The Secret of the Blood, Interview Part 2

"The Secret of the Blood", Part 1

Creation vs. Evolution: A Mistaken Contradiction, Part 1

CREATIONISM AND EVOLUTIONISM are two different ways of explaining the manifestation of living organisms on earth: plants, animals, and human beings. To date, both have caused numerous conflicts between their advocates, as they were presented as mutually exclusive. These conflicts are, however, not necessary as the two concepts are in reality complementary if they are considered from a spiritual viewpoint.

CREATIONISM

Creationism, which is generally based on the Bible, states that God created every plant and animal and then placed them together on earth. And so, everything came directly from the hand of the Creator.

Indeed, we read from Genesis: “And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit… Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth… cattle and creeping thing… So God created man in his own image.” (Genesis 1, 11-21-24-27).

According to some interpretations of the Bible, Creation, comprising all living things, occurred 4004 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. Since then, plants and animals would have populated the earth without modifications to their shapes and abilities as they were already fully formed from the beginning.

EVOLUTIONISM

Charles Darwin (1809-1882) while studying the shapes of extinct animals preserved as fossils and comparing them to those actually living noted that all animal species appeared as improved variants of preceding ones.

It became clear to him that different creatures did not appear on earth together, already fully formed, but had rather issued from one another. Through the development of its faculties, the simplest creature produced a more elaborate one, which through the same process gave rise to yet another superior to itself and so forth until the appearance of the great apes, and finally Man.

Therefore the various plants and animals known to us today did not exist from the beginning but are the result of a slow process of evolution and development of faculties.

Thus, over millions of years, living species appeared, not simultaneously and fully completed as claimed by Creationists, but successively and gradually perfecting themselves.

THE CONTROVERSY

When Darwin explained his ideas in the middle of the 19th century, the Creationists strongly opposed him. He was indeed challenging the fundamental vision of the world and Man which had hitherto prevailed.

Man was suddenly relegated to the rank of an animal since he was now a descendant of apes. Another implication was that he had not been created in the image of God but in that of the ape. Worse still, if animal species had issued one from the other it meant that God did not create them but that they had created themselves. The conclusion was that God was not the Creator of everything, and perhaps did not exist at all.

For every believer, including the Creationists, challenging the almighty creative power of God is nonsensical; hence the innate rejection of Evolutionism.

The problem, however, is that the evolutionist approach is based on the observation of concrete and incontestable facts leading to the conclusion that filiations and an evolution of species are logical and objective. But how can this impasse be averted?

The Water Prescription, Part 5

How does this occur?

When dehydration causes too much liquid to be removed from inside the cells, the body tries to stop this loss by producing more cholesterol. A higher level of cholesterol effectively enables the cellular membrane to become less permeable, which in turn prevents too great a loss of their fluid. But while this overproduction remedies the ill effects of dehydration, it also has the negative consequence of increasing the cholesterol in the bloodstream.

In such cases, regular consumption of abundant water limits the production of cholesterol. This can be accomplished with no change in diet, because food is not the cause of the overproduction.

Cystitis, Urinary Infections

The harmful influence of liquid deficiency is well known in connection with urinary infections. If the toxins contained in urine are insufficiently diluted, they attack the urinary mucous membranes and create microlesions. These lesions then form entranceways for germs, which settle in the membranes, multiply, and engender painful infections.

Drinking large amounts of water to dilute the urine and ensure that the germs are carried away is thus perfectly justified. But the water also intervenes in another way. The microbes responsible for urinary infections often originate in the intestines. They are microorganisms of the intestinal flora that were originally beneficial, but then mutate and become virulent when intestinal transit is too slow. Subsequently migrating elsewhere in the body, among other destinations toward the nearby urinary tract, these microbes engender infections.

An increased consumption of liquid is thus not only beneficial in the urinary tract, but also at the starting gate for infections: the intestinal milieu (for example, preventing constipation).

Premature Aging

The normal aging process involves a gradual loss of volume of the extracellular and intracellular fluids. As we saw earlier, the body of a newborn child is composed of 80 percent liquid, but this percentage declines to no more than 70 percent in an adult and continues to decline with age. This water loss contributes to the slowing down of exchanges and the loss of volume in the flesh that is characteristic of natural aging.

However, loss of water in the tissues can be intensified and accelerated when the liquid ingested on a daily basis is not enough to meet the body's needs. Older people who do not drink enough aggravate the normal dehydration process that accompanies natural aging. They age much more quickly than necessary, simply because of poor hygiene.

Drinking enough liquid is essential throughout life. Unfortunately, the elderly often do not drink enough, perhaps because they do not always clearly perceive the sensation of thirst.

To avoid dehydration, the body pushes us to drink by triggering a disagreeable sensation: thirst. Theoretically, it should therefore not be possible to become dehydrated. And yet the fact remains that many people do not drink enough.

The Water Prescription, Part 4

Health Problems That Can Be Caused by Chronic Dehydration

Fatigue, Energy Loss

Dehydration of the tissues causes enzymatic activity to slow down, including enzymes that are active in the production of energy. This production can fall so low in the case of acute dehydration that the individual suffering from it may not even be capable of standing up. He or she remains prostrate and motionless, in a somnolent or even unconscious state.

Although it does not go to this extreme, chronic dehydration nonetheless engenders a sense of chronic fatigue and lassitude. The effect on a person's psychic state is a noticeable lack of enthusiasm while working and a loss of joy in living.

If a person in this situation starts drinking sufficient quantities of water again (the question of quantity is discussed in chapter 6 of my book), his or her energy returns. A generous intake of water retriggers enzymatic activity, hence the return of energy. Regaining strength and energy is one of the effects mentioned by the majority of people who increase their water consumption to bring it back to normal levels.

Constipation

When an alimentary bolus (a mass of chewed food) enters the colon, it contains too much liquid to allow stools to form properly. The excess water is absorbed by the wall of the colon to reduce this content. The removal process continues until the stools acquire their normal consistency, which allows easy evacuation.

With chronic dehydration, however, the removal of liquid can be excessive. As the body is not receiving enough water from the outside, it seeks to obtain it from all possible sources. One of the means it has available is to withdraw it from one part of the body to put it at the disposal of another. In this case, the body withdraws more water from the stools than it would normally. They then become dry and hard and difficult to eliminate.

Constipation caused by chronic dehydration can be corrected only by increasing daily water consumption. The body then ceases to make extra withdrawals of water from the stools, and they regain the necessary moistness to be eliminated normally.

Digestive Disorders

Various digestive disorders can be caused by a lack of water: poor digestion, gas, bloating, pain, nausea, indigestion, and loss of appetite. In fact, the body produces 7 liters of digestive juices daily. In the event of chronic dehydration, the secretions are less abundant, and the digestive process cannot perform properly.

In this case, water should not be consumed during meals but separately, throughout the day, especially thirty minutes before mealtime . An amount of 10 ounces or 3 deciliters at a time would be appropriate . This ensures that the quantity of water available for the production of digestive juices is sufficient.

Gastritis, Stomach Ulcers

To protect its mucous membranes from being destroyed by the acidic digestive fluid it produces, the stomach secretes a layer of mucus. This mucus is composed of 98 percent water and 2 percent sodium bicarbonate. The large quantity of water forms a thick barrier between the mucous membranes and the acids of the gastric juices. Because of its alkaline properties, the bicarbonate that permeates the mucus also neutralizes the acids that attempt to cross this protective barrier.

In a state of chronic dehydration, the stomach does not have enough liquid available to properly manufacture the mucus. Among people who are predisposed to these kinds of disorders, some zones of the stomach do not have a good lining of mucus and thus are poorly protected. These zones can be attacked by the acids, which first cause an inflammation of the mucous membrane (gastritis), then lesions (ulcers).

In such cases, rather than resorting to artificial palliatives, it is preferable to assist the body to produce its own palliative, or protective mucus, by drinking more. A fairly generous consumption of water helps the stomach again produce sufficient amounts of mucus so it can protect its walls from attack.

Excess Weight and Obesity

Those who are overweight are eating more than their bodies are capable of using and eliminating. But why do we have a tendency to eat more than our physiology needs? There are numerous possible reasons, but one of them—thirst—is rarely mentioned.

There are two ways to satisfy thirst: we can drink a lot of fluids, or we can eat foods rich in water. If we opt for the second solution, the body receives the liquids it needs, but it also takes in nutritive substances it doesn't need, which contribute to its weight. More often than we might think, when we are thirsty we make the mistake of eating rather than drinking.

Although the two sensations are distinct, thirst is often confused with hunger. One reason is that eating can soothe thirst. A second reason is that the fatigue that accompanies dehydration is wrongly interpreted as a lack of energetic fuel, that is, sugar. In both cases we are dealing with a false sensation of hunger.

When we confuse thirst and hunger, a vicious circle is rapidly generated, because the more we eat, the greater is our need for water with which to manufacture digestive juices. So the more we eat, the thirstier we become. And because we are already confusing the sensation of thirst with that of hunger, we again eat instead of drink, which only increases our need for water, which is again mistakenly interpreted as hunger.

To break this vicious circle and reduce the quantity of food ingested, water consumption must be considerably increased. If we drink much more than we normally would (more than 2 liters a day), these false sensations of hunger cease. The quantity of food consumed shrinks and adjust to the body's needs.

In addition to the beneficial effect of the reduction of food intake, the overall metabolism is stimulated. This occurs because the rehydration of the tissues retriggers enzymatic activity, and thus the combustion of excess fat as well.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is one of the body's most useful substances. It is harmful only when present in excessive amounts, and then its greatest threat is to the circulatory system.

Out of the total quantity of cholesterol found in our bodies, one third comes from food, and the body produces two thirds. This production takes place in the liver and intestines. Hypercholesterolemia, the medical term for excessive cholesterol in the blood, can therefore have either an external cause (the foods we eat) or an internal cause (endogenous overproduction).

Among the numerous functions it performs, cholesterol takes part in the construction of the membranes (or walls) of the cells. Its role consists primarily of making them impermeable. The cells' need for cholesterol is constant, so the body produces it constantly. But this production can become excessive under certain circumstances and lead to hypercholesterolemia. This is notably the case with dehydration.

The Water Prescription, Part 3

Autointoxication

Every day, cells produce wastes and metabolic residues. The essential support medium for evacuating wastes is water: sweat is composed of 99 percent water, urine 95 percent, and exhaled air and stools 80 percent.

When the body does not have the liquids it needs to perform its functions properly, elimination continues, but with a reduced quantity of water. Urination is less frequent and the urine is thicker; sweat is more concentrated; and stools are dry and hard. Under these conditions, toxins are eliminated at a reduced rate. Waste products accumulate in the excretory organs, are deposited on the walls of the vessels, and congest the organs. The content of toxins in the blood and cellular fluids increases. All these factors contribute to the autointoxication of the body, which is considered in holistic medicine as the starting point for every illness.

The situation can deteriorate even further. When the body has been deprived of liquids for a long time, eventually there is not enough liquid to eliminate the toxins the body continues to produce. The toxins then become concentrated inside the body. At this point, the body begins to suffocate in its own wastes; cellular activity comes to a halt, and death follows.

These two situations, enzymatic slowdown and autointoxication, engender all the disorders characteristic of dehydration.

Acute and Chronic Dehydration

Most people don't think they need to worry about dehydration. To them, dehydration is something that happens to travelers in the desert when they run out of water.

But there is a chronic form of dehydration that does not have the sudden and intense nature of the acute form. Chronic dehydration is widespread in the present day and affects everyone who is not drinking enough liquid.

The troubles that result from chronic dehydration are not as pronounced as those created by the acute form. The liquid loss is always less than the 10 percent of body weight cited earlier as the cause of serious physical problems that can threaten a person's survival.

Chronic dehydration is not severe enough to result in death or serious illness, but it is enough to cause numerous functional and lesional disorders that are more or less irritating or painful. These disorders are many and varied, because the lack of water brings about a general weakening of the body's internal cellular environment. Of course, the weakest organs give way first, and these are where the disorders appear.

Here are several examples of the health problems that can result from chronic dehydration of the tissues. These problems can have a variety of different causes, but dehydration is a possible cause of each one.

Photo - Chris Morton

The Water Prescription, Part 2

What precisely happens when the body is deprived of liquids over a long period?

First, blood volume tends to shrink, surrendering part of its own constituent water to the kidneys, the sudoriferous glands, and the other excretory organs that remove toxins from the body. But blood volume cannot be reduced too much without causing loss of consciousness , as well as problems supplying the cells with the oxygen and nutrients they need.

It is therefore necessary for the body to adjust. As it is no longer receiving water from external sources, it must draw what it needs from the nearest internal source: the extracellular fluid. Unfortunately, this withdrawal means that the cells are no longer surrounded by a sufficient quantity of liquid, and this degrades their functioning so it is intermittent and incomplete.

The situation cannot help but continue to deteriorate, because the blood continues to give an uninterrupted supply of liquid to the excretory organs, forcing the interstitial compartment to give up its water. This reduction of interstitial liquid cannot go on for long without generating new disorders. The thickened interstitial fluid is no longer capable of ensuring that the exchanges between the blood and the cells take place as they should.

To remedy this, the body is again forced to find another solution, and begins to draw liquid from the intracellular fluid, withdrawing water the cells normally use when it's available but can do without if needed be. But the rest of their water is indispensable, and if the cells were forced to give it up, it would compromise their ability to function. If the body still does not obtain water from an external source, after taking all the other adaptive measures described, it draws water from this deep level of the body. The water content of the cells then shrinks inexorably, as the body has no other additional area from which it can withdraw water.

Overall dehydration of the body engenders two serious metabolic problems that are the main causes of all the various disorders caused by dehydration: enzymatic slowdown and autointoxication (poisoning by toxins produced within the body).

Enzymatic Slowdown

The role of enzymes is to perform the many biochemical transformations necessary for the body to function. To do this they need, among other things, an environment richly supplied with water.

When the volume of blood and cellular fluids shrinks, the substances normally held in suspension in them become more tightly packed. The body fluids become more highly concentrated, which gives the enzymes an environment poorly suited for their activity, a situation that continues to deteriorate as long as dehydration remains an issue.

At first, the enzymes continue to work, but at a slower pace. Later, this rhythm slows further, and the biochemical transformations become intermittent and incomplete.

Enzymatic slowdown eventually paralyzes all the body's activity, as the production of energy, hormones, reparative substances, and so on necessary for the body to perform properly gradually decreases.

The influence of dehydration on physical abilities has been calculated to a very precise degree in sports medicine. The figures supplied by this research clearly show the speed with which dehydration has an effect on body function. A loss of liquid equivalent to 1 percent of total body weight is enough to diminish the body's working capacity by 10 percent. At a 2 percent loss, this capacity becomes 20 percent less efficient. The reduction in effectiveness continues at the same pace until around 10 percent, the stage at which the dehydrated individual loses consciousness, along with all motor and physical effectiveness.

For a person weighing 160 pounds, 1 percent of body weight is equal to 16 pounds, or 0.7 liter of water, a quantity that is easily lost through the sweat caused by one hour of physical exercise at an ambient temperature of 64 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius). At 82 degrees Fahrenheit, the hydric loss borders on 3 liters an hour, equaling more than 4 percent of total body weight and a 40 percent loss in physical ability.

The Water Prescription, Part 1

It is said that water is the ideal drink for the human being, and that drinking water is good for one's health. The reasons why this would be the case, however, are rarely stated. As a consequence, water, as a drink, is often neglected as a factor in health.

Who could imagine that fatigue, energy depletion, depression, eczema, rheumatism, high and low blood pressure, high cholesterol, gastric disorders, and premature aging could all be caused by a chronic lack of water in the body? Science has discovered that these problems – and a great many others – can be effectively prevented or treated by correct hydration.

Most people assume they are drinking enough fluids. Certainly they consume copious amounts of coffee, tea, and all sorts of soft drinks, but these beverages are far less effective in hydrating the body than plain water. Furthermore, in today's world, our bodies' need for water is much higher that it once was. Our food is too rich, too concentrated, and too salty, and the use of dehydrating substances such as alcohol and tobacco is very widespread. Stress, overheated and artificially ventilated homes, offices, and stores, air and water pollution – all contribute to our increased need for water.

As a consequence, large numbers of people do not realize they are chronically dehydrated, much less that lack of water is the cause of many of their health problems. There is only one solution: drink a lot more water. But for people to make a permanent change in their habits, they need to know why water is so important. What exactly happens when water enters in the body? What are the health conditions that can be traced to dehydration? How much should we drink, and what water should we choose? Theses are just a few of the many questions answered in this book.

The Harm Caused by Dehydration

Our bodies are constantly dealing with liquid deficiencies.

Every day we expel 2.5 liters of water from our bodies in the form of urine, sweat, water vapor from the lungs, and the liquid contained in stools. When an equivalent intake of water is maintained, the body's hydric budget is in balance. Conversely, if the liquid intake is insufficient, this balance sheet goes into the red, and the process of dehydration begins.

The dehydration of the body can occur quite quickly. Although human beings can survive for a fairly long period without food (more than six weeks, as is shown by certain therapeutic fasts), the same does not hold true for going without liquid. Three days without any liquid, either in the form of drinks or what is bound to solid food, is sufficient to create serious physical breakdowns. Two or three days longer is fatal.

The Mystery of the Blood, Part 2

The unrecognized role of the blood

The examples given earlier demonstrated what happens in extreme cases, when the organism in its entirety, body and blood, is threatened by danger. The priorities were clear; the body was sacrificed in order to save the blood. The blood, therefore, was more important. Yet a fundamental question begs to be asked: if the body is there to serve the blood, what is the blood there to serve? In fact, if the blood is more important than the body, the element that the blood serves must be more important still. But what is it?

The most important reason why the blood exists is to serve the spirit. The role of the blood is to form a connecting link between the body and the spirit. Without the blood the spirit could not incarnate nor stay incarnated in the physical body that serves as its instrument or tool. The spirit therefore is not connected to the body but to the blood and through it, the body. We can now understand why the body works so vigorously for the blood, that it is even willing to sacrifice itself for the blood. Without the blood there is no connecting bridge and therefore no physical life. If the body is alive it is not because of the blood but because of the spirit connected to the body through the blood.

New therapeutic horizons

The fact that the blood plays the role of bridge signifies that the spirit can be reached through its intermediary. Because food regimes or special diets react upon the composition of the blood, this can change the «spiritual» state of man and alter his state «of being». The many people today who suffer from undefined, yet persistent fears, depression and disturbances can therefore be treated without pharmaceutical remedies that act upon the nerves and the brain, but by returning the blood to its ideal composition. The treatment utilized is simple and natural. It involves giving the blood what it is missing through a food regime and taking vitamins and minerals adapted to each particular case, as well as by purifying the blood through short-term diets and draining techniques (with plants for example). In this way, not only will the body feel better, but also the spirit.

The Mystery of the Blood, Part 1

The role of the blood is not just to irrigate the tissues. It also forms a connecting link between the immaterial spirit of man and his physical body. This unrecognized role of the blood allows us to better understand ourselves and expands our therapeutic horizons.

What is the purpose of the blood?

It is generally accepted that the role of the blood is to irrigate the organic tissues so that the cells are constantly supplied with oxygen and nutrients. We also recognize the role it plays in evacuating toxins as well as transmitting hormonal messages from one cell to another. Furthermore, we know that the blood plays an important role in the organic defence system.

According to this information the blood is the body’s faithful servant that is used to carry out multiple functions. Hierarchically speaking, the body is held in first place and the blood, with its vital, but nevertheless subordinate role, is held in second place.

But is this true? Does the blood really play a subordinate role?

Upon examination of well know facts we will see that this is not the case.

During a 24-hour period of dialysis we can purify 300 to 400 grams of urea, whereas the single presence of 2 grams per litre of blood is considered very dangerous. Since our entire body only holds approximately seven litres of blood, where do the 300 to 400 grams of urea come from? Evidently it was not stored in the blood since the presence of a few grams is mortal, but it was held back in the body, more precisely in the organic tissues, and could only be returned to circulation through dialysis.

If the body is then sacrificed in this manner and must bear the price of intoxication by the urea in order to allow the blood to maintain a stable composition, does this not signify that the blood is more important than the body, and in this case, is the body not serving the blood?

Blood and deficiencies

The blood’s top position is equally evidenced in the opposite way, when the danger threatening the blood’s equilibrium is not an excess of harmful matter as was explained in the previous example, but is a lack of useful material. Normally the blood contains a certain amount of alkaline substances (calcium, sodium…) that it uses to neutralize acids that endanger its pH level, or in other words, its degree of acidity. When the influx of acid is too much and regular these alkaline minerals become depleted and another defence system takes over: alkaline minerals are taken from different tissues in the body. They are taken from the skeleton, the nails, the skin or the hair in order to re-establish the blood’s pH level.

When the pH unbalance is not resolved, the continual removal of alkaline minerals depletes the body of its mineral composition and transforms it into a real state of ruin: the bones decalcify and become porous; the teeth decay, crumble and fall out; the skin cracks, etc.

Here once again, the primordial importance of the blood is clearly observed by the veritable sacrifice of the body in favour of the blood. In order to maintain an ideal blood composition in alkaline minerals, the minerals are taken from the tissues and the organs even though these can be severely injured.

These two examples are neither exceptional nor unique. The same defence reactions take place when other wastes, besides urea, are concerned and with other nutritional substances.

Contrary to popular belief, the blood is therefore not present to serve the body but rather the body is there to serve the blood.

What is an Illness?, Part 2

Why do we fall ill?

The role played by toxins and deficiencies

When we understand how the state of the terrain becomes degraded, we also realize that it depends entirely on outside sustenance to build and renew itself. The nutritive substances contained in the foods we eat are used to manufacture cells and body fluids. Our bodies function thanks to them.

Toxins

If the intake supplied by one’s diet is greater than the body’s needs, the body accumulates substances it is unable to use. As the body is forced to store them, they collect in the tissues. This can include chemical or synthetic ingredients in food, such as coloring, preservatives, and so on. Since nature has never provided any instructions to the body for their use, these more or less toxic substances will collect in the tissues and alter the biological terrain in accordance with their specific characteristics.

Even when the diet – the body’s primary source for retaining or restoring health – is adequate, it is still possible for wastes to accumulate in the body. This occurs every time that worry, stress, fear, and so forth disturb the multitude of biochemical transformations that take place in the body – the body’s metabolism. Digestion functions poorly, so the food ingested engender a plethora of wastes, generally designates as toxins. This includes crystals, which, produced by the metabolising of proteins, are acidic in nature and can be hard and painful to excrete; and colloidal wastes, such as phlegm, which are produces by the metabolising of starches and fats and do not generally cause pain.

All of these substances, whether toxic or not, when present in excess amounts prevent the body from functioning properly and are considered to be the primary cause of the deterioration of the biological terrain, and therefore the source of disease.

Deficiencies

There is another major cause for degradation of the biological terrain, one brought about not by an excess of one or more substances in the body, but by a deficiency in a substance it requires to function properly.

A deficiency is a lack of essential nutriments that are indispensable for the body’s ability to rebuild itself and function. Such nutriments include proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, minerals, vitamins, and trace elements. The composition of the body’s internal environment can be maintained only when there is sufficient intake of all the elements it requires. If one of these elements is not supplied in sufficient quantity, there is an immediate slowdown in physical function. When this element is entirely lacking from the diet, the body functions that are dependent on it can no longer be assured. If this state of complete deficiency extends for a prolonged amount of time, death is a real possibility.

In our society of abundance, it might seem difficult to imagine falling ill due to dietary deficiencies, but the truth is it is very possible and even quite easy. The foods available today supply less and less of our body’s needs because they themselves are suffering deficiencies, due to modern farming and husbandry practices. The countless refining processes our food undergoes before reaching the grocery shelves exacerbates the problem.

How do we heal?

The wisdom of the body

Everyone has, at least once, recovered from a disease without taking any medicine, or products containing active ingredients for treating illness. And yet, when someone is sick, the main concern is always to produce medication. This need for a remedy at any cost has been engraved deeply into our brains, as it is commonly accepted that without medicine there is no recovery.

Medications are supposed to contain all the curative powers necessary to restore a sick body to health. And yet, how many patients have recovered their health without taking any medication, either because it was unavailable or because they simply did not want to take medication? And, how do animals cure themselves, since they do not have any medicines naturally available to them? Is there another option?

Natural medicine talks about a “medicalizing” nature or “vital force of the body”. This force cannot be identified with any one organ of the body; its existence is revealed only in the effects of its action. Hippocrates said, “The vital force of the body is the most powerful force of cohesion and action in existence. However, it is invisible to the eye; only reasoning can conceive of it.”

In the healthy state, the physical vital force orchestrates and harmonizes all physical functions of the body. It works constantly to maintain the body in the healthiest state possible.

Cleansing crisis

When confronted by a rising tide of overloads and congestion of the tissues, the vital force does not remain on the sidelines as a passive spectator. It reacts vigorously to restore order to the physical organism so that it can continue – or resume – its normal functioning. All its efforts aim at reestablishing the purity of the biological terrain by neutralizing the toxins found in this internal cellular environment, and expelling waste from the body by means of the various excretory organs. This eviction of toxins from the body often can take a spectacular form. Such events are called detoxification crisis, also known as cleansing crisis, or healing crisis, due to the abrupt intensity of their inception.

Elimination during these kinds of crisis will be made trough the same excretory organs as in condition of normal health, but with greater forcefulness. Colloidal waste will be expectorated trough the respiratory tracts, und urine will be laden with waste. The skin may eliminate waste trough heavy perspiration, pimples, or various forms of eczema. The digestive tract also plays a role by releasing diarrhea, or abundant secretions of bile.

Which excretory organs are pressed into service depends on the nature of the waste and the strength of a patient’s different organs, so there are significant variations from one individual to the next, and multiple possibilities for the localization of disorders. These local disorders are the visible manifestation of the vital force’s defensive reaction as it seeks to correct a much more profound ill: the congestion of the biological terrain.

What is and Illness?, Part 1

The Importance of the Body's Internal Cellular Environment

It is rare for any person whose health has been compromised to ask himself “Why am I sick? What is really happening in my body?” To the contrary, all of his attention – and that of those around him – is focused on his blatant, disagreeable, or painful symptoms, which are actually just surface manifestations of his deep-rooted illness.

It seems self-evident that the normal reaction would be to make a vigorous counterattack to the assault represented by the illness. As a general rule we behave as if disease were an outside entity independent of the patient, which, by entering the body, suddenly makes the patient sick. From this perspective, we consider the individual stricken by illness to be an innocent victim requiring our assistance because, through bad luck, he or she suffered an unhealthy assault.

The expressions used to speak of illness clearly support this premise. We say the we “fall” ill, that we haven been “stricken”, or that we have “caught” a disease.

According to this hypothesis, taught by allopathic medicine, each “assailant” determines different characteristic disorders. There are, therefore, as many diseases as there are assailants; this is what is known as multiple causes, or plurality of disease. Since there are no common elements among diseases in this corollary, each must be treated with its own specific remedy.

In naturopathy, however, all diseases are considered as different manifestations of a single, common disorder. This common denominator, this profound illness from which all others result, resides on the level of the biological terrain, or internal cellular environment. This terrain consists of all the fluids in the body, including those contained within cells and those in which the cells are bathed, as well as blood, lymph, and cerebrospinal fluid.

The intra-and extracellular fluids, along with the blood, represent 70 percent of the body’s weight. These fluids are crucial, inasmuch as they constitute the environment of our cells. Intracellular fluid fills the cells, gives the body its shape and tone, and allows the exchanges that need to take place between its organs. Extracellular fluid carries oxygen and nutriments to the cells, and carries waste they expel to the excretory organs.

Our cells depend entirely on these fluids. They deliver nutritive supplies (food, vitamins, water, oxygen, and so on), eliminate toxins created by the metabolic process, and transmit messages from one cell to another, ensuring their coordinated and harmonious interaction.

Just as our environment provides conditions that are favourable for health or make us sick, depending on whether or not it is polluted, the environment of the cells plays an influential role in the state of their health. If they are bathing in a milieu that is deficient in oxygen and overloaded with wastes, they will be incapable of performing their tasks properly.

Our body is made up of cells. If these cells are not functioning normally, the entire body will function poorly and enter the state that we call illness.

There is a precise and ideal composition of the internal environment that permits proper functioning of the body. Any major quantitative or qualitative change in these fluids leads to illness. For this reason, the vital force of the body is constantly struggling to maintain the internal cellular environment in perfect balance.

Primarily the body does this by neutralizing and expelling all wastes and toxins that are a consequence of metabolism. This purification is carried out by the emunctory, or excretory organs – liver, intestines, kidneys, skin, lungs – which filter and eliminate waste.

The localization of “surface” disorders depends on the particular weaknesses of an individual’s body. All the body’s organs are immersed in fluids that are overloaded with wastes. They are all irritated and attacked similarly by toxic sludge. The first organs to give way, the first to find this environment intolerable, are obviously those that are genetically weakest or have the greatest demands placed on them. For example, for people whose profession requires them to talk a lot, it would be the throat; for those most often affected by stress, the nerves will give way; miners, painters and others who breathe in dust or noxious gases at their place of employment are likely to have problems with the respiratory tract. The illness is one and the same in all cases, but manifests differently in every individual.

We owe this concept of a single cause for every disease to Hippocrates, known as the father of medicine. In the time around 500 BCE he wrote: “The nature of all illness is the same. It differs only in its seat. I think it only reveals itself in such diversity because of the multiplicity of places where the illness is established. In fact, its essence is one, and the cause producing it is also one.”

Twenty-five centuries later, Alexis Carrel, the 1912 Nobel Prize winner for medicine, stated: “The body is ill in its entirety. No illness remains strictly confined to a single organ.”

Image: 5th century bas relief, said to be of Hippocrates

Food from the native soil, Part 2

Plant and Soil Affinity

If it is understood that a major part of our diet should consist of foods local to our zone, it is more difficult to see why we should not consume foreign foods that are also grown locally. Is there really any difference between a pear grown locally and one from South Africa, or between French wheat and wheat from America?

Indeed, an analysis of the chemical composition of foods reveals significant differences. The water, protein, fat, cellulose, and mineral salt content of wheat can be as much as doubled depending on its origin. Fruits like apricots, grapes, and so on, cultivated in southern countries are generally sweeter with a higher sugar content than those from temperate zones.

Phytotherapy fully recognises the fact that the chemical composition of plants varies with the soil of origin. Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) from the French Riviera is rich in phenols while thyme from Provence and Spain is rich in linalool and citrals. The essential oil in wormwood from the Paris area contains a maximum of 19.5% of thujol, whereas that of the Alps contains up to 80.6%!

Naturally, these variations in composition lead to very different therapeutic effects. Likewise, foods have different physiological effects depending on their origin. These effects do not manifest immediately but develop over time.

In addition, beyond the chemical analyses that reveal only the material aspect, there are differences in the subtle energies or radiations given off by foods. It is easy to conceive that growing fruits and vegetables have developed within themselves precise energies against existing local conditions (temperature, humidity, rainfall and sunlight) and transmit these energies to local consumers who need them in the same environment. Clearly, foods coming from other regions will develop different energies which are not as beneficial for local consumers.

Influence of Food on Health

The harmful consequences of the consumption of food not originating from one’s native soil are more easily noticed in those who have left their native land to live for an extended period in a different climatic zone. There they consume foods that are of a quite different nature.

At first their health will be relatively stable with the new diet (just like one spending a few weeks abroad on holiday) but with time, especially if they consume only the food from the different environment, their vitality diminishes and their resistance to illness declines. In spite of any efforts to maintain a healthy lifestyle and a balanced diet they cannot sustain the same energy level and enthusiasm as they possessed on arrival. The local food cannot provide what their bodies need to function properly.

The craving for their native foods will manifest sooner or later in immigrants, and will be more difficult to deal with than other important changes in their living conditions.

In fact, it is significant to observe that their requests from relatives or friends visiting from home are typically for homegrown foods!

Does it mean that, if at all possible, an immigrant should exclusively eat food from his native soil? No. His diet is subject to a double imperative. On the one hand, he should eat local foods which are adapted to local conditions he now inhabits; on the other hand, he should eat foods from his native soil which support the characteristic needs of his body.

The term ‘soil’ should not be taken in a restrictive sense: one can consume foods growing outside of one’s own backyard! Food from one’s own region, province, even from the same geographic or climatic zone of birth offers adequate affinity.

The issues that have historically been faced by immigrants now confront the majority of people, who live in their country of origin, because of the fairly recent development of global trade in fresh foods. Current commercial methods facilitate the importation of foods from distant countries, but generally local foods are also available and should be preferred. With proper care the Law of Affinity will be respected, health maintained and reinforced through a judicious choice of foods.

Photo courtesy Photobucket

Food from the native soil, Part 1

The foods we eat come increasingly from far flung regions: vegetables from South Africa, fruits from New Zealand, wheat flour from America. How does the diversity of choices together with the constant availability importation brings stack against the consumption of locally produced foods?

Eating Local Food

Hippocrates, who primarily treated his patients by correcting their diet, warned that foods were characterised by their place of origin: “Foods are more or less heavy or light, depending on their place of origin. Therefore it is also necessary to know their land of origin. More recently, the famous physician Paul Carton (1875- 1947) wrote: “To remain within the natural order men must consume foods that are the result of identical and harmonious conditions of sunshine, hydration, invigoration, etc. So it is better to eat foods from our climate and even from our localities as much as possible, since they are fully in harmony with us.

Abd-ru-shin, the author of the Grail Message, wrote: “The earthly body of each human being is in every respect closely linked with that soil upon which he was born. This is in accordance with the Law of Creation governing all matter… Only that part of this earth gives the body exactly what it needs to blossom forth properly and remain vigorous.

That a close link exists between man and the soil upon which he was born is already evident in the multitude of races and ethnicities that populate various regions of the globe. They each possess unique physical characteristics: height, skin colour, shape of eyes and nose… adapted to the living conditions of their environment and beneficial to their health. In each of these regions, Nature offers specific foods to the inhabitants: fatty meats and fish in the Arctic North to help Eskimos withstand the rigorous climate; fruits rich in sugar in tropical zones as energy foods easy to digest in the local heat, and so on.

Because of the link that exists between human bodies and the zone of origin, it would be as ludicrous for an Eskimo in his native land to satisfy his nutritional needs by eating fruits as for a tropical native to feed on fatrich meats essential to Eskimos.

What applies to human beings also applies to animals and even to plants. Each plant thrives in a particular soil and cannot be transplanted to another type of soil because the ‘food’ available therein would not suit it. For instance, azaleas flourish in a soil rich in acidic minerals but wither in alkaline soil.

Image courtesy Photobucket

Acid-Alkaline Balance, Part 2

Acidosis: a Widespread Problem

Today the vast majority of the populace of the Western industrialized nations suffers from problems caused by acidification, because both modern lifestyle and diet promote acidification of the body’s internal environment.

In general, the current standard diet is primarily composed of acidic or acidifying elements (proteins, cereals, sugars). Alkaline food such as vegetables are eaten in much smaller quantities. Their alkaline content is insufficient to neutralize surplus acids. Furthermore, the consumption of stimulants like tobacco, coffee, tea, and alcohol – every one of which has an extremely acidifying effect on the body – has grown to enormous proportions.

Stress, nervous tension, noise, shortage of time, and other pressures are facts of life today and contribute to increasing the body’s acidification through the physiological disturbances they create.

Physical exercise – which can play an important role in maintaining acid-alkaline balance – is more often than not either insufficient or excessive. In both cases, acidification of the body’s internal environment is the result.

Of all the factors causing acidification the most important is unquestionably the food. The majority of acidosis sufferers can be treated simply by significantly reducing their consumption of acidifying and acidic food and increasing their consumption of alkaline foods.

Acidifying Foods

Acidifying foods are primarily those that are rich in proteins, carbohydrates, and/or fats

• Meat, poultry, fish
• Cheeses (strong cheeses are more acidic than mild cheeses)
• Animal fats such as lard and suet - Vegetable oils, especially peanut oil and oils that are refined or hardened (margarine)
• Whole grains and refined grains: wheat, oats, especially millet
• Bread, pasta, cereal flakes, and foods with a grain base
• Leguminous plants such as peanuts, soybeans, white beans, broad beans
• White sugar
• Sweets: syrups, pastry, chocolate, candy, jam, fruit preserves
• Oleaginous fruits: walnuts, hazelnuts, pumpkins seed
• Commercially manufactured sweet drinks, primarily sodas
• Coffee, tea, cocoa, wine
• Condiments such as mayonnaise, mustard, and ketchup

Acid Foods

This group consists of foods whose alkalizing or acidifying effect depends on the metabolic capacities of the person who eats them.

These foods contain a good deal of acid, hence their taste. The acids in them are weak, however, which means for people capable of metabolizing them properly by easily oxidizing them, they are transformed into alkaline elements and therefore contribute to the alkalization of the body. But for people whose metabolisms cannot handle acids properly, the large quantity of acids contained in these foods is not oxidized, and they thus will have an acidifying effect.

The primary acid foods are fruits, whey, and vinegar.

• Whey, yogurt, curds, kefir, small curd cottage cheese
• Unripe fruits (the less ripe a fruit, the higher its acid content)
• Acid fruits: berries (red and black currants, raspberries, strawberries); citrus fruits (lemons, grapefruit, tangerines, oranges); certain varieties of apples (Winesap), cherries (Morello), plums apricots
• Sweet fruits (especially when eaten in excess), melon, watermelon
• Acid vegetables: tomato, rhubarb, sorrel, watercress
• Sauerkraut, vegetables that have been lactofermented (cultured with Lactobacillus)
• Fruit juices, lemon juice (in salad dressing)
• Honey
• Vinegar

Alkalizing Foods

Alkalizing foods consist primarily of green and colored vegetables (with exception of tomatoes) and potatoes.

• Potatoes
• Green vegetables, raw or cooked: salad greens, green beans, cabbage, and so on
• Colored vegetables: carrots, beets (except for tomatoes)
• Corn (kernels or cooked as polenta)
• Milk (liquid and powdered form), large curd cottage cheese, cream, butter
• Bananas
• Almonds, Brazil nuts
• Chestnuts
• Dried fruits: dates, raisins (except for those that are acidic to taste – apricots, apples, pineapple)
• Alkaline mineral waters
• Almond milk
• Black olives preserved in oil
• Avocado
• Cold-pressed oils
• Natural sugar

Detecting Acidification - Testing pH

How can you tell if you are suffering from acidification? There are several tests that are easy to perform and interpret. The most important is also the most common, the test that measures urinary pH. It consists of measuring the pH of the urine with pH test strips which are strips specially manufactured to make this kind of measurement.

The most simple method consists of holding the test strip in the flow of urine for one or two seconds, just long enough to moisten it. The acid of the urine reacts with the pH paper on the strip, causing it to change color. The paper is then matched to the indicator scale on the color chart. The figure of the corresponding urinary pH is located right next to the color. Remember that it is neutral at 7; at 6.5 and under it is acid; and at 7.5 and above it is alkaline.

A single measurement is not enough to draw any valid conclusions about the state of the internal environment; pH can vary at different times of the day because of activity, meals, physical effort, stress, and so forth. To be truly representative the measurements must be taken several times a day for four to five days in succession.

A pH below 7 in this range testifies to acidic urine. Regular readings indicating acidic urine are an unmistakable revelation that the body’s internal environment is also acidic.

Healing the Problems caused by Acidification

The treatment plan to counter acidification aims first to reduce the amount of acids the body takes in. This is an indispensable step; as long as large quantities of acids are entering the body, all other measures have only a temporary palliative effect. Diet is adjusted so that alkaline foods and drinks predominate over acidifying and acidic foods. Dietary reform is a simple step, but its effect is considerable. Improved oxidation of acids is obtained by introducing or increasing physical activity (walking, sports). Eliminating the acids already present in the tissues is accelerated by consuming medicinal plants that increase the flow of urine (diuretics) and those that enhance the production of sweat (sudorifics).

An additional measure, which has proven to be indispensable in the majority of cases, is to take alkaline mineral supplements, not only to help the body eliminate the acids ingested during the day but also, and more importantly, to facilitate elimination of the acids lodged in the deep tissues of the body.

Alkaline Supplements

The change in diet is primarily meant to deal with the body’s current need for alkaline substances, not for disposing of the previous accumulation of acids. It is therefore imperative to provide alkaline substances in addition to those the body is ingesting through food. This is possible with alkaline supplements, preparations containing the principal alkaline minerals – calcium, potassium, magnesium, and so forth – in a form that is easily assimilated by the body. A good alkaline mineral supplement is pHion Blue.

Taking these alkaline supplements on a regular basis supports the body’s efforts and greatly accelerates the process of deacidification. The supplements also provide quicker relief to the patient experiencing the painful symptoms or harmful disorders caused by excess acids in the body. Thanks to supplements, these disorders diminish, often in a remarkably short period.

Alkaline Supplement Dosage

In contrast to most remedies, alkaline supplements have no fixed dosage instructions. The dosage always depends on the individual, so you are responsible for figuring out which dose is correct for your needs.

To determine the right dosage, it is of fundamental importance to take as much as necessary of an alkaline supplement to obtain a urinary pH reading that falls between 7 and 7.5.

Because many people are unaware of or ignore this rule of thumb they do not gain maximum benefit from this therapy.

Length of Treatment

Alkaline supplement therapies are undertaken for as long as the body needs them to clear up the acidification of its internal environment. This varies from one individual to the next. It can last anywhere from six months to two years, based on the degree of acidification. This may seem like a long time, but it is quit short when you consider that the body was building up these acid waste deposits for a good number of years before any health problems appeared.

The sign that the therapy has reached its goal and can now be stopped is when you have a urinary pH of 7 to 7.5 without taking any alkaline supplements.

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Photo courtesy of FreeFoto

Acid-Alkaline Balance, Part 1

What Is Acid-Alkaline Balance?

Despite the extreme diversity of substances used by the body to build itself and function, it is possible to classify them in two major groups: basic (or alkaline) substances and acid substances. These two different groups of substances have opposing but complementary characteristics. To be healthy, the body needs both. When alkalines and acids are present in equal quantities the acid-alkaline balance is achieved.

How Acidity is measured?

As the difference between an acid and an alkaline is based on their ability to free more or less hydrogen ions, the unit that measures the degree of acidity or alkalinity of a substance is shorthand for the substance’s potential (p) for freeing hydrogen (H) ions, or pH.

The pH measuring scale goes from 0 to 14. The number 7 indicates the ideal balance between acids and alkaline substances and is known as a neutral pH. The greater potential a substance has for freeing hydrogen ions the smaller is its pH number. The acidity range is from 6 to 0, zero indicating a state of absolute acidity. Conversely, a more alkaline pH is indicated by a higher figure, from 8 to 14, the last figure representing a state of total alkalinity (meaning a state in which no hydrogen ions are freed).

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Note that on the pH measurement scale the greater the degree of acidity the lower the pH reading.
The pH of different substances can be measured with a special reactive paper known as litmus paper. When put into contact with a dilution of the substance to be tested, the paper changes color to a degree that corresponds to the degree of acidity or alkalinity of that substance.PH and Health

The body functions at its best when the pH of its internal biochemical environment, measured as a whole, is equal to 7.39, meaning slightly alkaline. The normal range of this optimum pH is very small, from a slightly more acidic reading of 7.36 to a more alkaline reading of 7.42. A reading of anything higher or lower than these figures indicates acidosis (from 7.36 to7) or alkalosis (7.42 to 7.8). If these limits are exceeded, the body can no longer function, and illness appears.

Illnesses caused by Acidification

A surprising number and variety of physical problems and diseases can be caused by acidity. Indeed a triple action can prompt their appearance: enzymatic disturbances, aggressive activity by acids, and demineralization; three factors capable of striking any organic tissue.

Lack of energy: constant fatigue, loss of physical tone and psychic drive, depression
Nervousness: agitation without cause, sensitivity, easily stressed
Conjunctivitis
Inflamed, sensitive gums
Cracks at the corners of the lips
Dental cavities
Attack of diarrhea which expels acids
Rectal burning sensation
Predisposition to intestinal inflammation (enteritis, colitis)
Burning and irritation in the bladder or urethra
Runny nose
Prone to chills
Dry skin
Skin tends to be red and irritated in regions where there are heavy concentrations of sweat (knees, underarms, etc)
Itches
Nails are thin and split and break easily
Hair looks dull and falls out in noticeable quantities
Leg cramps and spasms
Stiff neck
Lumbago
Mineral and calcium depletion of the skeleton
Osteoporosis
Rheumatism
Arthritis
Sciatica
Tendinitis
Migrant joint pains
Etc