Gemma Calzada nutritionist :: Approach

The source factors of our diseases

gemmac@livingfullynourished.com (Gemma Calzada Roca) — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 20:43:00 +0100

We tend to make responsible of our physical problems to virus, accidents, stress; our emotional disorders to a discussion, a disappointment, a sentimental separation... but the incidence that these events, these triggering factors, have in our health depend on the level of strength of our health in that moment; this is, of the weakening and strengthening factors.

Continue reading The source factors of our diseases

Weakening, strengthening, and triggering factors

The body is capable of healing and detoxifying itself, provided we don’t exceed its limits. If this were not the case, we wouldn’t survive the vast number of agents attacking our systems daily. When there is an onslaught, usually a chronic one, from which the body is unable to recover, an alarm is raised. The symptoms of an illness show that there may be a danger that exceeds the defence capacity of the organism.

A significant emotional, mental or spiritual strain can remain unnoticed for a long time and thus render a person more vulnerable to other surface-level, secondary factors that exhibit more obvious symptoms. As a result, when these symptoms appear, the person may mistake them for the cause of their disease, while the real, underlying problem remains hidden.

For instance, a person with poor sleep patterns and/or chronic stress could suffer from digestive problems, which may in turn cause another illness – a migraine, for example. This person then focuses all his efforts on following a healthy diet, and he discovers – thanks to a food intolerance test – that he has several food intolerances which cause headaches. By adjusting his diet accordingly, he succeeds in avoiding the migraines. However, this only lasts for a few months… until he develops a new food intolerance, and his headaches reappear. This process will repeat itself until he deals with the root of his problem: the stress and disturbed sleep patterns which are the origin of his increasing food intolerances.

The opposite is possible too, in the case of a person who doesn’t pay much attention to his diet but is very aware of the effects of stress on his health. When his stress increases, he starts suffering from Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), stomach ulcers, bloating, etc. He blames his boss and his family for raising his stress levels, but he doesn’t realize that if he had better nutrition, he would be able to withstand these periods of increased stress without suffering from any of these ailments. It is generally thought that one life event provides the trigger for a disease. Upon closer investigation, however, it is usually found that the person already had several pre-existing imbalances in other areas which have weakened the person’s system, providing the basis of a predisposition to a certain disease.

People tend to identify the specific life event as the cause, while the real cause of the illness is the underlying complex of imbalances that were already present, and which gave rise to chronic vulnerability. A disease manifests when there is a predisposition to it, and a subsequent event triggers it. The predisposition has been established due to the weakening factors, and the impulse is given by the triggering factor.

For instance, the consumption of alcohol is a weakening factor for headaches. The triggering factor can be loud noise, or simply waking up in the morning.

weakening factor	triggering factor	illness
inadequate nutrition that weakens the immune system	exposure to the influenza virus	flu
inadequate nutrition that disrupts neurotransmitters	relational conflict with a person	depression
inadequate nutrition that weakens bones	fall	bone fracture
inbadequate nutrition that generates inflammation	sleeping in an uncomfortable bed	bacl àomn
inadequate nutrition that generates inflammation	awkward sitting / sleeping position or movement	torticollis
inadquate nutrition plus weak spiritual values	the loss of a loved person	depression (different to the appropriate sorrow)
inadequate nutrition that weakens the immune system	tick bite	Lyme disease
inadequate nutrition, plus chronic stress, plus lack of physical activity	dismissal	heart failure
chemicals that harm the skin or mucosa protection	exposure to human papilomavirus	plantar, hands, genital warts
repeated antibiotic treatment plus chronic exposure to tobacco smoke in childhood	exposure to allergens	allergies

In the case of immunological hypersensitivity, the triggering factor is the allergen; in sensorial hypersensitivity, the triggering factor can be noise, the sun, a smell, etc.; in hypersensitivity relating to the nervous system, triggers can be stress, intellectual effort, worries, etc.; in the emotional ones it can be relational conflict – a separation, or a critical comment, for example – In all of the above, the weakening factors are all the different aspects of a person’s lifestyle, all the emotional and physical traumas, as well as toxins the body has been exposed to, both past and present.

One way to isolate an illness’ trigger is to review the few months prior to the start of the disease to identify an important change in that period. These changes can include an emotional conflict, an accident, an extremely stressful situation, a change in diet, a vaccine, etc.

However, if someone has been suffering from an illness for several years, or since their childhood, it can be difficult to remember what could have triggered it. The illness could also have started very slowly, getting gradually worse over a number of years; it could even have existed from birth.

Whatever the case, it is possible for a person to improve their overall lifestyle to ensure that the impact of the disease is as low as possible. Even if the disease is genetic, the expression of the genes (epigenetics) depends on several environmental factors, ranging from nutrition to the emotional state. A weakening factor can switch on a gene, so when the triggering factor occurs the disease is declared; a strengthening factor can switch off a gene, so that even if the triggering factor occurs, the disease doesn’t manifest.

For example, an allergy to nuts, pollen, or any kind of allergy may be activated or de-activated depending on nutrition and lifestyle choices.

The many vicissitudes of life make it difficult to avoid or prevent the triggering events, as they are beyond our control. The same applies to inherited genetic predispositions. When we suffer from an illness, we usually blame external factors, such as other people, or unfortunate events (a fall, a divorce, an epidemic outbreak, etc.). However, we are the ones who need to assume responsibility for what is happening in our lives. As many great thinkers of our time believe, each person creates their own reality, and attracts positive or negative events with their thoughts. If we work on being internally balanced and physically, mentally, and spiritually strong, not only will the forces of the universe be on our side, but we will feel fortunate, and will have the necessary strength to deal with challenges and unpleasant events as they arise. It is best to work on avoiding the weakening factors, knowing that prevention is better than cure, rather than blaming an unfortunate event for any adversity.

Vegan or paleo? Choose vegan and paleo!

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Mon, 04 Feb 2019 16:01:00 +0100

Vegan or paleo? Two approaches to nutrition that are completely opposed. How is it possible that both have considerably improved the health of many people?
Vegan and paleo!. Why not unite both approaches, taking the best of each one, to form a diet that is even better?

Continue reading Vegan or paleo? Choose vegan and paleo!

Both the nutritionists that favour vegan plant-based diets and those that stand for paleo diets have very good arguments supported by scientific studies. Innumerable testimonials are cited on both sides crediting the respective diet for their healing while criticising the damaging effects of the opposite diet on their health. The explanation for this may be found in the fact that both entail an improvement compared to a conventional “healthy and balanced diet”.
In the vegan diet, this improvement is the elimination of animal products and sub-products; while in the paleo diet grains, beans and pulses are removed. That is to say, not one but both of these foods are detrimental to our health: animal products, as well as grains and pulses. As such, by eliminating any of these foods, our health will benefit, as long as they are replaced with healthier products.
That is, if a person becomes vegan by replacing animal products by eating more bread, pizza, pasta and desserts, their health will worsen. In the same way, if by adopting a paleo diet grains and pulses are replaced with processed meat, canned fish, and dairy products, one’s health will also decline.
Instead, the replacement must be made by increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables. By doing so, either diet will bring about an improvement.
However, if one’s health does not improve even after making the replacement with fruits and vegetables, it is possible that the chosen diet was not appropriate to the type of healing (i.e. addressing a specific disease/illness) that was needed. For example, the principal causing factors of the Raynaud syndrome are the complex carbohydrates, so a vegan diet based on grains and starches won’t work. In this case, a paleo diet is more suitable. When following a paleo diet, however, it’s possible that new symptoms may begin to appear, including fatigue, dark circles under the eyes, constipation, bloating, slowing down of mental abilities, or even memory problems.
The improvement achieved by one of these diets would be even more significant if both of these were combined, by becoming vegan and paleo at the same time. How can we do this? This is possible by eating only the foods that are common in both diets.

Although there can be big differences between different branches of vegan or paleo diets, in general the food that is allowed in both diets are: fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. And these are precisely the foods that are recommended by the Natural Hygiene approach to health as the best sources of nutrition for humans.
As always, it is important to consider that one’s health condition may temporarily worsen in the process of changing one’s diet, due to the detoxification and possible withdrawal to food products that one might have been addicted to. In this case, consulting a nutritional therapist can be helpful.
Thus, if changing to a paleo or vegan diet has improved your health and you want to progress even further, opt for a paleo and vegan diet.

The vital energy system. Can sunlight, exercise or Reiki compensate for an unhealthy diet?

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Wed, 06 Dec 2017 17:47:00 +0100

Millions of people travel every year on holidays to the south of Europe, looking for sunlight and Mediterranean beaches. Others prefer to spend their vacation doing sports in a little mountain village. We are attracted to beaches by the sunlight, warm temperatures softened by the sea breeze and the idyllic landscapes; and to the mountains by the various sport possibilities, the clean water and air, nature, cool nights as well as the dreamlike landscapes. In both cases, people look to find activities that will bring them wellness and health.
Sunlight, warm temperatures, sports, nature, … from the Natural Hygiene or Life Science perspective, it is considered that for a person to enjoy good health, they need to obtain all elements that are essential in life: pure air and water, the appropriate nutrients, sunlight, nature, physical exercise, rest, sleep, emotional stability, etc. (see description and detailed list in this article)
Nevertheless, in our busy everyday life, it is difficult to fulfil all of these needs. There is always an element that is missing in every person: for some it is a healthy diet, for others it is sufficient sleep, or physical exercise, emotional stability, etc. However, it seems that we survive, and even manage to live in good health, despite missing some of these essential elements in our lives.

Continue reading The vital energy system. Can sunlight, exercise or Reiki compensate for an unhealthy diet?

We could say that there exists a type of compensation between each of the different necessities in our lives. When one fails, it can be compensated by another that is stronger. This happens in the same way as in people with any kind of disability.
Have you ever observed a disabled person? Blind people, for instance, have develop their senses of hearing and touch extraordinarily. This heightened development of these two senses compensates not being able to see. In the same way, when an essential aspect is missing in a person’s health, they must look to compensate it by other needs.

Although a person’s problem may be of a psychological nature, the simple fact of improving their diet, taking care to eat foods that facilitate the flow of neurotransmitters, will always make them feel better and stronger psychologically. And if a person’s problem is of a nutritional nature, then being strong psychologically – for instance by having a positive attitude and knowing how to accept the disease – will help them to recover from their disease.
The most important objective to help a person restore good health is to find the causes of their disease. For this reason, therapists should master all those disciplines related to health: physical health, sleep, nutrition, psychology, spirituality, etc. This is the aim of the Natural Hygiene approach to healing. But it is difficult for a health counselor to learn so much about so many different topics in sufficient depth. This is why therapists specialise in a specific topic; and the truth is that a great majority of people are satisfied to follow a certain therapy, even if this discipline is not the real cause of their disease. Doing more physical exercise always helps all people, in the same way that eating healthily, having a stable emotional, and spiritual life also has an important impact.
Personally, I always notice the fact that when I am on holidays, I enjoy a better health. I can even eat some foods that make me sick in normal conditions, as they barely affect me when I am on holiday. For instance, I would be able to eat a paella every now and then without a problem, whereas during the rest of the year I can’t eat any rice without suffering serious circulatory problems (see this article). We could say that the fact of enjoying the sunlight, having less things on our mind, less stress, a more agreeable temperature, etc. can compensate for dietary excesses. In my case, alimentary intolerances and an inadequate diet are better tolerated when the other aspects necessary to life are more than fulfilled.
From these facts, you could see the functioning of the human body as an energy system. The energy I am referring to has nothing to do with calories; you could compare it to a battery. Our human battery can be charged with vital energy in different ways: rational sunbathing, walking into nature, practicing some physical exercise, sleeping well, eating healthy foods, laughing, listening to classical music, praying, etc.
There exist a great number of human activities that decharge our vital energy batteries. For instance, listening to strident music, as Masaru Emoto demonstrated; electromagnetic radiation such as from mobile phones; cold temperature and humidity from the fog; travelling on an airplane; negative emotions; …
Some of the essential aspects needed for life can spend vital energy if provided negatively. Once a person breathes polluted air or water, they will need to spend energy to get rid of the toxic products in their body; if they eat unhealthy foods they will spend energy to get rid of such products from their body; if they suffer from stress or negative emotions the body will use up more energy than if the person is happy and relaxed; if one carries out physical exercise beyond one’s capacity this will also reduce their energy. Physical exercise consumes calories, yet if it is carried out correctly, it charges the energy in our batteries positively.

We need a certain level of vital energy to enjoy good health. When the level reduces beyond a certain value, we start to suffer from health problems. The lower the level of vital energy, the more serious the diseases, and when the level of vital energy is chronically deficient, diseases also become chronic. Let’s see some examples to better understand this phenomenon.
Imagine that eating a paella consumes 5 units of energy. If this person is just at the limit of the energy level for good health, by eating a paella they will fall sick. But imagine that sunbathing for a few hours provides you with 6 units of energy. Providing that all other essential elements that intervene in the human energy system are constant, if the person has sunbathed, they will have sufficient energy to eat a paella without falling ill.
Another example would be to suppose that every minute of physical exercise brings one 0.25 units of energy. Then, a person who has carried out 40 minutes of exercise (0.25*40=10) would be able to eat a paella (5 units of energy) for lunch and some French fries for dinner (if the French fries consume 5 units of energy).
Now imagine that eating a salad with the adequate ingredients, adequate quantity, and at the adequate time, gives you 20 units. Then the person can endure maybe 20 minutes of intense stress without becoming sick (if every minute of stress consumes 1 unit of energy).
On the other hand, some actions have an energy cost that is too high. Let’s suppose that the minimum level a person must maintain to be in good health is 10,000. People who have a level of energy higher than 10,000 enjoy a good health and can afford certain vicissitudes in their lives without becoming sick, and they can also afford certain negative actions, depending on the amount of energy they have in excess.
We can consider, for example, that eating a hamburger with French fries and coca-cola has an energy cost of 100 units. If a person’s energy level is no higher than 10100, they will begin to suffer certain health issues when they eat this food.
As logic predicts, it is necessary to have the necessary level of vital energy to be able to spend it in certain activities that consume it. Then, it is not a question of eating unhealthy food in excess, believing that these excesses can be consumed or “burned” by exercising. It doesn’t work this way – instead one must elevate their energy level sufficiently by exercising before, to afford a treat.
In summer, when we enjoy the sun, resting, exercising, and we are not summited to too much stress, our vital energy level is higher, and we can spend this extra energy by eating some treats such as ice glaces and paellas. We don't use to fall sick too much often in summer.
But in winter, there is not sun; we work until late in the evening, often summited to high stress; we don't sleep enough and the cold weather consumes our vital energy. Then, excess food on Christmas and other celebrations decrease even more our energy, so we finish with such a low level of energy that we often fall sick.
A person with alimentary intolerances would be able to overcome them, in a way, by improving other aspects in their lifestyle, in such a way that their energy is elevated to a sufficient amount to be able to “spend” it on those prejudicial foods.
I would like to add that Reiki and a number of other energetic therapies increase the vital energy level of our batteries in a very significant manner. See more about my offer on energy therapy sessions here.

However, what I explained is not as simple as it seems, our body does not function in such a mathematic manner. This phenomenon consists of a non-lineal system, with an infinite number of variables, and therefore it is not as deterministic. It is also much more complex and there probably exist many different types of vital energy: physical energy, emotional energy, spiritual energy… and also within physical energy we might be able to distinguish between the energy of each organ and body part.
All of the different vital energies that a person possesses are related and there exists a compensation between them: good physical energy can compensate for low emotional energy; a good health and sleeping well can help one to be emotionally stronger. Although evidently, physical activities have a more important impact over our physical energy; emotions and beliefs over our emotional energy; and spiritual lives over our spiritual energy.
But despite the complexity of the human vital energy system, we can try to understand a bit about how our own vital energy system works, and identify what are our limits, even if sometimes we are mistaken. For this reason I suggest you keep a diary where you write down every day what you have eaten, and the other important variables: how much physical exercise you carried out, stress, types of activities, sleep, etc. With time, you can arrive to conclusions based on studying this diary. For instance, a person may conclude that every time that they eat rice they feel more tired, more bloated, and their memory fails them; but if they exercise for an hour or fasts for 24 hours, eating rice doesn’t have this negative effect.
I encourage you to write your diary and learn to know your personal vital energy system better and its possible compensations!

The Food Combining System

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Sat, 25 Jun 2016 11:38:00 +0100

The food combining system, logically evolved from the study of gastric physiology and the actions of enzymes and digestive juices. Hygienic food selection and the principles or food combining are based on the nutritional needs of humans and the limitations of our digestive systems. It is not what we eat, but what we digest and assimilate, that determines the nourishment our bodies receive. Food combining is based on the discovery that certain combinations of food may be digested with greater ease and efficiency than others.
This article has been extracted by the “Digestive Physiology and Food Combining” by T.C..Fry

Continue reading The Food Combining System

Correct food combinations result in an immediate improvement in health by lightening the load of the digestive organs. Better nutrition is assured, and there is better digestion, less fermentation and putrefaction, more comfort, less distress and less gas.
Fermentation causes irritation and poisoning. Proper food combining removes fermentation as a cause of indigestion (though there are many other conditions that can cause digestive problems, such as overeating; eating hurriedly or when tired, worried, angry, fearful, grieved, etc.; or when you are in pain or have a fever or inflammation).
The successful results obtained through the utilization of me food combining rules can be explained and substantiated by the facts of physiological chemistry, particularly the chemistry of digestion.
No food program, nor any food combining program, will cure disease. Healing can be effected only by removal of the causes of disease. Incorrect food combinations can be an important cause.

Food Classification

Foods vary widely in character and nutritional constituents. This classification of food categories will provide clarification and greater understanding of our discussion of the principles of digestive physiology and chemistry that decree correct food combining.

Proteins

All foods contain some protein, and the amounts of protein in different foods vary widely. We classify as protein foods those that contain a comparatively high percentage of protein—these are the concentrated protein foods. Such foods include:

Nuts
Seeds
Soybeans
Animal proteins
Cheese
Eggs

Digestion time in the stomach of proteins use to be quite longer than the rest of food:
Seeds & Nuts - 2 to 3 hours.
Egg yolk - 30 min Whole egg - 45 min.
Fish (white) - 30 min. Fish (fatty fish) - 45 min. to 60 min.
Chicken - 1 h 30 min to 2 hours
Beef, lamb - 3 to 4 hours
Pork - 4 h 30 min to 5 hours.

Carbohydrates

The carbohydrates are the starches and sugars.
The starchy vegetables are potatoes (all kinds), mature corn, parsnips, and Jerusalem artichokes; the mildly starchy vegetables are carrots, globe artichokes, beets, winter squash, cauliflower, rutabaga, salsify and several others.
The combination foods (starchy proteins) referred to under the protein category are classified as starches for purposes of food combining. These include dried and fresh legumes, grains, peanuts, cashew and chestnuts. Green vegetable proteins (to be combined as starch) include peas in the pod, lima and other beans in the pod, and mature green beans in the pod. Sprouts contain significant amounts of protein, especially in the early stages.
Digestion time of carbohydrates:
Starches and mildly starches: 60 min.
Grains: 90 min.
Legumes & Beans: 90 min. Soy beans -120 min.

Nonstarchy and green vegetables

Lettuce, celery, endive, chicory, cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts, collards, spinach, dandelion, beet tops, turnip tops, chard, chinese cabbage, chive, chicory, mustard, turnip, egg-plant, green beans, cucumber, sorrel, parsley, rhubarb, onions, leeks, garlic, zucchini, escarole, cardoon, bamboo sprouts, asparagus, radish, pepper, fennel, etc.
Digestion time:
Raw salad vegetables 30 to 40 min.
Steamed or cooked vegetables 40 min.
Root vegetables 50 min.

Fats

The recommended fats are nuts, seeds, avocados, olives and coconut.
The other fats are not recommended (vegetable oils, meat fats, butter, etc).
Digestion time:
Avocado and olives: 45 min to 2 h (depending what they are eaten with)
Coconut (fresh): 2 h 45 min

Fruits

The acid fruits are those with the tart flavors, for example, citrus (orange, grapefruit, lemon, lime), pineapple, strawberries, kiwifruit, promenagrate, sour apples, sour grapes, and sour plum. Tomatoes are also considered acid fruit (without the sugar content of other acid fruit).
The subacid fruits are those that possess a slightly acid flavor (but not tart), such as pears, peaches, cherries, apricot, sweet apples, sweet grapes, fresh fig, papaya, cherimoya, mango, etc. Grapes, for example, can be acid, subacid or sweet.
The sweet fruits are those that are rich in sugar and taste sweet-bananas, persimmons, sweet grapes and all dried fruit.
Melons: Watermelon, canteloupe, honeydew and many others. (See charts)
Digestion time:
Melons - 20 min to 30 min.
Acid and subacid fruits - 30 min. to 40 min.

Syrups and sugars

All kinds of sugar, syrup and honey (not recommended).

Food Combining Rules

When foods are eaten in incompatible mixtures, and the efficiency of digestive enzymes is inhibited, it is subjected to decomposition in the digestive tract. If the digestive enzymes cannot perform their intended functions of breaking down and hydrolyzing the food (adding water from the body's reserve supply), bacterial decomposition may occur, resulting in fermentation and the production of alcohol and acetic acid.
A simple way to avoid production of these poisonous substances in the digestive tract is to learn and implement the hygienic guidelines for food combining.

Fruits

* Never eat acid foods with carbohydrate foods.
Starch digestion begins in the mouth with the action of the enzyme ptyalin. Ptyalin requires either an alkaline or neutral medium. Ptyalin is destroyed by even a mild acid. If fruit acids-or any acids-are taken with carbohydrates, especially with such foods as potatoes, beans, bananas or dates, digestion will be inhibited or prevented and fermentation may occur.
The combination of citric, malic and oxalic acids in tomatoes (which are released and intensified by cooking) interferes drastically with starch digestion.
The acetic acid in a teaspoonful of vinegar can suspend salivary digestion.

* Do not eat acid fruits with proteins.
Citrus, tomatoes, pineapple, strawberries and other acid fruits should not be eaten with nuts, cheese, eggs or meat. Acid fruits inhibit the flow of gastric juice. The digestion of protein requires an unhampered flow.
Although Dr. Shelton includes in this rule the prohibition of citrus and tomatoes with nuts and cheese, he goes on to say that nuts and fresh cheese do not decompose when used with acids, but have their digestion delayed.
Many Hygienists use tomatoes with nuts and believe they cause no problem. Citrus fruits present a different situation, due to the sugar in the fruit, which can ferment if its digestion is delayed by the nuts. Various experiments with the use of citrus fruits combined with nuts have produced differing results. Some Hygienists continue to use citrus with nuts.
If sweet oranges are used at the same meal with nuts, the precaution of waiting thirty to sixty minutes after eating the citrus is sometimes observed. Grapefruit might be better suited to combining with nuts, since it usually has a much lower sugar content.
Such acid-protein combinations as sour salad dressings and acid fruit drinks used at conventional meals serve as a check to hydrochloric secretion.

* Do not combine sweet fruits or sugars with foods that require a long digestive time-foods such as proteins, starches and acid fruits.
The sugars in sweet fruit should be tree to leave the stomach quickly, in perhaps fifteen or twenty minutes, and are apt to ferment if digestion is delayed by mixture with other foods. No digestion of sugars takes place in the mouth or stomach; fermentation is inevitable if sugars of any kind are delayed in the stomach awaiting the digestion of starch, protein or acid fruit.
Sugar-starch combinations cause additional problems. When sugar is taken, the mouth quickly fills with saliva, but no ptyalin is present. Ptyalin is essential for starch digestion. If starch is disguised by sugar, honey, molasses, syrup or sweet fruit, the signals are scrambled and digestion is impaired. Pure sugar also has a marked inhibiting effect on the flow of gastric juice and on gastric motility. No other food depresses the action of the stomach and the desire for food as does sugar.

* Acid fruits may be used with subacid fruits.
This is an acceptable combination, though some subacid fruits are rather high in sugar and the acid fruit may delay the sugar’s normally quick exit from the stomach. However, there is no sharp line of division between the acid and subacid fruits. If combining subacid fruit with acid fruit, it is better to use only the less subacid fruit.
Tomatoes should not be combined with subacid fruit, nor any other kinds of fruit. They are best combined with the salad at a meal at which no starchy foods are served.

* Do not use acid fruits with sweet fruits.
Acid fruits are best used alone (a single variety), but if used in combination with other acid fruits, this is considered an acceptable combination.

* Subacid fruits may be used with sweet fruits.
There is no sharp line of division between subacid fruits and sweet fruits. When using subacid fruits with sweet fruits, it is best to use the sweeter varieties of subacid fruit.
Some people prefer to eat bananas alone, but most people have no difficulty in combining them with subacid and other sweet fruit at a fruit meal.
It is best to have sweet fruits at a fruit meal combining only with lettuce and/or celery. Since fruits are usually high in acids or sugars, they do not combine well with other foods.

* Dried fruits should be used sparingly.
Use but one kind at a meal, in small amounts, combined only with subacid fruit and/or fresh sweet fruit and/or with lettuce and/or celery. Overeating of dried fruits will often bring on symptoms similar to a “cold”. The sugar concentration is naturally greater in fruits which have been dried. Some dried fruits, esp. dried apricots, should be soaked overnight to replenish the missing water. Dates are usually used without soaking, figs or raisins can be used either way. If they are rather hard, soaking will soften and improve them.

* Take Melons Alone
Do not consume melons with any other foods.
This rule has been somewhat under question in recent years. It have even found advisable not to mix two different varieties of melon at the same meal.
Many people who have complained that melons did not agree with them have no trouble handling them when eating only melon at a meal. Yet, certain Hygienic professionals are offering more than one variety of melon at a meal (even melons in combination with grapes or other subacid fruit). If you want to experiment with these combinations, do it sparingly and carefully. But if you have a history of digestive problems, don’t do it at all.
Melons are more than 90 percent liquid and leave the stomach quickly if not delayed and fermented by combining with other foods. Dr. Vetrano says, “Melons are best taken alone because the sugar and other nutriments are in a less stable form than the nutrients of other fruits. If you refrigerate watermelon juice for only ten minutes, its flavor, color and composition markedly change. It decomposes much more quickly than other fruits. Consequently, if it is held in the stomach awaiting the digestion of other foods, it will decompose (ferment) and cause a great deal of gastric distress.”

* Do not combine fruit with any vegetables except lettuce and celery.
It is best not to combine fruits with vegetables (especially cooked vegetables), proteins or starches because if such a combination of food is eaten, the digestion of the fruit will be delayed and subject to fermentation. Lettuce and celery, however, may be combined with any fruit except melon, and will cause no problem.

Protein-carbohydrate

* Never eat a concentrated protein and a concentrated carbohydrate at the same meal.
Physiologically, the first steps in the digestion of starches and proteins take place in opposite media—starch requiring an alkaline medium, protein requiring an acid medium in which to digest. The enzyme ptyalin (salivary amylase) that initiates starch digestion is active in an alkaline medium only and is destroyed by a mild acid. On the other hand, pepsin, the enzyme that initiates protein digestion is active only in an acid medium. If starches and proteins are eaten together, the acid gastric juice destroys the ptyalin and puts an end to salivary digestion of starch. That the presence of the undigested starch in the stomach interferes with the digestion of protein is shown by the presence of undigested protein in the stools. Physiologists have shown that undigested starch absorbs pepsin and this will surely interfere with digestion of protein.
If a food that is a natural protein-starch combination is eaten alone (starchy protein), the body is capable of modifying its digestive juices and timing their secretions in such ways that digestion can go on with a fair degree of efficiency. But when a starch food and a protein food are eaten at the same meal this precise adaptation of the digestive secretions to the character and digestive requirements of the food is not possible. There is a marked and important difference between eating a food that is a natural protein-starch combination and eating two foods, one a protein, the other starch.
When starches and proteins are eaten together, there is a fermentation and this results in fouling the whole digestive tract. Fermentation means irritation and poisoning. If starch is eaten without protein, the gastric (stomach) secretions will not be acid, or will be so weakly acid that they will not interfere with salivary digestion. In this case here will be no fermentation, except from other causes, such as overeating, hurried eating, other wrong combinations, eating when fatigued, worried, angry, fearful, grieved, etc., eating immediately before beginning work, eating when in pain, fever or when there is inflammation, etc. The causes of indigestion are legion.

Protein-protein

* Never consume two concentrated proteins at the same meal.
Two concentrated proteins of different character and composition (such as nuts and cheese) should not be combined. Gastric acidity, type, strength and timing of secretions for various proteins are not uniform. Some people with impaired digestions find it necessary to limit themselves to only one variety of nuts/and or seeds at a sitting, but other people may find, upon experimentation, that two or three varieties of nuts or seeds may be used at the same meal, if desired.

Starch-starch

* Eat but one concentrated starch at a meal.
This rule is probably more important as a means of avoiding the overeating of starches than as a means of avoiding bad combinations. But it is true that starch foods may differ greatly. If two different starches are eaten together in small quantities, this is thought to not cause problems.
Slightly starchy vegetables may be combined with more starchy vegetables (e.g. carrots with potatoes), but not with combination foods (starch/protein foods) such as grains and legumes.

Protein-fat

* Do not consume fats with proteins.
Fat has an inhibiting influence on digestive secretion and lessen the amount and activity of pepsin and hydrochloric acid, necessary for the digestion of protein. The fat may lower the entire digestive tone more than 50 percent. Since most proteins already contain a good deal of fat, it would certainly be contraindicated to add more to the meal.
Most nuts contain about 10 percent to 20 percent protein, and about 45 percent to 70 percent fat. Avocados contain about 1.3 percent protein (Florida varieties) to about 2.2 percent or a little more (California varieties) and 11 percent to 17 percent fat. Most other protein foods are high in fat, including cheese, eggs and flesh foods. The only protein foods not high in fat are legumes, skim milk cheese and lean meat.

Fat-starch and fat-fruits

* Do not consume fats with starch
Fats (oils and animal fats) also delay the digestion of other foods and, if used with starch, it will delay the passage of the starch from the stomach into the intestine. Fat not only inhibits the secretion of gastric juice—it also inhibits the physical actions of the stomach. Too much fat taken with a meal results in acid eructations and a burning sensation in the throat. When fats (avocados, olives or nuts) are eaten with green vegetables, preferably raw, the inhibiting effect of fats on gastric secretion is counteracted and digestion proceeds quite normally.

* Avocados:
Eating avocados with salad enhances their digestion. The next best combination for these food is taking it with subacid or acid fruit. The fat in the food does not seem to interfere with the emptying time of the stomach and we have excellent results with this combination. The protein, which is about 2.1 to 2.5 percent, is not sufficient to interfere with the digestion of fruit. It is even better when lettuce leaves and celery are eaten with the fruit and avocado. By diluting the fats and the sugars with the lettuce, the emptying time of the stomach is not depressed.
Those who have weak stomachs with poor muscle tone would probably do better by taking avocado only with vegetable salads. If lettuce is taken with a sweet fresh fruit and avocado, even these digest well. It is probably best to never combine avocado with sweet dried fruit unless it is just a small amount of both eaten with a great deal of vegetables.
Since the avocado is low in protein, it may also be used with potatoes or other starch foods. Some people like to use avocado with the potato instead of using butter. However the best way to use avocado is with the salad.
Avocados should never be used with nuts, which are also high in fat, nor should they be used with melons.

* Coconut:
Coconut is a starchy protein. It is sometimes used with sweet fruits. While coconut with sweet fruit is not an ideal combination, it seems to work out fairly well in most cases. Don’t use coconut with nuts or with acid or subacid fruits. You can make nondairy coconut carob ice cream.

Vegetables-proteins and starches

* Salads and nonstarchy vegetables combine very well with proteins or starches.
Any nonstarchy vegetables may be combined with proteins or starch, except tomatoes, which should especially not be used with starches. The green leafy vegetables combine very well with most other foods. They are excellent food and should be used in the diet.
Lettuce and other green and nonstarchy vegetables leave the stomach with little change—they pass through the stomach rapidly unless delayed by oily dressings or foods that require a more thorough gastric digestion. Lettuce and celery are good combination with fruit because all of these foods require little gastric digestion.
However, even if these vegetables are held up in the stomach with other foods, as when using salad with nuts, there is no fermentation.
Eating a large salad of fresh raw vegetables (three or four varieties) daily is an excellent practice. Dr. Shelton says, “A large bowl of salad each day is required by everyone.”

* Sprouts:
Alfalfa sprouts may be combined as a green vegetable.
Other sprouts should properly be classified in the same category as the original seed, even though the sprouting process has somewhat lowered the protein and carbohydrate content.

Milk, yogurt and clabber

* Milk is best taken alone.
This rule is included because it is one of Dr. Shelton’s food combining rules, and because it may be helpful to those still on a mixed diet. Hygienists do not drink milk. Adults do not need any kind of milk. Infants need their mother’s milk; if this is not available, they need a substitute.
Dr. Shelton says that the use of acid fruits or subacid fruit with milk does not cause any trouble and apparently does not conflict with its digestion. This would also apply to clabber (sour milk) or yogurt, which may be preferable to milk for adults. He also says that clabber is even a fair combination with dried sweet fruit.
Many adults (and some children) lack the enzymes lactase and rennin necessary for the digestion of milk. Lactase catalyzes the conversion of lactose (milk sugar) to the glucose and galactose which can be utilized by the body. Rennin is a milk-coagulating enzyme, which many adults no longer secrete.
This is also the reason that cheese is considered preferable to milk, although no dairy products are recommended for regular use.
None of these products are recommended. If any milk products are used, they should be raw (unpasteurized) and should not be used on a regular basis. Yogurt cultures, particularly, can inhibit the body’s own natural production of beneficial intestinal flora.

Water and juices

It is important that starches be eaten dry, not moist. So, ideally you should eat steamed or baked potatoes dry rather than in potato soup. The eating of liquids with starches promotes the tendency to swallow moist starch without thorough mastication and insalivation processes that are particularly needed for the digestion of starches. Drinking liquids or eating watery foods softens the food artificially and may also cause you to eat more food than if you had eaten it dry. Drinking at meals can dilute the digestive juices and also prevents thorough mastication and insalivation of the food.
If thirsty, one may drink ten to twenty minutes before meals, one-half hour after a fruit meal, two hours after a vegetable or starch meal, and four hours after a protein meal. It is best to sip water, not gulp.
Never use large quantities of juiced foods and don’t use them as part of your regular food program. If you use juice occasionally, four to six ounces of vegetable juice may be taken twenty to thirty minutes before the evening meal at which a salad and, perhaps, some cooked food are eaten. Fruit juice— preferably fresh-made at home—may occasionally be used prior to a fruit meal. However, keep in mind that juices, either fruit or vegetable, are not beverages but fragmented foods.
The only time juices are indicated as part of a Hygienic program is when breaking a fast (though many people do very well in breaking a fast on whole fruit) or, very judiciously, as a temporary elimination diet

Coffee, tea and infusions

Coffee, tea and other such infusions can cause a premature emptying of the stomach and thus cause foods to leave the stomach before gastric digestion is complete. Tannic acid (in coffee and tea) inhibits starch digestion, as do drug acids.

Rules Summary

Do not eat Acid-Carbohydrate combinations.
Do not eat Protein-Carbohydrate combinations.
Do not eat Protein-Protein combinations.
Do not eat Protein-Fat combinations.
Use Fats sparingly in combination with other foods.
Do not eat Acid-Protein combinations.
Do not eat Sweet Fruit with Starch, Protein or Acid Fruit.
Do not eat Starch-Starch combinations.
Acid fruits combine well with Subacid fruits.
Subacid fruits combine well with Sweet fruits.
Do not eat Fruits with Vegetables except Lettuce and Celery.
Eat Salads with most foods.
Melons are best used alone.
Sprouts-Combinations.
Milk, Yogurt, Clabber – eat them alone; ideally not at all.

Tip: On a practical note, it is very important adhering to “The Big Three” food combining guidelines - #2, 7 & 13 from the above list:

Do not eat Protein-Carbohydrate Combinations.
Do not eat Sweet Fruit with Starch, Protein or Acid Fruit.
Eat Melon Alone

Sequence of Eating

It is true that all the food will be mixed in the stomach, but the so-called “Ideal Order of Eating” is helpful to some extent.
* Eat raw food before cooked food. Raw foods contain live enzymes, which influence digestive efficiency; cooking destroys all enzymes. Moreover, the consumption of raw foods stimulates gastric enzyme secretion, which is necessary to initiate good digestion. Besides, the more raw foods eaten as the first course, the less cooked foods will be eaten.
* Eat juicy foods before dry foods. During the process of digestion, hydrolysis occurs—that is, the combining of the food with liquid from the body’s reserve supply. Juicy foods contain some of their own liquid, which facilitates the initial processing of the food mixture. (Do not take water with dry foods as an alternative—this causes problems)
* Eat easy-to-digest foods before foods, that require a longer digestion time. The digestive process starts while the meal is being consumed, and the most liquid portion of the food mixture, the chyme, leaves the stomach at intervals. Thus, some of the easy-to-digest foods may be processed and leave the stomach before the end of the meal. Even if this does not occur, if the concentrated foods are eaten last, you may possibly eat less of them, which would be an advantage for many people, especially those who have a tendency to overeat of the concentrated proteins and starches.
An exception may advantageously be made in the case of eating salad alternately with nuts, rather than consecutively. Many people find that eating the salad along with the nuts actually aids digestion, and also eliminates the dry or thirsty feeling that sometimes follows the eating of nuts after the salad.
If you sometimes would like to eat fruit in combination with a mixed vegetable meal, the best way would be to eat the fruit first, and then, if possible, delay at least fifteen minutes before eating the other foods, starting with the salad.
As previously indicated, exceptions to this arbitrary “eating order” are not serious. After all, it does all go into the same stomach, and is quickly combined into a mobile mixture, the chyme.

Bibliography:

Digestive Physiology and Food Combining, T.C.Fry

"Food Combining made Easy", Herbert M. Shelton

The Erroneous Medical Notion of “Cure”

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Thu, 05 May 2016 15:31:00 +0100

This article has been mainly extracted from the chapters “Discussion Of The Medical Approach To Health And Disease”, “The Nature And Purpose Of Disease” and “The Dangers Of Drug Medication” of “The Life Science Health”, by T.C.Fry, and “The Alkalizing Cleanse & The Alkalizing Diet” by Dr. David Klein.

Continue reading The Erroneous Medical Notion of “Cure”

The Concept of Self-Healing or Self-Repair

Self-healing is the only healing. Throughout nature we see animals with cuts, bruises, broken bones, and other injuries undergo healing. Obviously this healing is effected by internal faculties and powers, for in nature, animals seek out a quiet secluded spot and rest. They undergo almost no activity. They partake of no food.
Instinctively an injured animal will abstain from all indulgences that detract from the full application of the body’s energies and faculties to the reparative/restorative process. Likewise, humans when placed under the same conditions in keeping with our nature and disposition undergo healing in a fraction of the time that occurs when regular activities are pursued.

The Notion of “Cure”

The idea behind medicine is more than 2,500 years old and, like most ideas from behind the dark ages, it’s very unscientific. The premise is that the body is like a machine that can be repaired by outside agencies. The machine goes wrong because of invading entities. In ancient times these entities were evil spirits, demons, and devils which had to be exorcised. By and by these evil spirits became known as little beasties called microbes, germs, bacteria, viruses, and yet other appellations.
Medicine today has the concept of “cure,” a word that has been perverted from the original of “care.” Medicine itself means a curative or healing substance. The idea behind the use of medicine is that the “medicine” acts within the organism, that it seeks out the trouble, routs the invaders and effects in some manner the necessary healing. The medical concept of the modus operandi of drugs which they call medicines is very hazy at best. But medicine is the harmful practices that men do to try to help ailing people.
People go to physicians for medical intervention. They want to get “fixed up.” Something must be done lest they suffer grave consequences or death. Medical practitioners assure them that, if they do not do something soon, grave dangers will ensue.

“Cures” Do Not Deal With Causes

Can you imagine trying to develop a drug to “cure” drunkenness without going to the root of the whole matter, i.e., the drunkard’s drinking habit? How can we deal with drunkenness if the drunkard continues to drink?
This is what happens with the medical approach. They try to remedy effects or symptoms without dealing with causes. In reality they drug, butcher, and purge while almost totally ignoring basic causes of physiological problems. They resort to crippling surgery and treatments running into the thousands of dollars when the problems can be simply and inexpensively solved by a change in life practices.
You’ll learn herein that nothing happens without sufficient cause. You’ll learn that all affections of the body must be caused and the cause is almost always initiated by the sufferer. You’ll learn that unless cause is discontinued the problem will always develop again, ever more serious.

“Cures” Do Not Furnish the Needs of Life

To be returned to health the body must be provided with its requirements. First, those substances, influences, and practices which beget illnesses and disease must be discontinued. Secondly, it is necessary to bring the essentials of health. Very simply these are pure air, pure water, correct diet, sunshine, exercise or wholesome activity, adequate rest and sleep, emotional poise, security of life and its means and yet other factor elements and influences.

“Cures” Destroy Body Vitality

Dr. Herbert M. Shelton must be proclaimed the greatest oracle of Hygienic philosophy, principles, and practices unto this day. He has noted that now we have more medical discoveries than ever before; we have more medical practitioners than ever before; medical men enjoy more respect than ever before (at least until recent years) and yet, for all this, we also have more disease and suffering than ever before.
Because, very simply, drugs destroy. They never build. It is not within the province of drugs to create cells and replace body tissue. But yet, medical men act as if their drugs perform some kind of magic that will effect healing.

What do drugs, when administered, really do?

In truth, drugs do nothing other than form chemical unions with body compounds and fluids. When these chemical unions occur, the body suffers distress. When the character of a substance is determined as harmful by the body, it goes into a frenzy. When it does this, it is stimulated. Sometimes the body has a reaction of depression in which case it is sedated or narcotized. This means function has been inhibited or paralyzed. In both cases the reaction is one of self-protection against an unwelcome intruder, in this case a poison even though it is called a medicine.
In causing an emergency in the body, drugs are harmful. The body must redirect its energies from the healing process which it is conducting. The symptoms for which the drugs or medicines are administered are evidences of the body’s self-conducted healing process. When drugs are ingested or injected, the body must leave off partially or wholly the cleansing/healing efforts and attend to a greater threat which the drugs represent. When healing efforts are discontinued the symptoms disappear. Physicians interpret the disappearance of symptoms as a “cure” or a healed condition. They thus mistake drug or poison effects for healing effects. In reality the body has more problems than before. For now it has, additional to its prior problems, the problem of expelling a terrible poison too.

Medical and “Healing Art” Approaches Are Deadly And Deadend

We readily recognize that drug addicts take illicit drugs and eventually become physiological wrecks as a result. Also the drug addict loses moral values. Thinking ability is lessened and almost totally redirected to acquiring the addictive drugs and to the spell the body casts when they are taken.
What we also recognize is that physician-prescribed drugs have precisely the same actions. What we do not recognize is that the prescriptions, administrations and treatments of all so-called healers have the very same effects whether the medics be called physicians, homeopaths, chiropractors, osteopaths, herbal doctors, acupuncturists, or whatever. Because treatments are more or less deadly and because causes are left intact by those who treat the diseased, the situation gets progressively worse.

Drugs are Dangerous to Both Bacteria and Human Cells

Hygienists or Life Scientists deplore the medical practice of feeding the ailing and drugging them too. When ill, the continuance of feeding alone is enough to thwart the healing forces within. But the addition of drugs so destroys vital powers that the body must often redirect its purification efforts to freeing itself from the more virulent poisons administered.
Yes, drugs kill bacteria. But they’re just as deadly to all forms of metabolic life. That which deranges and destroys the metabolic functions of bacteria usually does likewise to the cells of all forms of life. Even physicians will tell you that drugs have no effect on viruses. Of course they don’t have any effect on what they call viruses because that is dead cell debris that can’t be made any deader.
In conclusion disease is not something to fear. That’s like being scared of your own body. If you fear anything fear your disposition to indulge in unwholesome foods and unwholesome living conditions.

Example: “healing” a leg ulcer with medicines

I do not deny that the leg ulcer healed by the topical application of comfrey poultice, and I do not deny that the comfrey poultice was the agency that precipitated the healing process of the leg ulcer. But the body is probably worse, not better for the treatment.
What happens physiologically to cause the ulcer in the first place? Why do they sometimes persist only to heal later? What happens when the agency of toxic materials such as in garlic, aloe, comfrey, or in pharmacological preparations are applied and the ulcer is healed?
The comfrey poultice neither caused nor healed the ulcer. The body created the ulcer in the first place just as it creates a boil, fever, pimple, or other so-called infection. The body creates these conditions as outlets for an extraordinary load of toxic materials. As long as the body is burdened with toxicity that it cannot eliminate through normal channels, it will utilize vicarious outlets, i.e., outlets other than normal. As long as the practices introduce into the body toxic materials and the sufferer’s habits are such as to cause the body to retain its own metabolic wastes, then the body will protect itself against a death-dealing situation by getting rid of its problems any way it can.
An ulcer is created in two ways. First, a lesion can be created by the body through self-autolyzation of its tissues. The body causes the self-digestion of a hole to the surface in the case of a boil or pimple. It is the body that forces toxic materials into the hole it has created to the surface. It is the body that creates the tremendous pressure necessary to keep the pus and debris near the surface in the form of a boil until drainage or expulsion occurs.
Just so it is the body that causes the ulcer in one way or another. Probably the leg ulcer was caused by the body’s collection and concentration of poisons in a given area until the cells and tissues of the area were totally destroyed. Then the body utilizes the open sore as a drainage outlet much as a teakettle will discharge its steam through a blown hole after the hole is blown. When aloe vera, comfrey, or certain pharmaceutical preparations are applied, they do not solve the body’s problems. Herbs and drugs have not the intelligence or power to create cells and new tissue to bridge the chasm or gulf that constitutes the ulcer or lesion.
What happens is that the poultice or drug application applied to an open sore poses a new danger. Absorption of poisons from the outside causes the body to change strategy. Where it had been exuding poisons to keep them low, the body is now absorbing poisons there. To obviate this new threat the body closes up the dumping ground and seals it off from the outside by scarring it over.
Though the body healed the ulcer, it is now worse off than before. It is retaining the toxic material previously expelled through the open sore or ulcer. Either it must now create a new extraordinary outlet or suffer the retention of the toxic materials it previously expelled through the ulcer.
Had the ulcer sufferer fasted, the ulcer would have healed more quickly than with the application of a poultice. Moreover, the body would, under the fasting condition, be free of the input of toxic materials and toxigenesis due to enervating habits. Under this condition it can accelerate expulsion of toxic materials through regular channels. Once the level of toxicity has been reduced below a certain tolerance level, the body will promptly proceed to heal the ulcer. Healing takes place much more quickly under the fasting condition than any other. While fasting, the body can concentrate its energies and its material resources to the healing process, thus affecting healing much more speedily.
So, the comfrey poultice did not do anything other than become a source of irritation. The body “closed up shop,” so to speak, at the ulcer site and did business elsewhere. Keep in mind that all healing is a body process and never that of drugs. And let us not mistake the drug nature of comfrey. It contains pyrrholizidine and allantoin, two quite toxic alkaloids or glycosides.
Correct diet and health practices build health, not disease. Aspirin does not “cure a headache.” The problems remain as before plus the toxic presence of the aspirin itself. Aspirin merely causes our body to paralyze or incapacitate the nervous system. Just because you remove thermometers does not alter the temperature. The fact that the body finally expels the aspirin from its domain and reinstitutes the processes that give rise to another headache is ample indication that drugs solve no problems.
Under the Life Science regime all causes of headaches are removed. Causes of health are instituted. This is the ultimate solution to the problem of disease and suffering. When there are no causes there can be no disease. When only the causes of health are indulged, only health can result.
Since illness is the result of unhealthful practices, then health should be restored by removing these causes and supplying the conditions for health. This is the philosophy of the drugless practitioners. They do not add further contaminants to an already toxic organism by dispensing drugs but rely on natural means which depend upon the body’s own ability to heal.

What Do Drugs Do

Drugs produce disease. People take so-called headache remedies, stimulants, anesthetics, pain killers, sleeping pills and narcotics for the temporary relief they afford. As a direct consequence of drug poisoning, gastric ulcer, anemia, kidney disease or any of many other ailments many develop. The pathologies these poisons occasion are added to the disease for which they are given. This is to say, physician-made diseases are worse than the natural disease.
It has been said that drug-treated patients have to recover twice—first, they have to recover from the original disease and, second, they have to recover from the drug-induced disease. The fact is that every drug is a poison and every drug produces disease. All too often patients are killed by the drug and, in an even greater number of cases, where the drug does not kill, it produces permanent harm. In fact, the most common cause of chronic disease is drug treatment for acute disease.
There are no harmless drugs; there are no safe drugs. All of them, even the least toxic, result in the production of pathologies, if they are repeatedly administered, even in small doses. It is certainly unwise to continue drug practices, especially in the face of the fact that they produce only ills. For example, what good comes from the administration of cortisone for arthritis? The symptoms are temporarily suppressed; the patient may be provided a certain measure of relief from pain, but the sufferer’s condition inevitably becomes worse and recovery is more difficult. The ultimate result is increased suffering for a brief respite from pain. This is true of all suppressive measures. Both physician and patient are deluded into believing that some suffering is being saved, but the later increased suffering outweighs the brief periods of freedom from pain. In fact, the increased suffering is usually of longer duration than the periods of comfort and is far more acute than the periods of “relief.”
It is foolish to suppress symptoms. Let us consider a cough. It is a vigorous, forceful and dramatic expulsion of air from the lungs and is accomplished by sudden contractions of the walls of the chest and of the diaphragm. It is intended to force obstructing and irritating matter (mucus, blood, water, particles of dust, smoke, gas, etc.) from the air passages. In pneumonia, coughing keeps the lungs cleared of exudate so that breathing remains possible. The cough is part of the remedial effort, not an attack upon the body from without. If the cough is checked or suppressed by drug devitalization, passages tend to fill with exudate. Checking the cough definitely, reduces the patient’s chances of recovery.
Analogous to coughing is diarrhea. Like coughing, diarrhea is a dramatic acceleration of a normal physiological action. It is a bowel action and is, designed to free the colon, perhaps even the small intestines, of unwanted material. The unwanted substance may be unsuitable, or decaying food or drugs, or it may be a mineral water. In any case, the diarrhea is a remedial effort. To check the diarrhea while there is a need for it is to lock up, as it were, in the food tube the unsuitable material the diarrhea is intended to remove. The diarrhea automatically ends when its purpose is served and no suppression is necessary.
There are no drugs now used by the medical profession and there were no drugs used by any of the schools of medicine in the past that did not and do not produce disease.
If a drug, which is a chemical substance, unites with the protein of the cell, it destroys the cell. It is precisely to prevent this union and thus to save the life of the cell that the drug is resisted, rejected and expelled. All the action that is mistaken for drug action is cellular or organic action designed to protect and preserve life.
When a drug is picked up by the blood, either from the digestive tract or from the site of the injection, it is carried by this medium throughout the body, so that it comes in contact with tissues everywhere. The so-called side effects of drugs are the actions of the different tissues with which the drug comes in contact in rejecting, resisting and expelling the drug. So-called drug effects are not drug actions but vital actions.
If a drug may be employed and it suppresses symptoms, it is said to be good. That the drug may produce unwanted effects at the same time it suppresses the symptoms is, of course, unfortunate and the physician hopes that the “side” effects will not be too great or that he can stop the drug if the “side” effects threaten to become formidable.
Hygienists know how to avoid these poisonous effects. They simply avoid all drugs. We cannot be poisoned into health.
Should the sick be poisoned? One might also ask, should the well be poisoned? Is there any more reason the sick should be poisoned than there is that the well should be poisoned? If poisons are not the proper things with which to preserve health, why should they be thought of as the proper things with which to restore health? If poisons make the well man sick, what do they do for the sick man?

Law Of Dual Effect

The Law of Duel Effect states that all substances which are taken into the body, or which come in contact with it from without, occasion a twofold and contrary action— the secondary action being the opposite of the primary action, and the more lasting.
Therefore, the primary action (reaction) from taking a stimulant would be stimulating but the secondary and longer lasting effect would be depression. Likewise, the primary reaction from taking a pain-suppressant would be relief from pain but the secondary, longer-lasting effect would be increased pain. If the immediate and temporary effect of a dose of digitalis is to stimulate the heart, the secondary and permanent effect is to depress the heart.
Why would this be so? The body marshalls its available forces to handle the situation at hand which at that moment might be an abnormal substance in the form of a pain-suppressant. This toxin which has been so introduced has to be dealt with and eliminated as quickly as possible. During this time, the organism halts reparative and healing processes which are felt as symptoms, thus temporary relief.
However, as soon as the foreign substance is disposed of, the body reinitiates its healing processes with the return of the old symptoms. However, due to the tremendous expenditure of vital energy and the added toxins from the drugs, greater harm has been done. The heart becomes weaker after its stimulation due to exhaustion and added toxins. Likewise affected are all bodily organs.

Exceptions—Why?

Sometimes, when the body is under extremely critical, life-threatening duress, such as in cases of extreme malnutrition, poisoning and enervation, unnatural intervention may be necessary to preserve life. The body’s inflammation response is not a “cure-all” for every toxic assault or physiological limitation in a body that has extremely diminished vitality. In other words, the body has its limits, and some life-saving modalities can be beneficial in emergency situations. One example is cases of inflammatory bowel disease where there is internal hemorrhaging, too much blood has been lost, bodily reserves are low, and nutritional intake and absorption is difficult, impairing the body’s ability to purify the bloodstream and heal bleeding ulcerations. Medically-administered medication (typically a corticosteroid) has turned around such crises. Yes, there is a place for emergency medical help.

Gemma's Comments:

Concerning the ability of the body to heal, it’s true that, as Natural Hygiene says, if all the essential conditions for life are restored then the body will be able to restore health. But in a practical way, this is not always possible. We live in a polluted and stressed world, when it’s almost impossible to find pure water, pure air, perfect food, exercise, avoid stress, sleep enough, etc. all at the same time. Most of the time, some of the elements are missing. Luckily, humans can bear with these lacks quite well, but the body has a limit, and it’s not always possible to change life style in order to provide all the needs and avoid all damaging elements to the body in order to enjoy good health. What to do in this cases? Medicine and alternative therapies offer to us the possibility to alleviate pain and symptoms of disease in this cases, although we must be aware that doing it we are damaging our global health even more. It’s a decision that must be consciously taken, knowing the risk we are exposed when we undergo to any kind of therapy or medical treatment, the advantages and disadvantages. It’s the eternal dilemma between living more time although suffering or living less time but free of pain.

The Immense Wisdom And Providence Of The Body

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Tue, 03 May 2016 15:30:00 +0100

This article has been mainly extracted from the lesson “The Immense Wisdom And Providence Of The Body” of “The Life Science Health”, by T.C.Fry.
The human body is possessed of an intelligence and order that is incomprehensible to our intellects. While many humans are vain and will not admit to an inability to know and understand, let’s face it—we are all finite in our capacities. We cannot comprehend the concept of infinity and we are mystified by many realities of existence.

Continue reading The Immense Wisdom And Providence Of The Body

From intellectual wisdom and understanding flow humility, kindness and other humane virtues. Wisdom recognizes our finite nature and admits to ignorance, an act of humility. Humility does not stifle the innate drive to seek knowledge. Rather, humility is born of a realization that spurs the quest for greater wisdom. True wisdom motivates us to continual exploration and improvement.
When we view the vastness of the incredible multitude of faculties possessed by the human body, we must stand in awe of the enormous intelligence displayed in each of the quadrillions of processes conducted within the body daily . We must stand in wonderment at the precision we observe. We cannot help but conclude that the body operates on principles that manifest the reign of law and order within the organic realm. We must observe that we are constituted on such an order as to comply in every act with the universal laws of existence.
We want to charge you with an overwhelming realization of the enormity of innate intelligence—of inherent body wisdom that exceeds by thousands of times the intellectual powers we arrogantly boast of. So vast is this innate intelligence that it is positively staggering. The immensity of inborn intelligence is not an easy subject to present. Very few studies touch upon this subject. However, we can delineate and point out some of the many manifestations of inherent body wisdom.
You will become aware of an internal providence that should be respected. So great are our body endowments that you should adopt this attitude: Never interfere with the vital domain. You cannot possibly help it—you can only harm it. All the knowledge and wisdom of civilization to date does not equal the intelligence exhibited by the operations of a single cell within the body! The best you can do is to order the external environment to make it more favorable for the organism. The only thing you can do for the body is to leave it intelligently alone! It knows what it is doing. You don’t!

What Constitutes Body Wisdom And Providence?

Providence is the ability to anticipate needs and provide for them. The body is always provident. All providence exhibits wisdom. Reproduction of kind is providence. It is provision that the species shall survive. The complexities of reproductive provisions defy human inquiry and intellect in their profundity and detail.
Nutrition and elimination are provisions insuring that the organism survives. Likewise, the complexities and subtleties of these many provisions defy human inquiry and intellect, though compliance is easily accomplished.
The immensity of the wisdom exhibited in all things so staggers the human intellect that many often retreat into the comfort of some all-encompassing outlook that relieves them of the burden of inquiry, assessment and understanding.
Wisdom can be said to be all-knowing and all-understanding within a given sphere. Wisdom is at once the comprehension of a matter in both depth and breadth and an expertise or mastery that enables the possessor to pursue a correct course of action.
While there are books on body wisdom and its inherent programming, these books have little substance. This sphere of our existence is little explored, though the mechanisms of inherent wisdom have been charted extensively. What we can do here is to, by observation and deduction, invoke your realization of the colossal wisdom of the body.
Body wisdom comprises the multitude of faculties within the body that recognize, communicate and effectively respond. For example, if you bite into a luscious apple, the whole system is coursed with delight. If you bite into an apple that has been injected with a solution of caustic soda, you’ll immediately recognize the danger, begin spitting and sputtering and run for water to dilute and remove the deadly poison that contacted your mouth tissues. Rejection of toxic matters is just as natural as delighting in beneficent materials and influences.

Cell Wisdom and Providence

The wisdom of a single cell is said to exceed all the accumulated knowledge of the human race so far! Each cell is, quite literally, a city in itself. It is a self-contained organism. The membrane is like the wall around a great city. Within are numerous inhabitants, many of them enjoying an existence within the cell on the order as the cell enjoys within the body. These forms of life, called mitochondria, have independent metabolic systems and can thusly be said to operate symbiotically with the cell and in concert with each other. All the components of a cell act for their mutual welfare and for the welfare of the cell as the host organism.
If we marvel at the extensiveness and complexity of the cell, then we must be even more astonished with the human body. The human body is said to possess 125 trillion cells, give or take a few trillion. (Some texts say there are 75 trillion and others say there are as many as 300 trillion cells in the human body.)
To say that the cell is a self-contained city in itself is no exaggeration. Cells vary in size from midgets to giants. But even the smallest cell is about one billion times the size of its smallest component! There are thousands of organelles within each cell. These are the cell’s life support system. Among these organelles are mitochondria which appear to be an independent form of life within the cellular context. Mitochondria are analogous to, or like, bacteria in their organization and functions.
A cell seems to be a city of specialized bacteria united into an organic unit to maintain a favorable environment and to more effectively secure the needs of existence.
Additional to its mitochondria, a cell has many organelles (functioning systems within their own membranes) that complement the mitochondria in making the cellular organism self-sufficient in its operations. Thus the cell, like the human body, requires only that its needs be supplied within the context of a favorable environment. Just as humans strive to create favorable environments for themselves, cells have long since ordered their environment by organizing into a super city known as a body. The human body can be said to be the super city.
The wisdom manifested in the faculties, organization and operations of a single cell stun the intellect. By observation we must admit that it is there and regard it with respect, even if we do not know or understand it.

Multicellular Intelligence and Intercellular Relationships

If wisdom characterizes the seemingly infinite faculties of the cell, then think of the wisdom that unites a hundred trillion of them into an organism! Think how great must be the wisdom that guides the destiny of each and every cell within the body complex.
Cells are organisms within themselves. They contain mitochondria which have the characteristics that would earn them the ascription of an organism, too! Thus, if the human body contains over a hundred trillion cells, and each cell contains a complement of mitochondria, then there must, in reality, be several quadrillion organisms within the human body. If a cell is a colony of sophisicated bacteria that have banded together for their mutual welfare, then the body may be said to be made up of sophisticated cells that have banded together for their mutual welfare.
Cells have allied themselves within a unit we call an organism to specialize in functions in complementary coordination for mutual good. If we hypothesize that bacteria have confederated and specialized in carrying on the functions that make the cell a self-contained functioning organism, then cells have likewise affiliated and specialized to better create an ideal environment and to secure the needs of life.
If we observe the life cycle of a tree, we must marvel at its tremendous intelligence. From an acorn that sprouts and slowly grows over the years into a stately oak, we see the unfolding of an intelligence that is beyond our knowledge and understanding. Within the genetic encoding of each and every cell of the acorn and the resulting tree is the knowledge, understanding and operational expertise to secure needs from environment, to fashion them precisely into its specific requirements, to utilize them and to eliminate the wastes.
In making alliances with other cells, a supra-cell coordinator is created to coordinate the activities of the cells. This is called the nervous system or brain in multicellular organisms.

Ascertaining the Intelligence of Physical Phenomena

What kind of intelligence does it require for the body to recognize food and secrete the correct enzymes for its digestion? What kind of intelligence is required to create the enzymes?
When we start asking questions exhaustively, we begin to discover the immeasurable wisdom and providence of every faculty of life.
Below is an excerpt from a physiology text. It is quoted merely to highlight certain body processes so that we might divine some of the body faculties and the intelligence they exhibit:
“Often tissues of the body regress to a much smaller size than previously. For instance, this occurs in the uterus following pregnancy, in muscles during long periods of inactivity and in mammary glands at the end of the period of lactation. Lysosomes are probably responsible for much if not most of this regression, for one can show that the lysosomes become very active at this time. However, the mechanism by which the lack of activity in a tissue causes the lysosomes to increase their activity is completely unknown.
Another very special role of the lysosomes is the removal of damaged cells or damaged portions of cells from tissues-cells damaged by heat, cold, trauma, chemicals or any other factor. Damage to the cell causes lysosomes to rupture, and the released hydrolases begin immediately to digest the surrounding organic substances. If the damage is slight, only a portion of the cell will be removed, followed by repair of the cell. However, if the damage is severe, the entire cell will be digested, a process called autolysis. In this way the cell is completely removed and a new cell of the same type ordinarily is formed by mitotic reproduction of an adjacent cell to take the place of the old one.
What this really means is that body parts not in service atrophy and that it is believed that lysosomes are responsible for regression or atrophy. But, whether or not we divine the wisdom of loss of unused faculties, there is an intelligence that creates and regresses faculties involved in pregnancy, lactation and musculature.
In the paragraph that follows, we will study one way in which the body uses lysosomes for special purposes. As you may already know, lysosomes are powerful digestive enzymes the body creates, stores and uses. When a cell is to be scrapped, the old cell is autolysed (self-digested) and the remnants are passed off as wastes into the lymph and then into the bloodstream. The wastes may be recycled in part and excreted in part. The point here is that cells have their own “self-destruct” mechanisms in the form of lysosomes.
The processes described evince tremendous body intelligence in their performance. The vital domain does not tolerate unneeded baggage. Therefore, it disposes of the useless and the surplus to the extent it can. Cells that are crippled are either repaired or replaced. High-level function is the objective of the body. The welfare of the remaining cells decrees that they dispatch crippled cells if not repairable.
The body secretes lysosomes and uses them for special purposes. Let’s examine a boil or carbuncle. The little hole that extends from the body surface to the fleshy interior represents a real body disaster! But the purposes served decree the ravage that the body inflicts upon itself. When there is deadly toxic accumulation that threatens the integrity of the organism—when this toxic accumulation cannot otherwise be eliminated through regular channels of elimination—the body autolyzes a tube, hole, passage, duct or fistula-like opening to the surface. Perhaps a hundred million or so body cells will be destroyed by lysosomes. After the completion of the tube, the body collects the toxic material and forces it to the surface through the specially-created duct. There it is quarantined until drained or detoxified.
In fasting, for instance, lysosomes are utilized in destroying and digesting growths. The materials destroyed are utilized as food. These growths may be breast tumors, cancer cells, warts, cysts, etc.”
The order of intelligence involved in sensing errant conditions, communicating them to the brain, assessing the reports, determining a course of action and responding with coordinated orders to all the body cells and systems involved to effect a result is beyond human comprehension. We can only intimate the vastness of the wisdom involved with our limited concepts and expressions.
This is just one of the many kinds of body wisdom that further fortifies the Life Science stricture: Leave the body intelligently alone.

The Brain as the Kingpin Behind the Human Show

For us to comprehend the magnitude of the brain’s dominion and the cooperation of each cell member of that dominion, we’d have to have an intellect infinitely more developed than it presently is. The limits of intellect leave too much that is “not clearly understood.”
In one of the articles used as text material in this lesson, it is pointed out that the body possesses some 125 trillion cells. Each cell consists of a multitude of organelles or life support systems that keep the cell functioning. This article points out that it is difficult for us to conceive a few thousand people getting together and cooperating harmoniously in all things. If that seems difficult, then imagine all the four billion individuals on earth acting in unison. But then, compared with the body, that is nothing! Can you imagine 36,000 earths, each with four billion inhabitants, acting in unison?
Only with such staggering thoughts as these is it possible to grasp some idea how infinite is the, knowledge, understanding and expertise of the human brain. It coordinates the activities of an astronomical number of cooperating cells. We emphasize the word cooperating because all cells are completely subservient to the brain, which, in turn, serves the whole organism. The brain exists as the controller of the body cells collectively. It serves the cells by providing them with needs they cannot obtain on their own.
Sometimes a cell may become “independent” in that its control mechanisms are affected and it either no longer possesses innate intelligence or can no longer focus its innate intelligence to cooperative endeavors. Such a cell becomes a parasite cell in that it draws from organic stores but is so “crazy” it cannot contribute to function. It is called a cancer cell. Its operations disrupt physiological harmony rather than contribute to it. A cancer cell is created by continual assault by toxic substances that eventually derange and destroy its encoded blueprints and intelligence. When such a cell exists, the brain will bring the residual powers of the organism to destroy the errant cell.
The brain, though the creature of its cellular constituents, is nevertheless supreme in the organism of which it is a part. The cells have created it as president to preside over and direct their affairs.
As the supreme faculty of the body, the brain is protected and served by its cell constituency preferentially. The brain thus is treated royally. It receives the best of everything; it is served and kept operational, even if this means the sacrifice of millions upon millions of cells. Thus, we can say the brain is the kingpin behind the human show.

Cell And Brain Programming

Each cell has a blueprint called genetic encoding. As a matter of fact, each mitochondrion within the cell has its own genetic material, too. This encoding enables the cell to reproduce itself faithfully. Further, it enables the cell to perform chemical, mechanical and electrical activities with exactness. The cell is a chemical factory performing more chemical feats than all the chemical factories in the world combined. Incredibly, it performs them within its membraneous confines, the volume of which is so small as to be undetectable to our eyesight.
The intelligence of a cell does not have to be learned. A new cell comes into existence just as experienced and knowledgeable as the cell that begot it. The intelligence is inherent and is automatically transmitted to progeny. The endless duplication of phono discs might be compared with cell replication. The programming is within.
The brain and central nervous system, likewise, are possessed of most of the knowledge, programming and expertise needed for operating an infinitely complex organism. The programming necessary to internal operations is automatically transmitted through reproduction of genetic codes in the developing organism. We marvel that the blueprint for the whole organism in all its incomprehensible number of faculties and functions exists within a fertilized ovum. Our stupefaction must be thorough when we realize that the microscopic fertilized ovum has all the instructions encoded that will create a grown “human being with 125 trillion cells. A perfectly developed and symmetrically formed organism of 125 trillion cells will result from the blueprint born of the union of sperm and ovum.
Everything about this organism is at all times perfect in faculties and functioning potential. It is faithful in every detail of the blueprint. It carries within all the accumulated experience and knowledge of billions of years of development. It will reliably produce a human being to the highest standard to which humans have developed. The perfect precision with which millions and trillions of formulas, processes and procedures are exactly transmitted and performed (some for just once in the whole life of the forming organism) is truly mind-boggling. (All this presumes no vitiating interference from toxicity or injury.)
We can throw up our hands and dismiss probing into such baffling complexities because of their irrelevance to the practical plans of human existence. Indeed, we can! We can live in bliss and never inquire once into our origins or the intricacies of our being. Humans lived happily unaffected lives in nature, just as animals, long before we plumbed the depths of our bodies and minds. Hence, we do not pursue this course to teach the profundities of the organism. You can procure books on physiology, biochemistry, cytology, anatomy and kindred subjects if you choose to do so. But that will add little to your effective knowledge of how to guide errant humans. That know-how is much simpler and easier, at least insofar as it involves learning.
Our objective is to imbue you with an awareness of the extensiveness of inborn intelligence and an understanding that it is to be trusted implicitly at all times and in all cases. Never be so presumptive or arrogant as to imagine that you can second-guess the body. Neither you nor anyone else can. While we can fathom the vast intelligence within, we cannot begin to substitute for it. We cannot help it a smidgeon. All that we do to the vital domain constitutes morbid interference.
The brain consists of fifty billion cells that are the most highly developed of any known. They have the potential to live for hundreds of years. They do not reproduce as do other body cells—they do not reproduce at all. But even the healthiest of us lose perhaps a hundred thousand of our brain cells daily. At this rate, it would take 150 years to lose 10% of our brain capacity. But humans often squander this precious heritage and become senile in their sixties, seventies and eighties, still in the relative youth of life’s potential, with loss of perhaps more than 50% of their cerebral matter.
On the conscious level, we are babes in the woods. While our intellects have been millions of years in developing, cell intelligence has been developing for billions of years, and our subconscious faculties have been hundreds of millions of years in development. Our infant intellects are at a stage where it can most appropriately be said that “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.” If the human race survives long enough, we may come to a general intellectual level consonant with Life Science ideals. We may all come to realize that our own well-being is indelibly bound in following nature’s mandates—in living in complete harmony with our fellow sojourners—in total non-exploitation of humans or of other creatures.

Wisdom and Precision of Body Processes

Some 100,000 different proteins are synthesized within the body. The blueprints or formulas for these proteins exist within almost every cell. The exact procedures involved for making these proteins most efficiently are a part of cell encoding or programming.
Likewise, the cells have a wealth of abilities—to store and use all the raw materials they need, to create the compounds they need and will need, to create the energy they need, to create and apply the energy commanded of them in behalf of the organism—the multitude of capabilities of the cell overwhelm the intellect. It is said that if all the processes and capabilities of the cell were to be taken over by a computer, a computer of the dimensions of New York City could not cope with them.
A cell might better be likened to a self-contained universe rather than a self-contained city.
Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) is the source of energy for most cell functions. Most ATP is created by the specialized organelles called mitochondria. Mitochondria create this complicated molecule, ATP, which “fires” when given a proper signal. When the ATP is used, the resulting spent molecule is recycled or “reloaded” for reuse. The know-how, providence and expertise involved in these chemical processes stagger the imagination.

Cognitive Faculties

At every level of its being, the body has highly-developed sensors that can readily recognize that which is good, bad or indifferent. All our senses coalesce to recognize foods, dangers, pleasurable and enticing situations, unpleasurable and repulsive situations, and so on.
Externally, our conscious faculties and intellect fulfill sensory and cognitive roles. Within the vital domain there are millions upon millions of specialized faculties for sensing the electro-chemical-mechanical nature of everything that enters.
Nerves translate all sensory data into electrical impulses and transmit them to the brain for a coordinated and purposive response that will effectively deal with the situation.
To provide an example, let us propose that many cells are short of an amino acid needed to synthesize a crucial protein requirement. This need is communicated to the brain, which relays a message to cells for inventories of surplus amino acids. Those required for deamination and reamination into the needed amino acids are directed to the liver, where deamination is conducted and the new amino acid is synthesized. The order of intelligence that can perform these immensely complex inventory and chemical activities makes our intellects, as marvelous as they are, look rather miniscule by comparison.

The Body Communications System

The body has some 50 billion brain cells. It has billions of nerve cells involved in message transmission. Messages travel within and around the body with the speed of electricity—nerve transmissions are almost all electrical. There are chemical communications within the body as well.
If we viewed a city like New York with eight million inhabitants, millions of telephones, hundreds of exchanges and thousands of switchboards, we can only begin to understand how intricate and complex are the body communications systems. The body has a communications system that serves at one time the equivalent of 36,000 earths, each earth having over four billion residents! Each of those inhabitants has a telephone.
If you knew what was involved in turning over during the night during sleep, you’d be astonished. An area of the body involving countless billions of cells becomes cramped or distressed in some way. An urgent request goes to the brain—rather, the brain has been monitoring the situation all along. But movement is not initiated as long as matters remain within certain parameters. When the situation threatens the integrity of certain areas, the brain, entirely beneath the level of wakefulness, will mobilize trillions of cells that comprise hundreds of muscle systems and effect a shift of body weight to a more comfortable position.

The Body’s Master Coordinator

We have commented upon the brain as the kingpin in all body operations. The brain is the supreme creation that trillions of cooperating cells have devised to serve them as a master communications and coordinations center. The brain has been developed to administer the many needs within. As well, the brain has been developed to aid the organism to deal with the external world on its own terms.
The thoughts we have on a conscious level are marvels when viewed from one aspect. But our intellects are hardly capable of conducting more than one line of thought at a time. In comparison, the brain conducts millions of processes simultaneously beneath the level of awareness! This service never ceases, going on every second for our entire lifetime. The busyness of the brain in serving the equivalent of 36,000 earths with four billion inhabitants each is unimaginable. We can only hint at it.
For example, one of the brain’s responsibilities is overseeing the maintenance and circulation of the blood—among a few million other things. And speaking of a few million things, while you read this sentence your body has created 10,000,000 new blood cells! That is, it creates ten million blood cells per second! The body has some 25 trillion blood cells, and their average life expectancy is only about thirty days. Blood maintenance and circulation have unimaginable intelligence behind them.
The luxury of abstract thought is possessed by only a few creatures on earth. Some races of humans, notably the negrillo or pigmy, are said to be incapable of mastering abstractions. Yet there are other creatures, most notably whales, dolphins (porpoises) and elephants, who may be able to think in abstractions. Perhaps even dogs and wolves are capable of abstract thought. We don’t really know much about the subject. Certainly no other creatures approach the capacities of humans for abstract thought.
The brain is absolute master of all the cells within its domain. Yet it is totally subservient to its cells and is very responsive to their needs. But the organic order of the body system is such that the brain is at the very apex in importance. While the brain was the last development of the human organism, it is the first in importance. Every cell, tissue and organ system other than the heart are slowly sacrificed, in critical periods such as starvation, that the brain might survive. When the brain can no longer survive, death occurs.
The brain is the prime instrument in establishing, supplying and maintaining the needs and stable environment of the trillions of cells. Each cell has yet other organisms that thrive within its internal environment called mitochondria. The brain exists for every cell in the body and, in turn, the brain’s welfare is dependent upon the well-being of the cellular system it serves.

Knowledge, Expertise And Resources For Healing Processes

Can anyone doubt, after a study of the countless control mechanisms within the body, after observing what happens with predictable reliability when cuts, broken bones and other injuries are suffered, that the body is completely self-repairing?
Can anyone not see that the body has vast resources, that it is completely self-sufficient and that it is fully capable of coping with internal exigencies that beset it to the exclusion of all other agencies?
Can anyone of average intelligence not see that any intrusion upon the vital domain is grossly wrong? That it obstructs and interferes with processes revealing far more wisdom and expertise than we can ever hope to master?
Can anyone doubt that all body action is intelligent, purposeful action?
Can anyone doubt that symptoms of sickness evince body action in purifying and healing itself? Can anyone doubt that, in conducting disease processes, the body is manifesting wisdom and physiologically correct remedial activities?
Can anyone doubt that an organism with the power to develop itself into a superb human being from a fertilized ovum is less than capable of managing its internal affairs?
Can any person presume a knowledge of internal needs better than the body itself?
It is very unwise, even dangerous, for anyone to presume an ability or knowledge superior to that of the body. Leave the body intelligently alone!

Body Actions Always Are Right Actions

It has been said in jest that “we are our own worst enemies.” The facade of a joke often conceals an element of truth.
What humans often do relative to their bodies reminds me of a story. Two husky men were going down the street. They observed a huge piano apparently stuck in a doorway and two workmen inside trying to move it. They offered their help and started struggling to get the piano into the house while the two workmen inside struggled also. After about half an hour of fruitless efforts, one of the workmen inside yelled for a break so they could get their heads together on this thing. Upon convening, one workman commented that he’d never had such great difficulty in getting a piano out of a house before.
“Getting it out of the house?” asked one of the volunteers. “We been trying to help you get it into the house.”
When we deem our intellects superior to the obvious demands of the body in a crisis, we exhibit gross ignorance. The only way to help the body is to cooperate with it, to meet its needs in accord with its condition. That is the only wise thing to do. This means “leave the body intelligently alone” to do its thing in full confidence that all body action is right action.

Intervention of Intellect in Body Affairs

If you hold your breath or force yourself to breathe in a manner that is contrary to normal breathing, you are interfering in a vital body process. Not many people hold their breaths long nor perform forced breathing (often called deep breathing) such that they underventilate or hyperventilate their bodies and beget hallucinations.
The body is the best arbiter of its needs. It is autonomous and operates from a cumulative fount of wisdom that we can never hope to emulate.
Often the body will make its demands upon us in some gentle manner, such as in thirst, sleepiness, hunger, etc. But when we figure that wine, beer or soda pop are just fine as ways to satisfy thirst, we are imposing upon the body a health-sapping burden. The body demanded water, and only water, in thirst. To supply it with anything other than water is a mistake.
At some time in our past the current superstition about diseases began. The present idea about disease is the result of a gradual evolution from the ideas of evil spirits and demons. The people who held these ideas admitted that they were wrong by the fact that they changed their minds and replaced them with new ideas. However, the new ideas have the same roots as the old ideas and are, therefore, equally wrong.
The misconception that still prevails in matters of sickness or disease is that the body is being attacked. The misconception further holds that the attacker or attackers must be counterattacked and routed from the body. Under this misconception many people have been harmed (by drugs). Death occurs in some cases. In fact, when physicians go on strike, the death rate usually plummets by 50 to 60%!
One of the prime dicta of the Hygienic philosophy is noninterference in the body. Each cell of the body possesses more knowledge and expertise than the whole of the human race collectively on the conscious level. Our voodooistic rituals with drugs are based on conjectures about what the body should be doing or what it needs when ill.
It bears repeating that sickness is vital body action. It is right action. The body initiates and conducts the disease process to accomplish physiological objectives. To mistake that action as an attack by an invader that must be routed is disastrous in practice.
Refrain always from second-guessing the body—what it needs or what should be done. We’ll repeat over and over: “Leave the body intelligently alone.” Establish the external conditions of health based on the body’s capabilities of the moment and that’s all. That is a simple enough dictum to follow.

Building Confidence in Inherent Faculties

This lesson cannot pinpoint body wisdom any more than have our many researchers and thinkers. We know its there and we perceive how extensive it is when we explore it. But, by and large, most of our population is unaware of their bodies’ tremendous faculties. They violate the laws of their being and then seek “help” when problems arise.
When the resources and powers of the body fail to restore health under favorable conditions, then the condition is irremediable. Life Science is the court of last resort for many who have tried everything but healthful living. Many turn too late—they’re already over the hill.
Everyone can benefit by the employment of healthful practices within the context of their condition.

A Medical Assessment Of Body Wisdom

Dr. David Reuben, M.D., has authored two best-selling books. One, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Nutrition, contains much erroneous guidance. But it also shatters many commercially-fostered myths in the field of foods, feeding and nutrition.
The following quote from the book illustrates the body’s needs and powers:
“Look at it this way. A plain old apple contains 191 known chemical compounds, each of which plays an important role in human nutrition. When you eat that apple, over 1,300 chemical reactions occur to break it down into its component molecules. Those molecules are then dispatched to exactly the areas of the body where they are required. The pectin goes to the large intestine, the vitamin C is sent to the skin, the vitamin A goes to the retinal area of the eyes, and so on times 191. You don’t make it happen because you don’t even know it’s happening. There are 160,000 edible plants on this earth—you didn’t put any of them there. But most of them help keep you alive. Your digestive system was designed by God—not by you, not by IBM and not by a government agency. It can take almost any animal that walks by or any plant that springs up in an empty field and convert it into brain, bone, heart, muscle and energy to keep you alive. Even the most arrogant and self-important “scientist” must admit that a Being far wiser than any human must have devised and implemented that will-uncomprehended nutritional system.”
So don’t think that the people who make instant breakfasts or imitation orange juice or yucky white imitation bread have the slightest idea what your body needs. That applies as well to those who turn out vitamin pills and nutritional supplements. Those fumbling human brains cannot improve on the Master Design that brought you here and allows you to survive from day to day.

Law and Order Reign Within the Body

Pick up any book on physiology, nutrition, biology, cytology, biochemistry, anatomy and related sciences. Each attests to the multitude of activities the body conducts. Each bespeaks the orderliness and precision with which the activities are conducted; each witnesses the enormous wisdom—the vast know-how and expertise posessed within; each tells of the multitude of faculties and resources within the body.
However, for a person who elects to make a practical application of the world’s most needed expertise, a pursuit of esoteric knowledge would be luxurious entertainment. Most of it is meaningless, for we cannot change nature. It does not need to be changed. We can always rely on it. The multitudinous processes and relationships proclaim the unalterable reign of law and order within. All body wisdom is based soundly upon the immutable physical relationships of matter. Entitative existence depends entirely upon fixed principles and undeviating physical relationships. Bodily survival depends upon taking charge of and utilizing needed natural substances in accord with invariable laws.
The order of intelligence evinced in the mastery of nature’s forces dwarfs our intellects beyond our ability to comprehend. The best we can do is bend our knees in awe and acknowledge our inner wisdom and resources as our master. We must make our intellects totally subservient to our bodily wisdom. Our intellects will thrive ever more if we learn to cooperate with our inner wisdom.
By teaming up with your body intelligence in all matters, you can become a winner in the game of life.

Programming The Intellect For Exuberant Well-Being

By now you are no doubt persuaded that the body is constructed for perfect operations.
The body is a perfect instrument within the environment of its adaptation when its needs are correctly furnished. Because intellect often misinterprets body processes and actually contravenes its needs—because cumulative institutionalized errors regard the body and its needs incorrectly, much suffering and disease prevail today.
Learn to trust the body implicitly. Learn how to properly supply it and know that it will perform correctly whether in struggle or great health. Struggle is occasioned when the body is incorrectly supplied or interfered with. Lacing our bodies with toxic fare, miscalled food and drink, is incorrect supply, and the administration of drugs, treatments and anti-vital modalities constitutes gross interference.
From wrong intellectual programming flows errors that undermine and destroy health.

Gemma’s comments:

“All I know is that I know nothing” - Socrates, V century B.C.

One day it was raining and I watched through the window a snail climbing our house - ‘He must be lost” - So I went out and I took it and left it on a leaf in the garden. Next day, before going into our house, I payed attention to the walls of the house, and there was not only one but many snails climbing the walls. Then I realised that the snail I put on the leaf was not lost, but he was doing what the instinct was guiding it to do - searching for a refugee in the high when it’s raining too much and it may be dangerous to stay in the ground.
Humans believe that they are the most intelligent species in the planet. Every time recent scientific discoveries show us how wrong we were regarding our scientific theories. Scientific errors have repeatedly occurred throughout the human history, but we haven’t learnt the lesson of humility yet.
We have even succeed to modify the weather (cloud seeding) for our convenience, throwing silver nitrate; we have achieved to alter the genetic code of species and to make clones; and all this believing that it’s for a good purpose, for our own good and the progress of the humanity. But what have we done? Every human intervention in the planet only makes it worst. Humans don’t know anything, mother Nature knows best.
In our occidental society, doctors are considered as gods, they are the only authorities in health and disease, they know it all. What they say must be done in order to heal, and we are threatened with big fatalities in case that we don’t obey. Also, some people read a post about nutrition in some kind of glossy magazine or listen a nutrition program in the TV and they believe they already know what is healthy food.
One of the first things I learnt when I began using alternative medicine was that conventional medicine was wrong. Then, naturopath therapists and homeopaths become to be my health gods. But after some years of trying a long list of therapies, and seeing that they only helped to heal temporarily, because the diseases came back again after some time, and observing that the different approaches about nutrition contradict themselves, I concluded that the human intellect, the reason and science also makes mistakes. Then I discovered that our body knows exactly the way to heal: through disease. The symptoms of what we feel as disease are only the manifestations of the healing of the body. When we impede a disease, by conventional or natural methods, we are preventing healing (this subject will be explained in detail in the next article). So the human intelligence doesn’t know anything, the Body Wisdom or Inner Nature knows best.
But evidently, the body intelligence has his limits, and if we don’t provide the elements that it needs and we attack it with detrimental products, then it’s not able to heal himself. Then, how can we know what are the exact correct needs for the human body and the whole person to fully perform their functions? As we have said: only Mother Nature or the Higher Self or God, you name it, knows it. We only have to observe this Higher Intelligence, learn from It and follow Their teachings. We must observe the animals in the nature; the anatomy and physiology of our body; the signals that our body send us; and also for religious people, the teachings that God give us (all religions give very good advices concerning how to be healthy, such as, for example, fasting).
In this previous article we described with detail the deductions that we get when observing all these elements, and then, the needed life conditions and dietary regime that we should follow.
In this present article we demonstrated how powerful and intelligent the human organism is, and how wrong and weak the human intellect is. In the next article we will show what are the consequences of a human medical intervention.

The Human Dietetic Character, Part II

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Sat, 23 Jan 2016 21:38:00 +0100

This article and the next two endeavor to establish all the particulars of human dietetic character.
The information is originally written by T,C.Fry in The Life Science Health System and Dr. Douglas N. Graham in his book “The 80/10/10 Diet” .

Continue reading The Human Dietetic Character, Part II

Human Anatomy, Physiology and Psychology Evidence Our Dietary Nature

How does one determine the correct food for any given creature? Let us suppose that you were given a baby animal and you had no idea what it was or what it was supposed to eat. Perhaps it was a gift from a foreign land. How would you know what to fee it?
The answer is relatively simple. All you would have to do is offer the creature different types of foods in their whole, natural state. That which it was designed for, it would eat. It would likely ignore all the other items, not even considering them as food.
The same technique would work with a human child. Put the child in a room with a lamb and a banana. Sit back and watch to see which he plays with and which he eats. We can be fairly sure of the outcome. Try again with fats versus fruits by offering a choice of (natural, raw, unsalted) nuts, seeds, avocados, or olives on the one hand and any fresh sweet fruit on the other. Again, we can safely predict that the child will choose the sweet fruit.
What would you eat in nature? Despite the gross perversion of our instincts, they are still alive and well and will reassert should we be relegated back to nature. Therefore, this quest is to ascertain what we would eat in nature. Our instinctive foods, the foods which helped to develop us to our magnificence, necessarily contain all that we need to thrive on.
Our premises to determine our dietary nature are: that Mother nature, i.e., the sum of all factors and influences under which we lived in nature, served us correctly to start with, inasmuch as we thrived an attained our high station in its midst; that what was right for us then is still right for us in view that we’re still structurally and physiologically the same as we were during most of our sojourn as humans in nature; that we can still, within our modern context, supply ourselves with naturel foods substantially and significantly; and that we can also observe, meaningfully, the other requisites of life in our modern context.

Are We Carnivorous?

Today’s “nutritionists” are subservient to the “basic four” food concepts. While this concept may look good on paper, it is a disaster in practice, because most of America’s health problems stem largely from its observance. According to these nutritionists, we do not have any fixed dietary as have most animals in nature. Rather, humans are considered to be some sort of omnivorous creature above all the laws of nature. Many assert we have definite carnivorous leanings. Quite a few nutrition experts have termed our incisor teeth “fangs,” in defense of the erroneous position that humans are meat eaters.
Humans are well-equipped in all their anatomical features to gather fruits, but most unsuited to capture animals and rend them. Fangs and pointed teeth that penetrate and kill, rip and tear are a feature of all carnivores except birds.
Let’s put this matter of human carnivorism on a personal level. Can you picture yourself quietly stalking a rabbit and pouncing upon it? If it should slip away, can you picture yourself exploding with a blinding burst of speed that may be 30 to 50 miles per hour for the short distance needed to overtake your prey? Can you picture yourself catching the rabbit in your mouth, and then sinking your fangs deeply into its vitals, crushing and killing it? Can you picture yourself ripping the animal to shreds and swallowing it in bloody bits and chunks without thorough mastication? Can you savor the animal’s blood, guts, bones and organs? If you cannot carry out this practice with gusto and delight, you are not of a meat-eating disposition.
For instance, picture a three year old child in a playpen. Into the pen we place a rabbit and an apple. Will the child be hostile to the rabbit, kill and eat it and play with the apple? Or will the child eat the apple, and befriend and play with the rabbit?
You must admit that we are not anatomically equipped as carnivores. You must also admit that the idea of attacking, killing and rending animals on the spot does not appeal to humans psychologically—we are not natural killers. What most of us do not realize is that we are not only psychologically but also physiologically unsuited to utilizing meat as a food.
When a natural carnivore swallows hunks of carrion unchewed, the flesh is digested in the stomach of the carnivore with ease and facility. Should we swallow large hunks of flesh without chewing, we’d digest very little of it before putrefaction set in. This putrefactive material would cause us many problems until it could be expelled from the intestinal tract. Why does a carnivore so readily digest something we can handle almost not at all?
Flesh is a proteinaceous food that is digested in an acid medium. Humans, relative to carnivores, secrete a very weak hydrochloric acid and little of the protein-splitting enzyme, pepsin. Carnivorous animals have a concentration of these flesh-digesting media 1100% greater than humans! Should a lion swallow your hand whole he would quite readily digest it. Should a human do the same thing, I leave to your imagination what would happen. Digestion is among the things that wouldn’t happen!
There are hundreds of anatomical features that we humans have which place us among frugivorous animals. We are anatomically fruit eaters. Not everyone will admit our lack of claws and fangs and possession of gentle sensitive hands suits us for fruit gathering rather than animal catching. They fail to see that our likeness to fruit-eating creatures places us in the fruit-eating camp. Most people fancy that we’re in no animal camp at all—we’re humans, gods of a special sort not heir to the principle that apply to animals. They consider us to be not animals at all—just humans!
Let’s return to our consideration of humans as meat-eaters. Natural meat eaters have built-in equipment with which to apprehend, capture, kill and rend their quarry. Claws and fangs are very much a part of a carnivore’s equipment. Let’s consider the human mouth. We couldn’t catch an animal in our mouth or dispatch it that way if we tried. Two witnessed dogs catch other animals many times by charging them and snapping their powerful jaws on them at a vital spot. I’ve seen these dogs sink their fangs deep into the throat of animals must larger than themselves and inflict fatal wounds. A human could not grab an animal in its mouth as does a dog, coyote, wolf or cat. Even biting a live animal with our teeth and mouth opened to the fullest would not permit for the insertion of any animal other than very small ones. And, if the animal was alive, we might have more damage inflicted upon us than we could inflict except with the brute strength of our hands and arms. On the contrary, the human mouth is excellent for biting into fruits or the insertion of fruits and chewing. Obviously we are adapted for eating small items.
The anatomical features that distinguish humans from carnivores such as cats, dogs, eagles, jackals and other carnivorous animals are many. There are few features wherein we are alike. Humans are also very dissimilar to omnivorous animals such as hogs, bears, and the like. Almost everything about these animals is different from humans.
Keep in mind that our mental disposition matches our anatomical and physiological disposition. What we admire naturally (as contrary to acquired perversions) is in accord with our dietary. Our aesthetic standards attribute beauty to fruit trees, and fruit but not to dying and bleeding animals. We savor fruit and are repulsed by blood. We do not savor grass or insects.
One of the most telling facts is rather simple. About 5% of the flesh volume of all animals consists of waste materials that are normally eliminated by the kidneys—uric acid, a precursor to urine. Uric acid is a poison to humans, not only because it is a toxic waste product but because it is non-metabolizable.
All carnivorous animals secrete the enzyme uricase. Uricase breaks down uric acid so that it can be eliminated quite readily. Unfortunately, humans absorb uric acid when meat is eaten. The uric acid stimulates the body like caffeine or other drugs until the body neutralizes it by drawing upon alkaline reserves, especially calcium. In the absence of such reserves, the body draws upon bones and teeth.
What happens to the calcium urate crystals that are formed as a result of this neutralization? For the most part, the body excretes them. Inasmuch as they’re in the circulating media of blood and lymph, the body does not eliminate them with dispatch, especially in view of the enormity of the eliminative tasks of most people. Hence the body “buries” the crystals “under the rug,” that is, it shunts them aside to areas in which they do the least physiological harm. The body has a tendency to concentrate neutralized uric acid as calcium urates in the joints, lower back and the feet. These deposits lead to arthritis, bursitis, lower back pains, gout, rheumatism, etc. Once an arthritic sufferer recognizes this bodily process as the cause of his suffering, he is usually quite willing to give up meat-eating. Fasting will, in most cases, enable the body to slowly autolyze these deposits and return to normal. A proper diet will not cause such a condition in the first place nor after correction has been realized.

Are We Herbivores?

There are about twenty million people in this country who call themselves “vegetarians.” Most vegetarians fuel their bodies with what is called vegetarian fare. That is, they fancy themselves as a class of herbivores or plant eaters. We Life Scientists contend that we are not ruminants or herbivores.
We are also very dissimilar anatomically to grass-eaters. We all know we are not grass-eaters. We reject the idea of eating grass and weeds, the natural dietary of cattle and other herbivora. It’s completely contrary to our nature to do so.
Our natural foods must necessarily appeal to ALL our relevant senses. It follows that our natural foods must delight our eyes, be of a fragrance that tantalizes our olfactory senses, and be of such titillating quality to the taste buds as to be ambrosia. Eating should always be a gustatory delight.
Which would you prefer? The aromatic sweet flesh of a properly ripened pineapple or a head of broccoli? Would you rather have a delectable sun-ripened peach or a few raw collard greens? Would you prefer a stalk of celery or a bunch of purple concord grapes? Which entices you the most, a colorful juicy orange or spinach greens? Does a head of cabbage attract you as much as a properly ripened, brilliantly yellow and brown speckled banana? Which lures your eye most for beauty, a large red delicious apple or a freshly dug carrot? Does a basket of brussels sprouts turn your head as much as a basket of strawberries? Is the heavenly delicacy of a Cornice pear matched by anything you’ve ever eaten from the lettuce family?
If you’ve ever eaten a cherimoya, mango, mangosteen, soursop, sapodilla, fig, date, watermelon, cantaloup, honeydew or other mouthwatering delights, you know well their joys. Can you compare the eating of any single vegetable in its raw state to eating any of these heady delights? Can you not see that, in order for a food to be a natural item of human dietary, we must be capable of relishing that food eaten by itself in the raw state?
Not only must the food be a gourmet experience in its living state but our fill of it must furnish us with most if not all our nutrient needs. This is a most vital consideration.
Can you name a single vegetable that you’d ravish, as a full meal of itself in its raw state? Almost any vegetable that you can name fails in the first prerequisite of a food: it must furnish us amply of our fuel requirements. Almost every vegetable you name does not furnish us with any significant amount of caloric values. All green leaves, regardless of their calorie rating, yield us no net increase in calories. The energy of digestion and assimilation often exceed the calories obtained therefrom. Most of the calories of vegetables are bound in indigestible cellulose. Ruminants with four stomachs, true herbivores, can digest cellulose and thereby obtain fuel and nutrient values. We humans become as thin as a rail if we try to sustain ourselves on vegetable fare.
The potato, a tuber, is regarded as a vegetable. If eaten raw, it cannot be relished. Moreover, its starches cannot be utilized for two reasons. First, most of its food values are inaccessible to us because they are encapsulated in cellulose membranes. Secondly, those values which are freed quickly exhaust our supply of the starch-splitting enzyme, ptyalin (salivary amylase).
Cereal gains, which are popularly regarded as vegetables even though they are not, have the same drawbacks in digestion as does the potato. Grains occur in an edible state but a day or two in their cycles. Otherwise they’re inedible except upon heavy soaking or sprouting. Even when soaked or sprouted, every grain is deficient in one or several aspects of its nutrient complement. Most also offer digestive problems. The gluten of wheat, for instance, is indigestible. We simply don’t possess the enzymes to break it down. Wheat protein is bound as gluten. Further, most grains contain phytic acid, which we cannot handle. They bind calcium and thus rob us of that mineral salt.
An examination of every vegetable reveals it, when it stands on its own, as unsuited for human sustenance in some significant aspect or other. Fruit, on the other hand, supplies us amply with all our needs including proteins, mineral salts, vitamins, fuel and other vital food components, known and unknown.
We can relish fruits in their raw ripe state without any special preparation beyond pitting and/or peeling. I know of very few vegetables that would even begin to furnish our needs amply that we can make a meal of, even if we did relish them. Turnips, rutabagas, kohlrabi, fresh sweet corn, sprouted legumes and fresh sweet peas (where starch has not set) would be some of the near exceptions.
Without cookery and condiments most vegetables are unappealing. We must jazz up their lack of taste appeal with stimulating herbs or unwholesome flavorings, fats, seasonings, etc. We must deceive our senses in order to consume vegetables. Condiments and cooking are very destructive to our health.
Most vegetarians eat fruits, even a preponderance of fruits, yet call themselves vegetarians. Many vegetarians consume fish, milk and dairy products and eggs and still fancy themselves vegetarians. Of course these products are not even vegetables. Vegetables are plants. But the seeds of plants, the legumes, the grains, certain fruits such as cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, tomatoes, eggplants and peppers are regarded as vegetables though technically they are not.
Not all fruits meet the proper criteria as food for humans. Nuts and avocados are suitable as food but we could not sustain ourselves on them whereas we can sustain ourselves indefinitely on grapes, bananas, oranges, figs, dates and many other fruits. We’d never make it on fruits such as cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and squash any more so than we can make it on cabbage or celery.
A good indication of what our natural foods are can be determined by the natural preferences of a child that has been fed nothing but its mother’s milk. Does it like cereals or bananas’? Apples or cabbage? What will a child go for if let to choose its own food? In my experience such a child always has chosen fruits. When served vegetables, my child found them a chore to eat, though he ate them to some extent.
We have considered vegetables and fruits based on aesthetic appeal and fuel requirements. There are other touchstones for consideration which we shall now explore. Humans are classed as frugivora or frugivores or fruit eaters because of their anatomy, their primate character, their digestive faculties, their psychological disposition and their background in nature. Research has shown that we had an arboreal past—that we were once tree dwellers. At that time we depended upon the products of tree, and later upon the fruits of stalk and vine, for our sustenance.
For example, Dr. Alan Walker, an anthropologist of Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, has done research that shows that humans were once exclusively fruit eaters. By careful examination of fossil teeth and fossilized remains of humans with the aid of electron microscopes and other sophisticated tools, Dr. Walker and other researchers are absolutely certain that our ancestors, up to a point in relatively recent history, were total fruitarians.
These findings complement other findings and verify the consistent scientific classification of humans as frugivora.
Creatures that live in accord with their biological heritage do not develop disease. They live out their normal life spans and die natural deaths. Humans have by and large strayed from their natural dietary and for that reason suffer disease and early death. Humans who undertake to live on their natural dietary and observe other modalities of healthful living also live unto a ripe old age and die a natural death. Although it is a rarity, people who touch base with life’s requisites have lived well past 100. In Hunza such a lifespan is a rule rather than the exception, even though their dietary is far from ideal.
Green leaves and stalks contain a greater concentration of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients than fruits. But they also contain, in most cases, compounds we cannot handle well. Lettuce contains minute amounts of a poison called lactucarium, which is a soporific. It is contained in a milk-like substance, just as in the poppy. Large amounts of lactucarium can be gathered and converted to substances resembling opium and heroin.
Celery has bitter properties in the leaves which make them repulsive to the normal palate. Anything that disagrees with our taste buds has, ipso facto, been rejected at that point. That is not to say, on the other side of the ledger, that a pleasant taste is the sole criteria by which to select foods, even with foods as they occur in nature, our taste is the surest guide we have if our taste buds are unperverted.
I deeply believe that we can add certain vegetables to our diet in small quantities with some benefit, most notably lettuce and celery. Their wealth of vitamins and mineral salts as well as their high quality protein amply supplement and insure adequacy of a fruitarian diet. Our bodies handle small amounts of such vegetable fare rather efficiently and without protest. In conjunction with a vegetable meal certain fruits can also be added, especially bell peppers, tomatoes and avocados. Secondarily we can add nuts on occasion or seeds such as pumpkin, sesame id sunflower. These seeds have the same dietetic character as nuts even though humans probably never ate them in nature.
It is well to always keep in mind that we are not naturally herbivores, graminivores, carnivores, insectivores or omnivores. Neither are we oil, protein or starch eaters except incidentally. Our protein needs are met amply from fruits but the occasional addition of nuts, seeds and greens insures dietary protein adequacy. However, we do not handle concentrated foods containing oil, proteins and arches with any great degree of efficiency. They are best eaten infrequently, perhaps two or three times weekly as Proteins require about 70% as much energy to digest and assimilate as they furnish whereas sweet fruits are so efficiently handled that the body is able to utilize over 90% of their caloric energy after deducting energies expended in ingestion and assimilation. Moreover, proteins are not used for energy as long as carbohydrates and fats are available.
That to which we are physiologically adapted is also most effectively and efficiently utilized. Vegetables, I repeat, yield us no calories as a rule though we do obtain from them a plethora of nutrients. Even so, fresh ripe raw fruits furnish us amply of our needs including proteins, vitamins and mineral salts. Even our very small need for essential fatty acids is well met by fruits. When we meet our requirements, that’s enough. Enough is all we need. Oversubscription can be like overloading a truck or a mule—it is very taxing and damaging.
Though vegetables are not natural to our dietary I must reiterate this observation: Not all vegetables are bad in our diet for they are consonant with our needs. On the same order, not all fruits are good for us. Many fruits are poisonous. Some, though not poisonous, are not handled well, such as oily fruits like Brazil nuts and pecans, high protein and fat content nuts and seeds such as almonds and sunflower, and starchy fruits such as pumpkins and chestnuts.
No natural food in the world rivals fruits for exquisiteness and wholesomeness. Inasmuch as tables of composition of foods show fruits replete with our needs, and inasmuch as we can more efficiently make use of the nutrients of fruits than any vegetable, legume or grain, we can safely confine ourselves to completely fruitarian fare with great benefit.
While the condition and quality of fruits available in our marketplaces are lamentable, the same goes for everything else sold as foods! So we are still better off with fruits. Some fine quality fruits can be obtained and we should concentrate upon those. Dried fruits have considerable goodness too. We should complement our fruit meals with some dried fruits, especially if we’re in need of high caloric intake.

Are We Milk Drinkers?

America’s dairy industry has no intention of letting Americans become weaned. We are to remain sucklings all our life.
One of the most telling arguments against milk drinking is to elucidate the realities of milk-drinking. Consider the following statements. Milk would be much fresher and more wholesome if taken directly from the teat of the cow as it is done in nature by calves.
Should anyone argue seriously that milk is the one perfect food you can agree with them that this is true—for a calf. Then you might inquire if their bodies secrete rennin and lactase. These enzymes respectively break down the casein of milk, the calcium/protein component and lactose, the milk sugar. Humans normally cease to secrete these enzymes at about age three, and thereafter can no longer handle milk. It’s no accident that our number one “allergy” is milk. The body properly objects to substances it cannot use for food.
Yes, milk may be the one most perfect food but that does us no good if we can’t digest and use it. Further, when our bacterial flora decompose it, fermenting part and putrefying part, the by-products of decomposition will cause many problems we didn’t bargain for.

Are We Grain Eaters?

Grains are grass seeds. The grains of today are rather tall, but they’re huge compared to the seeds from which they’re developed. Grains have been cultivated and eaten humans for only about 8,000 years.
In nature we did not eat grains or grass seeds. We did not develop any gathering or digestive equipment for grains. Natural grain eaters must be able to efficiently gather, grind and digest grains. Humans fail on all counts. Our teeth handle grains poorly. In fact, humans refuse to chew tasteless and hard grains. Even so, humans, not being starch eaters, cannot digest more than a handful of grains, if that much. True starch eaters secrete a plethora of starch-splitting enzymes in copious amounts. Humans secrete one starch-splitting enzyme, salivary amylase (ptyalin) which is quickly exhausted. After a mouthful or two of starch, the eater palls and stops.
Nope, we’re not grain eaters. The way we do eat grains by mechanical gathering, refining, cooking, etc. makes them palatable but more pathogenic.

THE CARNIVORA	THE OMNIVORA	THE HERBIVORA	THE ANTHROPOID APES	MAN
Zonary placenta	Placenta non-acciduate	Placenta non-deciduate	Discoidal placenta	Discoidal placenta
Four Footed	Four Footed	Four footed	Two hands and two feet	Two hands and two feet
Have claws	Have hoofs	Have hoofs (cloven)	Flat nails	Flat nails
Go on all fours	Go on all fours	Go on all fours	Walks upright	Walks upright
Have tails	Have tails	Have tails	Without tails	Without tails
Eyes look sideways	Eyes look sideways	Eyes look sideways	Eyes look forward	Eyes look forward
Skin without pores	Skin with pores	Skin with pores (save with pachyderms as the elephant	Millions of pores	Millions of pores
Slightly developed incisor teeth	Very well-developed incisor teeth		Well-developed incisor teeth	Well-developed incisor teeth
Pointed molar teeth	Molar teeth in folds		Blunt molar teeth	Blunt molar teeth
*Dental formula 5 to 8.1.6.1.5 to 8 5 to 8.1.6.1.5 to 8	Dental formula 8.1.2 to 3.1.8 8.1.2 to 3.1.8	Dental formula 6.0.0.0.6 6.1.6.1.6	Dental formula 5.1.4.1.5. 5.1.4.1.5.	Dental formula 5.1.4.1.5 5.1.4.1.5
Small salivary glands	Well-developed salivary glands	Well-developed salivary glands	Well-developed salivary glands	Well-developed salivary glands
Acid reaction of saliva and urine	Saliva and urine acid	Alkaline reaction, saliva and urine	Alkaline reaction, saliva and urine	Alkaline reaction of saliva and urine
Rasping tongue	Smooth tongue	Smooth tongue	Smooth tongue	Smooth tongue
Teats on abdomen	Teats on abdomen	Teats on abdomen	Miammary glands on breast	Mammary glands on breast
Stomach simple and roundish	Stomach simple and roundish large cul-de-sac	A stomach in three compartments (in camel and some ruminents four)	Stomach with duodenum (as second stomach)	Stomach with duodenum (as second stomach)
Intestinal canal 3 times length of the body	Intestinal canal 10 times length of the body	Length of intestinal canal varies according to species, but is usually 10 times longer than body	Intestinal canal 12 times length of the body	Intestinal canal 12 times length-of the body
Colon Smooth	Intestinal canal smooth and convoluted	Intestinal canal smooth and convoluted	Colon convoluted	Colon convoluted
Lives on flesh	Lives on flesh, carrion and plants	Lives on grass, herbs and plants	Lives on fruit and nuts	Lives on fruit and nuts

*The figures in the center represent the number of incisors upon each side

Physiological Criteria Foods Must Meet

Every creature in nature has become adapted to securing and nourishing itself on particular foods. All natural equipment and faculties dispose to this specialization. Humans are not exceptions to this rule. Because we have developed tools using our capabilities and can supply ourselves with an abundance of anything on earth as food does not in any way alter our physiological adaptations and specializations.
Every creature has basic nutritive requirements. Our biology books detail these rather impartially and correctly for animals. But the books and teachings that concern human nutrition do not deal impartially with the subject. Our educational establishment is the captive of our mammoth industrial complex. This means they prostitute their teachings to cater to the needs of those whose grants support them. Thus, human nutrition as taught in our society is dictated, not by physiological faculties and needs, but by the wishes of those food industries that stand to gain from the miseducation that panders to their products.

Food Adaptations of Various Species

The food specializations of various species are categorized by general designation. Some of these categories are as follows:

Herbivores (grass and vegetable eaters such as cattle, sheep, goats, deer, horses, rabbits, etc.)
Graminivores (animals that subsist on grains—birds primarily)
Insectivores (bats, birds and creatures that subsist on insects)
Frugivores (fruit-eating animals—primates and anthropoids, humans, orangutans, apes, monkeys, etc.)
Carnivores (animals that live on the flesh, bone, offal, etc. of other animals—cats, dogs, lions, tigers, wolves, buzzards, hawks, eagles, jackals, etc.)
Omnivores (animals such as swine (pigs, hogs) that live off a mixed diet of fruits, vegetables, grains, flesh, offal, etc.)

Range of Food Processing Capabilities

Humans are endowed with certain natural capacities and limitations in the acquisition, processing and utilization of foods. Human development (which endowed us with our faculties and capabilities) specialized and restricted our equipment and capabilities for food gathering and processing to certain foods just as in the case of other animals. The faculties of most creatures are developed so as to make disposition of surpluses or to survive scarcities. Surpluses are either stored as reserves or are excreted. Redundancies beyond needs and ability to readily excrete founder humans and other animals that are so unwise as to overeat.
In ascertaining the criteria that a food must have to satisfy human needs, we must be cognizant of the capacities and capabilities of the organism as well as the properties of the food.

Food Adaptations of Humans

Humans are classified as frugivores because they have the equipment to harvest and efficiently process only a class of foods called fruits. Humans are not alone in this class. For millions of years humans subsisted solely, exclusively and only on fruits. That is the way it was expressed by Dr. Alan Walker of Johns Hopkins University, an anthropologist who conducted extensive research into the dietary background of humans. Even though humans have eaten foods outside their dietary adaptations off and on for perhaps hundreds of thousands of years and have eaten some cooked foods for tens of thousands of years, there has been no physiological change that would justify straying from our natural dietary.

The Physiological Determinants Of The Optimum Diet

A wealth of information exists about the physiology of food digestion and absorption. Unfortunately, the science of nutrition has often depended upon “rat experiments” and artificially induced deficiencies, rather than upon the true needs of humans, to determine dietary requirements.
A more reasonable approach to determining the true dietary nature of humans is to study human anatomy and physiology. By studying human physiological nature, certain characteristics of the proper diet can be deduced that are in accordance with the inherent nature and anatomical makeup of humankind. This approach does not depend upon contrived experiments, nor is it already biased by what the majority of people believe a traditional diet should be. Instead, human physical capabilities and predispositions are the chief factors in determining true dietary needs.

Food Appropriation

The diet of most animals is largely determined by their food-gathering equipment. The long neck of the giraffe enables him to feed upon the foliage of trees. The teeth and claws of the lion are its means of killing and rending animals for its meals. The eagle’s eyesight and power of flight make this creature a formidable predator of ground rodents.
So, it is salient to ask, how are you physiologically equipped to obtain your food? You have no sharp claws for tearing, no pointed teeth for slashing, nor are your eyes or sense of smell very well developed for hunting. You cannot run fast enough to chase down your prey nor can you naturally swoop through the sky or dive deep into the ocean.
You do have a marvelous set of fingers with an oposable thumb and limbs for reaching and climbing. Actually your food-gathering capabilities are very similar to the chimpanzee’s!
Only man can plant and harvest. He can peel oranges and bananas and pick berries and grapes. He can climb the trees for fruits or gather the vegetables from the ground. Of all the creatures on the earth, man is most ideal for being a gardener and caretaker of the plants and trees.
Man’s hands set him apart from the other animals in his food-gathering capabilities. Man appropriates his food by picking fruits from trees or by planting vegetables. It is the hands of man that are used to obtain his food, and the most natural things for such a being to eat are those foods that can be gathered and harvested—the fruits, vegetables and nuts of the earth.

The Mastication of Food

Man’s teeth are not curved or sharpened like those of the wolf or tiger, nor are they wide and flat like those of the grass-and-grain-eating animals. Instead, they are shaped most similar to the fruit-eating monkey’s.
The saliva in man’s mouth has a different acidity entirely than that of the meat-eating animals; it is much less acidic. Nor is man’s saliva as efficacious in digesting starches as is the saliva of grain-and-tuber-eating animals.
Man’s mouth is actually best suited for eating succulent vegetables and fruits.

The Stomach

If a dog swallows a bone and it proceeds to its stomach, it will be completely dissolved by the dog’s strong gastric juices. Carnivores may safely gulp hunks of meat whole because of the high acidity of the juices in their stomachs.
Humans have choked to death on similar chunks of meat. It is interesting to note that almost all of the fatal chokings on food have involved pieces of meat (vegetarians, beware: peanut butter is a close second on fatal food chokings).
Unlike the grass-and-grain-eaters (such as cattle), man’s stomach cannot process large amounts of cellulose. He cannot regurgitate and re-chew his food as does the cow, for example.
Nor can man’s stomach digest a mixture of all different types of food. Each food requires its own special set of digestive conditions in the stomach. Notice too that little or no starch digestion occurs in the stomach, and that fat digestion is a lengthy process that is only successful for small amounts of unheated fats.
Obviously, anything in the world can be put into the stomach, and probably has. However, the physiology of the stomach is such that only foods in compatible combinations can be effectively digested.

The Intestines

The length of man’s intestines is much longer than that. of the carnivore’s. This is because meat tends to putrefy rather quickly in the intestines and must be expelled quickly. Man’s lengthy intestinal tract cannot handle low-fiber foods such as meat quickly. Consequently, such foods decrease the motility of the intestines and fermentation results, along with eventual constipation.
Cancer of the lower intestines occurs only among populations of meat-eaters. It is virtually unheard of when a diet high in natural fiber (raw fruits and vegetables) is adopted.
Constipation also disappears on a high-fiber diet. Fruit-and-vegetable-eating animals maintain excellent tonality of the intestines and usually experience a natural bowel movement after each feeding.

The Optimum Diet

Let’s review the physiology of digestion so that we may determine the optimum human diet. First, it is obvious that man is built to be a gardener and harvester of fruits, vegetables and nuts. He does not possess the physical apparatus that the carnivorous animals have. Second, the teeth, saliva and digestive enzymes of man point to a diet consisting mainly of fruits and non-starchy, vegetables.
Third, the length of the small intestine is too long to handle putrefying meat and is too short for grasses and grains. Humans should eat a high fiber, high-moisture diet to insure health of the small and large intestines.
From these observations, it is evident that the optimum articles of diet for man are fresh fruits and succulent vegetables. Strictly speaking, based upon man’s digestive physiology, the following raw foodstuffs make up the optimum diet, listed in order of preference:

Fresh fruits;
Succulent fruit-like vegetables;
Leafy greens and sprouts;
Non-starchy vegetables; and
Nuts and seeds.

The following foods, while not optimum, can be handled by man’s digestive physiology in small amounts when properly combined:

Starchy vegetables;
Grains and
Legumes.

The next foods, while sometimes eaten on a vegetarian, diet, are not well adopted to man’s physiology and place an undue strain on the organism:

Free oils; and
Dairy products.

These foods are definitely disruptive of man’s health and are not compatible with his physiology:

Meat;
Eggs;
Refined starches and sugars;
Salt, herbs, spices, etc.;
All processed, preserved and artificial foods; and
Cooked foods.

The person desiring optimum health should eat exclusively from the first list of foods. These foods are most compatible with human physiology. Within this category, foods should be eaten in moderate amounts and in proper combinations.
The ultimate diet that is most conducive to human physiology and that promotes the highest level of health is the mono-fruit diet; that is, the eating of a single variety of fruit for each meal.

Gemma’s comments

As we will see in the next article, I don’t agree with T.C.Fry position about nuts and seeds. As Dr. David Klein says, nuts and seeds are not our best food.
I don't agree with the clasification of adequacy of foods. I would rather say that:

Optimum diet:

Fresh fruits;
Fruit-like vegetables;
Leafy greens;
Raw starchy or non-starchy vegetables;

The next foods are not well adopted to man’s physiology and place an undue strain on the organism:

Cooked starchy or non-starchy vegetables;
Nuts and seeds (properly processed);
Gluten-free grains and legumes (properly processed);
Free oils and fats;
Salt, herbs, spices, etc.;
Meat and Fish;
Eggs;

These foods are definitely disruptive of man’s health and are not compatible with his physiology:

Dairy products;
Grains with gluten;
All processed, preserved and artificial foods.

The Human Dietetic Character, Part I

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Sat, 16 Jan 2016 21:23:00 +0100

In this post we will see what are the physiological criteria that foods must meet for humans.
This article has been taken form The Life Science Health System by T.C.Fry.

Continue reading The Human Dietetic Character, Part I

The Dietary Requirements That Determine Our Ideal Foods

Natural foods for humans must satisfy the following criteria and nutrient needs:

Foods Must Be Non-Toxic

First and foremost the food must be toxin-free. None of the compounds and substances in the food should present a digestive problem. The body must have enzymes adapted to handle every substance within the food. Toxic substances are those which the body cannot use as food. Substances that the body cannot use but which it cannot prevent absorption of (as in alcohol, cholesterol, drugs, etc.) are toxic.

Foods Must Be Edible in the Raw State

The food must be edible in its living or raw state as nature delivers it up for us as food. If we cannot eat our fill of a food in its raw state with relish and make a meal of it that meets all or most of our nutrient needs, then it is not a natural food for humans and should be shunned in favor of foods that do.

Foods Must Have Sensory Appeal

Foods of our adaptation have great sensory appeal. They are a delight to the eye, their aromas tantalize the sense of smell and their substance is an unqualified gustatory delight.

Foods Must Be Digested Easily When Eaten Alone or Properly Combined

Foods of human adaptation undergo practically no digestion in the stomach and humans can absorb the chyme and chyle of their natural foods with very little chemical elaboration in the stomach and small intestine.

Foods Must Be Digested Efficiently

While ease of digestion necessarily also implies efficiency of digestion, this entry relates to another aspect of efficiency. That which is eaten represents a certain amount of energy potential. To derive this energy from food, the body must expend energy to obtain it. The ratio of energy obtained relative to energy expenditure determines the ratio of efficiency.
For instance, we spend a mere 30 calories of energy in the process of appropriation, chewing, absorbing, transporting and assimilating 400 calories of watermelon. On the other hand, we may spend 280 calories in the digesting meat to obtain 400 calories. The efficiency with which we handle foods with monosaccharides versus the inefficiency with which we handle protein foods indicates most emphatically the types of food to which we are naturally adapted.
In processing food for use, we expend two kinds of energy. We expend metabolic energy, which is the chemical and mechanical energies expended, and we expend nerve energy. For instance, we use very little nerve energy in digesting watermelon. But, in processing foods to which we are not biologically adapted, an enormous expenditure of nerve energy is occasioned. Meats may cause nervous exhaustion due to the body’s frenzied activities in dealing with proteins, uric acids and other toxic substances in them. Though we may feel exhilarated while expending nervous energy just as we feel “a pick-me-up” when taking coffee (which really drains nerve energy), the stimulation occasioned by eating unsuitable foods such as meat is an indication of the inefficiency with which the body handles it.

Foods Must Have Protein Adequacy

Our natural foods must supply us with our protein requirements of about 25 grams daily. The less protein eaten down to the point of adequacy, the better. Protein is taken into the body for replenishing amino acid components needed for a multitude of applications. There are three things you should keep in mind relative to protein digestion:

the body can recycle up to two-thirds of its proteinacious wastes to meet its needs;
protein digestion requires an expenditure of energy equivalent to about 70% of its total caloric content; and
neutralization and elimination of the toxins of protein degeneration (putrefaction) uses up vast amounts of nerve energy which, though stimulating at the time, exhausts and debilitates the body.

We must not feel compelled to eat protein foods as such in order to achieve protein adequacy. Almost every food natural to humans has about 4% protein dry weight, an ample amount to supply our needs. Further, most of our natural foods contain the amino acids we need.

Foods Must Be Adequate in Vitamin Content

Some 30 vitamins have been determined to be needed in various quantities in the human diet. The vitamins must be in the diet in an organic context with other nutrients to be useful.

Foods Must Be Adequate in Mineral Salts

Our only source of the minerals of life is from food. Only in food are they in the organic context which we can use. Under no circumstances can the body make use of inorganic minerals as might be ingested with water, supplements or powdered rock (as with dolomite).

Natural Foods Must Supply Our Needs for Essential Fatty Acids

Those food factors which the body requires but cannot itself synthesize are said to be essential. The essential fatty acids are linoleic, linolenic and arachidonic. Essential fatty acids are unsaturated fats. They occur in practically every fruit, nut, seed and vegetable in ample quantities to supply human needs.

Natural Foods Must Supply Our Needs for Caloric Values

The energy we expend must be derived from our food intake. The foods which most efficiently and easily supply our caloric needs are those with high monosaccharide content. Sweet fruits are at the top of the list in meeting these requisites.

Natural Foods Are Water-Sufficient to Meet Our Needs in Most Cases

Foods to which we are biologically adapted normally meet all our water needs. This is obvious, for we have no water-drinking faculties other than suction which is necessary for swallowing food. Primates normally do not drink water.

Natural Foods Are Alkaline in Metabolic Reaction

We require foods that are alkaline- or base-forming when metabolized. Almost every food of our adaptation is base-forming, even if it has an acid pH in its natural state. Should we eat any acid-forming foods, such as nuts, they should be offset at the same meal with alkaline-forming foods such as green leaves or other vegetable fare.

These are the criteria or requirements for foods that are natural to the human dietary.

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In the second part of the article we will see which kind of foods meet these requirements.

How to overcome obstacles: the subconscious

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Mon, 07 Dec 2015 09:28:00 +0100

Some ideas were mentioned in a previous article about how we can overcome obstacles to make those life changes which let us enjoy good health. An obstacle that was not mentioned in this other article and which I would like to share in this one, is our subconscious.
Our beliefs, customs, and all automatic behaviors we learned mainly during our childhood reside in the subconscious. As Dr. Bruce Lipton explains in his book "Biology of Belief" and "The Honeymoon Effect", 95% of the time our subconscious is responsible for our behavior.
If you do not manage to follow a diet or make changes in your life you would like to, your subconscious may be boycotting you with ideas that are contrary to what you pursue consciously.
Below I will explain in more detail how the subconscious works and how we can overcome this obstacle.

Continue reading How to overcome obstacles: the subconscious

The subconscious in our diets

In our subconscious there are beliefs about food that are rooted in our childhood, which we acquired through the following:
* what our parents, teachers and doctors told us about food;
* what we ate as children;
* what we saw our parents and immediate family eating;
* what we saw people around us such as friends and classmates eating;
* ideas that the media (mainly TV ads) managed to penetrate into our subconscious;
* our experience about how our body reacts to certain foods (allergies, intolerances);
* ideas that our religion has about food;
What is more, the smell of food goes directly to the subconscious part of our brains, so the sense of taste affects our instinctive decisions.
The subconscious is also responsible for many decisions we take about our food without thinking, for example:
* how we eat: the speed at which we eat, the speed at which we chew and swallow;
* the number of courses, the amount of food;
* the amount of water or other beverages we drink during meals (and during the day);
* what we do while we eat: watch TV, talk;
* if we sit quietly during the meal or get up to collect the plates after each course; if we prepare all the food we put on the table beforehand or we keep bringing things as we eat;
* even what we buy!
* and there is an endless list of other habits!
Regarding the things we buy, I would like to add that most decisions we make in the supermarket are automatic. Most people basically buy the same things during many years. We also buy things impulsively and it is for this reason that placement strategies for certain products and advertising work so well! Ads, which are repetitive ideas, are anchored in our subconscious.
As a nutritionist, it is interesting to see that 90% of a person’s breakfast and lunch is the same every day! For example someone’s breakfast consists of coffee and croissant every day, changing only the type of croissant; for someone else it is orange juice and cereals with milk, only changing the type of juice or cereals; for another person it is a yogurt with muesli and tea, and only the type of tea or the type of yogurt changes.

Conscious-subconscious conflict

Some typical myths, such as the fact that we must drink milk because it is good for our bones, are deeply rooted in our subconscious since our childhood.
When we come to understand consciously that these myths are not true, a conflict is created between our conscious and subconscious beliefs, which does not help in any way our physical and mental health.
Given this conflict, there are three solutions:
1) going back in our conscious thoughts
2) trying to change the subconscious so that it can go to the same direction as our conscious
3) reducing the impact of the subconscious
The first solution is impossible, because once our reason has been convinced about what is right, it is difficult to convince it that a misconception is correct. So the second option, changing the subconscious is a better one.
The third option is what is nowadays known as mindfulness.

How to change the subconscious

The ideas and thoughts of the subconscious can be changed when a fact (idea or action) is repeated several times. Consciously repeating a fact, it finally gets anchored in the subconscious. This is how we all learn the multiplication tables, cycling, driving, or singing songs.
But our conscious has to dominate our mind in order to repeat this kind of idea or action so many times, for which a strong willpower is needed, which is not always easy.
Another easier way is mentally imagining several times that this new action is performed so that it can be incorporated into the subconscious, using meditation and/or visualisation. There are many therapies that propose a more direct and easier way to "reprogram" or change the subconscious, among which we can highlight hypnosis, PSYCH-K and EFT.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness suggests that our actions and decisions are made consciously, consequently we should try to avoid reacting impulsively and irrationally. It is about controlling our minds so that they follow the wishes of the conscious.
The control of our behavior will substantially improve practicing mindful meditation or praying, however, only to a limited extent, as people act instinctively by nature 95% of the time, so it's not easy to reduce this percentage.

Conscious eating

Below I will explain some indications on how to practice mindfulness when eating. The intention is to eat healthily and resist impulses created by the subconscious to eat sugars, alcohol, chocolate, etc.
Eating consciously means being present, making decisions rationally. It means making the right choices before eating, and thinking about what we are eating instead of our worries, arguments, the news, etc. It also means listening to the body in order to identify what it really needs.
To begin with, it is necessary to relax before eating: we should disconnect from our environment such as from work, news on TV, the phone, friends, colleagues or family. Start eating alone during some days, in an almost meditative state that is called conscious eating. In order to achieve this you should do the following:
1. – Do some breathing exercises before eating in order to relax. You could even do some meditation.
2. – Focus on the sensations of your body before, during and after meals. Ask yourself the following questions:
* Am I really hungry? Analyse whether the stomach is moving and making "noises" indicating that it is hungry, or if you are going to eat because it is time to.
* What am I hungry for? What food do I crave to eat? Maybe only a salad or a meat or rice dish? Is my body really asking for it or are my preconceptions telling me to eat that?
3. – Once you have identified what your body really needs, you can start preparing it. To prepare most healthy dishes you don’t need to spend much time in the kitchen. You can always have some previously prepared rice or a vegetables in the fridge, which is possible to be kept for two or three days. You can prepare a salad, vegetables, meat, fish or eggs fairly quickly even when you don’t have much time available.
4. – Cooking your own food opens the senses and helps to stimulate the digestive system. Moreover, if made consciously, and prepared with love, having positive thoughts in the meantime, vitamin L (love) is also added to food.
5. – If you believe in any religion or simply in the power of your mind, giving thanks for the food you are going to eat and blessing it increases the positive energy or the vitamin L of the meal even more.
6. – Eat consciously: taste the food, focus on the smell, texture, presentation (color, shape), taste and temperature. Chew slowly.
7. – Be aware so that you can notice when you are full and stop eating at that moment. If there is still some food on the plate, you can just store it in the fridge, there is no need to eat up everything.
8. – Again, you should give thanks for the food you have eaten. Visualize how food is digested properly to its elemental parts (for exaple, imagine some scissors that are cutting food up to elementary substances), and how these are then distributed throughout the body transported by the blood to feed all the cells of your body.
9. – After eating, pay attention to the reactions of your body: are you starting to have gases, pain or noise in the belly, or is there a sensation of satisfaction and renewed energy? Be aware of all the possible symptoms (pain anywhere in the body, immune reactions, heart, etc.), both immediately after eating and a few hours later. In case any symptoms occur at any point, write down everything that you have eaten in the past 48 hours.
You should perform this exercise for some time until you are able to eat consciously without much concentration, being accompanied by others.

Autobiography of a fortunate nutritionist

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 09:33:00 +0100

Behind every nutritionist and, in general, behind most people who are dedicated to health, there is a personal story of disease. I am no exception.
This summer I decided to write a little story about how a switch to a healthier lifestyle had a deep impact on the health of my family.
My story is not particularly interesting or astonishing, in fact it is quite common. It is the story of a family who discover the way to good health thanks to suffering some kind of illness. The story of being thankful to the wonderful people I have found on the way, who have led me to find the appropriate treatment, after trying many of them. The story of being graced with capacities as an open mind, a critical spirit, a love for science and a certain ability for sacrifice; of being lucky to be part of a family that has always supported my decisions about health related changes; and so many other graces which I have been blessed with.
It is thanks to all this that the family now enjoy a fantastic good heatlhy and I practice a profession that I love and that fullfills me completely as a person.
I hope that this story encourages people in similar situations to mine to follow a similar path.

Continue reading Autobiography of a fortunate nutritionist

My childhood

When I was a baby, my dear mother spent endless nights rocking the cradle to comfort my crying. Certainly I must have suffered from intestinal cramps.
As a child, I remember practically never going to swimming lessons at school, due to my constant colds, coughs, ear infections, pharyngitis, in addition to continuous super-resistant plantar warts. Consequently, I was treated with successive antibiotics, antitussives, expectorants, mucolytics, antipyretics, painkillers and immunoglobulins curses, and even radiation therapy for the warts.
Later, when I was a young girl, a doctor told me that my continuous colds were actually allergies. My tests were positive for virtually any substance that one may breathe in (they did not test any food). I did a desensitization treatment for years, without any progress. So I went on living with my allergy, testing different types of antihistamines in order to lead a normal life without allergies but without sleepiness so that I would not fall asleep in class or when driving.

My daughter

However, I became a nutritionist thanks to my daughter. It was thanks to her that I started to relate my health status to nutrition.
When my daughter was a baby, she also suffered just as I had, from acute colic, and later she went through the same diseases as me. In addition, her character was also affected, with extreme shyness, hypersensitivity, depression and obsessive disorder. (I guess that it had also altered my character at the time. Seemingly I could have qualified for a hyperactive child with attention deficit and speech delay disorders as we would say these days.) In her case it went on growing, and when she was 8, a further stress factor was added, accused to a relationship problem with her teacher. She started to lose weight, and after a while the doctor found out that she was suffering from celiac disease.
So I started searching for a way to cure her gluten intolerance. In the previous years we had started using alternative medicines, and at that time, I visited a naturopath, one of the first people whom I must thank for our good luck, who explained that the problem was not my daughter, but the gluten, and recommended me to follow Dr. Seignalet’s hypotoxic diet to treat my allergies.
My allergies had been increasing over the years and I had developed what is called multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), a disease in which one has a reaction to any product; in my case, the problem was breathing. Thus it was impossible for me to go shopping for clothes or shoes in a shop without having a fit if I had not taken antihistamines because of the odour new clothes give off; not to mention the evident smoke of tobacco, perfumes, antique books, hygiene products or cleaning chemicals, etc. I guess this extreme respiratory sensitivity stems from the tobacco that I had been breathing at home since I was a baby as well as from the pollution of the city where I used to live, and had been getting worse with the use of medicines and vaccines. Moreover, other diseases had been added to my list of ailments such as fatigue, back pain, Raynaud's disease, inflammation of the liver and gallbladder, hair loss, palpitations, dermatitis, premenstrual syndrome, constant thirst; as well as an irascible character, nervousness, restlessness, moodiness, etc.

The healing begins

When I embarked on a gluten-free and dairy-free diet, my allergies, and all other health problems that my family and I had suffered from, strarted to get better. So I decided to learn more about nutrition, and then I discover food intolerance tests, the intestinal flora, probiotics, fatty acids ... a whole new world of possibilities to treat any disease!
Finally I decided to attend a training in nutrition in order to help others to heal through nutrition, based on the experience of my family. A friend had recommended me the Stelior nutrition school, where outstanding scientists formed us according to the latest trends and medical techniques that were not even known by conventional doctors.
At the same time I discovered the world of complementary and alternative medicine, the power of the mind and visualization, and thanks to some of my friends, who I'm very grateful to, I also started to take care of my spiritual life.
Throughout this journey there have been many intermediate steps. I have tried many therapies, some with very positive, some with neutral and some others with negative results. Without going into detail, I name some of the therapies: alternative desensitization techniques (NAET and bio-resonance), homeopathy, herbology, trends related to nutrition based on functional medical analysis, complementation or orthomolecular medicine, chelation of heavy metals under medical supervision, colon hydrotherapy, liver and gallbladder clearing by Andreas Moritz, Life Science and multiple diets from the Seignalet diet through blood group diet and integrative nutrition to different paleo diets such as the GAPS diet, as well as vegetarian, vegan and raw vegan diets. In the end, it was nutrition that proved the most effective way.
These days my family is very healthy and strong. I follow a mainly hygienist diet, eating mostly in a vegan way with lots of fruit. But I'm sure I have not reached the end of my journey yet. My allergies have impressively decreased, as long as I stick to the right diet and respect my need for sleep, physical activity and sun, limit stress and manage my emotions. I suffer only some allergy episodes in the spring when the level of pollen is high. I guess complete remission is very difficult and there are limits due to life circumstances that are uncontrollable. Sometimes I break my diet, I do not have enough time to sleep as much as my body would need, etc. But I still have hopes for prolonged fasting, a technique that I have not tried yet and which is my next goal!

Fundamental principles of healing

Throughout this journey I have learned that there are some fundamental principles to healing, which I have incorporated into my approach called LivingFullyNourished:

Learn, educate yourself and read as much as possible about health. Have a critical spirit and an open mind, able to challenge all preconceived ideas about health.
Listen to yourself. You are your best doctor.
Put into practice what you have learned overcoming the obstacles that prevent it.

In my case, my passion for science has helped me with the first principle.
Regarding the second principle, I have experienced with different therapies, learned to observe the reactions of my body and relate them to food and other aspects of life. This has not only worked for me but also for my daughters. I have been fortunate to have hypersensitivity to food, in my case the reactions appear with a maximum of 36 hours delay and the effects are amplified compared to other people, which has allowed me to learn easily how to listen to my body and identify those foods that trigger my problems.
For instance, in my case the stimulating effect of coffee, chocolate or tea is multiplied by 1000, with nervousness, insomnia and palpitations; a minimum amount of alcohol subjects me to a state of extreme drowsiness; the demineralization effect of refined grains manifests itself in little time on my hair and my nails, as well as on my circulatory system due to my Raynaud's disease. Of course the allergenic effect of nuts, eggs and milk are huge in my case; legumes cause me enormous flatulence; excess fats cause me acid indigestion; I suffer from cramps, conjunctivitis, my allergy and Raynaud's disease worsen with all kinds of sugars, syrups, honey and dried fruit; small cysts appear on my hands when I eat soy or its derivatives; I suffer from insomnia and leg cramps when eating nuts; tomato gives me back pain and eggs give me leg pain; dairy products swell my liver up, make me put on weight, give me a headache and I get corns on the feet. Dark chocolate also swells up my liver; all oils and some fats, such as olive oil, cause me allergies; meat and fish produce me fructose intolerance, hypoglycemia, constipation, thirst and body odor; and so on and so forth. I do not remember what was the main effect that gluten caused me, I stopped its intake many years ago and have never tried to reintroduce it into my diet, but my daughters both suffer from stomachache and headache, both my celiac daughter and the other one in addition to easily catching colds, pharyngitis, otitis, etc. Grains were also the cause of the asthma my mother was suffering from.
Regarding the third point, I do not consider myself the person with the greatest willpower in the world, to be honest I often fall into the temptation of eating food that is harmful to me, but I do know the potential consequences for my health. And I tell my daughters the same when they want to break their diets. Sometimes nothing happens, according to other aspects such as stress at the time, the accumulated fatigue, etc., but most of the time the effects do appear.
Most nutritionists recognize that we too are human and sometimes we go break our diets. It is not easy for us either to live outside a society where the pleasure of the senses is constantly fostered, an easy life without sacrifice or any suffering is pursued, some people are not respected and are easily marginalized for being different in some aspect. But despite the sacrifices and inconveniences that involves following a healthy lifestyle, we managed to live a life that I consider much happier than the one we led previously as a conventional life. Worth it! As one of my favorite teachers, Joshua Rosenthal says: “The more you live in balance, respecting nature and yourself, the more likely you will be in the right place at the right time, all the time. People will call you lucky and you may think it’s simply coincidence, but the truth is that you are aligning yourself with the natural order of everything”.

Perfect Health, Part III

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 19:59:00 +0100

In previous articles, we stated the essentials of life from the Life Science perspective, and we explained some of them: air, water, cleanliness and temperature.
In this article we introduce with a short explanation some of the other multiple essentials of life. Some of these subjects will be exhaustively treated in later articles.
It has been abstracted from the chapter: “Introducing The Life Science System For Perfect Health, Part II"

Continue reading Perfect Health, Part III

Sleep Is An Essential Of Life—The Role Of Sleep In Life

Sleep is the condition under which the brain generates nerve energy with which to conduct body activities. The deeper the stage of sleep into which the body enters, the more efficiently can nerve energy be generated. There are five stages of sleep if we include the R.E.M stage, popularly called the dream stage, when there are rapid eye movements. Other stages are named after the brain wave frequency. The threshold stage of sleep is the alpha stage and the deepest stage is delta wave sleep.
As nerve or vital energy is the spark of vitality for vigorous activity and high level function generally, adequate sleep is very essential to well-being.

Food Is An Essential Of Life—The Role Of Food In Health

Several later articles are devoted to the subject of food. We will not, therefore, treat it extensively here.
In no other area of life practices are our transgressions against ourselves so great as in the food we ingest. Consequently, most diseases of humanity arise largely because of eating wrong foods.
Food supplies us with essential nutrients other than the three inorganic ones we need. Even water, an inorganic food, can normally be obtained in quantities needed from a proper diet.
All our food should be eaten raw as nature delivers it to us. All heating of foods destroys vital nutrients. Suffice it to say that nature did not equip humans or any other animals with stoves.

Exercise And Activity Are Essential To Well-Being

Humans live to function and functioning is the very essence of life. That which is not used is abused. Human faculties were developed for use. Disuse results in atrophy and loss of function. Without exercise, well-being ceases.
Abilities, intelligence and every aspect of well-being are greatly enhanced by exercise. Almost every account of exercise speaks of its marvelous benefits to the body. Activities should be daily indulged that bring all the body’s some 700 muscles into play.

Rest And Relaxation Are Essential To Health

In present-day society there are many tensions and stress-producing situations. Relaxation, which also involves rest, should be indulged two to four times daily for periods of from 15 to 30 minutes. The body recoups under rest and relaxation.
If eyes are bleary or the eyelids heavy, relaxation for a few minutes with the eyes closed will accomplish wonders. A nap is even better, for little revitalizes the body as well as sleep.
Sleep should be obtained daily to the extent that sleepiness dictates, whether this be as little as six hours or as much as ten hours. The healthier an individual, the less sleep required (to a point). As a concomitant to sleep the body obtains rest. Rest enables the body to catch up on its eliminative activities and to resupply its stores of body starch (glycogen) for the following day’s energy needs.
While sleep regenerates a fund of nerve energy, rest enables the body to restock physical stores as well as to “clean house.” Relaxation relieves tension buildup. A period of vigorous exercise followed by relaxation will perform even more dramatic results.

Sunshine Is An Essential Of Health

While it is known that vitamin D is created through the agency of sunshine and ergosterol in the cutaneous tissues, little else is known of the benefits of sunlight. Of late it has been discovered that natural light from the sun is of immense benefit in vision compared to vision debility under unnatural light.
Sunlight has a very important impact on the quality of sleep, the reproduction and may lead to diseases such as rickets, anemia, tuberculosis, dermatological, insomnia, hypertension, infertility, etc.

Recreation And Play Are Health Essentials

Just as the body is rejuvenated by rest, sleep, relaxation, fasting and other healthful measures, it is also kept young by constructive games, hobbies and participation sports.
Americans are more likely to dissipate themselves during leisure hours than participate in body and character building activities. The pursuit of sex in an overstimulated society is of a debilitating nature. Watching TV for the most part amounts to adult babysitting.
There are many Americans who swim, run, play ball, enjoy hobbies, participate in drama, attend cultural events, hike, participate in sports, garden, master musical instruments, compete in games that require strength and so on. Unfortunately they are a minority. Most Americans are inclined to spectator rather than participant activities. Even many of the participant activities such as drinking, carousing, etc. are destructive of human faculties.
Recreation and play can further the development of humans. In the fresh air and sunshine we can participate in numerous games of play, sports and exercise that are truly healthful and that promote well-being. Unfortunately, most of our people seek out sensuosity for its sake and suffer as a result.
They bring suffering and inconvenience upon those who make better use of themselves too, for, in society, acknowledge it or not, we are our brother’s keeper more than we realize.

Emotional And Mental Well-Being Are Necessary To Health

While emotional and mental well-being are born of the physical conditions of the body already cited, they are also vitally dependent upon other influences. While emotional and mental well-being are dependent on physical well-being, physical well-being is also dependent upon emotional and mental well-being.
Our division of humans into a multitude of entities (physical, mental, emotional, etc.) is erroneous. Rather, we are a unitary organism with many aspects to our being. Nonetheless, we use these categorizations for the sake of convenience in communication.
“Feeling like a million” is an emotional and mental condition which is the exhibition and expression of the well-being of our tout ensemble or our faculties in toto. Just as nutrition is dependent upon the condition of all body faculties, so, too, are all body faculties dependent upon nutritive repleteness.

Assurance Of Life And Its Means Is Necessary To Health

Humans are creatures of providence almost the whole world over. Equatorial peoples have no need of providing for the future as have northern peoples but are, nevertheless, provident in many ways. On the other hand, northern peoples are often overly provident. They provide against needs, both real and imagined. This has made many northern peoples acquisitive at the expense of humaneness. Of course acquisitiveness in itself is not the sole evil but is a contributing factor to valuing possessions over fellow beings.
Our basic needs are food and shelter and the productive facilities for making them. We have yet other needs which we strive to satisfy plus many pursuits that engender yet other wants.
Ours is a society of abundance. Within the capabilities of our means of production is a surfeit of goods and services beyond our capacity to use and consume them. Our distribution system is not compatible with our productive capacities, hence there are gross inequities in the amount of the goods and necessities various of the world’s peoples receive. Some are almost totally deprived by circumstances attendant upon these inequities while others are surfeited beyond any possible need.
These inequities give rise to anxieties, worries and concerns that seriously impair health. Even many in what would be considered good circumstances are assailed by fears that they will not be able to maintain their circumstances. Qualms, fears and concerns about loss of the requisites of life are a drain upon the mental and emotional well-being of a majority of people. Worry is a disease of our society.
In tropical climes we see tribes and groups of people living “hand-to-mouth” among plenitude. They always have the needs of life at hand. They are carefree, happy and playful. They do not work much, for their style of life does not require much.
The farther north we travel, the more humans become provident and acquisitive until we reach such a harsh environment that almost all endeavors are directed at providing the basic needs of life and little more.

Pleasant Environment Is Necessary To Well-Being

Humans fare better in environments in which the needs of life are abundant. However, these needs are varied within the context of our culture.
Environment means the total context of our setting. It includes not only our homes, grounds, climate, geography, etc. but also our family, neighbors, associates, acquaintances and, indeed, everything and everyone that makes up the social and economic atmosphere in which we live.
Humans are naturally aesthetic and love beauty in everything. Beauty in environment is essential, not only in the physical surroundings, but also in the persons who people it. Happy people beget happiness in the lives of those whom they touch.
Our social environment is far more important than our physical environment. Humans always dream of better physical environments but achieve happiness primarily within the context of their social circle regardless of climate and geography. Inasmuch as human industry creates special environments for living that are pleasing, we can live rather happily while insulated from the harshness and sparseness of clime and geography.
Thus it can be seen that the environment of most concern relates to the social circle in which we situate ourselves

Creative Useful Work And Its Role In Life

Naturally and normally humans have within them certain qualities that we regard as virtues. All are naturally imbued to perform those labors that are productive of their needs. This is readily seen in tribal societies. Within complex societies where we lose sight of the products of our productive efforts-where we have been instilled with ambitions to consume without corresponding opportunities to produce, we tend to parasitism upon the productive efforts of others.
Unfortunately, our society legalizes parasitism upon the economic body. That is one of the characteristics of our society that begets inequities that breed crime, ugliness, poverty and other life-sapping features.
Work which we can directly relate to fulfilling a need is most deeply satisfying. If it calls upon our innermost resources and abilities, it is even more satisfying and fulfilling. People most happy and contented are those who have created lovely homes with gardens, orchards and beautiful flowerbeds and grounds.
When our creative urges are elicited, we humans can create wonders, not only for our enjoyment and welfare, but also for the pleasure of those with whom we are associated.

Self-Mastery Is Necessary To Best Well-Being

Self-mastery means self-control. It means keeping passional influences within the bounds of propriety. Intelligently guided responses to situations and yearnings that may arise within our vitiated society—a society with inhumane and unhealthful values—is essential to our welfare. Unbridled pursuits in any direction, especially those that have been commercially tied to our appetencies for food, sex and sensualism are usually exhausting of our precious resources, further pervert and vitiate us and beget conditions of disease and suffering.
The joys of self-mastery are unknown to most. Most of our people are apt to act unthinkingly in response to impulse and an aroused appetency for some sensual delight.

Gregariousness Is An Element Of Health

Humans are social creatures. To achieve our highest level of happiness and well-being, we must belong to a group or circle. We must be in association with others in some manner. Sheer aloneness or being forsaken is deadly to well-being. Even the mental giants amongst us suffer. There are very few Robinson Crusoes.
Our requirement is for associates with whom we can identify. In this day of specialization we tend to restrict ourselves to circles that run along cultural, occupational or special interests. In rural areas neighbors are the basis for associations even though occupations may be different. In large cities cultural pursuits and special interests may be the basis for associations and, more so, occupational lines.
While people can survive rather well alone if they develop some consuming hobby or pursuit, most people are not capable of this within today’s society.
Lack of social life in any form can be a detriment to welfare. Likewise, people of dour dispositions can adversely affect those with whom they associate. It may be a case of “not what’s wrong with you but who’s wrong with you.”

Motivation: Having Purposes Or Causes To Serve

Few humans are content with feelings that the world will not be a better place for their having been in it. Most of us are imbued with urges to improve and excel. Most humans strive to better both themselves and their environment. Failure to cultivate goals leaves an individual indifferent and most likely a useless drone in life and society, neither good for self or society. People without ambition and objectives are usually dullards and dissipators.
In observing others whom we serve, it is wise to assess their drives and ambitions. If they lack these, the will to live may also be lacking. People who consult others in health matters have a will to live but may not be sufficiently endowed with aims in life to make living a challenge.
Needless to say, the healthiest and happiest people amongst us are those who are striving to fulfill ambitions and meet life’s challenges.
Just as you may be motivated by an urge to help others and receive reward and recognition for it, others are motivated by any of a multitude of objectives. A great artist may thrive on recognition and appreciation while a ditch digger may have pride not only in his service but in some hobby or other constructive activity.
Without purpose in life there is little drive to live it. We Life Scientists hold that life is sacred and should be imbued with meaningfulness.

Expression Of Natural Instincts Relative To Health

This is rather broad territory. While we have instincts to survive and thrive, there is also the instinct to procreate our kind. This instinct must be given voice if we are to realize the utmost well-being. While self-discipline can normally control the mating instinct so that it does not exceed its need, it must, nevertheless, have adequate expression. Few there are amongst us who can sublimate an excessive primal urge to more constructive pursuits.
Next to our transgressions in food indulgence stands our collective dissipation in pursuit of sexuality. Most of this amounts, not to satiation of actual need for sexual expression, but satiety of a sexual appetite aroused and stimulated in a society gone awry. Our society regards sexual sensuousness and indulgence as an end in itself and it is stimulated to overindulgence because of dietary and other factors that represent life-threatening factors. The body responds to these life-threatening factors by bringing to the fore and emphasizing survival mechanisms, the act of reproduction being one of the foremost.
Basically, the instinct to reproduction is for one purpose only—the perpetuation of the species. In animals the sexual act occurs only during that time when the female ova are ripe for impregnation. Only in humans has the instinct been perverted and then only within the context of certain societies, ours being among them.
There are many among us who feel inadequate because they cannot enjoy mating as often as they would like. The urge may be for excessive indulgence or it may spring from inadequacy. In any event, the role of unsatisfactory sexual relationships in disease and poor health must be recognized. A return to health always restores sexuality but, in the face of overindulgence, it is not possible to restore health.

Aestethic Well-Being

Why should a fruit-laden orchard of aromatic fragrance be so lovely and beautiful? Why should a dry barren rocky gulch present such an inhospitable and ugly facade?
Anything that promotes life and its values is appreciated, treasured and deemed beautiful. Anything that is untenable and harmful to life is looked upon as ugly with but few exceptions.
In keeping with this, it would seem that all creatures have standards of beauty. But the greatest capacity for appreciation of beauty is inherent in those creatures that have the greatest capacity for life. We proclaim ourselves undisputed aesthetes among all in the animal kingdom. This is not necessarily true. Almost everything in nature has great beauty. Dolphins (porpoises), whales and other creatures have a very high order of intelligence and likewise appreciate beauty.
That which is fit for food is beautiful to us as it is available to us in nature. That which is poisonous and unfit for food usually has no aesthetic appeal. For purposes of food we do not ascribe beauty to a squirrel. Yet the squirrel fascinates as a lovable and beautiful creature. A peacock is a beautiful and lovely bird. We admire it for its great beauty. Yet it is difficult for us to visualize ourselves breaking its neck, stripping it of feathers and eating it as natural as meat-eaters do—skin, bone, flesh and guts, all raw and uncooked. We can’t do that. The picture is an ugly one. It is in discord with our welfare.
The human sense of beauty is, as far as we know, unparalleled. The visual and sonic arts have been highly cultivated. The development of art has been constructive, healthful and ennobling for humankind.
Everyone has an aesthetic sense —everyone has a sense of beauty. This is a saving grace, for it is an inroad to inspiring and motivating people. Almost everyone appreciates beauty in themselves most of all! Life Science as a way of life will restore health. Simultaneous with rejuvenation, much beauty is restored.

About This Survey Of Life’s Essentials

The list of the essentials of life presented here is not complete. These are some of the salient ones. Also, some aspects of life’s essentials presented may be somewhat redundant, for some imply others presented.
But, as you will have noted, the needs of life are simple! Nothing is complicated about it. It seems self-evident that these are the essential means for a happy and healthy life. We can see that the science of health does not come from so-called scientific laboratories but, instead, proceeds from the lap of nature.
As Life Scientists or Hygienists we maintain that these requisites were developed in our sojourn in nature and that, just because we have exceeded natures’s provisions with our own industry, we have not exempted ourselves from need of these basic essentials.

Read more on Perfect Health Part II

Gemma's comments

There are numerous essential factors to life, and it is often impossible to meet them all in our hasty lives, consequently, enjoying perfect health is like a utopia. However, knowing what the most important factors are, we can try to prioritize by decreasing efforts on those factors that have a lower impact and eliminating those that are harmful.
Apart from those already mentioned ones by the Science of Life, I would highlight some other aspects that I also consider very important:

Love: giving and receiving love is one of the essential elements of human life as well as for all living things. Integrative nutrition refers to it as Vitamin L (Love).
Spiritual life: the influence of a person’s faith on their health is scientifically proven. Not only is it important to have a moral and ethical code, we also need to nourish our spirit in order for it not to become ill; exactly the same way that the body is fed with food, water, sun and air; and the mind needs intellectual stimulation, the spirit needs food that depends on each person's religion. I would call it Vitamin S (Spiritual).

However, there are some factors that the Science of Life considers essential and which I do not consider as important. Even though they are recommended as well, I think they can not be regarded as such priority as the rest. I mean the following:

Amusement and play. For example, many people are "workaholics" and although it is not ideal for their health, these people feel fully realized and happy in their work and do not enjoy leisure time. Many people fall ill when they reach their retirement age.
Providence and a safe life. In our society, many people live from paycheck to paycheck and do not even arrive to the end of the month, always living on credit, and some others are poor, and by no means are they unhappy or sick. It is true that the security of having some money saved up is very important, and that losing one’s job, going bankrupt or losing one’s house in a natural disaster causes a depression to most people that severely affects their health. But these cases can be considered as accidents in life, traumatic situations. For those people who have lived most of their lives in insecurity, providence is not essential for life.
Aesthetics. There’s no doubt about the healing power of beauty: art, music, poetry, a beautiful landscape… But it’s also true that many people on our planet live in inhospitable places, in suburban polluted cities, in ugly shacks in dirty places; and they are still happy and healthy. Some people are not graced with beauty or have been disfigured by an accident, and even though they might not be happy with their appearance, they do live happily. It is important to accept ourselves as we are, with the physical and mental qualities we were born with. As everyone knows nowadays, and even if it is so difficult to accept and implement, what really matters is not someone’s appearance, but what is inside. That is where health resides; possessing a certain beauty is not as important as accepting and valuing the graces which we have been blessed with. When this does not happen, some aesthetics related diseases may appear, such as anorexia, bulimia, depression, cosmetic surgery, etc.

Perfect Health. Part II

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Thu, 30 Apr 2015 18:01:00 +0100

In the previous article, we stated the essentials of life and presented in-depth scrutiny of two of these needs, namely air and water. This article encompasses two more essentials of life in summary form: cleanliness and temperature.

Continue reading Perfect Health. Part II

Assuring your body of all its needs might be likened to the care that must be lavished upon highly complex jet liners. Every item of equipment aboard the jet must be in working order and have an adequate supply of its needs in order to operate as designed. The jet may operate with many of its systems knocked out but it is crippled. Crippling of certain systems may send it to its doom. And so it is with the body.
With this purview in mind, we proceed to consider an important essential of life: Body cleanliness.

Cleanliness Is An Essential Of Life

The Need for Cleanliness

The body operates most efficiently when it is unfettered. Filth on the outside of the body most people will not tolerate. They readily appreciate external cleanliness and most keep themselves impeccably clean. While there is much to be desired regarding the ways in which most people maintain external cleanliness, nonetheless they are imbued with the necessity of a clean body—at least on the outside.
However, more important than external cleanliness is internal purity. Internal filth damages the body in two ways:
The mere physical presence of pollutants clogs and interferes with body processes. They hinder operations much as a crowd of people in a street hampers automotive traffic.
All contaminants within are poisonous! The body not only objects violently to the physical presence of filth but it also objects to its chemical presence. The body tries to maintain physical and chemical integrity. Anything that alters the consistency of body elaborated fluids and compounds; anything that threatens cell well-being due to its chemical nature is anti-vital, hence poisonous.
Thus we can see that for best performance the body must not be hampered physically or chemically in its operations.

A Clean Body Is Necessary to Health

The sum total of all the processes whereby the body is cleansed or kept pure is called elimination or drainage. Elimination is the sequel of feeding or alimentation. Ideally the body must eliminate the unusable debris from food ingestion, spent cells, the wastes of metabolism and extraneous substances that may be admitted in some manner. The more thoroughly elimination is effected, the purer is the body.
A thoroughly clean body is necessary to realize the highest level of function—to achieve the highest level of health. Inasmuch as the basic cause of disease is body toxicity, we need to realize the importance of keeping our bodies clean internally as well as externally.

Body Elimination Must Be Equal to the Need

Obviously, to remain free of burdensome accumulations, both physical and chemical in nature, the body must have full use of its eliminative faculties. If these faculties are impaired by lack of vital energy, if they have been disabled by toxic materials or if ingestion of toxic matters exceeds ability to cope, then elimination is likewise impaired. Accumulations further vitiate the elimination process until the body must undertake an eliminative crisis (disease) to free itself of its morbid load.
We Americans are habituated to many eating and drinking practices that fill our bodies with alien materials that must be eliminated. Alien materials always take their toll on the eliminative organs. Nonfood materials are usually inherently toxic, especially the alien substances the average American eats and drinks. A constant load of toxic materials taxes the eliminative faculties. Thus we Americans wallow in toxic materials from exogenous sources and, due to their impairing influences, from endogenous sources, too.
By waste we mean all end-products of all the metabolic activities occurring in every cell and organ of the body. Elimination must equal the processes of supply if balance and health are to be maintained. Just as we can be made sick by living in rooms with our fecal and urinary accumulations, so, too, can we be made sick internally if elimination does not occur apace.
To cope with its eliminative needs, the body must enjoy conditions favorable to elimination. As well, it should not be taxed with toxic materials from without.

The Body’s Daily Cleansing Cycle

Eliminative processes never cease. Every exhaled breath is an act of elimination of toxic gases. The skin exudes some small amount of wastes continuously. But there is one time in each day when the body heightens its eliminative processes. This time is, roughly, from three to four o’clock in the morning until from ten to twelve o’clock noon.
The body’s stepped up elimination during this time is evidenced in many ways. A particularly toxic person may have a furred tongue upon arising. Hunger will not be in evidence. But, if the body is fed just the same, the eliminative processes are depressed though the tongue may still remain somewhat furred.
The body passes through rather distinct cycles daily. These are roughly as follows:
4:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. — eliminative
12:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. — alimentary
8:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. — assimilative
In view that few studies of these phases of physiological activity have been made, little is known about them. The information presented here comes from studies made in Switzerland. These cycles are consistent, more or less, with the way things are with healthy humans who observe the natural norm of working days and sleeping nights. Thus we eat when hungry. This is followed by body assimilation and, upon completion, the body turns its energies to elimination of wastes.

A Brief Look at the Body’s Primary Organs of Elimination

The organs of elimination are as follows:
* Lymphatic system (adenoids, tonsils, appendix, spleen, nodes, vessels, etc.): These chemicalize wastes in such a manner as to render them less toxic in preparation for expulsion. The lymphatic system also plays other roles.
* Liver: The liver further detoxifies wastes. It is the largest organ and performs myriad nutritive and eliminative tasks.
* Kidneys: The renal system filters non-utile wastes from the blood and dispatches it to the bladder. The kidneys perform many other functions as well.
* Lungs: The lungs, like most body organs, perform a dual role as supplier and eliminator. They obtain oxygen from the air and supply it to the bloodstream In addition, they remove carbon dioxide and certain other wastes from the bloodstream.
* Bowels or colon: The bowels perform few nutritive tasks other than supplying the body with water in emergencies, and electrolytes should the body require them. On the other hand it carries out of the body digestive wastes and metabolic wastes as may be excreted into it by tubes from other organs.
* Skin: The skin is the most extensive organ of the human body. Among its many functions are protection of the body from outside influences that would disturb homeostasis, temperature maintenance, cooling and warming and elimination of certain wastes in extremely small amounts. In vicarious eliminative processes such as acne, boils, psoriasis, eczema, rashes, measles, poxes, itches, etc. the skin is used as an organ of elimination. The skin performs a nutritive role in receiving sunlight for conversion into vitamin D.
*The tongue is sometimes used by the body as an extraordinary organ of elimination. This is very noticeable when you have a furred tongue. The tongue is not a regular organ of elimination but incidentally one in vicarious processes of extraordinary elimination.
There are occasions when the body will undertake massive eliminative measures. The respiratory system and mouth may be utilized in vomiting; the bowels in diarrhea; the mucous membranes as outlets from the circulatory systems (lymph and blood); the kidneys are used for diuresis; and the skin is sometimes used for diaphoresis and eruptions.

Supplementary Organs of Elimination

We have cited the regular organs of elimination. Those nonregular organs through which the body eliminates in crises are called vicarious organs of elimination. As mentioned, the tongue, skin, respiratory system and mucous membranes (internal skin) are pressed into eliminative tasks in emergencies. The body can cause ulcers or lesions for the purpose of elimination, or it may utilize ulcers caused by tissue destruction as an extraordinary outlet. In emergencies the body may press any tissue system or organ into service as a vicarious organ of elimination. These may be the eyes, sinuses, bronchioles, lungs and so on.

Cleanliness at the Cellular Level

The cells take on supplies and they defecate. It is the lymphatic system, not the bloodstream, that constantly bathes the cells in a liquid medium. From the lymph fluids the cells derive their nutrients by diffusion, pinocytosis and phagocytosis. The cells pass their wastes back into the lymph. Cell wastes are partially detoxified by the lymph organs in preparation for passing them into the bloodstream. The bloodstream, in turn, transports the wastes to the lungs, liver and kidneys for excretion.
Cells are self-cleansing of their metabolic debris. They expel it to the lymph fluids through carriers that, our physiology books tell us, are not yet clearly understood.

Illnesses as a Cleansing Process

The body keeps itself clean by thousands of different techniques employed by an army of faculties. A hundred trillion cells represents quite a population to be served. It is an unimaginably large aggregation of living units cooperating as an entitative organism for the good of each and every cell and for the organism as a whole.
Due to unnatural practices or influences, humans frequently accumulate toxic substances in their bodies beyond normal capacity for elimination. When the accumulation becomes intolerable within the context of residual vitality, the body will preempt its vital energy and redirect it to the task of extraordinary elimination or cleansing. When the body does this, disease exists. Acute disease is a body process. The energies normally available for muscular or nervous (brain) activities, digestion, etc. are preempted and redirected. Hence, the sick person has little or no energy for normal pursuits.
When a person is ill, fasting is indicated as a remedial measure. People should also fast periodically even when not ill to help the body effect extraordinary cleansing and healing.

How the Body Becomes Befouled

There are more ways to accumulate filth in the body than we can chart. Basically, all unwholesome influences and practices debilitate body eliminative faculties and especially lower the body’s supply of vital energy. The key to keeping the body clean is a way of life that neither distresses nor pollutes it.

Normal Activities of Life Essential to Internal Cleanliness

The eliminative capacity of the body is truly immense. The body has over-capacity in almost all its faculties. We can live well with one lung, one kidney, etc. The organism thus has safety margins to insure survival.
Most of the world’s people manage to exceed their generous capacity for elimination. Therefore, the necessity for illness or healing crises in order to remove excesses that accumulate. If we live within our capacities as developed in nature, our system will never become befouled in the first place; hence, there is never the necessity for a healing or eliminative crisis—disease.
The living practices that are attuned to our adaptations will not fetter the organism; rather, they will enable us to thrive optimally. Those acts and indulgences which are contrary to human adaptations are bound to interfere with normal functions in many ways, the result of which is to burden the organism with uneliminated toxic materials.
Health depends on internal purity, and this, in turn, depends on practices that promote health rather than practices that result in the retention of morbid matters.

Fasting as an Extraordinary “Housecleaning” Measure

Whether the organism is befouled or not, fasting is a constructive condition! During the disease process, fasting is imperative to efficiently restore high-level function. In health, fasting rests the faculties, rejuvenates the cells and heightens functions.
Since all diseases have the same underlying cause; that is, body intoxication, there is a nigh universal remedy for the condition. Fasting affords the body the rest it needs so that it may redirect its energies to the task of “housecleaning.” Under the condition of the fast the body will expel retained wastes and impurities. A thoroughgoing rest is, thusly, an almost 100% effective remedial measure.

Temperature maintenance

The Need for Temperature Maintenance

The human body has been developed in nature over eons of time to maintain homeostasis, chemical and mechanical consistency and a consistent temperature. The body operates best at a core temperature range between 97o and 99oF. Various parts of the body vary in temperature. Warm-blooded animals have many mechanisms that maintain temperature. Skin, hair and wool act as insulators to help maintain body temperature. Overheating is guarded against by perspiration and respiration. The body, in an intoxicated condition, may institute accelerated function to free itself of unwelcome toxicity. In this case it may also increase the metabolic rate, hence increase temperature. Heightened temperature is called fever.
The body maintains temperature through a basal metabolism controlled by many sensors throughout the body that act as thermostats.

Normal Temperature Is the Best Functioning Temperature

While bodies have been drastically reduced in temperature and overheated greatly and survived, the prevailing view is that serious deviation from normal temperature will cause the body to fail in some way to supply cells with needed oxygen and nutrients, thus impairing them. It is generally accepted that a brain temperature exceeding 108- 110ºF destroys brain cells. While cases of overheating beyond this range have been recorded without damage, overheating is to be avoided. Cooling is far less harmful than overheating. At a temperature of 118ºF enzymes begin to be destroyed and other body fluids become labile.

Questions as to What Constitutes Normalcy of Temperature

The generally accepted normal body temperature is 98.6 degrees F. We do not have a uniform temperature at all times. At or near the end of a night’s rest, with lowered metabolism the pulse is considerably lower than when active and the body temperature may be somewhat lower. Also, body temperature drops most during the deepest levels of sleep.
When the body has been vigorously active for an extended period, as in sprinting or running, the internal body temperature may rise to 105 degrees F. This is not dangerous, for the body quickly normalizes this temperature when a state of relative rest is resumed. The body creates fevers that have been known to go as high as 108 degrees F. If not interfered with, the body will not create temperature conditions that will injure itself.

Keeping the Body at a Comfortable Temperature

It has been observed that, when they are crippled, humans will devise crutches. The use of crutches further cripples the organism. This may be readily observed in individuals who use a crutch because one leg has been disabled. The disabled and unused leg will atrophy while the extraordinarily used leg will overdevelop. But, this may be the lesser of evils.
Humans have become dependent on artificial means of temperature maintenance. In nature humans can live at extremes of temperature comfortably in their naked condition. Indians survive temperatures in the freezing range with vigor in many areas of South America.
But, because most of us are not physically able to cope with extreme cold, we must employ clothing to help maintain warmth. Warmth must be maintained lest we suffer functional disturbances due to reduced temperatures.
A comfortable temperature must always be maintained. Deliberate cooling or heating of the body, as in an excessively hot sauna or bath, is exhausting of nerve energy and lowers the body’s functional abilities.

Some Problems of Temperature Maintenance

There are conditions under which temperature maintenance is difficult. One such condition is the fast. A person who is fasting must be kept warm. While fasting, a person can easily become chilled. The body’s lowered metabolic rate will not produce sufficient heat to maintain warmth under all conditions. It is, therefore, important that fasters have sufficient clothing and bedding to maintain warmth.

Types of Clothing to Use for Warmth

Clothing should be loose fitting, as a rule. Being bound by tight-fitting clothing is unhealthful. Clothes should be equal to the warming task required. If you live in Alaska, heavy wool clothing may be required, whereas in Texas light cottons will do.
Cotton, linen and wool are to be preferred over other type of materials though silk and other natural fibers are also very good.
Clothing that is white or light-colored is preferred over dark colors because they admit more light. Natural light on the body (and eyes) is healthful.

Pathological Effects of Clothing

Clothing that is binding, tight fitting or otherwise constricting is unhealthful. Belts, girdles, garters, etc. should be avoided.
Synthetics sometimes cause poisonous reactions in the body. Synthetic clothing and plastics should not come into contact with the skin.
Porous clothing made of natural fibers are always to be used when possible for both wear and bedding.

Temperature as a Factor in Toxin Retention

When the body becomes chilled the skin pores close and other body reactions take place to protect against chilling as much as possible. In these instances, energies being redirected to temperature maintenance may result in temporary neglect of regular chores of elimination. The skin normally respires and the closing of pores throws an additional burden of elimination onto the respiratory system. If the body is already toxic, the added toxin retention may reach a level that will trigger a body cleansing crisis, such as a cold or flu.

Read more on this lesson.

Perfect Health. Part I

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Sun, 05 Apr 2015 21:32:00 +0100

In this article we address what are the essentials of life in order to achieve a perfect health from the point of view of Natural Hygiene approach. It has been abstracted from the chapter: “Introducing The Life Science System For Perfect Health, Part I"

Continue reading Perfect Health. Part I

The essentials of Life

Every factor in human well-being is also an element of nutrition. All needs are really nutritive needs. Deprivation of any single need may mean our demise or impairment of our growth, development or health. A single factor insufficiently or incorrectly supplied can lead to disease and suffering.
When in a state of disease, most people do not realize they have brought it upon themselves. They are aided in placing blame outside themselves by a profession that takes the stance that they’ve had an unfortunate bit of bad luck or they have been invaded by some microbial enemy.
Though the needs of the ill differ from those of well people only in that their conditions must be made favorable to recuperation, both ill people and the medical professionals undertake a course of treatment that compounds sickness. Both the physician and the sufferer enter into an attempt to poison the ailing body back into health. The fact is that drugging only makes a body worse.
The causes of health are very simple. Our needs do not change substantially when we become ill. Even illness itself won’t occur if the needs of our bodies and minds are properly met.
The nineteen factor elements for optimal well-being are listed as follows:

Pure air
Pure water
Cleanliness—both internal and external
Sleep
Temperature maintenance
Pure wholesome food to which we are biologically adapted
Exercise and activity
Sunshine upon our bodies
Rest and relaxation
Play and recreation
Emotional poise
Security of life and its means
Pleasant environment
Creative, useful work
Self-Mastery
Belonging
Motivation
Expression of the natural instincts
Indulgence of aesthetic senses.

Pure Air

Air Contents Normal to Humans

Pure air is relatively free of pollutants. It contains only the normal amount of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, inert ozone, formaldehyde, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ammonia and particulates, all of which the body is well-equipped to handle.
In other words, there is always water vapor, some carbon dioxide, and a minute amount of carbon monoxide in the air. Carbon monoxide isn’t healthful in any sense, but we are equipped to handle it as naturally found in the air from natural sources. There are also particulates in the air including dust or the debris of decomposing products. Pollens, fragrant emanations and other natural effluvia are also present. There are inert gases in air—free gases in very, very minute percentages. Some may be inorganic and toxic, but many come from forms of life. All of these constituents are not a part of the air’s chemical composition but are held suspended in it. They are known as variable components.

Today’s Air Is Loaded With Pollutants

Humans have adapted to impurities in air over millions of years. Unfortunately, air today is loaded with immense amounts of pollutants not normal to our adaptations. Even those which we are equipped to handle in minute amounts often pervade the air in overwhelming quantities.
On a practical level, we are concerned with air quality so that we can benefit from it all the more. We seek means by which to take in plenty of air in its purest form. Anything that gets into the lungs which the lungs have not been equipped to handle efficiently and naturally is a poison. The lungs have a tremendous capacity for expelling particulates and pollutants. But they can be devitalized by the pollutants and stressed by unceasing efforts to remove extraordinary types and amounts of impurities. The lungs will eventually be overwhelmed and lung diseases often result. You may have heard of black lung, brown lung, emphysema, pneumonia and other ailments of those who live and work in polluted environments. This is especially true of those who work in coal mines, who smoke or who live in highly-polluted cities. The lint and dust in cotton mills is notorious for destroying the lungs of those who work in them.
You may know, or know of, people who have lung cancer, emphysema and other afflictions because they smoke, work in asbestos plants or work or live in other heavily-polluted environments. While an atmosphere laden with innocuous dust is pathogenic if exposure is unceasing or for long periods, many substances such as asbestos, tobacco tars and poisons are very virulent in themselves. Despite the lungs best efforts at ridding themselves of these poisons, they are always seriously and deleteriously affected.
Most homes in America are very polluted places. They have filthy air. (The words filth, poison and pollution are fairly synonymous terms in this context.) People who smoke deliberately and knowingly are intentionally poisoning themselves. Smokers do not seem to recognize that tobacco smoke is very toxic and is one of the biggest polluters of all. But most forms of pollution are unintentional, even unknown.
Cleansers and detergents are used heavily in almost all homes. All of these substances are poisonous although some are less toxic than others. Some exude almost no odor. They are called biodegradable or ecologically-viable cleansers, detergents and soaps.
There is much carbon monoxide in many homes. Carbon monoxide is one of the primary pollutants which emanates from auto exhausts; it is very deadly in the human system, binding the oxygen in the blood. Carbon monoxide also destroys animal and plant life. Plants cannot assimilate it and it actually causes leaves to wither. In the home carbon monoxide is a by-product of cigarette smoke, heating units, and cookstoves that use anything but electricity—and more.
Air that contains sulfur dioxide is extraordinarily poisonous. It is to be found mostly in the air of industrial areas that burn coal. In these areas homes are very likely to be polluted with sulfur dioxide as well as with the extraordinary aerial pollution to which most American homes are subject under conventional modes of living.
Polishes, waxes and other household items give off a large amount of gases. Whether pleasant or unpleasant they’re usually poisonous. Aerosols and sprays have become widespread in their use in our homes. Even “foods” such as artificial creams, toppings, etc. come in aerosol containers. The vaporizer is usually a fluorocarbon and/or vinyl chloride. Both substances are toxic and a highly toxic material is used to thin these substances to make them aerate or expand when pressure on them is relieved.
Chlorine is a deadly poisonous element. Many fighters succumbed to it. Even though chlorine is dilute in city water, we can still taste it. Most water supplies have been treated with this toxic element. How many times have you run bathwater or showers and gone into the bathroom to be assaulted by accumulated chlorine? In bleaches and in some other compounds that are frequently used in laundering and cleaning, high concentrations of chlorine are usually released.
Most people do not realize it, but certain types of plywood and other products in their homes are bonded with formaldehyde, which is in insulation, plywoods and plastics. Formaldehyde is given off as a particulate in the air. It may be given off for years in homes and trailers. This substance is quite toxic and many deaths have been attributed to breathing it. Formaldehyde is especially likely to be found in new homes, trailers, mobile homes and new rooms where plywoods and bonded plastics are used.
Oven cleaners are particularly toxic. They’re designed to cut grease and to act as solvent for other debris on enamel. Their fumes are particularly toxic.
Cosmetics are a very big source of pollution in some homes, especially where there are hair sprays and products containing fluorocarbons. The substances sprayed are usually very toxic in themselves, for they have copolymer residues of vinyl acetate. These residues are toxic when inhaled. Fumes from cosmetics that are in contact with the air may smell pleasant but they’re also toxic.
Deodorants are extensively used in America, some one billion dollars worth annually. That’s enough to mask quite a bit of body stench. Healthy people do not use deodorants because they emit relatively non-malodorous smells.
Deodorants and antiperspirants are used in minute amounts and the basic ingredients are quite toxic. They consist of a formulation of drugs designed to inhibit the body’s secretory functions. This inhibition of body functions occurs because the deodorants are so toxic that the body keeps skin pores closed lest absorption of the toxic drugs occur.
Aside from their presence on the skin, deodorants give off particulates and vapors which are toxic to users and to others. They’re particularly poisonous in homes because their pollutants tend to become cumulative. Air in homes, especially in winter, is retained for long periods of time and thus becomes stale as well as accumulating effluvia from the household.
Insect repellents are often used in homes. While they’re not immediately as deadly to humans as to insects, the fact that they are deadly to insects establishes their poisonous relationship to all living things. Insect poisons should never be used in the home except under conditions of nonoccupancy.
As additional camouflage for odoriferousness and for its perfumes, many women use powder. Powders are formulated around a base of dust. There are toxic drugs in the formulation as a rule and the dust itself is also toxic. Its fumes or gases are toxic.
Carpeting can also be a source of pollutants. The dust, dirt, filth and debris which carpets accumulate and the excreta that results due to their bacterial decomposition assault us. Among the poisons likely to accumulate in our homes from bacterial decompositon are carbon dioxide, methane gas and ammonia. Any decaying substance, whether it’s garbage, meats or other foodstuffs, pollute the air with the byproducts of bacterial activity.
Electric motors in appliances give off pollution. Clothes driers give off carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide if they use gas. All drugs and “medicines,” especially those that are sprayed into the mouth and nose, are toxic.
Preservatives and additives added to foods to enhance appearance, retard spoilage, etc., are toxic. In cooking their gases permeate our household air and are additional sources of pollution.
Volatile oils, especially from polishes; mustard oil, onions, garlic and other pungent herbs; teas and drinks, etc., are not wholesome in the lungs. If you eat an onion or a piece of garlic, the lungs are one of the eliminating organs through which their toxic components are expelled. The oils of frying foods are not only toxic and very carcinogenic, but, when inhaled, they tend to coat the lungs. Heated oils give off acrolein. While it may smell fine, it is really a trojan horse, for its pleasant odor is contrary to its toxic nature.
Cleansers are used almost universally. Most are chemical formulations that have a number of poisonous substances. Ammonias are usually a primary component, and they are very deadly.
It is possible for the airborne grease from frying foods to accumulate in the lungs. Workers in kitchens who fry food, even if they do not smoke, are likely to have lung problems faster than those who smoke. Grease is not easily expelled from the lungs. For example, a person who works in a fried chicken outlet and uses a fry-o-lator several hours each day may develop a chronic cough and even pneumonia from inhalation of aerated grease from cooking oils. (There are also many other causes of lung maladies and coughing.)
Mechanics get a different type of oil and grease on their hands. These oils are akin to the fats in foods. .
Home air pollution occurs from anything that is burned, cooked or heated (except for boiling water). Stoves and heaters that produce heat by combustion within the home are especially heavy polluters. Wood stoves give off a lot of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, tars and other toxic particulates. If you can smell anything, you can be sure that the air is being polluted. However, some gaseous pollution is odorless. Combustion within homes is dangerous on two counts. Some of the pollution that occurs has just been listed. The other count is the partial use of oxygen from inside air. Partially deoxygenized air may not furnish our oxygen needs sufficiently.
Alcoholic drinks give off an effluvia that is unwholesome in the lungs. Of course, it is worse to drink alcohol. Alcohol, like the mustard oil of onions and allicin of garlic, is not used by the body because it is indigestible. The lungs are utilized as one of the avenues of excretion of alcohol. This is obvious because you can smell alcohol on the breath of anyone who has partaken of it. Breathing alcoholic fumes is not healthful and can occasion ill effects, especially for those subjected to breathing alcohol as in breweries.
Condiments, seasonings, spices, sauces and gravies are almost all toxic in the lungs. Black pepper, for instance, is toxic in the lungs, far more so than when in the stomach. All these substances stimulate and irritate when raw. But when heated their toxic components are liberated into the air, and some very toxic effects can result. Most condiments in the intestinal tract occasion irritation, indigestion and other discomfiting effects, especially laxative or diarrheal effects. These latter effects occur because the inflamed intestines rush the noxious matters, including food in the tract, to the nearest exit—the bowels. When condiments are in the air, due to diffusion in the air or due to heating, the irritation to the lungs is similar.
Perhaps you’ve heard of pruritus anus. This merely means itchiness of the anal region. It may be caused by body elimination of toxic materials through the skin in the anal region. However, it is more than likely due to the toxic components of condiments irritating the skin at the exit point. These can be deposited there by fecal matter before it is cleared from the area. Hot peppers and black pepper can cause this but so can any other condiment. The amount of irritation these occasion on the skin and in the anal region is an indication of their toxicity in the intestinal tract.
Americans are inclined to bring all kinds of chemicals into their homes. Chemicals in the home, wherever stored, slowly oxidize and vaporize, unless tightly capped. But sooner or later they are opened for use. Some chemicals are quite common, notably toothpaste, gargles, lotions, cleansers, lighting fluids and antiseptics.
Antiseptics can also be called antibiotics. They’re not in any way anti-septic because the term means “against poison.” They’re actually antibiotics for, indeed, they are destructive of life. They destroy bacteria wholesale. Likewise, antiseptics destroy living cells of skin, mouth and lungs. If any odor can be detected from so-called antiseptics, the substance will be harmful.

What We Can Do to Insure a Constant Supply of Fresh Air

Our message is that it is really impossible to have really pure air in this day and age. We can place ourselves in situations where we have the purest air possible. To get the freshest possible air we should keep our windows open. We should so live and conduct ourselves as to keep our home air free of all those processes and products that pollute it. There is no insurance that we’ll have the best air possible no matter what we do or where we go but, relatively speaking, we can have pure air in the outdoors far from civilization, for nature is constantly cleansing the air.
Exercise ventilates our entire body. Run, jog or walk. Play an outdoor sport. Any sustained activity that greatly accelerates body function will ventilate your system. Especially important is the oxygenation of our capillary system which results from exercise. Faster and more vigorous blood circulation insures better capillary health due to greater oxygen uptake and rejuvenation of function. Stagnation of the capillary system is a primary contributor to deterioration and disease. The intake of fresh air in conjunction with exercise is of inestimable value.
A device for improving air quality that is becoming popular is the negative ion generator. What has been determined is that negative ions precipitate dust, participates and toxic materials from the air. If so, this is a positive benefit. I seriously doubt that ionized air gives a drug effect. In a very polluted home a negative ion generator might be helpful. Air cleaners that precipitate particulates, dust and other forms of pollutants are of benefit. Filters are also helpful.
Most auto pollution is along highways in most of our country and where there are concentrations of autos. In other areas the air is often stagnant and the exhaust pollutants of the auto become cumulative, sometimes until the air is deadly as in the Los Angeles area. The only suggestion we can make for avoiding carbon monoxide poisoning is to stay away from it. In low-pressure areas, carbon monoxide concentrates along the ground.

Pure water

The expression pure water is used throughout our treatment of the subject of water. If there’s anything everyone wants, it is pure water. No one wants impure water. Yet, most people drink anything but pure water. Pure water is purely water-only water and nothing but water.

Best Sources for Humans

The purest water is distilled water. Inasmuch as an individual lives as he should he will get all or almost all his water needs from a diet of proper foods. Therefore, very little distilled water will ever need to be consumed. Distilled water should be a secondary source of water. Humans are not naturally water-drinking creatures, for they have absolutely no equipment for it as have natural water-drinking animals. Therefore, the proper diet for humans is necessarily water sufficient. A correct diet must contain the pure water that we require.
Fruits contain the purest water of all and also are the finest foods of all. The water in fruits is completely pure; that is, it is without any trace of inorganic minerals or other matters that are likely to combine with body fluids and clog up blood vessels, cells or interstitial spaces. Most Life Scientists are primarily and almost wholly fruit-eaters. (Bear in mind that many so-called vegetables are actually non-sweet fruits and that, technically, nuts are fruits, too.) Because we were almost exclusively fruit-eaters in a pristine state of nature and because a fruit diet is water sufficient, humans never developed water-drinking mechanisms.
The primary role of water in the body is as a transport medium. It is also the medium for storage of needed organic compounds and electrolytes within the cells. This is accomplished by the water holding molecules and nutrient reserves in suspension.
Impure water harms the human organism because the impurities are invariably poisons. While our foods contain water, water from non-food sources is not our medium for food or nutrients. Minerals in water are dissolved from soil and rock and have no more virtue in the human body than if the soil or rock itself was eaten. The body simply cannot handle inorganic minerals. Inorganic minerals circulate in the body as poisons. Anything at all in water aside from wholesome foods is, therefore, a pollutant or a poison.
Thus, people who drink water are likely to imbibe a plethora of poisons. Different people drink water for different reasons. For instance, many health seekers drink spring water, well water, sea water and other kinds of water in the mistaken belief that it is healthful.
Some people, including Life Scientists, drink little water because they are primarily fruitarians. Their diet is water sufficient.
Some people drink distilled water either because they are health-aware and want pure water or because their regular water supply is unsuitable for drinking. By far the larger number of Americans who drink distilled water do so because their regular water is so bad, not because of any overall health orientation. They may be said to be undertaking a healthful measure in preference to an obviously unwholesome practice. In either of these cases of people who drink distilled water, water drinking is indulged because of a more or less unwholesome diet (a cooked diet containing salt and other condiments). Our natural diet is water-sufficient.
Some people deliberately drink mineralized waters in the mistaken belief that their bodies need all the minerals they can get. These are usually “health-oriented” persons who do not realize that minerals in water as picked up from soil and water are the very same as the minerals in soil or powdered rock and are not used by the body. They shun chemicalized waters from water systems.
The majority of people drink whatever water is available—mineralized; chemicalized; from their local water system, wells or springs. These people consume a diet that is either water-deficient or so unwholesome as to require heavy supplies of water.
Life Scientists sometimes drink distilled water. They may do so because they are fasting and not taking in water from food sources, or they may drink distilled water to supplement the water present in their diet. In the latter case, extra water may be required during particularly hot weather, especially if the individual engages in vigorous physical activity.
Tens of millions of Americans drink soft drinks, coffee, tea, cocoa and a host of other water-containing concoctions when thirsty. These people entertain and stimulate themselves in the process of getting their liquids. While pure water is, in itself, very satisfying to the thirsty, many seek other gratifications which they get by consuming the kinds of drinks just mentioned. All drinking of anything but pure water is less than ideal and most often is quite unwholesome and disease-producing. For instance, many drink fresh vegetable and fruit juices to quench their thirst. Juices, though fragmented foods, are, nevertheless, foods. They should not be used as substitutes for distilled water.

Chemicals Used in Water “Purification” Are Toxic

Most Americans drink liquids and most liquids taken contain inorganic minerals, fluorine, chlorine and other so-called “chemicals of purification.” Bacteria in water are far less harmful than the chemicals that are used to destroy them. Their presence in water usually indicates that the water contains organic matter, but bacteria in water are no more harmful than those we constantly take in by air or those which populate our intestinal tracts. However, water we drink should be pure. No water system in this country furnishes pure water. Invariably it is polluted in some harmful way.
Drinking tap water is fraught with dangers. The US. Public Health Service released the results of research and surveys of waters from various water systems in the U.S. Over eighty carcinogens were found. Most of these were from the breakdown of chlorine in water systems or its combination with other chemicals. Chlorine itself is a carcinogen. Chemicals from agricultural fertilizers, chemical industries, pesticides and homes pollute our waters. Sulfur, iron, gypsum, calcium, magnesium and other inorganic minerals are toxic in themselves. Purification systems, so-called, do not remove these minerals. They are designed to remove bacteria, which are far less harmful. Purification systems add chemicals rather than remove them (except in some systems where the water supply is deadly at its source).
Fluorine is added to water, not as a purifier, but as a mass medication. This waste product of the chemical and metals industries has been rammed down our throats, so to speak, in the mistaken belief by many that it will prevent tooth decay. Obviously, it doesn’t work, for tooth decay is just as rampant today as before—in fact, it t is worse than ever. Fluorine is in the water of more than half our population’s water supplies. Inorganic fluorine compounds are carcinogenic and deadly. Poisons are never the basis of health. Our teeth are sabotaged by dietary practices also.

Spring and Well Water

As mentioned earlier, many people think mineral water, well water, spring water or other impure water is just what we need. Spring water, waters from mountain streams and waters to which certain minerals have been added are quite popular. Many people in these places will not touch their city water supply for drinking purposes. But processed waters which have had mineral concoctions added and waters from springs and mountain streams are in vogue. While these waters with their mineral content cannot possibly be as harmful as the mineralized and chemicalized water supplies, they are, nevertheless, very unwholesome.
Many waters, especially imported spring waters, are prized for their peculiar tastes. Some waters are carbonated to give them extra attraction. But all such waters are harmful. Pure water is pleasant to drink and has no taste or kick whatsoever. If you’re thirsty, pure water is the most satisfying of all, even without any taste thrill.
Though you should get most of or all your water from your food, you should never try to get anything from water but water.
The body cannot digest or metabolize inorganic substances. Other than air, water, and sunshine, the body cannot utilize anything except organic compounds as found in food. All else is poisonous. Inorganic materials cannot be utilized; they clog up our bodies if not eliminated, and they combine with body fluids, oils, compounds and wastes and form substances that cake our vascular system. They are deposited in our joints and muscles, interstitial spaces, organs and lymphatic system. Both deranged foods, that is, those that have been cooked and processed, and impure water contain inorganic minerals, which are harmful to our organism.
There are several schools of thought in this country that advocate drinking mineral-containing water such as well water, spring water and mineral water. They say that mineral-containing water is needed because the body requires the minerals from it.
How pure water could leech minerals from the body has received a thorough refutation from physiologists. An important thing to remember about water and everything else put into the body is that it is done unto by the body. It does not do unto the body. Those substances which seem to act on the body, as in the case of unmanageable acids, compounds and chemicals, are poisons. The body is the master of its domain. Following this reasoning, soft water does not leech minerals from the body. The body uses water. Water doesn’t use the body. Water and other foodstuffs are under the control of the body while in the body. The body does what it wants to with water. It excretes the water if it’s not needed. Along with the water it excretes mineral matter that it no longer requires. The kidneys are the final arbiters of what will be excreted and what will be returned to the body economy for use. For instance, the body recycles about 95% of its iron regardless of the water we drink. It also recycles many other mineral compounds or salts. The body is very conservative with its nutrient supplies.
An example is eating watermelon. If you eat watermelon, your urine will be completely clear. There will be almost no mineral matter in it to color it. The very pure water of watermelon that is unneeded by the system is speedily expelled. Very little mineral or other matter will be in it, for the body is doing unto the water. The water does not circulate freely in the body. The body retains or expels the water according to its need.
On the other hand, if you are fasting or under any other condition in which you’re not taking water from food and the body is conserving its water supply, your urine will become very dark yellow because the body is giving up more wastes and more mineral matter relative to the water it is expelling.
Why do most Americans drink so much water and other liquids? Cooked food eaters require copious amounts of water. People who take in so many irritants or poisons as found in heat-deranged foods; in condiments, especially salt and other seasonings; and in unsuitable foods such as grain and animal foods, need this water to help hold toxic materials in suspension so that they offer less harm to cells and tissues.
People who eat a wholesome diet require less water than people who eat an unwholesome diet. On wholesome diets there is usually sufficient water in the foods to meet all needs whereas, on an unwholesome diet, abnormal amounts of water are required to help cope with the irritants, stimulants, excitants or poisons within.
Edema or dropsy, for instance, is a disease of those who eat cooked foods and/or salts and other condiments. The body takes on extra water to hold these toxic materials in suspension. Until the body can dump these they are stored in likely areas, often the feet and legs. A few days of fasting enables the body to catch up on its housecleaning. It thus will expel the waters and purify its fluids and tissues.

Gemma's comments

On this post, the subject of toxics is explored in more detail.

Natural Hygiene: Health and Diseases

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Sat, 17 Jan 2015 20:54:00 +0100

In this article we introduce the concept of health and disease from the point of view of Natural Hygiene approach. It has been abstracted from these two chapters: “Introduction To Life Science As A Way Of Life" and “The Nature And Purpose Of Disease”.

Continue reading Natural Hygiene: Health and Diseases

Health

Health does not consist merely of the absence of symptoms of illness. It is a state of positive well-being that is evidenced by a constant state of euphoria. It is rarely, if ever, experienced by humans today.
Health is a state of soundness and integrity of organism; vigour and efficiency of function; and excellence of mental faculties.
Great vigour and the buoyant feeling of well-being are extremely rare in our populace.

The Return To Perfection by Dr. Herbert M. Shelton

Our word health is derived from the Saxon word for whole. Heal is derived from the same word and means to restore to a state of wholeness, soundness, integrity. Holy comes from the same root and signifies wholeness and purity of mind. Taken in its fullness of meaning, health means completeness and perfection of organization, fitness of life, freedom of action, harmony of functions, vigor and freedom from all stain and corruption—in a phrase, it is “a sound mind in a sound body.”
How is such a high state of health to be attained? In a word: How may man be healed?

Living in Accord with Natural Law Produces Perfect Health

This can be done only upon a basis of law—natural law—specifically, upon a basis of those laws that operate to make human life possible. All laws operate to make human life possible. All laws essential to the welfare of man are written in his own constitution. Every rule of human conduct, to be valid in promoting human welfare and happiness, must be in harmony with his nature. No law, no social custom (convention), no moral precept can have any reality to man that does not accord with his highest welfare. If it is not intimately related to man’s highest fitness—physical, moral and intellectual—it cannot correspond to his highest ideals of truth, duty and enjoyment.
The unperverted instincts of wild animals living in their natural homes are the laws of their lives. There seems to be no reason to doubt that man’s instincts were once equally perfect guides in his ways of life. But if this was ever true, it certainly is not so today. Man’s instincts have been so smothered and buried beneath a layer of cultural baggage that they no longer constitute reliable guides to him in his way of life. They have been “conditioned” until they are misguides.

Health-Sapping Perversions Begin Early In Life

Nonetheless it is true that even now instincts are fairly reliable guides to conduct in the young. But we begin the process of perverting these instincts almost from birth. Instinct does not leave us unwarned when we take our first smoke, but social usage demands that we ignore the warning and suppress the vigorous protests of instinct. We must learn to smoke, even now that we are aware that the end may be death from lung cancer. Today we may get our first smoke second-hand as mere infants. Smoking in the house has become almost universal. Many babies are sickened and even killed by the unintelligent practice of fathers and mothers filling the house with the poisonous fumes of burning tobacco.
We are not left unwarned by our first effort to develop alcoholism. The first drink of beer is obnoxious. Wine both smells and tastes fermented, and it is. The first drink of brandy or whiskey burns and bites, it smarts and stings as it goes down, there is protest every inch of the way. But we ignore these protests, we disregard these warnings, we are determined to “grow up,” and the only way this can be done in our society is to become an addict of one or more kinds.

Bad Practices Produce Human Wrecks

Coffee and tea are reproaches to both our sense of smell and to our sense of taste. They produce a “high” state that should not be mistaken for vigor and well-being; they interfere with sleep, keeping us awake for hours. But we ignore these warnings of the faithful sentinels of life. We suppress the urge to flee from such poisons. We are determined to belong. We want to be “one of the gang” even if we have to wreck ourselves in the process.
We have learned to take the miserable fragments of natural-foods with which the food processors and refiners have flooded the market, fragments that lack all appeal to our gustatory sense, and to add sweetening, colorings, flavorings, etc. to them to make them appeal to the senses of sight, smell and taste in spite of their unfitness to serve the needs of human nutrition. We eat them, little thinking that they do not represent true foods or that they may prove to be actually hurtful. We have found ways to get unfit substances by the guards that stand at the entrance to the alvine canal. We have found ways to deceive ourselves and to wreck ourselves without knowing that we are doing it.

Disciplined Correct Life Practices Will Restore Pristine Perfection

For the evils of ignorance the remedy is knowledge—for the evils of false ideas the remedy is truth. For the source of truth and knowledge we have nature—especially human nature. Only when truth and knowledge are universal can we expect men and women to cease injuring and destroying themselves in riotous indulgence in tobacco, alcohol, and food-less food. In the spread of Natural Hygiene lies the hope of the future.

Disease

Disease, as a word, means very simply not at ease—a person is uncomfortable or suffering difficulties in maintaining energies for the functions he wishes to discharge and in keeping operative those faculties he wishes to exercise.
There are two distinct types of disease. The first type of disease serves a purpose and the second type serves none. These two types of disease are as follows:
* The first type is constructive disease, often called acute disease.
* The second type of disease is degenerative. This results from organic impairment in which organs, tissues, bones, or other faculties have undergone destruction, distortion, or irreversible impairment.

Purposes of Disease

Disease affects the whole body, not just a part. The body initiates remedial diseases to accomplish a goal. The goal serves the whole body, not just an organ, area, or part.
Everything that affects any part of the body affects the whole organism. If we have a bad back, the whole body is affected. There are no isolated parts about which we are unconcerned, either at the conscious or unconscious level of intelligence. We defend it all at all levels because it is all of us..

* Disease Is Started by the Body

The body itself institutes the crisis known as disease. Life Scientists call this process a “housecleaning” or healing crisis. Such a procedure by the body is instituted when bodily integrity is compromised or threatened by an accumulation of uneliminated toxic materials. The level of vitality and the extent of the overload determine the type of crisis. Given high vitality as in an infant, a very low level of toxicity is tolerated. In infants, colds are frequent. Given low vitality as in most older people in our society, colds are a rarity. Because so few older people maintain vital bodies, the toxic overload drags them down into chronic diseases, degenerative diseases, and unsuspected pathology.

* Disease Is an Eliminative Process

The body creates a crisis in response to a body need to free itself of toxic matters and repair damages. Consequently, the body withdraws energy from normal body activities and redirects them to the healing crisis.
The body will reject anything that’s irritating. For example, if dust is put into your nose, the body will secrete mucus to surround and eject the dust irritant. Or you may sneeze. In both cases, the body is acting defensively. Thus, all remedial disease is body-defensive action.
Bacteria do not invade organisms for they’re always within the organism. Even after we’ve lost our intestinal flora after fasting, bacteria are still there. Bacteria can in many cases do what bears and many other animals do—hibernate or become dormant.
Pasteur was not the father of bacteriology as many people think. Antoine Bechamp was the father of this science. Bechamp was a scientist in the true sense of the word. He took what he called microzyma from the chalk cliffs of France. He found that, upon furnishing water, warmth and other nutrients, the microzyma proliferated. These microorganisms had been entombed for ten million years in a state of dormancy. So bacteria have certain qualities for survival that most are not aware of.

Toxemia Is The Universal Cause Of Disease

Actually, there is only one disease, no matter how it manifests itself. And the disease, which we call constructive disease, is occasioned by the body itself and is known as a crisis of toxemia or healing.

* The Seven Stages of Disease

There are several stages of disease. The underlying cause of disease in all stages is toxemia. Although toxemia may arise from many sources, it basically exists because of insufficient nerve energy to sufficiently eliminate exogenous poisons and body wastes. Toxemia is not broad enough a term to cover the whole poisoning process for it means poison in the blood. Actually toxicosis exists. Tissues, cells and interstitial spaces are also toxic-laden. In short, the whole body is toxic.
Diseases present many different aspects because they evolve with the progressing deterioration of the organism that suffers them. Disease has seven distinct stages. These stages correspond to the distinct differences of each stage of evolution.

1. Enervation

The first stage is not even recognized by physicians as a disease. Life Scientists call it enervation. Most people call it nervous exhaustion. Enervation is a state in which the body is either not generating sufficient nerve energy for the tasks the body must perform, or the tasks the body must perform may be greater than the normal nerve energy supply can cope with. In any event, the body becomes impaired, and an impaired body generates less nerve energy if the conditions of overwork or under-generation persist. Most people know when they are nervously exhausted.
Enervation can be caused by depletion of nerve energy in any of hundreds of ways. Sleep regenerates nerve energy. Obviously, insufficient sleep will not supply us with our needs. It will not fully recharge our batteries. We need sleep to regenerate nerve energy for the brain and nervous system.
The body is primarily an organism that works on the amount of electricity it generates and which it has in its reserves. If this supply is depleted or otherwise insufficient to cope with the needs of the body, then body functions become impaired, including the processes of elimination of both endogenous metabolic wastes and exogenous poisons introduced into the body. This impairment begets further impairment including diminishing the body’s ability to restore depleted nerve energy. The body starts going downhill. The next stage of this decline is called toxemia.

2. Toxemia or Toxicosis

When toxic substances from whatever source saturate the blood and tissues, the lymph system and interstitial fluids, then the conditions of toxemia and toxicosis exist.
As functioning organisms, we generate a tremendous amount of toxic by-products. We generate enough carbon dioxide to kill us within a few minutes. And this is but one of many waste products. There are trillions of cells in the human body. Tens of billions of these expire every day. They are replaced by new cells. The old cells are broken down by lysosomes, enzymes that reside in a little organelle within the cell itself. Upon cell death, these enzymes break the cell down into many smaller components for elimination. These components are cell debris. Some of these components such as iron, protein, and amino acids are recycled by the body. Some 95% of the body’s iron needs and 70% of its protein needs are met by recycling. Certain other of the body’s needs are met by recycling as well. This will give you some idea as to the immense providence and wisdom of the body in meeting its needs.
Tissue and blood saturation with toxic materials can be caused by both internally generated wastes and pollutants taken in from the outside which the body has not been able to eject from the vital domain. Intoxication occurs when we overload the body with toxic materials from the outside, or we fail to observe our capacities, and overwork, get insufficient sleep, or are subjected to great stress, or when any number of other factors deplete the body of nerve energy or prevent its sufficient regeneration. For instance, stresses, emotional shocks, or traumatic experiences can drain our bodies of nerve energy very quickly. It’s just like shorting out the battery of a car.
At some level of intoxication we begin to experience the next stage of disease which is called irritation.

3. Irritation

Irritation results from toxic materials being sensed by our nerve network. Most of us pay this stage little mind, and certainly physicians do not pay it heed. When we feel itchy, queasy, jumpy, uneasy, or when we have bothersome but not painful areas, irritation exists. Tickling of the nose is a form of irritation. Collections of mucus along the mucus membranes irritate, although irritation is not painful. It is a gentle prod that moves us to seek comfort, to establish freedom from it. For instance, the urge to urinate or defecate is a form of irritation due to accumulation of wastes greater than the body feels comfortable with. However, the urge is not painful unless it is ignored until it creates too much pressure in its area. Near painful irritation forces us to deal with the problem.
When a person drinks too much alcohol we say that he or she is intoxicated. That’s a good example of exogenous intoxication. While all alcohol intake is damaging to the organism, the body can speedily eliminate a small amount before much damage has occurred. Increase the intake, and the elimination is proportionately less and the damage proportionately greater. The first drink of alcohol occasions only irritation which we also call stimulation. But any toxic material, be it salt, caffeine, or condiments will irritate or stimulate. Unfortunately, this often makes us feel good or hyper or even euphoric. It is distressing to see a euphoric condition arise out of a situation that is damaging to the organism.
If the causes of enervation/intoxication/irritation remain in force and the body can’t cope with it the body initiates a responsive crisis called inflammation.

4. Inflamation

This is usually the stage in which physicians recognize pathology. It is the stage where sufferers are keenly aware of a problem, for it involves pain. As well, it involves bodily redirection of vital energies. The intestinal tract is closed down. Energy that would normally be available for activity there is pre-empted and redirected to the massive effort to cope with a severe condition of intoxication. Lest the integrity of the organism be dealt a mortal blow or crippled, the body musters its all to the emergency.
In inflammation, the toxicants have usually been concentrated in an organ or area for a massive expulsive effort. The area becomes inflamed due to the constant irritation of the toxic materials. When inflammation exists we are said to have an “itis,” appendicitis, tonsilitis, hepatitis, or nephritis for example. Note that the “itises” just cited are all due to overburdening of four different organs of purification and elimination.
The names of “itises” are usually after the organ or tissue area that is inflamed. Thus if we have a cold we have rhinitis. If we have inflammation of the sinus cavities we have sinusitis. If we have inflammation of bronchial tissue we have either bronchitis or asthma. And so it goes. We have these peculiar pathologies because in each case the body elected to eliminate the extraordinary toxic load through the organ affected. For instance, asthma exists because the body has selected the bronchi as an outlet for toxic materials. The condition is chronic because the toxic condition is unceasing. While the sufferer continues to intoxicate himself or herself, the body continues to eliminate the overload through the bronchi or alveolar tissue.
Inflammation or fever is a body crisis response to a life-threatening situation. The body and the body alone creates the fever. It is an evidence or symptom of increased and intense body activities directed at cleansing and repair. The extraordinary energies employed for a fever are at the expense of energies normally involved in digestion, work or play, thinking and seeing, etc. Fever is a healing activity. The idea of suppressing it is equivalent to hitting a drowning man over the head so he’ll cease his struggles. For instance, if rhinitis or influenza sufferers are drugged it amounts to hitting the body’s healer over the head. Thus, the eliminative effort is suppressed, and the toxicity increases until other organs, usually the lungs, become saturated—not only with the toxicity but the drugs administered as well. When body vitality reasserts itself a condition known as pneumonia is likely to result.
Inflammation is the fourth stage of disease and is the body’s most intense effort to cleanse and restore itself. The next stage of disease is destructive and degenerative. It will result if the causes of general body intoxication are continued.

5. Ulceration

Ulceration means that a staggering amount of cells and tissue structures are, being destroyed. Physiological systems are wiped out due to the body’s inability to live in an unceasing toxic media. Where tissue is destroyed there remains a void. An example is a canker sore of the mouth. Lesions or ulcers can occur in other areas of the body also. These conditions are often intensely painful, for there are exposed nerves.
While the body may use an ulcer as an outlet for extraordinary toxic buildup thereby relieving itself, it will heal the ulcer if causes are discontinued, or if the toxicity level is significantly lowered. This process of repairing the damage is like patching up pants with holes in them. This patching up process is called induration.

6. Induration

Induration is a hardening of tissue or the filling in of tissue vacancy with hard tissue. Scarring is a form of induration. But in this stage of disease, there is direction and purpose in hardening. The space is filled, and the toxic materials that threaten bodily integrity are encapsulated in a sac of hardened tissue. The ulcer and the toxic materials are sealed off by the hardening of the tissue around them. This is a way of quarantining the toxic materials, often called tumor formation. It is this condition that is diagnosed as cancer nineteen times out of twenty when, in fact, no cancer exists.
Induration is the last stage during which the body exerts intelligent control. Should the pathogenic practices which brought matters to this stage be continued, cells and tissue systems go wild. They survive as best they can on their own. Cells become parasitic—living off the nutrients they can obtain from the lymph fluid but contributing nothing to the body economy. They have become disorganized. Their genetic encoding has been altered by the poisons. Thus, they are not capable of intelligent normal organized action within the context of a vital economy. When cells go wild in this manner, the condition is called cancer.

7. Cancer

The endpoint of the evolution of disease is cancer. It is the last stage of disease and is usually fatal, especially if the causes that brought it about are continued. Cessation of causes and indulgence of healthful practices may arrest it, for they can so revitalize the body that they may even destroy the cancer cells. It’s all relative. Cancer cells live in a hostile environment but still divide and flourish as long as nutrients are available to them. Cancer cells may be regarded as cells that have become independent and have reverted to the status of uncontrolled primitive cells—cells that live entirely on their own as do protozoa.

* Viruses And Bacteria—Their Role In Disease

After reviewing the seven stages of disease it should be obvious that bacteria and so-called viruses do not cause diseases. Viruses do cause diseases if you call toxic waste materials of decomposed body cells viruses. Decomposed cell debris is precisely what virologists and physicians are calling viruses. They regard viruses as living entitities when, in fact, medics have not in all history observed any quality of life they ascribe to viruses. What is called virus is always dead. It doesn’t have the first prerequisites of life, that is, metabolic and control mechanisms. Even bacteria have that.
When you ask a bacteriologist which comes first, the soil or the bacteria, he will answer that the soil must exist first for bacteria to thrive, for bacteria are presented a deadly environment by living cells. So, bacteria never exist in a proliferating state where there is no food or soil for their propagation. They multiply when there is feast, and they die off when there is famine or adverse environment, hence, bacteria no more create their food supply than flies cause garbage. The garbage must preexist the flies and, on the same order, the garbage or soil on which bacteria thrive in our bodies must preexist their presence and propagation. In other words, they do not cause the condition—they are there because of the condition.
When the body has a highly toxic condition such as inflammation, it will absorb bacteria from the intestinal cavity and transport them to the point where deadly materials have been concentrated. The bacteria then symbiotically assist in breaking up these toxic materials for elimination. Of course, the excreta of bacteria are toxic, too.
Bacteria are symbiotic partners of all creatures in nature. In order to come to exist in nature in the first place, humans had to establish a state of symbiosis with all natural forces.

* Disease Complicated by By-Products of Symbiotic Bacteria

At their strongest, bacteria complicate disease because the byproducts of bacterial fermentation or putrefaction are deadly poison. In fermentation the by-products are lactic acid, acetic acid or vinegar, and alcohol. Putrefaction involves nitrogenous foods or proteins. The by-products of rotting protein are ammonias, indoles, skatoles, purines, etc. They are toxic within organisms, although the body can normally eliminate these poisons. In fact, our feces and urine are loaded with the by-products of protein decomposition, both from our body decomposition and bacterial decomposition.
You’ve heard of the ideal of living in a germ-free environment. That is an impossibility, of course. Trillions of bacteria are in and on our bodies at all times. If we were free of these minute organisms, we’d soon die. They perform many essential services for us.
If colds are a cleansing process, how does a body that is in crisis get yet worse? If the body is eliminating toxic materials profusely through the respiratory tract as in colds and flu, then how do the lungs also become contaminated?
All cases of colds and flu recover very quickly if the sufferer goes to bed in an airy room with lots of natural daylight. Almost total rest is called for. Total abstention from food but plenty of pure water is needed. Under these conditions debility ceases in from one to three days. But, if the sufferer refuses to rest and continues to eat the same bad food that contributed heavily to the crisis in the first place, the eliminative effort may be less than the continued toxic buildup, in which case pneumonia may be a concomitant. But, if the sufferer goes to a medic and gets drugged in addition, the body turns its attention to eliminating the drugs. It may cease the cold or flu altogether in face of the greater enemy. The continued toxic buildup spreads to the lungs. The drugs and toxic materials may concentrate so strongly in the lungs as to cause death or to set the stage for cancer. Many autopsies reveal people who have had pneumonia or who have smoked or lived in highly polluted air have tumors, indurated sacs of lung tissue which encapsulate toxic substances in the lungs.

The Character Of Disease

Disease is caused by indulging in practices or being subjected to materials and influences not normal to the human organism: that to which we are not adapted will cause disease.
It is a misconception that we have to fight disease. It will not occur unless it is caused. A huge catalog of materials and influences which are abnormal to the body could be given, but it’s not that complicated. We need only to maintain the simple needs of life which build and sustain health. We should consume only pure water as thirst demands and wholesome raw ripe fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds as genuine hunger dictates.
Further, we are adapted to pure air, sunshine, rest and sleep, pleasant environment, emotionally balanced companions – in short we are adapted to a harmonious world. We are so constituted that health results when all our physical, mental, emotional, intellectual, and aesthetic needs are met. Thus diseases other than degenerative ones may be said to be body crises for the purpose of restoring health

* Diseases Are Not Contagious

Diseases are not contagious in any sense simply because they are body instituted. We cannot transfer our toxic load to someone else. That should be self-evident. A Hygienist can go into a sickroom and not suffer a bit for it. Obviously most physicians and nurses and other people go to the sickrooms, even those housing the most so-called contagious diseases. They never contract the disease or suffer even though on occasion medics claim they do. You cannot transfer your toxic materials to another person unless you have it drawn out of you and injected into the person. The medics do, indeed, do that in transfusions. But the contagion here is medically induced rather than occurring within the realm of natural possibilities.

* How Plagues and Epidemics Develop

The reason that there seems to be “epidemics” is that the true contagion is an epidemic of similar bad habits. We all eat pretty much the same junk, are subjected to the same seasons, the same type of housing and, in many other ways, indulge the same health-sapping practices. It’s no wonder that many of us suffer the same diseases. Like causes beget like effects. Of course this is modified in the human situation by the diathesis of each individual.
Thus we see that, within the context of a given family or group, people have more or less the same bad habits and suffer the same diseases.
The reason epidemics occur in winter and not in summer should be obvious. If anything, microbial life is more active in summer just as we are and their functions are depressed in winter. But lo and behold, microbial forms of life are said to be more active and to cause epidemics. That’s nonsense of course. In the winter we eat less wholesome food—we eat more junk. We do not exercise as much. We stay indoors and breathe foul air. In the summer we get more sunshine, more exercise, more fresh air, fresh ripe fruits—in short we live more healthfully in summer and less healthfully in winter. Conditions cause us to so live as to generate our diseases. It is not contagion of germs but contagion of pathogenic conditions that create what are termed plagues or epidemics.

Gemma’s comments:

Concerning the statements in the section “Living in Accord with Natural Law Produces Perfect Health”, Dr. Shelton agrees that there are certain laws of human behavior, but disagrees that current laws are disconnected from human nature, and therefore run counter to our health.
It is true that our society allows many acts that go against collective health, moreover, these are even promoted in some cases: pesticides and genetically modified food, mandatory iodine in the water of some countries, mandatory vaccines, dental amalgams, chemicals that pollute our planet authorized in some factories, etc.
Many people contribute to the domestication of our instincts: family, school, friends, television, doctors, religious training, etc. However, the most important factors are family customs; it is within the family that the eating habits and the lifestyle are established: sport, sleep, exercise, moral and/or religion, kind of school, etc. It is the natural instincts of people that exist since their childhood that will encourage or "pervert" them, as Dr. Shelton says.
Children have the sense of instinct still very present. Then, does this mean according to Natural Hygiene that they know better than their parents what suits them best for their health, such as the type of food? As explained in another article, there are many factors that determine whether a child can recognize healthy foods, or if on the contrary, its instinct has been altered or domesticated. What this lesson should be good for is to make parents think about whether to force their children to eat certain foods, to doubt in the case of rejection of a food if it is a whim, an addiction to other foods, or if the food in reality is not that good for the child as they believe.
Keep in mind that even animals can go wrong when it comes to their instincts. For example, virtually all animals are attracted by sugar, albeit extremely damaging to them. So instinct is not foolproof either...
Concerning the stages of disease, I will present some more detailed examples of diseases that correspond to each of the phases below:

Enervation and toxemia:

Fatigue

Irritation:

Mucus, alergic rhinitis, sneezing
Dermatitis, eczema, urticaria
Vomiting, diarrhoea, irritable bowel syndrome
Bothersome but not painful areas.
Urge to urinate or defecate.
Hyperactivity, nervosity.

Inflammation:

Infections: gastroenteritis, otitis, pharyngitis, bronchitis, asthma, sinusitis, appendicitis, tonsilitis, hepatitis, nephritis, conjunctivitis, flu, vaginitis, etc.
Fever
Pain: headache, backache
Maybe also autism, schizophrenia, epilepsia?

Ulceration:

Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, duodenal ulcer, stomach ulcer, venous ulcer, herpes, celiac disease, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, arthritis, thyroiditis, diabetes and other autoimmune diseases.
Maybe also neuralgia, parkinson?

Induration:

Fibroma, benign tumors, wart, cysts.
Atherosclerosis, cataracts.
Maybe also alzheimer.

As T.C. Fry explains, these stages are very diffuse, so that at the same time you may suffer from diseases that belong to different stages. For example, while you have a cyst in the breast (enduration stage) you may also suffer from a cold (inflammation stage). It isn’t neither clear that you may pass by all the previous stages. For example, you can have a wart without a previous inflammation.
When there is some kind of change in your life such as a diet change, a change in medication, a new or different therapeutic treatment, a journey, a traumatic, stressful situation, etc. that affects your body, you may move to a different stage, either for better or worse.
As explained by referring to drug action, the disappearance of a disease or certain symptoms does not necessarily mean that this beneficial change puts you back to an earlier (and better) stage, but most probably to a later stage. Thus, a headache may disappear when taking certain medication, but eventually it could become an ulcerative stage with multiple sclerosis.
When chosing a diet, it is important to take into account its effects on these phases. It is very common that certain anti-inflammatory diets, such as one based on eating lots of fruit and vegetables, cause an irritable bowel at the same time, which makes a person return to a previous stage, the irritation stage. In this case, some people would dismiss this diet because their gastrointestinal condition deteriorates, but if we evaluate the overall state of the person, the fact of having gone from the inflammatory stage to the irritation stage is a major improvement. Conversely, other anti-inflammatory diets may lead to a more advanced stage, ulceration.
When fully recovery of health is not possible, then sometimes the person must choose between suffering an inflammatory disease, ulcerative disease or a slight gastro-intestinal (irritative) perturbation. Diet and all other life style allows to lean towards one stage or another.
I would like to hightlight that in my point of view, all diseases are not an eliminative process; some diseases are caused by a lack of nutrients. I would say that all diseases are the result of either a lack of nutrients that the body needs or either an excess of harmful substances that must be removed.
The lack of nutrients may be food type nutrients, or emotional or spiritual. For example, in the case of extreme poverty; or an excess of food void of nutrients such as in the occidental civilization; or an incorrect digestion, transformation and absorption of nutrients when the digestive system is damaged; or lack of love, social marginalisation, spiritual poverty, etc. The lack of nutrients can give place to diseases such as developmental disorders in children, rickets, eye diseases, osteoporosis, etc.
The theory may be possible that viruses are cellular waste of genetic material and bacteria are "sweepers" that only appear when needed to help destroy toxins or waste from the body. Given that 99.9% of genes are common to all men, we can explain that all people who have the same disease may have the same virus or bacteria, ie, the same portion of genetic material from one type of destroyed cells and the same "sweepers" to remove them. It is perfectly reasonable that some epidemics such as currently the Ebola are caused by a toxic substance to which the entire population of a given area is exposed. And the supposed spread of diseases among family or colleagues due to similar unhealthy conditions between those people living together in a given space: air or water contamination, improper diet, lack of sun exposure, lack of sleep, extreme temperatures, emotional conflicts, etc. Both theories, the classical one which defends infection, as well as the toxemia of Natural Hygiene seem equally reasonable.
In this other chapter of Natural Hygiene all the reasons that defend the theory of toxemia against contagion are explained in detail. I expose one of the most interesting passages of this chapter: “Pasteur did finally reverse his position and acknowledge that germs are not the specific and primary cause of disease, and he abandoned the germ theory. He is reported to have said on his deathbed, ´Bernard was right. The seed is nothing, the soil is everything.´
Although Pasteur abandoned his early immature and erroneous theory in the 1880s, it was accepted, developed, fostered, and perpetuated by others, and the mischief, medical misunderstanding, and error continue to this day (the ultimate irony!)."
I think that the most important lesson that must be learned from this chapter about health and disease is that the fact of enjoying good health depends on us, and neither on the good or bad chance of catching some virus or bacteria, nor on the bad actions of the people around us. Our health depends on our own actions and daily decisions, which depend on our beliefs in all levels of life: physical (food, water, air, sun, rest, exercise, …) mental, emotional and spiritual. We are the only responsible ones of what happens to us. If we change our vision about life we can change our destiny. Negativity attracts negativity, joy attracts joy.

Natural Hygiene: an approach to health and lifestyle

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Sat, 08 Nov 2014 10:42:00 +0100

This an abstract of the chapter “Introduction To Life Science As A Way Of Life” of The Life Science Health System by T.C. Fry and the teachings of Dr. Herbert M. Shelton on his book "Health For The Millions"

“It is my privilege to introduce you to the science of health known by the descriptive term ´Life Science.´ It is also known as health science, Natural Hygiene, Hygiene, and other terms."

Continue reading Natural Hygiene: an approach to health and lifestyle

What is Life Science?

"Life as we know it is possible and became possible because certain favorable conditions are and were present. Some of these conditions include favorable temperature, presence of oxygen and other gases and minerals, presence of water, absence of lethal substances, etc. Life Science is the study of all the conditions which make life possible. Because present-day life seems to be losing touch with those conditions which made life possible, Life Science brings us ´back to our roots,´ so to speak. We should endeavor to meet life’s requisites so that we can lead a joyous existence.
Humans have infinitely more potential for happiness and goodness than nature’s simpler forms of life. We are endowed with immeasurably more sophisticated faculties.
Life Science must be for humans what inborn direction is for animals. We, too, have instincts, but we are far more than these basic impulses of life. Unfortunately, we not only fail to follow our instincts but we often reject them in our living practices. Our instincts have been vitiated and perverted by unwholesome conditioning in a world that is quite berserk by sane standards. When humans act contrary to instincts they are being unscientific. When their practices are in accord with their instincts—with their inherent biological adaptations—they are living scientifically. Life Science is as simple as that.
To capture the essence of the science of healthful living, I feel it appropriate to quote from a most notable hygienist, Dr. Keki Sidwha. He’s been a Hygienic practitioner in Great Britain for almost twenty years.
´In spite of all the great advances in many branches of science, we are still in a period of prehistory, a dark age, in our thinking about health, disease and healing. What the world sorely needs is a new concept of health.
Natural Hygiene, a life science, is that branch of biology which investigates the conditions upon which health depends and the means by which it may be sustained in all its virtue and purity, while we have it, and restored when it has been lost or impaired.
Natural Hygiene refutes the present-day ideas that disease and ill health are inevitable in people’s lives, depending on chance and circumstances outside their own control and domain. Natural Hygiene is a way of life, a philosophy of living, comprising a system of mind-body care in health and in sickness. Health can only be obtained through healthful living; it cannot be bought across the counter of a drugstore, not can it be found in a physician’s office or in a hospital. We contend that healing is a biological process which is continuously going on inside every organism.´

Life Science Philosophy, Principles And Practices

LIFE SCIENCE holds that life should be meaningful and filled with beauty, goodness and happiness.
LIFE SCIENCE holds that humans are inherently good, righteous, and virtuous, and that their exalted character will be realized under ideal life conditions.
LIFE SCIENCE holds that superlative well-being is normal to human existence and necessary to the realization of the highest human ideals
LIFE SCIENCE holds that supreme human excellence can be realized only in those who embrace those precepts and practices which are productive of well-being.
LIFE SCIENCE, which encompasses all that bears upon human well-being, constitutes the only way to realize the highest possible order of human existence.
LIFE SCIENCE, alone, is in harmony with nature, in accord with the principles of vital organic existence, correct in science, sound in philosophy and ethics, in agreement with common sense, and successful in practice and a blessing to humankind.
LIFE SCIENCE recognizes that the human body is a fully self-sufficient organism, that it is self-directing, self-constructing, self-preserving and self-healing, and that it is capable of maintaining itself in superb functioning order, completely free of disease, if its needs are met.
Foremost among these needs are fresh air, pure water, rest and sleep, wholesome foods, cleanliness, comfortable temperature, sunshine, exercise, constructive work, emotional poise, self-mastery, recreation and pleasant environment.
LIFE SCIENCE recognizes that humans are constitutionally adapted to a diet of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds eaten in compatible combinations while in the fresh raw natural state.
LIFE SCIENCE recognizes that diseases are caused by improper life practices, especially dietary indiscretions. Illness proceeds from reduced nerve energy and consequent toxemia. Insufficient nerve energy arises from dissipation, stress, overindulgence, excess or deficiency of the normal essentials of life, or pollution of the body with substances not normal to it. Accordingly, recovery from sickness can be achieved only by discontinuing its causes and supplying conditions favorable to healing.
LIFE SCIENCE recognizes that a thoroughgoing rest, which Includes fasting, is the most favorable condition under which an ailing body can purify and repair itself.
LIFE SCIENCE, which teaches that exalted well-being can be attained and maintained only through biologically correct living practices, is not in any sense a healing art or a curing cult. It regards as mistaken and productive of much grief the idea that diseases can be prevented or overcome by agencies abnormal to our natural being. Consequently, LIFE SCIENCE emphatically rejects all drugs, medications, vaccinations and treatments because they undermine health by interfering with or destroying vital body processes and tissues.

Therefore, LIFE SCIENCE regards the body and mind as the Inviolable sanctuary of an individual’s being. LIFE SCIENCE holds that everyone has an inalienable right to have a pure and uncontaminated body, to be free of abnormal compulsions and restraints, and to be free to meet his/her needs as a responsible member of society."

The Hygienic Way of Life by Dr. Shelton

"A truly valid system of mind-body care must be coeval with life. It must have a timeless validity that belongs not to the works of men, but nature itself. It must be os such a character that it meets adequately all needs of the living organism under any condition of life.
It must be the very constitution of things. It cannot grow out of the haphazard researches and discoveries of man, but must be part of his life from the very beginning. It will thus be a system that will not pass away. The fact that the systems that have been of man's devising pass after a brief day of popularity, reveals that they are not valid.
A valid system of Hygiene must meet the elemental demands of living and be based upon the unvarying principles of nature. It must harmonize in all particulars with all we know about life, and not fly in the face of a valid interpretation of mankind's vast experience.
Our principles must not be myths, legends, assumptions, theories or dogmas, nor a combination of them. They must constitute more than a staunch conviction or a popular belief.
Because the principles of Hygiene grow out of a wealth of related facts, they have their roots in the daily life and real experiences of man. Because they are true, they will apply with full force to other forms of life, and not to man alone. "

Gemma's comments

As it will be explained in further articles, Natural Hygiene’s statement about that we must follow our instincts should not be taken word for word. The human emotional and spiritual aspects are very important in Natural Hygiene as well, which are essential parts to be considered for a complete health.
What ”following our instincts” means in this case is listening to our bodies, finding out what is needed for good health: the type of food, the amount of rest, ideal temperature, physical activity, exposure to the sun, intellectual activity, healthy emotions, spiritual growth, etc.
Unfortunately, when someone is sick, they can not be guided by their instincts, because they are "corrupted and perverted". Consequently, Natural Hygiene proposes some standards in order for them to regain health.
Natural Hygiene suggests a type of diet, physical activity, exposure to the sun, temperature, etc., based on the study of what we naturally need. These are not based on scientific laboratory research, but on studying the simple human anatomy and needs, which can be easily observed and so anyone can deduce and understand.
Natural Hygiene approach is followed by many doctors and therapist around the world. Maybe the pioneers were Pythagoras and Leonardo Da Vinci. But Hygiene, as a formalized philosophy of life, had its beginnings with Dr. Isaac Jennings in 1822. Then, Drs. Graham, Trail, Dewey, Tilden, and Shelton were the main developers of the science of health.
Nowadays we can find Natural Hygiene Organisations such as INHS,, where Dr. Robert Sniadach, Dr. Alan Goldhamer, Dr. Ralph Cinque, Dr. Maya Nicole Baylac and Dr. Paul Goldberg belong; the British Natural Hygiene Society and the National Health Association, with members such as Dr. Alec Burton, Dr. Michael Klaper and Dr. Frank Sabatin among many others.
More detail about the principles will be given in further articles.

Thank you to Rodrigo for letting me know about Natural Hygiene.

How to overcome obstacles to change

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 14:54:00 +0100

In Living Fully Nourished method, once we have identified the changes that need to be made, we will face the most difficult part: implementing them. It is the hardest part indeed, as changing our current diet or your lifestyle normally involves many sacrifices and there are numerous obstacles that may prevent us from carrying out the initial good intentions.
These are mainly the lack of time, food addictions, family conflicts, lack of financial resources, lack of perseverance and lack of confidence in the diet. However, in the case of most of these obstacles, it is possible to find a solution.

Continue reading How to overcome obstacles to change

How to reduce stress

The first requirement in order to be able to implement a change in your life is that you dedicate time to it. If you want to change your diet you will most probably need to learn to cook differently, attend cooking courses, find new products in the shops, find new, specific shops with quality products, spend more time in the kitchen, eat consciously, learn to know yourself, etc.
Likewise, if there is a lack in some other aspect of your life, you will have to dedicate time to it in order to improve that aspect, may it be spiritual, emotional, physical exercise, contact with nature, etc. It is possible that you will have to work on it on your own or you might go to some kind of therapy. Thus stress and lack of time are the first enemies when it comes to recovering health.
When you can not avoid stress at work, therapy is recommended for stress management. And the question that always arises is: “Where do I get the time to go to therapy, if I have no time?”
Maybe you can start by some very simple exercises that do not require much time and can be done at home easily: techniques based on breathing, listening to relaxing music, reading, taking a salt bath, ...
Later, you will surely find the time to practise yoga, pilates, go to meditation classes, etc.
By practising some of these activities you can "kill several birds with one stone":
* Cooking: nutrition, exercise (yes, it counts!), saving money.
* Outdoor activities (walking, hiking, biking, swimming, ...): sun exposure, exercise, contact with nature, stress management. Instead of going to the cinema or watching TV at the weekend, you’d better get out!
* Listening to a "podcast", a "youtube" video or lectures while getting around: you can learn about nutrition, psychology, health, education or any topic of your interest.
* Buying food at traditional markets rather than supermarkets, or better yet, buying directly from the farm. This way you can improve the quality of your food, walk outside, do exercise, build social relationships, get into contact with nature, be ecological and save money.
* Attending Eucharistic celebrations (if you are a believer) and/or volunteer in a organization: spiritual growth, social relationships, stress management.

Other ideas:
* You can reduce the time you spend on social media. When you do not have much time, it is better to have fewer encounters with real friends in real life than to spend many hours following online acquaintances or friends of friends of friends ... And it is even better if you do some beneficial activity when meeting your friends; such as walking, cooking, going to a course or therapy together, etc. Friends are often the best psychologists! Before social networks existed, people used to talk to neighbors and their good friends or family members about their problems.
* Reduce your children’s extracurricular activities in which you have to play the role of the taxi driver and spend that time and money on improving your children’s nutrition. It’s probable that you want the children to develop their abilities and skills to the fullest. However, it can sometimes turn out to be stressful, both for them and for the parents. Children also need some free time to play quietly. Spending some time at home after school and after work is necessary for the child to relax and for parents to be able to prepare a nutritious dinner.
* Prioritize the most important things. Think about what really matters in life. Surely many things can wait, and it doesn’t really matter if some things are not done. For example, it can be bearable for some time to have your home a little untidier, just until your health has recovered a bit, and devote the gained time to better nutrition.

How to overcome food addictions

Changing a diet when one has addictions can be extremely difficult as in some cases addiction to certain foods, such as sugar can be stronger than addiction to cocaine.
Some ideas that might help you overcome food addictions:
* Go slowly decreasing quantities, replace some products with others that have a similar taste: replace sugar with honey, chocolate with carob, coffee with decaf coffee first and with chicory later on, cow’s milk with non-dairy milk, etc.
* Ask for the help of a person in your family. In the case of children it is the parents who are going to prevent them from eating food which they are addicted to.
* Energy therapies: Reiki, cellular therapy
* Personal development therapies: psychotherapy, coaching, hypnosis, PNL, ...
* Spiritual therapies: they give you the inner strength to greater willingness!

How to change children’s diet

All people are resistant to change, especially children, and even more if they have some kind of psychological or neurological problem.
Dr. Campbell-McBride proposes an authoritarian approach, where children are forced to eat what is best for them. You should try to keep the child at the table until he/she has tried a little bit of the healthy food which you wish to introduce in their diet. Once you have achieved the goal, you should praise the child in some way: hugs, some kind of reward (not food), etc. You should keep firm and determined as many hours as necessary, if needed, throughout the day, or an entire weekend. It is an extreme method, but it does work.
Another more gentle method proposed by Julie Mathews is to try to make healthy food more attractive to children: by preparing crunchy vegetables and hiding them mixed into other dishes, introducing new foods preferably at snack time, making healthy dishes as appetizing as possible, and most of all having the hope that in the end, after eliminating all foods which the child is addicted to, he/she will start to like the new healthy food.
Another idea is involving children in food preparation. They will love to make art creations with vegetables and fruits! Here you can find some ideas about how to make children eat vegetables.
It is very important to make the child realize the relationship between food and health. So, when a child becomes ill, think about what food could have caused the disease and explain it to the child, too. Maybe he hasn’t resisted to accept a cookie from his friend at school… At the beginning it’s normal that he cheats sometimes at school, but then, it’s important that he realizes that then he feels worse.
Thus it is sometimes necessary to start a somewhat healthier diet for a while, so that the child gets better, and both parents and the child realize the previous worsening in health, and they can relate it to a detrimental food. This method has worked very well with my daughters!

Family support

It is a tough experience when we can’t eat many of the things we could eat before. Besides having to overcome an addiction or a simple intolerance to certain foods, there is an inequality we need to experience when we observe people who surround us eating food which is forbidden for us. For example, for children the fact of seeing other children eating those delicious and unhealthy snacks is a temptation that is really hard to overcome. In addition, they have to reject the other children’s offers.
It is an ordeal that these children have to suffer, a test that will strengthen their character. Learning to say "no" will help them to be able to say "no" to other important things later in life, such as drugs, alcohol and tobacco.
But at least the family can make an effort so that the child does not feel too left out, not having those horrible temptations to go and search for food secretly and he/she can feel equal to others, at least at home.
In any case, adult or child, I think it is positive if there is family solidarity at home. All family is going to win in health! At work or school, out of home, the other members of the family can still eat the same way as before.

Other obstacles

You may find other obstacles when changing your or your children’s diet. This topic is usually controversial within a family and the parents may not always agree about the diet their son or daughter should follow. In this sense, medical analysis and scientific research studies of prestigious journals can often help to convince couples who do not favor alternative medicine and nutrition.
In other cases, there are no financial means to spend on a healthy diet, but you can find cheaper alternatives to follow a proper nutrition:
1.- Decrease the amount of food and increase quality.
2.- If you invest in nutrition, you prevent diseases and consequently you save money on medicine and doctors.
3.- You don’t need to eat tenderloins every day, usually the pieces of meat that are less appreciated by the people in general are more nutritious and less expensive: liver, bones and meat to the broth, oily fish such as sardines and mackerel, eggs, etc. Regarding fruit and vegetables: there are chains selling more and more affordable organic products and sometimes it is even possible to purchase them directly from the producer at a cheaper price. Some of the products do not have the organic labels, but the producers don’t use pesticides, or only do so when really necessary and in very small quantities. In some countries, there are some farms with self-service at low rates.
4.- Organic food contains more nutrients, thereby decreasing the need for complementation. In most cases you don’t need to spend much money on supplements because when you follow a proper diet, the nutrient absorption is better and there is no lack of vitamins, minerals or other nutrients.
Another common obstacle is when there are other priorities, such as one’s career, social life, travelling, going to restaurants, etc. Following a healthy diet means eating home-made food, so the food should be prepared at home and if necessary, you can take it to work, school, etc. Depending on your case you may consider going off the diet from time to time if you can tolerate it, or simply running the risk of eating something that is not allowed as it could be hidden in a dish of a restaurant, for example, contamination of gluten due to the reuse of the frying oil for food in batter.
But the most common cause of failure in the implementation of a nutritional treatment is the lack of conviction in the fact that it will work, that the sacrifices will be worth it. Although there is always a scientific explanation behind every nutritional therapy, unfortunately there is not enough research in the field of nutrition to ensure results by following a diet. Most diets only collect testimonies of numerous cases in which the recovery of health has been successful.
Lack of perseverance is also a problem when someone follows a nutritional treatment. We are accustomed to conventional medicine to alleviate the symptoms of a disease quickly. However, nutrition is a long-term treatment, where recovery is usually very slow and it is often difficult to realize a bit of progress. Moreover, the improvement is very irregular and due to the first phase of detoxification there is always worsening when someone starts a treatment, which discourages many people.
Unfortunately, because of all these obstacles, we often do not prioritize health and we do not take nutritional treatment seriously until our health is in a gravely insecure situation. And the longer you wait, the worse your condition is, the harder it is to recover.

Healing the disorders of the body

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Tue, 17 Jun 2014 15:09:00 +0100

Once we have identified through the first two principles of the Living Fully Nourished method which physical or emotional agents are attacking our health and making our body suffer, the next step is to find the means of preventing the toxic source and to address the deficiencies. For example, we will have to proceed to a security removal of amalgams, to establish an intolerance-free diet and to seek alternative therapies to overcome deficiencies in certain dimensions of ourselves.
At the same time, we will have to work on strengthening our bodies so that they can tolerate those attacks that can’t be completely avoided, such as environmental pollution. In addition, we will have to minimize the amount as well as the degree of food intolerances.

Continue reading Healing the disorders of the body

Depending on whether the kind of cause is an aggression or a deficiency, different actions will need to be taken:
1.- If the cause is originated in an external stressor, it may be a physical source or a source of emotional/spiritual negativity

If we are talking about a physical source, may it be a toxic chemical, unhealthy food or stress; we will have to try to avoid it as much as possible. In some cases it is impossible to do so because we simply don’t have the means to change our environment, to buy food that is not harmful for our bodies or to remove the toxic object (for example an amalgam). In this case, we will have to work on maximizing the capacity of detoxification of the body.
In case it is an emotional or spiritual source, we will also need to proceed to study the possible ways to prevent that negativity, as well as the ways to strengthen ourselves to be immunized to the source in question.

2.- If the cause is due to a deficiency in some aspect of our personality, we will have to proceed to enrich our personality in that specific area, looking for the most appropriate solution for ourselves. Thus, if the deficiency is of a spiritual nature, we must find a spiritual kind of solution that best suits us: religious, body-mind, ethical, moral, social, etc. If the problem consists of lack of physical exercise, we should decide what kind of activity is more convenient for us, whether it should be soft or intense, if we should do it in group or individually, indoors or outdoors, etc. In addition, if there is a lack of exposure to the sun and nature; lack of sleep; lack of resources, etc. we will also need to find the best way to solve the problem.
Virtually in all cases some kind of injury has been caused to the body, which should be fixed. In many cases, simply by avoiding the cause (may it be an agression or a deficiency) we can help the body heal itself, as it has an extraordinary capacity of relief. Additionally, provided that the tolerable limits are not exceeded, we can simply get rid of the load. But when the damage is too deep, the body may need some external help to heal itself, which could even speed up the whole healing process.
For instance, in the case of food intolerances, we come up against the problem that by embarking on the elimination diet, a patient improves temporarily, but then soon begins to develop new intolerances to new foods that replace previous ones which he or she was intolerant to. This way the patient becomes intolerant to more and more foods. Consequently, we must fix the intestine so that intolerances do not increase over time, but on the contrary they gradually decrease.

Helping the healing process

There are many holistic therapies that help the body recover: homeopathy, naturopathy, acupuncture, nutrition, etc.
Sometimes you do not need to invest in a specific therapy, you can simply make small changes in your life that can help you feel happy. Doing pleasurable activities produces endorphins which is highly curative. For example:

Pleasure of the senses. Visual (beautiful scenery), auditory (relaxing music), tactile (touch, massage), olfactory (wet grass, flowers, sea, etc.).
Personal fulfillment, giving meaning to life: offering material or immaterial help, charity, voluntary actions, altruistic work.
Love: offering and receiving it from family or friends. Pets offer unconditional love, that is why they can be highly therapeutic. The spiritual love for a higher entity can be greatly rewarding. Miracles or spontaneous remissions in people with a deep faith have always been numerous throughout history.
Leisure: sunbathing, swimming, hot springs, mountain excursions, sightseeing, etc.

When addressing most emotional, psychological or spiritual problems, a specialized therapist will be necessary for each topic. As my specialties are nutrition and toxicology, I will focus on these aspects when preparing a curative treatment.
Thanks to the above principles, we are able to identify what are the wrong or harmful foods for us. These may be disadvantageous because there is an intolerance to them or because they are "polluted" due to poor production. This “contamination” could be caused by chemical products, breeding or cultivation, transportation, place of production, genetic modification, etc.

Disorders of the body

The following are the most important disorders of the body to heal:

Leaky-gut syndrome
Gut flora imbalance or dysbiosis
Enzymatic dysfunction
Detoxification system capability

When these conditions are restored, all the symptoms that arise from them will be fixed:

Inflammation, which is an underlying cause in most existing diseases of our time
Deficiency of nutrient absorption: lack of vitamins, minerals, proteins, fatty acids, etc.
Body intoxication and poisoning
Weakened immune system

Check this page for detailed information about what these conditions consist of. In summary, we can say that because of the dysbiosis there are toxins in the intestine. Due to an enzyme failure food is not fully digested and undesirable bacteria in the intestines are fed on this food waste. And because of the leaky-gut syndrome these substances resulting from the enzymatic failure and dysbiosis (toxins, bacteria, partially digested food) reach the blood and trigger an immune system attack, resulting in inflammatory, allergic and autoimmune diseases. These substances are also going to "smear" the body in general, disrupting its efficient operation, and resulting in psychological, neurological, degenerative, cardiovascular, endocrine etc. diseases, depending on where they are located.

Nutritional therapy

The recovery of body functions from a nutritional point of view can be done in different ways:
1.- Therapeutic foods:
As Hippocrates said, "Let food be your medicine." There are many foods that act as medicine, those that our ancestors knew well and ate regularly, and by doing so, they were unknowingly preventing the onset of diseases.

Fixing the intestinal flora
Repairing the leaky gut
Detoxification and recovering the enzymatic system
Anti-inflammatory
Nutrition
Fasting if it's necessary

2.- Supplements:
In order to reinforce certain deficiencies that are difficult to overcome with food, consider using certain supplements.

probiotics and prebiotics
fish oil and cod liver oil which are rich in omega3 fatty acids, vitamins A and D, DHA, EPA and “good cholesterol”
vitamins and minerals, only in cases in which the disease is so severe that there is an urgency to quickly overcome deficiencies.

Identifying the origin of diseases

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 17:29:00 +0100

A person should be well-nourished from all perspectives: physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. LivingFullyNourished is a method aiming to achieve this full nutrition, based on four principles:
1.- finding the origin of the illness, whether physical, mental or spiritual
2.- knowing yourself in order to find the diet most suited to your body, as well as finding the physical, emotional and spiritual deficiencies in your diet
3.- fixing the dysfunction the body suffers from and addressing the deficiencies
4.- acting, put in practice the necessary changes to recover one’s health.

Illness is an alert raised by the human body so that we realize that something must change in our lives. It is important not to turn off the alarm and continue as if nothing had happened, but to discover why the alarm has been raised in the first place, and so heal the source of the problem later on. Therapy is an important step in this process.
This article will be on the subject of the first principle of the method: identifying the causes of an illness.

Continue reading Identifying the origin of diseases

Classification of the origins of illnesses

The possible sources of an illness are numerous. The most important ones are explained in detail below:
1.- Negative emotions (fear, envy, anger, hatred, sadness, injustice, low self-esteem) which are created by external circumstances (problems related to colleagues, family members, friends, etc.); lack of love, financial problems, a bad family or school education, dramatic events in one’s life, such as the loss of a loved one, traumatic events, such as sexual abuse, etc. or blocking the expression of negative emotions.
2.- Lack of spiritual values such as ethics, moral values, religion; which creates a negative internal energy.
3.- Stress, work, family, home, projects with deadlines. Lack of activities to cope with stress, such as yoga, meditation, etc.
4.- Unhealthy diet: processed foods, additives, addictive substances (alcohol, coffee, chocolate, sugar, ...), inadequate quantities (excess or shortage), poor quality, unbalanced diet, improper diet, environment for meals, inadequate timing and frequency, etc.
5.- Toxins and medicine: heavy metals, chemical products, vaccines, medicine, air and water pollution, food contamination, electromagnetism, tobacco, drugs. In this article some of the most common toxins will be explained in detail.
6.- Lack of rest or sleep: insomnia, overwork, inadequate sleeping environment.
7.- Lack of physical activity: sport, walking, housework, physical work.
8.- Lack of contact with nature, lack of exposure to sunlight: forests, mountains, sea, sun, moon, stars, rivers, lakes, animals. Exposure to sunlight is just as necessary as food!
9.- Physical traumas or accidents: traffic accidents, falls, natural disasters caused by fire, water or air.
10.- Exposure to infectious agents (for those whose immune system is rather weak): animal bites or stings, trips to countries where there are endemic diseases, infections at school or at work.
11.- Lack of intelectual activity: watching TV all day, abandoning the personal care in other hands, avoiding responsibilities… unfortunately many elder, children and sick people completely abandone their physical and intelectual activity, they loose their imagination and dreams and with this, the sense of life.
12.- Lack of means: poverty.

Body-mind-spirit relationship

The body, mind and spirit are closely related, as explained in a previous article. It is often difficult to discover the real root of the problem, and whether it is connected to the body, the mind or the spirit. The most powerful part of these three is undoubtedly the spirit, which can heal body and mind from illness. However, when someone is not spiritual, it is necessary to cure their illness from a physical or mental point of view.
The causes of an illness are usually multifactorial and variants of the previously mentioned circumstances tend to coexist, such as stress and lack of physical activity. Normally one condition leads to others: emotional conflict can cause lack of sleep, for example.
It is necessary to remain well-balanced and to consider all aspects of life. Most people focus on a specific aspect but forget about others. For instance, some people are very spiritual but neglect their diet or their stress levels while others practise an extreme amount of physical activity but neglect their spiritual life. When we nurture all aspects of life and we are in harmony with nature, we create a positive environment.
By this I don’t mean that it is necessary to be perfect in every aspect of life. In the modern world it is simply impossible to do as much physical exercise as desirable. Moreover, it is impossible to have a spiritually rich life, eat healthily, live without stress, etc. at the same time. However, it is not impossible to make a minimal effort in each area. In the last principle of Living Fully Nourished some ideas about combining all these activities are offered.

The trigger of an illness

The easiest way of finding the trigger of an illness is considering the prior few months carefully to see whether there was an important change in that period, such as an emotional conflict, an accident, an extremely stressful situation, a change in the habitual diet, a vaccine, etc.
However, if someone has been suffering from an illness either since their childhood or for several years, it can be difficult to remember what could have been the cause. It can also be a chronic illness that started very slowly or even one that has existed since someone’s birth and has been getting worse for many years. In these cases we are normally talking about genetic diseases or diseases to which we have a genetic predisposition.
But the expression of the genes, the so called epigenetics, depend on various environmental factors which range from the diet to toxins or to the emotional state. This means that by reversing the environmental conditions it is possible to restore the epigenetics and to deactivate the gene that causes a specific disease. Consequently, it is necessary to find the factor which activates this gene.

The body is capable of healing and detoxification itself as long as it doesn’t exceed its limits, otherwise we couldn't survive due to the vast number of agents attacking our system on a daily basis. When there is some kind of agression, normally a chronic one, from which the body is unable to recover, an alarm is raised. The symptoms of an illness show that there might be a danger that exceeds the organism.
A significant emotional, mental or spiritual strain can remain unnoticed for a long time and thus render a person more vulnerable to other, more noticeable factors. As a result, when there is a little shortage in one factor, the person might think that it is the trigger, while the real problem is another shortage.
This way a chronic shortage of rest or chronic stress for instance could not be taken seriously enough due to someone’s dedication to their work. As a consequence, this person could suffer from digestive problems which might cause another illness, for example migraine. This person is very much aware of his diet and eats healthily. It seems to him that the more dairy products he eats, the worse he feels and when he decreases the amount of them, he feels better. One day he goes to take a food intolerance test and it results that he has indeed developed an intolerance to dairy products. He eliminates these from his diet and so his migraine disappears for a few months. Until he develops another intolerance, this time to eggs. And it goes on like this with different foods. This person will continue developing different kinds of food intolerance unless he treats the root of his illness: the stress and lack of rest.
The opposite could also happen to someone who doesn’t pay much attention to his diet but is very much aware of the damage that stress causes to his health. He goes through a period when work is more stressful than usual, and he starts having reflux problems and stomach ulcers or arrhythmia and heart problems, which he puts down to stress. However, if he had followed a sound diet, he would have been able to withstand the stressful period without any health problems.
A one-off event in life can act as a trigger, but normally there is another factor which existed previously and has created a weakness. In these cases people tend to identify the specific event as the cause, while the real cause of the illness is the one that originally triggered this vulnerability.

Some other examples of frequent cases

debilitating factor or genetic predisposition	trigger or environmental factor	illness
inadequate nutrition that weakens the immune system	exposition to the influenza virus	flu
inadequate nutrition that alters neurotransmitters	relational conflict with a person	depression
inadequate nutrition that weakens bones	accident or fall	bone fracture
inadequate nutrition that generates inflammation	sleeping in an uncomfortable bed	back pain
inadequate nutrition that generates inflammation	streching of the back of the neck	torticollis
inadequate nutrition or stress that develops candida and inflammation	natural weakness of the immune system on the days prior to the menstrual cycle	premenstrual syndrome
inadequate nutrition + weak spiritual values	bullying at school, media images	anorexia
inadequate nutrition + weak spiritual values	the loss of a loved one	depression (not to be confused with the necessary sorrow)
prenatal mercury poisoning (placental transfer)	vaccination	autism
repeated antibiotic treatment + lack of exposure to natural agents in someone’s childhood	exposure to allergens	allergies
chronic stress+ lack of physical activity	bad news	heart failure
genetic predisposition to cancer	high levels of transgenic soy consumption	breast cancer
toxins that destroy the skin or mucosa protection (chlorine in swimming pools, cosmetics, contraceptives, etc.)	exposure to human papillomavirus	plantar warts or warts on hands or uterus

It is impossible to control triggers, as they are events in our lives which are outside our control, neither the inherited genetic predispositions. When we suffer from an illness, we normally prefer to blame external factors such as other people or unfortunate events (a family member, a colleague, the outbreak of a disease, a fall, etc). However, it is actually we who need to assume responsibility for what is happening in our lives. As many great thinkers of our times believe, each person creates their own reality and attracts positive or negative events with their thoughts. If we work on being internally balanced and physically, mentally and spiritually strong, not only will the forces of the universe be on our side, but we will feel lucky and have the necessary strength to deal with challenges and unpleasant events as they happen.
This way we can work on avoiding the weakening factor so that even if a trigger appears one day or if we possess the gene which could cause a specific illness, we can be strong enough to stay healthy without getting ill, or at least not seriously. In the case of genetic predisposition we can be careful that environmental factors don’t bring about the expression of the specific gene.

Analysis

There are some tests to determine some of the possible causes of a disease: toxicology, bacteriology, parasitology, food intolerance, virology, etc., functional analyses that are different from conventional ones. However, it is often difficult to identify the cause. Often it is impossible for the therapist to become adequately familiar with all aspects of someone’s life in order to find it. For this reason it is important for the person to think about his/her life and the agents he/she is exposed to. It is indeed necessary to know yourself thoroughly. This idea is the second principle of the method.

Studies of links between diet and illness

There are more and more statistic studies that claim a relationship between different kinds of illness and their triggers. As a result, we can find different studies that relate almost every kind of foods to every kind of illness. However, we need to be critical when we read these studies. The mere existence of a kind of relationship doesn’t necessarily imply causality.
For example, the famous “China Study” which relates the consomption of protein to cancer is a study that merely compiles observations. There has not been any kind of double-blind study to verify if the relationship is genuine. There is the possibility that in the case of people with a high intake of meat, other common factors lead to the development of cancer. For instance, in general, these people are used to consuming more alcohol, as well as leading a sedentary lifestyle, while vegetarian people are accustomed to taking better care of their health: they exercise, meditate, buy organic food, etc. Also, it isn't specified the kind of protein or meat: grass and pasture fed or factory and grain fed? Organic or with antibiotics and hormones?
Also, it must be taken into account who (pharmaceutical company, food industry,...) is funding the study, so maybe some biases can exist.
Dr. David Katz gives a very wise advice: "Don’t just read opinions that confirm your own. If all you read is the stuff that agrees with what you want to believe in the first place, you’re taking a biased approach and not likely to wind up with a balanced perspective. You’ve got to read the best stuff that disagrees with what you’re hoping is true. Then, if you can still believe what you wanted to believe, it may be robust."

Conclusion:

The analysis and a consultation with an integrative/holistic therapist can help identify the weakest aspect, which could be the origin of an illness. However, due to the infinity of factors and the therapist’s difficulties in becoming familiar with all aspects of a person’s life, it is necessary for the person to work on getting to know himself/herself profoundly in order to find the origin of an illness. Within Living Fully Nourished approach, useful ideas are provided to help with this process.
Once the causes of illness are successfully identified, and such an important step has been taken in the process of healing, we can continue with the next one. This step is about avoiding the source and addressing deficiencies that create illness which are other principles of he Living Fully Nourished approach.

Nutrition and Body-Mind Connection

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 20:44:00 +0100

Body and mind are finely interconnected. Emotions and daily problems affect health, and illnesses alter your mood. How is this communication between the body and the mind produced? Is it possible that you can improve your physical and psychological health simply through nutrition?

Continue reading Nutrition and Body-Mind Connection

This post is dedicated to my clients and friends that have contributed to make me aware of the body-mind connection.

Nutrition affects the body and mind

It is generally accepted that nutrition impacts on your physical health. Conventional medicine relates cholesterol with arteriosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases, salt with hypertension, sugar with diabetes, but it isn’t so clear that nutrition could be linked to other illnesses, such as arthritis, asthma or fibromyalgia. And still, now, it’s not very well known that many neurological and psychiatric diseases are linked with nutrition: autism, epilepsy, schizophrenia, attention deficit, hyperactivity, depression, insomnia, etc. But that's how it is.

I will tell you a personal experience to support this. My daughter was diagnosed coeliac disease when she was eight years old, after having lived all of those years of continuous otitis, pharyngitis, flu, gastroenteritis, intense fatigue and other illnesses. But it wasn't only her body that was ill, she felt mentally weaker, with school problems, hypersensitivity, social isolation and depression that worsened increasingly more. As she started her gluten-free diet, not only did her physiological state improve, but also her psychological state, until after two years she had practically recovered completely and became a girl, who, behind her timid character, lived a normal social and a brilliant school life.

Lately, it has been discovered that not only coeliac people fall sick when eating gluten; non-coeliac people are also affected - in a different scale - from intolerance to sensitivity. Dr. Willem explains in his book dedicated to food intolerances, that a delayed immune reaction against some food produce inflammation in the body, and this is the cause of many illnesses: arthritis, migraines, back pain, fibromyalgia, asthma, allergy, dermatitis, hormonal problems, overweight, etc.

As well as intolerances in an immune level, other intolerances exist in an enzymatic level, which means, a deficiency in digesting nutrients, such as lactose and sucrose, for example. These intolerances lead to an excessive development of undesirable bacteria in the gut flora (yeasts, fungi, clostridium, parasites, etc) and subsequent toxin production. These can also affect the body if they aren’t correctly eliminated. And some of these are neurotoxic, which means, they affect, also, the functionality of the brain. Dr. Campbell-McBride attributes to these neurotoxins the causes of numerous neurological diseases, and she has achieved to recover numerous people with psychological illnesses with her GAPS diet (Gut and Psychology Syndrome).

The unbalance of gut flora also entails a deficient absorption of nutrients, of vitamins and minerals, those which are necessary for good physical health and the correct functionality of our brain. One of the principal origin of hyperactivity and depression are the excess or lack of any neurotransmitter: dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, which cause is mainly the deficit of vitamin B5, B6, B9, and B12.

Other problems related with food intolerances, especially of gluten in cereals and of casein in milk, are the production of the opioid peptides. These peptides, derived from the unsuccessful digestion of gluten and casein in some people, act in a similar way to opium, by binding to the receptors of the neurotransmitters and disturbing the correct transmission. Karl Reichelt and other scientific have found a link between opioid peptides and some neurological diseases such as schizophrenia, autism or epilepsy.

Other products, such as coffee, chocolate, and alcohol, modify also the production of neurotransmitters. Other food increases the production of endorphins, the organic molecules of wellbeing, like sugar, salt, fat and spices.

Sugar produces repetitive cycles of hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia, which leads to the cyclic sensations of energy and good mood / fatigue and bad mood.

Some nutritionists, such as Joshua Rosenthal in his book about Integrative Nutrition, say that all nutrients have an impact in the mind: meat makes us become stronger but more aggressive if it is taken in excess and carbohydrates have a calmer effect and, if they are also taken in excess, cause drowsiness. Mr. Rosenthal even thinks that a person adopts the character and physique of the most abundant food they eat, and like this, for example, they end up looking like a cow if they eat too many hamburgers.

The problem exists when a dependency to a certain nutrient arises, be it gluten, milk, meat, chocolate, or anything else, since we are not capable of controlling the intake of this, and each time we need a higher quantity to obtain the same calming effect, stimulant, etc., because every food has an impact to the neurotransmitters and hormones and the brain becomes less and less sensitive to them. Then the food becomes a drug, it is taken in excess and its effect towards the body and mind is negative. Curiously, those nutrients of which major dependence exist are those which food intolerance also exists.

Ending dependencies of whatever kind, and avoiding foods that you are intolerant to, can be challenging. You can start by searching for another source of substances for well-being that aren’t as harmful. The practice of a sport, laughing, listening to melodic music, pleasant smells, making love, meditation, and praying are activities that have been scientifically proven to release endorphins. But other activities that the person considers pleasurable and that aren’t harmful for their health must produce the same effect. A psychotherapist can always help overcome these dependencies. Alternatives are almost always available. For example, carob instead of chocolate, chicory instead of coffee, honey instead of sugar, vegetal milks instead of cow milk, etc.

Emotions affect the body

Emotions have a physiological effect. There’s the popular notion that bad news can cause a heart attack, we turn red face when we are embarrassed and we cry when we are sad.

Dr. Mimi Guarneri, M.D., FACC says in her book “The heart speaks” that scientific studies have shown that “Factors such as depression, anxiety, a sense of self-efficacy, and the quality of spousal support were better predictors of a patient’s degree of physical impairment than the severity of coronary artery disease”. Also that “The parent-child relationship in childhood proved to be a major predictor of major illness, including heart disease and cancer, in midlife”. She adds that “They (the patients) had taught me that coronary disease is physical, spiritual and emotional”. And she explains that “Depression and anxiety disorders can increase blood pressure, affect heart rhythm, alter blood clotting, and lead to elevated insulin and cholesterol levels. Depression may also result in chronically elevated levels of stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline, which can elevate blood pressure, triglycerides, and bad cholesterol”:

Dr. Candance B. Pert, Ph.D. describes in her book “Molecules of Emotion” how she made a big discovery: the chemical substances that transport the emotions, called peptides. These peptides aren’t produced only in the brain, but all the body systems can produce them. Even more, “every one of the systems of the (body) network is set up to communicate with one another, via peptides and peptide receptors”. So “we can no longer think of the emotions as having less validity than physical substance, but instead must see them as cellular signals that are involved in the process of translating information into physical reality, literally transforming mind into matter. Emotions are at the nexus between matter and mind”.

But Dr. Guarneri and Dr. Pert don’t agree in the role of negative emotions. While the first doctor says that these emotions are the cause of diseases, Dr. Pert says that “all emotions are healthy. The so-called negative emotions are as healthy as peace, courage and joy. To repress these emotions and not let them flow freely is to set up a dis-integrity in the system. The stress this creates, which takes the form of blockages and insufficient flow of peptide signals to maintain the function at the cellular level, is what sets up the weakened conditions that can lead to disease”. So she recommends to go to a group therapy, talk with a friend or a familiar, write a letter, paint, etc. to express your feelings. Also breathing in yoga or meditation and exercising help unblocking peptide flowing. “Body can and must be healed through the mind, and the mind can and must be healed through the body”.

The Germanic New Medicine, developed by Dr. Ryke Geerd Hamer M.D., is based on that each different type of emotional conflict is associated with a certain kind of cancer. Like this for example, prostate cancer in men or of ovaries in women is caused by a strong problem or misfortune related with children. Dr. Hamer finally established firmly, logically and empirically how biological conflict-shock results in a cold cancerous or necrotic phase and how, if the conflict is resolved, the cancerous or necrotic process is reversed to repair the damage and return the individual to health.

Dr. Masaru Emoto has shown in his study about water crystals, that thoughts can impact in matter, so negative vibrations (sound, mind) pollute water, which makes 60-75% of the human body, while good energy heals. Therefore, even if it’s not possible to avoid bad emotions, we can work to reduce them, or to let them out of the body by their expression.

Many therapies and psychotherapies recommend avoiding problems, furthering yourself from people with negative energy. With this, they are encouraging individualism, prioritising the oneself’s well-being, don’t matter the hurt it might cause the people around them. Misfortunes will always happen to everybody because it’s beyond our control, so these people will never be happy. It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try to avoid misfortunes and that we shouldn’t look for happiness, but to certain limits. The solution is not avoiding negativity that comes from outside at all cost, but to inner strength yourself to face problems and keeping a “zen”attitude against storms. Appreciating and giving thanks for what we have and being physically and mentally strong, with a positive attitude, a healthy diet and the practice of a spiritual activity, in order to confront problems that life throws at us, are the keys to happiness and health.

A positive attitude towards life, a solid belief in any religion, joy and good news can help cure a disease. Dr. Guarneri says that “some research has shown that optimism lowers the risk of heart disease.” And recognises that “being positive isn’t simple or easy,” and adds that “one way to cultivate it is by practicing gratitude”. Also “forgiveness seems to reduce the bitterness, anger, hatred and fear”. She says that it is scientifically proven the “alteration in the activity of the brain along with blood-flow changes during meditation and prayer. This could be the link between religion and health benefits such as lower blood pressure, lower heart rate, decreased anxiety, and a enhanced sense of well-being”. But it has not been scientifically explained yet the fact that, “Researches found that those who received prayer (distant healing) were clinically better than those who did not”. She quotes Dr. Dossey's conclusion: “Medical science not only has not had the last word, it has hardly had the first word on how the world works, especially when the mind ins involved”.

They are countless, the cures of people conventional medicine cannot explain, the spontaneous remission of cancers in fervent believers or in people who have totally changed their life. Thus there has been an explosion in recent years of a large number of therapies to improve health based on the mood or energy: laughter therapy, music therapy, zoo therapy, hugging trees, etc. Most of these therapies work because release endorphines. Other therapies such as reiki, hands healing, acupuncture and acupressure help unlocking the flow of peptides.

Emotions affect nutrition

Who hadn’t lost their appetite when they fell in love, received bad news, or were nervous?
The emotional state also changes by the way we feed ourselves. Very often food is used as compensation for some unpleasant situation in our lives, or simply for a deficit of some other need or nutrition in the personal life, both physically and emotionally: love, sexuality, culture, exercise, sleep, personal fulfilment, job, etc.

For example, coffee keeps us awake when we are sleepy because caffeine is an antagonist of adenosine, the main neurotransmitter of sleep. It is said that chocolate is a substitute for sex as the same hormone; oxytocin is released in both cases. Alcohol is used for disinhibiting yourself as it increases serotonin. The sugar gives a sense of wellbeing and of temporary energy before an adversity or weakness releasing endorphins, etc. To stop abuse of these harmful products, you can find out what is the emotional deprivation that attempts to be compensated with food.

Also, the food that we prepare is impregnated with the energy of the person that prepares it and with the methods used in its cultivation and farming, recollection and in the posterior preparation. An unhappy cook will infuse a much different energy in his food in comparison to a joyful cook. A tomato that has been cultivated in fertile and quiet land, without pesticides and picked by hand will have a much different energy than a tomato that has grown in land of intense cultivation and picked by a tractor, and even worst if it has been genetically modified. Joshua Rosenthal believes that “food prepared at home by a loving person has a different nutritional effect. It contains the vitamin L, for love. The energy of love is passed into the food and nourishes you in ways that go beyond micronutrients.” This is why foods made by grandma are so good.

Even the ambience where we eat is important. Mr. Rosenthal says that “during eating the body is in an open and receiving mode, and we take in more than just the nutrients in our meal. We also absorb what is happening in the environment around us. When eating with other people, we absorb their moods and their energy. We need to rest and digest, the body likes to be relaxed, inactive and in a peaceful environment when assimilating food.”

Conclusion:

Peptides are molecules that embody the emotions in the physical body. These peptides should flow freely through the body. But when the peptides are altered, or blocked, illness occurs. This blockage may procede, as Dr. Pert explains, an inhibition of the expression of emotions, but as Dr. Reichelt also found, in some persons, peptides originating from improper digestion of gluten and casein, disrupt the proper communication of these substances. Chocolate, coffee, alcohol and sugar also disrupt the production of certain peptides and neurotransmitters, and, of course, drugs and antipsychotic medications as well.

Some people believe that illnesses are caused by conflicts or emotional shock; others believe they are merely physical. What is certain is that in any case, a healthy and adequate nutrition strengthens the person physically and psychologically; it allows the affectation of psychological problems and physical attacks (toxics, virus, bacterias, etc) to be reduced. In the same way, a good mental and spiritual nutrition will give the person a stronger physical and psychological defense.

To conclude, some words from M. Rosenthal: “The more you live in balance, respecting nature and yourself, the more likely you will be in the right place at the right time, all the time. People will call you lucky and you may think it’s simply coincidence, but the truth is that you are aligning yourself with the natural order of everything”.

Many thanks to my daughter Judit for making the Spanish to English translation.