Chapter 10 — Natural Living - Where It's At
The American Natural Hygiene Society, with headquarters at 1920 Irving Park Road, Chicago, Illinois 60613, is a non-profit, non-sectarian educational organization which promotes the knowledge of natural living as a means of maintaining and restoring health. Ironically, the philosophy of Natural Hygiene was evolved mostly by medical doctors, almost 150 years ago, who found their medical practices an incorrect approach to health care. These medical men reasoned that there were natural laws which governed human life and that when these laws were applied, health could be both maintained and recovered.
"Hygiene" is derived from the Greek "hygieia," referring to the science of health. Natural Hygiene is that branch of biological science which studies, investigates, and applies the conditions upon which life and health depend. It teaches that health and disease are not the results of chance, but depend upon the operation of certain demonstrable laws. Natural Hygiene studies and attempts to understand the influence of air, water, food, sunshine, activity, exercise, rest, sleep, fasting, mental and emotional factors, etc. It represents a comprehensive system -a way of life in harmony with natural laws as they apply to man.
There are many books on the subject of Natural Hygiene, which will be listed later for the broadening of your knowledge. This final chapter will give you the basics so you will have a working understanding from which to gain a deeper insight. I want to plant the seeds of this philosophy into your mind in hopes they will take root and grow.
When we view the living being down at the cell level, we find two basic requirements of life as all-important: (1) adequate and complete nourishment, and ( 2 ) prompt and thorough removal of all metabolic waste. (Metabolism is the total of the body processes that keep it alive, nourished, and functioning.) Without both of these requirements being fulfilled, life would cease.
Most disease is the result of enervation. Enervation is lowered nerve energy, which in turn lowers functioning power. When enervation is present, elimination of metabolic waste is impaired. (Our billions and billions of cells are constantly giving off waste products. If they did not, then we would die.) This impairment of elimination of these metabolic wastes results in our bodily tissues being poisoned by the retention and accumulation of its own cell wastes. This is called toxemia. Enervation may occur for many reasons, all of which ~ tax the body: overwork; overeating; lack of fresh air; sexual excesses (some will argue this point); excessive bathing; too much sun; lack of rest and sleep; lack of exercise; lack of adequate food; too much or too little of any good thing; lack of emotional poise, resulting in fear, hate, worry and anger; the use of harmful elements such as coffee, tea, alcohol,
tobacco, chocolate, drugs, etc.; also various environmental stresses. In consequence, this is the very beginning of a pathological process, which can lead to cancer. The first step is of course, enervation. This is followed by the second step, toxemia. This progresses to inflammation or irritation. It is these initial three steps which are usually missed by the doctor, since he is basically unaware of the sequence of events in the evolution of disease. Thus, most people are usually well into disease, where frank damage is already done, before the doctor finally sees "something." The fourth step is ulceration, which leads to the fifth step, fibrosis (hardening with fibrous tissue). The sixth step, of course, is cancer.
One of the most misunderstood of conditions is the "common cold." It seems scientists and doctors are searching for the ever-evasive virus, which is supposed to cause it. What is a "cold"? It is nothing more than the body ridding itself of its toxic load so it does not build up in; the system to cause more serious and debilitating problems. This is why all the mucous membranes are involved ( nose, throat, lungs, intestines, etc.). These membranes are eliminating the toxic materials. Many times, these viruses thrive in this medium and can complicate the condition-but secondarily, and usually in an unhealthy individual. A cold is a vital capacity, the body's effort to cleanse itself. How many times have you heard someone remark about "so and so" was only 45 or 50 years old, never had a sick day in his life, and suddenly dropped dead from a heart attack. If "so and so" might have gotten a few colds, he might not have had that heart attack. He didn't die suddenly. He was dying for years.
I observe old people in convalescent homes. There's much pride there when it is shown that "they don't get colds." Of course they don't! Most of them do not have the vital capacity to get a cold. So this build-up in the body (toxemia or self-poisoning) of metabolic waste, etc., manifests itself in other ways, such as the chronic, debilitating diseases most of them are vegetating from, and to which many of them succumb.
Be thankful when you get a cold. Rest in bed, fast a few days just drinking water (or take small amounts of fresh-made fruit juices and preferably vegetable juices if you must). Don't suppress the fever with aspirin; the fever is remedial. Don't suppress the symptoms with various drugs. This is why complications occur, such as pneumonia, because the body is always interfered with. In fact, much disease is remedial, but continual interference with drugs prolongs the disease or complicates matters, and when the body gets well, it gets well not because of the drugs or medicines, but in spite of them.
Natural Hygiene is a plan of living which, briefly, is comprised of such things as the use of pure water; breathing pure air; maintenance of emotional poise; getting plenty of sunshine and rest; the avoidance of anything harmful to the body, such as coffee, tea, alcohol, tobacco, chocolate, white sugar, white flour, salt, meat, drugs and medicines, chemical food additives, soda, canned and processed foods, etc. Also included is proper use of exercise (depending on one's physical limitations), vegetarian diet (but if a completely meatless diet is not your choice, there is still a great deal to learn about how to improve your present diet and state of health and health of your family), and of course the all-important fast.
Natural immunity and resistance which are further enhanced by breast feeding. But since so many young mothers are discouraged from breast feeding and encouraged to use formulas and not given a knowledge of proper nutrition, this is how these natural immunities and resistances become lowered and the infant becomes the "average" child who gets the usual childhood diseases and worse. He (or she) is fed the usual diet of mostly cooked, processed, and devitalized foods. Baby cereal (starch) is fed in infancy when there is no capacity to digest this starch, so it putrefies and the infant is virtually poisoned by it in addition to acquiring colic and spitting up. Until the infant gets his teeth to chew and properly insalivate the starch, he should not be fed any. In so-called backward countries, when the infant is to be fed a starch, the innate wisdom of the mother induces her to chew it thoroughly and mix it with her saliva and pre-digest it (her saliva has the enzyme ptyalin for starch breakdown) before putting it into the infant's mouth.
The juicer and blender become most valuable assets because fresh fruit and vegetable juices can be made with the juicer, while with the blender, pure and unadulterated baby food (both raw and cooked) can be made from fresh fruits and vegetables. My wife has often confided to me that if I were to write a book on the proper nutrition of children, she would want me to trace much of the illness today back to the kitchen of "good old mom," because it is basically her responsibility and obligation.
I would like to elaborate on two phases of Natural Hygiene so you will have a clearer understanding of what appears to be unorthodox and controversial only because of misunderstandings and close-mindedness, yet are as natural and physiologically sound as any laws of nature can be: (1) fasting, and (2) proper nutrition and food combining.
Fasting is complete and total abstinence from all food, with the exception of water, where the body supports itself on the stored reserves within its tissues. It is important to make the differentiation between fasting and starvation, because many people use these two terms interchangeably in error. Starvation begins when the fast is carried beyond the time when these stored reserves are used up or have dropped to a dangerously low level and the vital organs begin to be consumed by the body for food, and death becomes imminent.
There are several reasons for fasting: (1) Weight reduction. In cases of overweight individuals, weight reduction is an added benefit even when not the sole or even the main reason for the fast; (2) To conserve the energies of the body so they may be diverted to whatever the body is trying to accomplish; ( 3 ) To secure physiologic rest. This is rest of the digestive, glandular, circulatory, respiratory, and nervous systems. It is during this physiologic rest (fasting) that the body is able to repair its damaged organs; and, (4) Elimination. Nothing known to man equals the fast as a means of increasing the elimination of waste from the blood and tissues. As the fast continues and more of the toxic load is thrown out, the system becomes purified and one improves health or recovers health.
There are three important facts to note: (1) Because of its intracellular (within the cells) enzymes, the body is capable of digestion of its own proteins, fats, and carbohydrates; ( 2 ) The body is fully capable of controllingthe self-digesting process ( autolysis ) and rigidly limits it to non-essential and less essential tissues. Even in starvation, when the vital tissues begin to be consumed, there is rigid control as these tissues are drawn upon in an inverse proportion to their relative importance; and ( 3 ) The body is capable of utilizing the end products of this autolytic ( self ) disintegration to nourish its most vital and most essential parts.
Water is lost first. Energy first comes from combustion of carbohydrates, then fat reserves, then tissue protein. Even after a prolonged fast, nitrogen excretion shows a pronounced fall, the nitrogen being retained for reconstruction of tissue protein. The nitrogen excreted early in the fast is derived from the mobilization of reserve protein. The excretion of sodium, potassium, calcium, and other minerals is reduced after the first few days of fasting, and normal blood levels are then maintained showing evidence that they are conserved.
The body regenerates itself constantly and the daily renewal of its cells and tissues prevents old age and death for a considerable time in spite of abuses committed against it. The process of regeneration stays ahead of the process of degeneration as a result of fasting, so a higher level of health is thus reached. Man cannot live for many generations or shrink down and then grow into a young man, but there is, to an extent, a renewal of man's body.
Hawk, Oser, and Summerson state: "Abstinence from food for a short time can in no way operate to the disadvantage of a normal person. In fact, individuals affected with certain types of gastrointestinal disorders are benefitted by fasting. Fasting has also been used in cases of diabetes and obesity."
Fasts of long duration (beyond four or five days to a week) should be properly supervised by competent professional hygienic practitioners (be they medical, osteopathic, or chiropractic physicians). It is vitally important to break a long fast correctly to avoid any potential hazards to the body. Fasting is virtually safe if handled properly, particularly when you compare the fact that there are over 100,000 deaths a year due to the taking of prescription drugs, according to Drs. Milton Silverman and Philip Lee (researchers) of the University of California at San Francisco ( UCSF ) .
There are some contraindications to fasting: (1) Fear of the fast; ( 2) Extreme emaciation. Sometimes a short fast of one to three days or a series of short fasts with intervals of proper feeding are beneficial; ( 3) Extreme weakness or degeneration. In late or terminal cancer the only value is that fasting will relieve the patient's suffering and allow him to die in relative peace rather than in severe pain as a narcotics addict. Regarding cancer, I remember a prominent physician stating that "the single most important need is early detection." I must disagree with that because early detection means the person already has cancer. I believe the single most important need is prevention, whether it be for cancer or any other disease. George Crile, M.D., uses the term starvation instead of fasting, but he states: "It is in selective starvation that one of the great hopes for the future lies. It is possible that ultimately cancer will be controlled not by attacking the cancer, but by starving it or by altering the environment in which it lives"; (4) Severe deficiency disease. The person should be built up with proper diet before a fast is attempted; (5) Sometimes with difficult breathing, as in heart cases and should heart action weaken, the fast should be terminated; and ( 6 ) Pregnancy. Lactating mothers should not fast.
As one gets into a fast, certain developments occur almost like clockwork: The tongue becomes coated, the breath and taste become foul, and the teeth become pasty. This is due to the body's unloading of its toxic burden. Almost automatically, after the third day, true hunger and sincere desire for food subside and you become quite comfortable. As long as this hunger is absent, it indicates that no food is required. However, one of the main indications for terminating the fast is the return of true hunger. This is the body's inner wisdom in action, preventing the entering of the starvation period. An interesting fact is that most people have never really experienced and enjoyed true hunger. True hunger is a comfortable mouth and throat sensation, as is thirst. The "average" person experiences what is termed "hunger pangs" or gnawing in the stomach. This is a morbid sensation-not a normal indication of hunger. The years of overeating, smoking, drinking, the use of salt and other irritants and/or poisons, etc., contribute to this abnormal sensation of hunger which is nothing more than irritation (the earliest warning sign of impending and incipient ulcer and, in some cases, cancer). This inner wisdom is always at work for us, but most people ignore or are completely unaware of it. The so-called "dumb" animal is aware why aren't we? Observe your pet dog or cat who is supposed to be less intelligent than the human. He doesn't know about drugs, medicines, or doctors. Yet, what does he do when he doesn't feel well? He fasts! Other indications for breaking the fast are that the foul breath and taste become sweet and clean, the heavily coated tongue becomes pink and clear, salivary secretion becomes normal (it usually is thicker and in smaller quantities during a fast), the temperature, which may have been subnormal, returns to normal and the usually dark and odorous urine becomes light and loses its strong odor.
Contrary to misbeliefs and old wives' tales, fasting does not cause the stomach to atrophy (wither and become useless) or its walls to adhere or its digestive fluids to turn upon itself and digest it, does not paralyze the bowels, does not deplete the blood or produce anemia, does not produce an acidosis that results in death, does not cause the heart to weaken or collapse, does not produce deficiency or malnutritional disease and its edema (swelling), does not reduce resistance to disease, does not harm the teeth, the nervous system, glands or vital organs, does not weaken the vital powers or cause mental disturbances. Blood sugar is little depressed; it is synthesized from protein.
Fasting, itself, does not cure disease. It gives the body the environment to heal itself-physiologic rest. However, this is what fasting does do: (1), It gives the vital organs a complete rest; ( 2 ) It stops the intake of foods that decompose in the intestines and further poison the body; ( 3 ) It promotes elimination of metabolic wastes; (4) It allows the body to adjust and normalize its biochemistry and also its secretions ( glandular fluids); ( 5 ) It lets the body break down and absorb swellings, deposits, diseased tissues, and abnormal growths; (6) It restores a youthful condition to the cells and tissues and in a relative sense rejuvenates the body; (7) It permits the conservation and re-routing of energy; ( 8 ) It increases the powers of digestion and assimilation (absorption and utilization of food into the system); ( 9 ) It clears and strengthens the mind; and (10) It improves function throughout the body. Of course, if there are irreversible changes, the results may be poor to none.
Actually, the fast will have been in vain if the individual returns to his old habits, and the results will be more or less temporary. Fasting does not make one disease-proof. Hygienic living is essential after the fast if good health is to be the continued and permanent result.
Fasting is a means to an end: It is a cleansing process and a physiologic or functional rest which prepares the body for future correct living.
In his book, Fasting: The Ultimate Diet (a worthy contribution on the subject of fasting), Dr. Allan Cott recommends: (1) "Drink -at least two quarts of water every day"; (2) "If the object of your fast is to lose weight, you will lose it that much more quickly by adhering to a daily exercise program"; and ( 3 ) "Exercise as much as you can."
It is important, to avoid a potential and very real danger, that these recommendations be re-evaluated and put in a proper perspective: (1) Setting a goal of two quarts or more of water every day is not in harmony with normal physiology. In fact, it is a forcing measure which may cause a mineral imbalance (depletion) from too much flushing of the system with water. Nothing should be forced, whether fasting or not. The body with its innate wisdom will indicate when to drink, when not to drink, and also how much to drink. One should use his or her body's own wisdom as a guide. (During each of my long fasts, I drank only when I was thirsty; some days I drank two glasses of water, and some days I consumed two quarts.) Excesses enervate the body, particularly the fasting body, and put more of a burden on it. (2) Regarding Dr. Cott's recommendation of a daily exercise program to lose weight more quickly while fasting, there's an old adage in biochemistry which says, "Fat burns in the flame of carbohydrate." Glucose is a refined carbohydrate. It stands to reason that if the body's supply of glucose is conserved and not depleted through physical exercise, fat will burn more efficiently and thus more weight will be lost while fasting. This is seen regularly at the various natural hygiene institutions. Guests are usually advised to rest after the second day of fasting. This holds true particularly during fasts of longer durations. Some have tried it both ways and agree that resting while fasting produces more beneficial results as well as a mole rapid weight loss. (3) My biggest concern is the statement to "exercise as much as you can," which Dr. Cott recommends during fasting. Some of the crises which take place during a fast are due to the side effects of drugs being disengaged from the fat tissues. When one is fasting, the release of deepseated toxins takes place because of energy from glucose. However, when exercise is carried out, glucose is diverted to the muscles and can cause a hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). This low glucose doesn't give the body enough energy to eliminate the deep-seated toxins. This is the reason why so many people boast of how they can fast for two or three weeks working all the time. The body must expend energy for this work, and the elimination of metabolic wastes and other poisons are hindered. If these people were to lie in bed and rest while fasting, they would eliminate much more efficiently and would undergo these healing crises, which would make them temporarily too "sick" to get out of bed for a while. The body retraces while in a long fast and toxins from past years are eventually thrown out. You might compare this to a thermometer which, as the mercury rises, passes through various gradations; as the mercury falls, it passes back through these gradations.
To clarify and help you further understand this very important point, let us remember that when one is fasting, enzymic functions (specific biochemical reactions) are carried out at a high level of energy. Fuel for energy is supplied by glucose. When no food is being taken into the system, no glucose is being manufactured. Therefore, stored reserves of glucose, taken mainly from the liver and muscles are being utilized. When these reserves begin to diminish, nervous and chemical energy are expended to replace the glucose.
During the fast, glucose is needed to supply energy to effect the carrying off of wastes from the bloodstream and to burn up fat. This same energy, supplied by glucose, is utilized to effect the process of desalination (removal of salt from fatty tissue) which occurs during fasting. Inorganic salt, which the body in its wisdom has mobilized by conjugating it with fat, is now disengaged from the fat and cast into the bloodstream where it is carried basically to the main organ of elimination, the kidneys, which void it.
Glucose aids the buffer systems of the blood to help neutralize the acidity which occurs during the fast. The brain, which uses glucose for fuel, must also be supplied with this vital substance by the bloodstream.
When you are physically active during the fast, glucose (which would be utilized to supply energy for the removal of toxins and metabolic wastes, for the metabolism of fat, for desalination, to fuel the brain, etc.) must be diverted to provide the energy required for physical activity. The result could be a less efficient removal of wastes, a reduction in the amount of fat metabolized, reduced efficiency in the desalination process, and a dangerously low glucose level in the brain. It could cause acidosis because of too concentrated a level of toxins remaining in the bloodstream rather than being excreted efficiently; it could cause rapid heartbeat; it could affect the respiratory center of the brain, causing fainting or a lack of proper breathing. The condition is known as hypoglycemia or low blood sugar.
In an article in the Journal of the American Medical J Association, November 16, 1963, Dr. Walter Bloom of I the Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, states: "Fasting is well tolerated for long periods of time, provided energy expenditure is restricted."
A most important point, regarding exercise during fasting, to also consider is that the body in the fasting state is resting, and the use of exercise may put an excessive strain on the heart and other organs, with life threatening consequences.
Today we do not stress so much the length of the fast as its effectiveness. To arbitrarily limit the duration of the fast is to limit the benefits one may derive from it. The only logical plan of determining the length of a, fast is to watch day-by.-day developments and to freak ~or continue the fast according to these. No man possesses sufficient knowledge to determine in advance how much fasting one requires in one's particular condition. In adjusting the length of the fast to individual needs, a close study and observation of the faster, as the fast progresses, is required.
The second phase of Natural Hygiene I'd like to familiarize you with is proper nutrition and food combining. Let us not be confused with the terms nutrition and food. These are not synonymous. It is one thing to have good nutrition, but it is another thing to eat an abundance of food. You are not nourished by the amount of food you eat, but in proportion to the amount you digest and assimilate ( absorb and convert into living tissue). The key is assimilation.
According to the research of Dr. Joseph Sasaki, an eminent eye specialist from Ann Arbor, Michigan, many people are not receiving the proper nutrition from their foods because of one important factor-close work during and/or after eating. It is a known physiologic fact that close work, during or immediately after eating hinders digestion and inhibits the proper absorption and, assimilation of vitamins B and C and amino acids. This predisposes most human beings to many consequential diseases, in addition to tenseness and nervousness. In fact, many people's tenseness and nervousness have disappeared when close work during and/or after eating was stopped. The problem is that people spend a majority oftheir time indoors, at home or work, 'and rarely do they ;allow their eyes to relax at infinity (beyond 20 feet). ?~ Therefore, don't read or watch television during meal- '; times; don't read or watch television for one and one-half ;a to two hours after eating; don't close your eyes (as in napping) after eating, since this is the same as doing close work; and don't stay indoors because rarely do you see beyond 20 feet, but if you must, then sit and look out the window into the distance.
Many people do not have the capacity to properly digest and assimilate their food, yet I've seen countless numbers stuffed on all types of foods, particularly protein and fattening food. This stuffing regimen, which is so common, only enervates and further weakens those people who lack the capacity to digest and assimilate. They are similar to people who are anemic and taking iron without improving, or those taking any other so-called food supplements for whatever is supposed to be lacking and yet not getting better. After these methods have failed, stimulants and tonics are usually added. These cannot enhance digestive and assimilative powers, so the individual may become thinner, weaker, and sicker. This is what happened to me as I ran this same gamut during the course of my nightmarish illness. Capacity cannot be bought. There are no drugs that can increase this capacity or carry on our life functions for us. Nothing from any source outside the body can add to its nutritive capacities or healing abilities. Furthermore, if medicines are supposed to make sick people well, then it certainly should be beneficial or harmless for healthy people to take them. So why are they forbidden?
It is as important to know when to abstain from food as it is to know when and how much to eat. There is no benefit derived by eating when no food is required or when food cannot be digested and assimilated. Just as a large pile of bricks does not increase the productive capacity of the bricklayer, so a large supply of food does not increase the digestive and assimilative capacities of the invalid. Fasting, under certain circumstances and conditions, is one way to increase these powers. Generally speaking, the average person should fast 36 hours (a day and a half) a week. For example, eat the last meal onSunday night; then eat the next meal on Tuesday morning.
In Natural Hygiene, a vegetarian diet is followed, although some people in a transition period or for personal reasons do use occasional meat or fish until they are able to eliminate them. The diet consists mainly of fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and sprouts which are eaten, for the most part, unfired-raw. Some prefer to use a little natural cheese, while some prefer to add some cooked food such as steamed potatoes, brown rice, anda wide variety of very interesting and palate-teasing vegetarian recipes. These foods supply the richest source of minerals, vitamins, and enzymes when eaten raw. Heat (cooking) destroys the enzymes, certain vitamins, and in general the life in the food. Many people maintain they can't handle raw foods. I couldn't either, but after a fast to .let the digestive apparatus heal itself, I'm living on foods my doctors said I could never eat again. So it is with others, which indicates that a fast may be necessary.
The present-day diet of Americans is largely denatured. It is made up o4 white _bread, white rice, demineralized cereal grains, pasteurized milk, white sugar, canned rusts and vegetables, cakes, pies. and thorough cooked food. all eaten in abominable combinations .Also the unlimited use of other harmful "foods" such as salt, condiments, coffee, tea, deep-fried -foods, alcoholic beverages, pastas spaghetti, 'macaroni, etc. , food substitutes ( e., egg substitutes, non-dairy creamers etc.), and an endless list of items which denote "gracious living." I have always said that man will eat almost anything, even if it makes him sick or kills him. In fact, if I took some shoe leather, softened it, spiced it as a gourmet would and baked it, I venture to say that someone would eat it. The motto seems to be, "If it tastes good eat it." People have forgotten the taste of plain, wholesome, natural food.
White sugar is probably responsible for more damage to the mind and body than any other single food-type element. It raises blood cortisone, increases triglycerides (fats) and cholesterol, raises blood uric acid (which can cause gouty arthritis among other things), and increases hydrochloric acid in the stomach. There is no nutriment in white sugar (which is contained in most commercial foods today and has a strong affinity for calcium-so much so that it upsets the calcium-phosphorus balance, which can be serious in a growing child). White sugar can produce hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) because of the constant stimulation of the pancreas to produce insulin in such amounts as to cause a tremendous drop in the blood sugar level. Hyper kinetic (hyperactive) children, according to the latest research, have been found to ingest large amounts of white sugar and chemical food additives; when these were taken away from them, they ceased to be hyper kinetic.
Milk also has no place in the adult diet, since the stomach enzyme rennin, which is responsible for coagulating the milk, is diminished or lacking, thereby making the milk very difficult to digest properly. This is why a natural cheese would be better because it is already coagulated. Pasteurization alters enzymes and vitamins and also destroys an important amino acid (protein building block)-lysine. Then vitamins are artificially added back. Milk is an insulator and when taken with meals retards gastric (stomach) digestion. Another interesting fact is that many children who are anemic are big milk drinkers. Why? Because when they fill up on milk, which has no iron, it prevents them from eating a proper diet that would contain adequate iron. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Handbook No. 8, there are many vegetables that contain two to ten times the amount of calcium as milk. There are also those that contain more iron than liver, such as seeds.
There seems to me much concern about pernicious anemia in people who don't eat animal products, particularly vegetarians. The fact is that anyone can suffer a nutritional imbalance through ignorance, neglect, or as a result of the fast pace of living. Doctors' offices are full of people with pernicious anemia, almost all of whom eat meat and other animal products.
Best and Taylor state: "The extrinsic factor (vitamin B-1,2) is present in liver, beef, rice polishings, yeast, and other substances rich in the vitamin B complex. It is also found in the intestinal contents of normal persons as well as in the feces of patients with pernicious anemia. There is, therefore, no reason to believe that a dietary deficiency of this factor is the cause of the disease. The basic defect in pernicious anemia is the failure of the gastric mucosa (stomach lining or membrane) to produce, at least in effective amounts, the intrinsic factor. It is now believed that this factor is essential for the adequate absorption of vitamin B-12."
I only mention a few foods to give you an idea of why the average person does not have a high degree of health.
It is not in the scope of this book to analyze every food, but there is an important fact about raw natural foods (roughage). Drs. David Kritchevsky and Baruch Modan, of the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia and Johns Hopkins Medical School respectively, have done research on plant .fiber (roughage) and colon cancer. It was found that people who ate a large amount of plant fiber-raw, fresh -fruits and vegetables-had a lower incidence of colon cancer. This "roughage," which is indigestible, stimulates the colon to get rid of its contents faster, and as this food moves through the small and lower intestines it takes with it the bile produced by the liver and the cholesterol contained in the food. The fiber or cellulose keeps the body from reabsorbing these potentially dangerous substances. So there is also an effect on the lowering of blood cholesterol. People who eat large amounts of carbohydrate and meat. with little or no roughage show a higher incidence of colon cancer. The meat and starches tend to stagnate in the intestinal tract, since they do not stimulate intestinal motility to evacuate them. As a result, there are poisonous waste products from the putrefaction of these "hung-up" foods, which come in contact with the intestinal lining regularly and for prolonged periods.
What's wrong with meat? As soon as the animal is killed, the flesh begins to decay. As the animals are being killed, they all sense this and build up a tremendous fear which releases adrenalin into their tissues, which is eaten by the consumer. Most animals are given DES (diethylstilbestrol), a synthetic female sex hormone, to put on abnormal weight. The consumer eats the meat, including the hormone, and this has been known to cause serious problems, particularly in women. The end products of meat digestion and putrefaction in the intestinal tract are such poisons as skatol, indol, phenol, acetic acid, and uric acid, all of which tend to poison the body. The uric acid is responsible for gout and gouty arthritis as well as kidney stones.
Man is not carnivorous. If he was, there would be no problem with meat eating. However, many facts stand out to show he is non-carnivorous. A few of these are: The carnivore has an enzyme-uricase-which renders uric acid harmless. The carnivore has a short intestinal canal, while man's is extremely long allowing meat (which is highly putrefactive) to decay even further on its long trip to the outside world. The carnivore possesses claws; man has fiat nails. The carnivore has a rasping tongue, man does not. The carnivore has pointed molar teeth for tearing, while man has blunt molar teeth for grinding. The carnivorous animal has no pores; he perspires through the mouth (panting). Man and the other non-carnivorous animals, with the exception of the elephant, have pores and perspire through the skin.
Also, as an animal lives and eats it must constantly give off waste products of metabolism or it will die of its own poisons. When the consumer eats the flesh, he is eating also the waste products of metabolism, which is a part of the meat and still in it. This predisposes to many of man's diseases.
Proper foods do not cure. They give to the body all the essential elements it needs to maintain its natural immunities, its health, and its optimum function. It is through the improper combining of foods-the haphazard habit of putting anything and everything into one's stomach-that is a cause of many of our ;ills, both minor and life threatening.. The purpose of food combining is to facilitate digestion-to make it easier, less complicated, and more efficient, even in the presence of some so-called digestive problems. We have certain physiological (functional) limitations of the digestive system (glands, enzymes, juices) and the digestion of different foods requires special adaptations in the digestive secretions.
Based on the principles of the chemistry of digestion, he are the rules of proper food combining:
1. Never eat carbohydrate (starch) and acid foods at the same meal. Don't eat bread, potatoes, rice, etc., with oranges, grapefruit, tomatoes, pineapple, etc. The salivary enzyme ptyalin, which begins starch digestion in the mouth, is alkaline in nature and is neutralized or destroyed by mild acids, even to the extent of 0.003 percent. If this occurs, then starch digestion is delayed and these foods begin to decompose in the stomach and produce gas and noxious chemicals.
2. Never eat a concentrated protein and a concentrated starch (carbohydrate) at the same meal. This means do not eat such items as nuts, meat, eggs, cheese, etc., with such items as bread, potatoes, rice, cereals, etc. Probably the most common example is meat and potatoes, or even a hamburger or hot dog sandwich. Next to overeating, this particularly bad combination is probably responsible for more digestive problems and eventual illness than any other abusive food combination. The digestion of starches and proteins is so different, that when they are indiscriminately mixed in the stomach, the digestion of each is interfered with. The protein digestion requires an acid medium in the stomach while the starch digestion, which begins in the mouth, takes place in an alkaline medium. The starch digestion cannot be carried on for long because the increasing stomach acidity soon stops or slows up starch digestion and this results in putrefaction, gas, and toxic end products of this decomposition. As a result, the "average" person eating the "average" meal of many courses usually comes away from the table with the usual fullness, bloating, gas, and, later on, foul stools.
3. Never eat two different concentrated proteins at the same meal. For example, don't eat nuts and meat, eggs and meat, nuts and cheese, cheese and eggs, etc., at one meal. Two proteins of different types and compositions require different types of digestive juices of varying strength and character pouring into the stomach at different times, thus reducing the efficiency of digestion. Since people eat more than one or two meals and since there is protein in almost everything eaten in the properly balanced diet, one does not have to consume all of his proteins in any one meal. This doesn't mean that several types of meat or nuts or cheese cannot be eaten at one meal, except this usually leads to overeating.4. Don't eat fats with proteins. This means do not mix cream, butter, oil, etc., with meat, eggs, cheese, nuts, etc. Fat hinders gastric (stomach) digestion. It lessens the amount of gastric juice secreted. It keeps the enzymes from attacking the food by encasing the food particles. Fat also lowers the amount of pepsin and hydrochloric acid in the gastric juice.
5. Do not eat acid foods and protein at the same meal. For example, oranges, tomatoes, lemons, pineapple, grapefruit, etc., should not be eaten with meat, cheese, eggs, nuts, etc. These acids, instead of assisting in protein digestion as many people erroneously think, actually retard protein digestion and this results in putrefaction, since an unhampered flow of gastric juices is imperatively demanded by protein foods. Even vinegar used on salads serves as a check to hydrochloric acid secretion and this interferes with protein digestion, because hydrochloric acid activates pepsin. The two exceptions to this rule would be the use of cheese and nuts with the acid foods because these foods contain enough fat to inhibit gastric secretion for a longer time than do acids. Also; these two foods do not decompose as quickly as other protein foods when they are not immediately digested.
The simple fact is that the less complex our food mixtures and the simpler our meals, then the more efficient may we expect digestion to be. There have been so many people who have not changed their way of life or diet, but just observed the proper food combining rules and have noticed remarkable improvement in their digestion, in their health, and general well-being.
Actually it is not ideal to eat the easily digested foods such as the fruits with the more concentrated and heavy proteins, because the fruits are held up during digestion of protein in the stomach. This can tie up the fruit in the stomach for a number of hours, during which time the fruit decomposes and causes much gas and discomfort. It is better to eat the fruit first, wait maybe 15 minutes or so and then eat the concentrated, heavier protein food. In fact, as a general rule one should eat the less concentrated food such as fruit or vegetables first, and the concentrated foods of starches and protein last.
6. Ideally, melons and all the other countless fruits and berries should be eaten at a fruit meal alone-nothing else, just the fruit. Many people say they can't eat melons or whatever fruit because they get gas and feel bloated. Well one of the greatest dietetic sins these people commit is the eating of these melons, etc., as a cool, refreshing dessert after a "hearty" meal. This fruit hasto rot and decompose while it is held up in the stomach waiting for all of, this other digestion to take place. Never eat fruit as a dessert.
7. Don't eat sugars and proteins at the same meal. These hinder protein digestion in the stomach because all sugars (commercial sugar, honey, sweet fruits such as dates, figs, etc.) have an inhibiting effect on the secretion of gastric juice and upon motility of the stomach. If sugars are eaten alone, they pass quickly into the intestine, but when eaten with other foods (proteins and starches), they are held up in the stomach for a prolonged period awaiting digestion of the other foods, and so they undergo decomposition.
8. Do not eat starches and sugars together at the same meal. This means breads, cereals, potatoes, rice, pastries, etc., with jams or jellies, syrup, sugared products, honey, etc. All sugars are readily dispatched from the stomach, but if eaten with other foods, such as the starches, they are held up in the stomach while awaiting the starch digestion and this causes decomposition of the sugar, with formation of gas and bloating. Most important is the fact that when sugars and starches are taken into the mouth, the mouth fills with saliva, but it doesn't contain the enzyme ptyalin because ptyalin does not act on sugars; or the saliva may contain very little ptyalin insuring that starch digestion will either not take place or will be interfered with, causing gas, bloating, and toxic products. One of the worst abominations is pancakes and syrup.
I'm sure most of you know that full, bloated, and gassy feeling after eating a large meal that violates the principles of proper food combining. Very few people go away from the table feeling comfortable. In fact, most people get that tired, heavy, sluggish feeling that makes them' drowsy after a "graciously" prepared meal.
9. Eat but one concentrated starch food at a meal. This is not because there is any conflict in the digestion of these foods, but because taking two or more concentrated starches at a meal is practically certain to lead to overeating of these foods, which usually leads to decomposition with its toxic end products.
The following classification of foods will make it easier to understand and use the principles of food combining that have been presented. The lists are by no means complete, but should be sufficient as a base from which to begin. From your reading, you know which foods to use and you know which foods not to use. You know which foods will build health and which foods will not; therefore, the list will not contain any "junk" foods. There will be a few foods not hygienic, but these will be used for clarification, although some may use them occasionally, particularly those who feel they cannot change their habits too quickly and must go through a transition period. Many foods contain both protein and carbohydrate.
