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diff --git a/old/4343-h/4343-h.htm b/old/4343-h/4343-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7ce95f2 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/4343-h/4343-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9307 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML LANG="en"> + +<HEAD> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> + <TITLE>How and When To Be Your Own Doctor</TITLE> +</HEAD> + +<BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF"> +<H2> +<A HREF="#doctor">How and When To Be Your Own Doctor</A> +</H2> + +<PRE> +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. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before distributing this or any other +Project Gutenberg file. + +We encourage you to keep this file, exactly as it is, on your +own disk, thereby keeping an electronic path open for future +readers. 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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 +</PRE> + + + +<A NAME="doctor"></A> + +<FONT SIZE="5"><BR> +<BR> +<B>How and When to Be Your Own Doctor</B></FONT> <BR> +<BR> +<FONT SIZE="4">by Dr. Isabelle A. 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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(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> |