The second stage, psychological hunger, usually is felt as an +intense desire for food. This passes within three or four days of +not eating anything. Psychological hunger usually begins with the +first missed meal. If the faster seems to be losing their resolve, I +have them drink unlimited quantities of good-tasting herb teas, +(sweetened--only if absolutely necessary--with nutrisweet). Salt-free +broths made from meatless instant powder (obtainable at the health +food store) can also fend off the desire to eat until the stage of +hunger has passed. + +Acidosis, the third stage, usually begins a couple of days after the +last meal and lasts about one week. During acidosis the body +vigorously throws off acid waste products. Most people starting a +fast begin with an overly acid blood pH from the typical American +diet that contains a predominance of acid-forming foods. Switching +over to burning fat for fuel triggers the release of even more +acidic substances. Acidosis is usually accompanied by fatigue, +blurred vision, and possibly dizziness. The breath smells very bad, +the tongue is coated with bad-tasting dryish mucus, and the urine +may be concentrated and foul unless a good deal of water is taken +daily. Two to three quarts a day is a reasonable amount. + +Mild states of acidosis are a common occurrence. While sleeping +after the last meal of the day is digested bodies normally work very +hard trying to detoxify from yesterday's abuses. So people routinely +awaken in a state of acidosis. Their tongue is coated, their breath +foul and they feel poorly. They end their brief overnight fast with +breakfast, bringing the detoxification process to a screeching halt +and feel much better. Many people think they awaken hungry and don't +feel well until they eat. They confuse acidosis with hunger when +most have never experienced real hunger in their entire lives. If +you typically awaken in acidosis, you are being given a strong sign +by your body that it would like to continue fasting far beyond +breakfast. In fact, it probably would enjoy fasting long beyond the +end of acidosis. + +Most fasters feel much more comfortable by the end of the first +seven to ten days, when they enter the normalization phase; here the +acidic blood chemistry is gradually corrected. This sets the stage +for serious healing of body tissues and organs. Normalization may +take one or two more weeks depending on how badly the body was out +of balance. As the blood chemistry steadily approaches perfection, +the faster usually feels an increasing sense of well-being, broken +by short spells of discomfort that are usually healing crises or +retracings. + +The next stage, accelerated healing, can take one or many weeks +more, again depending on how badly the body has been damaged. +Healing proceeds rapidly after the blood chemistry has been +stabilized, the person is usually in a state of profound rest and +the maximum amount of vital force can be directed toward repair and +regeneration of tissues. This is a miraculous time when tumors are +metabolized as food for the body, when arthritic deposits dissolve, +when scar tissues tend to disappear, when damaged organs regain lost +function (if they can). Seriously ill people who never fast long +enough to get into this stage (usually it takes about ten days to +two weeks of water fasting to seriously begin healing) never find +out what fasting can really do for them. + +Breaking the fast is equally or more important a stage than the fast +itself. It is the most dangerous time in the entire fast. If you +stop fasting prematurely, that is, before the body has completed +detoxification and healing, expect the body to reject food when you +try to make it eat, even if you introduce foods very gradually. The +faster, the spiritual being running the body, may have become bored +and want some action, but the faster's body hasn't finished. The +body wants to continue healing. + +By rejection, I mean that food may not digest, may feel like a stone +in your stomach, make you feel terrible. If that happens and if, +despite that clear signal you refuse to return to fasting, you +should go on a juice diet, take as little as possible, sip it slowly +(almost chew it) and stay on juice until you find yourself digesting +it easily. Then and only then, reintroduce a little solid raw food +like a green salad. + +Weaning yourself back on to food should last just as long as the +fast. Your first tentative meals should be dilute, raw juices. After +several days of slowly building up to solid raw fruit, small amounts +of raw vegetable foods should be added. If it has been a long fast, +say over three weeks, this reintroduction should be done gingerly +over a few weeks. If this stage is poorly managed or ignored you may +become acutely ill, and for someone who started fasting while +dangerously ill, loss of self control and impulsive eating could +prove fatal. Even for those fasting to cure non-life-threatening +illnesses it is pointless to go through the effort and discipline of +a long fast without carefully establishing a correct diet after the +fast ends, or the effort will have largely been wasted. + +Foods For Monodiet, Juice or Broth Fasting + +zucchini, garlic, onion, green beans, kale, celery, beet greens and +root, cabbage, carrot, wheat grass juice, alfalfa juice, barley +green juice, parsley juice, lemon/lime juice, grapefruit juice, +apples (not juice, too sweet), diluted orange juice, diluted grape +juice + +Less-Rigorous-Than-Water Fasts + +There are gradations of fasting measures ranging from rigorous to +relatively casual. Water fasting is the most rapid and effective +one. Other methods have been created by grasping the underlying +truth of fasting, namely whenever the digestive effort can be +reduced, by whatever degree, whenever the formation of the toxins of +misdigestion can be reduced or prevented, to that extent the body +can divert energy to the healing process. Thus comes about assorted +famous and sometimes notorious monodiet semi-fasts like the grape +cure where the faster eats only grapes for a month or so, or the +lemon cure, where the juice of one or more lemons is added to water +and nothing else is consumed for weeks on end. Here I should also +mention the "lemon juice/cayenne pepper/maple syrup cure," the +various green drink cures using spirulina, chlorella, barley green +or wheat grass, and the famous Bieler broths--vegetable soups made of +overcooked green beans or zucchini. + +I do not believe that monodiets work because of some magical +property of a particular food used. They work because they are +semi-fasts and may be extremely useful, especially for those +individuals who can not or will not tolerate a water fast. + +The best foods for monodiet fasting are the easiest ones digest: +juices of raw fruits and nonstarchy vegetables with all solids +strained out. Strained mineral broths made of long-simmered +non-starchy vegetables (the best of them made of leafy green +vegetables) fall in the same category. So if you are highly partial +to the flavor of grapes or lemons or cayenne and (highly diluted) +maple syrup, a long fast on one of these would do you a world of +good, just not quite as much good as the same amount of time spent +on water alone. If you select something more "solid" for a long +monodiet fast, like pureed zucchini, it is essential that you not +overeat. Dr. Bieler gave his fasting patients only one pint of +zucchini soup three or four times a day. The way to evaluate how +much to eat is by how much weight you are losing. When fasting, you +must lose weight! And the faster the better. + +Pure absolute water fasting while not taking any vitamins or other +nutritional supplementation has a very limited maximum duration, +perhaps 45 days. The key concept here is nutritional reserves. Body +fat is stored, surplus energy fuel. But energy alone cannot keep a +body going. It needs much more than fuel to rebuild and repair and +maintain its systems. So the body in its wisdom also stores up +vitamins and minerals and other essential substances in and +in-between all its cells. Bodies that have been very well nourished +for a long time have very large reserves; poorly nourished ones may +have very little set aside for a rainy day. And it is almost a +truism that a sick person has, for quite some time, been a poorly +nourished one. With low nutritional reserves. This fact alone can +make it difficult for a sick person to water fast for enough time to +completely heal their damaged organs and other systems. + +Obese people have fat reserves sufficient to provide energy for long +periods, but rarely can any body, no matter how complete its +nutrition was for years previously, contain sufficient nutritional +reserves to support a water fast of over six weeks. To water fast +the very obese down to normal weight can take months but to make +this possible, rather diverse and concentrated nutrition containing +few calories must be given. It is possible to fast even a very slim +a person for quite a bit longer than a month when their body is +receiving easily assimilable vitamins and minerals and small amounts +of sugars or other simple carbohydrates. + +I estimate that fasting on raw juices and mineral broths will result +in healing at 25 to 75 percent of the efficiency of water fasting, +depending on the amount of nutrition taken and the amount the juices +or broths are diluted. But juice fasting can permit healing to go on +several times longer than water might. + +Fasting on dilute juice and broth can also save the life of someone +whose organs of elimination are insufficiently strong to withstand +the work load created by water fasting. In this sense, juices can be +regarded as similar to the moderators in a nuclear reactor, slowing +the process down so it won't destroy the container. On a fast of +undiluted juice, the healing power drops considerably, but a person +on this regimen, if not sick, is usually capable of working. + +Duration of juice fasts can vary greatly. Most of the time there is +no need to continue fasting after the symptoms causing concern have +been eliminated, and this could happen as quickly as one week or +take as long as 60 days if the person is very obese. Fasters also +lose their motivation once the complaint has vanished. But feeling +better is no certain indication that the need to fast has ended. +This points up one of the liabilities of juice fasting; the person +is already eating, their digestive system never shut down and +consequently, it is much easier for them to resume eating. The thing +to keep in mind is that if the symptoms return, the fast was not +long enough or the diet was not properly reformed after the fast. + +During a long fast on water or dilute juice, if the body has used up +all of it's reserves and/or the body has reached skeletal condition, +and the condition or symptoms being addressed persists the fast +should be ended, the person should go on a raw food healing diet. If +three to six months on raw food don't solve the complaint then +another spell of water or dilute juice fasting should be attempted. +Most fasters are incapable of persisting until the body reserves +have been used up because social conditioning is telling them their +emaciated-looking body must be dying when it is actually far from +death, but return of true hunger is the critical indicator that must +not be ignored. True hunger is not what most people think of when +they think they are hungry. Few Americans have ever experienced true +hunger. It is not a rumbling in the stomach or a set of +uncomfortable sensations (caused by the beginning of detoxification) +you know will go away after eating. True hunger is an animal, +instinctual feeling in the back of one's throat (not in the stomach) +that demands you eat something, anything, even grass or shoe +leather. + +Seriously ill people inevitably start the cleansing process with a +pre-existing and serious mineral deficiencies. I say inevitably +because they likely would not have become ill had they been properly +nourished. Sick fasters may be wise to take in minerals from thin +vegetable broths or vitamin-like supplements in order to prevent +uncomfortable deficiency states. For example calcium or magnesium +deficiencies can make water fasters experience unpleasant symptoms +such as hand tremors, stiff muscles, cramps in the hands, feet, and +legs, and difficulty relaxing. I want to stress here that fasting +itself does not create deficiencies. But a person already deficient +in minerals should watch for these symptoms and take steps to remedy +the deficiencies if necessary. + +Raw Food Healing Diets + +Next in declining order of healing effectiveness is what I call a +raw food healing diet or cleansing diet. It consists of those very +same watery fruits and nonstarchy vegetables one juices or makes +into vegetable broths, but eaten whole and raw. Heating food does +two harmful things: it destroys many vitamins, enzymes and other +nutritional elements and it makes many foods much harder to digest. +So no cooked vegetables or fruits are allowed because to maintain +health on this limited regimen it is essential that every possible +vitamin and enzyme present in the food be available for digestion. +Even though still raw, no starchy or fatty vegetables or fruits are +allowed that contain concentrated calories like potatoes, winter +squash, avocados, sweet potatoes, fresh raw corn, dates, figs, +raisins, or bananas. And naturally, no salad dressings containing +vegetable oils or (raw) ground seeds are allowed. Nor are raw grains +or other raw concentrated energy sources. + +When a person starts this diet they will at first experience +considerable weight loss because it is difficult to extract a large +number of calories from these foods (though I have seen people +actually gain weight on a pure melon diet, so much sugar do these +fruits have, and well-chewed watermelon seeds are very nourishing). +Eating even large quantities of only raw fruit and raw non-starchy +vegetables results in a slow but steady healing process about 10 to +20 percent as rapid as water fasting. + +A raw food cleansing diet has several huge advantages. It is +possible to maintain this regimen and regularly do non-strenuous +work for many months, even a year or more without experiencing +massive weight loss and, more important to some people, without +suffering the extremes of low blood sugar, weakness and loss of +ability to concentrate that happen when water fasting. Someone on a +raw food cleanse will have periods of lowered energy and strong +cravings for more concentrated foods, but if they have the +self-discipline to not break their cleansing process they can +accomplish a great deal of healing while still maintaining more or +less normal (though slower paced) life activities. However, almost +no one on this diet is able to sustain an extremely active +life-style involving hard physical labor or competitive sports. And +from the very beginning someone on a raw food cleanse must be +willing and able to lie down and rest any time they feel tired or +unable to face their responsibilities. Otherwise they will +inevitably succumb to the mental certainty that their feelings of +exhaustion or overwhelm can be immediately solved by eating some +concentrated food to "give them energy." Such low-energy states +will, however, pass quickly after a brief nap or rest. + +Something else gradually happens to a body when on such a diet. Do +you recall that I mentioned that after my own long fast I began to +get more "mileage" out of my food. A cleansed, healed body becomes +far more efficient at digestion and assimilation; a body that is +kept on a raw food cleansing diet will initially lose weight +rapidly, but eventually weight loss slows to virtually nothing and +then stabilizes. However, long-term raw fooders are usually thin as +toothpicks. + +Once starchy vegetables like potatoes or winter squash, raw or +cooked, or any cereals, raw or cooked, are added to a cleansing +diet, the detoxification and healing virtually ceases and it becomes +very easy to maintain or even gain weight, particularly if larger +quantities of more concentrated foods like seeds and nuts are eaten. +Though this diet has ceased to be cleansing, few if any toxins from +misdigestion will be produced and health is easy to maintain. + +"Raw fooders" are usually people who have healed themselves of a +serious diseases and ever after continue to maintain themselves on +unfired food, almost as a matter of religious belief. They have +become convinced that eating only raw, unfired food is the key to +extraordinarily long life and supreme good health. When raw fooders +wish to perform hard physical work or strenuous exercise, they'll +consume raw nuts and some raw grains such as finely-ground oats +soaked overnight in warm water or deliciously sweet "Essene bread," +made from slightly sprouted wheat that is then ground wet, made into +cakes, and sun baked at temperatures below about 115 degrees +Fahrenheit. Essene bread can be purchased in some health food +stores. However, little or no healing or detoxification can happen +once concentrated energy sources are added to the diet, even raw +ones. + +During my days at Great Oaks School I was a raw fooder for some +years, though I found it very difficult to maintain body heat on raw +food during chilly, rainy Oregon winters and eventually struck a +personal compromise where I ate about half my diet raw and the rest +fired. I have listed some books by raw fooders in the Bibliography. +Joe Alexander's is the most fun. + +Complete Recovery Of The Seriously Ill + +Its a virtual certainty that to fully recover, a seriously ill +person will have to significantly rebuild numerous organs. They have +a hard choice: to accept a life of misery, one that the medical +doctors with drugs and surgery may be able to prolong into an +interminable hell on earth, or, spend several years working on +really healing their body, rotating between water fasting, juice or +broth fasting, extended periods on a cleansing raw food diet, and +periods of no-cleansing on a more complete diet that includes +moderate amounts of cooked vegetables and small quantities of cooked +cereals. And even after recovery someone who was quite ill may have +to live the rest of their life on a rather restricted regimen. + +It is unrealistic to expect one fast to fix everything. The body +will heal as much as it can in the allotted time, but if a dangerous +illness has not been fully remedied by the first intense fast, a raw +food diet must be followed for three to six months until weight has +been regained, nutritional reserves have been rebuilt and it is safe +to undertake another extended fast. More than two water or juice +fasts a year of thirty continuous days are not recommended nor +should they be necessary unless the life is in imminent danger and +there is no other option. + +The story of Jake's catastrophic illness and almost-cure is a good +example of this type of program. Jake was from back East. He phoned +me because he had read a health magazine article I had written, his +weak voice faintly describing a desperate condition. He was in a +wheelchair unable to walk, unable to control his legs or arms very +well, was unable to control his bladder and required a catheter. He +had poor bowel control, had not the strength to talk much or loudly +and most frightening to him, he was steadily losing weight although +he was eating large amounts of cooked vegetables and grains. Jake +had wasted away to 90 pounds at 5' 10" and looked pathetic when I +first saw him wheeled off an airplane at my local airport. + +Jake had seen a lot of medical doctors and had variously been +diagnosed as having chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic (whatever that +is) meningitis, and multiple sclerosis. He had been treated by +virtually every medical expert and many famous alternative +practitioners, utilizing a host of old and new techniques, all to no +avail. He had even tried intravenous chelation therapy and colonics. +It had also been suggested that he enter a hospital for the +treatment of eating disorders and/or see a psychiatrist. He had +tried to gain admittance to a number of holistic fasting +institutions back east, but they all refused him because they +considered the risk was too high to fast a person at such a low body +weight. But I had previously fasted emaciated people like Jake, and +there was something I liked about his telephone presence. Perhaps +this is why I foolishly decided I knew better than the other +experts. + +People commonly waste away and die while eating large amounts of +food. Obviously they are unable to digest or assimilate nutrients or +they wouldn't be wasting. Eating further increases their toxic +burden from undigested meals, further worsening their already +failing organs. The real solution is to stop feeding them altogether +so that their digestive functions can heal. In Jake's case, his +body's nutritional reserves had already become sadly depleted due to +poor absorption over such an extended period, so I could not fast +him on water. I immediately put Jake on a rich mineral broth +prepared from everything left alive in our garden at the end of +winter--leaves of kale, endive plants, whole huge splitting Savoy +cabbages, garlic, huge leeks including their green tops, the whole +stew fortified with sea weed. It did not matter too much what +vegetables I used as long as there were lots of leafy greens +containing lots of chlorophyll (where the most concentrated mineral +nutrition is located). + +Jake was given colonics every day, but had to be carried to the +colonic table because he could not support his own weight. Whoever +had given him colonics previously had not accomplished much for I +must say that Jake had the most foul smelling discharges that I had +ever encountered in administering over 6,000 colonics over many +years. It was as if his body was literally rotting from the inside +out. + +After 30 days on mineral broth Jake, who really did weigh 90 pounds +when he arrived, was only down to 85! When a person already close to +skeletal weight starts fasting, to conserve vital tissue the body +goes rapidly into a state of profound rest so it uses very little +energy, thus it loses very little weight each day. This degree of +resting also helps heal abnormal body parts earlier. After one month +on mineral broth Jake began to show signs of mineral deficiencies in +the form of a fine tremor of the hands, and cramps in the feet, so I +put him on mineral supplements too. + +Jake was in my house for a long time. At the end of the second month +on broth he started two weeks on raw carrot juice with a lot of +chlorophyll added from sources such as algae (spirulina), wheat +grass juice, alfalfa, etc.. This was followed by two more weeks on +small quantities of raw fruits and vegetables, and then followed by +two weeks with added steamed vegetables, and finally, he achieved a +diet which included small amounts of grain, cooked legumes and raw +nuts, plus the fruits and vegetables previously mentioned. Jake +health steadily improved. He gained control of his bladder, bowels, +speech, hands, and legs. He began to exercise in the living room on +a stationary bike, and walked slowly up and down our long driveway, +picking daffodils in the beautiful spring weather. + +Sadly, though I could help his body to heal it was next to +impossible to stem the tides of Jake's appetites or to pleasantly +withstand his tantrums when he was denied; he always wanted more in +terms of quantity, more in terms of variety, and at more frequent +intervals. Though his organs had healed significantly, his digestive +capacity was not nearly as large as he remembered himself enjoying +before he got sick. And never would be. Jake was not happy about the +dietary restrictions necessary for him to retain his newly attained +health, and unwilling to stay within the limits of his digestive +system's ability to process foods. He had gained weight and was back +up to 120 pounds. It was time for him to go home before I lost my +good humor. + +Jake left with a lot of "good lucks" and stern admonitions to stick +to his stringent diet and supplement program. It was a big moment +for Jake. He had arrived in a wheelchair three months before. Now he +walked unaided to the airplane, something he had not been able to do +for two years. + +Back at home Jake had no one courageous enough to set limits for +him. His immediate family and every one of his brow beaten +associates were compelled to give him everything that he wanted. So +his appetite and lack of personal discipline got the better of him. +He started eating lots of dates and figs. These had been eliminated +from his diet because he was unable to process foods which such a +high sugar content. He also ate larger and larger quantities of +grains, nuts and avocados, although I had warned him of specific +quantity limits on rich foods. Most sadly, he returned to enjoying +spaghetti with lots of cheese grated on top. Within months of +leaving my care his paralysis and weakness returned, except that +unfortunately for him, he still retained the ability to assimilate +food and maintain his body weight. Ironically, the only ultimate +benefit of his fasting with me was to permit him to suffer a far +longer existence in a wheelchair without wasting away and escaping +into death. + +I would be failing my readers if I did not explain why Jake became +ill in the first place. Jake had started what grew to become a very +successful chain of spaghetti restaurants with a unique noodles and +sauces made to his own formula. He ate a lot of his own spaghetti +over the years, and had been reared in a good Italian family with +lots of other kinds of rich food. Jake had a reputation for being +able to outeat everybody in terms of quantity and in the amount of +time spent eating. In childhood, this ability had made his Italian +mother very happy because it showed appreciation for her great +culinary skill. + +Secondly, Jake the adult was still at his core, Jake the spoiled +brat child, with a bad, unregulated temper. He was in the habit of +dumping his temper on other people whether they needed a helping of +his angry emotions or not. A lot of people in his employ and in his +extended family tiptoed around Jake, always careful of triggering +his wrath. At my place as Jake began to get well he began to use his +increased energy and much stronger voice to demonstrate his poor +character. At meal times Jake would bang the table with a fork hard +enough to leave dents in the wood table top while yelling for more, +complaining loudly about the lack of rich sauces and other culinary +delights he craved. This was a character problem that Jake could not +seem to overcome, even with a lot of intervention from the local +minister on his behalf and my counseling. Jake was a Catholic who +went to church regularly, but acted like a Christian only while he +was in church. On some level Jake knew that he was not treating +others fairly, but he would not change his habitual responses. His +negative thoughts and actions interfered with his digestive capacity +to the extent that his gluttonous eating habits produced illness, a +vegetative paralyzing illness, but not death. To me this seems +almost a form of karmic justice. + +It is common for people who have been very ill for extended periods +of time to realize what a wonderful gift life is and arrive at a +willingness to do almost anything to have a second chance at doing +"life" right. Some succeed with their second chance and some don't. +If they don't succeed in changing their life and relationships, they +frequently relapse. + +Luigi Cornaro's left the world his story of sickness and +rejuvenation. His little book may be the world's first alternative +healing text. It is a classic example of the value of +abstentousness. Had Jake taken this story to heart he would have +totally recovered. Cornaro was a sixteenth century Venetian +nobleman. He, like Jake the spaghetti baron, was near death at the +young age of forty. (Jake was also in his early 40s when he broke +down.) Cornaro's many doctors were unable to cure him. Finally he +saw a doctor who understood the principles of natural healing. This +wise physician determined that this illness was caused by a mismatch +between Cornaro's limited digestive capacity and the excessive +amount of food he was eating. So Cornaro was put on a diet of only +12 ounces of solid food and fourteen ounces of liquid a day. Any +twelve ounces of any solids he wanted and any fourteen ounces of +liquid. It could be meat and wine, salad or orange juice, no matter. + +Cornaro soon regained his health and he continued to follow the diet +until the age of 78. His health was so outstanding during this +period that people who were much younger in terms of years were +unable to keep up with him. At 78 his friends, worried about how +thin he was (doesn't it always seem that it is your so-called +friends who always ruin a natural cure) persuaded him to increase +his daily ration by two ounces a day. His delicate and weak +digestive system, which had operated perfectly for many years, was +unable to deal with the additional two ounces, and he became very +ill after a very short period of over eating. + +Worse, his recent indulgence had even further damaged the organs of +digestion and to survive Cornaro had to cut his daily ration to +eight ounces of solid food and eleven of liquids. On this reduced +dietary he again regained his health and lived to be 100. Cornaro +wrote four books on the value of abstinence or "sober living" as he +called it, writing the last and perhaps the most interesting at 96 +years of age. Had my patient Jake been able to confine his food +intake to the level of his body's ability to digest, he might still +be walking and enjoying life. But try as I might I could not make +him understand. Perhaps he enjoys doing penance in his wheel chair +more than he would enjoy health and life. + +Tissue Losses at Death By Starvation + +Fat 97% +Muscles 31 +Blood 27 +Liver 54 +Spleen 67 +Pancreas 17 +Skin 21 +Intestines 18 +Kidneys 26 +Lungs 18 +Testes 40 +Heart 3 +Brain and Spinal Cord 3 +Nerves 3 +Bone 14 + +From Keys, Ancel, Joseph Brozek, Austin Henchel, Olaf Mickelson +and Henry L. Taylor, (1950)_ The Biology of Human Starvation._ Two +Vols. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. + +Starvation + +It is true that ethical medical doctors use the least-risky +procedure they are allowed to use. But this does not mean there are +no risks to allopathic treatment. The medical doctor justifies +taking the risks by saying that the risk/reward ratio is the best +possible. Any sick person is already at risk. Life comes with only +one guarantee: that none of us gets out of it alive. + +Compared to the risks of allopathic medicine, fasting is a far safer +method of treating disease. The oft-repeated scare stories medical +doctors and their allies circulate about fasting are not true, and +it is important to remember that none of these people portraying +fasting as evil and dangerous have ever fasted themselves--I'll put +money on that one. Or, on the slim possibility that someone telling +fasting horror stories did actually not eat for 24 hours (probably +because some accident or acute illness prevented them), they had a +terrible experience because they didn't understand the process, were +highly toxic, and were scared to death the whole time. + +Or worse yet they fasted for a short period with an "open mind"--a +very dangerous state in which to approach anything new. I have found +through considerable experience with people professing to have open +minds that the expression "I'm open minded" usually means that +someone has already made up their mind and new data just passes +straight through their open mind--in one ear and out the other. Or +sometimes, the phrase "open mind" means a person that does not +believe any information has reality and is entirely unable to make +up their mind. + +The most commonly leveled criticism of fasting is that in its +efforts to survive self-imposed starvation the body metabolizes +vital tissue, not just fat, and therefore, fasting is damaging, +potentially fatally damaging. People who tell you this will also +tell you that fasters have destroyed their heart muscle or ruined +their nervous system permanently. But this kind of damage happen +only when a person starves to death or starves to a point very close +to death, not when someone fasts. + +There is a huge difference between fasting and starvation. Someone +starving is usually eating, but eating poorly and inadequately, +eating scraps of whatever is available such as sugar, white flour, +rancid grease, shoe leather, or even dirt. Frequently a starving +person is forced to exercise a great deal as they struggle to +survive and additionally is highly apprehensive. Or someone starving +to death is confined to a small space, may become severely +dehydrated too and is in terror. Fear is very damaging to the +digestive process, and to the body in general; fear speeds up the +destruction of vital tissue. People starve when trekking vast +distances through wastelands without food to eat, they starved in +concentration camps, buried in mind disasters, they starve during +famines and starve while being tortured in prisons. + +Until water fasting goes on past the point where all fatty tissues +and all abnormal deposits have been burned for fuel and recycled for +the nutritional elements they contain, vital muscle tissues and +organs are not consumed. And as long as the body contains sufficient +nutritional reserves, vital organs and essential tissues are rebuilt +and maintained. In fact the body has a great deal of intelligence +that we don't give it credit for. It knows exactly which cells are +essential to survival, which ones are not. The body knows which +cells are abnormal deposits, and it goes to work to metabolize them +first. For example, the body recognizes arthritic deposits, cysts, +fibroids, and tumors as offensive parts of the landscape, and +obligingly uses them for foods in preference to anything else. A +starving (not fasting) body also knows precisely in what order of +priority body cells should be metabolized to minimize risk of death +or permanent disability. + +After a starving body has reached skeletal condition, or where some +small amount of fat remains but nutritional reserves (vitamins and +minerals) are exhausted and there is insufficient nourishment +forthcoming, the body begins to consume nutrient-rich muscle and +organ tissue in a last-ditch effort to stay alive. Under these dire +circumstances, the least essential muscles and organs from the +standpoint of survival are metabolized first. For example, muscles +in the arms and legs would be consumed early in the process, the +heart muscle used only toward the very end. The very last part of +the body to be metabolized when one is starving and as has come very +close to death would be the brain and the nervous system. + +Starvation begins where fasting ends, which is when real hunger +begins. If the return of hunger is ignored whenever it takes place, +whether it is in 30, 60, or 90 days depending upon body weight and +type of fast, at that point exactly, not a day before, starvation +begins very slowly. Usually it takes a considerable period of time +after that before death occurs. It is important to note that this +discussion applies only to the abstention from food, not water. +Death takes place very quickly in the absence of water. + +The chart on the previous page shows numerically the phenomenal +ability of the body to protect the most essential tissues of the +body right up to the time of death. If a person fasted for 30 days, +the average time it takes for the return of hunger in a person that +is not overweight, and then ignored the return of hunger, and +continued to abstain from food--if the person could avoid forced +exercise, keep warm, and had enough hydration, it could take as much +as an additional 20 to 60 days to die of starvation! At death the +body would have experienced losses of 40 to 60 percent of its +starting body weight. (Ancel Keys et al, 1950) A emaciated person +can not afford to lose nearly as much weight as an obese person, and +death under conditions of starvation will occur earlier. In all +cases of starvation the brain, nerves, heart, lungs, kidneys and +liver remain largely intact and functional to the very end. During a +fast, it is almost impossible to damage essential organs, unless of +course the person creates the damage by fears about the process, or +by internalizing the fears of others. If those fears are present, +the fast should not be attempted. + +Weight Loss By Fasting + +Loss of weight indicates, almost guarantees, that detoxification and +healing is occurring. I can't stress this too much. Of all the +things I find my patients seem to misunderstand or forget after +being told, it is that they can't heal in a rapid manner without +getting smaller. This reality is especially hard for the family and +friends of someone who is fasting, who will say, "you're looking +terrible dear, so thin. Your skin is hanging on your bones. You're +not eating enough protein or nutrient food to be healthy and you +must eat more or you're going to develop serious deficiencies. You +don't have any energy, you must be getting sicker. You're doing the +wrong thing, obviously. You have less energy and look worse every +day. Go and see a doctor before it is too late." To succeed with +friends like this, a faster has to be a mighty self-determined +person with a powerful ability to disagree with others. + +Medical personnel claim that rapid weight loss often causes +dangerous deficiencies; these deficiencies force the person to +overeat and regain even more weight afterward. This is largely +untrue, though there is one true aspect to it: a fasted, detoxified +body becomes a much more efficient digester and assimilator, +extracting a lot more nutrition from the same amount food is used to +eat. If, after extended fasting a person returns to eating the same +number of calories as they did before; they will gain weight even +more rapidly than before they stated fasting. When fasting for +weight loss, the only way to keep the weight off is to greatly +reform the diet; to go on, and stay on, a diet made up largely of +non-starchy, watery fruits and vegetables, limited quantities of +cooked food, and very limited amounts of highly concentrated food +sources like cereals and cooked legumes. Unless, of course, after +fasting, one's lifestyle involves much very hard physical labor or +exercise. I've had a few obese fasters become quite angry with me +for this reason; they hoped to get thin through fasting and after +the fast, to resume overeating with complete irresponsibility as +before, without weight gain. + +People also fear weight loss during fasting because they fear +becoming anorexic or bulimic. They won't! A person who abstains from +eating for the purpose of improving their health, in order to +prevent or treat illness, or even one who fasts for weight loss will +not develop an eating disorder. Eating disorders mean eating +compulsively because of a distorted body image. Anorexics and +bulimics have obsessions with the thinner-is-better school of +thought. The anorexic looks at their emaciated frame in the mirror +and thinks they are fat! This is the distorted perception of a very +insecure person badly in need of therapy. A bulimic, on the other +hand stuffs themselves, usually with bad food, and then purges it by +vomiting, or with laxatives. Anorexics and bulimics are not +accelerating the healing potential of their bodies; these are life +threatening conditions. Fasters are genuinely trying to enhance +their survival potential. + +Occasionally a neurotic individual with a pre-existing eating +disorder will become obsessed with fasting and colon cleansing as a +justification to legitimize their compulsion. During my career while +monitoring hundreds of fasters, I've known two of these. I +discourage them from fasting or colon cleansing, and refuse to +assist them, because they carry the practices to absurd extremes, +and contribute to bad press about natural medicine by ending up in +the emergency ward of a hospital with an intravenous feeding tube in +their arm. + +Cases Beyond The Remedy Of Fasting + +Occasionally, very ill people have a liver that has become so +degenerated it cannot sustain the burden of detoxification. This +organ is as vital to survival as the brain, heart and lungs. We can +get along with only one kidney, we can live with no spleen, with no +gallbladder, with only small parts of the stomach and intestines, +but we can not survive without a liver for more than a day or so. +The liver is the most active organ in the body during +detoxification. To reach an understanding of detoxification, it +helps to know just what the liver does for us on an ongoing basis. + +The liver is a powerful chemical filter where blood is refined and +purified. The liver passes this cleansed blood out through the +superior vena cava, directly to the heart. The blood is then pumped +into general and systemic circulation, where it reaches all parts of +the body, delivering nutrition and oxygen at a cellular level. On +its return flow, a large proportion of the depleted blood is +collected by the gastric, splenic and superior and inferior +mesenteric veins that converge to form the large portal vein which +enters the liver. Thus a massive flow of waste from all the cells of +the body is constantly flowing into the liver. The huge hepatic +artery also enters the liver to supply oxygen and nutrients with +which to sustain the liver cells themselves. + +The liver is constantly at work refining the blood. It is +synthesizing, purifying, renovating, washing, filtering, separating, +and detoxifying. It works day and night without stopping. Many +toxins are broken down by enzymes and their component parts are +efficiently reused in various parts of the body. Some impurities are +filtered out and held back from the general circulation. These +debris are collected and stored in the gall bladder, which is a +little sack appended to the liver. After a meal, the contents of the +gall bladder (bile) are discharged into the duodenum, the upper part +of the small intestine just beyond the stomach. This bile also +contains digestive enzymes produced by the liver that permit the +breakdown of fatty foods in the small intestine. + +Sometimes a large flow of bile finds its way into the stomach by +pressure or is sucked into the stomach by vomiting. Excessive +biliary secretion and excretion can also result from overeating, +which overcrowds the area. Sometimes colonics or massage can also +stimulate a massive flow of bile. Extremely bitter and irritating, +when bile gets into the stomach the person either vomits or wishes +they could. And after vomiting and experiencing the taste of bile, +wishes they hadn't. + +When no food at all enters the system, the blood keeps right on +passing through the liver/filter just as it does when we are eating. +When the liver does not have to take care of toxins generated by the +current food intake, each passage through the liver results in a +cleaner blood stream, with the debris decreasing in quantity, +viscosity, and toxicity, until the blood becomes normalized. During +fasting, debris from the gall bladder still pass through the small +intestine and into the large intestine. However, if the bowels do +not move the toxins in the bile are readsorbed into the blood stream +and get recirculated in an endless loop. This toxic recycling makes +a faster feel just terrible, like they had a flu or worse! + +The bowels rarely move while fasting. During fasting only enemas or +colonics permit elimination from the large intestine. If done +effectively and frequently, enemas will greatly add to the well +being and comfort of the faster. Many times when a faster seems to +be retracing or experiencing a sudden onset of acute discomfort or +symptoms, these can be almost immediately relieved by an enema or +colonic. + +A person with major liver degeneration inevitably dies, with or +without fasting, with or without traditional medicine. Significantly +impaired kidney function can also bring about this same result. +Mercifully, death while fasting is usually accomplished relatively +free of pain, clear of mind and with dignity. That often can not be +said of death in a hospital. There are much worse experiences than +death. + +Fasting is not a cure-all. There are some conditions that are beyond +the ability of the body to heal. Ultimately, old age gets us all. + +Dr. Linda Hazzard, one of the greats of natural hygiene, who +practiced Osteopathic medicine in the 1920s, had a useful way of +categorizing conditions that respond well to fasting. These she +labeled "acute conditions," and "chronic degenerative conditions." A +third classification, "chronic conditions with organic damage," does +not respond to fasting. Acute conditions, are usually inflammations +or infections with irritated tissue, with swelling, redness, and +often copious secretions of mucous and pus, such as colds, flu, a +first time case of pneumonia, inflamed joints as in the early stages +of arthritis, etc. These acute conditions usually remedy in one to +three weeks of fasting. Acute conditions are excellent candidates +for self-doctoring. Chronic degenerative conditions are more serious +and the patient usually requires supervision. These include +conditions such as cancer, aids, chronic arthritis, chronic +pneumonia, emphysema and asthma. Chronic degenerative conditions +usually respond within a month to three months of fasting. The +fasting should be broken up into two or three sessions if the +condition has not been relieved in one stint of supervised fasting. +Each successive fast will produce some improvement and if a light, +largely raw-food diet is adhered to between fasts the patient should +not worsen and should be fairly comfortable between fastings. + +If there has been major functional damage to an organ as a result of +any of these degenerative conditions, healing will not be complete, +or may be impossible. By organic damage, I mean that a vital part of +the body has ceased to function due to some degenerative process, +injury, or surgery--so badly damaged that the cells that make up the +organ can not be replaced. + +I once had a twenty five year old man come to my spa to die in peace +because he had been through enough diagnostic procedures in three +hospitals to know that his liver was beyond repair. He had been +working on an apple farm in between terms at university when he was +poisoned several times with insecticide from an aerial spray on the +whole orchard. He absorbed so much insecticide that his liver +incurred massive organic damage. + +When he came to me his body had reached the point where it was +incapable of digesting, and because of lack of liver function, it +was incapable of healing while fasting, a condition in which death +is a certainty. He was a Buddhist, did not fear death and did not +want to be kept alive in agony or in prolonged unconsciousness by +any extraordinary means, nor did he want to die with tubes in every +orifice. I was honored to be a supportive participant in his +passing. He died fasting, in peace, and without pain, with a clear +mind that allowed him to consciously prepare for the experience. He +was not in a state of denial or fear, and made no frantic attempts +to escape the inevitable. He went quietly into that still dark night +with a tranquil demeanor and a slight smile. + +Fortunately, in my many years of practice I had the pleasure of +seeing the majority of the people totally regain their health or at +least greatly improve it by means of the fasting and healing diets. +Many cancer patients watched with amazement as their tumors +disappeared before their eyes, many arthritics regained their +function, serious skin conditions such as psoriasis disappeared, +mental conditions improved, addictions vanished, fatigue was +replaced by energy, and fat dissolved revealing the hidden sculpture +beneath. I will talk more about procedures and the particular +reasons bodies develop specific conditions in later chapters. + +Social/Cultural/Psychological Obstacles To Fasting + +Numerous attitudes make it difficult to fast or to provide moral +support to friends or loved ones that are fasting. Many people +harbor fears of losing weight because they think that if times were +really tough, if there was a famine or they became ill and lost a +lot of weight they would have no reserves and would certainly +perish. These people have no idea how much fat can be concealed on +an even skinny body, nor of how slowly a skinny body loses weight +while fasting. Substantial fat reserves are helpful as +heat-retaining insulation in those rare accidents when someone is +dropped into a cold ocean and must survive until the rescue boat +arrives. Being fat might keep a person alive longer who is lost in +the wilderness awaiting rescue with no supplies, no means of +procuring food, and no means of keeping warm. On the other hand, fat +people would have a far harder time walking out of the wilderness. +And extensive fat deposits are merely fuel and do not contain +extensive nutritional reserves. An obese person fasting without +significant nutritional supplementation would begin starving long +before they became really skinny. On the balance, carrying excess +weight is a far greater liability than any potential prosurvival +aspects it might have. + +There are other attitudes associated with weight loss that make it +difficult for people to fast. People hold rather stereotypical +notions about what constitutes an attractive person; usually it +involves having some meat on ones bones. Hollywood and Hugh Hefner +have both influenced the masses to think that women should have +hourglass figures with large, upthrust, firm breasts. Since breasts +are almost all useless fatty tissue supporting some milk-producing +glands that do not give a breast much volume except when engorged, +most women fasters loose a good percentage of their breast mass. If +the fast is extensive, there should also develop an impressive +showing of ribs and hip bones; these are not soft and cuddly. +Husbands, lovers, parents, and friends frequently point out that you +don't look good this way and exhort you to put on weight. Most +people think pleasantly plump is healthy. + +Skinny men, especially those who had lost a lot of weight during an +illness, are pressured by associates to put on weight to prove that +they are healthy. I had a client who was formerly a college varsity +football player. Before his illness he had lifted weights and looked +like a hunk. His family and friends liked to see him that way and +justifiably so. Then he got seriously ill. On a long extended +healing diet he lost a significant amount of weight and seemed down +right skinny, causing all who knew him well and cared about him to +tempt him with all kinds of scrumptious delicacies from the best of +kitchens. But this case was like Luigi Cornaro, a man who never +again could look like a hunk. His "friends" made an absolutely +necessary change in life style and appearance far more difficult +than it was already. My client was torn between a desire to please +others, and a desire to regain and retain his health. This problem a +sick person doesn't need. + +If you have the independence to consider following an alternative +medical program in a culture that highly values conformity and +agreement, you are also going to have to defend your own course of +self-determined action based on the best available data that you +have. But fasters are usually in fragile emotional condition, so I +advise my clients who are subjected to this kind of pressure to beg +their friends and associates to refrain from saying anything if they +can't support the course of action you have chosen. After this, if +friends or relatives are still incapable of saying nothing (even +non-verbally), it is important to exclude them from your life until +you have accomplished your health goals, have regained some weight +and have returned to eating a maintenance diet, rather than getting +skinnier on a healing one. + +The very worst aspect of our culture's eating programming is that +people have been wrongfully taught that when ill they must eat to +keep up their strength. Inherent in this recommendation is an +unstated belief that when the body is weakened by a disease state, +the weakness can somehow be overcome with food, and that the body +needs this food to kill the virus, bacteria, or invading yeast, and +uses the protein to heal or rebuild tissue. Sadly, the exact +opposite is the case. Disease organisms feed and multiply on the +toxic waste products of misdigestion, and the body is unable to +digest well when it is weak or ill. + +There's an old saying about this: "feed a cold, starve a fever." +Most people think this saying means you should eat when you have a +cold. What the saying really means is if you feed a cold then you +will soon have to starve a fever. Protein foods especially are not +digested by a diseased body, and as mentioned before, the waste +products of protein indigestion are especially poisonous. That is +all the body needs when it is already down, another load of poison +which it can't eliminate due to weakness and enervation. + +Weight loss is usually associated with illness, as it should be! In +times of acute illness an otherwise healthy body loses its appetite +for food because it is prosurvival to stop eating. It is very hard +to coax a sick animal to eat. Their bodies, not controlled by a mind +full of complex learned responses and false ideas, automatically +know that fasting is nature's method of healing. Contrary to popular +understanding, digestion, assimilation, and elimination require the +expenditure of considerable energy. This fact may contradict the +reader's experience because everyone has become tired when they have +worked a long time without eating, and then experienced the lift +after eating. But an ill body cannot digest efficiently so instead +of providing energy extracted from foods, the body is further +burdened by yet another load of toxic material produced by fermented +and putrefied food. This adds insult to injury in a sick body that +is already drowning in its own garbage. + +Worse, during illness most available vital force is already +redirected into healing; it is not available for digestion. It is +important to allow a sick body to proceed with healing and not to +obstruct the process with unnecessary digestion or suppress the +symptoms (which actually are the healing efforts) with drugs. If you +have an acute illness, and you stop all food intake except for pure +water and herb teas, and perhaps some vegetable broth, or dilute +non-sweet juice, you have relieved your body of an immense effort. +Instead of digesting, the body goes to work on catching up on +healing. The body can and will almost inevitably heal itself if the +sick person will have faith in it, cooperate with the body's efforts +by allowing the symptoms of healing to exist, reduce or eliminate +the intake of food to allow the body to marshal its energies, +maintain a positive mental attitude and otherwise stay out of the +way. + +Many people intensely dread missing even one meal. These folks +usually are and have been so toxic that their bodies had been +stashing uneliminated toxins in their fat for years. They are +usually so addicted to caffeine, cigarettes, alcohol, and so forth, +that when they had fasted, even briefly, their bodies were forced to +dip into highly-polluted fat reserves while simultaneously the body +begins withdrawal. People like this who try to fast experience +highly unpleasant symptoms including headache, irritability, +inability to think or concentrate, blurred vision, profound fatigue, +aches, etc. Most of these symptoms come from low blood sugar, but +combined with the toxins being released from fat and combined with +going through multiple addictive withdrawals, the discomforts are +more than most people are willing to tolerate. Fasting on juice is +much more realistic for cases like this. It is little wonder that +when a hygienist suggests a fast to improve health, this type of +case asserts positively that fasting is quite impossible, they have +tried it, it is absolutely terrible and know that they can't do it. + +This rejection is partly due to a cultural expectation (one +reinforced by western medicine) that all unpleasant symptoms should +be avoided or suppressed. To voluntarily experience unpleasant +sensations such as those mentioned above is more than the ordinary +timid person will subject themselves to, even in order to regain +health. They will allow surgery, drugs with violent and dangerous +side effects, painful and invasive testing procedures and +radiation--all unpleasant and sometimes extremely uncomfortable. +These therapies are accepted because someone else with authority is +doing it to them. And, they have been told that it they don't submit +they will not ever feel better and probably will die in the near +future. Also people think that they have no alternative, that the +expert in front of them knows what is best, so they feel relieved to +have been relieved of the responsibility for their own condition and +its treatment. + +Preventative Fasting + +During the years it takes for a body to degenerate enough to prompt +a fast, the body has been storing up large quantities of unprocessed +toxins in the cells, tissues, fat deposits, and organs. The body in +its wisdom will always choose to temporarily deposit overwhelming +amounts of toxins somewhere harmless rather than permit the blood +supply to become polluted or to use secondary elimination routes. A +body will use times when the liver is less burdened to eliminate +these stored toxic debris. The hygienists' paradigm asserts that the +manifestation of symptoms or illness are all by themselves, +absolute, unassailable proof that further storage of toxic wastes in +the cells, tissues, fat deposits, and organs is not possible and +that an effort toward elimination is absolutely necessary. Thus the +first time a person fasts a great quantity of toxins will normally +be released. Being the resident of a body when this is happening can +be quite uncomfortable. For this reason alone, preventative fasting +is a very wise idea. + +Before the body becomes critically ill, clean up your reserve fuel +supply (fat deposits) by burning off some accumulated fat that is +rich in toxic deposits and then replace it with clean, non-toxic fat +that you will make while eating sensibly. If you had but fasted +prophylactically as a preventative or health-creating measure before +you became seriously ill, the initial detoxification of your body +could have been accomplished far more comfortably, while you were +healthy, while your vital force was high and while your body +otherwise more able to deal with detoxification. + +Each time you fast, even if it is only one day, you allow your body +to go through a partial detox, and each time it becomes easier and +more comfortable than the last time. The body learns how to fast. +Each time you fast it, your body slips into a cleansing mode more +quickly, and each time you fast you lighten the load of stored +toxins. Perhaps you have already eliminated the caffeine your body +had stored, which frequently causes severe headaches on withdrawal, +not to mention fatigue. It certainly helps to have this behind you +before you go on to the elimination of other irritating substances. +Many people have gone through alcohol or tobacco withdrawal, and +understand that it is very unpleasant, and also that it must be done +in the pursuit of health. Why not withdraw from the rest of the +irritating and debilitating substances we take into our system on an +ongoing basis, and why not grit your way through the eliminative +process, withdraw, from food addictions such as sugar or salt, and +from foods that you may be allergic to like wheat, dairy products or +eggs. + +It is very wise to invest in your own insurance plan by +systematically detoxifying while you are still healthy. Plan it into +your life, when it is convenient, such as once a week on Sunday, or +even once a month on a quiet day. Take a few days of vacation, go to +a warm, beautiful place and devote part or all of it to cleansing. +Treat yourself by taking an annual trip to Hawaii, fasting at a +hotel on the beach--do whatever it takes to motivate yourself. And +consider this: vacations are enormously cheaper when you stay out of +restaurants. + +If you have accustomed your body to 24 hour fasts, then you can work +on 48 hour fasts, and over time work up to 72 hour fasts, all on a +continuum. You may find it becoming increasingly comfortable, +perhaps even pleasant, something you look forward to. Fasting a +relatively detoxified body feels good, and people eventually really +get into the clean, light, clear headed, perhaps spiritually aware +state that goes along with it. + +By contrast, fasting when you are sick is much more difficult +because your vitality or vital force is very low, you already have +no energy, and probably have unpleasant symptoms that must be dealt +with at the same time. There may be the added stress of being forced +into a cleanse because you are too nauseous to eat. Most people let +their health go until they are forced into dealing with it; they are +too busy living, so why bother. + +The truth is that our body does age, and over time becomes less able +to deal with insults; the accumulated effect of insults and aging +eventually leads most of us to some serious degenerative illness. +Normally this begins happening around age 50 if not sooner. Some of +us that were gifted with good genes or what I call "a good start" +may have reached the age of 60 or 75 or even 90 without serious +illness, but those people are few and far between. Why not tip the +scales in your favor by preventing or staving off health problems +with systematic detoxification at your own convenience. + +Climb into the drivers seat and start to take control and gain +confidence in your own ability to deal with your body, your own +health, and your own life. When it gets right down to the bottom +line, there is really only one thing in the world that is really +yours, and that is your life. Take control and start managing it. +The reward will be a more qualitative life. + + + + + + +Chapter Four + +Colon Cleansing + + + + + +From The Hygienic Dictionary + +Autointoxication. [1] the accumulations on the bowel wall become a +breeding ground for unhealthy bacterial life forms. The heavy mucus +coating in the colon thickens and becomes a host for putrefaction. +The blood capillaries to the colon begin to pick up the toxins, +poisons and noxious debris as it seeps through the bowel wall. All +tissues and organs of the body are now taking on toxic substances. +Here is the beginning of true autointoxication on a physiological +level. _Bernard Jensen, Tissue Cleansing Through Bowel Management._ +[2] All maladies are due to the lack of certain food principles, +such as mineral salts or vitamins, or to the absence of the normal +defenses of the body, such as the natural protective flora. When +this occurs, toxic bacteria invade the lower alimentary canal, and +the poisons thus generated pollute the bloodstream and gradually +deteriorate and destroy every tissue, gland and organ of the body. +_Sir Arbuthnot Lane. _[3] The common cause of gastro-intestinal +indigestion is enervation and overeating When food is not digested, +it becomes a poison. Dr. John.H. Tilden, Impaired Health: Its Cause +and Cure, 1921. [4] a clogging up of the large intestine by a +building up (on) the bowel wall to such an extent that feces can +hardly pass through. autointoxication is a direct result of +intestinal constipation. Faulty nutrition is a major underlying +factor in constipation. The frequency or quantity of fecal +elimination is not an indication of the lack of constipation in the +bowel._ Bernard Jensen, Tissue Cleansing Through Bowel Management._ + +I am not a true believer in any single healing method or system. I +find much truth in many schools and use a wide variety of +techniques. The word for my inclination is eclectic. + +The most effective medicine in my arsenal is water fasting followed +closely in potency by other, less rigorous detoxifying diets. Colon +cleansing ranks next in healing power. In fact it is difficult to +separate colon cleansing from fasting because detoxification +programs should always be accompanied by colon cleansing. Further +down the scale of efficatiousness comes dietary reform to eliminate +allergic reactions and to present the body with foods it is capable +of digesting without creating toxemia. Last, and usually least in +effectiveness in my arsenal, are orthotropic substances (in the form +of little pills and capsules) commonly known as vitamins or food +supplements. + +Interestingly, acceptance of these methods by my clients runs in +exact opposition to their effectiveness. People prefer taking +vitamins because they seem like the allopaths' pills, taking pills +demands little or no responsibility for change. The least popular +prescription I can write is a monodiet of water for several weeks or +a month. Yet this is my most powerful medicine. + +It is possible to resolve many health complaints without fasting, +simply by cleansing the colon and regaining normal lower bowel +function. Colonics take little personal effort and are much easier +to get people to accept than fasting. So I can fully understand how +perfectly honest and ethical naturopaths have developed obsessions +with colon cleansing. Some healers have loudly and repeatedly (and +wrongly) proclaimed that constipation is the sole cause of disease, +and thus, the only real cure for any illness is colon cleansing. + +Even though it is possible to have a lot of successes with the +simple (though unpleasant to administer) technique of colon +cleansing, degenerated lower bowels are the only cause of disease. I +prefer to use bowel cleansing as an adjunct to more complete healing +programs. However, old classics of hygiene and even a few new books +strongly make the case for colonics. Some of these books are +entirely one-sided, single-cause single-cure approaches, and sound +convincing to the layperson. For this reason, I think I should take +a few paragraphs and explain why some otherwise well-intentioned +health professionals have overly-advocated colonics (and other +practices as well). + +Most Diseases Cure Themselves + +If you ask any honest medical doctor how they cure diseases, they +will tell you that most acute disease conditions and a smaller, +though significant percentage (probably a majority) of chronic +disease conditions are self-limiting and will, given time, get +better all by themselves. So for most complaints, the honest +allopathic doctor sees their job as giving comfort and easing the +severity of the symptoms until a cure happens. + +This same scenario, when viewed from a hygienist's perspective, is +that almost all acute and many chronic conditions are simply the +body's attempt to handle a crisis of toxemia. For two reasons the +current crisis will probably go away by itself. The positive reason +is that the toxic overload will be resolved: the person changes +their dietary habits or the stressor that temporarily lowered their +vital force and produced enervation is removed, then digestion +improves and the level of self-generated toxins is reduced. The +negative reason for a complaint to "cure" itself is that the +suffering person's vital force drops below the level that the +symptom can be manifested and the complaint goes away because a new, +more serious disease is developing. + +I view this second possibility as highly undesirable because strong, +healthy bodies possessing a high degree of vital force are able to +eliminate toxins rather violently, frequently producing very +uncomfortable symptoms that are not life-threatening. However, as +the vital force drops, the body changes its routes of secondary +elimination and begins using more centrally located vital organs and +systems to dispose of toxemia. This degeneration producing less +unpleasant symptoms, but in the long run, damages essential organs +and moves the person closer to their final disease. + +A young vigorous body possessing a large degree of vital force will +almost always route surplus toxins through skin tissues and +skin-like mucus membranes, producing repeated bouts of sinusitis, or +asthma, or colds, or a combination of all these. Each acute +manifestation will "cure" itself by itself eventually. But +eventually the body's vital force can no longer create these +aggressive cleansing phenomena and the toxemia begins to go deeper. +When the allopathic doctor gets a patient complaining of sinusitis, +they know they will eventually get a cure. The "cure" however, might +well be a case of arthritis. + +This unfortunate reality tends to make young, idealistic physicians +become rather disillusioned about treating degenerative conditions +because the end result of all their efforts is, in the end, death +anyway. The best they can do is to alleviate suffering and to a +degree, prolong life. The worst they can do is to prolong suffering. + +Thus, the physicians main job is to get the patient to be patient, +to wait until the body corrects itself and stops manifesting the +undesired symptom. Thus comes the prime rule of all humane medicine: +first of all, do no harm! If the doctor simply refrains from making +the body worse, it will probably get better by itself. But the +patient, rarely resigned to quiet suffering, comes in demanding fast +relief, demanding a cure. In fact, if the patient were resigned to +quiet suffering they would not consult a doctor. So if the doctor +wants to keep this patient and make a living they must do something. +If that something the doctor must do does little or no harm and +better yet, can also alleviate the symptoms, the doctor is +practicing good medicine and will have a very high cure rate and be +financially successful if they have a good bedside manner. This kind +of doctor may be allopathic and/or "natural," may use herbs or +practice homeopathy. + +The story of Dr. Jennings, a very successful and famous or infamous +(depending on your viewpoint) physician, who practiced in +Connecticut in the early 1800s exemplifies this type of approach. + +Dr. Jennings had his own unique medicines. Their composition was of +his own devising, and were absolutely secret. He had pills and +colored bitter drops of various sorts that were compounded himself +in his own pharmacy. Dr. Jennings' patients generally recovered and +had few or no complications. This must be viewed in contrast to the +practices of his fellow doctors of that era, whose black bags were +full of mercury and arsenic and strychnine, whose practices included +obligatory bleeding. These techniques and medicines "worked" by +poisoning the body or by reducing its blood supply and thus lowering +its vital force, ending the body's ability to manifest the +undesirable symptom. If the poor patient survived being victimized +by their own physician, they were tough enough to survive both their +disease and the doctor's cure. Typically, the sick had many, lengthy +complications, long illnesses, and many "setbacks" requiring many +visits, earning the physician a great living. + +Dr. Jennings operated differently. He would prescribe one or two +secret medicines from his black bag and instruct the patient to stay +in bed, get lots of rest, drink lots of water, eat little and +lightly, and continue taking the medicine until they were well. His +cure rate was phenomenal. Demand they might, but Dr. Jennings would +never reveal what was in his pills and vials. Finally at the end of +his career, to instruct his fellow man, Dr. Jennings confessed. His +pills were made from flour dough, various bitter but harmless herbal +substances, and a little sugar. His red and green and black +tinctures, prescribed five or ten drips at a time mixed in a glass +of water several times daily, were only water and alcohol, some +colorant and something bitter tasting, but harmless. Placebos in +other words. + +Upon confessing, Dr. Jennings had to run for his life. I believe he +ended up retiring on the western frontier, in Indiana. Some of his +former patients were extremely angry because they had paid good +money, top dollar for "real" medicines, but were given only flour +and water. The fact that they got better didn't seem to count. + +If the physicians curative procedure suppresses the symptom and/or +lowers the vital force with toxic drugs or surgery, (either result +will often as not end the complaint) the allopathic doctor is +practicing bad medicine. This doctor too will have a high cure rate +and a good business (if they have an effective bedside manner) +because their drugs really do make the current symptoms vanish very +rapidly. Additionally, their practice harmonizes with a common but +vicious dramatization of many people which goes: when a body is +malfunctioning, it is a bad body and needs to be punished. So lets +punish it with poisons and if that don't work, lets really punish it +by cutting out the offending part. + +However, if the physician can do something that will do no harm but +raises the vital force and/or lowers the level of toxemia, this +doctor will have a genuine cure rate higher than either of the two +techniques. Why does raising the vital force help? Because it +reduces enervation, improves the digestion, lowers the creation of +new toxins and improves the function of the organs of elimination, +also reducing the toxic overload that is causing the complaint. + +Techniques that temporarily and quickly raise the vital force +include homeopathy, chiropractic, vitamin therapy, massage, +acupuncture and acupressure and many more spiritually oriented +practices. Healers who use these approaches and have a good bedside +manner can have a very good business, they can have an +especially-profitable practice if they do nothing to lower the level +of toxemia being currently generated. Their patients do experience +prompt relief but must repeatedly take the remedy. This makes for +satisfied customers and a repeat business. + +The best approach of all focuses on reducing the self-generated +level of toxemia, cleansing to remove deposits of old toxemia, +rebuilding the organs of elimination and digestion to prevent the +formation of new toxemia, and then, to alleviate the current +symptoms and make it easier for the patient to be patient while +their body heals, the healer raises artificially and temporarily the +vital force with vitamins, massage, acupressure, etc. This wise and +benevolent physician is going to have the highest cure rate among +those wise patients who will accept the prescription, but will not +make as much money because the patients permanently get better and +no longer need a physician. There's not nearly as much repeat +business. + +Colonics are one of the best types of medicine. They clean up +deposits of old toxemia (though there are sure to be other deposits +in the body's tissues colonics do not touch). Colon cleansing +reduces the formation of new toxemia from putrefying fecal matter +(but dietary reform is necessary to maximize this benefit). Most +noticeable to the patient, a colonic immediately alleviates current +symptoms by almost instantly reducing the current toxic load. A +well-done enema or colonic is such a powerful technique that a +single one will often make a severe headache vanish, make an +onsetting cold go away, end a bout of sinusitis, end an asthmatic +attack, reduce the pain of acute arthritic inflammation, reduce or +stop an allergic reaction. Enemas are also thrifty: they are +self-administered and can prevent most doctor's visits seeking +relief for acute conditions. + +Diseases of the colon itself, including chronic constipation, +colitis, diverteculitis, hemorrhoids, irritable bowel syndrome, and +mucous colitis, are often cured solely by an intensive series of +several dozen colonics given close together. Contrary to popular +belief, many people think that if they have dysentery or other forms +of loose stools that a colonic is the last thing they need. +Surprisingly, a series of colonics will eliminate many of these +conditions as well. People with chronic diarrhea or loose stools are +usually very badly constipated. This may seem a contradiction in +terms but it will be explained shortly. + +A century ago there was much less scientific data about the +functioning of the human body. Then it was easy for a +hygienically-oriented physician to come to believe that colonics +were the single best medicine available. The doctor practicing +nothing but colonics will have a very high rate of cure and a lot of +very satisfied clients. Most importantly, this medicine will have +done no harm. + +The Repugnant Bowel + +I don't know why, but people of our culture have a deep-seated +reluctance to relate to the colon or it's functions. People don't +want to think about the colon or personally get involved with it by +giving themselves enemas or colonics. They become deeply embarrassed +at having someone else do it for them. People are also shy about +farts, and most Americans have a hard time not smiling or reacting +in some way when someone in their presence breaks wind, although the +polite amongst us pretend that we didn't notice. Comedians usually +succeed in getting a laugh out of an audience when they come up with +a fart or make reference to some other bowel function. People don't +react the same way to urinary functions or discharges, although +these also may have an unpleasant odor and originate from the same +"private" area. + +When I first mention to clients that they need a minimum of 12 +colonics or many more enemas than 12 during a fasting or cleansing +program they are inevitably shocked. To most it seems that no one in +their right mind would recommend such a treatment, and that I must +certainly be motivated by greed or some kind of a psychological +quirk. Then I routinely show them reproductions of X-rays of the +large intestine showing obvious loss of normal structure and +function resulting from a combination of constipation, the effects +of gravity, poor abdominal muscle tone, emotional stress, and poor +diet. In the average colon more than 50% of the hastrum (muscles +that impel fecal matter through the organ) are dysfunctional due to +loss of tone caused by impaction of fecal matter and/or constriction +of the large intestine secondary to stress (holding muscular tension +in the abdominal area) and straining during bowel movement. + +A typical diseased colon + +The average person also has a prolapsed (sagging) transverse colon, +and a distorted misplaced ascending and descending colon. I took a +course in colon therapy before purchasing my first colonic machine. +The chiropractor teaching the class required all of his patients +scheduled for colonics to take a barium enema followed by an X-ray +of their large intestine prior to having colonics and then make +subsequent X-rays after each series of 12 colonics. Most of his +patients experienced so much immediate relief they voluntarily took +at least four complete series, or 48 colonics, before their X-rays +began to look normal in terms of structure. It also took about the +same number, 48 colonics, for the patients to notice a significant +improvement in the function of the colon. In reviewing over 10,000 +X-rays taken at his clinic prior to starting colonics, the +chiropractor had seen only two normal colon X-rays and these were +from farm boys who grew up eating simple foods from the garden and +doing lots of hard work. + +The X-rays showed that it took a minimum of 12 colon treatments to +bring about a minimal but observable change in the structure of the +colon in the desired direction, and for the patient to begin to +notice that bowel function was improving, plus the fact that they +started to feel better. + +A Healthy Colon + +From my point of view the most amazing part of this whole experience +was that the chiropractor did not recommend any dietary changes +whatsoever. His patients were achieving great success from colonics +alone. I had thought dietary changes would be necessary to avoid +having the same dismal bowel condition return. I still think +colonics are far more effective if people are on a cleansing diet +too. However, I was delighted to see the potential for helping +people through colonics. + +For me, the most interesting part of this colonic school was that I +personally was required to have my own barium enema and X-ray. I was +privately certain that mine would look normal, because after all, I +had been on a raw food diet for six years, and done considerable +amount of fasting, all of which was reputed to repair a civilized +colon. Much to my surprise my colon looked just as mangled and +dysfunctional as everyone else's', only somewhat worse because it +had a loop in the descending colon similar to a cursive letter "e" +which doctors call a volvulus. Surgeons like to cut volvululii out +because they frequently cause bowel obstructions. It seemed quite +unfair. All those other people with lousy looking colons had been +eating the average American diet their whole life, but I had been so +'pure!' + +On further reflection I remembered that I had a tendency toward +constipation all through my childhood and young adulthood, and that +during my two pregnancies the pressure of the fetus on an already +constipated bowel had made it worse resulting in the distorted +structure seen in the X-ray. This experience made it very clear that +fasting, cleansing diets, and corrected diet would not reverse +damage already done. Proper diet and fasting would however, prevent +the condition of the colon from getting any worse than it already +was. + +I then realized that I had just purchased the very tool I needed to +correct my own colon, and I was eager to get home to get started on +it. I had previously thought that I was just going to use this +machine for my patients, because they had been asking for this kind +of an adjunct to my services for some time. I ended up giving myself +over a hundred colonics at the rate of three a week over many +months. I then out of curiosity had another barium enema and X-ray +to validate my results. Sure enough the picture showed a colon that +looked far more 'normal' with no vulvulus. That little "e" had +disappeared. + +What Is Constipation? + +Most people think they are not constipated because they have a bowel +movement almost every day, accomplished without straining. I have +even had clients tell me that they have a bowel movement once a +week, and they are quite certain that they are not constipated. The +most surprising thing to novice fasters is that repeated enemas or +colonics during fasting begins to release many pounds of undeniably +real, old, caked fecal matter and/or huge mucus strings. The +first-time faster can hardly believe these were present. These old +fecal deposits do not come out the first time one has enemas or +necessarily the fifth time. And all of them will not be removed by +the tenth enema. But over the course of extended fasting or a long +spell of light raw food eating with repeated daily enemas, amazing +changes do begin to occur. It seems that no one who has eaten a +civilized diet has escaped the formation of caked deposits lining +the colon's walls, interfering with its function. This material does +not respond to laxatives or casually administered enemas. + +Anyone who has not actually seen (and smelled) what comes out of an +"average" apparently healthy person during colonics will really +believe it could happen or can accurately imagine it. Often there +are dark black lumpy strings, lumps, or gravel, evil smelling discs +shaped like sculpted hemispheres similar to the pockets lining the +wall of the colon itself. These discs are rock-hard and may come out +looking like long black braids. There may also be long tangled +strings of gray/brown mucous, sheets and flakes of mucous, and worse +yet, an occasional worm (tape worm) or many smaller ones. Once +confronted however, it is not hard to imagine how these fecal rocks +and other obnoxious debris interfere with the proper function of the +colon. They make the colon's wall rigid and interfere with +peristalsis thus leading to further problems with constipation, and +interfere with adsorption of nutrients. + +Our modern diet is by its "de-"nature, very constipating. In the +trenches of the First World War, cheese was given the name 'chokem +ass' because the soldiers eating this as a part of their daily +ration developed severe constipation. Eaten by itself or with other +whole foods, moderate amounts of cheese may not produce health +problems in people who are capable of digesting dairy products. But +cheese when combined with white flour becomes especially +constipating. White bread or most white-flour crackers contain a lot +of gluten, a very sticky wheat protein that makes the bread bind +together and raise well. But white flour is lacking the bran, where +most of the fiber is located. And many other processed foods are +missing their fiber. + +In an earlier chapter I briefly showed how digestion works by +following food from the mouth to the large intestine. To fully grasp +why becoming constipated is almost a certainty in our civilization a +few more details are required. Food leaving the small intestine is +called chyme, a semi-liquid mixture of fiber, undigested bits, +indigestible bits, and the remains of digestive enzymes. Chyme is +propelled through the large intestine by muscular contractions. The +large intestine operates on what I dub the "chew chew train" +principle, where the most recent meal you ate enters the large +intestine as the caboose (the last car of a train) and helps to push +out the train engine (the car at the front that toots), which in a +healthy colon should represent the meal eaten perhaps twelve hours +earlier. The muscles in the colon only contract when they are +stretched, so it is the volume of the fecal matter stretching the +large intestine that triggers the muscles to push the waste material +along toward the rectum and anus. + +Eating food lacking fiber greatly reduces the volume of the chyme +and slows peristalsis. But moving through fast or slow, the colon +still keeps on doing another of its jobs, which is to transfer the +water in the chime back into the bloodstream, reducing dehydration. +So the longer chime remains in the colon, the dryer and harder and +stickier it gets. That's why once arrived at the "end of the tracks" +fecal matter should be evacuated in a timely manner before it gets +to dry and too hard to be moved easily. Some constipated people do +have a bowel movement every day but are evacuating the meal eaten +many days or even a week previously. + +Most hygienists believe that when the colon becomes lined with +hardened fecal matter it is permanently and by the very definition +of the word itself, constipated. This type of constipation is not +perceived as an uncomfortable or overly full feeling or a desire to +have a bowel movement that won't pass. But it has insidious effects. +Usually constipation delays transit time, increasing the adsorption +of toxins generated from misdigestion of food; by coating and +locking up significant portions of colon it also reduces the +adsorption of certain minerals and electrolytes. + +Sometimes, extremely constipated people have almost constant runny +bowels because the colon has become so thickly and impenetrably +lined with old fecal matter that it no longer removes much moisture. +This condition is often misinterpreted as diarrhea. The large +intestine's most important task is to transfer water-soluble +minerals from digested food to the blood. When a significant part of +the colon's surface becomes coated with impermeable dried rigid +fecal matter or mucus it can no longer assimilate effectively and +the body begins to experience partial mineral starvation in the +presence of plenty. It is my observation from dozens of cases that +when the colon has been effectively cleansed the person has a +tendency to gain weight while eating amounts of food that before +only maintained body weight, while people who could not gain weight +or who were wasting away despite eating heavily begin to gain. And +problems like soft fingernails, bone loss around teeth or porous +bones tend to improve. + +The Development Of My Own Constipation + +The history of my own constipation, though it especially relates to +a very rustic childhood, is typical of many people. I was also +raised on a very constipating diet which consisted largely of +processed cheese and crackers. Mine was accelerated by shyness, +amplified by lack of comfortable facilities. + +I spent my early years on the Canadian prairies, where everybody had +an outhouse. The fancy modern versions are frequently seen on +construction sites. These are chemical toilets, quiet different than +the ones I was raised with because somebody or something +mysteriously comes along, empties them and installs toilet paper. +The ones I'm familiar with quickly developed a bad-smelling steaming +mound in the center--or it was winter when the outhouse was so cold +that everything froze almost before it hit the ground in the hole +below. (And my rear end seemed to almost freeze to the seat!) The +toilet paper was usually an out of season issue of Eatons mail order +catalogue with crisp glossy paper. Perhaps it is a peculiarity of +the north country, but at night there are always monsters lurking +along the path to the outhouse, and darkness comes early and stays +late. + +When nature called and it was daylight, and there was no blizzard +outside, the outhouse received a visit from me. If on the other +hand, when it was dark (we had no electricity), and there was a cold +wind creating huge banks of snow, I would 'just skip it,' because +the alternative--an indoor chamber pot, white enamel with a lid--was +worse. This potty had to be used more or less publicly because the +bedrooms were shared and there was no indoor bathroom. I was always +very modest about my private parts and private functions, and +potty's were only used in emergencies, and usually with considerable +embarrassment. No one ever explained to me that it was not good for +me to retain fecal matter, and I never thought about it unless my +movements became so hard that it was painful to eliminate. + +Later in life, I continued this pattern of putting off bowel +movements, even though outhouses and potties were a thing of the +past. As a young adult I could always think of something more +interesting to do than sitting on a pot, besides it was messy and +sometimes accompanied by embarrassing sound effects which were +definitely not romantic if I was in the company of a young man. +During two pregnancies the tendency to constipation was aggravated +by the weight of the fetus resting on an already sluggish bowel, and +the discomfort of straining to pass my first hard bowel movement +after childbirth with a torn perineum I won't forget. + +Rapid Relief From Colon Cleansing + +During fasting the liver is hard at work processing toxins released +from fat and other body deposits. The liver still dumps its wastes +into the intestines through the bile duct. While eating normally, +bile, which contains highly toxic substances, is passed through the +intestines and is eliminated before too much is reabsorbed. (It is +the bile that usually makes the fecal matter so dark in color.) +However, reduction of food bulk reduces or completely eliminates +peristalsis, thus allowing intestinal contents to sit for extended +periods. And the toxins in the bile are readsorbed, forming a +continuous loop, further burdening the liver. + +The mucus membranes lining the colon constantly secrete lubricants +to ease fecal matter through smoothly. This secretion does not stop +during fasting; in fact, it may increase because intestinal mucus +often becomes a secondary route of elimination. Allowed to remain in +the bowel, toxic mucus is an irritant while the toxins in it may be +reabsorbed, forming yet another closed loop and further burdening +the liver. + +Daily enemas or colonics administered during fasting or while on +cleansing diets effectively remove old fecal material stored in the +colon and immediately ease the livers load, immediately relieve +discomfort by allowing the liver's efforts to further detoxify the +blood, and speed healing. Fasters cleansing on juice or raw food +should administer two or three enemas in short succession every day +for the first three days to get a good start on the cleansing +process, and then every other day or at very minimum, every few +days. Enemas or colonics should also be taken whenever symptoms +become uncomfortable, regardless of whether you have already cleaned +the colon that day or not. Once the faster has experienced the +relief from symptoms that usually comes from an enema they become +more than willing to repeat this mildly unpleasant experience. + +Occasionally enemas, by filling the colon and making it press on the +liver, induce discharges of highly toxic bile that may cause +temporary nausea. Despite the induced nausea it is still far better +to continue with colonics because of the great relief experienced +after the treatment. If nausea exists or persists during colon +cleansing, consider trying slight modifications such as less or no +massage of the colon in the area of the gall bladder (abdominal area +close to the bottom of the right rib cage), and putting slightly +less water in the colon when filling it up. It also helps to make +sure that the stomach is empty of any fluid for one hour prior to +the colonic. Resume drinking after the colonic sessions is +completed. If you are one of these rare people who 'toss their +bile', just keep a plastic bucket handy and some water to rinse out +the mouth after, and carry on as usual. + +Enemas Versus Colonics + +People frequently wonder what is the difference between a colonic +and an enema. + +First of all enemas are a lot cheaper because you give them to +yourself; an enema bag usually costs about ten dollars, is available +at any large drug store, and is indefinitely reusable. Colonics cost +anywhere from 30 to 75 dollars a session. + +Chiropractors and naturopaths who offer this service hire a colonic +technician that may or may not be a skilled operator. It is a good +idea to find a person who has a very agreeable and professional +manner, who can make you feel at ease since relaxation is very +important. It is also beneficial to have a colonic therapist who +massages the abdomen and foot reflexes appropriately during the +session. + +Enemas and colonics can accomplish exactly the same beneficial work. +But colonics accomplish more improvement in less time than enemas +for several reasons. During a colonic from 30 to 50 gallons of water +are flushed through the large intestines, usually in a repetitive +series of fill-ups followed by flushing with a continuous flow of +water. This efficiency cannot even be approached with an enema. But +by repeating the enema three times in close succession a +satisfactory cleanse can be achieved. Persisted with long enough, +enemas will clean the colon every bit as well as a colonic machine +can. + +Enemas given at home take a lot less time than traveling to receive +a colonics at someone's clinic, and can be done entirely at you own +convenience--a great advantage when fasting because you can save +your energy for internal healing. But colonics are more appropriate +for some. There are fasters who are unable to give themselves an +enema either because their arms are too short and their body is too +long and they lack flexibility, or because of a physical handicap or +they can't confront their colon, so they let someone else do it. +Some don't have the motivation to give themselves a little +discomfort but are comfortable with someone else doing it to them. +Some very sick people are too weak to cleanse their own colon, so +they should find someone to assist them with an at-home enema or +have someone take them to a colonic therapist. + +Few people these days have any idea how to properly give themselves +an enema. The practice has been discredited by traditional medical +doctors as slightly dangerous, perhaps addictive and a sign of +psychological weirdness. Yet Northamericans on their civilized, low +fiber, poorly combined diets suffer widely from constipation. One +proof of this is the fact that chemical laxatives, with their own +set of dangers and liabilities, occupy many feet of drug store shelf +space and are widely advertised. Is the medical profession's +disapproval of the enema related to the fact that once the initial +purchase of an enema bag has been made there are no further expenses +for laxatives? Or perhaps it might be that once a person discovers +they can cure a headache, stop a cold dead in its tracks with an +enema, they aren't visiting the M.D.s so often. + +The enema has also been wrongly accused of causing a gradual loss of +colon muscle tone, eventually preventing bowel movements without the +stimulation of an enema, leading finally to flaccidity and +enlargement of the lower bowel. This actually can happen; when it +does occur it is the result of frequent administration of small +amounts of water (fleet enemas) for the purpose of stimulating a +normal bowel movement. The result is constant stretching of the +rectum without sufficient fluid to enter the descending colon. A +completely opposite, highly positive effect comes from properly +administered enemas while cleansing. + +The difference between helpful and potentially harmful enemas lies +in the amount of water injected and the frequency of use. Using a +cup or two of water to induce a bowel movement may eventually cause +dependency, will not strengthen the colon and may after years of +this practice, result in distention and enlargement of the rectum or +sigmoid colon. However, a completely empty average-sized colon has +the capacity of about a gallon of water. When increasingly larger +enemas are administered until the colon is nearly emptied of fecal +matter and the injection of close to a gallon of water is achieved, +beneficial exercise and an increase in overall muscle tone are the +results. + +Correctly given, enemas (and especially colonics) serve as +strengthening exercises for the colon. This long tubular muscle is +repeatedly and completely filled with water, inducing it to +vigorously exercise while evacuating itself multiple times. The +result is a great increase in muscle tone, acceleration of +peristalsis and eventually, after several dozens of repetitions, a +considerable reduction of transit time. Well-done enemas work the +colon somewhat less effectively and do not improve muscle tone quite +as much as colonics. + +Injecting an entire gallon of water with an enema bag is very +impractical when a person is eating normally. But on a light +cleansing diet or while fasting the amount of new material passing +into the colon is small or negligible. During the first few days of +fasting if two or three enemas are administered each day in +immediate succession the colon is soon completely emptied of +recently eaten food and it becomes progressively easier to introduce +larger amounts of water. Within a few days of this regimen, +injecting half a gallon or more of water is easy and painless. + +Probably for psychological reasons, some peoples' colons allow water +to be injected one time but then "freeze up" and resist successive +enemas. For this reason better results are often obtained by having +one enema, waiting a half hour, another enema, wait a half hour, and +have a final enema. + +A colonic machine in the hands of an expert operator can administer +the equivalent of six or seven big enemas in less than one hour, and +do this without undue discomfort or effort from the person receiving +the colonic. However, the AMA has suppressed the use of colonics; +they are illegal to administer in many states. Where colonics are +legal, the chiropractors now consider this practice messy and not +very profitable compared to manipulations. So it is not easy to find +a skilled and willing colonic technician. + +Anyone who plans to give themselves therapeutic enemas while fasting +would be well advised to first seek out a colonic therapist and +receive two or three colonics delivered one day apart while eating +lightly and then immediately begin the fast. Three colonics given on +three successive days of a light, raw food diet are sufficient to +empty all recently eaten food even from a very constipated, +distended and bloated colon, while acquainting a person with their +own bowel. Having an empty colon is actually a pleasant and to most +people a thoroughly novel experience. A few well-delivered colonics +can quickly accustom a person to the sensations accompanying the +enema and demonstrate the effect to be achieved by oneself with an +enema bag, something not quickly discoverable any other way. + +How To Give Yourself An Enema + +Enemas have been medically out of favor for a long time. Most people +have never had one. So here are simple directions to self-administer +an effective enema series. + +The enema bag you select is important. It must hold at least two +quarts and be rapidly refillable. The best American-made brand is +made of rubber with about five feet of rubber hose ending in one of +two different white hard plastic insertion tips. The bag is designed +for either enemas or vaginal douches. It hangs from a detachable +plastic "S" hook. When filled to the brim it holds exactly one-half +gallon. The maker of this bag offers another model that costs about +a dollar more and also functions as a hot water bottle. A good +comforter it may make, but the dual purpose construction makes the +bag very awkward to rapidly refill. I recommend the inexpensive +model. + +The plastic insertion tips vary somewhat. The straight tubular tip +is intended for enemas; the flared vaginal douche tip can be useful +for enemas too, in that it somewhat restrains unintentional +expulsion of the nozzle while filling the colon. However, its four +small holes do not allow a very rapid rate of flow. + +To give yourself an enema, completely fill the bag with tepid water +that does not exceed body temperature. The rectum is surprisingly +sensitive to heat and you will flinch at temperatures only a degree +or two higher than 98 Fahrenheit. Cooler water is no problem; some +find the cold stimulating and invigorating. Fasters having +difficulty staying warm should be wary of cold water enemas. These +can drop core body temperature below the point of comfort. + +Make sure the flow clamp on the tube is tightly shut and located a +few inches up the tube from the nozzle. Hang the filled bag from a +clothes or towel hook, shower nozzle, curtain rod, or other +convenient spot about four to five feet above the bathroom floor or +tub bottom. The higher the bag the greater the water pressure and +speed of filling. But too much pressure can also be uncomfortable. +You may have to experiment a bit with this. + +Various body positions are possible for filling the colon. None is +correct or necessarily more effective than another. Experiment and +find the one you prefer. Some fill their colon kneeling and bending +forward in the bathtub or shower because there will likely be small +dribbles of water leaking from around the nozzle. Usually these +leaks do not contain fecal matter. Others prefer to use the bathroom +floor. For the bony, a little padding in the form of a folded towel +under knees and elbows may make the process more comfortable. You +may kneel and bend over while placing your elbows or hands on the +floor, reach behind yourself and insert the nozzle. You may also lie +on your back or on your side. Some think the left side is preferable +because the colon attaches to the rectum on the left side of the +body, ascends up the left side of the abdomen to a line almost as +high as the solar plexus, then transverses the body to the right +side where it descends again on the right almost to the groin. The +small intestine attaches to the colon near its lower-right +extremity. In fact these are the correct names given for the parts +of the colon: Ascending, Descending and Transverse Colon along with +the Sigmoid Colon or Rectum at the exit end. + +As you become more expert at filling your colon with water you will +begin to become aware of its location by the weight, pressure and +sometimes temperature of the water you're injecting. You will come +to know how much of the colon has been filled by feel. You will also +become aware of peristalsis as the water is evacuated vigorously and +discover that sensations from a colon hard at work, though a bit +uncomfortable, are not necessarily pain. + +Insertion of the nozzle is sometimes eased with a little lubricant. +A bit of soap or KY jelly is commonly used. If the nozzle can be +inserted without lubricant it will have less tendency to slip out. +However, do not tear or damage the anus by avoiding necessary +lubrication. After insertion, grip the clamp with one hand and open +it. The flow rate can be controlled with this clamp. Keeping a hand +on the clamp also prevents the nozzle from being expelled. + +Water will begin flowing into the colon. Your goal is to empty the +entire bag into the colon before sensations of pressure or urgency +to evacuate the water force you to remove the nozzle and head for +the toilet. Relaxation of mind and body helps achieve this. You are +very unlikely to achieve a half-gallon fill up on the first attempt. +If painful pressure is experienced try closing the clamp for a +moment to allow the water to begin working its way around the +obstacle. Or, next time try hanging the bag lower, reducing its +height above the body and thus lowering the water pressure. Or, try +opening the clamp only partially. Or, try panting hard, so as to +make the abdomen move rapidly in and out, sort of shaking the colon. +This last technique is particularly good to get the water past a +blockage of intestinal gas. + +It is especially important for Americans, whose culture does not +teach one to be tolerant of discomfort, to keep in mind that pain is +the body's warning that actual damage is being done to tissues. +Enemas can do no damage and pose no risk except to that rare +individual with weak spots in the colon's wall from cancers. When an +enema is momentarily perceived unpleasantly, the correct name for +the experience is a sensation, not pain. You may have to work at +increasing your tolerance for unpleasant sensations or it will take +you a long time to achieve the goal of totally filling the colon +with water. Be brave! And relax. A wise philosopher once said that +it is a rough Universe in which only the tigers survive--and +sometimes they have a hard time. + +Eventually it will be time to remove the nozzle and evacuate the +water. Either a blockage (usually fecal matter, an air bubble, or a +tight 'U' turn in the colon, usually at either the splenetic, or +hepatic flexures located right below the rib cage) will prevent +further inflow (undesirable) or else the bag will completely empty +(good!) or the sensation of bursting will no longer be tolerable. Go +sit on the toilet and wait until all the water has passed. Then +refill the bag and repeat the process. Each time you fill the colon +it will allow more water to enter more easily with less +unpleasantness. Fasters and cleansers should make at least three +attempts at a complete fill-up each time they do an enema session. + +Water and juice fasters will find that after the first few enemas, +it will become very easy to inject the entire half-gallon of water. +That is because there is little or no chime entering the colon. +After a few days the entire colon will seem (this is incorrect) to +be empty except when it is filled with water. This is the point to +learn an advanced self-administered enema technique. An average +colon empty of new food will usually hold about one gallon of water. +That is average. A small colon might only hold 3/4 gallon, a large +one might accept a gallon and a half, or even more. You'll need to +learn to simultaneously refill the bag while injecting water, so as +to achieve a complete irrigation of the whole colon. There are +several possible methods. You might try placing a pitcher or +half-gallon mason jar of tepid water next to the bag and after the +bag has emptied the first time, stand up while holding the tube in +the anus, refill the bag and then lie down again and continue +filling. You might have an assistant do this for you. You might try +hanging the bag from the shower head and direct a slow, continuous +dribble of lukewarm water from the shower into the bag while you +kneel or lie relaxed in the tub. This way the bag will never empty +and you stop filling only when you feel fullness and pressure all +the way back to the beginning of the ascending colon. Of course, +hanging from a slowly running shower head the bag will probably +overflow and you will get splashed and so will the bathroom floor +when your wet body moves rapidly from the tub to the toilet. I've +imagined making an enema bag from a two gallon plastic bucket with a +small plastic hose barb glued into a hole drilled in the bottom or +lower edge. If I were in the business of manufacturing enema bags +I'd make them hold at least one gallon. + +A word of caution to those folks who have a pattern of overdoing it, +or tend to think that more is better. This is not true when it comes +to colon cleansing. Do not make more than three attempts to fill and +clean the colon with an enema bag. Usually the colon begins to +protest and won't accept any more fill-ups. When having colonics on +a colonic machine it is a good idea to continue until the water +comes back reasonably clear for that session. It is not a good idea +for a faster to have colonics that last more than three-quarters of +an hour to an hour maximum, or it will be too tiring. Even +non-fasters find colonics tiring. After all, the colon is basically +a big muscle that has become very lazy on a low-fiber diet. + +I've personally administered over five thousand colonics, taught +several dozen fasters to self-administer their own and stood by +while they gave themselves one until they were quite expert. In all +that experience I've only seen one person have a seriously bad +result. This was a suicidally depressed water faster that I +(mistakenly) allowed to administer their own colonics with my +machine. This person not only took daily colonics, but allowed water +to flow through their colon for as long as two hours at a time. +Perhaps they were trying to wash out their mind? After several weeks +of this extreme excess, the faster became highly confused and +disoriented due to a severe electrolyte imbalance. They had to be +taken off water fasting immediately and recovered their mental +clarity in a few days. The loss of blood electrolytes happened +because during colonics there occurs a sort of low-grade very slow +reverse osmosis. + +Curing With Enemas + +It is not wise to continue regular colonics or enemas once a +detoxification program has been completed and you have returned to a +maintenance diet. The body should be allowed its regular +functioning. + +But because enemas immediately lower the toxic load on the liver, I +do recommend people use them for prevention of an acute illness (you +feel like you are coming down with something), and for the treatment +of acute illnesses such as a cold. I also like to take one if I have +been away traveling for extended periods, eating carelessly. But do +not fall into a pattern of bingeing on bad food, and then trying to +get rid of it through colonics or laxative. This is bulimia, the +eating disorder discussed earlier. + +The Sheltonite capital "N" Natural capital "H" Hygienists do not +recommend any colon cleansing, ever! They think that the colon will +spontaneously cleanse itself on a long water fast, but my experience +learned from monitoring hundreds of fasters is that it doesn't +really. Herbert Shelton also considered colon cleansing enervating +and therefore undesirable. Colon cleansing does use the faster's +energy but on the balance, colon cleansing saves more work on the +part of an overburdened liver than it uses up. + + + + + + +Chapter Five + +Diet and Nutrition + + + + + +From The Hygienic Dictionary + +Food. [1] Life is a tragedy of nutrition. In food lies 99.99% of the +causes of all diseases and imperfect health of any kind. _Prof. +Arnold Ehret, Mucusless Diet Healing System._ [2] But elimination +will never heal perfectly just so long as you fail to discontinue +the supply of inside waste caused by eating and "wrong" eating. You +may clean and continue to clean indefinitely, but never with +complete results up to a perfect cleanliness, as long as the intake +of wrong or even too much right foods, is not stopped._ Prof. Arnold +Ehret, Mucusless Diet Healing System._ [3] Cooked food favors +bacterial, or organized, ferment preponderance, because cooking +kills the unorganized and organized ferments, and both are needed to +carry on the body's digestion. Raw foods--fruits and vegetables--favor +unorganized ferment digestion, because these foods carry vitamins, +which are unorganized ferments--enzymes. _Dr. John. H. Tilden, +Impaired Health: Its Cause and Cure, 1921._ + +Recently, my younger (adult) daughter asked my advice choosing +between a root canal or having a bridge made. This led to a +discussion of her eating habits in general. Defending her currently +less-than-optimum diet against my gentle criticism, she threw me a +tough riposte. "Why," she asked, when I was raised so perfectly as a +child, "when I ate only Organic food until I was ten and old enough +to make you send me to public school where I could eat those lousy +school lunches" (her unfeeling, heartless mother home-schooled her), +"why even at that young age, (before she spent her adolescent +rebellion eating junk food) why at that point did I still have a +mouthful of cavities?" And she did. At age ten my daughter needed +about ten fillings. + +This beautiful daughter of a practicing naturopath had received +what, at the time, I considered virtually perfect nutrition. She +suckled hugely at her mother's abundant breast until age two. During +this time her mother ate a natural foods diet. After weaning my +daughter got only whole grains, a little fresh goat's milk from my +goat, fruits and lots of Organic vegetables. I started my spa when +my daughter was about five years old and from that point she was, +like it or not, a raw fooder. And all that raw food was Organic and +much of it from Great Oaks School's huge vegetable garden. + +For my daughter to develop cavities on this diet is reminiscent of +Woody Allen's joke in his movie "Sleeper." Do you recall this one, +made about 1973? The plot is a take off on Rip Van Winkle. Woody +goes into the hospital for minor surgery. Unexpectedly he expires on +the operating table and his body is frozen in hopes that someday he +can be revived. One hundred and fifty years later he is revived. + +The priceless scene I always think of takes place in his hospital +room immediately after he comes to consciousness. The doctor in +charge of his case is explaining to Woody what has happened. Woody +refuses to believe he died and was frozen, asserting that the whole +story is a put on. Woody insists that the 'doctor' is clearly an +actor hired by his friends! It absolutely can't be the year 2123. +'Oh, but it really is 2123,' insists the doctor. 'And it is no put +on by his friends; all his friends are long dead; Woody knows no one +at all in 2123 and had better prepare himself to start a new life.' + +Woody still insists it is a put on. "I had a healthfood store," he +says, "and all my friends ate brown rice. They can't be dead!" + +And my perfectly nourished daughter couldn't have developed +cavities! But she did. And if she cheated on her perfect diet, bad +food could not have amounted to more than two percent of her total +caloric intake from birth to age ten. I was a responsible mom and I +made sure she ate right! Now my daughter was demanding to know why +she had tooth decay. Fortunately, I now know the answer. The answer +is rather complex, but I can give a simplified explanation. + +The Confusions About Diets and Foods + +Like my daughter, many people of all ages are muddled about the +relationship between health and diet. Their confusions have created +a profitable market for health-related information. And equally, +their confusions have been created by books, magazine articles, and +TV news features. This avalanche of data is highly contradictory. In +fact, one reason I found it hard to make myself write my own book is +that I wondered if my book too would become just another part of the +confusion. + +Few people are willing to tolerate very much uncertainty. Rather +than live with the discomfort of not knowing why, they will create +an explanation or find some answer, any answer, and then ever after, +assert its rightness like a shipwrecked person clings to a floating +spar in a storm. This is how I explain the genesis of many +contemporary food religions. + +Appropriately new agey and spiritual, Macrobiotics teaches the way +to perfect health is to eat like a Japanese whole foods +vegetarian--the endless staple being brown rice, some cooked +vegetables and seaweeds, meanwhile balancing the "yin" and "yang" of +the foods. And Macrobiotics works great for a lot of people. But not +all people. Because there's next to nothing raw in the Macrobiotic +diet and some people are allergic to rice, or can get allergic to +rice on that diet. + +Linda Clark's Diet for a Small Planet also has hundreds of thousands +of dedicated followers. This system balances the proportions of +essential amino acids at every, single meal and is vegetarian. This +diet also works and really helps some people, but not as well as +Macrobiotics in my opinion because obsessed with protein, Clark's +diet contains too many hard-to-digest soy products and makes poor +food combinations from the point of digestive capacity. + +Then there are the raw fooders. Most of them are raw, Organic +fooders who go so far as to eat only unfired, unground cereals that +have been soaked in warm water (at less than 115 degrees or you'll +kill the enzymes) for many hours to soften the seeds up and start +them sprouting. This diet works and really helps a lot of people. +Raw organic foodism is especially good for "holy joes," a sort of +better-than-everyone-else person who enjoys great self-righteousness +by owning this system. But raw fooding does not help all people nor +solve all diseases because raw food irritates the digestive tracts +of some people and in northern climates it is hard to maintain body +heat on this diet because it is difficult to consume enough +concentrated vegetable food in a raw state. And some raw fooders eat +far too much fruit. I've seen them lose their teeth because of +fruit's low mineral content, high sugar level and constant fruit +acids in their mouths. + +Then there are vegetarians of various varieties including vegans +(vegetarians that will not eat dairy products and eggs), and then, +there are their exact opposites, Atkins dieters focusing on protein +and eating lots of meat. There's the Adelle Davis school, people +eating whole grains, handfuls of vitamins, lots of dairy and brewers +yeast and wheat germ, and even raw liver. Then there's the Organic +school. These folks will eat anything in any combination, just so +long as it is organically produced, including organically raised +beef, chicken, lamb, eggs, rabbit, wild meats, milk and diary +products, natural sea salt in large quantities and of course, +organically grown fruits, vegetables grains and nuts. And what is +"Organic?" The word means food raised in compliance with a set of +rules contrived by a certification bureaucracy. When carefully +analyzed, the somewhat illogical rules are not all that different in +spirit than the rules of kashsruth or kosher. And the Organic +certification bureaucrats aren't all that different than the rabbis +who certify food as being kosher, either. + +There are now millions of frightened Americans who, following the +advice of mainstream Authority, have eliminated red meat from their +diets and greatly reduced what they (mistakenly) understand as +high-cholesterol foods. + +All these diets work too--or some--and all demonstrate some of the +truth. + +The only area concerning health that contains more confusion and +contradictory data than diet is vitamins. What a rats nest that is! + +The Fundamental Principle + +If you are a true believer in any of the above food religions, I +expect that you will find my views unsettling. But what I consider +"good diet" results from my clinical work with thousands of cases. +It is what has worked with those cases. My eclectic views +incorporate bits and pieces of all the above. In my own case, I +started out by following the Organic school, and I was once a raw +food vegetarian who ate nothing but raw food for six years. I also +ate Macrobiotic for about one year until I became violently allergic +to rice. + +I have arrived at a point where I understand that each person's +biochemistry is unique and each must work out their own diet to suit +their life goals, life style, genetic predisposition and current +state of health. There is no single, one, all-encompassing, correct +diet. But, there is a single, basic, underlying Principle of +Nutrition that is universally true. In its most simplified form, the +basic equation of human health goes: Health = Nutrition / Calories. +The equation falls far short of explaining the origin of each +individuals diseases or how to cure diseases but Health = Nutrition +/ Calories does show the general path toward healthful eating and +proper medicine. + +All animals have the exact same dietary problem: finding enough +nutrition to build and maintain their bodies within the limits of +their digestive capacity. Rarely in nature (except for predatory +carnivores) is there any significant restriction on the number of +calories or serious limitation of the amount of low-nutrition foods +available to eat. There's rarely any shortage of natural junk food +on Earth. Except for domesticated house pets, animals are sensible +enough to prefer the most nutritional fare available and tend to +shun empty calories unless they are starving. + +But humans are perverse, not sensible. Deciding on the basis of +artificially-created flavors, preferring incipid textures, we seem +to prefer junk food and become slaves to our food addictions. For +example, in tropical countries there is a widely grown root crop, +called in various places: tapioca, tavioca, manioc, or yuca. This +interesting plant produces the greatest tonnage of edible, +digestible, pleasant-tasting calories per acre compared to any other +food crop I know. Manioc might seem the answer to human starvation +because it will grow abundantly on tropical soils so infertile +and/or so droughty that no other food crop will succeed there. +Manioc will do this because it needs virtually nothing from the soil +to construct itself with. And consequently, manioc puts next to +nothing nourishing into its edible parts. The bland-tasting root is +virtually pure starch, a simple carbohydrate not much different than +pure corn starch. Plants construct starches from carbon dioxide gas +obtained the air and hydrogen obtained from water. There is no +shortage ever of carbon from CO2 in the air and rarely a shortage of +hydrogen from water. When the highly digestible starch in manioc is +chewed, digestive enzymes readily convert it into sugar. +Nutritionally there is virtually no difference between eating manioc +and eating white sugar. Both are entirely empty calories. + +If you made a scale from ideal to worst regarding the ratio of +nutrition to calories, white sugar, manioc and most fats are at the +extreme undesirable end. Frankly I don't know which single food +might lie at the extreme positive end of the scale. Close to perfect +might be certain leafy green vegetables that can be eaten raw. When +they are grown on extremely fertile soil, some greens develop 20 or +more percent completely digestible balanced protein with ideal +ratios of all the essential amino acids, lots of vitamins, tons of +minerals, all sorts of enzymes and other nutritional elements--and +very few calories. You could continually fill your stomach to +bursting with raw leafy greens and still have a hard time sustaining +your body weight if that was all you ate. Maybe Popeye the Sailorman +was right about eating spinach. + +For the moment, lets ignore individual genetic inabilities to digest +specific foods and also ignore the effects stress and enervation can +have on our ability to extract nutrition out of the food we are +eating. Without those factors to consider, it is correct to say +that, to the extent one's diet contains the maximum potential amount +of nutrition relative to the number of calories you are eating, to +that extent a person will be healthy. To the extent the diet is +degraded from that ideal, to that extent, disease will develop. +Think about it! + +Lessons From Nutritional Anthropology + +The next logical pair of questions are: how healthy could good +nutrition make people be, and, how much deviation from ideal +nutrition could we allow ourselves before serious disease appears? +Luckily, earlier in this century we could observe living answers to +those questions (before the evidence disappeared). The answers are: +we could be amazingly healthy, and, if we wish to enjoy excellent +health we can afford to cut ourselves surprisingly little slack. + +Prior to the Second World War there were several dozen sizable +groups of extraordinarily healthy humans remaining on Earth. Today, +their descendants are still in the same remote places, are speaking +the same languages and possess more or less the same cultures. Only +today they're watching satellite TV. wearing jeans, drinking +colas--and their superior health has evaporated. + +During the early part of this century, at the same era vitamins and +other basic aspects of nutrition were being discovered, a few +farsighted medical explorers sought out these hard-to-reach places +with their legendarily healthy peoples to see what caused the +legendary well-being they'd heard of. Enough evidence was collected +and analyzed to derive some very valid principles. + +First lets dismiss some apparently logical but incorrect +explanations for the unusually good health of these isolated +peoples. It wasn't racial, genetic superiority. There were +extraordinarily healthy blacks, browns, Orientals, Amerinds, +Caucasians. It wasn't living at high altitude; some lived at sea +level. It wasn't temperate climates, some lived in the tropics, some +in the tropics at sea level, a type of location generally thought to +be quite unhealthful. It wasn't a small collection of genetically +superior individuals, because when these peoples left their isolated +locale and moved to the city, they rapidly began to lose their +health. And it wasn't genetics because when a young couple from the +isolated healthy village moved to town, their children born in town +were as unhealthy as all the other kids. + +And what do I mean by genuinely healthy? Well, imagine a remote +village or a mountain valley or a far island settlement very +difficult to get to, where there lived a thousand or perhaps ten +thousand people. Rarely fewer, rarely more. Among that small +population there were no medical doctors and no dentists, no drugs, +no vaccinations, no antibiotics. Usually the isolation carried with +it illiteracy and precluded contact with or awareness of modern +science, so there was little or no notion of public hygiene. And +this was before the era of antibiotics. Yet these unprotected, +undoctored, unvaccinated peoples did not suffer and die from +bacterial infections; and the women did not have to give birth to 13 +children to get 2.4 to survive to breeding age--almost all the +children made it through the gauntlet of childhood diseases. There +was also virtually no degenerative disease like heart attacks, +hardening of the arteries, senility, cancer, arthritis. There were +few if any birth defects. In fact, there probably weren't any +aspirin in the entire place. Oh, and there was very little mortality +during childbirth, as little or less than we have today with all our +hospitals. And the people uniformly had virtually perfect teeth and +kept them all till death, but did not have toothbrushes nor any +notion of dental hygiene. Nor did they have dentists or physicians. +(Price, 1970) + +And in those fortunate places the most common causes of death were +accident (trauma) and old age. The typical life span was long into +the 70s and in some places quite a bit longer. One fabled place, +Hunza, was renowned for having an extraordinarily high percentage of +vigorous and active people over 100 years old. + +I hope I've made you curious. "How could this be?" you're asking. +Well, here's why. First, everyone of those groups lived in places so +entirely remote, so inaccessible that they were of necessity, +virtually self-sufficient. They hardly traded at all with the +outside world, and certainly they did not trade for bulky, +hard-to-transport bulk foodstuffs. Virtually everything they ate was +produced by themselves. If they were an agricultural people, +naturally, everything they ate was natural: organic, whole, +unsprayed and fertilized with what ever local materials seemed to +produce enhanced plant growth. And, if they were agricultural, they +lived on a soil body that possessed highly superior natural +fertility. If not an agricultural people they lived by the sea and +made a large portion of their diets sea foods. If their soil had not +been extraordinarily fertile, these groups would not have enjoyed +superior health and would have conformed to the currently +widely-believed notion that before the modern era, people's lives +were brutish, unhealthful, and short. + +What is common between meat-eating Eskimos, isolated highland Swiss +living on rye bread, milk and cheese; isolated Scottish island Celts +with a dietary of oat porridge, kale and sea foods; highland central +Africans (Malawi) eating sorghum, millet tropical root crops and all +sorts of garden vegetables, plus a little meat and dairy; Fijians +living on small islands in the humid tropics at sea level eating sea +foods and garden vegetables. What they had in common was that their +foods were all were at the extreme positive end of the Health = +Nutrition / Calories scale. The agriculturists were on very fertile +soil that grew extraordinarily nutrient-rich food, the sea food +gatherers were obtaining their tucker from the place where all the +fertility that ever was in the soil had washed out of the land had +been transported--sea foods are also extraordinarily nutrient rich. + +The group with the very best soil and consequently, the best health +of all were, by lucky accident, the Hunza. I say "lucky" and +"accident" because the Hunza and their resource base unknowingly +developed an agricultural system that produced the most nutritious +food that is possible to grow. The Hunza lived on what has been +called super food. There are a lot of interesting books about the +Hunza, some deserving of careful study. (Wrench, 1938; Rodale, 1949) + +Finding Your Ideal Dietary + +Anyone that is genuinely interested in having the best possible +health should make their own study of the titles listed in the +bibliography in the back of this book. After you do, award yourself +a BS nutrition. I draw certain conclusions from this body of data. I +think they help a person sort out the massive confusion that exists +today about proper diet. + +First principle: Homo Sapiens clearly can posses extreme health +while eating very different dietary regimens. There is no one right +diet for humans. + +Before the industrial era almost everyone on Earth ate what was +produced locally. Their dietary choices were pretty much restricted +to those foods that were well adapted and productive in their +region. Some places grew rye, others wheat, others millet, others +rice. Some places supported cows, others goats, others had few on no +domesticated animals. Some places produced a lot of fruits and +vegetables. Others, did not. Whatever the local dietary, during +thousands of years of eating that dietary natural selection +prevailed; most babies that were allergic to or not able to thrive +on the available dietary, died quickly. Probably of childhood +bacterial infections. The result of this weeding out process was a +population closely adapted to the available dietary of a particular +locale. + +This has interesting implications for Americans, most of whose +ancestors immigrated from somewhere else; many of our ancestors also +"hybridized" or crossed with immigrants from elsewhere. Trying to +discover what dietary substances your particular genetic endowment +is adapted to can be difficult and confusing. If both your parents +were Italian and they were more or less pure Italian going way back, +you might start out trying to eat wheat, olives, garlic, fava beans, +grapes, figs, cow dairy. If pure German, try rye bread, cow dairy, +apples, cabbage family vegetables. If Scottish, try oats, mutton, +fish, sheep dairy and cabbage family vegetables. If Jewish, try goat +dairy, wheat, olives and citrus. And certainly all the above ethnic +derivations will thrive on many kinds of vegetables. Afro-Americans, +especially dark-complexioned ones little mixed with Europeans, might +do well to avoid wheat and instead, try sorghum, millet or tropical +root crops like sweet potatoes, yams and taro. + +Making it even more difficult for an individual to discover their +optimum diet is the existence of genetic-based allergies and worse, +developed allergies. Later in this chapter I will explain how a body +can develop an allergy to a food that is probably irreversible. A +weakened organ can also prevent digestion of a food or food group. + +One more thing about adaptation to dietaries. Pre-industrial humans +could only be extraordinarily healthy on the dietary they were +adapted to if and only if that dietary also was extraordinarily high +in nutrients. Few places on earth have naturally rich soil. Food +grown on poor soil is poor in nutrition; that grown on rich soil is +high in nutrition. People do not realize that the charts and tables +in the backs of health books like Adelle Davis's Lets Cook It Right, +are not really true. They are statistics. It is vital to keep in +mind the old saying, "there are lies, there are damned lies, and +then there are statistics. The best way to lie is with statistics." + +Statistical tables of the nutrient content of foods were developed +by averaging numerous samples of food from various soils and +regions. These tables basically lie because they do not show the +range of possibility between the different samples. A chart may +state authoritatively that 100 grams of broccoli contains so many +milligrams of calcium. What it does not say is that some broccoli +samples contain only half that amount or even less, while other +broccoli contains two or three times that amount. Since calcium is a +vital nutrient hard to come by in digestible form, the high calcium +broccoli is far better food than the low calcium sample. But both +samples of broccoli appear and taste more or less alike. Both could +even be organically grown. Yet one sample has a very positive ratio +of nutrition to calories, the other is lousy food. (Schuphan, 1965) +Here's another example I hope will really dent the certainties the +Linda Clarkites. Potatoes can range in protein from eight to eleven +percent, depending on the soil that produced them and if they were +or were not irrigated. Grown dry (very low yielding) on semiarid +soils, potatoes can be a high-protein staff of life. Heavily +irrigated and fertilized so as to produce bulk yield instead of +nutrition, they'll produce two or three times the tonnage, but at 8 +percent protein instead of 11 percent. Not only does the protein +content drop just as much as yield is boosted, the amino acid ratios +change markedly, the content of scarce nutritional minerals drops +massively, and the caloric content increases. In short, subsisting +on irrigated commercially-grown potatoes, or on those grown on +relatively infertile soils receiving abundant rainfall will make you +fat and sick. They're a lot like manioc. + +Here's another. Wheat can range from 7 to 19 percent protein. Before +the industrial era ruined most wheat by turning it into white flour, +wheat-eating peoples from regions where the cereal naturally +contains abundant protein tended to be tall, healthy and long-lived. +Wheat-eating humans from regions that produce low protein grain +tended to be small, sickly and short-lived. (McCarrison, 1921, 1936, +1982; Albrecht, 1975) + +Even cows have to pay attention to where their grass is coming from. +Some green grass is over 15 percent protein and contains lots of +calcium, phosphorus and magnesium to build strong bodies. Other +equally or even better looking green grass contains only six or +seven percent protein and contains little calcium, phosphorus or +magnesium. Cows forced to eat only this poor type of grass can +literally starve to death with full bellies. And they have a hard +time breeding successfully. The reason for the difference: different +soil fertility profiles. (Albrecht, 1975) + +When people ate local, those living on fertile soils or getting a +significant portion of their diet from the sea and who because of +physical isolation from industrial foods did not make a practice of +eating empty calories tended to live a long time and be very +healthy. But those unfortunates on poor soils or with unwise +cultural life-styles tended to be short-lived, diseased, small, +weak, have bad teeth, and etc. The lesson here is that Homo Sapiens +can adapt to many different dietaries, but like any other animal, +the one thing we can't adapt to is a dietary deficient in nutrition. + +So here's another "statistic" to reconsider. Most people believe +that due to modern medical wonders, we live longer than we used to. +Actually, that depends. Compared to badly nourished populations of a +century ago, yes! We do. Chemical medicine keeps sickly, poorly +nourished people going a lot longer (though one wonders about the +quality of their dreary existences.) I hypothesize that before the +time most farmers purchased and baked with white flour and sold +their whole, unground wheat, many rural Americans (the ones on good +soil, not all parts of North America have rich soil) eating from +their own self-sufficient farms, lived as long or even longer than +we do today. You also have to wonder who benefits from promulgating +this mistaken belief about longevity. Who gets rich when we are +sick? And what huge economic interests are getting rich helping make +us sick? + +The Human Comedy + +I know most of my readers have been heavily indoctrinated about food +and think they already know the truth about dietetics. I also know +that so much information (and misinformation) is coming out about +diet that most of my readers are massively confused about the +subject. These are two powerful reasons many readers will look with +disbelief at what this chapter has to say and take no action on my +data, even to prove me wrong. + +Let me warn you. There is a deep-seated human tendency to put off +taking responsibilities, beautifully demonstrated by this old joke. + +A 14 year old boy was discovered masturbating by his father, who +said, "son, you shouldn't do that! If you keep it up you'll +eventually go blind!" + +"But father," came the boy's quick reply. "It feels good. How about +if I don't quit until I need to wear glasses?" + +The Organic Versus Chemical Feud + +Now, regrettably, and at great personal risk to my reputation, I +must try to puncture the very favorite belief of food religionists, +the doctrine that organically grown food is as nutritious as food +can possibly be, Like Woody Allen's brown-rice-eating friends, +people think if you eat Organic foods, you will inevitably live a +very long time and be very healthy. Actually, the Organic vs. +chemical feud is in many ways false. Many (not all) samples of +organically grown food are as low or lower in nutrition as foods +raised with chemical fertilizers. Conversely, wisely using chemical +fertilizers (not pesticides) can greatly increase the nutritional +value of food. Judiciously used Organic fertilizing substances can +also do that as well or better. And in either case, using chemical +fertilizers or so-called organic fertilizers, to maximize nutrition +the humus content of the soil must be maintained. But, raising soil +organic matter levels too high can result in a massive reduction in +the nutritional content of the food being grown--a very frequent +mistake on the part of Organic devotees. In other words, growing +nutrition is a science, and is not a matter of religion. + +The food I fed to my daughter in childhood, though Organic according +to Rodale and the certification bureaucrats, though providing this +organic food to my family and clients gave me a feeling of +self-righteousness, was not grown with an understanding of the +nutritional consequences of electing to use one particular Organic +fertilizing substance over another. So we and a lot of regional +Organic market gardeners near us that we bought from, were raising +food that was far from ideally nutritious. At least though, our food +was free of pesticide residues. + +The real dichotomy in food is not "chemical" fertilizer versus +"Organic," It is between industrial food and quality food. What I +mean by industrial food is that which is raised with the intention +of maximizing profit or yield. There is no contradiction between +raising food that the "rabbis" running Organic certification +bureaucracies would deem perfectly "kosher" and raising that same +food to make the most possible money or the biggest harvest. When a +farmer grows for money, they want to produce the largest number of +bushels, crates, tons, bales per acre. Their criteria for success is +primarily unit volume. Many gardeners think the same way. To +maximize bulk yield they build soil fertility in a certain direction +(organically or chemically) and choose varieties that produce +greater bulk. However, nature is ironic in this respect. The most +nutritious food is always lower yielding. The very soil management +practices that maximize production simultaneously reduce nutrition. + +The real problem we are having about our health is not that there +are residues of pesticides in our food. The real problem is that +there are only residues of nutrition left in our foods. Until our +culture comes to understand this and realizes that the health costs +of accepting less than optimum food far exceeds the profits made by +growing bulk, it will not be possible to frequently find the +ultimate of food quality in the marketplace, organically grown or +not. It will not be possible to find food that is labeled or +identified according to its real nutritional value. The best I can +say about Organic food these days is that it probably is no less +nutritious than chemically-grown food while at least it is free of +pesticide residues. + +The Poor Start + +For this reason it makes sense to take vitamins and food +supplements, to be discussed in the next chapter. And because our +food supply, Organic or "conventional," is far from optimum, if a +person wants to be and remain healthy and have a life span that +approaches their genetic potential (and that potential, it seems, +approaches or exceeds a century), it is essential that empty +calories are rigorously avoided. + +An accurate and quick-to-respond indicator of how well we are doing +in terms of getting enough nutrition is the state of our teeth. One +famous dentally-oriented nutritional doctor, Melvin Page, suggested +that as long as overall nutrition was at least 75 percent of +perfection, the body chemistry could support healthy teeth and gums +until death. By healthy here Page means free of cavities, no bone +loss around the teeth (no wobblers), no long-in-the-teeth mouths +from receding gums, no gum diseases at all. But when empty calories +or devitalized foods or misdigestion cuts our nutrient intake we +begin experiencing tooth decay, gum disease and bone loss in the +jaw. How are your teeth? + +I suppose you could say that I have a food religion, but mine is to +eat so that the equation Nutrition = Health / Calories is strongly +in my favor. + +Back to my daughter's teeth. Yes, I innocently fed her less than +ideally nutritious food, but at that time I couldn't buy ideal food +even had I known what I wanted, nor did I have any scientific idea +of how to produce ideal food, nor actually, could I have done so on +the impoverished, leached-out clay soil at Great Oaks School even +had I known how. The Organic doctrine says that you can build a +Garden of 'Eatin with large quantities of compost until any old clay +pit or gravel heap produces highly nutritious food. This idea is not +really true. Sadly, what is true about organic matter in soil is +that when it is increased very much above the natural level one +finds in untilled soil in the climate you're working with, the +nutritional content of the food begins to drop markedly. I know this +assertion is shocking and perhaps threatening to those who believe +in the Organic system; I am sorry. + +But there is another reason my daughter's teeth were not perfect, +probably could not have been perfect no matter what we fed her, and +why she will probably have at least some health problems as she ages +no matter how perfectly she may choose to eat from here on. My +daughters had what Dr. G.T. Wrench called "a poor start." Not as +poor as it could have been by any means, but certainly less than +ideal. + +You see, the father has very little to do with the health of the +child, unless he happens to carry some particularly undesirable +gene. It is the mother who has the job of constructing the fetus out +of prepartum nourishment and her own body's nutritional reserves. +The female body knows from trillenia of instinctual experience that +adequate nutrition from the current food supply during pregnancy can +not always be assured, so the female body stores up very large +quantities of minerals and vitamins and enzymes against that very +possibility. When forming a fetus these reserves are drawn down and +depleted. It is virtually impossible during the pregnancy itself for +a mother to extract sufficient nutrition from current food to build +a totally healthy fetus, no matter how nourishing the food she is +eating may be. Thus a mother-to-be needs to be spending her entire +childhood and her adolescence (and have adequate time between +babies), building and rebuilding her reserves. + +A mother-to-be also started out at her own birth with a vitally +important stock of nutritional reserves, reserves put there during +her own fetal development. If that "start" was less than ideal, the +mother-to-be (as fetus) got "pinched" and nutritionally shortchanged +in certain, predictable ways. Even minor mineral fetal deficiencies +degrade the bone structure: the fetus knows it needs nutritional +reserves more than it needs to have a full-sized jaw bone or a wide +pelvic girdle, and when deprived of maximum fetal nourishment, these +non-vital bones become somewhat smaller. Permanently. If mineral +deficiencies continue into infancy and childhood, these same bones +continue to be shortchanged, and the child ends up with a very +narrow face, a jaw bone far too small to hold all the teeth, and in +women, a small oven that may have trouble baking babies. More +importantly, those nutrient reserves earmarked especially for making +babies are also deficient. So a deficient mother not only shows +certain structural evidence of physiological degeneration, but she +makes deficient babies. A deficient female baby at birth is unlikely +to completely overcome her bad start before she herself has +children. + +So with females, the quality of a whole lifetime's nutrition, and +the life-nutrition of her mother (and of her mother's mother as +well) has a great deal to do with the outcome of a pregnancy. The +sins of the mother can really be visited unto the third and fourth +generation. + +This reality was powerfully demonstrated in the 1920s by a medical +doctor, Francis Pottenger. He was not gifted with a good bedside +manner. Rather than struggling with an unsuccessful clinical +practice, Dr. Pottenger decided to make his living running a medical +testing laboratory in Pasadena, California. Dr. Pottenger earned his +daily bread performing a rather simple task, assaying the potency of +adrenal hormone extracts. At that time, adrenaline, a useful drug to +temporarily rescue people close to death, was extracted from the +adrenal glands of animals. However, the potency of these crude +extracts varied greatly. Being a very powerful drug, it was +essential to measure exactly how strong your extract was so its +dosage could be controlled. + +Quantitative organic chemistry was rather crude in those days. +Instead of assaying in a test tube, Dr. Pottenger kept several big +cages full of cats that he had adrenalectomized. Without their own +adrenals, the cats could not live more than a short time By finding +out how much extract was required to keep the cats from failing, he +could measure the strength of the particular batch. + +Dr. Pottenger's cats were economically valuable so he made every +effort to keep them healthy, something that proved to be +disappointingly difficult. He kept his cats clean, in airy, bright +quarters, fed them to the very best of his ability on pasteurized +whole milk, slaughterhouse meat and organs (cats in the wild eat +organ meats first and there are valuable vitamins and other +substances in organ meats that don't exist in muscle tissue). The +meat was carefully cooked to eliminate any parasites, and the diet +was supplemented with cod liver oil. However, try as he might, +Pottenger's cats were sickly, lived short and had to be frequently +replaced. Usually they bred poorly and died young of bacterial +infections, there being no antibiotics in the 1920s. I imagine Dr. +Pottenger was constantly visiting the animal shelter and perhaps +even paid quarters out the back door to a steady stream of young +boys who brought him cats in burlap sacks from who knows where, no +questions asked. + +Dr. Pottenger's assays must have been accurate, for his business +grew and grew. Eventually he needed more cats than he had cages to +house, so he built a big, roofed, on-the-ground pen outdoors. +Because he was overworked, he was less careful about the feeding of +these extra animals. They got the same pasteurized milk and +cod-liver oil, but he did not bother to cook their slaughterhouse +meat. Then, a small miracle happened. This poorly cared for cage of +cats fed on uncooked meat became much healthier than the others, +suffering far fewer bacterial infections or other health problems. +Then another miracle happened. Dr. Pottenger began to meditate on +the first miracle. + +It occurred to him that cats in the wild did not cook their food; +perhaps cats had a digestive system that couldn't process or +assimilate much out of cooked food. Perhaps the problem he had been +having was not because the cats were without adrenal glands but +because they were without sustenance, suffering a sort of slow +starvation in the midst of plenty. So Dr. Pottenger set up some cat +feeding experiments. + +There were four possible combinations of his regimen: raw meat and +unpasteurized milk; raw meat and pasteurized milk; cooked meat and +raw milk; cooked meat and pasteurized milk, this last one being what +he had been feeding all along. So he divided his cats into four +groups and fed each group differently. The first results of +Pottenger's experiments were revealed quickly though the most +valuable results took longer to see. The cats on raw meat and raw +milk did best. The ones on raw meat and pasteurized milk did okay +but not as well. The ones on cooked meat and raw milk did even less +well and those on all cooked food continued to do as poorly as ever. + +Clearly, cats can't digest cooked food; all animals do better fed on +what they can digest. A lot of people have taken Pottenger's data +and mistakenly concluded that humans also should eat only raw food. +This idea is debatable. However, the most important result of the +cat experiments took years to reveal itself and is not paid much +attention to, probably because its implications are very depressing. +Dr. Pottenger continued his experiments for several generations. It +was the transgenerational changes that showed the most valuable +lesson. Over several generations, the cats on all raw foods began to +alter their appearance. Their faces got wider, their pelvic girdles +broader, bones solider, teeth better. They began to breed very +successfully. + +After quite a few generations, the healthiest group, the one on all +raw foods, seemed to have improved as much as it could. So Dr. +Pottenger took some of these cats and began feeding them only cooked +food to study the process of nutritional degeneration. After three +"de"generations on cooked fodder the group had deteriorated so much +that the animals could barely breed. Their faces had become narrow, +their teeth crooked, their pelvic girdles narrow, their bones and +body structure very small, and their dispositions poor. Mothers +wouldn't nurse their young and sometimes became cannibalistic. They +no longer lived very long. + +Before the degenerating group completely lost the ability to breed, +Pottenger began to again feed them all raw food. It took four +generations on a perfect, raw food diet before some perfect +appearing individuals showed up in the group. It takes longer to +repair the damage than it does to cause it and it takes generations +of unflagging persistence. + +I think much the same process has happened to humans in this +century. With the invention of the roller mill and the consequent +degradation of our daily bread to white flour; with the birth of +industrial farming and the generalized lowering of the nutritional +content of all of our crops; our overall ratio of nutrition to +calories worsened. Then it worsened again because we began to have +industrial food manufacturing and national brand prepared food +marketing systems; we began subsisting on devitalized, processed +foods. The result has been an even greater worsening of our ratio of +nutrition to calories. + +And just like Pottenger's cats, we civilized humans in so-called +advanced countries are losing the ability to breed, our willingness +(or the energy) to mother our young; we're losing our good humor in +the same way Pottenger's degenerated cats became bad tempered. As a +group we feel so poorly that we desperately need to feel better +fast, and what better way to do that than with drugs. Is it any +wonder that the United States, the country furthest down the road of +industrial food degeneration, spends 14 percent of its gross +domestic product on medical services. Any wonder that so many babies +are born by Cesarean, any wonder that so many of our children have +crooked teeth needing an orthodontist? The most depressing aspect of +this comes into view when considering that Pottenger's cats took +four generations on perfect food to repair most of the nutritional +damage. + +In the specific case of my daughter, I know somethings about the +nutritional history of her maternal ancestors. My daughter's +grandmother grew up on a Saskatchewan farm. Though they certainly +grew their own rich wheat on virgin semi-arid prairie soil, I'm sure +the family bought white flour at the store for daily use. Still, +there was a garden and a cow producing raw milk and free-range +fertile eggs and chicken and other animals. There probably were lots +of canned vegetables in winter, canned but still highly nutritious +because of the fertility of their prairie garden. My mother +consequently had perfect teeth until the Great Depression forced her +to live for too many years on lard and white bread. + +During this time of severe malnutrition she had her three babies. +The first one got the best of her nutritional reserves. The second, +born after the worst of the malnutrition, was very small and weak +and had a hard time growing up. Fortunately for me, for a few years +before I (the last child) was born, the worst of the economic times +had past and the family had been living on a farm. There were +vegetables and fresh raw milk and fruit. My mother had two good +years to rebuild her nutritional reserves. But "Grannybell" did not +managed to replace enough. Shortly after I was born my mother lost +every one of her teeth all at once. The bone just disappeared around +them. + +Thus, I was born deficient. And my childhood and adolescent +nutrition was poor too: soda crackers, pasteurized processed +artificial cheese, evaporated milk from cans, hotdogs and canned +beans, hotdogs and cabbage. It wasn't until I was pregnant with my +first baby that I started to straighten up my diet. I continued +eating very well after my first daughter, so my youngest daughter +had another three years of good diet to draw on. Thus both my own +daughters got a somewhat better start than I had had. + +My teeth were not as good as my mother's had been before those years +of malnutrition took them all. Instead of perfect straight undecayed +teeth like a healthy farm girl should have, mine were somewhat +crowded, with numerous cavities. My jaw bone had not received enough +minerals to develop to its full size. My pelvic girdle also was +smaller than my mother's was. I had had a poor start. + +My daughters did better. The older one (the first child typically +gets the best of the nutritional reserves) has such a wide jaw that +there are small spaces between her teeth. My second daughter has +only one crooked tooth, she has wider, more solid hips, stronger +bones and a broader face than I do. If my younger daughter will but +from this point in her life, eat perfectly and choose her food +wisely to responsibly avoid empty calories and maximize her ratio of +nutrition to calories, her daughter (if she gives us granddaughters +as her older sister already has done) may exhibit the perfect +physiology that her genes carry. + +Along the lines of helping you avoid empty calories I will give you +some information about various common foods that most people don't +know and that most books about food and health don't tell, or +misunderstand. + +Butter, Margarine and Fats in General. + +Recently, enormous propaganda has been generated against eating +butter. Its been smeared in the health magazines as a saturated +animal fat, one containing that evil substance, cholesterol. Many +people are now avoiding it and instead, using margarine. + +Composition of Oils + + Saturated Monosaturated Unsaturated +Butter 66% 30% 4% +Coconut Oil 87% 6% 2% +Cottonseed Oil 26% 18% 52% +Olive Oil 13% 74% 8% +Palm Oil 49% 37% 9% +Soybean Oil 14% 24% 58% +Sunflower Oil 4% 8% 83% +Safflower Oil 3% 5% 87% +Sesame Oil 5% 9% 80% +Peanut Oil 6% 12% 76% +Corn Oil 3% 7% 84% + +This is a major and serious misunderstanding. First of all, +margarine is almost indigestible, chemically very much like +shortening--an artificially saturated or hydrogenated vegetable fat. +Hydrogenated fats can't be properly broken down by the body's +digestive enzymes, adding to the body's toxic load. Margarine, being +a chemically-treated vegetable oil with artificial yellow color and +artificial flavorings to make it seem like butter, also releases +free radicals in the body that accelerate aging. So, to avoid the +dangers of eating cholesterol-containing butter, people eat +something far worse for them! + +There are severe inconsistencies with the entire +"cholesterol-is-evil" theory. Ethnic groups like the Danes, who eat +enormous quantities of cholesterol-containing foods, have little +circulatory disease. Actually, the liver itself produces +cholesterol; it's presence in the blood is an important part of the +body chemistry. Cholesterol only becomes a problem because of +deranged body chemistry due to the kind of overall malnutrition +Americans usually experience on their junk food diets. Avoiding +cholesterol in foods does little good, but eating a low-fat, +low-sugar, complex-carbohydrate (whole foods) diet high in minerals +does lower blood cholesterol enormously. + +Actually, high quality fresh (not rancid) butter in moderate +quantities is about the finest fat a person could eat. But high +quality butter is almost unobtainable. First of all, it has to be +raw, made from unpasteurized cream. Second, butter can contain very +high levels of fat-soluble vitamins, but doesn't have to. +Vitamin-rich butter's color is naturally bright yellow, almost +orange. This color does not come from a test tube. Pale yellow +butter as is found in the commercial trade was probably almost white +before it was artificially tinted. Butter from grass-pastured cows +naturally changes from yellow-orange to white and back again through +the year as the seasons change. Spring grass, growing in the most +intense sunlight of the year contains very high levels of +chlorophyll and vitamins. Cows eating this grass put high levels of +vitamins A and D into their cream, evidenced by the orange color of +vitamin A. By July, natural butter has degraded to medium-yellow in +color. By August, it is pale yellow. Industrial dairy cows fed +exclusively on hay or artificial, processed feeds (lacking in these +vitamins), produce butterfat that is almost white. + +I prefer to obtain my butter from a neighbor who has several dairy +cows grazing on fertile bottom land pasture. We always freeze a +year's supply in late spring when butter is at its best. +Interestingly, that is also the time of year when my neighbor gets +the most production from her cows and is most willing to part with +25 pounds of extra butter. + +In general, fats are poor foods that should be avoided. Their ratio +of nutrition to calories is absolutely the worst of all food types, +except perhaps for pure white sugar, which is all calories and +absolutely no nutrition (this is also true for other forms of sugar. +Honey, too, contains almost no nutrition.). Gram for gram, fats +contain many more calories than do sugars or starches. Yet gram for +gram, fats contain virtually no nutrition except for small +quantities of essential fatty acids. + +The perverse reason people like to eat fats is that they are very +hard to digest and greatly slow the digestive action of the stomach. +Another way of saying that is that they have a very high satiety +value. Fats make a person feel full for a long time because their +presence in the stomach makes it churn and churn and churn. Fats +coat proteins and starches and delay their digestion, often causing +them to begin fermenting (starches) or putrefying (proteins) in the +digestive tract. + +The best fats contain high levels of monosaturated vegetable oils +that have never been exposed to heat or chemicals--like virgin olive +oil. Use small quantities of olive oil for salad dressing. +Monosaturated fats also have far less tendency to go rancid than any +other type. Vegetable oils with high proportions of unsaturated +fats, the kind that all the authorities push because they contain no +cholesterol, go rancid rapidly upon very brief exposure to air. The +danger here is that rancidity in vegetable oil is virtually +unnoticeable. Rancid animal fat on the other hand, smells "off." +Eating rancid oil is a sure-fire way to accelerate aging, invite +degenerative conditions in general, and enhance the likelihood of +cancer. I recommend that you use only high-quality virgin olive oil, +the only generally-available fat that is largely monosaturated. +(Pearson and Shaw, 1983) + +When you buy vegetable oil, even olive oil, get small bottles so you +use them up before the oil has much time being exposed to air (as +you use the oil air fills the bottle) or, if you buy olive oil in a +large can to save money, immediately upon opening it, transfer the +oil to pint jars filled to the very brim to exclude virtually all +air, and seal the jars securely. In either case, keep now-opened, +in-use small bottles of oil in the refrigerator because rancidity is +simply the combination of oil with oxygen from the air and this +chemical reaction is accelerated at warmer temperatures and slowed +greatly at cold ones. + +Chemical reactions typically double in speed with every 10 degrees +C. increase in temperature. So oil goes rancid about six times +faster at normal room temperature than it does in the fridge. If +you'll think about the implications of this data you'll see there +are two powerful reasons not to fry food. One, the food is coated +with oil and gains in satiety value at the expense of becoming +relatively indigestible and productive of toxemia. Secondly, if +frying occurs at 150 degrees Centigrade and normal room temperature +is 20 degrees Centigrade, then oil goes rancid 2 to the 13th power +faster in the frying pan, or about 8,200 times faster. Heating oil +for only ten minutes in a hot skillet induces as much rancidity as +about 6 weeks of sitting open and exposed to air at room +temperature. Think about that the next time you're tempted to eat +something from a fast food restaurant where the hot fat in the deep +fryer has been reacting with oxygen all day, or even for several +days. + +Back to butter, where we started. If you must have something +traditionally northern European on your bread, you are far better +off to use butter, not margarine. However, Mediterranean peoples +traditionally dip their bread in high-quality extra-virgin olive oil +that smells and tastes like olives. Its delicious, why not try it. +But best yet, put low-sugar fruit preserves on your toast or develop +a taste for dry toast. Probably the finest use for butter is melted +over steamed vegetables. This way only small quantities are needed +and the fat goes on something that is otherwise very easy to digest +so its presence will not produce as many toxins in the digestive +tract. + +Milk, Meat, And Other Protein Foods + +Speaking of butter, how about milk? The dairy lobby is very powerful +in North America. Its political clout and campaign contributions +have the governments of both the United States and especially that +of Canada eating out of its hand (literally), providing the dairy +industry with price supports. Because of these price supports, in +Canada cheese costs half again more than it does in the United +States. The dairy lobby is also very cozy with the medical +profession so licensed nutritionists constantly bombard us with +"drink milk" and "cheese is good for you" propaganda. + +And people naturally like dairy foods. They taste good and are +fat-rich with a high satiety value. Dairy makes you feel full for a +long time. Dairy is also high in protein; protein is hard to digest +and this too keeps one feeling full for a long time. But many +people, especially those from cultures who traditionally +(genetically) didn't have dairy cows, particularly Africans, Asians +and Jews, just do not produce the enzymes necessary to digest cows +milk. Some individuals belonging to these groups can digest goats +milk. Some can't digest any kind except human breast milk. And some +can digest fermented milk products like yogurt and kiefer. Whenever +one eats a protein food that is not fully digestible, it putrefies +in the digestive tract, with all the bad consequences previously +described. + +But no one, absolutely no one can fully digest pasteurized cows +milk, which is what most people use because they have been made to +fear cow-transmitted diseases and/or they are forced to use +pasteurized dairy products by health authorities. I suspect drinking +pasteurized milk or eating cheese made from pasteurized milk is one +of the reasons so many people develop allergic reactions to milk. +Yet many states do not allow unpasteurized dairy to be sold, even +privately between neighbors. To explain all this, I first have to +explain a bit more about protein digestion in general and then talk +about allergies and how they can be created. + +Proteins are long, complex molecules, intricate chains whose +individual links are amino acids. Proteins are the very stuff of +life. All living protoplasm, animal or plant, is largely composed of +proteins. There are virtually an infinite number of different +proteins but all are composed of the same few dozen amino acids +hooked together in highly variable patterns. Amino acids themselves +are highly complex organic molecules too. The human body +custom-assembles all its proteins from amino acids derived from +digesting protein foods, and can also manufacture small quantities +of certain of its own amino acids to order, but there are eight +amino acids it cannot make and these are for that reason called +essential amino acids. Essential amino acids must be contained in +the food we eat. . + +Few proteins are water soluble. When we eat proteins the digestive +apparatus must first break them down into their water-soluble +components, amino acids, so these can pass into the blood and then +be reassembled into the various proteins the body uses. The body has +an interesting mechanism to digest proteins; it uses enzymes. An +enzyme is like the key for a lock. It is a complex molecule that +latches to a protein molecule and then breaks it apart into amino +acids. Then the enzyme finds yet another protein molecule to free. +Enzymes are efficient, reusable many many times. + +Enzymes that digest proteins are effective only in the very acid +environment of the stomach, are manufactured by the pancreas and are +released when protein foods are present. The stomach then releases +hydrochloric acid and churns away like a washing machine, mixing the +enzymes and the acid with the proteins until everything has +digested. + +So far so good. That's how its supposed to be. But. Dr. Henry +Bieler, who wrote Food Is Your Best Medicine, came up with the +finest metaphor I know of to explain how protein digestion goes +wrong. He compared all proteins to the white of an egg (which is +actually a form of protein). When raw and liquid, the long chains of +albumen (egg white) proteins are in their natural form. However, +cook the egg and the egg white both solidifies and becomes smaller. +What has happened is that the protein chains have shriveled and +literally tied themselves into knots. Once this happens, pancreatic +enzymes no longer fit and cannot separate all the amino acids. +Cooked proteins may churn and churn and churn in the presence of +acid and pancreatic enzymes but they will not digest completely. +Part becomes water soluble; part does not. + +But, indigestible protein is still subject to an undesirable form of +consumption in the gut. Various bacteria make their home in our +airless, warm intestines. Some of these live on protein. In the +process of consuming undigested proteins, they release highly toxic +substances. They poison us. + +What is true of the white of an egg is also true of flesh foods and +dairy. Raw meat and raw fish are actually easily digestible foods +and if not wrongly combined will not produce toxemia in a person +that still has a strong pancreas. However, eating raw meat and fish +can be a dicey proposition, both for reasons of cultural sensibility +(people think it is disgusting) and because there may be living +parasites in uncooked flesh that can attack, sicken and even kill +people. It has been argued that a healthy stomach containing its +proper degree of acidity provides an impenetrable barrier to +parasites. Perhaps. But how many of us are that healthy these days? +Cooked flesh and fish seems more delicious to our refined, civilized +sensibilities, but are a poor food. + +In my household we have no moral objection to eating meat. We do +have an ethical objection in that meat eating does not contribute to +our health. But still, we do eat it. A few times a year, for +traditional celebrations we may invite the children over and cook a +turkey. A few times for Thanksgiving when the children were going +through their holier-than-thou vegetarian stage, I purchased the +largest, thickest porterhouse steak I could find at the natural meat +store and ate it medium-rare, with relish. It was delicious. It made +me feel full for hours and hours and hours. I stayed flat on the +couch and groggily worked on digesting it all evening. After that +I'd had enough of meat to last for six months. + +When milk is pasteurized, the proteins in it are also altered in +structure. Not so severely as egg white is altered by cooking +because pasteurization happens at a lower temperature. But altered +none the less. And made less digestible. Pasteurizing also makes +milk calcium far less assimilable. That's ironic because so many +people are drinking milk because they fear they need more calcium to +avoid osteoporosis and to give their children good teeth. What +pasteurized milk actually does to their children is make them +calcium deficient and makes the children toxic, provoking many +colds, ear infections, sinusitis, inflammations of the tonsils and +lung infections, and, induces an allergy to milk in the children. + +The Development Of Allergies + +There are three ways a body can become allergic. (1) It can have a +genetic predisposition for a specific allergy to start with. (2) It +can be repeatedly exposed to an irritating substance such as pollen +when, at the same time, the body's mechanism for dealing with +irritations is weakened. Generally weak adrenals causes this because +the adrenal's job is to produce hormones that reduce inflammation. +Once the irritating substance succeeds at producing a significant +inflammation, a secondary reaction may be set up, called an allergy. +Once established, an allergy is very hard to get rid of. + +(3) in a way very similar to the second, but instead of being +irritated by an external substance, it is irritated by repeatedly +failing to properly, fully digest something. Pasteurized milk for +example, basically impossible to completely digest even in its +low-fat form, often sets up an allergy that applies to other forms +of cows milk, even raw, unpasteurized cows milk or yogurt. Eating +too much white flour can eventually set off a wheat allergy. My +husband developed a severe allergy to barley after drinking too much +home-brewed beer; he also became highly intolerant to alcohol. Now +he has allergic reactions to both alcohol and barley. And gets far +sicker from drinking beer (two separate allergies) than from wheat +beer, hard liquor or wine (only one allergy). + +Eating too much of any single food, or repeatedly eating too much of +an otherwise very good food at one time, can eventually overwhelm +the body's ability to digest it fully. Then, the finest whole food +products may set up an allergic reaction. Worse, this allergic +reaction itself subsequently prevents proper digestion even when +only moderate quantities are eaten. + +An allergy may not be recognized as an allergy because it may not +manifest as the instant skin rash or stuffy nose or swollen glands +or sticky eyes. that people usually think of when they think +"allergic reaction." Food allergies can cause many kinds of +symptoms, from sinusitis to psychosis, from asthma to arthritis, +from hyperactivity to depression, insomnia to narcolepsy--and +commonly the symptoms don't manifest immediately after eating. +Frequently, allergic reactions are so low grade as to be +unnoticeable and may not produce an observable condition until many +years of their grinding down the vital force has passed. When the +condition finally appears it is hard to associate it with some food +that has been consumed for years, apparently with impunity. + +Thus it is that many North Americans have developed allergies to +wheat, dairy, soy products (because many soy foods are very hard to +digest), corn and eggs. These are such common, widespread, +frequently found allergies that anyone considering a dietary cause +of their complaints might just cut all these foods out of the diet +for a few weeks just to see what happens. And individuals may be +allergic to anything from broccoli to bacon, strawberries to bean +sprouts. Unraveling food allergies sometimes requires the deductions +of a Sherlock Holmes. + +However, food allergies are very easy to cure if you can get the +suffered to take the medicine. Inevitably, allergic reactions vanish +in about five days of abstinence. Anyone with sufficient +self-discipline to water fast for five days can cure themselves of +all food allergies at one step. Then, by a controlled, gradual +reintroduction of foods, they can discover which individual items +cause trouble. See Coca's Pulse Test in the Appendix where you'll +find step-by-step instructions for allergy testing that are less +rigorous, not requiring a preliminary fast. + +Flour, And Other Matters Relating To Seeds + +One of the largest degradations to human health was caused by the +roller mill. This apparently profitable machine permitted the miller +to efficiently separate wheat flour into three components: bran, +germ and endosperm. Since bread made without bran and germ is +lighter and appears more "upper class" it became instantly popular. +Flour without germ and bran also had an industrial application--it +could be stored virtually forever without being infested by insects +because white flour does not contain enough nutrition to support +life. Most health conscious people are aware that white flour +products won't support healthful human life either. + +Essentially, white flour's effect on humans is another demonstration +of Health = Nutrition / Calories. When the bran and germ are +discarded, remaining are the calories and much of the protein, +lacking are many vitamins and minerals and other vital nutritional +substances. + +Whole wheat bread has been called the staff of life. In ages past, +healthy cultures have made bread the predominant staple in their +diet. Does that mean you can just go to the bakery and buy whole +grain bread, or go to the healthfood store and buy organically grown +whole wheat flour, bake your own, and be as healthy as the ancients? +Sorry, the answer is almost certainly no. There are pitfalls, many +of them, waiting for the unwary. + +White flour has one other advantage over whole wheat flour. It not +only remains free of insect infestation, it doesn't become stale +(meaning rancid). In the wheat germ (where the embryo resides) there +is considerable oil, containing among other things, about the best +natural source of vitamin E. This oil is highly unsaturated and once +the seed is ground the oil goes rancid in a matter of days. Whole +wheat flour kept on the unrefrigerated shelf of the store is almost +certainly rancid. A lot of its other vitamin content has been +oxidized too. If the wheat flour had flowed directly from the +grinder into an airtight sack and from there directly to the +freezer, if it had been flash frozen and kept extremely cold, it +might have a storage life of some months. Of course that was not the +case. Maybe you're lucky and your healthfood store is one of the +very few that has its own small-scale flour mill and grinds daily. +Probably not. + +How about your baker's whole wheat bread? Where does the baker get +flour? From the wholesaler's or distributor's warehouse! In fifty +pound kraftpaper sacks! How much time had elapsed from milling to +wholesaler to baker to baking? The answer has to be in the order of +magnitude of weeks. And it might be months. Was the flour stored +frozen? Or airtight? Of course not. + +If you want bread made from freshly ground flour you are almost +certainly have to grind and bake it yourself. Is it worth the +trouble? You bet. Once you've tasted real bread you'll instantly see +by comparison what stale, rancid whole wheat flour tastes like. +Freshly ground flour makes bread that can be the staff of life and +can enormously upgrade your health--if the wheat you use is any good. + +But before we talk about wheat quality, a more few words of warning. +If you think wheat goes rancid rapidly, rye is even worse. Rye flour +goes bad so fast that when you buy it in the store it usually is the +rye equivalent of white wheat flour. The germ has been removed. The +bag may not say so. But it probably has. If you are going to make +rye breads, even more reason to grind your own. Corn meal from the +grocery store has usually been degerminated too. If it hasn't been, +the oil in the seed's germ has probably gone rancid. + +Grinding flour at home is easy these days. There is an abundance of +at-home milling products and no shortage of hype about them. You'll +find staunch advocates of stone mills. These produce the +finest-textured flour, but are costly. The sales pitch is that +stones grind at low temperature and do not damage the oils (remember +the development of rancidity is a function of temperature) or the +vitamins, which are also destroyed at high temperature. This +assertion is half true. If you are going to store your flour it is +far better to grind it cool. However, if you are, as we do, going to +immediately bake your flour, what difference does it make if it gets +a little warm before baking. That only accelerates the action of the +yeast. + +On the negative side, stone mills grind slowly and are very fussy +about which grains they will grind. If the cereal is a bit moist or +if the seed being ground is a little bit oily, the mill becomes +instantly blocked. + +Steel burr mills grind fast and coarsely and are inexpensive. Coarse +flour makes heavy bread. The metal grinding faces tend to wear out +and have to be replaced occasionally--if they can be replaced. Breads +on the heavy side are still delicious; for many years I made bread +with an inexpensive steel burr mill attachment that came with my +juicer. + +Some steel burr mills will also grind oily seed like sesame and +sunflower. However, oily seeds can be ground far more easily +half-a-cup at a time in a little inexpensive electric spice/coffee +mill, the sort with a single fast-spinning propeller. + +I currently think the best compromise are hammermills. The grain +dribbles into a chamber full of fast-spinning teeth that literally +pound the grain into powder. Since air flows through with the grain +the flour is not heated very much. This type of mill is small, very +fast, intermediate in price between steel mills and stone mill, +lasts a long time, but when grinding, sounds like a Boeing 747 about +to take off. It is essential to wear hearing protectors when using +it. + +Awareness of bread quality is growing. One excellent new U.S. +business, called Great Harvest Bakery is a fast-growing national +franchise chain. They bake and sell only whole grain breads; all +their wheat flour is freshly ground daily on the premises in the +back. Unfortunately, as of the writing of this book, they do not +grind their rye flour but bring it in sacks. I can't recommend their +rye breads. The founder of Great Harvest is a knowledgeable buyer +who fully understands my next topic, which is that wheat is not +wheat. + +There are great differences between hard bread wheats; being +organically grown is no cure all for making good or nutritious +bread. Great Harvest understands this and uses top quality grain +that is also Organic. + +When I first stated making my own bread from my own at-home-ground +flour I was puzzled by variations in the dough. Sometimes the bread +rose well and was spongy after baking like I wanted it to be. +Sometimes it kneaded stickily and ended up flat and crumbly like a +cake. Since I had done everything the same way except that I may +have bought my wheat berries from different healthfood stores, I +began to investigate the subject of wheat quality. + +The element in the cereal that forms the rubbery sponge in risen +bread so it doesn't crumble and rises high without collapsing, is +gluten. The word glue derives from gluten. The gluten content of +various wheats varies. Bread bakers use "hard wheat" because of its +high gluten content. Gluten is a protein and gluten comprises most +of the protein in bread wheat; the protein content and the gluten +content are almost identical. + +Try this. Ask your healthfood store buyer or owner what the protein +content is of the hard red wheat seeds they're selling. You'll +almost certainly get a puzzled look and your answer will almost +certainly be, "we have Organic and conventional." Demand that the +store buyer ask this question of their distributor/wholesaler and +then report back to you. If the distributor deigns to answer, the +answer will be the same--I sell Organic or conventional hard red +wheat. Period. When I got these non-answers I looked further and +discovered that hard bread wheats run from about 12 percent protein +to about 19 percent and this difference has everything to do with +the soil fertility (and to an extent the amount of rainfall during +the season), and almost nothing to do with Organic or conventional. + +This difference also has everything to do with how your dough +behaves and how your bread comes out. And how well your bread +nourishes you. Thirteen percent wheat will not make a decent +loaf--fourteen percent is generally considered #2 quality and +comprises the bulk of cheap bread grain. When you hear in the +financial news that a bushel of wheat is selling for a certain +price, they mean #2. Bakers compete for higher protein lots and pay +far higher prices for more protein. + +We prefer our bread about 25% rye, but rye contains no gluten at +all. Mix any rye flour into fourteen percent wheat flour and the +dough becomes very heavy, won't rise, and after baking, crumbles. So +I kept looking for better grain and finally discovered a +knowledgeable lady that sold flour mills and who also was a serious +baker herself. She had located a source of quality wheat with an +assayed protein content and sold it by the 50 pound sack. When I +asked her if her wheat was Organic she said it was either sixteen or +seventeen percent protein depending on whether you wanted hard red +spring wheat or hard white spring wheat. Organic or conventional? I +persisted. No, she said. High protein! + +So, I said to myself, since protein content is a function of soil +fertility and since my body needs protein, I figured I am better off +eating the best quality wheat, pesticide/herbicide residues (if +there are any) be damned. Think about it! The difference between +seventeen percent and fourteen percent protein is about 25 percent. +That percentage difference is the key threshold of nutritional +deficiency that makes teeth fall out. We can't afford to accept 25% +degradations in our nutritional quality in something that we eat +every day and that forms the very basis of our dietary. + +Please understand here that I am not saying that high protein wheats +can't be grown organically. They certainly can. The founder of Great +Harvest Bakery performs a valuable service locating and securing +high-protein lots of organically grown wheats for his outlets. But +often as not Organic products are no more nourishing than those +grown with chemicals. Until the buyers at Organic whole food +wholesalers get better educated about grain, obtaining one's +personal milling stock from them will be a dicey proposition. + +Sometimes Organic cereal can be far worse than conventional. To make +a cereal Organic is a negative definition; if it hasn't had +chemicals, then its Organic. Grain is one of the few foods that will +still produce economic yields of low quality seed on extremely +infertile soil or when half-smothered in weeds because herbicides +weren't used for reasons of ideological purity. Vegetables will +hardly produce anything under those conditions; carelessly grown +fruits and vegetables are inevitably small, misshapen, unmarketable. +But seed cleaning equipment can remove the contamination of weed +seeds in cereal grains (at a cost.) + +The price the farmer receives for Organic cereal grain is much +higher, so it is possible to accept rather low yields or expend more +money for cleaning out high levels of weed seeds from the field-run +harvest, and still make a good profit. A lousy Organic cereal crop +like this might even make a higher profit because the farmer has +been spared the expense of fertilization, of rotation, of weed +control. I remember once I bought a sack of Organic whole oats that +were the smallest, most shriveled, bitterest oats I've ever tried to +eat. We ended up throwing out that tiny, light (lacking density) +seed in favor of using the "conventional" whole oats that were +plump, heavy and sweet. + +Wheat is not the only cereal that is damaged by industrial milling. +So are oats. Most consumers have never seen whole oats; they look +very much like wheat berries. But rolled oats become rancid and +stale on the shelf much like wheat flour on the shelf. + +Another pitfall about using whole grains is that to be nutritious +they must still be fresh enough to sprout vigorously. A seed is a +package of food surrounding an embryo. The living embryo is waiting +for the right conditions (temperature and moisture) to begin +sprouting. Sprouting means the embryo begins eating up stored food +and making a plant out of it. All foods are damaged by exposure to +oxygen, so to protect the embryo's food supply, the seed is +surrounded by a virtually airtight seed coat that permits only +enough oxygen to enter for the embryo's respiration (yes, seed +breaths slowly). Often the embryo is located at the edge of the seed +and has its own air intake port. When the seed coat is removed or +damaged, the innards are exposed to air and begin deteriorating +rapidly. In the case of oats, especially rapidly, because oats are +the only grass-based cereal that contains large quantities of +oil--five percent oil, more or less. That's why oats "stick to your +ribs." Rolled oats become stale and lose their flavor (and +nutritional content) and perhaps become rancid very rapidly. So we +make porridge from whole oat groats that we coarsely grind to grits +(steel-cut oats) in an electric seed/spice mill just before cooking. + +It is not easy to cook oat grits. They take a lot longer than rolled +oats and if not done exactly to the recipe I'm about to give you, +will almost inevitably stick to the pot badly and may also froth +over and mess the stove. Here's how to cook them. Coarsely grind +(like corn meal) your whole oats until you have one cup of oat +grits. Bring exactly four cups of water (no salt) to a very hard +boil at your highest heat. You may add a handful of raisins. Light +or turn on a second, small-sized burner on the stove and set it as +low as possible. Into the fast boiling water, slowly pour the ground +oats, stirring continuously. Take about 30 seconds to pour it all or +you'll make clumps. Keep on the high heat until the water again +boils vigorously. Suddenly, the mixture will begin rising in the pot +and will try to pour all over the stove. This means it is all at +boiling temperature again. Quickly move the pot to the low burner; +that instantly stops the frothing. Then cover. Let the porridge cook +for 30 minutes, stirring once or twice to prevent sticking. Then, +keeping it covered, turn off the heat. They can be eaten at this +point but I think it is better to let the oats finish soaking on the +stove for at least two to four hours. Then reheat in a double +boiler, or warm in a microwave. + +We usually start a pot of oats at bedtime for the next morning. See +why people prefer the convenience of using rolled oats? But once +you've eaten oats made right, you'll never prefer the flavor of +rolled oats again. And if the human body has any natural method of +assaying nutritional content, it is flavor. + +Nutritionally, millet is almost the same story as oats. Millet seed +is protected by a very hard hull. Cooking unhulled millet is almost +impossible. After hours of boiling the small round seeds will still +be hard and the hulls remain entirely indigestible. Worse, the +half-round hulls (they split eventually) stick in your teeth. But +prehulled millet, sitting in the sack for weeks and months, loses a +lot of nutrition and tastes very second-rate compared to +freshly-hulled millet. It is possible to buy unhulled millet, +usually by special order from the health food distributor--if you'll +take a whole sack. Millet can be hulled at home in small batches. +Here's how we figured out how to do it. There probably are better +ways. + +Using a cheap steel-burr flour mill, set the burrs just far enough +apart that the seed is ground to grits, but not flour. This pops the +hulls loose. An old mill with worn-out burrs works great for this +job. Then you have to get some hand seed cleaning screens just large +enough to pass the grits but not pass the hulls (most of them). +Window screen or other hardware cloths won't work. Seed cleaning +screens come in increments of 1/128 inch; we use a 6/64" round +screen. Other batches of millet might work better with a screen one +step larger or smaller. It will take you a little ingenuity to find +hand-held screens. They're used by seed companies and farmers to +clean small batches of seed for inspection and are usually about one +square foot in size with a quality wooden frame. Larger frames made +of the same screening material are used in big seed cleaning +machines. (The hulls could also be winnowed out by repeatedly +pouring the grit/hulls mixture back and forth between two buckets in +a gentle breeze.) + +After you've screened out most of the hulls, the rest will rinse +out, floating off as you wash the grain prior to cooking. We never +hull more than enough millet for two or three meals and keep the +uncooked (unwashed) millet in the freezer in an airtight jar. It is +interesting how people will accept poor nutrition and its consequent +sickness as the price of convenience. + +If you eat much buckwheat you should also figure out how to hull +(sometimes called groating) it yourself. Someone should write a +thorough book on the home milling of cereals. And perhaps sell the +equipment by mail. Probably would be a good little homestead +business. + +Something else you need to keep in mind about seed. Even though the +embryo's food supply is protected by the seed coat, it still slowly +deteriorates, steadily oxidizing and losing nutritional value. +Eventually old seed looses the ability to sprout. The decline in +germination ability matches a decline in nutritional quality. Any +seed you are going to use for eating should possess the ability to +sprout, strongly and rapidly. (After you've comparatively sprouted a +few grain samples, you'll know what I mean by this.) Fortunately, +cereal grains usually sprout well for quite a few years after +harvest if they have been stored cool and dry. Eating dead or +near-dead seeds will help move you closer to the same condition +yourself. + +Finally, one more warning about buying store bread. Salt-free bread +tastes "funny" to most people. It bakes fine, salt is not necessary +to the leavening process, but no bakery could stay in business +without salting their bread. The standard level of salt is two +percent by weight. That is quite a lot! Two percent equals one +teaspoonful per pound. I'll have more to say about the evils of salt +later on. + +I imagine some of my readers are feeling a little overwhelmed by all +these warnings and "bewares ofs," and intricacies. They are used to +taking no responsibility for securing their own food supply quality +and have come to expect the "system" to protect them. I believe it +is not because of lack of government intervention, but because of +government intervention itself, our food system is very perverse. +Until our mass consciousness changes, if you wish to make yourself +and your family truly healthy, you are going to have to take charge +and become quite a discriminating shopper. Unconscious consumers are +on a rapid road to the total unconsciousness of death. + +And again, let me remind you here that this one small book cannot +contain everything you should know. The bibliography at the end of +should become your guide to earning your post-graduate education in +nutritional health. + +Freshness Of Fruits And Vegetables + +Most people do not realize the crucial importance of freshness when +it comes to produce. In the same way that seeds gradually die, +fruits and vegetables go through a similar process as their +nutritional content gradually oxidizes or is broken down by the +vegetables own enzymes, but vegetables lose nutrition hundreds of +times more rapidly than cereals. Produce was recently part of a +living plant. It was connected to the vascular system of a plant and +with few exceptions, is not intended by nature to remain intact +after being cut. A lettuce or a zucchini was entirely alive at the +moment of harvest, but from that point, its cells begin to die. Even +if it is not yet attacked by bacteria, molds and fungi, its own +internal enzymes have begun breaking down its own substances. + +Vegetables, especially leafy vegetables, are far more critical in +this respect than most ripe fruits. All, however, deteriorate much +like radioactive material; they have a sort of half-life. The +mineral content is stable, but in respect to the vitamins and +enzymes and other complex organic components, each time period or +"half life" results in the loss of half the nutrition. Suppose a +lettuce has a half life of 48 hours, two days after harvest only 50 +percent of the original nutrition remains. After two more days, half +the remaining half is gone and only 25 percent is left. After two +more days half of that 25 percent is lost. Thus six days after +harvest and a lettuce contains only bout 12 percent of its original +nutrition. A two day half-life is only hypothetical. Those types of +produce I classify as very perishable probably do have a half-life +of from 36 to 48 hours. Moderately perishable produce has a half +life of about 72 hours; durable types of produce have half lives of +96 hours or longer. + +Vegetable Storage Potential + +Very Perishable Moderately Perishable Durable +lettuce zucchini apple +spinach eggplant squash +Chinese cabbage sweet peppers oranges +kale broccoli cabbage +endive cauliflower carrot +peaches apricots lemons +parsley beets + +The half life of produce can be lengthened by lowering its +temperature. For that reason, sophisticated produce growers usually +use hydrocooling. This process dumps a just-cut vegetable into icy +water within minutes of being harvested, lowering core temperature +to a few degrees above freezing almost immediately. When cut +vegetables are crated up at field temperatures, and stacks of those +crates are put in a cooler, it can take the inside of the stack 24 +hours, or longer, to become chilled. Home gardeners should also +practice hydrocooling. Fill your sink with cold water and wash/soak +your harvest until it is thoroughly chilled before draining and +refrigerating it. Or, harvest your garden early in the morning when +temperatures are lowest. + +Still, when you buy produce in the store it may have been sitting at +room temperature for hours or possibly days. + +The bottom line here: fresh is equally as important as unsprayed or +organically grown! + +The Real Truth About Salt And Sugar + +First, let me remind certain food religionists: salt is salt is salt +is salt and sugar is sugar is sugar. There are no good forms of salt +and no good forms of sugar. Salt from a mine and salt from the sea +both have the same harmful effect; white sugar, natural brown sugar, +honey, molasses, corn syrup, maple syrup, whatever sweet have you. +All are sugars and all have the similar harmful effects. I know of +no harmless salt substitute that really tastes salty. Nutrisweet is +basically harmless to most people and can be used as a very +satisfactory replacement for sugars. A few people are unable to +tolerate nutrisweet, causing the anti-chemicalists to circulate much +anti-nutrisweet propaganda, but you should carefully consider this +thought before dismissing nutrisweet--there is almost no food +substance that some people are not allergic to or unable to digest. +The fact that nutrisweet is made in a chemical vat and the fact that +some cannot handle nutrisweet does not make it "of the devil." + +And its not all black and white with the other items either. Sea +salt does have certain redeeming qualities not found in mined salt +and under certain very special conditions, eating small quantities +of salt may be acceptable. Similarly, some forms of sugar are not +quite as harmful as other forms, though all are harmful. + +The primary health problem caused by table salt is not that it +contributes to high blood pressure in people with poor kidneys, +though it does that. It is not that eating salt ruins the kidneys; +salt probably does not do that. The real problem with salt is that +sodium chloride is an adrenal stimulant, triggering the release of +adrenal hormones, especially natural steroids that resist +inflammation. When these hormones are at high levels in the blood, +the person often feels very good, has a sense of well-being. Thus +salt is a drug! And like many drugs of its type, salt is a +habituating drug. However, we are so used to whipping our adrenals +with salt that we don't notice it. What we do notice is that we +think we like the taste of salted food and consider that food tastes +flat without it. But take away a person's salt shaker and they +become very uncomfortable. That's because the addict isn't getting +their regular dose. + +What's wrong with repetitive adrenal whipping is that adrenal +fortitude is variable; many people's adrenals eventually fail to +respond to the prod of salt and the body begins to suffer from a +lack of adrenal hormones. Often those inheriting weak adrenals +manifest semi-failure in childhood. The consequence is that +ordinary, irritating substances begin causing severe irritation. The +person becomes allergic to pollen, dust, foods, animal danders, etc. +We see asthma, hay fever, sinusitis, etc. Though one can then +discover specific allergens and try to remove them from the +environment or diet, often this case can be solved far more easily +by complete withdrawal from all salt. This rests the adrenals and +they may recover their full function; almost certainly their +function will improve. The asthma, allergies and etc., gradually +vanish. + +Most of us don't need to eat salt as a nutrient. There's enough +sodium in one dill pickle to run a human body for a year. There's +enough natural sodium in many types of vegetables to supply normal +needs without using table salt. Perhaps athletes or other hard +working people in the tropics eating deficient food grown on +leached-out depleted soils, people that sweat buckets day after day +may need a little extra sodium. Perhaps. Not having practiced in the +humid tropics myself, I have no definitive answer about this. + +Unfortunately, the average American is entirely addicted to salt and +thinks food tastes lousy without it. To please the average consumer, +almost all prepared foods contain far too much salt for someone +suffering from exhausted adrenals. Interestingly, Canadians do not +like their foods nearly as salty as Americans, and prepared foods +like soups and the like in cans and packages that look just like the +ones in American supermarkets (though with French on the back panel) +have to be reformulated for our northern neighbors. I've observed +that Canadians are generally healthier than Americans in many +respects. + +We would all be far better off consuming no salt at all. Those with +allergies or asthma should completely eliminate it for a month or +two and discover if that simple step doesn't pretty much cure them. +The trouble is that bakery bread is routinely two percent salt by +weight. Cheese is equally salted or even more so. Canned and frozen +prepared food products are all heavily salted. Restaurant meals are +always highly salted in the kitchen. If you want to avoid salt you +almost have to prepare everything yourself, bake your own bread, +abstain from cheese (though there are unsalted cheeses but even I +don't like the flavor of these), and abstain from restaurants. My +family has managed to eliminate all salt from our own kitchen except +for that in cheese, and we eat cheese rather moderately. + +Sugar is a high-caloric non-food with enormous liabilities. First, +from the viewpoint of the universal formula for health, no form of +non-artificial sweetener carries enough nutrients with it to justify +the number of calories it contains, not even malt extract. White +refined sugar contains absolutely no nutrients at all; the "good" or +"natural" sweets also carry so little nutrition as to be next to +useless. Sweets are so far over on the bad end of the Health = +Nutrition / Calories scale that for this reason alone they should be +avoided. + +However, healthy people can usually afford a small amount of sin; +why not make it sweets? In small quantity, sugars are probably the +easiest indiscretion to digest and the least damaging to the organ +systems. Although, speaking of sin, as Edgar Guest, the peoples' +poet, once so wisely quipped, (and my husband agrees) "Candy is +dandy, but liquor is quicker." Sugar is a powerful drug! People who +abuse sweets set up a cycle of addiction that can be very hard to +break. It starts when the body tries to regulate blood sugar. Kicked +up to high levels by eating sugar, the pancreas releases insulin. +But that is not the end of the chain reaction. Insulin regulates +blood sugar levels but also raises brain levels of an amino acid +called tryptophan. Tryptophan is the raw material the brain uses to +manufacture a neurotransmitter called serotonin. And serotonin plays +a huge role in regulating mood. Higher brain levels of serotonin +create a feeling of well-being. Eating sugar gives a person a +chemical jolt of happiness. Heavy hits of high-glycemic index starch +foods are also rapidly converted to sugar. So don't give your kids +sweets! Or huge servings of starch to mellow them out. It is wise +not to start out life a happiness addict with a severe weight +problem. + +Now that the chemistry of sugar addiction is understood, there +currently is a movement afoot to cast the obese as helpless victims +of serotonin imbalances and to "treat" them with the same kinds of +serotonin-increasing happy drugs (like Prozac) that are becoming so +popular with the psychiatric set. This promises to be a multiple +billion dollar business that will capture all the money currently +flowing into other dieting systems and bring it right back to the +AMA/drug company/FDA nexus. The pitch is that when serotonin levels +are upped, the desire to eat drops and so is weight. This approach +is popular with the obese because it requires no personal +responsibility other than taking a pill that really does make them +feel happy. However, the same benefit can be had by strict adherence +to a low-fat, low-carbohydrate diet. Eventually, the brain chemistry +rebalances itself and serotonin levels stabilize. + +Glycemic Index + +(compared to glucose, which is 100) + +Grains +all bran 51 +brown rice 66 +buckwheat 54 +cornflakes 80 +oatmeal 49 +shred. wheat 67 +muesli 66 +white rice 72 +white spagetti 50 +whole wheat spagetti 42 +sweet corn 59 + +Fruits +apples 39 +bananas 62 +cherries 23 +grapefruit 26 +grapes 45 +orange juice 46 +peach 29 +orange 40 +pear 34 +plum 25 +raisins 64 + +Vegetables + +baked beans 40 +beets 64 +black-eyed peas 33 +carrots 92 +chic peas 36 +parsnips 97 +potato chips 51 +baked potato 98 +sweet potato 48 +yams 51 +peas 51 + +Baked Goods +pastry 59 +sponge cake 46 +white bread 69 +w/w bread 72 +whole rye bread 42 + +Sugars +fructose 20 +glucose 100 +honey 87 +maltose 110 +sucrose 59 + +Nuts +peanuts 13 + +Meats +sausage 28 +fish sticks 38 + +Dairy Products +yogurt 36 +whole milk 34 +skim milk 32 + +Remember, the pancreas has another major service to perform for the +body: secreting digestive enzymes to aid in the digestion of +proteins. When the diet contains either too much protein or too much +sugar and/or high-glycemic index starch foods, the overworked +pancreas begins to be less and less efficient at maintaining both of +these functions. + +Sometimes a stressed-out pancreas gets overactive and does too good +a job lowering the blood sugar, producing hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia +is generally accompanied by unpleasant symptoms such as fatigue, +dizziness, blurred vision, irritability, confusion, headache, etc. +This condition is typically alleviated by yet another hit of sugar +which builds an addiction not only to sugar, but to food in general. +If the hypoglycemic then keeps on eating sugar to relieve the +symptoms of sugar ingestion, eventually the pancreas becomes +exhausted, producing an insulin deficiency, called diabetes. Medical +doctors treat diabetes with insulin supplements either oral or +intramuscular plus a careful diet with very low and measured amounts +of sugar and starch for the remainder of the persons inevitably +shortened and far less pleasant life. However, sometimes diabetes +can be controlled with diet alone, though medical doctors have not +had nearly as much success with this approach as talented +naturopaths. Sometimes, long fasting can regenerate a pancreas. It +is far better to avoid creating this disease! + +The dietary management of hypoglycemia requires that not only +refined but also unrefined sugars and starches with a high glycemic +index be removed from the diet. (The glycemic index measures the +ease with which the starch is converted into glucose in the body, +and estimates the amount of insulin needed to balance it out.) This +means no sugar, no honey, no white flour, no whole grains sweetened +with honey, no sweet fruits such as watermelons, bananas, raisins, +dates or figs. Potatoes are too readily converted into sugar. +Jerusalem artichokes are a good substitute. + +People with hypoglycemia can often control their symptoms with +frequent small meals containing vegetable protein every two hours. +When a non-sweet fruit is eaten such as an apple, it should be eaten +with some almonds or other nut or seed that slows the absorption of +fruit sugar. Hypoglycemics can improve their condition with vitamins +and food supplements. See the next chapter. + +Allergies to foods and environmental irritants are frequently +triggered by low blood sugar. Mental conditions are also triggered +by low blood sugar levels, frequently contributing to or causing a +cycle of acting out behavior accompanied by destruction of property +and interpersonal violence, as well as psychosis and bouts of +depression. It is not possible to easily deal with the resulting +behavior problems unless the hypoglycemia is controlled. +Unfortunately most institutions such as mental hospitals and jails +serve large amounts of sugar and starch and usually caffeinated +beverages, with a high availability of soda pop, candy, and +cigarettes at concessions. If the diet were drastically improved, +the drugs given to control behavior in mental hospitals would be +much more effective at a lower dose, or unnecessary. + +The insulin-cycle overworked pancreas may eventually not be able to +secrete enough enzymes to allow for the efficient digestion of foods +high in protein. As stated earlier, poor protein digestion leads to +a highly toxic condition from putrefied protein in the intestines. +This condition is alleviated by eliminating animal proteins from the +diet and taking digestive aids such as pancreatin pills with meals +to assist in the digestion of vegetable proteins. + +Food Combining And "Healthfood Junkfood." + +This brings us to a topic I call healthfood junkfood. Many people +improve their diet, eliminating meat and chemicalized food in favor +of whole grains and organically grown foods, but they then proceed +to make these otherwise good foods into virtual junkfood by +preparing them incorrectly. In my travels, I've noticed this same +thing happens everywhere on Earth. What should be health-producing +dietaries are ruined by frying, salting and sugaring. + +Healthfood junkfoods include organically grown potato chips deep +fried in cold pressed organic unsaturated canola oil (made rancid by +frying) sprinkled with natural sea salt; organically grown oat and +nut granola roasted with cold-pressed unsaturated oil (made rancid +by roasting) hideously sweetened with honey; carrot cake made with +rancid whole wheat flour, cold pressed unsaturated oil (made rancid +by baking), honey, and cream cheese (salted); whole wheat cookies +(stale, rancid flour) sweetened with honey, made with vegetable oil +baked at high heat (rancid); whole wheat pizza vegetarian style with +lots of soy cheese; whole wheat pizza vegan style with lots of real +raw milk cheese; organically grown corn chips deep fried in cold +pressed vegetable oil with or without natural sea salt, yogurts made +from powdered milk without an active culture of beneficial bacteria +and covered with highly sugared fruits, etc. These foods may well +represent an improvement over the average American diet, but they +still are not healthy foods, and should never be used in a diet for +a sick person. Nor are they worthy of a person attempting to +maximize health. + +The problem with healthfood junkfoods is not their major +ingredients, but how they were combined and processed and +adulterated. Remember, fats, animal or vegetable, subjected to high +heat become indigestible and toxic and make anything they're cooked +with indigestible; salt is a toxic drug; cheese, hard enough to +digest as it is, when raised to high temperatures as it is when +making pizza, becomes virtually indigestible and cheese inevitably +contains a lot of butterfat which, though saturated animal fat, when +raised to high temperatures, still becomes slightly rancid. And all +these foods represent indigestible combinations. + +My clients almost never believe me when I first explain the idea of +food combining. They think if it goes in one end, comes out the +other, and they don't feel any unpleasant symptoms in between, then +it was digested. But bad food combinations have a cumulative +degenerative effect over a long period of time. When the symptoms +arrive the victim never associates the food combination with the +symptom because it seems to them that they've always been eating the +food. + +Mainstream nutritionists have brainwashed the public into thinking +that we should have a representative serving from each of the "four +basic food groups" at each and every meal, plus a beverage and a +desert. Or, as my husband Steve is fond of quipping, a "balanced +meal" has four colors on every plate: something red, something +green, something white and something yellow. But the balanced meal +is a gastronomic catastrophe that can only be processed by the very +young with high digestive vitality, the exceptionally vital of any +age, people with cast iron stomachs which usually refers to their +good heredity, and those who are very physically active. + +Few seem to realize that each type of food requires specific and +different digestive enzymes in the mouth, stomach, and intestine. +Carbohydrates, fats, proteins--each requires differing acid or +alkaline environments in order to be digested. Proteins require an +acid environment. Starch digestion requires an alkaline environment. +When foods in complex combinations are presented to the stomach all +together, like a meal with meat, potatoes, gravy, vegetables, bread, +butter, a glass of milk, plus a starchy sweet desert, followed by +coffee or tea, the stomach, pancreas, liver and small intestine are +overwhelmed, resulting in the fermentation of the sugars and +starches, and the putrefaction of the proteins, and poor digestion +of the whole. It is little wonder that most people feel so tired +after a large meal and need several cups of strong coffee to be able +to even get up from the table. They have just presented their +digestive tract with an immensely difficult and for some an +impossible task. + +For the most efficient digestion, the body should be presented with +one simple food at a time, the one bowl concept, easily achieved by +adherence to the old saying, "one food at a meal is the ideal." An +example of this approach would be eating fruits for breakfast, a +plain cereal grain for lunch, and vegetables for supper. If you +can't eat quite that simply, then proper food combining rules should +be followed to minimize digestive difficulty, maximize the +adsorption of nutrients from your food, and reduce or eliminate the +formation of toxemia, and of course foul gas. + +In general, fruit should be eaten alone unless you happen to be +hypoglycemic or diabetic in which case fruit should be eaten with +small quantities of a vegetable protein such as nuts, or yogurt +and/or cheese if able to digest dairy. Starches should be eaten with +vegetables, which means that a well combined meal would include a +grain such as rice, millet, buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa, corn, +wheat, rye, oats, spelt, potatoes, or starchy winter squash combined +with raw or cooked vegetables. Protein foods such as meat, eggs, +beans, lentils, tofu, split peas, should be combined with +vegetables, raw or cooked. But protein should never be combined with +starches. The most popular North American snacks and meals always +have a starch/protein combination, for example: meat and potatoes, +hamburger in a bun, hot dog with bun, burrito with meat or cheese, +meat sandwiches, etc. It is little wonder that intestinal gas is +accepted as normal, and that over time these hard to digest +combinations eventually cause health problems that demand attention. + +Another sure fire way to ruin any food, including the very best +available is to eat in the presence of negative emotions generated +by yourself or others. Negative emotions include fear, anger, +frustration, envy, resentment, etc. The digestive tract is +immediately responsive to stress and or negative thoughts. It +becomes paralyzed in negative emotional states; any foods eaten are +poorly digested, causing toxemia. + +It is natural for a person who has lost a loved one or suffered a +great loss of any kind to lose their appetite for a period of time. +This reaction is pro-survival, because while grieving, the body is +griped by powerful negative emotions. There are people who, under +stress or when experiencing a loss, eat ravenously in an attempt to +comfort themselves. If this goes on for long the person can expect +to create a serious illness of some kind. + +Individual sensitivity to this type of overeating is dependent upon +genetics and personality and who is generating the negative +emotions. Self generated negative emotions are very difficult to +avoid. If you are unable to change your own emotional tone or that +of others around you, then it is important to eat very lightly, eat +only easily digested foods such as raw fruits and vegetables, raw +juices, steamed vegetables, and small servings of whole grains, nuts +and seeds. + +Diets To Heal The Critically Ill + +A critically ill person is someone who could expire at any moment; +therapeutic interventions are racing against death. Can the body +repair itself enough before some essential function ceases +altogether? If there already exists too much damage to vital organs +the person will die. If there remains sufficient organ function to +support life, enough vital force to power those functions, and a +will to live, the body may heal itself if helped by the correct +therapeutic approach. But the therapy does not do the healing; the +body does that by itself--if it can. This reality is also true of +allopathic medicine. + +I believe fasting is the therapy that almost invariably gives a +critically ill person their very best chance of recovery. If a +patient dies while fasting they almost certainly would have died +anyway, and if death comes while fasting, it will be more +comfortable, with less pain, and with more mental clarity. + +Critically ill people may have, among other things, any of the +following diagnoses: advanced cancer, advanced aids, heart failure, +very high blood pressure, kidney failure, advanced liver disease, +advanced emphysema, pneumonia or other catastrophic infections, +especially those that seem unresponsive to antibiotics, strokes, +emboli, sclerotic vessels as found in arteriosclerosis, severe nerve +degeneration interfering with nerve transmission to vital organs. + +Treating the critically ill does not have to be an all or nothing, +ideological choice between holistic medicine and AMA style medicine. +It is important for the critically ill and their families to know +that if they use standard medical treatment such as drugs or +surgery, these measures can and should be combined with natural +healing methods. It is always desirable to quit all addicting +substances, start a whole foods diet, (as light as possible), and +add meganutrition (supplements) to the medical doctor's treatments. +Few medical doctors are so arrogantly partisan as to assert that +natural measures will do any harm as long as the MD is still allowed +to prescribe as they please. + +Holistic support will not only lessen the side effects of the +medical treatments but will speed up healing and often reduce the +required dose of prescribed drugs. I have had several clients with +cancer who chose to have surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, but +stayed on a raw food diet and took high doses of supplements +throughout the treatment. These people amazed the attending +physician by feeling good with little if any fatigue, no hair loss, +or flu symptoms. The same can be true of other conditions. + +Food In The Order Of Digestive Difficulty + +Individual digestive weaknesses and allergies are not taken into +account in this list. + +Hard To Digest: Meat, fish, chicken, eggs (if cooked), all legumes +including soy products, peanuts and peanut butter, beans, split +peas, lentils, chick peas, dairy products such as cheese, milk, +butter milk, nuts and seeds and their butters. + +Intermediate: all grains--quinoa, amaranth, millet, spelt, rye, +wheat, oats, barley. + +Fairly Easy: Brussels sprouts, green beans, green peas, broccoli, +cauliflower, raw cultured milk products, asparagus, cabbage, sprouts +especially bean sprouts, kale, other leafy greens. + +Very Easy: fruits, vegetable juices, fruit juices, broth (clear). + +No Effort: herb tea, water. + +Ethyl always comes to my mind when I think of how much healing power +can still be left in a dying body. She (accompanied by her husband +for support) came to Great Oaks School with terminal cancer, heart +failure, advanced diabetes, extreme weakness, and complete inability +to digest. Any food ingested just came back up immediately. Ethyl +had large tumors taking over the breast, sticking out from her +skull, and protruding from her body in general. The largest was the +one in the left breast which was the size of a big man's fist. + +She did have one crucial thing going for her, Ethyl was a feisty +Irish red head who still had a will to live, and a reason to do so. +She and her husband, who had just retired, had dreamed their whole +life of touring the US and Canada in their own RV the minute he +retired. The time had finally arrived but Ethyl was too ill to +support her own weight (only 90 pounds) and to top it off was blind +from diabetic retinopathy. The doctors had done everything they +could to her, and now judged her too weak to withstand any more +surgery (she had already had her right breast removed). Radiation or +chemotherapy were also considered impossible due to heart failure. +They sent Ethyl home to die, giving her a few days to a month at +most. + +Any sensible hygienist trying to stay out of jail would have refused +to take on this type of case because it was a cancer case where +death was likely. Treatment of this highly lucrative disease is +considered the AMA's exclusive franchise, even when the medical +doctors have given up after having done everything to a body the +family can pay for or owe for. Whenever a person dies under the care +of any person who is not a licensed M.D. there must be an autopsy +and a criminal investigation in search of negligence. If the person +dies under the care of an M.D. the sheriff's assumption is that the +doctor most assuredly did everything he could and should have done +and death was inevitable. By accepting Ethyl I had a reasonable +likelihood of ending up in trouble; but being foolish, brave and +(stupidly) feeling relatively immune to such consequences (I was +under 40 at the time), it seemed important to try to help her. So, +undaunted by the task, regardless of the outcome, I proceeded +logically, one step at a time. Today, with more experience and a +modest net worth I wouldn't want to have to defend in a lawsuit, and +at age 55. possessing no spare five to ten years to give to the +State to "pay" for my bravery, I would probably refuse such a case. +Fortunately I have not been confronted with this problem lately. + +Since Ethyl was unable to digest anything given by mouth, she was +fed rectally with wheat grass juice implants three times a day. She +was carried to the colonic table for a daily colonic. Wheat grass +and clay poultices were applied to her tumors three times a day. She +received an acupressure massage and reflexology treatments during +the day, plus a lot of tender loving care. This program continued +for a month during which the tumors were being reabsorbed by the +body, including the large, extremely hard tumor sticking out the +flesh of the right breast. + +Ethyl complained of severe pain as the large tumor in her breast +shrank. While it had been getting larger and pressing ever harder on +all the nerves, she had little or no sensation, but as it shrank, +the nerves were reactivated. Most people think that a growing tumor +would cause more pain than a shrinking one. Often the opposite is +true. Pain can be a good sign that the body is winning, an indicator +to proceed. + +By the second month, Ethyl, gradually gaining strength, was able to +take wheat grass and carrot juice orally, and gradually eased into +raw foods, mostly sprouts and leafy greens such as sunflower and +buckwheat greens grown in trays. She started to walk with assistance +up and down the halls, no longer experiencing the intense pain +formerly caused by a failing heart, and most surprising of all, her +eyesight returned, at first seeing only outlines, and then details. + +The third month Ethyl enlarged her food intake to include raw foods +as well as the carrot and wheat grass juice and sprouts, plus +vitamin and mineral supplements to help support her immune system +and the healing process. All the tumors had been reabsorbed by her +body and were no longer visible, her heart was able to support +normal activity such as walking, and nonstrenuous household chores, +and her diabetes had corrected itself to the point that she no +longer required insulin and was able to control her blood sugar with +diet. + +Her husband was then instructed in her maintenance and they went +home to continue the program. The last I heard from them they had +made two lengthy trips around the US in their RV and were enjoying +their retirement together after all. + +My treatment worked because the most important factor in the healing +of the critically ill person is not give them more nourishment than +their body is able to process. The moment the digestive capacity of +the sick person is exceeded, the condition will be exacerbated and +in a critically illness, the person is likely to die. If the body +still has sufficient organ integrity and vital force to heal itself, +it will do so only if given the least possible nourishment that will +support life--provided no essential organs are hopelessly damaged. If +the liver and kidneys are functional, and the person has done some +previous dietary improvement and/or cleansing, success is likely, +especially if the person wants to live. + +A person in critical condition does not have time to ease into +fasting by first spending a month or two on a raw foods diet. This +means that the person who is taking care of the critically ill +person must be experienced enough to adjust the intensity of the +body's healing efforts and accurately assess the ability of the +person to process toxic waste products clamoring for removal so the +ailing body is not drowned in it's own poisons. It is often +necessary to use clear vegetable broth, vegetable and wheat grass +juices, and fruits juices, or whole sprouts to slow down the +cleansing gradient and sometimes, to resupply the tissue's exhausted +nutritional reserves. + +I wish all cases of critical illness had such a positive outcome as +Ethyl's, but unfortunately they don't. I had Marge on the same +program at the same time. She also had cancerous tumors all over her +body and had similarly been sent home to die. In some ways Marge's +body was a more likely candidate for survival than Ethyl's. Marge +did not have heart failure or diabetes and was still able on arrival +to at least take small amount of water orally and walk to the +bathroom. Put on a similar program, her tumors also shrunk and were +reabsorbed and she too went home. + +But Marge did not really have a strong reason to live. Although her +husband was by her side throughout the treatment program, Marge was +deeply upset because she was estranged from one of her sons who she +had not seen for over 10 years. When she went home from Great Oaks, +the son finally consented to see his mother, went to the effort of +trying to work things out with her, and finally confessed that under +it all he still loved her. + +At that point Marge died in peace. She had accomplished the last +thing she wanted to take care of and her will to live did not extend +beyond that point. Had she died several months earlier as predicted +by the medical profession, Marge would have been unable to resolve +this relationship. This was what Marge's life was pivoting on at the +end. I was glad to assist her in doing what she needed to do. Her +husband and other family members found it difficult to understand, +and they were hurt that Marge did not wish to continue her life with +them. + +Diet For The Chronically Ill. + +The chronically ill person has a long-term degenerative condition +that is not immediately life threatening. This condition usually +causes more-or-less continuous symptoms that are painful, perhaps +unsightly, and ultimately will be disabling or eventually capable of +causing death. To qualify as "chronic" the symptoms must have been +present a minimum of six months, with no relief in sight. People +with these conditions have usually sought medical assistance, +frequently have had surgery, and have taken and probably are taking +numerous prescription drugs. + +Some examples of chronic conditions are: arthritis, rheumatism, +diabetes, early onset of cancer and aids, asthma, colitis, +diverticulitis, irritable bowel syndrome, some mental disorders, +arterial deposit diseases, most of the itises (inflammations). + +Before fasting, the chronically ill often do have time to prepare +the way with limited dietary reform, and frequently begin to feel +relief quite quickly. Before actually fasting they should limit +their diet to raw foods and eliminate all toxic foods like alcohol, +coffee, tea, salt, sugar and recreational drugs for two months if +they have been following a typical American diet. + +If the chronically ill had been following a vegetarian diet, perhaps +a diet including with eggs and dairy, if they had been using no +addicting substances, then one month on raw foods is sufficient +preparation for fasting. If the person had water or juice fasted for +at least a week or two within the last two years, and followed a +healthy diet since that time, one or two weeks on raw foods should +be a sufficient runway. + +During preparation for a fast, I never recommend that a chronically +ill person quit taking prescription medicines because doing so can +seriously disrupt their homeostasis. However, if their symptoms +lessen or vanish during the pre-fasting clean up, the person might +try tapering off medications. + +The length and type of fast chosen to resolve a chronic illness +depends largely on available time, finances, availability of support +people, work responsibilities, and mental toughness. If you are one +of those fortunate people 'rich' enough to give their health first +priority, long water fasting is ideal. If on the other hand you +can't afford to stop working, have no one to take care of you and +assist with some household chores, and/or you are not mentally tough +enough to deal with self-denial, compromise is necessary. + +Ideally the chronically ill person would fast for an extended period +under supervision until their symptoms were gone or greatly +improved, with a fall-back plan to repeat the whole process again in +three to six months if necessary. If you are not able to do that, +the next best program is to fast for a short period, like one or two +weeks, with a plan to repeat the process as often as possible until +you are healed. + +I have had clients with potentially life-threatening conditions such +as obesity with incipient heart failure, or who came to me with +cancer, that were unable to stop work for financial reasons, or who +could not afford a residential fasting program, or who felt +confident in their own ability to deal with detoxification in their +own home. These people have fasted successfully at home, coming to +see me once a week. Almost inevitably, successful at-home fasters +had already done a lot of research on self healing, believed in it, +and had the personal discipline to carry it out properly, including +breaking the fast properly without overeating. + +Foods To Heal Chronic Illness + +Sprouts Baby Greens Salad Juices Fruit +alfalfa sunflower lettuce beet grapefruit +radish buckwheat celery celery lemon +bean zucchini zucchini lime lime +clover kale kale orange orange +fenugreek endive radish parsley apple +wheat tomato tomato raspberries +cabbage cabbage cabbage blueberries + carrot carrot grapes + spinach apple peaches + parsley grapefruit apricots + sweet pepper lemon strawberry + +Fruits should be watery and lower in sugar. Some examples of poor +fruit choices would be pineapple, ripe mango, bananas, dates, +raisins, figs. Fruits should not be combined with vegetables. + +Vegetables should not be starchy, packed-full of energy. Poor +vegetable choices would be potato, parsnip, turnip, corn, sweet +potato, yam, beet, winter squash. Sprouts and baby greens are +vegetables and may be included in salads. + +Juices should not be extremely sweet. Apple, orange, beet and carrot +juice should be diluted with 50% water. Fruit juices should not be +mixed with vegetable juices or with vegetables at the same meal. + +Salads should include no fruit. Salad dressings should be lemon or +lime juice, very small quantities of olive oil, and herbs. No salt, +soy sauce nor black pepper. Cayenne can be okay for some. + +I have also helped chronically ill people that were not mentally +prepared to water fast, but were able to face the long-term +self-control and deprivation of a raw food cleansing diet that +included careful food combining. These people also regained their +health, but it took them a year at minimum, and once well they had +to remain on a diet tailor-made to their digestive capacity for the +rest of their life, usually along with food supplements. + +Jim was such a case. He was 55 years old, very obese, had +dangerously high blood pressure poorly controlled with medication, +and was going into congestive heart failure. He was on digitalis and +several other heart medications plus diuretics, but in no way was +his condition under control. He had severe edema in the feet and +legs with pitting, and fluid retention in the abdominal region +caused a huge paunch that was solid to the touch not soft and +squishy like fatty tissue. + +Jim had dreamed of having his own homestead with an Organic garden, +now he had these things but was too sick to enjoy them or work in +his garden without severe heart pain and shortness of breath. Jim +had retired early in order to enjoy many years without the stresses +of work, and he was alarmed to realize that he was unlikely to +survive a year. + +The day Jim came to see me the first time I would have classified +his condition as critically ill because his life was in immediate +danger; but he responded so quickly to his detox program that he was +very soon out of danger and would be more accurately described as a +chronically ill person. Jim was not prepared to water fast. He was +attached to having his food and he was aware that at his extreme +weight he was going to have stay on a dietary program for a long, +long time. He also wanted to choose a gradient that he could manage +by himself at home with little assistance from his wife. He had been +on a typical American diet with meat, coffee, etc., so that in spite +of his dangerous condition it did not seem wise to me to add the +heavy eliminatory burden of a water fast to a body that was already +overwhelmed with fluids and waste products. + +Jim immediately went on a raw food cleansing diet, with no +concentrated foods like nuts, seeds, or avocados, and with one day +each week fasting on vegetable juice and broth. He did enemas daily +even though it wasn't his favorite thing. In one month he had lost +30 pounds, his eyes had started to sparkle, and his complexion was +rosy. The swelling had disappeared from his feet and legs, and he +had to buy new pants. + +Starting the second month he gradually withdrew from prescription +medications. From the beginning I had put Jim on a program of +nutritional supplements including protomorphogens (see chapter on +vitamins and food supplements) to help the body repair it's heart +and the kidneys. In only four months he had returned his body to +glowing health, and looked great for his age, though he was still +overweight. At the end of one year he had returned to a normal +weight for his height, and only cheated on the diet a couple of +times when attending a social event, and then it was only a baked +potato with no dressing. + +He was probably going to have many qualitative years working his +garden and living out his dreams. The local intensive care ward lost +a lot of money when they failed to get Jim. + +Diet For The Acutely Ill + +The acutely ill person experiences occasional attacks of distressing +symptoms, usually after indiscretions in living or emotional upsets. +They have a cold, or a flu, or sinusitis, or a first bout of +pneumonia, or a spring allergy attack. The intense symptoms knock +them flat and force them to bed for a few days or a week. If they +are sick more often than that, they are moving toward the +chronically ill category. + +People who are acutely ill should stop eating to whatever extent +that they are able until the symptoms are gone. During an acute +illness, the appetites is probably pretty dull anyway, so why not +give a brief fast on water or fruit juice a try. + +Most acute conditions are short in duration, usually not lasting +more than a week. Allergy attacks, some types of flu, and a first +bout of pneumonia may well last for three weeks or a month. The +general rule is to eat as little as possible until the symptoms have +passed, self-administer colon cleansing, even if you have a horror +of such things, and take vitamin supplements, including megadoses of +Vitamin C, bioflavinoids, and zinc. (See the chapter on vitamins.) +Those having a little experience with natural medicine make teas of +echinacea, fenugreek seeds and red clover and quit eating. Eating as +little as possible can mean only water and herb teas, only vegetable +broth, only vegetable juice or non-sweet fruit juice, even only +cleansing raw foods. If you eat more than this you have not relieved +your system of enough digestive effort. + +After your symptoms are gone it is very important to change your +life-style and improve your diet so that you aren't so toxic and +don't have to experience an acute illness several times a year when +your body is forced to try an energetic detox. + +Diet For A Healthy Person + +I doubt that it is possible to be totally healthy in the twentieth +century. Doctors Alsleben and Shute in their book How to Survive the +New Health Catastrophes state that in-depth laboratory testing of +the population at large demonstrated four universally present +pathological conditions: heavy metal poisoning, arteriosclerosis, +sub-clinical infections, and vitamin/mineral deficiencies. Those of +us who consider ourselves healthy, including young people, are not +really healthy, and at the very least would benefit from nutritional +supplementation. In fact the odds against most people receiving +adequate vitamin and mineral nutrition without supplements are very +poor as demonstrated by the following chart. + +Problem Nutrients in America + +Nutrient Percent Receiving Less than the RDA +B-6 80% +Magnesium 75 +Calcium 68 +Iron 57 +Vitamin A 50 +B-1 45 +C 41 +B-2 36 +B-12 36 +B-3 33 + +A genuinely healthy person almost never becomes acutely ill, and +does not have any disturbing or distracting symptoms; nothing +interferes with or handicaps their daily life or work. A healthy +person has good energy most of the time, a positive state of mind, +restful sleep, good digestion and elimination. + +Healthy people do not have to live simon-pure lives to remain that +way. Healthy people can afford 10% dietary indiscretions by calorie +count--eating or drinking those things that they know are not good +for them but that are fun to eat or are "recreational foods or +beverages." Such "sinning" could mean a restaurant bash twice a +month, having a pizza, French bread, beer or wine in moderation, ice +cream, cookies, cake, turkey for festive occasions, etc. The key +concept of responsible sinning is keeping within that ten percent +limit. + +A diet for a healthy person that wants to remain healthy should not +exceed the digestive capacity of the individual, either in terms of +quantity or quality. All foods that can not be efficiently digested +should be removed from the regular diet and relegated to the "sin" +category, including those you are allergic to and those for which +you have inadequate digestive enzymes. I have encountered very few +people that can efficiently digest cooked meat, chicken, or fish, +but some can, and some can with the assistance of digestive enzyme +supplements. In order to digest meats, the stomach must be +sufficiently acid, there must be enough pepsin, pancreatin, and +bile, etc., and the meat should be eaten on the extremely rare side +(not pork), in small quantities (not more than five or six ounces), +and not combined with anything except nonstarchy vegetables. If you +must include meat in your dietary, it should represent a very small +percentage of your total caloric intake, be eaten infrequently, with +the bulk of the calories coming from complex carbohydrates such +grains, legumes and nuts, as well as large quantities of vegetables +and fruits. + +The healthy person that wants to stay that way for many, years is +advised to fast one day a week, to give the organs of elimination a +chance to catch up on their internal housecleaning. If water fasting +seems impossible, try a day of juicing it; if that is too rigorous, +try a day on raw foods. A similar technique, though less beneficial +than even a one day each week on raw foods, is delaying breaking +your overnight fast for as long as possible each day. Try giving up +breakfast altogether or postponing breaking your overnight fast, +because from the time you stop eating at the end of one day to the +time you start eating the next is actually a brief, detoxifying +fast. + +Eggs, milk, cheese and yogurt can be assimilated by some healthy +people with or without digestive aids. It is possible to take +lactase to break down the milk sugars for example; sometimes aids +such as hydrochloric acid, pepsin, and pancreatin help. If you can +buy it or are willing to make it raw milk yogurt containing +lactobacillus bulgaris or acidophilus may be digested more readily, +especially if it prepared from healthy cows or goats fed on +unsprayed food, and served very fresh. Eggs should come from +chickens that run around outside, eating weeds, and scratching bugs. +The yokes of those eggs will be intense orange, not yellow. Few +people these days have ever eaten a real egg. Surprisingly, for +those of you who fear cholesterol, the healthy way to eat eggs is +use just the raw yolk from fertile eggs. It is enjoyed by many +people in a smoothie--fresh fruit blended up with water or milk. Eggs +contain lecithin, a nutrient that naturally prevents the body from +forming harmful fatty deposits in the arteries. + +Sea weeds are a wonderful source of minerals and should be eaten in +soups and salads. Other invaluable fortifying foods are algae of all +kinds (such as chlorella and spirulina), lecithin, brewers yeast, +and fresh bakers yeast. Many people have had very unpleasant +experiences trying to eat living bakers yeast and so use brewers +yeast instead. But brewers yeast is cooked and the proteins it +contains are not nearly as assimilable as those in raw yeast. Raw +yeast is so powerful, it feels like pep pills! + +It takes a special technique to eat raw yeast because in the stomach +and intestines the yeast does the job it is supposed to do: convert +sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide gas. The entire digestive +tract then bloats with gas and the person will feel very +uncomfortable for some time. However, raw yeast is a marvelous +source of B vitamins and proteins and can make someone feel very +energetic--if they know how to use it. The secret is to eat live +yeast very first thing in the morning on an empty stomach and then, +not eat anything at all for about two hours, giving the stomach +acids and enzymes time to kill the yeasts and digest them before +adding sugars from another meal. Some like to eat yeast in fresh +cake form, buying it from a bakery. Others prefer dry granular +baker's yeast blended with water into a sort of "shake." This is not +a bad place to put your raw egg yoke either. If you need it +sweetened to drink it, use an artificial or herbal sweetener like +nutrisweet or stevia. Live yeast cannot consume milk sugars very +well. So if you can handle dairy, try one or two tablespoons of +granulated live yeast, an egg yoke and a little raw milk or yogurt, +well whizzed. + +Wheat germ is also a great, rich food, but is usually rancid unless +it is taken out of the refrigerated display; unless it is +refrigerated, in a dated package and fresh, don't eat it. Herb teas +and roasted grain beverages are healthy beverages, along with +mineral and distilled water avoiding where possible chlorinated and +fluoridated water. + +Diet Is Not Enough + +Those isolated, long-lived peoples discovered by Weston A. Price had +to do hard physical labor to eat, had to walk briskly up and down +steep terrain to get anywhere. But today, few North Americans output +very much physical energy in process of daily life or work. Not only +cars, but all of our modern conveniences make it possible to live +without ever breaking into a sweat. We pay for this ease; it costs +us a significant degree of health. + +Exercise has many benefits when combined with excellent nutrition. +It creates an overall feeling of well-being that can not be created +by diet alone. Exercising temporarily makes the heart beat faster, +increasing blood circulation throughout the body right out to the +tips of your fingers and toes. This short-term elevated flow of +blood flow brings increased supplies of oxygen and nutrients to all +parts of the body, facilitating healing and repair. Without revving +up your engine every day many of the body's systems never get the +sludge burned out of them and never perform optimally. + +Exercise also changes the metabolic rate so your body burns more +calories--not only while you are exercising, but also for a 24 hour +period following exercise. This maintains a healthful body weight +into old age, or helps to lose weight. Most people find that +exercise in moderation does not increase appetite, so that it is +possible to consistently burn more calories in a day, and gradually +reduce weight if that is desirable. It is necessary to burn 3,500 +calories to lose a pound of weight. Most forms of exercise allow you +to burn 300 to 600 calories per hour at a moderate pace which would +be achieved by doubling the resting pulse. Without even considering +the weight-loss benefit of achieving a raised metabolism, an hour of +daily exercise continued for a week or two dependent upon the type +of exercise and pace should lead to one pound of weight loss if the +caloric intake is held constant. + +The flip side of having a higher metabolism is rarely appreciated +but is extremely important. Recall the basic equation of health: +Health = Nutrition / Calories. Exercise permits a person to eat +somewhat more while not gaining weight. If the food is nutrient +rich, the body has a chance to extract more vitamins, more minerals, +more amino acids. The person who remains slender by rigidly reducing +their food intake to near starvation levels may lack vital, +health-building nutrition. + +And only exercise moves lymphatic fluid. The blood is pumped through +the body by the heart, but the lymphatic system, lacking a heart, +requires muscular contractions to move from the extremities of the +body to the central cavity. The lymphatic system picks up cellular +waste products and conducts these toxins to disposal. Frequently, +people with rheumatic aches and pains or other generalized muscular +discomforts physicians like to give Latin diagnostic names to can +give up taking pain pills if they will but begin exercising +regularly. Only when they begin moving their lymph can they begin to +detoxify properly. + +There is another benefit from exercise which is not to be ignored, +and that is that it gives the person a chemical sense of well being. +It actually will help to emotionally boost up people who are +chronically depressed and make them smile. After a good workout, +especially one done outside, everything seems brighter, more +positive; whatever was bothering you somehow just doesn't seem like +that big of a deal now. I am not making pro-exercise propaganda. +This is not a figment of the imagination. An exercising body really +does make antidepressant neurochemicals called endorphins, but only +after about 45 minutes to an hour of aerobic workout. + +Endorphins are powerful, with painkilling and euphoric effects equal +to or greater than heroin, but without any undesirable side effects. +If chemists could learn to cheaply synthesize endorphins I'm sure +that millions of people would want to become addicted to them. +Because I make such a point of getting in my workout every day, my +husband has accused me of being an endorphin junkie, and he is +right! I admit it, I'm really hooked on the feeling of well being I +consistently get from any sustained exercise. I defend my addiction +staunchly because it is the healthiest addiction I know of. + +I have also been accused of carrying exercise to extremes, and I +admit to that also. For a few years I trained for Ironman +triathlons. I now think doing ironman distances is immoderate and +except for a few remarkable individuals with "iron" constitutions, +training that hard can only lead to a form of exhaustion that is not +health promoting. I have become much more sensible in my "old" age, +and in recent years have limited my participation to the Olympic +distance triathlons. I was on the Canadian team at the World +Championship in 1992, and intend to do it again in 1995. I do not +find the Olympic distance exhausting, in fact I think it is great +fun and truly exhilarating. I get to see all these wonderful age +group competitors from all over the world who look and feel +fantastic. It does my soul good to see a group of people aging so +gracefully, not buying into the popular notion that old age is +inevitably disabling, depressing, and ugly. Sport brings a degree of +balance to my life after spending so much time in the presence of +the sick. I plan to maintain my athletic activities into old age, +barring accident or other unforeseen obstacles to fitness. + +To maintain basic fitness it does not matter so much what form of +exercise is chosen, as long as it is not damaging to the skeletal +system or connective tissues. Many people are unable to run due to +foot, knee, hip, or back problems, but almost everyone can walk. +Walking outside is better than inside on a treadmill, and walking +hills is better than walking on flat ground. Exercise machines such +as stationary bikes, cross country ski machines, and stair steppers +work well for a lot of people who live in the city, especially in +the winter, or for those who hate exercise. Whatever you choose to +do, it is important to at least double the resting pulse for 30 +minutes no less than four days a week. This is the absolute minimum +required to maintain the health and function of the +cardiovascular-pulmonary system. If your resting pulse is 70, you +must walk, jog, ski, bike, swim or what have you, fast enough to +keep the pulse at 140 beats per minute for at least 30 minutes. + +I have a strong preference to exercising outside in isolated places +where there is only me and the forest, or only me and the river. +Running along logging roads in the hilly back country, or swimming +in the green unpolluted water of a forest river is a spiritual +experience for me. It is a time to meditate, to commune with nature, +and to clear my mind and create new solutions. The repetitive action +of running or walking or swimming, along with the regular deep +breathing in clean air, with no distractions except what nature +provides is truly health promoting. Sharing these activities with +friends or family can also be great fun and some of the best in +social interactions. It is one of my favorite ways of visiting with +people. I don't expect other people to be as enthusiastic about +exercise as I am, but I do hope that everyone will make an effort to +be minimally fit as an ongoing part of their health program into old +age. + +Diet For A Long, Long Life + +Some people not only want to be healthy, but they want to live in +good health long past the normal life span projected by statistical +tables for Homo Sapiens. Dr. Roy Walford, a well-respected medical +research gerontologist who has been actively studying longevity for +many years, is one of those. He has scientifically demonstrated with +accepted studies that a qualitative life span up to at least 115 +years of age is reasonably attainable by the average person if they +start working on it no later than about 50 years of age, though +earlier is much better. + +Walford's principles of extending life are very simple. All you have +to do is restrict your caloric intake to about 1,500 per day, and +water fast two days a week. Or alternatively, reduce your caloric +intake to 1,200 per day and fast only one day a week on water. And +make sure that every single bit of food you do eat is packed with +nutrition, every single calorie, without exception. You continue +this program for the rest of your life along with moderate daily +exercise and high but reasonable dosages of vitamins, minerals, and +also take a few exotic food supplements. The supplement program is +not particularly expensive nor extreme, Walford's supplement program +is more moderate than the life extension program I recommend for all +middle-aged and older people. The best foods for this type of +program is a largely raw food diet (80%) with a predominance of +sprouts and baby greens, some cooked vegetables, and raw nuts and +seeds. And make sure you get 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise +every other day. + +While Dr. Walford's focus is on caloric reduction while maintaining +sufficient nutrition, most other life extensionists focus on +increasing the nutrition side of the equation for health without +bothering to reduce caloric intake. This approach is much easier +because essentially, it involves gobbling nutritional supplements by +the handfuls without requiring self-discipline, though it can get +quite expensive. I'll have more to say about this approach in the +next chapter, which is about vitamins. + +In this book I can't explain all the aspects of prolongation of life +through conscious life-style choice. Those who are interested are +referred to the Bibliography. + + + + + + +Chapter Six + +Vitamins and Other Food Supplements + + + + + +From The Hygienic Dictionary + +Vitamins. [1] The staple foods may not contain the same nutritive +substances as in former times. . . . Chemical fertilizers, by +increasing the abundance of the crops without replacing all the +exhausted elements of the soil, may have indirectly contributed to +change the nutritive value of cereal grains and of vegetables. . . . +Hygienists have not paid sufficient attention to the genesis of +diseases. Their studies of conditions of life and diet, and of their +effects on the physiological and mental state of modern man are +superficial, incomplete, and of too short duration. They have, thus, +contributed to the weakening of our body and our soul. _Alexis +Carrel, Man the Unknown._ + +I have already explained the hygienist's view of why people get +sick. The sequence of causation goes: enervation, toxemia, +alternative elimination, disease. However, there is one more link in +this chain, a precursor to enervation that, for good and +understandable reasons, seemed unknown to the earlier hygienists. +That precursor is long term sub-clinical malnutrition. Lack of +nutrition effects virtually everybody today. Almost all of us are +overfed but undernourished. + +I have already explained that one particular head of broccoli does +not necessarily equal another head of broccoli; the nutritional +composition of apparently identical foods can be highly variable. +Not only do different samples of the same type of food differ wildly +in protein content, amino acid ratios and mineral content, their +vitamin and vitamin-like substances also vary according to soil +fertility and the variety grown. + +These days, food crop varieties are bred for yield and other +commercial considerations, such as shipability, storage life, and +ease of processing. In pre-industrial times when each family +propagated its own unique open-pollinated varieties, a natural +selection process for healthy outcomes prevailed. If the family's +particular, unique varieties carried genes for highly nutritious +food, and if the family's land was fertile enough to allow those +genes to manifest, and if the family kept up its land's fertility by +wise management, their children tended to survive the gauntlet of +childhood illness and lived to propagate the family's varieties and +continue the family name. Thus, over time, human food cultivars were +selected for their nutritional content. + +But not any longer! These days, farming technology with its focus on +bulk yield and profit, degrades the nutritional content of our +entire food supply. Even commercial organically grown food is no +better in this respect. + +Sub-clinical, life-long, vitamin and mineral deficiencies contribute +to the onset of disease; the malnourished body becomes increasingly +enervated, beginning the process of disease. Vitamin supplements can +increase the body's vital force, reversing to a degree the natural +tendency towards degeneration. In fact, some medical gerontologists +theorize that by using vitamins it might be possible to restore +human life span to its genetically programmed 115 years without +doing anything else about increasing nutrition from our degraded +foods or paying much attention to dietary indiscretions. Knowing +what I do about toxemia's effects I doubt vitamins can allow us to +totally ignore what we eat, though supplements can certainly help. + +More than degraded nutritional content of food prompts a thinking +person to use food supplements. Our bodies and spirits are +constantly assaulted and insulted by modern life in ways our +genetics never intended us to deal with. Today the entire +environment is mildly toxic. Air is polluted; water is polluted; our +food supply contains traces of highly poisonous artificial molecules +that our bodies have no natural ability to process and eliminate. +Our cities and work places are full of loud, shocking noises that +trigger frequent adrenaline rushes and other stress adaptations. Our +work places are full of psychological stresses that humans never had +to deal with before. + +Historically, humans who were not enslaved have been in control of +determining their own hour to hour, day to day activities, living on +their own largely self-sufficient farms. The idea of working for +another, at regular hours, without personal liberty, ignoring or +suppressing one's own agenda and inclinations over an entire +lifetime is quite new and not at all healthy. It takes continual +subconscious applications of mental and psychic energies to protect +ourselves against the stresses of modern life, energies that we +don't know we're expending. This is also highly enervating. Thus to +remain healthy we may need nutrition at levels far higher than might +be possible through eating food; even ideal food might not contain +enough vitamins to sustain us against the strains and stresses of +this century. + +And think about Dr. Pottenger's cats. Our bodies are at the poorer +end of a century-long process of mass degeneration that started with +white flour from the roller mill. Compared to my older clients I +have noticed that my younger patients seem to possess less vital +force on the average, show evidence of poorer skeletal development, +have poorer teeth, less energy, have far more difficulty breeding +and coping with their family life, and are far more likely to +develop degenerative conditions early. Most of my younger patients +had a poor start because they were raised on highly refined, +devitalized, deficient foods, and grew up without much exercise. +Their parents had somewhat better food. Some of their grandparents +may have even grown up on raw milk and a vegetable garden, and +actually had to walk, not owning cars when they were young. Their +great grandparents had a high likelihood of enjoying decent +nutrition and a healthful life-style. + +Unfortunately, most of my patients like the idea of taking vitamins +too much for their own good. The AMA medical model has conditioned +people to swallow something for every little discomfort, and taking +a pill is also by far the easiest thing to do because a pill +requires no life-style changes, nor self-discipline, nor personal +responsibility. But vitamins are much more frugal than drugs. +Compared to prescriptions, even the most exotic life extension +supplements are much less expensive. I am saddened when my clients +tell me they can't afford supplements. When their MD prescribes a +medicine that costs many times more they never have trouble finding +the money. + +I am also saddened that people are so willing to take supplements, +because I can usually do a lot more to genuinely help their bodies +heal with dietary modification and detoxification. Of all the tools +at my disposal that help people heal, last in the race comes +supplements. + +One of the best aspects of using vitamins as though they were +healing agents is that food supplements almost never have harmful +side effects, even when they are taken in what might seem enormous +overdoses. If someone with a health condition reads or hears about +some vitamin being curative, goes out and buys some and takes it, +they will at very least have followed the basic principle of good +medicine: first of all do no harm. At worst, if the supplements did +nothing for them at all, they are practicing the same kind of +benevolent medicine that Dr. Jennings did almost two centuries ago. +Not only that, but having done something to treat their symptoms, +they have become patients facilitating their own patience, giving +their body a chance to correct its problem. They well may get +better, but not because of the action of the particular vitamin they +took. Or, luckily, the vitamin or vitamins they take may have been +just what was needed, raising their body's vital force and +accelerating the body's ability to solve its problem. + +One reason vitamin therapies frequently do not work as well as they +might is that, having been intimidated by AMA propaganda that has +created largely false fears in the public mind about harmful effects +of vitamin overdoses, the person may not take enough of the right +vitamin. The minimum daily requirements of vitamins and minerals as +outlined in nutrition texts are only sufficient to prevent the most +obvious forms of deficiency diseases. If a person takes supplements +at or near the minimum daily requirement (the dose recommended by +the FDA as being 'generally recognized as safe') they should not +expect to see any therapeutic effect unless they have scurvy, beri +beri, rickets, goiter, or pellagra. + +In these days of vitamin-fortified bread and iodized salt, and even +vitamin C fortified soft drinks, you almost never see the kind of +life-threatening deficiency states people first learned to +recognize, such as scurvy. Sailors on long sea voyages used to +develop a debilitating form of vitamin C deficiency that could kill. +Scurvy could be quickly cured by as little as one lime a day. For +this reason the British Government legislated the carrying of limes +on long voyages and today that is why British sailors are still +called limeys. A lime has less than 30 milligrams of vitamin C. But +to make a cold clear up faster with vitamin C a mere 30 mg does +absolutely nothing! To begin to dent an infection with vitamin C +takes 10,000 milligrams a day, and to make a life threatening +infection like pneumonia go away faster might require 25,000 to +150,000 milligrams of vitamin C daily, administered intravenously. +In terms of supplying that much C with limes, that's 300 to 750 of +them daily--clearly impossible. + +Similarly, pellagra can be cured with a few milligrams of vitamin +B3, but schizophrenia can sometimes be cured with 3,000 milligrams, +roughly a thousand times as much as the MDR. + +There are many many common diseases that the medical profession does +not see as being caused by vitamin deficiencies. Senility and many +mental disorders fall in this category. Many old people live on +extremely deficient diets comprised largely of devitalized starches, +sugars, and fats, partly because many do not have good enough teeth +to chew vegetables and other high roughage foods, and they do not +have the energy it takes to prepare more nourishing foods. Virtually +all old people have deficiency diseases. As vital force inevitably +declines with age, the quantity and quality of digestive enzymes +decreases, then the ability to breakdown and extract soluble +nutrients from food is diminished, frequently leading to serious +deficiencies. These deficiencies are inevitably misdiagnosed as +disease and as aging. + +Suppose a body needs 30 milligrams a day of niacin to not develop +pellagra, but to be fully healthy, needs 500 milligrams daily. If +that body receives 50 milligrams per day from a vitamin pill, to the +medical doctor it could not possibly be deficient in this vitamin. +However, over time, the insidious sub-clinical deficiency may +degrade some other system and produce a different disease, such as +colitis. But the medical doctor sees no relationship. Let me give +you an actual example. Medical researchers studying vitamin B5 or +pantothenic acid noticed that it could, in what seemed to be +megadoses (compared to the minimum daily requirement) largely +reverse certain degenerative effects of aging. These researchers +were measuring endurance in rats as it decreased through the aging +process. How they made this measurement may appear to some readers +to be heartless, but the best way to gauge the endurance of a rat is +to toss it into a five gallon bucket of cold water and see how long +it swims before it drowns. Under these conditions, the researcher +can be absolutely confident that the rat does its very best to stay +alive. + +Young healthy rats can swim for 45 minutes in 50 degree Fahrenheit +water before drowning. Old rats can only last about 15 minutes. And +old rats swim differently, less efficiently, with their lower bodies +more or less vertical, sort of dog paddling. But when old rats were +fed pantothenic acid at a very high dose for a few weeks before the +test, they swam 45 minutes too. And swam more efficiently, like the +young rats did. More interestingly, their coats changed color (the +gray went away) and improved in texture; they began to appear like +young rats. And the rats on megadoses of B5 lived lot longer--25 to +33 percent longer than rats not on large doses of B5. Does that mean +"megadoses" of B5 have an unknown drug-like effect? Or does that +mean the real nutritional requirement for B5 is a lot higher than +most people think? I believe the second choice is correct. To give +you an idea of how much B5 the old rats were given in human terms, +the FDA says the minimum daily requirement for B5 is about 10 +milligrams but if humans took as much B5 as the rats, they would +take about 750 milligrams per day. Incidentally, I figure I am as +worthy as any lab rat and take over 500 milligrams daily. + +My point is that there is a big difference between preventing a +gross vitamin deficiency disease, and using vitamins to create +optimum functioning. Any sick person or anyone with a health +complaint needs to improve their overall functioning in any way that +won't be harmful over the long term. Vitamin therapy can be an +amazingly effective adjunct to dietary reform and detoxification. + +Some of the earlier natural hygienists were opposed to using +vitamins. However, these doctors lived in an era when the food +supply was better, when mass human degeneration had not proceeded as +far as it has today. From their perspective, it was possible to +obtain all the nutrition one needed from food. In our time this is +unlikely unless a person knowingly and intelligently produces +virtually all their own food on a highly fertile soil body whose +fertility is maintained and adjusted with a conscious intent to +maximize the nutritive content of the food. Unfortunately, ignorance +of the degraded nature of industrial food seems to extend to +otherwise admirable natural healing methods such as Macrobiotics and +homeopathy because these disciplines also downplay any need for food +supplementation. + +Vitamins For Young Persons And Children + +Young healthy people from weaning through their thirties should also +take nutritional supplements even though young people usually feel +so good that they find it impossible to conceive that anything could +harm them or that they ever could become seriously sick or actually +die. I know this is true because I remember my own youth and +besides, why else would young people so glibly ride motorcycles or, +after only a few months of brainwashing, charge up a hill into the +barrel of a machine gun. Or have unsafe sex in this age of multiple +venereal diseases. Until they get a little sense, vitamin +supplements help to counteract their inevitable and unpreventable +use of recreational foods. Vitamins are the cheapest long life and +health insurance plan now available. Parents are generally very +surprised at the thought that even their children need nutritional +supplements; very few healthy children receive them. A few are given +extra vitamin C when acutely ill, when they have colds or +communicable diseases such as chicken pox. + +Young people require a low dose supplement compared to those of us +middle-aged or older, but it should be a broad formula with the full +range of vitamins and minerals. Some of the best products I have +found over 25 years of research and experimentation with young +people are Douglas Cooper's "Basic Formula" (low dose and excellent +for children) and "Super T Formula" (double the dose of Basic +Formula, therefore better for adolescents and young adults), also +from Douglas Cooper Company; Bronson's "Vitamin and Mineral Formula +for Active Men and Women" and Bronson's "Insurance Formula." +"Vitamin 75 Plus;" and "Formula 2" from Now Natural Foods are also +good and less costly. + +Healthy very small children who will swallow pills can take these +same products at half the recommended dose. If they won't swallow +pills the pills can be blended into a fruit smoothie or finely +crushed and then stirred into apple sauce. There are also +"Children's Chewable Multi-Vitamins + Iron" (1-5 years old) from +Douglas Cooper that contains no minerals except iron, Bronson's +"Chewable Vitamins" (make sure it is the one for small children, +Bronson makes several types of chewables) and a liquid vitamin +product from Bronson called Multivitamin Drops for Infants. These +will be a little more costly than cutting pills in half. + +There is also an extraordinarily high quality multivitamin/mineral +formula for children called "Children's Formula Life Extension Mix" +from Prolongevity, Ltd. (the Life Extension Foundation), it is in +tablet form, and slightly more expensive. + +I hope that my book will be around for several generations. The +businesses whose vitamin products I recommend will not likely exist +in twenty years. Even sooner than that the product names and details +of the formulations will almost certainly be altered. So, for future +readers discovering this book in a library or dusty shelve of a used +book store, if I, at my current level of understanding, were +manufacturing a childrens and young adults vitamin formula myself, +this is what it would contain. Any commercial formulation within 25 +percent of these figures plus or minus would probably be fine as +long as the vitamins in the pills were of high quality. + +Vitamin C 500 mg B-1 30 mg +Vitamin E 50 iu B-2 30 mg +Vitamin A 500 iu B-3 niacinamide 100 mg +Vitamin D 25 iu B-5 50 mg +Magnesium 100 mg B-6 30 mg +Calcium 400 mg B-12 30 mcg +Selenium 10 mcg Chromium 20 mcg +Manganese 2 mcg Biotin 30 mg +Zinc 5 mg Iodine (as kelp) 5 mg +PABA 20 mg Bioflavinoids 100 mg + +Vitamins For An Older Healthy Person + +Someone who is beyond 35 to 40 years of age should still feel good +almost all of the time. That is how life should be. But enjoying +well-being does not mean that no dietary supplementation is called +for. The onset of middle age is the appropriate time to begin +working on continuing to feel well for as long as possible. Just +like a car, if you take very good care of it from the beginning, it +is likely to run smoothly for many years into the future. If on the +other hand you drive it hard and fast with a lot of deferred +maintenance you will probably have to trade it in on a new one after +a very few years. Most people in their 70s and older who are +struggling with many uncomfortable symptoms and low energy lament, +'if I'd only known I was going to live so long I would have taken +better care of myself.' But at that point it is too late for the old +donkey; time for a trade in. + +Gerontologists refer to combating the aging process as "squaring the +curve." We arrive at the peak of our physical function at about age +eighteen. How high that peak level is depends on a person's genetic +endowment, the quality of the start they received through their +mother's nutritional reserves, and the quality of their childhood +nutrition and life experience. From that peak our function begins to +drop. The rate of drop is not uniform, but is a cascade where each +bit of deterioration creates more deterioration, accelerating the +rate of deterioration. If various aging experiences were graphed, +they would make curves like those on the chart on this page. + +Because deterioration starts out so slowly, people usually do not +begin to notice there has been any decline until they reach their +late 30s. A few fortunate ones don't notice it until their 40s. A +few (usually) dishonest ones claim no losses into their 50s but they +are almost inevitably lying, either to you or to themselves, or +both. Though it might be wisest to begin combating the aging process +at age 19, practically speaking, no one is going to start spending +substantial money on food supplements until they actually notice +significant lost function. For non-athletes this point usually comes +when function has dropped to about 90 percent of what it was in our +youth. If they're lucky what people usually notice with the +beginnings of middle age is an increasing inability for their bodies +to tolerate insults such as a night on the town or a big meal. Or +they may begin to get colds that just won't seem to go away. Or they +may begin coming home after work so tired that they can hardly stay +awake and begin falling asleep in their Lazy Boy recliner in front +of the TV even before prime time. If they're not so lucky they'll +begin suffering the initial twinges of a non-life-threatening +chronic condition like arthritis. + +The thinnest line demonstrates the worst possible life from a purely +physical point of view, where a person started out life with +significantly lowered function, lost quite a bit more and then hung +on to life for many years without the mercy of death. + +If one can postpone the deterioration of aging, they extend and +hopefully square the curve (retard loss of function until later and +then have the loss occur more rapidly). Someone whose lifetime +function resembled a "square curve"(the thickest, topmost line) +would experience little or no deterioration until the very end and +then would lose function precipitously. At this point we do not know +how to eliminate the deterioration but we do know how to slow it +down, living longer and feeling better, at least to a point close to +the very end. + +Vitamin supplements can actually slow or even to a degree, reverse, +the aging process. However, to accomplish that task, they have to be +taken in amounts far greater than so-called minimum daily +requirements, using vitamins as though they were drugs, a +therapeutic approach to changing body chemistry profiles and making +them resemble a younger body. For example, research gerontologists +like Walford reason that if pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), in fairly +substantial (but quite safe) doses can extend the life and improve +the function of old rats, there is every indication that it will do +a similar job on humans. Medical researchers and research +gerontologists have noticed that many other vitamin and vitamin-like +substances have similar effects on laboratory animals. + +Some will object that what helps rats and mice is in no way proven +to cause the same result on humans. I agree. Proven with full +scientific rigor, no. In fact, at present, the contention is +unprovable. Demonstrable as having a high likelihood's of being so, +yes! So likely so as to be almost incontrovertible, yes! But +provable to the most open-minded, scientific sort--probably not for a +long time. However, the Life Extension Foundation is working hard to +find some quantifiable method of gauging the aging process in humans +without waiting for the inarguable indicator, death. Once this is +accomplished and solidly recognized, probably no rational person +will be able to doubt that human life span can be increased. + +Experiments work far better with short-lived laboratory animals for +another reason; we can not control the food and supplement intakes +of humans as we can with caged mice. In fact, there are special +types of laboratory mice that have been bred to have uniformly short +life spans, especially to accelerate this kind of research. With +mice we can state accurately that compared to a control group, +feeding such and such a dose of such and such a supplement extended +the life-span or functional performance by such and such a percent. + +A lot of these very same medical gerontologists nourish their own +bodies as thoroughly as the laboratory animals they are studying, +taking broad mixes of food supplements at doses proportional to +those that extend the life spans of their research animals. This +approach to using supplementation is at the other end of the scale +compared to using supplements to prevent gross deficiencies. In the +life extension approach, vitamins and vitamin-like substances are +used as a therapy against the aging process itself. + +Will it work? Well, some of these human guinea pigs have been on +heavy vitamin supplementation for over thirty years (as of 1995) and +none seem to be suffering any damage. Will they live longer? It is +impossible to say with full scientific rigor? To know if life +extension works, we would have to first determine "live longer than +what?" After all, we don't know how long any person might have lived +without life extending vitamin supplements. Though it can't be +"proven," it makes perfect sense to me to spend far less money on an +intensive life extension vitamin program than I would certainly lose +as a result of age-related sickness. + +Besides, I've already observed from personal use and from results in +my clinical practice that life extension vitamin programs do work. +Whether I and my clients will ultimately live longer or not, the +people who I have put on these programs, including myself and my +husband, usually report that for several years after starting they +find themselves feeling progressively younger, gradually returning +to an overall state of greater well-being they knew five or ten or +fifteen years ago. They have more energy, feel clearer mentally, +have fewer unwanted somatic symptoms. + +Sometimes the improvements seem rather miraculous. After a few +months on the program one ninety year old man, an independent-minded +Oregonian farmer, reported that he began awakening with an erection +every morning; unfortunately, his 89 year old cranky and somewhat +estranged wife, who would not take vitamins, did not appreciate this +youthfulness. A few months later (he had a small farm) he planted a +holly orchard. Most of you won't appreciate what this means without +a bit of explanation, but in Oregon, holly is grown as a high-priced +and highly profitable ornamental for the clusters of leaves and +berries. But a slow-growing holly orchard takes 25 years to began +making a profit! + +A few older clients of mine reported that they noticed nothing from +the life extension program, but these are unique people who have +developed the ability to dominate their bodies with their minds and +routinely pay their bodies absolutely no attention, driving them +relentlessly to do their will. Usually they use their energies to +accomplish good, Christian works. Eventually, these dedicated and +high-toned people break down and die like everyone else. Will they +do so later on life extending vitamins than they would have +otherwise? I couldn't know because I can't know how long they might +have lived without supplementation and since they refuse to admit +the vitamins do them any good, they won't pay for them. + +Many on life extension programs experience a reverse aging process +for awhile. However, after the full benefit of the supplementation +has worked itself through their body chemistry, they again begin to +experience the aging process. I believe the process will then be +slowed by their vitamins compared to what it would have been without +supplements. But I can't prove it. Maybe we will have some idea if +the program worked 20 to 40 years from now. + +At this time I know of only two companies that make top quality life +extension vitamin supplement formulas. One is Prolongevity (Life +Extension Foundation), the other, Vitamin Research Products. I +prefer to support what I view as the altruistic motives behind +Prolongevity and buy my products from them. Unfortunately, these +vitamin compounders can not put every possibly beneficial substance +in a single bottle of tablets. The main reason they do not is fear +of the power-grabbing Food and Drug Administration. This agency is +threatening constantly to remove certain of the most useful +life-extending substances from the vitamin trade and make them the +exclusive property of prescription-writing medical doctors. So far, +public pressure has been mobilized against the FDA every time action +was threatened and has not permitted this. If some product were +included in a mix and that product were prohibited, the entire +mixed, bottled and labeled batch that remained unsold at that time +would be wasted, at enormous cost. + +Were I manufacturing my own life extension supplement I would +include the following. By the way, to get this all in one day, it is +necessary to take 6 to 12 large tablets daily, usually spread +throughout the day, taken a few at a time with each meal. If you +compare my suggested formulation to another one, keep in mind that +variations of 25 percent one way or another won't make a significant +difference, and adding other beneficial substances to my +recommendations probably is only helpful. However, I would not want +to eliminate anything in the list below, it is the minimum: + +Beta-Carotene 25,000 iu Selenium 100 mcg + +Vitamin A 5,000 iu Taurine 500 mg + +B-1 250 mg Cyctine 200 mg + +B-2 50 mg Gluthaianone 15 mg + +B-3 niacinamid 850 mg Choline 650 mg + +B-5 750 mg Inositol 250 mg + +B-6 200 mg Flavanoids 500 mg + +B-12 100 mcg Zinc 35 mg + +PABA 50 mg Chromium 100 mcg + +Folic Acid 500 mcg Molybdenum 123 mg + +Biotin 200 mcg Manganese 5 mg + +Vitamin C 3,000 mg Iodine (as kelp) 10 mg + +Vitamin E 600 iu Co-Enzyme Q-10 60 mg + +Magnesium 1,000 mg DMAE 100 mg + +Potassium 100 mg Ginko biloba 120 mg + +Calcium 1,000 mg Vitamin D-3 200 iu + +Please also keep in mind that there are many other useful substances +not listed above. For example, every day I have a "green drink," an +herbal preparation containing numerous tonic substances like ginseng +and also various forms of algae and chlorophyll extracts. My green +drink makes my body feel very peppy all day, so it certainly +enhances my life and may extend it. It costs about $25,00 a month to +enjoy that. I also use various pure amino acids at times. +Phenylalyanine will make me get more aggressive whenever I am +feeling a little lackluster; this nutrient has also been used as an +effective therapy against depression. Melatonin taken at bedtime +really does help me get to sleep and may have remarkable +life-extending properties. Other amino acids help my body +manufacture growth hormones and I use them from the time I begin +training seriously in spring through the end of the summer triathlon +competition season. Pearson and Shaw's book (see Bibliography) is a +good starting point to begin learning about this remarkably useful +subject. + +The Future Of Life Extension + +I beg the readers indulgence for a bit of futurology about what +things may look like if the life extension movement continues to +develop. + +Right now, a full vitamin and vitamin-like substance life extension +program costs between $50 and $100 dollars per month. However, +pharmaceutical researchers occasionally notice that drugs meant to +treat and cure diseases, when tested on lab animals for safety, make +these animals live quite a bit longer and function better. Though +the FDA doesn't allow any word of this to be printed in official +prescribing data, the word does get around to other researchers, to +gerontologists and eventually to that part of the public that is +eagerly looking for longer life. Today there are numerous people who +routinely take prescription medicines meant to cure a disease they +do not have and plan to take those medicines for the rest of their +long, long life. + +These drugs being patented, the tariff gets a lot steeper compared +to taking vitamins. (Since they are naturally-occurring substances, +vitamins can't be patented and therefore, aren't big-profit items. +Perhaps that's one reason the FDA is so covertly opposed to +vitamins.) Right now it would be quite possible to spend many +hundred dollars per month on a life extension program that included +most of these potentially beneficent prescription drugs. + +As more of life-extending substances are discovered, the cost of +participating in a maximally effective life extension program will +escalate. However, those who can afford chemically enhanced +functioning will enjoy certain side-benefits. Their productive, +enjoyable life spans may measure well over a century, perhaps +approaching two centuries or more. Some of these substances greatly +improve intelligence so they will become brighter and have faster +reaction times. With more time to accumulate more wisdom and +experience than "short livers" these folks will become wiser, too. +They will have more time to compound their investment assets and +thus will become far more wealthy. They will become an obvious and +recognizable aristocracy. This new upper class will immediately +recognize each other on the street because they will look entirely +different than the short-lived poorer folk and will probably run the +political economic system. + +And this new aristocratic society I see coming may be far more +pleasant than the one dominated by the oligarchy we now have +covertly running things. For with greater age and experience does +really come greater wisdom. I have long felt that the biggest +problem with Earth is that we did not live long enough. As George +Bernard Shaw quipped when he was 90 (he lived to 96), "here I am, 90 +years old, just getting out of my adolescence and getting some +sense, and my body is falling apart as fast as it can." + +Vitamin Program For The Sick + +No matter which way you look at it or how well insured you may be +against it, being sick is expensive (not to mention what it does to +one's quality of life), and by far the best thing to do is to +prevent it from happening in the first place. However, most people +do not do anything about their health until forced to by some +painful condition. If you are already sick there are a number of +supplements you can take which have the potential to shorten the +duration and severity of the illness, and hopefully prevent a +recurrence. + +The sicker you are, the more supplements you will require; as health +is regained, the dosage and variety of substances can be reduced. In +chronic illness, megadoses of many nutrients are usually beneficial. +Any sick adult should begin a life extension vitamin program unless +they are highly allergic to so many things already that they can not +tolerate many kinds of vitamins as well. In addition to the life +extension program, vitamin C should be taken by the chronically ill +at a dose from 10 to 25 grams daily, depending on the severity of +the condition. + +Many people want to know whether or not they should take their +regular food supplements during a fast. On a water fast most +supplements in a hard tablet form will not be broken down at all, +and often can be seen floating by in the colonic viewing tube +looking exactly like it did when you swallowed it. This waste can be +avoided by crushing or chewing (yuck) the tablets, before +swallowing. Encapsulated vitamins usually are absorbed, but if you +want to make sure, open the capsule and dump it in the back of your +mouth before swallowing with water. Powdered vitamins are well +absorbed. + +On a water fast the body is much more sensitive to any substance +introduced, so as a general rule it is not a good idea to take more +than one half your regular dose of food supplements. Most fasters do +fine without any supplements. Many people get an upset stomach from +supplements on an empty stomach, and these people should not take +any during a water fast unless they develop symptoms of mineral +deficiencies (usually a pre-existing condition) such as leg cramps +and tremors, these symptoms necessitate powdered or well-chewed-up +mineral supplement. Minerals don't taste too bad to chew, just +chalky. + +The same suggestions regarding dosage of supplements for a water +fast are also true for a juice fast or vegetable broth fast. On a +raw food cleansing diet the full dose of supplements should be taken +with meals. + +There exists an enormous body of data about vitamins; books and +magazine articles are always touting some new product or explaining +the uses of an old one. If you want to know more about using +ordinary vitamins you'll find leads in the bibliography to guide +your reading. However, there is one "old" vitamin and a few newer +and relatively unknown life extending substances that are so useful +and important to handling illness that I would like to tell you more +about them. + +Vitamin C is not a newly discovered vitamin, but was one of the +first ever identified. If you are one of those people that just hate +taking vitamins, and you were for some reason willing to take only +one, vitamin C would be your best choice. Vitamin C would be the +clear winner because it helps enormously with any infection and in +invaluable in tissue healing and rebuilding collagen. If I was going +on a long trip and didn't want to pack a lot of weight, my first +choice would be to insure three to six grams of vitamin C for daily +use when I was healthy (I'd take the optimum dose--ten grams a day--if +weight were no limitation). I'd also carry enough extra C to really +beef up my intake when dealing with an unexpected acute illness or +accident. + +When traveling to far away places, exposed to a whole new batch of +organisms, frequently having difficulty finding healthy foods, going +through time zones, losing nights of sleep, it is easy to become +enervated enough to catch a local cold or flu. If I have brought +lots of extra vitamin C with me I know that my immune system will be +able to conquer just about anything--as long as I also stop eating +and can take an enema. I also like to have vitamin C as a part of my +first aid kit because if I experience a laceration, a sprain, broken +bone, or a burn, I can increase my internal intake as well as apply +it liberally directly on the damaged skin surface. Vitamin C can be +put directly in the eye in a dilute solution with distilled water +for infections and injuries, in the ear for ear infections, and in +the nose for sinus infections. If you are using the acid form of C +(ascorbic acid) and it smarts too much, make a more dilute solution, +or switch to the alkaline form of C (calcium ascorbate) which can be +used as a much more concentrated solution without a stinging +sensation. Applied directly on the skin C in solution makes a very +effective substitute for sun screen. It doesn't filter out +ultraviolet, it beefs up the skin to better deal with the insult. + +I believe vitamin C can deal with a raging infection such as +pneumonia as well or better than antibiotics. But to do that, C is +going to have to be administered at the maximum dose the body can +process. This is easily discoverable by a 'bowel tolerance test' +which basically means you keep taking two or three grams of C each +hour, (preferably in the powdered, most rapidly assimilable form) +until you get a runny stool (the trots). The loose stool happens +when there is so much C entering the small intestine that it is not +all absorbed, but is instead, passed through to the large intestine. +At that point cut back just enough that the stool is only a little +loose, not runny. At this dose, your blood stream will be as +saturated by vitamin C as you can achieve by oral ingestion. + +It can make an important difference which type of vitamin C is taken +because many people are unable to tolerate the acid form of C beyond +8 or 10 grams a day, but they can achieve a therapeutic dose without +discomfort with the alkaline (buffered) vitamin C products such as +calcium ascorbate, sodium ascorbate, or magnesium-potassium +ascorbates. + +Vitamin C also speeds up the healing of internal tissues and damaged +connective tissue. Damaged internal tissues might include stomach +ulcers (use the alkaline form of vitamin C only), bladder and kidney +infections (acid form usually best), arthritic disorders with damage +to joints and connective tissue (alkaline form usually best). Sports +injuries heal up a lot faster with a therapeutic dose of vitamin C. +As medicine, vitamin C should be taken at the rate of one or two +grams every two hours (depending on the severity of the condition), +spaced out to avoid unnecessary losses in the urine which happens if +it were taken ten grams at a time. If you regularly use the acid +form of vitamin C powder, which is the cheapest, be sure to use a +straw and dissolve it in water or juice so that the acid does not +dissolve the enamel on your teeth over time. + +And this is as good a point as any to mention that just like +broccoli is not broccoli, a vitamin is not necessarily a vitamin. +Vitamins are made by chemical and pharmaceutical companies. To make +this confusion even more interesting, the business names that appear +on vitamin bottles are not the real manufacturers. Bronson's +Pharmaceuticals is a distributor and marketer, not a manufacturer. +The same is true of every vitamin company I know of. These companies +buy bulk product by the barrel or sack; then encapsulate, blend and +roll pills, bottle and label, advertise and make profit. The point +of all this is that some actual vitamin manufacturers produce very +high quality products and others shortcut. Vitamin distributors must +make ethical (or unethical) choices about their suppliers. + +It is beyond the scope of this book to be a manual for going into +the vitamin business. However, there are big differences in how +effective vitamins with the same chemical name are and the +differences hinge on who actually brewed them up. + +For example, there are at least two quality levels of vitamin C on +the market right now. The pharmaceutical grade is made by Roche or +BASF. Another form, it could be called "the bargain barrel brew," is +made in China. Top quality vitamin C is quite a bit more costly; as +I write this, the price differential is about 40 percent between the +cheap stuff and the best. This can make a big difference in bottle +price and profit. Most of the discount retail vitamin companies use +the Chinese product. + +There's more than a price difference. The vitamin C from China +contains measurable levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, iron and other +toxic metals. The FDA allows this slightly contaminated product to +be sold in the US because the Recommended Daily Allowance for +vitamin C is a mere 60 milligrams per day. Taken at that level, the +toxic metals would, as the FDA sees it, do no harm. However, many +users of vitamin C take 100--200 times the RDA. The cheap form of C +would expose them to potentially toxic levels of heavy metal +poisons. The highly refined top-quality product removes impurities +to a virtually undetectable level. + +I buy my C from Bronson who ethically gives me the quality stuff. I +know for a fact that the vitamin C sold by Prolongevity is also top +quality. I've had clients who bought cheaper C than Bronson's and +discovered it was not quite like Bronson's in appearance or taste. +More importantly, it did not seem to have the same therapeutic +effect. + +The distributors I've mentioned so far, Bronson, NOW, Cooper, +Prolongevity and Vitamin Research Products are all knowledgeable +about differences between actual manufacturers and are ethical, +buying and reselling only high quality products. Other distributors +I believe to be reputable include Twin Labs, Schiff and Plus. I know +there are many other distributors with high ethic levels but I can +not evaluate all their product lines. And as I've mentioned earlier, +businesses come and go rather quickly, but I hope my book will be +read for decades. I do know that I would be very reluctant to buy my +vitamins at a discount department store or supermarket; when +experimenting with new suppliers I have at times been severely +disappointed. + +Co-enzyme Q-10. This substance is normally manufactured in the human +body and is also found in minuscule amounts in almost every cell on +Earth. For that reason it is also called "ubiquinone." But this +vitamin has been only recently discovered, so as I write this book +Co-enzyme Q-10 is not widely known. + +Q-10 is essential to the functioning of the mitochondria, that part +of the cell that produces energy. With less Q-10 in heart cells, for +example, the heart has less energy and pumps less. The same is true +of the immune system cells, the liver cells, every cell. As we age +the body is able to make less and less Q-10, contributing to the +loss of energy frequently experienced with age, as well as the +diminished effectiveness of the immune system, and a shortened life +span. + +Q-10 was first used for its ability to revitalize heart cells. It +was a prescription medicine in Japan. But unlike other drugs used to +stimulate the heart, at any reasonable dose Q-10 has no harmful side +effects. It also tends to give people the extra pick up they are +trying to get out of a cup of coffee. But Q-10 does so by improving +the function of every cell in the body, not by whipping exhausted +adrenals like caffeine does. Q-10 is becoming very popular with +athletes who measure their overall cellular output against known +standards. + +Besides acting as a general tonic, when fed to lab animals, +Co-Enzyme Q-10 makes them live 33 to 45 percent longer! + +DMAE is another extremely valuable vitamin-like substance that is +not widely known. It is a basic building material that the body uses +to make acetylcholine, the most generalized neurotransmitter in the +body. Small quantities of DMAE are found in fish, but the body +usually makes it in a multi-stage synthesis that starts with the +amino acid choline, arrives at DMAE at about step number three and +ends up finally with acetylcholine. + +The body's nerves are wrapped in fatty tissue that should be +saturated with acetylcholine. Every time a nerve impulse is +transmitted from one nerve cell to the next, a molecule of +acetylcholine is consumed. Thus acetylcholine has to be constantly +replaced. As the body ages, levels of acetylcholine surrounding the +nerves drop and in consequence, the nerves begin to deteriorate. +DMAE is rapidly and easily converted into acetylcholine and helps +maintain acetylcholine levels in older people at a youthful level. + +When laboratory rats are fed DMAE they solve mazes more rapidly, +remember better, live about 40 percent longer than rats not fed DMAE +and most interestingly, when autopsied, their nervous systems +resemble those of a young rat, without any evidence of the usual +deterioration of aging. Human nervous systems also deteriorate with +age, especially those of people suffering from senility. It is +highly probable that DMAE will do the same thing to us. DMAE also +smoothes out mood swings in humans and seems to help my husband, +Steve, when he has a big writing project. He can keep working +without getting 'writers block', fogged out, or rollercoastering. + +DMAE is a little hard to find. Prolongevity and VRP sell it in +powder form. Since the FDA doesn't know any MDR and since the +product is not capped up, the bottle of powder sagely states that +one-quarter teaspoonful contains 333 milligrams. Get the hint? DMAE +tastes a little like sour salt and one-quarter teaspoonful dissolves +readily in water every morning before breakfast, or anytime for that +matter. DMAE is also very inexpensive considering what it does. A +year's supply costs about $20. + +Lecithin is a highly tonic and inexpensive food supplement that is +underutilized by many people even though it is easily obtainable in +healthfood stores. It is an emulsifier, breaking fats down into +small separate particles, keeping blood cholesterol emulsified to +prevent arterial deposits. Taken persistently, lecithin partially +and slowly eliminates existing cholesterol deposits from the +circulatory system. + +In our cholesterol-frightened society lecithin should be a far more +popular supplement than it currently is. It is easy to take either +as a food in the granular form or when encapsulated. Lecithin +granules have very little flavor and can be added to a home-made +vinegar and oil salad dressing, where they emulsify the oil and make +it blend with the vinegar, thickening the mixture and causing it to +stick to the salad better. Lecithin can also be put in a fruits +smoothie. A scant tablespoon a day is sufficient. Try to buy the +kind of lecithin that has the highest phosphatidyl choline content +because this substance is the second benefit of taking lecithin. +Phosphatidyl choline is another precursor used by the body to build +acetylcholine and helps maintain the nervous system. + +Algae. Spirulina or sun dried chlorella are also great food +supplements. Both make many people feel energized, pepped-up. It is +possible to fast on either product and still maintain sufficient +energy levels to take of minimal work responsibilities. Algae +reduces appetite and as a dietary supplement can assist in weight +loss. It contains large amounts of highly-assimilable protein due to +it's high chlorophyll content, as well as a large amount of beta +carotene. It also assists in detoxification of the lymphatic system. +It can be purchased as tablets or powder. Take a heaping teaspoon +daily, or at least six tablets. + + + + + + +Chapter Seven + +The Analysis of Disease States: Helping the Body Recover + + + + + +From the Hygienic Dictionary + +Diagnosis. [1] In the United States, making a diagnosis implies that +you are a doctor duly licensed to engage in diagnostic function.... +The making of a diagnosis is reserved only for doctors.... The +term "analysis" does not have such an explicit legal definition. +Thus, it is the term of choice of iridologists and the one most +often used by them. It is essential for the survival and promotion +of iridology that those who choose to engage in its practice avoid +naming any disease condition. As we have seen, to do so is to +infringe on rights reserved exclusively for doctors and can land the +iridologist, sooner or later, in a snarl of legal troubles. + +It is better for the iridologist to refrain from suggesting to a +person that he has any particular disease, letting such diagnostics +remain the province of licensed doctors. In so doing, the +iridologist will avoid transgressing the law and stepping on the +toes of those who are legally qualified to diagnose. + +It is indeed unfortunate that one of the greatest pitfalls awaiting +the iridologist is the temptation to name diseases. The feelings of +satisfaction and power resulting from conferring a name are deeply +rooted in the human psyche. For example, the Bible tells us that +man's first task on Earth was to name the animals, thus giving him +power and dominion over them. + +Strong is the temptation to name diseases because nearly everyone +has come to expect that his malady has a name. Patients have come to +expect, and doctors have been trained to make, a diagnosis. . . . +"After all," the patient may reason, "how can you hope to deal with +my condition if you aren't knowledgeable enough to call it by name?" + +It is not necessary to name diseases in order to exercise dominion +over them. _Dr. Bernard Jensen, Visions of Health._ + +In self defense, I must make it very clear from the first word that +hygienists and most other naturopaths of various persuasions, and +especially I myself, have never in the past, never!, and do not now, +diagnose, treat or offer to cure, disease or illness. Diagnosis and +curing are sole, exclusive privileges of certified, duly-licensed +medical doctors and may only be done with a grant of Authority to do +so from the State. Should an unlicensed person diagnose, offer to +treat or attempt to cure disease or illness, they will have +committed a felonious act. With big penalties. Therefore, I do not +do it. + +When one of my clients comes to me and says that a medical doctor +says they have some disease or other, I agree that the medical +doctor says they have some disease or other, and I never dare say +that they don't. Or even confirm on my own authority that I think +they do have some disease or other. + +What I can legally do for a client is to analyze the state of their +body and its organs, looking for weaknesses and apparent allergies. +I can lawfully state that I think their liver tests weak, the +pancreas appears not to be functioning well in terms of handling +meat digestion, that the kidney is having a hard time of it. I can +say I see a lump sticking out of their body when one is obviously +sticking out of their body; I can not say that lump is cancerous but +I can state that the cells in that lump test overly strong and that +if I myself had a mass of growing cells testing overly strong and if +I believed in the standard medical model, then I would be rushing my +overly strong testing cells to an oncologist. But I don't dare say +the person has a cancer. Or diabetes. Or is getting close to kidney +failure. That is a diagnosis. + +To me, diagnosis is a form of magic rite in which the physician +discovers the secret name of the devil that is inhabiting one's body +and then, knowing that secret name, performs the correct rite and +ritual to cast that demon out. I don't know why people are made so +happy knowing the name of their condition! Does it really matter? +Either the body can heal the condition or it can't. If it can, you +will recover (especially if you give the body a little help). If the +body can't heal a condition you will die or live a long time being +miserable. No "scientific" medical magic can do better than that. + +By describing a disease in terms of its related organ weaknesses, +instead of pinning a Latin name on it, I am able to assist the body +to achieve recovery in a superior way that the physician rarely +does. By discovering that the body with the lump of overly strong +cells also has a weak spleen, liver and thymus gland, I can take +actions to strengthen the spleen, liver and thymus. If the body can +strengthen its spleen, liver and thymus, then the overly strong +cells miraculously vanish. But of course I and what I did did not +cure any disease. Any improvements that happen I assign (correctly) +to the body's own healing power. + +The way I analyze the organic integrity of the body is through a +number of related methods, including the general appearance of the +body, the patient's health history, various clues such as body and +breath odor, skin color and tone, and especially, biokinesiology, +the applied science of muscle testing. Biokinesiology can be used to +test the strength or weakness of specific organs and their function. +A weak latissimus dorsi muscle indicates a weak pancreas, for +example. Specific acupuncture points can be tested in conjunction +with muscle strength to indicate the condition of specific organs or +glands. The strength of the arm's resistance to downward pressure +could be calibrated with a spring scale and precisely gauged, but +experienced practitioners have no need for this bother, because they +are able to pick up subtle changes in the arms resistance that are +not apparent to the testee. Thus muscle testing becomes an art +form, and becomes as effective as the person using it is sensitive +and aware. + +Biokinesiology works because every organ and gland in the body is +interconnected with other parts of the body through nerve pathways +and nerve transmissions, which are electrical and can be measured +through muscle testing. This may seem too esoteric for the +"scientific" among you, but acupuncture points and energy +manifestations around and in the body--are now accepted phenomena, +their reality demonstrated by special kinds of photography. +Acupuncturists, who heal by manipulating the body's energy field +with metal needles, are now widely accepted in the western +hemisphere. Kinesiology utilizes the same acupuncture points (and +some others too) for analytic purposes so it is sometimes called +"contact reflex analysis." + +I have studied and used Kinesiology for 25 years with the majority +of my clients with very good success. There are some few people who +are very difficult to test because they are either too debilitated, +lack electrical conductivity, or their state of mind is so skeptical +and negative about this type of approach that they put up an +impenetrable mental barrier and/or hold their body so rigidly that I +can hardly determine a response. A skilled can overcome the obstacle +of a weak body that can barely respond, but the person who is +mentally opposed and determined to prove you wrong should not be +tested. If you proceed it is sure to have an unsatisfactory outcome +for all concerned. For even if I manage to accurately analyze the +condition of a skeptical client, they will never believe the +analysis and will not follow suggestions. + +The "scientific," open-minded, "reasonable" client can be better +approached using an academic-like discussion based on published +literature that demonstrates how people with similar symptoms and +complaints do very well on a particular dietary regimen and +supplements. This type of person will sometimes follow dietary +recommendations to the last letter, because their scientific +background has trained them to be obedient. + +When a client comes to me, I like to take a real good look at who is +sitting in front of me. I take my leisure to find out all about +their history, their complaints, their motivation to change, their +experience with natural healing, their level of personal +responsibility, whether or not they have to work, whether or not +they can take time out to heal, will they fast or take supplements, +do they have sufficient finances to carry a program through to a +successful completion, do they have people closely connected to them +that are strongly opposed to alternative approaches, can they +withstand some discomfort and self-denial, do they have toxic +relationships with other people that are contributing to their +condition, are they willing to read and educate themselves in +greater depth about natural healing, etc. I need to know the answers +to these questions in order to help them choose a program which is +most likely to succeed. + +Even though fasting is the most effective method I know of, it is +not for people who are compelled to keep up a work schedule, nor is +it for people who are very ill and do not have anyone to assist them +and supervise them. Nor is it for people who do not understand +fasting and are afraid of it. People who have associates that are +opposed to it, and people who do not have a strongly-functioning +liver or kidneys should not fast either. Seriously ill people that +have been on a meat-heavy diet with lots of addicting substances +need a long runway into a fast so as to not overwhelm their organs +of elimination. Does the person in front of me have an eating +disorder, or an otherwise suicidal approach to fasting, etc. Clearly +fasting is not for everyone, and if I recommend it to the wrong +person, the result will be a bad reputation for a marvelous tool. + +Given that many clients can not fast without a lot of preparation, +the majority of my clients start out with a gentle detox program +that takes considerably more time, but works. These gradients have +been outlined under the healing programs for the chronically ill, +acutely ill, etc. + +To help rebuild poorly functioning organs, I sometimes use a +specialized group of food supplements called protomorphogens. These +are not readily available to the general public and perhaps should +not be casually purchasable like vitamins, because, as with many +prescription drugs, supervision is usually necessary for their +successful use. If the FDA ever succeeds at making protomorphogens +unavailable to me, I could still have very good results. (At this +time the Canadian authorities do not allow importation of +protomorphogens for resale, though individuals can usually clear +small shipments through Canada Customs if for their own personal +use.) But protomorphogens do facilitate healing and sometimes permit +healing to occur at a lower gradient of handling. Without them a +body might have to fast to heal, with the aid of protomorphogens a +person might be able to get better without fasting. And if +protomorphogens are used (chewed up--ugh!) while fasting, healing is +accelerated. + +Protomorphogens are made from freeze-dried, organically-raised +animal organ meats (usually calf or lamb) combined with very +specific vitamins, herbs and other co-factors to potentiate the +effect. I view protomorphogens as containing nutritional +supplementation specific for the rebuilding of the damaged organ. + +Doctor Royal Lee, a medical genius who developed protomorphogens +therapy in the 50s and who spent several stints in prison in +exchange for his benevolence and concern for human well-being, also +founded the company that has supplied me with protomorphogens. After +decades of official persecution and denial of the efficacy of +protomorphogens by the power structure, it looks like they are about +to finally have their day. As I write this book cutting-edge medical +research companies are developing therapies using concentrated +animal proteins (protomorphogens) to treat arthritis, multiple +sclerosis, eye inflamations and juvenile diabetes. The researchers +talk as though they are highly praiseworthy for "discovering" this +approach. + +Unfortunately, this development is likely to cut two ways. On one +hand, it vindicates Dr. Lee; on the other, when these drug companies +find a way to patent their materials, they may finally succeed at +forcing protomorphogens (currently quite inexpensive) off the +non-prescription market and into the restricted and profitable +province of the MD. + +I divide clients into two basic types: simple cases and complex +ones. When I was treating mental illness, occasionally I had a +client who had not been sick for too long. I could usually make this +client well quite easily. But if the person had already become +institutionalized, had been psychotic for many years, had received +much prior treatment, then their case had been made much more +difficult. This sort had a poor prognosis. A very similar situation +exists with physical illnesses. Many people get sick only because +they lack information about how to keep themselves healthy and about +what made them sick. Once they find out the truth, they take my +medicine without complaint and almost inevitably get better very +rapidly. Some of these people can be quite ill when they first come +to me but usually they have not been sick for very long. Their +intention when coming into my office is very positive and have no +counter intentions to getting better. There are no spiritual or +psychological reasons that they deserve to be sick. If this person +had not found me, they almost certainly would have found some other +practitioner who would have made them well. This type of person +honestly feels they are entitled to wellness. And they are. + +However, some of the sick are not sick for lack of life-style +information; they suffer from a mental/spiritual malady as well, one +that inevitably preceded their illness by many years. In fact, their +physical ailments are merely reflections of underlying problems. +This patient's life is usually a snarl of upsets, problems, and +guilty secrets. Their key relationships are usually vicious or +unhealthy. Their level of interpersonal honesty may be poor. There +are usually many things about their lives they do not confront and +so, can not change. With this type of case, all the physical healing +in the world will not make them permanently better because the +mental and emotional stresses they live under serve as a constant +source of enervation. + +Cases like this usually do not have only one thing wrong with them. +They almost always have been sick for a long time; most have been +what I call "doctor hoppers," confused by contrary diagnoses and +conflicting MD opinions. When I get a case like this I know from the +first that healing is going to be a long process, and a dubious one +at that. On the physical level, their body will only repair one +aspect of their multiple illnesses at a time. Simultaneously, they +must be urged to confront their life on a gentle gradient. There is +usually a lot of backsliding and rollercoastering. The +detoxification process, physical and psychological, can take several +years and must happen on all the levels of their life. This kind of +case sees only gradual improvement interspersed with periods of +worsening that indicate there remains yet another level of mental +unawareness that has to be unraveled. + +Few medical doctors or holistic therapists really understand or can +help this kind of case. To do so, the doctor has to be in touch with +their own reactive mind and their own negative, evil impulses (which +virtually all humans have). Few people, including therapists, are +willing to be aware of their own dark side. But when we deny it in +ourselves, we must pretend it doesn't exist in others, and become +its victim instead of conquering it. Anyone who denies that they +have or are influenced by their own darker aspects who seem to be +totally sweet and light, is lying; proof of this is that they still +are here on Earth. + +All this generalizing about diagnostic methods and clinical +approaches could go on for chapters and more chapters, and writing +them would be fine if I were teaching a group of health clinicians +that were reading this book to become better practitioners. But I'm +sure most of my readers are far more interested in some complaint of +their own or in the health problem of a loved one, and are intensely +interested in one might go about handling various conditions and +complaints, what types of organ weaknesses are typically associated +with them, and what approaches I usually recommend to encourage +healing. And, most importantly, what kind of success or lack of it +have I had over the past twenty five years, encouraging the healing +of various conditions with hygienic methods. + +In the case studies that follow I will mostly report the simpler, +easier-to-fix problems because that is what most people have; still, +many of these involve life-threatening or quality-of-life-destroying +illnesses. I will tell the success story of one very complicated, +long-suffering case that involved multiple levels of psychological +and spiritual handling as well as considerable physical healing. + +Arthritis + +Some years back my 70 years old mother came from the family +homestead in the wilds of northern British Columbia to visit me at +the Great Oaks School. She had gotten into pathetic physical +condition. Fifteen years previously she had remarried. Tom, her new +husband, had been a gold prospector and general mountain man, a +wonderfully independent and cantankerous cuss, a great hunter and +wood chopper and all around good-natured backwoods homestead +handyman. Tom had tired of solitary log cabin life and to solve his +problem had taken on the care and feeding of a needy widow, my mom. +He began doing the cooking and menu planning. Tom, a little older +than my mother, had no sense about eating but could still shoot +game. Ever since their marriage she had been living on moose meat +stews with potatoes and gravy, white flour bread with jam, black tea +with canned milk, a ritual glass of brandy at bedtime, and almost no +fresh fruit or vegetables. + +In her youth, my mother had been a concert pianist; now she had such +large arthritic knobs on all of her knuckles that her hands had +become claws. Though there was still that very same fine upright in +the cabin that I had learned to play as a child, she had long since +given up the piano. Her knees also had large arthritic knobs; this +proud woman with a straight back and long, flowing strides was bent +over, limping along with a cane. She was also 30 pounds overweight +and her blood pressure was a very dangerous 210 over 140, just +asking for a stroke. + +Instead of a welcoming feast, the usual greeting offered to a loved +one who has not been seen for a few years, I immediately started her +on a juice fast. I gave her freshly prepared carrot juice (one quart +daily) mixed with wheat grass juice (three ounces daily) plus daily +colonics. She had no previous experience with these techniques but +she gamely accepted everything I threw her way because she knew I +was doing it because I loved her and wanted to see her in better +condition. She also received a daily full body massage with +particular attention to the hand and knees, stimulating the +circulation to the area and speeding the removal of wastes. Every +night her hands and knees were wrapped in warm castor oil compresses +held in place with old sheeting. + +I did not use any vitamins or food supplements in her case. I did +give her flavorful herbal teas made of peppermint and chamomile +because she needed the comfort of a hot cupa; but these teas were in +no way medicinal except for her morale. + +In three weeks on this program, Grannybelle, as I and my daughters +called her, had no unsightly knobs remaining on either her knuckles +or knees and she could walk and move her fingers without pain within +a normal range of movement. The big payoff for me besides seeing her +look so wonderful (20 years younger and 20 pounds lighter) was to +hear her sit down and treat us to a Beethoven recital. And her blood +pressure was 130 over 90. + +Breast Cancer + +I have worked with many young women with breast cancer; so many in +fact, that their faces and cases tend to blur. But whenever I think +about them, Kelly inevitably comes to mind because we became such +good friends. Like me, Kelly was an independent-minded back country +Canuck. At the age 26, she received a medical diagnosis of breast +cancer. Kelly had already permitted a lumpectomy and biopsy, but had +studied the statistical outcomes and did not want to treat her +illness with radical mastectomy, radiation and chemotherapy because +she knew her odds of long-term survival without radical medical +treatment were equal to or better than allowing the doctors to do +everything possible. Nor did she want to lose even one of her +breasts. She knew how useful her breasts were because she had +already suckled one child, not to mention their contribution to +one's own self-image as a whole person. I admired Kelly's unusual +independent-mindedness because she comes from a country where +universal health coverage is in place; her insurance would have paid +all the costs had she been willing to accept conventional medicine, +but Canadian national health insurance does not cover alternative +therapy. + +Kelly stayed with me for nearly two months as a residential faster, +because she needed to be far from the distractions of a troubled +family life. With financial support from her parents and child-care +from her friends she was able to take time out to give the recovery +of health top priority in her life without worrying about whether +her small son was being well cared for. This peace of mind was also +very important to her recovery. + +Analysis with biokinesiology showed a pervasively weak immune +system, including a weak thymus gland, spleen, and an overloaded +lymphatic system. Her liver was weak, but not as weak as it might +have been, because she had become a vegetarian, and had been working +on her health in a haphazard fashion for a few years. Kelly's body +also showed weaknesses in pancreatic and adrenal function as well as +a toxic colon. Most immediately worrisome to her, biokinesiology +testing showed several over-strong testing lumpy areas in the +breasts and over-strong testing lumpy lymph nodes in the armpits. +Cancerous tumors always test overly strong + +Kelly's earlier life-style had contributed to her condition in +several ways. She had worked for years in a forestry tree nursery +handling seedling trees treated with highly toxic chemicals. She had +worked as a cook in a logging camp for several seasons, eating too +much meat and greasy food. And she had also spent the usual number +of adolescent and young adult years deeply involved in recreational +drug use and the bad diet that went with it. + +Kelly started right in on a rigorous water fast that lasted for one +entire month. She had a colonic every day, plus body work including +reflexology, holding and massage of neurolymphatic and neurovascular +points, and stimulation of acupuncture points related to weak organ +systems and general massage to stimulate overall circulation and +lymphatic drainage. She took protomorphogens to help rebuild her +weakened organs; she took ten grams of vitamin C every day and a +half-dose of life extension vitamin mix in assimilable powdered +form; she drank herbal teas of echinacea and fenugreek seeds and +several ounces of freshly squeezed wheat grass juice every day. +Twice each day she made poultices out of clay and the pulp left over +from making her wheat grass juice, filled an old bra with this +mixture and pressed it to her breast for several hours until the +clay dried. Shortly, I will explain all the measures in some detail. + +These physical therapies were accompanied by counseling sessions +dealing with some severe and long-unresolved problems, response +patterns and relationships that triggered her present illness. Her +son's father (Kelly's ex) was suppressive and highly intimidating. +Fearful of him, Kelly seemed unable to successfully extricate +herself from the relationship due to the ongoing contact which +revolved over visitation and care of their son. But Kelly had grit! +While fasting, she confronted these tough issues in her life and +unflinchingly made the necessary decisions. When she returned to +Canada she absolutely decided, without any nagging doubts, +reservations or qualifications, to make any changes necessary to +ensure her survival. Only after having made these hard choices could +she heal. + +I one respect, Kelly was a highly unusual faster. Throughout the +entire month on water, Kelly took daily long walks, frequently +stopping to lie down and rest in the sun on the way. She would climb +to or from the top of a very large and steep hill nearby. She never +missed a day, rain or shine. + +At the end of her month on water Kelly's remaining breast lumps had +disappeared, the lymphatic system and immune system tested strong, +as well as the liver, pancreas, adrenals, and large intestine. No +areas tested overly strong. + +She broke the fast with the same discipline she had conducted it, on +carrot juice, a cup every two hours. After three days on juice she +began a raw food diet with small servings of greens and sprouts well +chewed, interspersed at two hour intervals with fresh juicy fruits. +After about ten days on "rabbit food," she eased into avocados, +cooked vegetables, nuts, seeds, and whole grains and then went home. + +As I write this, it is eight years since Kelly's long fast. She +still comes to see me every few years to check out her diet and just +say hello. She has had two more children by a new, and thoroughly +wonderful husband and suckled them both for two years each; her +peaceful rural life centers around this new, happy family and the +big, Organic garden she grows. She religiously takes her life +extension vitamins and keeps her dietary and life-style +indiscretions small and infrequent. She is probably going to live a +long, time. + +I consider Kelly's cluster of organ weaknesses very typical of all +cancers regardless of type or location, as well as being typical of +AIDS and other critical infections by organisms that usually reside +in the human body without causing trouble (called "opportunistic"). +All these diseases are varieties of immune system failure. All of +these conditions present a similar pattern of immune system +weaknesses. They all center around what I call the "deadly +triangle," comprised of a weak thymus gland, weak spleen, and a weak +liver. The thymus and spleen form the core of the body's immune +system. The weak liver contributes to a highly toxic system that +further weakens the immune system. To top it off, people with cancer +invariably have a poor ability to digest cooked protein (animal or +vegetable) (usually from a weak pancreas unable to make enough +digestive enzymes) and eat too much of it, giving them a very toxic +colon, and an overloaded lymphatic system. + +Whenever I analyze someone with this pattern, especially the entire +deadly triangle, I let the person know that if I had those +particular weaknesses I would consider my survival to be at +immediate risk I'd consider it an emergency situation demanding +vigorous attention. It does not matter if they don't yet have a +tumor, or fibroid, or opportunistic infection; if they don't already +have something of that nature they soon will. + +Here's yet another example of why I disapprove of diagnosis. By +giving the condition a name like "lymphoma" or "melanoma", "chronic +fatigue syndrome" "Epstein-Barr syndrome" or "AIDS," "systemic yeast +infection", "hepatitis" or what have, people think the doctor then +understands their disease. But the doctor rarely understands that +all these seemingly different diseases are essentially the same +disease--a toxic body with a dysfunctional immune system. What is +relevant is that a person with the deadly triangle must strengthen +their immune system, and their pancreas, and their liver, and +detoxify their body immediately. If these repairs are accomplished +in time, the condition goes away, whatever its Latin name may have +been. + +Now, about some of the adjuncts to Kelly's healing. Let me stress +here that had none of these substances or practices been used, she +probably still would have recovered. Perhaps a bit more slowly. +Perhaps a bit less comfortably. Conversely, had Kelly treated her +cancer with every herb, poultice and vitamin known to man but had +neglected fasting and colonics, she might well have died. It has +been wisely said that intelligence may be defined as the ability to +correctly determine differences, similarities, and importances. I +want my readers to be intelligent about understanding the relative +importances of different hygienic treatment and useful supporting +practices. + +Echinacea and chaparral leaves, red clover flowers, and fenugreek +seeds are made into medicinal teas that I find very helpful in +detoxification programs, because they all are aggressive blood or +lymph cleansers and boost the immune response. These same teas can +be used to help the body throw off a cold, flu, or other acute +illness but they have a much more powerful effect on a fasting body +than on one that is eating. Echinacea and chaparral are +extraordinarily bitter and may be better accepted if ground up and +encapsulated, or mixed with other teas with pleasant flavors such as +peppermint or lemon grass. These teas should be simmered until they +are at the strongest concentration palatable, drinking three or four +cups of this concentrate a day. If you use echinacea, then chaparral +probably isn't necessary and visa versa. Red clover is another blood +cleanser, perhaps a little less effective but it has a pleasant, +sweet taste and may be better accepted by the squeamish. + +If there is lymphatic congestion I always include fenugreek seed tea +brewed at the strength of approximately one tablespoon of seeds to a +quart of water. Expect the tea to be brown, thick and mucilaginous, +with a reasonably pleasant taste reminiscent of maple syrup. + +Kelly used poultices of clay and wheat grass pulp on her lumps, +somewhat like the warm castor oil poultices I used on my mother's +arthritic deposits. Poultices not only feel very comforting, but +they have the effect of softening up deposits and tumors so that a +detoxifying, fasting body is more able to re absorb them. Poultices +draw, pulling toxins out through the skin, unburdening the liver. +Clay (freshly-mixed potters clay I purchase from a potters' guild), +mixed with finely chopped or blended young wheat grass (in +emergencies I've even used lawn grasses) makes excellent drawing +poultices. Without clay, I've also used vegetable poultices made of +chopped or blended comfrey leaves, comfrey root, slightly cooked +(barely wilted) cabbage leaves, slightly steamed onion or garlic +(cooked just enough to soften it). These are very effective to +soften tumors, abscesses and ulcers. Aloe poultices are good on +burns. Poultices should be thought of as helpful adjuncts to other, +more powerful healing techniques and not as remedies all by +themselves, except for minor skin problems. + +Poultices, to be effective, need to be troweled on half an inch +thick, extending far beyond the effected area, covered with cheese +cloth or rags torn from old cotton sheets so they don't dry out too +fast. Fresh poultices needs to be applied several times daily. They +also need to be left on the body until they do dry. Then poultices +are thrown away, to be followed by another as often as patience will +allow. Do not cover poultices tightly with plastic because if they +don't dry out they won't draw much. The drawing is in the drying. + +Sometimes poultices cause a tumor or deposit to be expelled through +the skin rather than being adsorbed, all with rather spectacular pus +and gore. This phenomena is actually beneficial and should be +welcomed because anytime the body can push toxins out through the +skin, the burden on the organs of elimination are lessened. + +Wheat grass juice has a powerful anti-tumor effect, is very +perishable, is laborious to make, but is worth the effort because it +contains powerful enzymes and nutrients that help detoxify and heal +when taken internally or applied to the skin. As a last resort with +dying patients who can no longer digest anything taken by mouth I've +implanted wheat grass juice rectally (in a cleansed colon). Some of +them haven't died. You probably can't buy wheat grass juice that +retains much medicinal effect because it needs to be very fresh and +should be drunk within minutes of squeezing. Chilled sharply and +immediately after squeezing it might maintain some potency for an +hour or two. Extracting juice from grass takes a special press that +resembles a meat grinder. + +The wheat is grown in transplant or seedling trays in bright light. +I know someone who uses old plastic cafeteria trays for this. The +seed is soaked overnight, spread densely atop a tray, covered +shallowly with fine soil, kept moist but not soggy. When the grass +is about four inches high, begin harvesting by cutting off the +leaves with a scissors and juicing them. If the tray contains +several inches of soil you usually get a second cutting of leaves. +You need to start a new tray every few days; one tray can be cut for +three or four days. (Kulvinskas, 1975) + +More wheat grass juice is not better than just enough; three ounces +a day is plenty! It is a very powerful substance! The flavor of +wheat grass juice is so intense that some people have to mix it with +carrot juice to get it down. DO NOT OVERUSE. The energizing effects +of wheat grass can be so powerful that some people make a regular +practice of drinking it. However, I've seen many people who use +wheat grass juice as a tonic become allergic to it much as +antibiotic dependent people do to antibiotics. Better to save wheat +grass for emergencies. + +I also have treated my own breast cancers--twice. The first time I +was only 23 years old. One night I noticed that it hurt to sleep the +way I usually did on my left side because there was a hard lump in +my left breast. It was quite large--about the size of a goose egg. +Having just completed RN training two years prior, I had been well +brain washed about my poor prognosis and knew exactly what requisite +actions must taken. + +I scheduled a biopsy under anesthetic, so that if the tumor was +malignant they could proceed to full mastectomy without delay. I was +ignorant of any alternative course of action at the time. + +I might add that before I grew my first tumor I had been consuming +large amounts of red meat in a mistaken understanding gained in +nursing school that a good diet contained large amounts of animal +protein. In addition to the stress of being a full time psychology +graduate student existing on a very low budget, I was experiencing I +very frustrating relationship with a young man that left me +constantly off center and confused. + +A biopsy was promptly performed. The university hospital's SOP +required that three pathologists make an independent decision about +the nature of a tumor before proceeding with radical surgery. Two of +the pathologist agreed that my tumor was malignant, which +represented the required majority vote. But the surgeon removed only +the lump, which he said was well encapsulated and for some reason +did not proceed with a radical mastectomy. These days many surgeons +routinely limit themselves to lumpectomies. + +I never did find out why I awakened from general anesthetic with two +breasts, but I have since supposed that due to my tender age the +surgeon was reluctant to disfigure me without at least asking me for +permission, or giving me some time to prepare psychologically. When +I came out of anesthesia he told me that the lump was malignant, and +that he had removed it, and that he needed to do a radical +mastectomy to improve my prognosis over the next few years. He asked +me to think it over, but he signed me up on his surgery list for the +following Monday. + +I did think it over and found I was profoundly annoyed at the idea +of being treated like I was just a statistic, so I decided that I +would be unique. I made a firm decision that I would be well and +stay well--and I was for the next fifteen years. The decision healed +me. + +When I was 37 I had a recurrence. At the time I had in residence +Ethyl and Marge, the two far-gone breast cancer cases I already told +you about. I also had in residence a young woman with a breast tumor +who had not undergone any medical treatment, not even a lumpectomy. +(I will relate her case in detail shortly.) I was too identified +emotionally with helping these three, overly-empathetic due to my +own history. I found myself taking on their symptoms and their pain. +I went so far into sympathy as to grow back my tumor--just as it had +the first time--a lump mushroomed from nothing to the size of a goose +egg in only three weeks in exactly the same place as the first one. +Just out of curiosity I went in for a needle biopsy. Once again it +was judged to be malignant, and I got the same pressure from the +surgeon for immediate surgery. This time, however, I had an +alternative system of healing that I believed in. So I went home, +continued to care for my very sick residents, and began to work on +myself. + +The first thing I had to confront about myself was that I was being +a compassionate fool. I needed to learn how to maintain my own +personal boundaries, and clearly delineate what stuff in my mind and +my body was really mine and what was another's. I needed to apply +certain mental techniques of self-protection known to and practiced +by many healers. I knew beyond doubt that I had developed +sympathetic breast cancer because a similar phenomena had happened +to me before. Once, when I had previously been working on a person +with very severe back pain with hands-on techniques, I suddenly had +the pain, and the client was totally free of it. So I protected +myself when working with sick people. I would wash my hands and arms +thoroughly with cold water, or with water and vinegar after contact. +I would shake off their "energy," have a cold shower, walk bare foot +on the grass, and visualize myself well with intact boundaries. +These prophylaxes had been working for me, but I was particularly +vulnerable to people with breast cancer. + +I also began detoxification dieting, took more supplements, and used +acupressure and reflexology as my main lines of attack. My healing +diet consisted of raw food exclusively. I allowed myself fruits (not +sweet fruits) and vegetables (including a lot of raw cabbage because +vegetables in the cabbage family such as cauliflower and broccoli +are known to have a healing effect on cancer), raw almonds, raw +apricot kernels, and some sprouted grains and legumes. I drank +diluted carrot juice, and a chlorophyll drink made up of wheat grass +and barley green and aloe vera juice. I took echinaechia, red +clover, and fenugreek seeds. I worked all the acupuncture points on +my body that strengthen the immune system, including the thymus +gland, lymph nodes, and spleen. I also worked the meridians, and +reflex points for the liver, and large intestine. I massaged the +breast along the natural lines of lymphatic drainage from the area. + +Last, and of great importance, I knew that the treatment would work, +and that the tumor would quickly disappear. It did vanish totally in +three months. It would have gone away quicker if I had water fasted, +but I was unable to do this because I needed physical strength to +care for my resident patients and family. + +Eighteen years have passed since that episode, and I have had no +further reappearance of breast tumors. At age 55 I still have all my +body parts, and have had no surgery except the original lumpectomy. +Many, viewing my muscles and athletic performance, would say my +health is exceptional but I know my own frailties and make sure I do +not aggravate them. I still have exactly the same organ deficiencies +as other cancer patients and must keep a very short leash on my +lifestyle. + +If for some reason I wanted to make my life very short, all I would +have to do would be to abandon my diet, stop taking supplements, eat +red meat and ice cream every day and be unhappy about something. +Incidentally, I have had many residential clients with breast cancer +since then, and have not taken on their symptoms, so I can assume +that I have safely passed that hurdle. + +I've helped dozens of cases of simple breast cancer where my +treatment began before the cancer broadly spread. Kelly's case was +not the easiest of this group, nor the hardest. Sometimes there was +lymphatic involvement that the medical doctors had not yet treated +in any way. All but one of my early-onset breast cancer cases +recovered. I believe those are far better results than achieved by +AMA treatment. + +Before I crow too much, let me stress that every one of these women +was a good candidate for recovery--under 40 years old, ambulatory and +did not feel very sick. And most importantly, every one of them had +received no other debilitating medical treatment except a needle +biopsy or simple lumpectomy. None of these women had old tumors +(known about for more than six months) and none of the tumors were +enormous (nothing larger than a walnut). + +Clearly, this group is not representative of the average breast +cancer case. Hygienic therapy for cancer is a radical idea these +days and tends to attract younger people, or older, desperate people +who have already been through the works. In every one of my simple +cases the tumors were reabsorbed by the body during the thirty days +of water fasting and the client left happy. + +Except one. I think I should describe this unsuccessful case, this +"dirty case," so my readers get a more balanced idea of how fearsome +cancer really isn't if the sick person can clearly resolve to get +better and has no problem about achieving wellness. + +Marie was an artisan and musician from Seattle who grew up back East +in an upper-middle class dysfunctional family. She was in her late +twenties. She had been sexually abused by an older brother, was +highly reactive, and had never been able to communicate honestly +with anyone except her lesbian lover (maybe, about some things). + +Three years prior to coming to see me Marie had been medically +diagnosed as having breast cancer and had been advised to have +immediate surgery. She ignored this advice; Marie never told her +friends, said nothing to her family and tried to conceal it from her +lover because she did not want to disrupt their life together. + +On her own, she did begin eating a Macrobiotic diet. In spite of +this diet, the tumor grew, but grew very slowly. After two years the +tumor was discovered by her lover, who after a year of exhausting +and upsetting arguments, forced Marie to seek treatment. Since Marie +adamantly refused to go the conventional medical route, she ended up +on my doorstep as a compromise. + +By this time the tumor was the size of a fist and had broken through +the skin of the left breast. It was very ugly, very hard. +Biokinesiology showed the usual deadly triangle and other associated +organ weakneses typical of cancer. Marie began fasting on water with +colonics and poultices and bodywork and counseling and supplements. +At the end of the water fast, Marie looked much healthier, with +clear eyes and clear skin and had a sort of shine about her, but the +tumor had only receded enough for the skin to close over it; it was +still large, and very hard. To fully heal, Marie probably needed at +least two more water fasts of equal length interspersed with a few +months on a raw food diet. But she lacked the personal toughness to +confront another fast in the near future. Nor was she emotionally up +to what she regarded as the deprivation of a long-term raw foods +healing diet. + +So I advised her to seek other treatment. Still unwilling to accept +standard medical management of her case, Marie chose to go to the +Philippines to have "psychic surgery." She was excited and +optimistic about this; I was interested myself because I was dubious +about this magical procedure; if Marie went I would have a chance to +see the results (if any) on a person I was very familiar with. Marie +had her tickets and was due to leave in days when her lover, against +Marie's directly-stated wishes, called her parents and informed them +of what was happening. + +The parents had known nothing of Marie's cancer and were shocked, +upset, outraged! They had not known Marie was a lesbian, much less +that their daughter was flirting with (from their view) obvious +quackery. Their daughter needed immediate saving and her parents and +brother (the one who had abused her) flew to Oregon and surprisingly +appeared the next day in a state of violent rage. They threatened +lawsuits, police, incarceration, they threatened to have their +daughter civilly committed as unable to take care of herself. They +thought everything Marie had done for the last three years was my +fault. I was lucky to stay out of jail. Of course, all of this was +why Marie had not told them in the first place; she had wanted to +avoid this kind of a scene. + +Marie did not have enough personal integrity to withstand the +domination of her immediate family. They put her in a hospital, +where Marie had a radical mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation. +Assured that they had done everything that should have been done, +the self-righteous parents went back home. Marie never recovered +from chemotherapy and radiation. She died in the hospital surrounded +by her lesbian friends who took dedicated, ever-so-sympathetic turns +maintaining an emotional round-the-clock vigil. + +Marie's death was partly my fault. She was an early case of mine. At +the time I did not yet understand the total effect of lack of ethics +and irresponsibility on illness. Had Marie really wanted to live in +the first place, she would have sought treatment three years +earlier. In our counseling sessions she always evaded this question +and I had not been wise enough to pin her down with my knee on her +chest and make her answer up. Marie had too many secrets from +everybody and was never fully honest in any of her relationships, +including with me. I think she only came to Great Oaks at her +lover's insistence and to the day she died was trying to pretend +that nothing was wrong. + +All Marie really wanted from her life was to be loved and have a lot +of loving attention. In the end, her dramatic death scene gave her +that, which is probably why she manifested cancer and kept it and +eventually, died from it. + +The name for this game is "secondary gain." A lot of sick people are +playing it. Their illness lets them win their deepest desire; they +get love, attention, revenge, sympathy, complete service, pampering, +create guilt in others. When sick people receive too much secondary +gain they never get well. + +One of the hardest things about being a healer is that one +accumulates an ever-enlarging series of dirty, failed cases like +this one. It is depressing and makes a person want to quit +doctoring. Whenever I get involved with a case I really want them to +get better. My life is put entirely out of joint for several months +dealing with a residential faster. My schedule is disrupted; my +family life suffers; my personal health suffers. No amount of mere +money could pay for this. And then some of these people go and waste +all my help to accomplish some discreditable secret agenda that they +have never really admitted to themselves or others. + +Constant Complaints + +Alice was a middle-aged woman who couldn't understand why she had +always felt tired, even when she was young. Her life had been this +way ever since she could remember. Most puzzling to her was why her +life was so Job-like. She did everything the proper way. Doing +things correctly was important to her, and fitted her Puritan +background. Alice supported all the right causes, did good works, +was active in a Unitarian church and bought all her food at the +healthfood store--and made sure it was organically grown. + +But in spite of Alice's righteous living, her existence was a +treadmill of constant, minor complaints. She was constantly +exhausted, so much so she had difficulty getting up in the morning +and feared she might have chronic fatigue syndrome (whatever that +is). Alice suffered bouts of depression over thoughts like these, +and had many acute illnesses like colds that hung on interminably +and would not go away. She had a constant post-nasal drip. Though +she enjoyed life, her body was a millstone around her neck. + +I've had a lot of clients exactly like Alice. Sometimes they +complain of headaches; sometimes constant yeast or bladder +infections. Whatever the complaints, the symptoms are rarely severe +enough to classify themselves as someone who is seriously ill, but +their symptoms rarely go away and they almost never feel good. +Medical doctors rarely find anything wrong with them, though they +will frequently prescribe an antibiotic to treat a somewhat constant +infection, or an antihistamine for sinus symptoms. Getting a new +prescription drug makes the complaint go away for a short time until +their resistance is lowered again and the very same complaint +returns. These people frequently depend on over the counter pills +and are routinely prescribed sleeping remedies and antidepressants. +If instead of this route they will but take my medicine they are +usually easy to fix and afterwards are amazed that it was all that +simple and that so much of their life has been less than it could +have been. + +Alice had been through the medical doctor route. She had become +quite familiar with antibiotics for her colds and flu, and also took +synthetic thyroid hormone--the doctor had diagnosed her fatigue as +being caused by an underactive thyroid, which was partly correct--but +the thyroid medication didn't give her much more energy. Alice had +been supporting this medical doctor in grand style for over thirty +years but never obtained the relief she sought. + +I put Alice through my usual two hour first-time-visit thorough +analysis. For two weeks before coming to see me she had saved tiny +samples of everything she ate, wrapped them in plastic film, +carefully labeled, and put them in the freezer. Along with these +food samples and a typed list of all these foods, she brought a big +box full of her condiments, herb teas, vitamins, spices, +prescription medications, over the counter drugs, oils, grains, +breads, crackers and small samples of her usual fresh vegetables and +fruits. Even her water. Her entire kitchen! By biokinesiology we +proceeded to test all of her foods for allergic reactions. I also +tested the integrity of her organs and glands and in the process, +got a detailed medical history and list of her complaints. + +Alice had exhausted adrenals, and they probably had been that way +for thirty years. Her pancreas was now too weak to digest the +legumes that made up a large part of her vegetarian diet. She was +allergic to wheat, soy, and dairy products and had especially been +eating dairy in the mistaken notion that it was necessary to keep up +her protein intake. Really very typical. So many health food store +shoppers these days mistakenly believe that, because they are +vegetarian and do not eat meat, they especially need to boost their +protein intake with dairy and soy. Unfortunately, so many North +Americans are highly allergic to dairy and unfortunately, soy +products are as hard or harder to digest than cooked meats. + +Alice was especially shocked to discover that she was allergic to +such foods as cabbage family vegetables, alfalfa sprouts and citrus. +Most people don't think that anyone could be allergic to something +as healthy as alfalfa sprouts. The doctor was right about one thing; +her thyroid was underperforming. He had not noticed that her heart +was weak. + +Medical doctors rarely discover an organ weakness until that organ +actually begins to catastrophically fail. A busy honest doctor will +usually tell the complaining patient there is nothing wrong with +them: go home, take two aspirin, accept the fact that your body is +not perfect and don't worry about it. A hungry doctor will be +delighted to perform countless lab tests, seeking any possible +reason for the complaint. This can go on as long as the patient has +money or as long as the insurance company will pay. They rarely find +anything "wrong" and the patient is far better off if the doctor +doesn't discover something "serious" to treat because their +treatment may carry with it consequences far more severe than the +complaint. For example, I have seen dozens of people whose lives +were virtually ruined after surgical treatment for chronic back +pain. + +Biokinesiology is actually a far more sensitive system of analysis +than lab tests. It picks up weaknesses at a very early stage so +total organ failure can be prevented. Rarely will any of the organ +weaknesses I discover be confirmed by a medical doctor. First I put +Alice on a six week cleanse. She did one week on fresh, raw food; +one week on dilute carrot juice with some green leafy vegetables +juice too; one week on water fasting; and then she repeated the +series. After six weeks of detoxification, I gave Alice a life +extension megavitamin formula, discovered she could not handle the +acid form of vitamin C (that she had already been taking) and had +her start on protomorphogens to rebuild her weakened endocrine +system, her exhausted adrenals and weak pancreas. She also began +taking pancreatic enzymes when she ate vegetable protein. She was +put on a maintenance diet that eliminated foods she was allergic to; +the diet primarily consisted of whole grains, nuts, cooked and raw +vegetables, and raw fruits. On her maintenance diet Alice had a +profound resurgence of energy and rediscovered a sense of well-being +she had not known for decades. She began to feel like she had when +she was a child. Her constant sinus drip was gone. She was able to +stop taking synthetic thyroid hormones and instead, supported her +endocrine system with protomorphogens. + +A Rampaging Infection + +At the age of 40, John, an old bohemian client of mine, came into a +moderate inheritance and went "native" in the Fiji Islands in the +South Pacific. He spent about four months hanging out with the +locals. Life there was so much fun that John completely forgot that +his body was actually rather delicate, that many of his organs were +weak, and that to feel good, he had to live a fairly simon-pure +life. + +But the jovial, accepting, devil-may-care Fijians enjoyed a constant +party, even more so because John's money allowed the Fijians to +manifest powerful, tropical, home-grown strains of recreational +herbs to smoke in abundance, beer and rum and worse, the Fijians +(and John) constantly used a very toxic though only mildly-euphoric +narcotic called kava, something Europeans usually have no genetic +resistance to. The Fijians (and John) also ate a lot of +freshly-caught fish fried in grease, well-salted, and huge, +brain-numbing bowls of greasy starches, foods that they call i'coi, +or "real food" as opposed to things like fruit and vegetables that +aren't real food because they don't knock you to the floor for hours +trying to digest them in a somnambulant doze. + +John miraculously kept up with this party for a few months and then, +while scuba diving, got some small coral scratches on his leg. These +got infected. The infections got worse. Soon he had several huge, +suppurating, ulcerous sores on his legs and worse, the infections +became systemic and began spreading rapidly. He was running a fever +and was in considerable pain. So John booked an emergency ticket +home and fled to find Doctor Isabelle. When I met his plane he was +rolled out in a wheelchair, unable to walk because of pain and +swelling in his legs. + +John was violently opposed to ordinary medical treatment; he +especially would not have taken antibiotics even if he had died +without them because previous courses of antibiotics had been the +precipitant of life-threatening conditions that first brought John +to my care. John used his last strength to get to me because he knew +that had a hospital gotten its clutches on him the medical doctors +would have done exactly as they pleased. + +I gave John a colonic, a gentle, mental spanking, and put him to bed +without any supper. He started water fasting and did colonics every +day. He began gobbling vitamin C (as calcium ascorbate) a few grams +every hour. I put huge poultices on his sores made of clay and +chopped lawn grass (we needed a week or so before a tray of wheat +grass would be ready). John's sores were amazing. Every day a new +one seemed to appear on a different part of the body. The old ones +kept getting bigger and deeper. The largest original ones were about +three inches in diameter, smelled horribly and had almost eaten the +flesh down to the bone. His pain was severe; there was no position +John could assume that didn't irritate one sore or another, and it +was a good thing my house was remote because John frequently +relieved his pain by screaming. John was never delirious, but he was +always original. He did not have to scream, but enjoyed its relief +and howled quite dramatically. I wore earplugs. + +After about two weeks of water fasting, John counted up the total of +his sores. There were forty three. Seven or eight of them were +enormous, two or three inches in diameter and well into the flesh, +but the last ones to appear were shallow, small and stayed small. +After that point no more new ones showed up and the body began to +make visible headway against the infection. Very slowly and then +more and more rapidly, the sores began to close up and heal from the +edges. John's fever began to drop. And he had less pain. I should +mention that John brought an extremely virulent and aggressive +pathogenic organism into our house to which we Americans had no +resistance. Both my husband and I were attacked where the skin had +been broken. However, unlike John, in our cases, our healthy bodies +immediately walled-off the organism and the small, reddened +pustules, though painful, did not grow and within a week, had been +conquered by our immune systems. And after that we had an immunity. + +After about three weeks of his fasting we were thoroughly tired of +hearing John's cathartic howls, tired of nursing a sick person. We +needed a break. John at this point could walk a bit and was feeling +a lot better. John had previously water fasted for 30 days and knew +the drill very well. So we stocked up the vitamin C bottle by his +bed and went to town for the weekend to stay in a motel and see a +movie. As they say in the Canadian backwoods, we were bushed. + +John had promised to be good. But as soon as we left he decided that +since he felt so very much better, he could break his fast. He knew +how to do this and fortunately for him, (it was very much premature +for John to eat) did it more or less correctly, only eating small +quantities of raw fruits and vegetables. But by the time we got back +home three days later, John had relapsed. The pain was rapidly +getting much worse; the sores were growing again and a few small new +ones appeared. Dr. Isabelle again took away his food and gave him +another verbal spanking a little more severe than the one he'd had a +few weeks earlier and put him to bed again without his supper. + +After two more weeks on water, John had gained a great deal on the +sores. They were filling in and weren't oozing pus, looked clean and +the new forming meat looked a healthy pink instead of purple-black. +But John had been very slender to start with and by now he was +getting near the end of his food reserves. He probably couldn't have +fasted on water for more than one more week without starvation +beginning. But this time, when he broke his fast, it was under close +supervision. I gave him dilute juice only, introduced other +sustenance very cautiously and made absolutely sure that +reintroducing nourishment would not permit the organism to gain. +This time it didn't. John's own immune system, beefed up by fasting, +had conquered a virulent organism that could have easily killed him. + +Before the era of antibiotics, before immunizations to the common +childhood illnesses, people frequently died of infections as +virulent as the one that attacked John. They usually died because +they "ate to keep up their strength." Most of these deaths were +unnecessary, caused by ignorance and poor nursing care. For example, +standard medical treatment for typhoid fever used to consist of +spoon-fed milk--sure to kill all but the strongest constitution. Even +without the assistance of massive doses of vitamin C, if people +would but fast away infections they could cure themselves of almost +all of them with little danger, without the side effects of +antibiotics or creating mutated antibiotic-resistant strains of +bacteria. + +Dr. John Tilden, a hygienist who practiced in the '20s, before the +era of antibiotics, routinely fasted patients with infectious +illnesses. Supporting the sick body with wise nursing, he routinely +healed scarlet fever, whopping cough, typhoid, typhus, pneumonia, +peritonitis, Rocky Mountain fever, tuberculosis, gonorrhea, +syphilis, cholera, and rheumatic fever. The one common infection he +could not cure was diphtheria involving the throat. (Tilden, +Impaired Health, Vol. II). + +Recently, medical gerontologists have discovered another reason that +fasting heals infections. One body function that deteriorates during +the aging process is the production of growth hormone so the effects +of growth hormone have been studied. This hormone also stimulates +the body to heal wounds and burns, repair broken bones, generally +replace any tissues that have been destroyed and, growth hormone +stimulates the immune response. Growth hormone also maintains muscle +tone and its presence generally slows the aging process. + +Growth hormone might make a wonderful life-extension supplement; on +it a middle-aged person might readily maintain the muscle tone of +youth while slowing aging in general. Unfortunately, growth hormone +cannot at this time be inexpensively synthesized and is still far +too costly to be used therapeutically except to prevent dwarfism. +However, any technique that encourages a body to produce more of +this hormone would be of great interest to life extensionists. + +The body only produces growth hormone at certain times and only when +certain nutrients are present in the blood. Gerontologists call +these nutrients "precursors." The precursors are two essential amino +acids, argenine and ornithine and certain vitamins such as C and B6. +But having the precursors present is not enough. Growth hormone is +only manufactured under certain, specific circumstances: for about +one hour immediately after going to sleep and then only if the blood +supply is rich with argenine and ornithine but contains few other +amino acids; it is also manufactured during heavy aerobic exercise +that goes on for more than thirty minutes; and growth hormone is +produced at an accelerated rate when fasting. (Pearson and Shaw, +1983). I did not know this when I was fasting John, but now, I would +give argenine and ornithine to someone with a serious infection as +well as massive quantities of vitamin C. + +Chronic Back Pain + +Barry was a carpenter who couldn't afford to lose work because he +was unable to bend or twist or lift. He frequently had bouts of +severe back pain that made working almost impossible. Upon analysis +by biokinesiology I found that he had a major problem with large +intestine weakness and secondarily, adrenal weakness. + +Constipation frequently causes back pain. The muscles of the back +have nerve pathway connections to the large intestines; weakness in +the intestine causes weakness of the back and makes it prone to +injury. But the problem is the intestine, not the back. And the only +way to make the back stay better is to heal the intestine. Many +athletes have very similar problems. For example, they get knee +injuries and think there is something wrong with their knee. Or they +get shoulder injuries and think their shoulder is weak. These people +are only half right. Yes, their knee or their shoulder is weak. But +it could become strong and almost uninjurable if the underlying +cause of the weakness is corrected. + +The knee for example, has nerve pathway connections to the adrenal +glands and kidneys. The shoulder has similar connections to the +thyroid. The foot is weakened by the bladder. The treatment should +first be on the weakened gland or organ and secondarily, on the +damaged muscle tissue. I have solved numerous sports-related knee +problems with protomorphogens for the adrenals and elimination of +food allergies that make the adrenals work overtime. I have fixed +bad shoulders by rebuilding the thyroid. + +In Barry's case, it was the intestine. I asked him about his bowel +function and he said that he was never constipated, had "a daily +bowel movement without a lot of straining." But having given some +6,000 colonics, I knew better. There should have been no straining; +Barry was trying very hard to be regular--he should not have had to +effort. Fortunately, it struck him as true that he needed to +detoxify and I managed to convince him to water fast. He probably +figured, why not since he couldn't work anyway. Barry was a tall, +skinny man to start with and you would think he hardly carried any +fat at all, but he fasted on water for 30 days, receiving a colonic +every day, while I did bodywork on his damaged back. He sure was +constipated and couldn't deny the evidence that floated by through +the sight tube of the colonic machine. By the end of the fast his +colon was fairly repaired and free of old fecal material. And Barry +had become a tall, gaunt-looking guy who had lost about 20 pounds +you wouldn't think he had to spare. + +After a few weeks of careful weaning back on to food, Barry felt +pretty good, terrific even. He had no back pain and found out for +the first time what not being constipated meant. It no longer took +"not very much effort" to move his bowels; they moved themselves. +That was ten years ago. A few months ago, Barry looked me up, just +to say thanks and to let me know that he had not had any more back +problems and had generally felt good because he had more or less +stayed on the improved diet I had instructed him about during his +fast. + +Painful Menstruation + +Elsie was twenty. She came to see me because I had helped Elsie's +mother overcome breast cancer many years earlier. Elsie began to +have very painful periods with profuse bleeding and abdominal pain. +Her nutrition had been generally good because her mother couldn't +survive on the average American diet and had long ago converted her +family to vegetarianism. And like her mother, Elsie had been taking +vitamins for many years. + +A medical doctor diagnosed Elsie as having endometriosis, meaning, +the lining of her uterus had migrated to the fallopian tubes, where +it continued to bleed regularly into the abdominal cavity, following +the same hormonal cycle as the endometritial tissue that lines the +uterus. The doctor offered to try hormonal manipulation and if this +proved unsuccessful, offered a hysterectomy. That would certainly +eliminate the symptoms! + +But Elsie did not wish to eliminate her ability to have children and +preferred not to risk throwing her hormones off balance. So she came +to me. My analysis showed that she had weak ovaries and weak uterus. +These were secondary to a toxic colon, toxic because she had a weak +gall bladder and weak pancreas that reduced her digestive capacity +and turned her improperly combined Organic, vegetarian legume-rich +diet into toxemia. Checking her foods for allergies I discovered the +normal pattern: Elsie was intolerant to dairy, wheat, eggs, corn, +soy and concentrated sugars. + +Being no stranger to fasting (her mother had fasted at length ten +years previously) Elsie undertook a 30 day cleanse on vegetable +juice with daily enemas, taking vitamins in powdered form. After the +fast I put her on protomorphogens for her reproductive organs and +pancreas. The gall bladder had healed by itself during fasting--gall +bladders usually heal easily. Her maintenance diet included using +pancreatic enzyme supplements when eating vegetable proteins and +Elsie eliminated most fats so her gall bladder would not be +stressed. The fasting also overcame her allergic reactions to corn +and wheat but she was still unable to handle soy products, eggs or +dairy. After six months Elsie no longer needed protomorphogens, had +no abdominal pain and her periods were normal. + +You may well be wondering how or why detoxification of the bowels +allowed the body to repair the uterus. The large intestine is a sort +of nest that cradles the reproductive organs, including the ovaries, +uterus, and in the case of the male, the prostate gland. A toxic +colon is like having one rotten apple in a basket, it contaminates +the whole batch. Many problems in the abdominal area are caused by a +toxic colon, including chronic back pain, ovarian cysts, +infertility, birth abnormalities, bladder infections and bladder +cancer, painful menstruation, fibroids and other benign growths as +well as malignant ones, and prostatitis or prostate cancer. Detoxing +the body and cleaning out the colon should be a part of the healing +of all of these conditions. + +Irritable Bowels + +Some peoples' lives don't run smoothly. Jeanne's certainly didn't. +She was abandoned to raise three little kids on welfare. Her college +diploma turned out to be useless. Jeanne used to help me at Great +Oaks in exchange for treatment. During those early years she had +done a 30 day juice fast with colonics. Twenty years later at age +60, having survived three children's growing up, surviving the +profound, enduring loss of one who died as an adult, after starting +up and running a small business that for many years barely paid its +way, and experiencing an uninsured fire that took her house, she +began to develop abdominal pains the doctors named "irritable bowel +syndrome" or "colitis." The MD offered antibiotics and +antispasmodics but Jeanne had no insurance, the remedies were +unaffordable. She also retained considerable affinity for natural +medicine. + +Prior to these symptoms her diet had been vegetarian, and had +included large quantities of raw fruits and vegetables and whole +grains. But the bran in bread was irritating to her bowels, she +could no longer digest raw vegetables or most raw fruit. + +Jeanne's vital force was low; her healing took time. She started on +a long fast supported by powdered vitamins, vegetable broth and herb +teas, but after three weeks was too weak to do her own enemas at +home and could not shop for vegetables to cook into broth. So she +had to add one small serving of cooked vegetable per day, usually +broccoli or steamed kale. This lasted for one more week but Jeanne, +having no financial reserves, had to return to work, and needed to +regain energy quickly. Though not totally healed, she progressed to +a maintenance diet of cooked grains and vegetables and food +supplements, very much like a Macrobiotic diet. She felt better for +awhile but wore down again after another stressful year. + +Her abdominal pains gradually returned though this time she noticed +they were closely associated with her stresses. About one year after +ending her first fast, as soon as she could arrange to take time +off, she began another. This time to avoid extreme weakness, she +took vegetable broth from the outset, as well as small amounts of +carrot juice and one small serving of cooked vegetable a day for +three weeks. Again, this rest allowed the digestive tract to heal +and the pain went away. She returned to her Macrobiotic diet with +selected raw foods that she could now handle without irritating her +bowel. + +She was now healthier then she had been in many years. With improved +energy and a more positive attitude, Jeanne returned to University +at age 65 and obtained a teaching certificate. Now she is making +good money, doing work she enjoys for the first time in 35 years. I +hope she has a long and happy life. She is entitled to one! + +A Collection of Gallbladders + +Gallbladder cases are rather ho-hum to me; they are quick to respond +to hygienic treatment and easy to resolve. I've fixed lots of them. +But an inflamed gallbladder is in no way ho-hum to the person +afflicted with it. I've been frequently told that there are no worse +pains a body can create than an inflamed gallbladder or the +sensations accompanying the passing of a gall stone. I hear from +kidney patients that passing a kidney stone is worse but I've never +had a patient who experienced both kinds of stones to give me an +honest comparative evaluation. + +The only thing dangerous about simple gallbladder problems is +ignoring them (between the bouts of severe pain they can cause) +because then the inflamed gallbladder can involve the liver. I +already told the story of how my own mother lost half her liver this +way. + +The condition is usually caused by a combination of hereditary +tendency, general toxemia, and/or a high-fat diet, especially one +high in animal fats. The liver makes bile that is stored in the +gallbladder, to be released on demand into the small intestine to +digest fat. A toxic, overloaded liver makes irritating +sediment-containing bile that inflames the gallbladder and forms +stones. A high-fat diet forces the liver to make even more of this +irritant. + +A toxic, overloaded, inflamed, blocked gallbladder is capable of +causing an enormous array of symptoms that can seem to have no +connection at all to their cause. In part these same symptoms are +caused by a toxic, constipated colon that, in part, got that way +because of poor fat digestion over a long time. These symptoms +include: severe back pain; headache; bloating; burping; nausea; +insomnia; intestinal gas; generalized aches and pains. + +Medical doctors used to remove a troublesome gallbladder without +hesitation; it was an organ they considered to be highly +dispensable. Without one, the bile duct takes over as a bladder but +its capacity is much smaller so the person's ability to digest fats +has been permanently crippled, leading to increased toxemia and +earlier aging if fats are not eliminated from the diet. These days +the medicos have a new, less invasive procedure to eliminate stones; +they are vibrated and broken-up by ultrasonics without major +surgery. Inflamed gallbladders are usually removed because +gallbladder inflammations resist treatment by antibiotics. + +There are several very effective natural gallbladder remedies. The +best is a three week fast, taking the juice of one or two lemons +every day, along with colonics. The lemon juice tends to clear the +bile duct. The fast allows the gallbladder to heal from +inflammation. In cases that aren't too severe I have had very good +results simply eliminating fats from the diet and using a food +supplement derived from beet tops called AF Betafood. However, in +all these cases, once the gallbladder is no longer "acting up," the +person must stay on a low fat diet. Any fats they do eat must be +vegetable and in small quantities. + +By healing their gallbladders and cleansing their colons, several of +my clients have resolved severe, debilitating back pain, pain so +severe that the suffers were becoming bedridden. Medical doctors +don't associate gallbladder disease with back pain. + +The Frightening Heart + +Heart disease is one of the major causes of death among North +Americans. It evokes images of resuscitation, of desperate races +against time, trying to restart an arrested heart before the brain +dies. It makes people think of horribly expensive surgery, last +wills and testaments, terrible, paralyzing pain. Heart disease is a +great profit center for the medical profession. + +Most heart problems are very easy to fix by holistic approaches, +even many hereditary weaknesses and malfunctions can be healed, if +the work is done before too much organic damage occurs. But it +rarely is easy to get the people to take the necessary medicine; +everything in their lives must change--and fast. + +First of all, people with heart problems must rapidly reach and +maintain normal weight. This can be done by fasting or by dietary +change, usually by eliminating all fats, sugars and refined +starches. Alcohol and tobacco must instantly and forever become only +past memories. It is almost as essential to eliminate flesh protein +foods and dairy. Should that prove entirely too painful, fish in +small quantities and only one or two times a week is tolerable. + +For starters, a long fast, especially one involving lots of bed +rest, is ideal. This gives the heart a chance to heal while the body +weight is adjusted. A period of intense rest even without water +fasting will accomplish almost as much. Even someone with the +potential for heart disease who has not yet had a heart attack would +be well-served to spend a month in bed, losing weight on juice, or +sitting in a rocker on the porch eating only raw foods. After the +weight is down to normal or close to normal and the heart tests +stronger, an exercise program should be started. + +Exercise has to become a religion. A daily aerobic program must be +started on a carefully managed gradient, using the pulse rate as an +regulator, at first raising their maximum heart rate to a point just +below 150 percent of its resting pulse and keeping it there for +thirty minutes. One can walk, jog, ride a bicycle or use an exercise +machine. Actually, everyone should do this, even those with no heart +problems. My husband, who hates the boredom of exercise, enjoys a +ski machine in front of the TV while the stock market program is on. +He finds the TV interesting enough that he pays no attention to his +workout. Daily aerobic exercise will strengthen the heart, gradually +slowing the heart's resting pulse rate, indicating that the heart +has become much stronger, pumping more blood with each pulse. As the +resting pulse drops the exercising heartbeat can be increased to +double the resting rate. + +Highly aggressive, competitive, stress-oriented people have to give +up being adrenaline junkies and learn to relax and assume a +laid-back approach to living. Or die soon. An adrenaline junkie is +someone that enjoys the feeling they get when operating under +stress. Stress and the adrenaline it releases produce a kind of a +drug-high. Many stressaholics cannot give up their adrenaline +addiction while maintaining their previous employment and +life-style, even though their life is at stake. In this sense they +are like alcoholics, who should not take employment tending bar. To +survive for long these people may have to retire or change +professions. Stockbrokers may have to become Organic farmers; +journalists may have to operate a news stand or bookstore, or work +part-time covering the society page and dog shows. Women frequently +turn their family life into a stress-filled drama too. + +With heart problems a life extension megavitamin program is +essential, even for twenty somethings if they have heart disease. +The sixty milligrams of Co-Enzyme Q-10 I recommend for the average +middle aged person will not be enough for heart cases; they should +take at least 120 milligrams daily and consider up to 250 mg. This +much Q-10 greatly boosts the energy output of the heart on a +cellular level. Vitamin E should also be increased, to between 600 +and 2,000 iu daily. I also rebuild diseased hearts with +protomorphogens; usually they must stay on protomorphogens for the +rest of their lives. Niacin taken several times a day in doses, +sufficient to dilate the capillaries and cause a skin flush (50 to +200 milligrams), increases the blood flow to nourish the heart. The +amino acid L. Carnitine is also useful by increasing the energy +output of the heart much like Co-Enzyme Q-10. + +When I put people on this program, the supplements and other +measures gradually take effect, and over months the patient begins +to feel enormously better. Inevitably they come to dislike the +side-effects of the various medications their medical doctor has put +them on and they begin to wean themselves off of heart-stimulating +poisons like digitalis. Another benefit of my program is that +inevitably, blood pressure also drops to a normal range so if they +have been on blood pressure medication they quit that too. Their +diuretics also become unnecessary. The money they save more than +pays for their supplements and the sense of well-being they feel is +beyond value. + +Other Kinds Of Cancer + +There seem to be many other kinds of cancer, at least if you believe +the medical doctors. They divide up cancers and their treatments by +their location in the body and by the type of cancer cells present. +I do not see it that way. To me, a cancer is a cancer is a cancer, +and there is only one kind: it is an immune system collapse, +consequence of the deadly triangle of weak spleen, thymus and liver, +plus a toxic large intestine and weak pancreas. That organ profile +is found in skin cancer, prostate cancer, leukemia, brain cancer, +cancer of what have you. How fast or how slowly the cells multiply +or spread, where they are located, what the cancer cells look like +in a microscope, these are irrelevant factors compared to the body's +ability to conquer the disease. Or die from it. + +If the body's immune system can stop the growth of the cancers and +begin to turn them back before the cancer cells impinge +catastrophically on some vital function, the person can usually +survive. Even if the body cannot completely eliminate all the cancer +cells, but regains enough immune function to keep the existing +cancers in permanent check, a person can survive many years with an +existing, stable cancer without undue pain or discomfort. Still +having a non-growing tumor after a long fast indicates that a person +is a lot better than they were before fasting. + +I believe that virtually everyone has cancer cells in their body, +just like viruses and bacteria. But most people do not develop +cancer as a disease because their immune function is strong so these +misbehaving cells are destroyed as fast as they appear. Mutated, +freely-multiplying cells are caused by peroxidized fats, by free +radicals in the body, by radiation (there has always been background +radiation on Earth), by chance mutation. There are naturally +occurring highly carcinogenic substances in ordinary foods that are +unavoidable. In fact some of these naturally occurring substances +are far more dangerous than the toxic residues of pesticides in our +foods. The body is supposed to deal with all these things; they are +all called insults. It is rarely the insult, but the failure of the +body to eliminate cancerous cells promptly that causes the disease +called cancer. So the treatment I recommend for cancer in general is +the same as the one described for breast cancer cases. Restore the +immune function. + +However, as much as I lack respect for conventional medical cancer +therapies, I do think surgery can have a useful place in cancer +treatment along with hygienic methods. Some people just cannot +confront the lump(s). Or they are so terrified of having a cancer in +their body that their emotions suppresses their own immune function. +Even though surgery prompts a cancer to spread more rapidly, without +their lumps some cancer patients feel more positive. If surgery is +done in conjunction with rebuilding the immune system, the body will +prevent new cancers from forming. + +Removal of a large mass of cancer cells can also lighten the immune +system's task. Not having to kill off and reabsorb all those cells +one-by-one from a huge cancer mass, the body can better conquer +smaller groups of cancer cells. And the die-off of large cancers +produces a lot of toxins, burdening the organs of elimination. This +is an argument for the potential benefit of a lumpectomy. However, I +do not support mastectomies, or the type of surgery that cause +massive damage to the body in a foolish attempt to remove every last +cancer cell, as though the cells themselves were the disease. + +Sometimes cancer tumors are well-encapsulated, walled off and can be +easily removed without prompting metastasis. This type of tumor may +not be completely reabsorbed by the body in any case; though the +immune system may have killed it, an empty shell remains, like a +peanut shell. Sometimes the judgment calls about surgery can get +dicey. When surgery involves removing an organ. I oppose the loss of +useful body parts. + +I have also known and helped people who believed they couldn't +recover without radiation and chemotherapy. What people believe is, +is. The emotions generated when a personal reality is suppressed, +ignored or invalidated will overwhelm an immune system. I always +tell those people who sincerely believe in it to go ahead with +standard medical treatment (while I'm privately praying the doctors +won't cause too much damage). However, when I am supporting a body +with supplements and dietary reform, have put that body on a +raw-food cleansing diet or even a raw food diet with nuts and grains +that hardly detoxifies, and then the person has had chemotherapy and +radiation, the medical doctors in attendance are inevitably amazed +that the side effects are much milder than anticipated, or +non-existent. And fewer courses of chemotherapy are needed than the +doctors expected. + +For example, I worked with a little boy with leukemia. His mother +brought him to me while trying to resolve a conflict with her +ex-husband about the boy's treatment. The father demanded the +standard medical route; the mother was for natural therapy. +Eventually the father won in court, but I had the boy on my program +for three months before the doctors got their hands on him. Even +during chemotherapy and radiation the mother kept the boy on my +program. Throughout the doctors' treatment he had so few bad side +effects that he was able to continue in school and play with the +other children; he did not lose his hair (which would have made him +feel like a freak). He recovered. I don't mind that the medical +doctors took credit, but to my thinking, he recovered despite their +therapy. + +Onion Cases + +All too many of my cases are what I privately refer to as onion +cases. By this I mean the opposite of a simple case. There are +multiple complaints. I call them onion cases because these people +get better in layers, like pealing an onion. As each skin comes off, +the next becomes visible. Sometimes when the patient overcomes an +existing complaint, another appears that was not there in the +beginning, probably this new one is a complaint that they had at an +earlier point in their life, one that had gone away. Onion cases +take a long time to completely heal, sometimes years. There +frequently are psychological aspects to the case that surface with +different physical problems. If I were not an effective psychologist +I could not succeed with most of them. The average medical doctor +probably considers onion cases to be hypochondriacs, but they +usually are not. + +Almost always the first symptoms that demand attention are the most +life-threatening, like immune system failures, liver failures, +pancreatic failures, nervous system failures and heart failures. +With these eliminated, new complaints appear. Often these are +endocrine system imbalances or weak endocrine glands, anemias, mild +heart conditions. Then it gets down to eye or ear infections, +muscular or skeletal weaknesses, mild skin problems, sinusitis, +teeth problems; things that aren't serious but that do degrade the +quality of life. Each one of these layers also carries with it a +psychological component; each of these layers can take three to six +months to resolve. + +I had a pretty good idea from the first visit that Daniel, not yet +30, was going to take some time to get well. He already had a +degenerative condition not usually seen until middle age--crippling +gout and arthritis. He had badly distorted joints, walked with +considerable pain, lacked a full range of movement, had enormous +fatigue and consequently, a well-justified depression. Daniel was +about to give up working as no longer possible, but he liked his +job. And he certainly needed it. + +Daniel's analysis showed massive allergies to foods, a systemic +yeast and multiple virus infections and multiple organ weaknesses: a +life-threateningly weak immune system, weak pancreas, weak adrenals, +weak large intestine. Because he could hardly accept anything he +wasn't allergic to and because he could not afford to quit working +even for a few weeks (though he was about to be forced into complete +disability) I put him on a Bieler fast. This is a monodiet of fairly +substantial quantities of either well-cooked green beans or +well-cooked zucchini, the choice between these two foods depending +on the acid-base balance of the blood. (Henry Bieler, 1965) In +Daniel's case my choice was zucchini, one pint of plain zucchini +puree with a little kelp and garlic added (no salt, no butter, no +nothing else) every few hours. I also put him on heavy vitamin +support and protomorphogens for his desperate immune system. While +on the Bieler fast he did daily enemas at home. Had colonics been +available to him, Daniel couldn't have afforded them. + +Within three weeks he was far more comfortable, had less pain, more +energy even though he was still eating nothing but zucchini, had +less swelling in his joints. During the first month he lost about +ten pounds and had been skinny to start with. I then added other +cooked nonstarchy vegetables to his diet and we continued the same +protomorphogen and supplement program for another month. + +Once each month Daniel came to see me. Each time he had slightly +improved organ strength and was able to tolerate a few more foods. +By the third month he stopped losing weight because we added small +quantities of cooked rice and millet to his diet. However, to +continue his detox, I had him water fast one day a week, staying in +bed and resting all day. At the start and end of the fasting day he +also took an enema. He continued a weekly one-day fast for many +months. By the fourth month, his immune system testing stronger, a +new problem appeared. Daniel had intestinal parasites. So I also put +him on a six month program to eliminate those. + +Daniel required monthly dietary adjustments because he quickly +became allergic if he ate very much of anything very often--broccoli +or rice for example. During this time he became aware of many +negative emotions associated with childhood, of young adult +frustrations and disappointments. He was really very angry about +many things in his life, even though he had for many years +maintained an invariably pleasant social veneer. But now he began +expressing some of these feelings to me and to his associates. + +Daniel had an abusive girlfriend, but as he improved this +relationship became insufferable. So he broke off with this woman +and found a new relationship that was much more positive, one based +on mutual respect and admiration. There are frequently strong +connections between repressed anger and depository diseases like +arthritis and gout. Daniel could not permit himself to constantly be +made angry and still get well. + +His next layer of symptoms did not appear until nearly eighteen +months after he had first come to see me. By this time he had good +energy, had returned to hiking and skiing, camping and canoeing. He +had worked as a printer but was now bootstrapping his own print shop +on a shoestring, and became entirely self-employed. He had a good +romantic relationship. The parasites were gone; his gout and +arthritis was virtually gone; many of his food allergies were gone. +Now his body was demanding that its acid/base balance be adjusted +and he began to pay attention to the minor back problems he had all +along. Daniel had also developed a new problem--inflammation of the +eye. It was so severe that he went to an opthamologist seeking +immediate relief because he could hardly see. I put him on massive +doses of vitamin C and protomorphogens for the eye and we attacked +the other problems. + +Now I still see Daniel every three months for minor dietary and +supplement adjustments. His emotional space is very positive. His +business is doing well. His love life is doing well. He has +developed no new problems and all the old ones are under control. +His organ systems, though better, will never tolerate many insults, +physical or mental, but if he lives within his limits, he has every +chance of a long and happy life. + +Daniel has become a friend of mine by now and I like to see him but +I expect I won't see Daniel very much at all any more. He has +learned what he needs to know to take care of himself. This is a +typical onion case that resolved successfully. However this case +might not have worked out so well had Daniel not possessed a high +degree of personal integrity and bravery, had he not faced and +resolved his emotional conflicts. Fortunately, Daniel had always +conducted an ethical life, without dishonesty or a secret collection +of disreputable acts. Bodies are easy to fix; they are carbon oxygen +engines that work on chemistry and respond unfailingly to physical +measures. But the entity that runs the body is not so simple. The +thoughts and emotions of the spirit impinge on a body as powerfully +or more powerfully than all the vitamins, dietary reform or +protomorphogens I can provide. The mind, and the spirit behind that +mind, can make a body sick or can prevent it from getting well or +staying well despite everything I do. + +Unethical Illness + +I see a lot of spiritually-induced physical illness in my practice. +Maybe more than my share. Maybe its karmic; it tends to find me +because I understand it. And it comes up my driveway because people +who have it often become doctor shoppers, and seek out a naturopath +as a last resort after exhausting everything that modern medical +science has to offer. I have had large numbers of undiagnosable +people that suffer greatly but who medical doctors can find nothing +wrong with and label psychosomatic. I have also repaired people +given specific medical diagnoses that standard physical remedies +cannot make better. + +In most of these cases, the physical illness is secondary to, is an +overlay of a more fundamental spiritual cause. On this type of case +there are inevitably severe problems connected with close friends, +relatives and business associates. The sick person inevitably blames +the friends, relatives and business associates and takes no +responsibility. The problems seem unresolvable. When I probe deeply +enough into these problems, I begin to discover the real infection +below. The sick person, so fond of complaining about all the +terrible things done to them by the people they have or have had +problems with, or sometimes, so proud of not complaining about all +the terrible things done to them. Actually, almost inevitably this +person has committed a huge mass of secret crimes, viciousness and +betrayals, rarely indictable felonious acts, but crimes none the +less, disreputable deeds that must be kept secret. + +These deeds are always completely justified; the sick person always +claims to have been right for having done them and it is next to +impossible for me as a therapist to get them to take responsibility +for their sins. But at the deep, center of almost all people is an +honest, decent soul that knows what it has really done and feels +guilty and judges itself. That is why it says in the Bible, 'judge +not, lest you be judged'. It is not the judgment of the Deity we +have so much to fear; we are own worst judge, jury, and executioner, +and eventually extract from ourselves full payment with compound +interest for all harmful acts. + +People frequently punish themselves with severe, incapacitating +illness or even death. A spiritual illness will not respond very +well to physical treatment until the spiritual malaise's is +resolved. This case has to find enough courage to become honest with +themselves, to admit their deeds in all their disgusting detail and +then to make amends, or if amends are not possible, to at least +cease and desist. They have to take personal responsibly for what +they really are being and what they have really done and most +importantly, accept that they are responsible for creating their own +illness. It is not a virus, a cancer cell or something that just +fell out of the universe and struck them, innocent victims that they +are. They have made their illness and only they can uncreate it. + +Unfortunately, few people who have spent a lifetime indulging +themselves in this degree of irresponsibility have the integrity to +change. This is a tough case. Especially so because they think they +are physically ill, they did not come to me to be defined as a +"mental" case and tend to reject such approaches. + +There is no shortage of additional degenerative conditions that I +could describe. There are eating disorders, shingles, skin problems, +kidney disease, Alzheimer's, senility, mental illness, addictions, +chronic fatigue syndrome, aids. There's macular degeneration, carpal +tunnel syndrome, chronic ear infections (especially in children), +tonsillitis, bronchitis, pancreatitis, cystitis, urethritis, +prostatitis, colitis, sinusitis, osteomyelitis and a dozen other +itises, including appendicitis. There's algias (itises of the +nerves): neuralgia, fibromyalgia. There's ism's (really itises of +the muscles). There are 'onias like pneumonia; omas like carcinoma, +melanoma and lymphoma. + +I could (but won't) write a page or two on every one of these +conditions and turn this book into an encyclopedia. After twenty +five years of practice, there is little I have not seen. Or helped a +body repair. Generally, everyone of those following pages I'm not +going to bother to write would repeat the same message. That the +medical profession has little understanding of the real causes or +cures of disease; that the world is full of unnecessary suffering; +that there are simple, painless, effective, harmless approaches to +eliminating most of the ailments of mankind except the ultimate +ailment, old age, the thing that takes us all eventually; that +essentially all the diseases resolve from the same approach. + +But I have already explained the theoretical basis of natural +hygiene, the key role of toxemia, enervation, constipation, the +essentials of good diet, fasting and colon cleansing, the importance +of regular exercise, and the rational for vitamin supplementation. I +have revealed a lot of the secrets in my bag of tricks, like my +favorite herbs, poultices and wheat grass. + +What concerns me most about medicine today is that there seems to be +ever fewer hygienists practicing. The young holistic practitioner is +overwhelmed with confusing data and approaches and is increasingly +less able to discern what is really important and what is +distraction, and is increasingly intimidated by the AMA, made +fearful of accepting people with serious conditions. Too many young +practitioners become ideologues, clinging to the rightness of a +single rigid discipline, missing the truths that exist in other +approaches and worse, missing the limitations that exist in their +own personal healing methods. + +The current concern about the cost of medical care and resorting to +government-run insurance programs and regulations will do little or +nothing to reverse the trend to more and more sickness that costs +more and more to treat. The root causes of our current crisis are +two fold. One, our food, just as it comes off the farm, is getting +ever worse. This is not even recognized as a problem. After we +process it for an industrial food distribution system, much +nutrition is lost too. This is barely recognized as a problem. Until +we are better nourished, we will be ever sicker and each generation +will become a degeneration. Secondly, our society is suffering from +all the evils of monopoly medicine. This is barely recognized. The +AMA has a stranglehold on the sick. There is no effective +competition for its methods. Alternatives are suppressed. In my +version of a better world, if anyone that wanted to could hang out a +shingle and offer to diagnose, treat and cure disease, a few quacks +would really hurt a few people. But many genuine therapies would +appear and the public would be exposed to workable alternatives. If +anyone that wanted to market it could put a label on a bottle of +pills, power or tincture that said its contents would heal or cure +disease, yes, a few people would be poisoned. And a few would die +needlessly by failing to get the right treatment. But on the +positive side, all this liberty would result in countless new +therapies being rediscovered and many new uses for existing +substances would appear. + +Fundamentally, this is the issue of liberty. I believe it is better +to allow choice and options, to permit the dangers that go with +liberty to exist. And to allow unfortunate outcomes to occur without +intervention into individual lack of intelligence and +irresponsibilities. The opposite is our current path--an attempt to +regulate and control away all dangers. But this overcontrol results +in institutionalized violence and cruelty, inefficiency that is not +checked or exposed by the bright light of a better way. As Churchill +said, 'democracy is the worst form of government there is--except for +all the others.' What he meant is that we must accept that this is +an imperfect world. The best this planet can be is when it is at its +freest, when restrictions are minimized and when people are allowed +to make their own choices, be responsible for their own outcomes and +experience the consequences of their own stupidities. + + + + + + +Appendix + + + + + +Pulse Testing For Allergies + +Coca's Pulse Tests are extraordinarily useful and simple tools for +at-home allergy detection. My clients have succeeded at using this +approach without supervision. Coca's test works on this simple +principle: pulse elevations are caused by any allergic reaction. If +you know what your normal range of pulse rates are, you can isolate +an offending food or substance and eliminate it. Success with Coca's +Pulse Test requires only motivation and a little perseverance, +because in order to test for food allergies, the diet must be +restricted for a few days and your pulse must be accurately taken at +specific intervals during the testing period. + +The test is based on measurement of the resting pulse rate, +something most people have no difficulty learning how to do. The +resting rate is how fast the heart beats after a person has been +sitting still, comfortably relaxing for three to five minutes. When +a person is active the heart beats faster than the resting rate. One +measure of aerobic fitness is how quickly the heart is able to +return to its resting rate. Well-trained athletes' hearts can adjust +from working very hard to a resting rate in only a minute or so; +those who are deconditioned can take three to five minutes for their +heart to slow from even mild exertion to its stable, resting pace. +Those who cannot readily find their own pulse on their wrist or +throat can inexpensively purchase a digital watch that gives a pulse +reading; this kind of watch is used by athletes to make sure their +training pulse is in an acceptable range. + +Preparatory to doing Coca's Pulse Test it is necessary to as much as +possible eliminate allergic food reactions. This requires the +application of discipline for a few days before testing begins. +Allergic reactions can go on for several days after a food has been +eaten and if you are having a reaction to something eaten many hours +or several days previously, it may obscure a reaction to a food just +eaten. + +1. Stop smoking entirely for at least five days before you do a +cigarette test; allergies to cigarettes can take five days to clear. +Besides, you shouldn't smoke, anyway! + +2. For the first three days, count your resting pulse immediately +after awakening in the morning (for one entire minute), and record +the reading. + +3. During the first three days, take your resting pulse half an hour +and again one hour after each meal. It if has elevated more than 12 +beats above the resting rate you found upon arising that morning, +you may assume that some food at the meal you just ate was an +allergen. Temporarily, eliminate from your diet all the foods eaten +at the previous meal until you can check them one-by-one a few days +later. At the end of these first three days you may not have many +foods left that you can eat. That is okay and to be expected; it is +time to begin adding foods back to the diet. + +4. Most people who are allergic to foods are allergic to one or more +of the following: corn, wheat, milk and cheese, yogurt, meat, +alcohol, tobacco. It would be very wise to eliminate these foods too +for the first three days, until they are tested. + +After three days on this regimen, you can assume that many of your +usual allergic food reactions have ceased or at least diminished +significantly and that you probably can get reasonably accurate +testing results on individual foods. A good indicator of having +problems with food allergies in general can also show up during +these initial days. If you have eliminated a large number of foods +and your resting pulse upon awakening has slowed down by several +beats, you can assume you are allergic to foods you were eating. + +I would not be at all surprised that by the end of the third day you +were only eating a very few fruits and vegetables and had eliminated +everything else. A more effective variant of the testing procedure +calls for a three or four day water fast to clear all allergies with +absolute certainty, and then to introduce foods one at a time as +described below. + +On the fourth and subsequent few days, take your resting pulse upon +arising and then eat a modest quantity of a single food: for +example, eat a slice of bread, or a medium sized glass of milk, or +an orange, or two tablespoons sugar in dissolved in water, or a few +dried prunes, or a peach, or an egg, or a medium-sized potato, or a +cup of black coffee without sweetener, or a few ounces of meat, or a +stick of celery, or half a cup of raw cabbage, or an onion, or a +date, or a few hazelnuts, etc. Count the pulse one half hour later +and again one hour after eating the test item. + +If any food raises the resting pulse over 12 beats per minute above +your morning resting pulse, that food should be eliminated; you are +certainly allergic to it or can't digest that much of it. If your +pulse has not returned to its morning resting rate one hour later, +you are still having an allergic reaction to the food you ate +previously and cannot get a decent result on another food until +either your pulse slows again or until the next morning. You may, +however, continue to eat other foods that you know do not provoke +allergic reactions. Because reactions to a food may not clear for +many hours, it is wise to eat only small quantities of individual +foods if you wish to test many of them in a single day. If a food +causes no acceleration of pulse (at least 6 beats above your +estimated normal maximal) that food can be tentatively labeled +non-allergenic. + +After a few days of testing one food an hour, you will become weary +of the routine and wish to eat more normally. It may also occur that +you cannot test more than one or two foods a day from the very first +day because allergic reactions do not clear quickly enough. No +problem, the testing period can go on at a lower level of intensity +for many weeks, trying one new food each morning upon arising. As +you eliminate allergens from your diet one by one, your resting +pulse should drop somewhat and it should be easier to discern +allergic reactions. After you have worked through all the items in +your normal dietary, it would be wise to retest the foods a second +time, breaking your fast with one different test item each morning. +This second testing round may reveal a few more allergic reactions +that were obscured by other allergic reactions the first time +through. + +Vitamin and Supplement Suppliers + +Bronson Pharmaceutical +1945 Craig Road +P.O. Box 46903 +St. Louis, MO 63146 +[800] 525-8466 + +Douglas Cooper Products +Box 65976 +Los Angeles, CA 90065 +[800] 234-8686 + +Prolongevity, Ltd. +10 Alden Road, Unit 6 +Markham, Ontario L3R 2S1 +Canada +[800] 544-4440 + +Prolongevity, Inc. +1142 W. Indian School Road +Phoenix, AZ 85013 +[800] 544-4440 + +Vitamin Research Products +3579 Hwy. 50 E. +Carson City, NV 89701 +[800] 877-2447 + +Publishers Of Books Not Readily Findable + +Life Extension Foundation +2835 Hollywood Blvd. +Hollywood, Florida 33020 +[800] 544-0577 + +I strongly recommend joining and regularly studying their +newsletter. Besides, when you do, Prolongevity will give you a +significant discount that amounts to far more than the cost of a +membership if you use many food supplements. + +Health Research Publishing +P.O. Box 70 +Mokelumne Hill, CA 95245 + +Find here reprints of all the old classics of natural hygiene. + +American Natural Hygiene Society +Herbert Shelton Library +P.O. Box 30630 +Tampa, Florida 33630 + +Find here all of Herbert Shelton's works. + + + + + + +Bibliography + + + + + +Airola, P. N. D., PhD (1974). _How to Get Well._ Phoenix: Health +Plus Publishers. + +Albrecht, W. A. (1975). _The Albrecht Papers_. Kansas City: Acres, +USA. + +Alexander, J. (1990). _Blatant Raw Foodist Propaganda!_ Nevada City, +California: Blue Dolphin Publishing, Inc. + +Alsleben, Rudolph H. and Shute, Wilfred E. (1973)._ How to Survive +the New Health Catastrophes._ Anaheim, CA: Survival Publications. + +de Bairacli Levy, Juliette. (1953) _The Complete Herbal Handbook for +The Dog and Cat._ London: Faber and Faber. + +de Bairacli Levy, Juliette. (1954) _The Complete Herbal Handbook for +Farm and Stable._ London: Faber and Faber. + +Bieler, H. G., M.D. (1965). _Food Is Your Best Medicine_. New York: +Random House. Also Bantam paperback. + +Bliznakov, Emile G., M.D. and Hunt, Gerald L. (1987) _The Miracle +Nutrient: Coenzyme Q-10._ New York: Bantam Books. + +Carrel, A. (1939). _Man the Unknown._ London. + +Carrington, H. (1963). _Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition_ (reprint of +original ca. 1900 edition). Mokelumne Hill, California: Health +Research. + +Clark, J. (1957). _Hunza: Lost Kingdom of the Himalayas._ London: +Hutchinson. + +Coca, Arthur F., M.D. (1956) _The Pulse Test: Easy Allergy +Detection._ New York: Lyle Stuart, Inc. (Also 1978 paperback +edition. New York: Arco Publishing Co.) + +Cornaro, L. (1566). _Discourses on the Sober Life_ (reprint: has +been through many reprintings by various publishers). Mokelumne +Hill, California: Health Research. + +Densmore, E. M. D. (1892). _How Nature Cures_ (Reprinted 1976 by +Health Research, Mokelumne Hill, California). New York: Stillman +& Co. + +DeVries, A. (1963). _Therapeutic Fasting._ Greene, Iowa: Chandler +Book Co. + +Garten, M.O., D.C. (1958) _The Dynamics of Vibrant Health._ Dulzura, +CA: Author. + +Gerson, M., M.D. (1958). _A Cancer Therapy: Results of Fifty Cases._ +DelMar, California: Totality Books. + +Gray, R. (1980). _The Colon Health Handbook_. Oakland, California: +Rockridge Publishing Company. + +Hazzard, L. B. D. O. (1927). _Scientific Fasting: The Ancient and +Modern Key to Health_ (also Mokelume Hill reprint of original). New +York: Grant Publications. + +Hawking, David and Pauling, Linus, editors. (1973) _Orthomolecular +Psychiatry: Treatment of Schizophrenia._ San Francisco: W. H. +Freeman and Company. + +Hoffer, Abram and Walker, Morton. (1978) _Orthomolecular Nutrition: +New Lifestyle for Super Good Health._ New Cannan: Keats Publishing. + +Hopkins, D. P. (1948). _Chemicals, Humus and the Soil._ Brooklyn, +NY: Chemical Publishing Company. + +Jensen, B. D. C., N.D. _You Can Master Disease._ Solana Beach, +California: Bernard Jensen Publishing. + +Jensen, B. D. C., & Bell, S. (1981) _Tissue Cleansing Through +Bowel Management._ Escondido, California: Bernard Jensen. + +Jensen, D. B., D.C. (1976). _Doctor-Patient Handbook._ Provo, Utah: +Bi-Worldl Publishers Inc. + +Jensen, D. B.and Anderson, Mark (1990). _Empty Harvest: +Understanding the link between our food, our immunity and our +planet._ Garden City Park, NY: Avery Publishing Group. + +Jensen, Bernard and Bodeen, Donald V. (1992) _Visions of Health: +Understanding Iridology._ Garden City Park, NY: Avery Publishing +Group. + +Keys, Ancel, Josef Brozek, Austin Henchel, Olaf Mickelsen and Henry +L. Taylor. (1950) _The Biology of Human Starvation._ Two Vols. +Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. + +Kulvinskas, Viktoras.(1972) _Love Your Body._ Wethersfield, Conn: +OMango Press. + +Kulvinskas, Viktoras. (1975) _Survival Into The 21st Century: +Planetary Healers Manual._ Wethersfield, Conn: OMango Press. + +Lee, R. _Assorted Lectures: 1923-1963._ Palmyra, WI: Lee Foundation +for Nutritional Research. + +Lee, R. _Lectures on Malnutrition._ Selene River Press, Fort +Collins, CO. + +McCarrison, S. R. (1921). _Studies in Deficiency Diseases._ London: +Henry Frowde and Hodder & Stoughton. Also Oxford Medical +Publications, 1921. + +McCarrison, S. R. (1936). "Nutrition and National Health." _Journal +of the Royal Society of Arts,_ lxxxiv, 1047, 1067, 1087. + +McCarrison, S. R. (1982). _Nutrition and Health: being the Cantor +Lectures delivered before The Royal Society of Arts 1936 together +with two earlier essays._ London: The McCarrison Society. + +Natenberg, M. (1957). _The Legacy of Doctor Wylie: and the +Administration of His Food and Drug Act._ Chicago: Regent House. + +Oswald, J. A. (1989). _Yours for Health: The Life and Times of +Herbert M. Shelton._ Franklin, Wisconsin: Franklin Books. + +Page, Melvin E. D.D.S. and Abrams, Leon. _Your Body Is Your Best +Doctor._ New Cannan: Keats Publishing. + +Pearson, Durk and Shaw, Sandy. (1983)_ Life Extension: A Practical +Scientific Approach._ New York: Warner, 1983. + +Pearson, R. B. (1921). _Fasting and Man's Correct Diet_ (Reprint, +Health Research, Mokelumne Hill, California): originally published +by author. + +Picton, D. L. J. (1949). _Nutrition and the Soil: Thoughts on +Feeding._ New York: Devin-Adair. + +Pottenger, F. M. J., M.D (1983). _Pottenger's Cats._ La Mesa, +California: Price-Pottenger Nutritional Foundation. + +Price, W. A. (1970). _Nutrition and Physical Degeneration._ La Mesa, +California: Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation. + +Quigley, D. T. (1943). _The National Malnutrition_. Palmyra, WI: Lee +Foundation for Nutritional Research. + +Rodale, J. I. (1949). _The Healthy Hunzas._ Emmaus, PA: Rodale +Press. + +Shaw, George B. _Back To Methusela_. A play available in many +editions. + +Schuphan, W. (1965)._ Nutritional Values in Crops and Plants._ +London: Faber and Faber. + +Shelton, H. M. _Health for All_ (reprint of original, original date +unknown). Mokelumne Hill, California: Health Research. + +Shelton, H. M. (1934). _Fasting and Sunbathing._ San Antonio: Dr. +Shelton's Health School. + +Shelton, H. M. (1935). _Orthotrophy._ San Antonio, Texas: Dr. +Shelton's Health School. + +Shelton, H. M. (1946). _Getting Well._ San Antonio, Texas: Dr. +Shelton's Health School. + +Shelton, H. M. (1951). _Food Combining Made Easy._ San Antonio, +Texas: Dr. Shelton's Health School. + +Shelton, H. M. (1958). _Human Beauty: Its Culture and Hygiene._ San +Antonio: Shelton's Health School. + +Shelton, H. M. (1971). _Exercise!_ Chicago: Natural Hygiene Press. + +Sherton, H. M. (1968). _Natural Hygiene: Man's Pristine Way of Life._ +San Antonio, Texas: Shelton's Health School. + +Sinclair, H. M. (Ed.). (1953). _The Work of Sir Robert McCarrison._ +London: Faber and Faber. + +Sinclair, Upton. (1921). _The Fasting Cure_ (Health Research +Reprint, Mokelumne Hill, California, 1955). Pasedena, California: +Originally published by the author. + +Taylor, R. (1964). _Hunza Health Secrets for Long Life and +Happiness_. New York: Award Books. + +Tilden, J. H., M.D. (1912). _Diseases of Women and Easy Childbirth_ +(Reprinted 1962 by Health Research, Mokelumne Hill, CA). Denver: +Smith Books Press. + +Tilden, J. H., M.D. (1921). _Appendicitis_ (Reprinted by Health +Research, Mokelumne Hill, CA, 1976). Denver: John Tilden. + +Tilden, J. H., M.D. (1921). _Impaired Health: Its Cause and Cure_ +(reprint of original ca. 1920). Mokelumne Hill, California: Health +Research. + +Tilden, J. H., M.D. (1939). _Constipation: A New Reading on the +Subject_ (Reprinted 1960 by Health Research, Mokelumne Hill, +California). Denver, Colorado: John Tilden. + +Tilden, J. H., M.D., & Trail, R. T., M.D. (1926). _Toxemia +Explained & The True Healing Art_ (reprint of two original +articles; also available through Health Research). Yorktown, Texas: +Life Science. + +Voisin, Andre. (1959). _Soil, Grass and Cancer._ New York: +Philos. Library. + +Voisin, A. (1963). _Grass Tetany._ London: Crosby Lockwood and Son +Ltd. + +Walford, Roy L. M.D. (1983) _Maximum Lifespan._ New York: Avon, +1983. + +Walford, Roy L. M.D. (1986) _The 120-Year Diet: How to Double Your +Vital Years._ New York: Simon and Schuster. + +Weindruch, Richard and Walford, Roy L. (1989) _The Retardation of +Aging and Disease by Dietary Restriction._ Springfield, Illinois: +Charles C. Thomas. + +Whorton, J. (1974). _Before Silent Spring: Pesticides and Public +Health in Pre-DDT America._ Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton +University Press. + +Wigmore, Ann D.D. (1964) _Why Suffer? The Answer? Wheatgrass God's +Manna!_ Boston: Hippocrates Health Institute. + +Williams, R. J. (1971). _Nutrition Against Disease._ New York: +Pitmann. + +Williams, R. J. (1975). _Physicians' Handbook of Nutritional +Science._ Springfield, Illinois: Charles W. Thomas. + +Wrench, G. T., M.D. (1938). _The Wheel of Health _(Reprinted 1960 by +the Lee Foundation for Nutritional Research; Reprinted by Bernard +Jensen International, Escondido, CA, 1990. ed.). London: C.W. Daniel +Company Ltd. + +Wylie, H. W. (1915). _Not By Bread Alone: The Principles of Human +Nutrition._ New York: Hearst's International Library. + +Wylie, H. W. (1929). _The History of a Crime Against the Food Law_ +(Reproduced by Lee Foundation for Nutritional Research, Milwaukee, +1955 ed.). Washington, D.C.: H. W. Wylie. + +Wylie, H. W. (1930). _An Autobiography._ Indianapolis: +Bobbs-Merrill. + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg Etext of How and When to Be Your Own Doctor +by Dr. Isabelle A. Moser with Steve Solomon + diff --git a/old/4343.zip b/old/4343.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bf24452 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/4343.zip |