N.S.B. Healthy Lifestyle

This page explores various interesting articles that pertain to possible healthy lifestyles. These articles are taken from various sources, both ancient and modern. They represent important viewpoints that are worth considering in this age of increasing health disorders.

Our presentations will be updated periodically. Whereas we do not present our own ultimate point of view on the subject, yet we believe that each and every article we present does contain some element of truth that might help in the final analysis, when one decides to adopt a personal healthy lifestyle. We shall return to our ultimate conclusions and recommended lifestyle much later.

The highlightings in the presented articles are basically ours, and may not belong to the original author.

Here's the current presentation:

Timeless Secrets of Health & Rejuvenation
by Andreas Moritz (2005)

Chapter 2. The Laws Behind Sickness and Health

Disease is Unnatural

The main conclusion that can be drawn from the study of health and healing is that there is a natural way of living that can prevent disease from arising. Illness results when we deviate from this way of life. It manifests when the body attempts to neutralize and eliminate accumulated harmful substances and fluids. To restore health, we have to remove these toxins first. A nutrient-rich diet and a natural program of health care will prevent them from accumulating again.

Disease is the occurrence of a toxicity crisis. The crisis occurs when toxins in the body have reached a certain level of concentration, which, in this context, I will be referring to as "tolerance." The body signals pain or other forms of discomfort in order to stimulate the immune system into defensive action. The resulting immune response includes the mobilization of immune cells and antibodies that help to reduce the level of toxicity to below the limit of tolerance. During the reactive stage of the toxicity crisis you may feel weak and worn out because the body utilizes every ounce of energy it can get to clear itself of the toxins. Under normal circumstances, physical strength, appetite and good mood will begin to return several days after the immune response. This may give you the impression that your health is back to normal, whereas in many cases you may have only passed the symptom level of the toxicity crisis.

Unless we first eliminate the factors that have led to the build-up of toxins, they (the toxins) are likely to accumulate again and eventually cause another toxicity crisis. Since immunity becomes progressively weaker with each new crisis, the likelihood of fully recovering one's health and vitality diminishes too. The final outcome of repeated cycles of toxicity crisis is chronic illness.

Over one hundred years ago chronic diseases were rare. At the beginning of the 20th century only 10 out of 100 people suffered an ongoing illness. Today, chronic diseases make up over 90 percent of all health problems. Nowadays, the general population and the doctors alike tend to believe that it is both correct and beneficial to get rid of the symptoms of a disease by any means possible. In most cases, the methods used consist of drugs and surgery. Although their application conveniently bypasses the need for having to detect and attend to the causes of these indicators of toxicity (symptoms), the net result of such an approach is depression of the vital organs and systems in the body. Since the body is thus denied the opportunity to remove the accumulated toxins, the toxicity crisis becomes extended in time. This causes further wear and tear of the immune system and makes a person susceptible to develop exacerbated forms of acute and chronic illness. The well-known physician, Dr. Henry Lindlahr, made this profound and astute observation: "The greatest part of all chronic disease is created by the suppression of acute disease by drug poisoning."

Most of us have made the collective "agreement" that once a sick person recovers after taking medicine, his improvement must "obviously" be the result of the medicine. However, this assumption may be highly deceptive. Healing always takes place in the body and is controlled by the body. If for any reason, the body can no longer heal itself, even the most powerful medicine will be not be able to accomplish what the body's failing healing system was not able to do.

Disease manifests when the body's natural healing responses are weakened or suppressed. The body has a constant tendency to return to its normal balanced state (equilibrium), which is perhaps the only real power of healing that exists. Sometimes, the belief in a particular treatment or medicine (placebo) can serve as a trigger for the body to restore equilibrium - an effect that is often (wrongly) attributed to the treatment rather than to the energies of trust or hope that it may be generating in the patient.

In the body, the ultimate law of maintaining perfect balance is seriously undermined by energy-depleting influences. A chain smoker, for example, who has developed arteriosclerosis (hardening of arteries) and heart muscle weakness under the constant exposure to carbon monoxide and nicotine, stands very little or no chance to be cured if he continues to smoke. If stockbrokers or gamblers experience constant shocks as part of their business activities, a factor known to cause heart disease, what else can help but giving up the gambling business? Taking them into a hospital, away from their jobs, is often enough to help them regain their health. The idea that the applied medical treatment is responsible for their improvement, however, is more than misleading.

The Symptom of a Disease Isn't the Disease

Although you may think that you have found the best medicine there is for your particular health condition, you are unlikely to become truly healed unless you stop generating or maintaining its causes. You may succeed in stopping the symptoms of illness, but such an act only forces your body to transfer the toxic substances to "deeper" structures of the body, including the tissues of the organs, joints and bones. Since suppressing toxins makes them "disappear" from the network of general circulation, the body's ability to tolerate toxicity seems to "improve" temporarily. This, of course, gives you more leeway to hold on to even more toxins without developing any obvious signs of ill health. If the first lines of the body's defense system would still be intact, the body would naturally deal with this build-up of toxins by manifesting a cold, a fever or an infection. You would feel quite ill. If none of these occur, however, you may in fact believe that you are doing quite well, health-wise, and you are able to get on with your life in the usual manner. But suddenly, without much warning, an even larger wave of toxicity is released. A typical example for such a crisis is the sudden heart attack or stroke. Many victims of such an attack claim that they have always been "perfectly healthy."

Most of the serious and life-threatening diseases usually begin with minor problems, such as a simple irritation of the mucus lining in the stomach, which can be caused by overeating, abrasive foods and beverages, or emotional turbulence. Unable to digest the food, the stomach passes some of its hydrochloric acid upward into the esophagus, which gives rise to the sensation of "heartburn."

Contrary to common belief, acid reflux or heartburn is not caused by too much stomach acid, but by too little stomach acid. Food stays in the stomach undigested for too long, causing stomach upset. When it gets pushed up into the delicate esophagus, it causes your heartburn. You can easily test whether your digestive problems are caused by too little acid. Take a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, fresh ginger with a pinch of salt, or cayenne pepper before you eat (All these stimulate acid production.) If that doesn't help, a common acid supplement called betaine hydrochloride (HCI) may be helpful, unless you suffer from an ulcer. If any of these methods improve your symptoms, you will know that your problem was too little acid. To improve digestive functions, including low stomach acid, cleanse your liver and intestines. When food isn't digested properly, vitamins and nutrients aren't absorbed, leaving you open to a host of degenerative and other diseases.

If the irritation occurs more frequently, caused by regular consumption of such things as coffee, cokes, sugar, chocolates, meat, nicotine, alcohol, drugs, etc., it may turn into a fully developed inflammation. Unless the irritating habits are discontinued, an ulcer will form. Incapable of removing the daily amounting metabolic waste, cellular debris and toxic food particles from the scene of the ulcer lesions, the stomach cells may no longer be able to sustain their normal behavior while being in such an unnatural and toxic environment. This may alter the genetic program of the affected stomach cells through what is known as "cell mutation." Cells that have "gone out of control," seem to be no longer aware of being an integral part of the body. This symptom of disease is called cancer, which is just another name for constant irritation and poisoning of cells. Thus, stomach cancer is but the final result of continuous irritation of stomach cells.

Most of the currently used treatments only target the symptoms of disease as if they were the disease. The idea is to remove the symptoms in the hope that the disease will disappear as well. In many cases, the use of sophisticated diagnostic tools can precisely identify the symptoms of a disease, which could be a stomach ulcer, stones in the gallbladder or a tumor in the uterus. The "treatment" may consist of cutting out the "culprit," often along with the inflicted organ. The patient is sent home under the impression that he has been cured. But not being aware of what has caused his problems in the first place, his body may turn into a living time bomb. To date, the purely clinical approach of diagnosis has not been able to identify the causal factors for over 80 percent of all diseases. This is perhaps the biggest drawback in today's medical approach.

Yet we cannot blame the medical professionals for the current crisis in medical care. Doctors are often pressured by their patients to act like "legalized drug pushers" or "symptom hunters." Many patients practically demand from their doctor to remove the symptom by any means and fast so that they can get on with their lives, not realizing that this behavior drives them even closer toward another, even more intensified toxicity crisis. Added to this dilemma, the side effects that accompany most of the existing treatments are often so severe that it is questionable whether they are justified at all. This is even more so if they are used for relatively minor problems.

Miraculous Infection

Infection represents one of the body's most extraordinary processes of self-defense. During this rescue mission, the immune system fights off invading bacteria or viruses that have been "invited" by the host's weakened condition and presence of harmful waste material. Doctors usually try to combat bacterial infections with antibiotic drugs. They believe that bacteria involved in an infection are harmful, but this viewpoint is very limited. In reality the microbes are quite useful. They are automatically "called" to the scene of a weak organ or injured parts of the body where they help break down toxins, damaged tissue and cellular debris. Microbes would never go to areas that are clean and healthy, for there would be nothing there for them to live on. (Microbes only get out of control when the level of toxicity in the body is extremely high. In this case, short-term medical intervention would be justified. The treatment should, however, be accompanied by cleansing the body from the toxins and waste material.)

Infection is one of the body\'s most effective means to get over a toxicity crisis unless the immune system has already been impaired to a point of no repair, as was common during the Middle Ages when the plague killed millions of immune-deficient people. Trying to suppress an infection with drugs can have severe consequences that sometimes may show up years later as heart disease, rheumatism, diabetes, or cancer. The same applies to the use of painkillers -- the most commonly used medication in the civilized world.

Painkillers -- The Beginning of a Vicious Cycle

"Drugs never cure disease. They merely hush the voice of nature's protest, and pull down the danger signals she erects along the pathway of transgression. Any poison taken into the system has to be reckoned with later on even though it palliates present symptoms. Pain may disappear, but the patient is left in a worse condition, though unconscious of it at the time." -- Daniel. H. Kress, M.D.

Taking painkillers, unless it is absolutely necessary for extremely painful conditions, is an act of suppressing and destructing the healing intelligence of the body. When ill, the body may require pain signals to trigger the appropriate immune response for the removal of toxins from a localized area and to prevent the individual from further harming himself. Pain is not a disease and should therefore not be treated as one. Pain is the body's natural response to congestion and subsequent dehydration and malnourishment of cells and tissues. It occurs in the presence of toxic material and is often accompanied by infection. In most cases, a pain signal occurs when one of the brain\'s emergency hormones called histamine is secreted in large amounts and passes over the pain nerves near or along a congested area.

The body also uses histamines to reject foreign materials such as viral particles or toxic substances and to direct other hormones or systems in the body to regulate water distribution. The latter function of histamine is very important, for where there is a build-up of toxins there is also an acute water shortage (dehydration). When the pain signal becomes suppressed, however, the body is confused over how it to deal with the congestion and build-up of toxicity. It also is prevented from learning about the progressive condition of dehydration of some of its cells. In addition, in order to process painkillers, the cells of the body have to give up even more of their cellular water.

We can assume that, under normal circumstances, the intensity of pain rises with the concentration of toxins. The brain produces the perfect amount of natural painkillers, known as endorphins, in order to keep the pain tolerable but also strong enough to maintain a strong and active immune response. Synthetically derived painkillers, on the other hand, cause an electric short circuit of the pain signal. The brain and the immune system, though, need to receive this signal to be able to attend to the endangered area. The sudden suppression of pain can be likened to cutting the wires of an alarm system that is protecting a house. When a burglar enters the house, nobody will notice it.

Painkillers do not only keep the body ignorant about a particular physical problem, they also sabotage its healing efforts. The regular use of painkillers suppresses endorphin production in the brain and thereby causes drug dependency. This also lowers the body's tolerance level for pain, making even minor problems of congestion very painful. Some people have abused their bodies in this way to such an extent that they suffer from excruciating chronic pain, although the causal problem may actually be only a minor one. When painkillers are no longer effective enough, some people may even wish to take their lives to get the desired relief.

If you have been on painkillers for arthritis or other pain conditions but now know that taking regular painkillers such as Vioxx, Aleve, Celebrex, Aspirin, etc. dramatically increase your risk of heart attack and stroke, you may need to rely on natural alternatives until you have eliminated the root causes of the pain (as this book recommend you to do). According to the New England Journal of Medicine, "anti-inflammatory drugs (prescription and over-the-counter, which include Advil, Motrin, Aleve, Ordus, Aspirin, and over 20 others) alone cause over 16,500 deaths and over 103,000 hospitalizations per year in the US." Even the smallest amount of aspirin triggers at least some degree of intestinal bleeding. Regular use of aspirin has serious consequences. Nearly 70% of those taking aspirin daily show a blood loss of 1/2 to 1 and 1/2 teaspoons per day, and 10% lose as much as two teaspoons per day.

Stimulants Make Strong People Weak

All stimulants are "sweet" when taken but "bitter" in their effect. You can become addicted to them without even recognizing your dependency. If you are used to drinking a few cups of coffee a day, try this: Go on a "coffee fast," which means having no coffee for an entire day, and observe how you feel as the day goes on. After a few hours you may notice a dull sensation in your head and a feeling of weakness and lack of energy throughout the body. Some people develop headaches in the afternoon; others yawn and feel downcast due to the weakening effect of the coffee on the heart. You may argue, "but drinking coffee is normal, everyone does it." Most people in the industrialized nations fall seriously ill at some stage in their lives, which is now considered to be an almost "normal" experience, too.

Stimulants, as contained in coffee, tea and cigarettes, seem to be welcome and fast-acting substances for those who feel the need for a boost of energy, to wake up their mind or to feel more buoyant and alive. But since these substances have no real energy on their own, just stimulants, where then is the stimulated energy coming from? Obviously, the body is providing it. Stimulants are nerve toxins that trigger a powerful defense reaction in the body. This immune response is what you experience as a boost in energy when you drink a cup of coffee or smoke a cigarette. So in reality, the experienced increase of physical energy is but an energy loss for the body.

There are also other causes of energy depletion, such as eating food. Natural food, although it has a stimulating effect, provides balanced doses of physical energy and helps to maintain all the functions in the body. This kind of natural stimulation maintains physiological balance or homeostasis. Eating too much of any kind of food, on the other hand, causes overstimulation and so does regular snacking. Excessive sexual activity, overworking, stress and fear can also be causes of continuous overstimulation. Overstimulation occurs when the body, in its attempt to deal with the increased demand and its consequences, begins to over-secrete its own stimulants. They are the stress hormones adrenalin, cortisol, cortisone, endorphins, prolactin, etc., which are needed to sustain the body's most essential activities. Yet abusing the stress response and wasting the body's energy resources take their toll.

One of the undesirable side effects of excessive adrenalin secretion, for example, is a constriction of important blood vessels, including those that supply the intestinal tract. This greatly cuts down the body's ability to digest food and eliminate toxic waste products. Consequently, abnormal amounts of toxins are withheld there, which even forces some of them to enter the blood stream. Toxins have a very strong stimulating influence on the body, which may drive a person into a mode of hyperactivity. The body's energy reserves become depleted even further, which gradually leads toward a toxicity crisis or an acute illness. The toxicity crisis can weaken the body to such an extent that it is literally put to rest so as not to waste any more energy. This in turn helps the body to save energy. It uses the saved energy to break down the toxins and eliminate them from the afflicted area. If the energy-depleting causes are discontinued, the body will regain its balance, but if they are not, the body may enter one crisis after another until it falls seriously ill. Through constant over-stimulation, even a strong and healthy person may eventually become weak, frail and sick.

Our Constant Need for Cleansing

The body is continually involved in a process of self-renewal. Each day in your life, the body is challenged to construct 30,000,000,000 new cells (anabolism), but in order to maintain homeostasis it also must destroy the same amount of old cells. The breaking down of old cells naturally leaves behind a massive amount of cellular debris, which is instantly taken up and removed by the lymphatic system. The waste can only be removed if there is enough water available to transport it through and out of the body. However, if the body has been weakened, for example, through constant overstimulation, overeating or sleep deprivation (all of these have dehydrating effects), the cleansing process becomes inefficient and toxic remnants begin to accumulate in the lymph vessels. These toxins could eventually seep into the blood stream and cause blood poisoning. To avoid that and keep the blood as pure as possible the body tries to dump the toxins wherever it can, which leads to a build-up of noxious deposits in the connective tissue (the fluid surrounding the cells of the body). When the connective tissue cannot accommodate any more toxins, they begin to invade the blood vessels and also the cells of organs. The first cell tissue to become saturated with toxins is the also the first one to be deprived of regular supplies of water, oxygen and nutrients, and hence the first one to produce a toxicity crisis.

Although only one organ or part of the body may have developed a symptom of disease, such as an ulcer, an occluded blood vessel or a localized tumor, in reality, the whole body has fallen ill. To deal with the situation, all the systems and organs team up and try to fight for the body's life. They do this by diverting energies from the digestive system, muscles and other areas toward the afflicted part and the immune system. This concerted action provides the immune system with enough energy to counteract the threat of life imposed on the body through the high level of toxicity. Consequently, during the course of the immune response, the afflicted person may feel very weak, tired and ill. This, however, should not be the time to interrupt the body's healing efforts or to stimulate it in any way (through drugs, food, TV, excitement, etc.).

During a toxicity crisis most people tend to panic and go to a doctor who tends to suppress the symptoms of the body's healing response, which mistakenly is called disease. After a few such interventions, which usually consist of medication, the condition may begin to turn from being acute to becoming chronic.

The incidence of chronic illness dramatically increased with the onset of medical intervention when doctors began to interfere with the body's own healing responses through drugs, surgery, radiation, etc. Although medical intervention has saved many people's lives afflicted with acute illness such as a stroke or heart attack, it has had little impact on chronic diseases. These diseases are likely to remain chronic unless the mainly symptom oriented approach of treatment becomes cause oriented.

Symptoms of Disease are Like Sand in the Hand

Symptoms of disease are highly changeable, if not unpredictable. The causes of disease remain obscure to most medical practitioners and their patients. A stomach catarrh, for example, may initially show up as an irritation and then become an ulcer. After that it may be perceived as a hardening of tissue and eventually be diagnosed as cancer. The course and intensification of pathological symptoms (signs of disease) may vary from person to person and only a few people develop the cancer stage. But the previous stages can be equally life threatening. As a matter of fact, there are many more people who die from acute food poisoning and acute digestive problems than from chronic diseases such as cancer and coronary heart disease.

A stomach catarrh may be accompanied by various kinds of complaints, including stomach upsets, nausea, vomiting, gastritis, and cramping of the stomach. In truth, there can never be two people suffering from gastritis who have exactly the same symptoms. One of them may be a very nervous person and his symptoms (of gastritis) may include headaches and insomnia. The other one may suffer an epileptic attack. As the stages of the disease become more pronounced, some, but not all, of the afflicted patients develop anemia as a result of ulceration and putrefaction of cell protein. A number of people form hemorrhoids when stomach ulcers begin to occur, and some suffer stomach congestion where the food simply is retained and is thrown up every second or third day.

Modern medicine views almost each of these various symptoms as different types of disease, each of which requires a separate approach or treatment by different specialist. This makes the whole approach of medical diagnosis and treatment so complex that even doctors are confused as to what measures to take. Since each new disease produces different symptoms that may vary from person to person, the specialists are unable to identify the common cause of all these various complaints. Since they haven't been trained to look for the cause of the complaints they merely tend to deal with the various symptoms, as if they were separate diseases. To them, the initial stomach pain seems to have no connection with the inflammation of the catarrh; the thickening of the stomach lining is dissimilar to a stomach ulcer; and the ulcer is certainly not (yet) a malignant tumor.

A physician may be able to stop an initial pain in the stomach with an antacid or a painkiller, and when the catarrh occurs he may give anti-inflammatory drugs. As the developing ulcer becomes unbearable, a surgeon may decide to cut it out. When the cancer appears, an oncologist may prescribe chemotherapy, radiation, or surgical removal of the tumor as well as whole parts of the stomach. Yet none of these symptoms are diseases in themselves, they are all caused by something else, and without dealing with that something else the disease will continue to appear in other, seemingly unrelated, forms and variations. Symptoms are like sand in the hand. They are fleeting and inconsistent. Hence they cannot reveal the true nature of disease. It is therefore in the best interest of the patient not to receive treatment for the symptoms of his disorder.

Searching for the Cause

Not many people try to find out why their stomach becomes irritated or in what ways they may actively have contributed to developing the symptoms of their illnesses. By removing the final stage of the symptom of disease, which in the above case is a cancerous tumor, the physician has done nothing to remove the cause of the first symptom of disease, which is pain. Eating irritating foods, bottled salad dressings or having too much salt or hot chili may have caused the pain. Others causal factors may include feeling emotionally upset, smoking, drinking too much alcohol, regular coffee intake, soft drinks, artificial sweeteners, overeating, liver congestion or not drinking enough water.

The latter is probably the most common, yet the least known cause of stomach problems and many other illnesses (I am using the example of stomach disorders to describe the basic mechanisms leading to disease). Most stomach pains are signals of advanced dehydration of the mucus lining. Consisting of 98 percent water and 2 percent water-holding "scaffolding," the mucus layer serves as a natural buffer of protection. The cells below the mucus layer secrete sodium bicarbonate, which is trapped there to neutralize any of the hydrochloric acid that may pass through the mucus lining. The resulting chemical reaction between the two chemicals produces salt from the sodium bicarbonate, and chlorine from the hydrochloric acid. Consumption of foods that require secretion of large amounts of hydrochloric acid, such as meat, fish, eggs, cheese, etc., thus causes high salt production. This considerably alters the waterholding properties of the "scaffolding" material of the mucus lining. Regular consumption of such foods in large amounts leads to an intensified acid neutralization, and subsequently, to an accumulation of salt deposits in this layer. This causes "erosion" which will allow the acid to reach the stomach wall; the result is the well-known pain of dyspepsia.

As long as the mucus barrier is well hydrated through regular water intake, and protein and fat consumption is moderate, the salt deposits are back-washed. In addition, sodium bicarbonate is retained and the hydrochloric acid is neutralized before it even has the chance to penetrate the mucus layer. Thus, there can be no better acid barrier to the stomach wall than water. Yet the stomach pain, which in most cases is rather a thirst pain, is usually combated with antacids and other medications. The drugs, however, do not offer efficient protection against the (natural) action of the acid. Most people with stomach ulcers and severe abdominal or dyspeptic pain experience an almost instant and total relief of pain after drinking a glass of water or two. Caffeine containing beverages such as cokes, tea or coffee, on the other hand, have a diuretic effect, and draw water out of the protective stomach lining. One cup of coffee or an alcoholic drink can easily bring on a pain attack.

The stomach pain is the first signal to tell a person that something is wrong and needs to be changed. The suppression of the first symptom through drugs may prevent the patient from finding out what is causing it. Thus the lack of knowledge about the mechanism of water metabolism -- mistaking the thirst pain for a disease (misdiagnosis) -- might very well be responsible for the suppression of the initial symptoms that eventually could become a chronic illness such as cancer. Most cancers are the result of repeatedly suppressing mild symptoms of illness such as a cold, pain, an infection, a headache, etc., and treating them as if they were diseases.

The purely clinical approach of treatment focuses on each of the progressive stages of pathological symptoms and keeps producing new findings that promise a cure of each of these problems. Recently, scientists have identified one particular bug, H pylori, which is now considered to be the major cause of gastric ulcers. Yet this stomach bug may just as well be a "by-product" of ulceration rather than being its cause. The antibiotic drugs omeprazole and amoxycillin, now prescribed for stomach ulcers, destroy the bug and the ulcers disappear, bringing great relief to many sufferers. However, once the drug intake is discontinued, the bug and the ulcer return.

This raises the question why the stomach bug returns after the ulcer has been "cured". In reality, the drugs have no curative effects at all because the afflicted person depends on their continual intake. What they do "accomplish", however, is to destroy all kinds of bacteria in your gut, including those that help you to break down the toxins which have accumulated in your stomach. The H pylori bacteria naturally return to the gut when the antibiotics are no longer there to destroy them. They are attracted there and tend to overpopulate the stomach because there is presence of large amounts of toxins (food for them) that haven't been removed yet.

These bugs can be found everywhere and in everyone, yet only few people develop stomach ulcers. Why does H pylori "cause" a gastric ulcer in one out of 20 people and not in the other 19, although the bacterium is found in all of them? Similarly, a trapped nerve can be seen as a cause of disease in the body but not every trapped nerve results in disease. Instead of looking for an external culprit for such a problem, wouldn't it be far more important to find out why some trapped nerves produce pathological changes and others don't? Why does the same frightening situation cause a panic attack or an infarct in one person and not in another? Could it be possible that these external "causes" of disease may simply serve as a trigger to ignite the high toxicity bomb present in a person's body, thus leading to a toxicity crisis, which is known as "disease?"

Defying a Hopeless Prognosis

Jenny was only 25 years old when she came to me with progressive Crohn's disease, a chronic inflammatory condition of the alimentary tract. There was chronic patchy inflammation with edema of the full thickness of the intestinal wall, causing partial obstruction of the lumen. She had been told that her condition was irreversible and would eventually lead to her death. Jenny was heading toward internal suffocation. Despite the many various treatments she received, all of which consisted of painkillers, antibiotics and strong anti-inflammatory drugs, including cortisone, her condition worsened progressively. Since there were no signs of improvement, her doctors increased the dosage of the drugs at regular intervals. Her face and body were covered with spots that she scratched to bleeding point during the night. She had several other symptoms, including strong menstrual cramps, headaches and severe lower back pain.

After examining Jenny through the methods of Ayurveda Pulse Diagnosis and Iridology and listening to her medical history, I pointed out to her that her intestinal troubles were caused by what she ate. Jenny consistently consumed highly acid-forming foods and beverages that had a highly irritating effect on the intestinal lining and led to a major blockage of the liver's bile ducts with intrahepatic stones. In addition, the strong prescription drugs interfered with her body's attempt to rid itself of the build-up of inadequately digested and, therefore, toxic foods. Apart from impairing the immune system, the poisonous compounds of the drugs had also removed large quantities of minerals and water from the tissues and cells. Without enough water, which is the principle means of transport and healing in the body, the body faces a situation of crisis, namely, body drought or dehydration.

The severe congestion of her liver and intestinal tract, and the general dehydration of Jenny's body caused most of her chronic complaints, including the pain in the head, back and lower abdomen. The drugs led to a massive build-up of toxins and harmful bacteria in the intestines as they wiped out almost the entire population of her gut's friendly, probiotic bacteria. Being a lively young person and living in a nightlife society (Cyprus) she had very little sleep during nighttimes. Her irregular sleeping habits and subsequent chronic fatigue made it difficult for her digestive system to cope with any type of food, which further increased the toxicity in the intestinal tract.

I suggested a series of cleansing and rehydration procedures together with a diet that corresponded to her natural body-type and physical condition as well as a number of changes in her daily routine that would help rebalance her disturbed biological rhythms. In addition, I advised her to have emotional clearing sessions to deal with the underlying patterns of fear and insecurity she had experienced since early childhood.

One month later, a checkup with her doctor revealed that the disease had "disappeared" and so had all her skin problems and other symptoms. Nine years later she is still as healthy and radiant as can be. She is now married and has two beautiful, healthy children. What I have learned from this and similar cases is a simple understanding of healing that can be applied to almost every disease. I have summarized this in the following words:

A disease is not its own cause and, therefore, cannot be cured by merely removing its symptoms. The most effective way of dealing with disease is to remove any energy-depleting factors that may impede the body's ever-present effort to return to its natural state of balance or equilibrium. Overeating, poor nutrition, lack of sleep, not drinking enough fresh water, use of pharmaceutical drugs and stimulants, etc., deplete the body's energy reserves and render it susceptible to disease-causing factors such as bacteria, viruses or toxins. On the other hand, cleansing the body from accumulated waste material, and establishing a healthy diet and lifestyle set the preconditions for the body to heal itself.

Trusting in the Nature of Your Body

Almost every socalled disease is a toxicity crisis that results from accumulating toxins to the level of intolerance. The body is left with no other choice but to find an outlet for the toxins. A toxicity crisis may be accompanied by various symptoms such as a headache, a cold, joint pain, skin rash, bronchitis or any other infection. All of these indicate the body's attempts to rid its most congested parts of harmful toxic substances. Once the immune system has lowered toxicity to below the level of tolerance which may differ from person to person, the symptoms begin to disappear again. One of the unfortunate side effects of medical intervention is that it prevents this natural response of healing from taking place. This is how the well known physician Henry Lindlahr poignantly summarized this basic medical truth: "The greatest part of all chronic disease is created by the suppression of acute disease by drug poisoning." By being satisfied with merely suppressing symptoms we are left with so many diseases today for which the causes remain in the dark.

If a simple cold is not allowed to take its natural course, the next time you suffer a cold and try to suppress it, it may turn into a chronic catarrh. Further interference with the body's healing efforts can turn the catarrh into pneumonia. Pneumonia can be fatal if the elimination of toxic secretions is undermined through suppressive drugs. Likewise, a recurring migraine may one day become a mental breakdown, high blood pressure can turn into a heart attack and a stomach catarrh may develop into a cancer.

If we were to allow a toxicity crisis to go through its natural stages of development and stopped depleting the body's energy resources, disease would rarely arise nor would it become necessary to fight it. A toxicity crisis may, however, lead to serious complications if you prevent the body from successfully clearing out any waste products or noxious substances that have congested the eliminative organs or systems. These include the liver, colon, kidneys, lymphatic system, skin and lungs.

Patients who took the seemingly more effective, fast and convenient "shortcut" of medical intervention to restore their health may remember their illness with apprehension and may continue to live with a subconscious fear of a possible recurrence. But those who were cured by their body's natural healing powers are most likely to recall their illness as an experience of great emotional relief and physical release, which greatly increased their self-confidence and well-being. Having recovered their health by trusting and supporting their body's own healing ability, they may also have made a quantum leap in personal development. Many patients report that their natural recovery from an illness has led to major improvements in their attitude towards life in general and their relationships with others.

A toxicity crisis can be a unique opportunity to balance out old karma and bring about positive changes on the physical, emotional and spiritual levels of life. By entrusting your own body with the healing process, a new sense of freedom begins to dominate your awareness, and old fears and anxieties start to dissipate. The tactic of fighting a disease until the end is not only unnecessary but also reinforces the (false) belief system that true healing occurs only rarely or is a matter of luck. Research has confirmed quite the contrary: Over 80% of all illnesses disappear completely on their own.

To assist the body's healing efforts while going through a toxicity crisis, it is important to take a natural purgative or an enema each day to release accumulated toxic waste in the intestinal tract. It is also good advice to keep one's feet warm, take complete rest, and avoid watching television (due to its stimulating and dehydrating effects). Eating food during the crisis interferes with the healing process, since this uses up the energy the body tries to direct towards eliminating toxins. But drinking plenty of warm water helps with the much-needed cleansing and rehydration process in the body. Also recommended is a warm bath before bedtime and, in case there is pain, a hot bath as often in the day as is comfortable. To aid the healing process, regular exposure of one's body to fresh air and natural sunlight can be very beneficial too, as both have strong immune-stimulating effects. These and similar measures greatly help the body in overcoming a toxicity crisis within the shortest possible time.

All serious diseases are "innocent" in the beginning. Most of them start off as simple colds, headaches, stomach pains, indigestion, intestinal cramps, fatigue, stiffness of joints, skin trouble, etc. These minor, seemingly "insignificant" complaints eventually turn vicious when "cured" too quickly. They can never really be cured by symptom-oriented approaches of treatment because each minor toxicity crisis that is suppressed adds more toxins to the system and depletes constitutional strength and vitality. In addition, if the causes of these relatively small complaints are not removed on time, more serious impairment of the body's functions may result. This may be the starting point of a long-lasting illness. The following section deals with the four most common factors that contribute to the development of a more intensified toxicity crisis or disease.

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