There is a growing conviction among people and practitioners that “living,” sun-drenched water from fast-flowing streams and lakes, replenished by rainfall and irradiated by sunlight, has a special curative property—in both internal and external use.

There are many theories as to why living water is better for health and healing. One is that sunlight has an enriching effect on water, which absorbs solar energy. This energy influences the growth and reproduction of beneficial microorganisms which exercise a destructive influence on disease-causing organisms that pollute water. Another theory for the curative power of living water is that rain water and water from open springs, pools and rivers is a potent source of oxygen and beneficial microorganisms from the air in addition to the vital solar energy. When man began drinking underground water he lost some of his hereditary resistance to disease, which is still possessed by wild animals who drink living water.

The great ancient physicians Hippocrates and Galen believed in the healing power of living water. The Greeks cured themselves by drinking water from the healing fountains in the temples, where running water was given the maximum of aeration and exposure to sunlight.

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Your body can manufacture many enzymes from the food you eat, water you drink and air you breathe. Enzymes are also present in all natural foods in their raw state. When you eat raw foods, you are supplying your digestive system with the enzymes necessary for the effective digestion and assimilation of the nutrients from these foods. Note that enzymes must be replenished all the time. After enzymes complete their particular work, they are destroyed and the body has to manufacture new enzymes.<неиThere are endogenous enzymes, or those found within the body, and exogenous enzymes, which are found in raw foods. Both have similar properties, and the more enzymes supplied with the foods you eat, the more easily and effectively can your body conduct its vital processes. In a condition of ill health, especially when digestive organs are diseased and unable to digest foods properly, the enzymes in raw foods are able to duplicate the functions of endogenous enzymes and assist in digestion and assimilation of the nutrients from the food in which they appear.

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If we analize all these cures we will find that the paramount feature in all of them is fasting: total, partial or modified—but nevertheless fasting. When you do not consume anything but grapes, or apples, or carrot juice for prolonged periods of time, your system, deprived of its “normal” heavy diet of proteins, fats and grains, etc., and receiving only easily-assimilated fruits or vegetable juices with virtually no digestive effort required, will soon institute the process of autolysis. This is the essential health-restoring activity which the healing powers of the body institute in order to restore health. By autolysis, or the process of self-digestion and absorption, the body breaks down the diseased tissues and burns and excretes the toxic, morbid matter from the system.

This process of autolysis is to be credited for the miraculous healing effect of fasting—be it with water, juices, grapes or apples.

People of all ages and in various parts of the world have used cures with this or that fruit or vegetable without actually realizing why these cures were so effective. They naturally gave the whole credit for the cure to the particular fruit, vegetable or drink used. With the present knowledge of nutrition, biochemistry and the metabolic and healing processes of the body, it is possible to determine more accurately the exact function of these substances in the healing processes and give proper credit. The majority of the experienced authorities on fasting agree that although such therapies as Grape Cure, Apple Cure, Carrot Juice Cure, etc. can be very effective, a more scientific modern fasting on a combination of special vegetable or fruit juices and mineral-rich, alkaline vegetable broth gives even better results. For example, in the Buchinger Sanatorium in Germany, which has the experience of over 70,000 therapeutic fasts, the intake of juices, broths and herb teas is closely supervised by doctors in each individual case. Each condition requires a different regime and a different supply of enzymes, vitamins and minerals for the maximum curative effect. Special attention is given to mineral metabolism, Thus, patients with acidosis, or a condition where there are not enough alkali in the blood, are given alkaline cabbage broth or other vegetable broths. In cases of mineral deficiency, mineral waters and mineral-rich herb teas are used. In vitamin and enzyme deficiency, raw fruit juices are advised. Various herb teas with particular medicinal properties for different diseases are prescribed individually. This kind of scientific, controlled fasting will, of course, result in faster and more complete recovery.

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Fasting is a total abstinence from food. It is the oldest therapeutic method known to man. It has been a dependable curative measure throughout medical history, even before Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine. It was prescribed by Hippocrates, Paracelsus, Galen, and all the other great physicians of old. It was practiced by many great thinkers and philosophers, such as Plato and Socrates, to “attain mental and physical efficiency.” The therapeutic values of fasting are well documented by a large number of scientific investigations, studies, and empirical observations. Doctors who employ fasting testify that it indeed works. Not only the great Paracelsus knew that “fasting is the greatest remedy,” or the “physician within,” but many modem medicos agree with the words of Dr. Adolph Mayer that “fasting is the most efficient means of correcting any disease.” Dr. Otto H. F. Buchinger calls fasting a “Royal road to healing.” But how can mere abstinence from food accomplish such remarkable healing results?

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In regard to the threat of poison in foods and environment, European doctors and governments have demonstrated their willingness to protect the public. For example, long before Americans even heard of the possible link between smoking and cancer, several European governments, convinced by the overwhelming evidence, took action against smoking. In England tobacco advertising is under rigid restriction. In Italy it is totally banned. Heavy taxes were put on cigarettes by many countries to make them less attractive; a pack of cigarettes in Sweden, for example, costs about three times the American price!

Fluoridation of the water is another good example. Many European countries do not want anything to do with fluoridation. The government of Denmark, on recommendation of their Medical Association, totally prohibited the fluoridation of water throughout the country. Russia and many East European countries did the same. Their reason for prohibition is that “there is no valid scientific evidence as to the benefit or the harmfulness of the measure.”

The scientific council of the International Society for Research on Nutrition and Vital Substances, a foremost scientific body of over 400 scientists from all over the world, has condemned fluoridation of the water. Their resolution on prevention of dental diseases states: “A diet of natural, whole foods rich in vital substances stimulating mastication should be preferred to a compulsory fluoridation of drinking water.”

Where poisonous pesticides and food additives are concerned, many European countries have taken drastic measures to protect the public.

In Germany, since 1959, there has been a very strict law regulating additives to foods of fremdestoffe (foreign substances), implying that they don’t really belong in foods. Amounts of additives permitted in foods are sharply reduced and all additives must be clearly declared, even in restaurants, where food additives used in every item on the menu must be indicated.

In France, bleached flour is not permitted to be used in bread, nor are chemical additives permitted in bread. In England, there is a government law, the Carcinogenic Substances Regulation, termed “a landmark in cancer prevention,” which supervises and regulates the presence of cancer-causing chemicals in man’s environment. Spain and Israel have reduced by law the chemical treatment of their fruits. And in Soviet Russia, food processors and manufacturers are not allowed to use any artificial colors or flavors in any foods whatsoever.

While we ridicule those who try to improve their health and prevent disease by eating health foods, in Sweden, top nutritionists at the famous Nobel Institute have started extensive research aimed at the development of a health-food diet that will prevent illness and build optimum health.

*4\58\2*

The simplest way to pulp comfrey leaves is to place about six of them in the blender (vitamizer) with enough water to reduce to a thick green liquid. (NOTE: Some comfrey will turn to a thick jelly in a few minutes and will bind up the blender if you are not careful to watch for this and add more water as needed.) If you do not have a blender, then bruise and cut the leaves to release the moisture. Spread the pulp onto the poultice cloth and use in the usual way. It is particularly good on swollen

neck glands. Comfrey can be used when there is ulceration of the skin, irritation caused by poison ivy, inflammation of tissue, cellulitis, or when there is swelling and heat causing pain in a leg or arm. Comfrey has a wonderful healing power. When a poultice is used on a large ulcer, it needs to be renewed often, to take off the sludge, or rotting flesh. Do not be afraid of the smell. It is taking away poisons you did not even know were in your body. When it has done its cleansing work, it will begin to nourish the flesh so that new skin will begin to grow over the affected part.

Take a long strip of clean cloth about eight inches wide and as long as is necessary to wrap the affected part. Spread the comfrey mixture on half of the cloth lengthwise. Fold this over lengthwise, and wrap like an elastic bandage around the limb. Lay the folded edge on the lower

Much of the healing power of cabbage is due to its drawing properties. The chlorophyll in it is very cleansing. It will help the skin to eliminate toxins and other harmful substances from the affected area while at the same time supplying it with nutrients. There are several varieties of cabbage, but you can effectively use whichever is available. Often crushed cabbage leaves will help to carry away stale blood and built-up fluids in tissues that are badly bruised and swollen.

Cabbage leaves crushed with a rolling pin can be used to relieve sinus congestion. Crush the green cabbage leaf until it is quite limp and bind it onto the forehead with a bandage or scarf. Or, pulverize the leaf in a blender and place the mush in a small cloth bag. Lay this over the face, patting into position over the closed eyes and cheeks. This may not sound too inviting, but it will not be hard to submit to when your face is aching. Of all the materials available for poulticing, the common potato is the most universally and quickly available. Yet this does not diminish its value. It is a particularly useful and effective material for this purpose. It is always used cold. Simply take the potato and grate it finely to produce a wet, cold mush. Spread this onto a cloth in the usual way and apply it to the affected area. It is very versatile and should charcoal be uncomfortable, it can be used everywhere that charcoal is recommended and will do the same work.

Like charcoal, it can also be used internally. In this case, as with the external poultice, it is taken in its raw state, as cooking will destroy its value for this purpose. Take the potato, grate it finely and eat it. Should this prove to be too unpalatable for you, add a tablespoon of water and strain the potato juice from the pulp, then drink that. It is a wonderful alkalizer and will restore the balance in an acid stomach very quickly.

Use potato poultices externally for strains, bruises, infections, boils, abscesses, rheumatic and arthritic inflammations and sores. In general, potato can be effectively used where the affected part is congested, inflamed and heated. The potato neutralizes the acid condition of the tissues and cools by drawing off the excess heat. At the same time it absorbs the excess fluids in the tissues.

Potato is rich in potassium and phosphorus. These chemicals are important to normal muscle and nerve responsiveness, heart rhythm, and in particular, intercellular fluid pressure and balance. No doubt, as the potato is brought into contact with the skin there is an absorption through the pores of the skin of the potassium and phosphorous which further assists in the healing process.

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Sprains and bruises are so well known to us that they hardly need any explanation. What family has not had a member with a twisted ankle or severe bruising at some time or the other? How many are the people who have been laid up for a week or two with their ankles or knees swollen and painful. But this need not be. The prompt and proper application of hot and cold water will bring almost instant relief and put you back on your feet again in a matter of hours or even less.

This is what happens in this kind of accident. The sudden wrenching of the joint damages the network of fine capillaries. Finding its return route damaged, the incoming blood piles up. This blood quickly becomes de-oxygenated and dies with the result that it turns black and blue. This explains the colour of a bruised or sprained joint.

The concentration of blood and damaged cell fluid under pressure causes swelling and pain. Unless this congestion is speedily removed, the pain and swelling will increase. The body does not, of itself, have the ability to remove this quickly. It needs assistance. If this is not received, it will take many days for this congestion to be removed by the slow process of absorption. It is important to understand that until this dead material is removed, no actual healing can begin. In other words, the real time lag in the restoration is not in the healing process, which is actually quite short, but in the clearing away of congestion.

Therefore, the best treatment for this is one that will clear the congestion as quickly as possible so that the life-giving blood can flow again, bringing with it restorative nutrients and oxygen. Nothing can do this as fast as hot and cold water treatments.

*25\62\2*

The steam tent is a valuable tool in home treatments and in general health conditioning. A home-made variety is not hard to arrange. A light bench is built, usually with a slatted top, over which is placed a two-inch thick foam-rubber mattress.

Along the sides of the bench frame, drill holes about eighteen inches apart and large enough to accommodate a number eight (i.e., % inch) fencing wire. Hoops made from this wire are extended from one side of the bench, up over the area where the patient will lie, then to the other side. Over this framework of hoops the tent-type cover is laid. A double-bed blanket or large, heavy quilt will do nicely for this. The blanket must extend far enough below the sides of the slatted surface to catch the steam and direct it up into the tent.

The kettle may be placed under the bench allowing the steam to rise first to the bottom of the slats, then around and up into the tent. The special value of this set-up is that in addition to allowing application of steam to the body as a whole, it will also allow the steam treatment to be localized and applied to a specific part of the body, such as the legs only, shoulders only, or stomach only. This may be accomplished by putting the wire hoops and covering only over the area to be treated and letting the steam rise into this mini-tent. Better control of the steam may be achieved by adding four partitions reaching from the underside of the bench to the floor. This will divide the area under the bench into three sections, each of which will confine the steam from the kettle placed in it and guide the steam up to the mini-tent over the particular area being treated. If you know that you will only be using this set-up for generalized, whole-body treatments, as in the case of arthritis, asthma, overweight, and other related problems, then you may want to custom-fit your bench with a cover made of fiberglass cloth or canvas. Attach it permanently to a tilt-back framework, leaving an opening at the end where the steam will enter the tent through a downpipe (or down-spouting) such as plumbers use to bring the water from the roof guttering to the ground. If this piping method is used, it Is not necessary to make the bench top slatted.

When using the steam tent for the whole body, the head is left out. It is necessary to keep a cool cloth around the neck. Do not allow the blood going to the head to become overheated. Take note when the patient is showing signs of perspiration on the head. It has been observed that some patients’ heads respond very quickly to the heat while the rest of the body refuses to perspire. If this is the case, it will be necessary to take added precautions to keep the head cool until the rest of the body responds.

In using the steam tent, as with all other natural treatments, it is extremely important to concentrate on watching for the response of the patient. Just knowing and carrying out the proper time duration and order of a treatment is not enough. The treatment will only be successful if it accomplishes the desired result. Your knowledge of how the treatment should be carried out must take second place to the response of the patient. When the response indicates it, you should not hesitate to depart from the “normal” mode of doing things. Work towards developing a sensitivity for the patient’s feelings, and he will consider you a compassionate friend as well as a wise health worker.

*14\62\2*

Water is truly the “unique” substance. Of all the substances that are necessary to life as we know it on earth, water is by far the most important, the most wonderful; yet, most people know very little about it. Water, this simple liquid everyone takes for granted, is one of earth’s miracles. Because of its unique chemical properties, it is a maverick compound that seems to defy the normal scientific laws. If water behaved as it should according to molecular theory, blood would boil in the body, plants and trees would die from lack of food, the seas would become great masses of ice, and the world would be turned into an arid waste. Nearly every one of water’s unique properties is closely woven into the fabric of human life. Water covers three quarters of earth’s surface, amounting to 324,000,000 cubic miles. A further two million cubic miles is held underground, and 3,100 cubic miles in the atmosphere.

Using a very versatile and universal substance, water therapy provides a most effective and readily available remedy for a wide variety of problems. Apart from pure air, it is the most important element in nature for sustaining life.

Unfortunately, its use in the treatment of illness and the relief of pain is all too often overlooked, much to the detriment of many.

Records show that the use of water for remedial purposes dates back to Hippocrates, who lived around 500 B.C. He used water extensively in the treatment of disease, applying it both internally and externally. Ancient Egyptian pictures found in tombs depict people preparing for a bath. The early Persians and Greeks erected stately public baths, but it was the Romans who surpassed all other nations in the costliness and magnificence of their bathing facilities.

About the year 1600, Dr. Bell of Paris stated that public vapor baths were numerous and that in connection with city hospitals, nearly 130,000 baths were given in one single year to outside patients. Records show that almost two thousand years ago, the noted physicians Celus and Galen praised and glorified the bath as invaluable. The Germans, too, were fond of bathing, and during the decade of 1840-1850, Victor 1′iK-ssnitz re-established the use of water as a curative agent.

When taken internally, water itself undergoes no change In the body. Yet, it is absolutely essential for the maintenance of vital functions because it is the substance which enables the various organs to perform their life-sustaining processes. The circulatory system is especially dependent upon water because it is the solvent which floats the blood corpuscles, mid the nutritive and waste products carried by the blood. It is perfectly adapted for this purpose, circulating through the most delicate capillaries without friction and even passing through membranes into parts not accessible by openings.

The tissues and organs of our bodies are composed of cells, and seventy to ninety percent of what is inside the cell wall is composed of water. This water is by no means inert and unimportant. It is the chief dispersion medium of the protoplasm; that is, it is the liquid that dissolves, suspends, or otherwise disperses most of the various substances present in the cell. Water is the most highly effective solvent of in-organic compounds and it will also dissolve numerous organic substances.

There are many, many types of cells, all doing their individual work in the tissue or organ of which they are a part, but all need plenty of water in order to carry out their duties which all cooperate in maintaining a healthy body. It is this that makes water so important in the maintenance of health.

The cell is surrounded by a thin membrane wall. Inside this wall is a sophisticated communication set-up: dozens of power stations, a transport system, and an efficient government dictatorship. The healthy cell has power to absorb the nutrients it needs to carry out its work and to reject anything it considers to be an intruder, which includes anything that detracts from its normal function, such as viruses, bacteria, or harmful poisons. When the volume of water is increased in the body, more poisons are dissolved and removed through the cells in the eliminative organs: the lungs, the skin, kidneys, and intestines. By drinking plenty of water, we increase the rate of cell metabolism and, ultimately, the whole body’s ability to assimilate nutrients and disintegrate wastes. Thus, through internal and external therapy with water, every cell of the body can be brought into action in the fight against disease.

There are several qualities about water that make it an ideal substance for use in the treatment of human illness. Water has an exceptionally high heat capacity. It also has a high rate of heat conductivity, one of the highest for fluids, making it possible for even small changes in internal temperatures of one area to be quickly dispersed over large areas. Along the same line, water has a high heat of vaporization, which provides a cooling factor in organisms, generally through perspiration (vaporization) from body surfaces. Because our bodies are composed of such a high percentage of water, these qualities serve to keep our overall temperature relatively stable, even when rapid changes in the temperature of the environment occur.

The heat-absorbing capacity of water makes it especially valuable in applying heat to the body. If we use mercury as the basis for comparison, a pound of hot water will communicate thirty times as much heat to the body as a pound of mercury at the same temperature. Conversely, a pound of cold water will take away from the body thirty times as much heat as a pound of mercury at the same temperature. Hot or cold water will store or absorb a great amount of heat and will very readily communicate this change in temperature to things with which it comes into contact. When applied to the human body, it will very quickly cool or warm the skin, adjacent tissues, and underlying blood current.

*5\62\2*

This refers to the inflammation and infection of the sinuses, membrane lined cavities in the bones of the face. Infection commonly spreads from the nose when a cold is present,- but it can be caused by allergies, swimming (particularly in chlorinated water) or smoking.

Headache, toothache and pain in the face and eyes are sometimes accompanied by red swelling of the cheeks. Mucous discharge from the nose is often yellow or discoloured, containing pus draining from the infected sinuses. The patient will experience blocked nostrils and will often lose much of their sense of smell.

Take care to treat colds thoroughly to avoid the spreading of infection. Never blow the nose too hard as this will force infected mucous into the sinus cavities. Garlic taken during a cold will help stop the spread of infection and horseradish, chewed or taken in tablet form immediately before meals, will help reduce the swelling. Vitamin A reduces membrane inflammation and promotes the quick healing of damaged tissues. Take codliver oil which not only contains Vitamin A but also several fatty acids effective in fighting infection.

For relief from the pain of sinusitis, breathe a vapour of eucalyptus, peppermint or lavender oils. These oils can also be rubbed on the swollen areas of the face. Avoid dairy products for as long as the infection persists and include as much citrus fruit in the diet as possible. Grapefruit in particular is thought to be helpful for sufferers of sinus complaints.

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