9
DIETARY CONSIDERATIONS FOR SPECIFIC CONDITIONS
This chapter is about specific conditions, but a specific diet for each condition will not be described. Different people with the same diagnosed condition have different nutritional requirements; sometimes these differences are marked. Detailed recommendations may be made only after individual assessment. Tastes and emotional states should never be overlooked, for the finest plan is of no help if not followed. With this in mind, we’ll discuss considerations pertaining to the following conditions.
COLDS, FLU, MONONUCLEOSIS
Colds and Flu
Colds and flu disappear most rapidly when a fast is started at the first sign of symptoms. Everyone has individual characteristic signs marking the onset of colds and flu—for some, fatigue and a headachy feeling or perhaps a loss of appetite, for others, a vague but growing soreness in the throat. The latter is often the first sign in those with no tonsils, which as a part of the immune system, protect the throat from bacterial and viral invasion; their loss leaves one more susceptible to sore throats.
Symptoms typically grow worse over the course of a day or two, as the illness becomes established. If a fast is instituted at the first sign, minor symptoms will usually begin to abate within twenty-four hours. The cold or flu can then often be avoided by eating very carefully for the next few days.
The human body is remarkable; when allowed, corrective action comes naturally. The acutely ill feel no hunger because food consumption during acute illness interferes with natural responses. But hunger may be strong when the earliest symptoms appear, for the illness is not yet established. Awareness and discipline aid greatly; too often we eat out of habit or boredom, or because of the expectations of others. The temptation to eat before we have fully recovered may be strong, but doing so often brings back the symptoms and blocks recovery.
After the fasting stage, the wisest diet is one that is comprised, simply, of non-starchy vegetables with lots of butter, broth, fish, chicken, or meat. The classic Jewish mother doles out chicken soup; this wisdom originated when the chicken was fed and raised in the barnyard. A soup made of beef, chicken, or fish stock, and greens, carrots, onions, and garlic is excellent. When a virulent bug takes hold and can’t be shaken off in a day or two, this diet is the next best thing to fasting.
People often express disbelief about the effectiveness of a short fast. One patient called late one Thursday afternoon with flu symptoms. Her weekend travel plans were threatened; she felt ill and was feverish (101.5 degrees). She hoped to feel well enough to travel the next afternoon. A fast was recommended, consisting only of water, herbal tea, vitamin C, and cod-liver oil. “Nothing else,” I told her. “Just rest. Don’t eat tonight or tomorrow. No food, no juices. Take a warm-water enema, body temperature, with a quart or so of water, once tonight and again in the morning. By noon tomorrow, the fever should break, and if your temperature is normal by late tomorrow afternoon and you feel up to it, take your trip. Don’t eat tomorrow night either. Begin eating Saturday—but only vegetables, some soup, and fish, chicken, or meat. Do not overexert yourself. If symptoms reappear, fast again.”
Despite her doubts, she followed my directions. By morning, her temperature was close to normal; by evening she felt well enough to travel. She had aborted a bout with a cold or the flu. Natural, food-sourced vitamin C is useful, two or three hundred milligrams daily.
Recently, Michael Schachter, M.D., reported to me that in the acute stages of flu, patients greatly benefit from taking 50,000 IU of vitamin D and 100,000 IU of vitamin A for three to five days.
Mononucleosis
Mononucleosis is an infectious viral disease marked by fatigue, high fever, sore throat, and swollen lymph glands. The diagnosis is made from characteristics of the blood cells seen microscopically. While people in their teens and twenties are usually the most susceptible to it, middle-aged people with mono may go undiagnosed for months if the possibility is not considered when symptoms are present.
Conventional medicine has no treatment for mono; since it is viral, antibiotics are ineffective, though they may be given if a concurrent bacterial infection is suspected. While effective against some bacterial infections, antibiotics may further weaken the patient and place an added strain on an already overburdened liver. The usual course is several weeks of bed rest followed by several more of gradual recovery.
Recovery from mononucleosis with carefully supervised natural treatment may be dramatic. Even when the disease is well established, an initial thirty-six- to forty-eight-hour fast usually brings the fever under 100 degrees and reverses the course of any concurrent bacterial infection. By then the patient typically feels better and has some appetite; if so, some food may be taken.
With continued rest and careful eating only when the appetite is strong, patients are up and around and feeling fairly well, though still weakened, within a few days. Ninety-percent recovery within one to two weeks and full recovery within two to four weeks has been the rule.
Mono is not life threatening, but it can drag on for months and be most debilitating. Although unusual, some individuals suffer relapses, which may actually be flare-ups of a low-grade but continuing presence of the disease. Although no causal link has been established, patients with a history of recurrent mononucleosis have later developed Hodgkin’s disease, a type of cancer of the lymph system. The chronically weakened immune system leaves an individual susceptible to the development of cancer. A healthy immune system eliminates the small number of cancer cells we all constantly develop spontaneously.
ACUTE ILLNESSES IN INFANTS
In most cases, no food should be given to infants or babies showing signs of acute illness until the temperature returns to normal; usually this takes from twelve to twenty-four hours. Even an infant may be safely fasted for a day or two if sufficient water is given. An acutely ill infant has no desire for food. Short tepid baths (water at seventy-five to eighty degrees for a few minutes) and small amounts of aspirin if the temperature is over 105 degrees usually lowers the fever in infants to under 105 degrees. If the problem seems serious or is accompanied by continuing diarrhea, if there is doubt about its nature, if the fever stays over 105 degrees, or if it persists longer than twenty-four hours despite these measures, the infant should immediately be seen by a physician.
The breast-fed baby is profoundly affected by the diet of the mother; if the baby is ill, the mother’s diet is almost invariably to blame. The above described dietary measures usually quickly eliminate illness in the baby.
Acute illness is a warning sign of more serious things to come, and it may for the most part be avoided by a healthy lifestyle and diet. The simple and straightforward measures discussed effectively deal with most occasional, acute problems that do arise, in a safe and nontoxic way.
ALLERGIES
Allergies too are early warning signs that foods are creating imbalances. The worst offenders are often conventionally produced milk and cheese; removing them from the diet eliminates many allergies.
In young children, allergies most often manifest as coughs, colds, and recurrent middle-ear infections, all of which usually clear up when refined carbohydrates and conventionally produced milk and cheese are removed from the diet. An example is the case of a six-year-old boy whose marked hearing loss due to recurrent middle-ear infections was causing him difficulties in school. Surgical implantation of drainage tubes was planned, but his parents decided to try natural treatment first.
Acute infections in both ears cleared within a week; within three weeks the boy’s parents and his teacher noted a clear improvement in his hearing. Subsequent audio testing showed his hearing returning gradually to normal over the next six months, and surgery was avoided. This little boy was a marvelous patient; within a week on the diet we planned together, he grew to love its foods. He once explained how he hadn’t eaten any cake at a birthday party the day before because he was happy to be hearing better, and that was more important than cake. Eventually, he was able to have cake on occasion without any problems.
Despite having been corrupted by sugar, children’s tastes often change rapidly; they tend to embrace good food when that’s all there is to eat. Firm guidance is needed; they may refuse to eat in an attempt to pressure parents into giving them what they want. The alternative of good food or no food typically ends hunger strikes within a day or so.
Allergy tests are popular because of confusion about what constitutes a proper diet; they attempt to provide a sophisticated solution for a simple but subtle problem. Yet the proper diet for an individual may be determined without these tests.
Many people test positive for pollens and other environmental factors. Conventional allergy treatments are designed to neutralize the effects of these allergens (substances triggering the allergic response), and many people get relief. But adverse reactions to trees, grasses, flowers, dust, dogs, and cats are not normal and indicate that the immune system is unbalanced and failing to function properly. The cause of the imbalance is almost always poor food selection. Offending foods often cause no overt response when eaten. Rather, chronic symptoms such as postnasal drip, congestion, itchy eyes, fatigue, or others are continually present, masking responses occurring when the food is eaten.
The individual then at times has a gross and obvious allergic response to pollens and other environmental factors. The response is real and is directly stimulated by the environmental factors, but it has developed because foods disturbing immune function have been regularly eaten. Refined carbohydrates—sugar and white flour products—and conventional dairy foods are usually the worst offenders. Raw milk from grass-fed animals is very helpful for allergies, as are bone broths and natural vitamin C. The elimination of caffeine from the diet is also helpful.
When traditional diets are followed, allergy problems clear up. Trees, flowers, and cats are not supposed to make people sick; when they do something is wrong. Pottenger noted the development of allergies, and even of allergic bronchitis, in cats fed diets of cooked and refined foods. The naturally fed animals suffered no such aberrations. Unlike cats, people do not require an all-raw diet. But for human beings, allergies are caused by the modern diet.
CHRONIC FATIGUE AND THYROID PROBLEMS
Chronic fatigue is a very common complaint. Some people feel tired throughout life and accept fatigue as normal. Others feel tired for up to several months prior to the diagnosis of a chronic disease. If, however, the results of laboratory tests and a physical exam are normal, little attempt is usually made to treat fatigue. While it may be a sign of a serious but undetected problem, it is often considered a vague complaint that people must live with.
Chronic fatigue is a classic symptom of low thyroid function, or hypothyroidism. The thyroid gland is not an entity unto itself, and its effects on metabolism are best considered as one part of the overall picture. Low thyroid function is common, especially in middle-aged and older people. Laboratory tests for thyroid function often are normal in people exhibiting low thyroid function as well as some of the symptoms of hypothyroidism, which besides fatigue may include dry skin and hair, a tendency to gain weight easily, constipation, and sensitivity to cold weather. Seldom are all of these symptoms present; low thyroid function affects people differently.
The one common characteristic is a low basal body temperature as indicated by the underarm temperature upon first awakening in the morning (best taken at the same time daily before moving about or arising from bed). The most definitive readings in women are taken during the first three days of the menstrual cycle.
The physician first describing this test, Broda Barnes, initially trained as a physiologist, studying thyroid function in animals. He associated low thyroid function in people with the development of chronic diseases and other conditions, including migraines, emotional and behavioral disorders, infectious diseases, skin problems, menstrual and fertility problems, hypertension, heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, cancer, and premature aging. Presence of symptoms associated with low thyroid function and a consistent basal temperature below 97.8 led him to treat with thyroid tissue. In his thirty-five-year career, he treated thousands of patients this way, using the basal body temperature test as one means of monitoring progress. He suggests 97.8 to 98.2 degrees to be a normal range. In my experience, the lower end of the temperature range Barnes used is a bit high; the range of normal should be from 97.2 to 98.2. An individual in the 97.2 to 97.7 range may or may not have low thyroid function; many symptomless people fall in this range, but so do many people with overt symptoms. Those with basal temperatures below 97.2 nearly always show symptoms; people with chronic diseases usually are in this range.
Hormones produced in the thyroid gland control the metabolic rate of every cell in the body. The thyroid thus affects pathological conditions as they arise and develop, and low thyroid function contributes to a developing chronic problem. Many clinicians have noted this relationship. Medical literature since early in the twentieth century reveals many reports of beneficial effects of thyroid medication on a host of chronic conditions. Max Gerson noted that his cancer patients almost invariably suffered from grossly low thyroid function, and he included substantial amounts of thyroid tissue in his therapy.
Barnes kept records that revealed his patients taking thyroid had markedly lower incidences of chronic diseases, especially heart disease and cancer, than statistically expected. This is consistent with the experience of many physicians who find most patients with chronic diseases show some symptoms of low thyroid function and a low basal body temperature. Fat-soluble vitamins A and D are in short supply in most modern diets but are a must for a healthy thyroid.
When prescribing thyroid, endocrinologists and internists usually call for a synthetic hormone rather than natural, animal thyroid tissue. This allows a standardized dosage not possible with precision when using the natural product because tissue from different animals varies slightly in potency. But people on synthetic thyroid may show conflicting symptoms of underactive and overactive thyroid function, and low basal temperatures. Several in my experience have had recurrent heart irregularities—irregular rhythms and palpitations—while on synthetic thyroid. Such irregularities have not been noted in individuals on carefully regulated amounts of natural thyroid.
As chronic conditions improve, symptoms of low thyroid function improve also, and basal temperature rises. Proper diet and adequate iodine intake are essential for healthy thyroid function, as was elegantly demonstrated by Robert McCarrison. He showed that the weight of the thyroid gland as a percentage of total body weight in white rats varied significantly when a natural-food diet rich in raw milk, vegetables, whole-grain flour, and meat was changed to one of refined foods. Classic symptoms of hypothyroidism appeared when the animals were fed refined foods.
The first signs of improvement for many individuals with low thyroid function who are making dietary changes are increased energy with less fatigue and more frequent bowel movements. Improved glandular function, particularly of the thyroid gland, likely provides the stimulus for these changes.
ARTHRITIS AND BACK PROBLEMS
Most people over the age of fifty (and many much younger) suffer at least some early symptoms of arthritis. With added years, the problem usually becomes worse. The bent posture, stiff hands, and slow gait of most elderly Americans is in stark contrast with the energy, activity, and strength noted among the very old in Georgian Russia, Vilcabamba, and Hunza.
No adequate explanation for the development of arthritis has been put forth by conventional medicine. Deposits of calcium are found in affected joints, and involvement of an imbalance in calcium metabolism is accepted. These deposits occur early in osteoarthritis, the common arthritis of aging. In rheumatoid arthritis, they appear considerably later.
What causes these deposits of calcium in the arthritic process? Calcium serves a host of functions, and the absorption and utilization of dietary calcium is complex. Bones are a storehouse for calcium, and normal blood levels of calcium are maintained by an interplay of dietary calcium and calcium released from and taken into the bones.
Abnormal calcium deposits in the joints are due in part to disturbances in calcium metabolism caused by poor diet and subsequent lack of vitamin K2. The MK4 type of vitamin K2, rather than the MK7, is the most beneficial. Published studies of its use in osteoporosis indicate that the ideal dose may be 15 mg three times daily. When dietary calcium is inadequate, the bones steadily lose calcium to maintain adequate levels in the blood. This leads both to osteoporosis (defined as an abnormal loss of calcium from the bones) and to abnormal deposits of calcium; often osteoarthritis and osteoporosis are present simultaneously, and clinicians often have difficulty distinguishing between them.
A loss of calcium from the bones often leads to the spontaneous fractures of osteoporosis, especially of the hips in the elderly. Bones have become so weak in these cases that the break occurs under normal stresses of daily living. The loss of bone calcium leading to this takes place over many years. Studies show radiologists are not unanimous in interpreting an X-ray as showing osteoporosis until at least 30 percent of the calcium in the bone has been lost. This means lesser losses are often not detected; we may assume many middle-aged and older people have an undetected loss of calcium from the bones. This bone loss of calcium leads to the above problems involving calcium deposits.
People eating traditional diets consumed four to eight times the calcium and far greater multiples of vitamin K2 than official standards recommend today. Food rich in calcium should be consumed, especially by people with calcium-related problems. But arthritis also develops in people receiving adequate dietary calcium. Eating refined carbohydrates, particularly sugar, causes disturbances in blood levels of calcium and phosphorous. Such disturbances are a major factor in the development of arthritis. Sweets of any kind aggravate symptoms of arthritis in most patients. Significant improvements in symptoms often lead to a “treat,” a few cookies or similar sweets, soon followed by the reappearance of pain and other symptoms. This is no coincidence.
Commercial dairy products also may aggravate arthritis. Pasteurization changes the way calcium is arranged in milk and disturbs its normal utilization. Often young and early-middle-aged adults with back problems have been large drinkers of commercial milk. Calcium metabolism problems are seldom encountered in raw-milk drinkers. The evidence of Pottenger’s cats is revealing; those fed pasteurized milk developed inferior skeletal structures and eventually mild arthritis, while those fed sweetened condensed milk developed gross skeletal abnormalities and debilitating arthritis. Those fed only raw foods including raw milk maintained perfect health.
The chronic bad back of a young adult often is an early stage of the osteoarthritis of an older individual. Dental decay in children and young adults and periodontal disease in middle-aged and older adults all indicate disturbances in calcium metabolism. These problems respond well to primal diets rich in fat-soluble vitamins A, D, and K2.
These nutrients control mineral metabolism and have profound effects. As we have learned, cod-liver oil, grass-fed butter, egg yolks, liver, and cheese are excellent sources. If individuals chronically lack adequate dietary calcium, then cod-liver oil along with special foods rich in calcium, or calcium hydroxyapatite supplements, may have a rapidly beneficial effect within days, especially upon chronic back problems. Elimination of commercial dairy products and refined carbohydrates and inclusion of raw vegetables in the diet enhances results, as does the inclusion of grass-fed raw milk.
Excess fruit, particularly citrus fruits and fruit juices, usually aggravate arthritis. Night-shade vegetables—tomatoes, potatoes, green peppers, and eggplant—also usually aggravate the symptoms. A problem with nightshades is a sign of vitamin K2 deficiency. My own decades-long allergic reactions to tomatoes largely disappeared when I began taking vitamin K2 supplements (particularly the MK4 type) and eating more grass-fed animal sourced foods. Removal of most fruit, fruit juices, and nightshade vegetables from the diet may be an important part of a program for those serious about reversing an arthritic condition through careful nutrition. Later, moderate amounts may be better tolerated.
Arthritis is often accepted as a part of growing old, perhaps until the pain becomes great. But pain is a great motivator, and people with osteoarthritis are often very successful patients. Literally every patient of mine who has seriously attempted to follow the principles of nutrition outlined above has experienced significant relief from arthritis.
The degree of improvement correlates with the care taken with the diet. Many people find they can control arthritis by eating with some degree of care while continuing to eat some refined foods; arthritis is more easily controlled than other chronic diseases. Others following recommendations fully have experienced a complete reversal and no longer have symptoms. A return to refined foods sooner or later results in a relapse of symptoms. This seems true of all chronic diseases.
Fresh raw-vegetable salads may be important in arthritis, if well tolerated and enjoyed; they are rich in live enzymes and in calcium and other minerals. Juice made from raw greens and carrots may also be helpful. But collagen-rich broth made from the bones and tissues of grass-fed animals is perhaps the most powerful food in reversing arthritis and should be consumed in quantity daily. Fermented vegetables are an excellent source of enzymes and beneficial bacteria. Raw egg yolks blended into eggnog with grass-fed raw milk are excellent as well, as are various sprouts used in salads. Fresh or frozen wild seafood may form a significant portion of the diet; cook it with lots of butter derived from grass-fed animals.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis differs from osteoarthritis in that the immune system malfunctions and produces antibodies that attack tissues of the body, particularly in the joints. Similar autoimmune problems occur in other tissues in lupus.
These problems respond to careful and thorough nutrition. Rheumatoid arthritis is less common than osteoarthritis and often more difficult to treat. Patients are usually younger than those with osteoarthritis; the disease typically occurs in middle-aged and younger adults, and occasionally in children.
Extreme sensitivity to certain foods is usual, and in particular sugar and gluten are problems. Fruits may not be tolerated. Commercial, conventional dairy foods usually cause marked reactions; dairy foods from grass-fed animals, best raw, are usually helpful.
One of my patients was a three-year-old girl first seen in 1981 one week after a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. The joints of her wrists, fingers, and ankles were swollen, red, and painful, despite the use of aspirin. Her blood test was positive for rheumatoid arthritis. Offered steroid drugs, her parents elected to see me and try nutritional therapy.
The swelling, pain, and redness in her joints were gone within a week of beginning the careful diet I planned for her, and she no longer needed aspirin. She remained free of symptoms except for one period of several days when she had some joint pain. Her mother explained that the family had been careless with her diet for a few days prior. When she was returned to her usual diet, her symptoms again disappeared.
Unfortunately, rheumatoid arthritis may be much more difficult to treat when well established for many years. For some reason, many adults with this problem have found it difficult to follow a diet to the extent necessary for dramatic relief—more so than people with most other diseases. They have often expressed a feeling of being deprived when giving up sugary, refined foods, and some refuse to follow a careful diet and would simply rather suffer the symptoms of the disease.
Even with careful compliance, progress may be slow. Much depends on the degree of destruction in the joints; the longer the disease has been established, the more difficult treatment is. Extensive use of steroids such as cortisone, common in those long with the disease, makes recovery more difficult. Nevertheless, many middle-aged and older rheumatoid patients find they may largely control their symptoms with attention to diet. Mild improvement in symptoms or even simply preventing the problem from becoming worse may be all some people desire; many choose to eat with some care in exchange for partial relief. My rheumatoid patients who have made concerted and extended efforts to follow primal nutritional programs have made good to excellent progress.
Results with the other autoimmune diseases have been similar; individuals who carefully follow the details of dietary recommendations have had marked improvements. Many have found all their symptoms disappear and been pronounced cured by their medical doctors, who have often claimed “spontaneous remission” and expressed astonishment at the idea that diet could have anything to do with it. This attitude has changed somewhat more recently, however. Today more doctors now speak words to the effect of, “Well, whatever you’re doing, keep doing it.” I await the day when, as one or two have done over the years, more will contact me and ask me for details about their patients’ recoveries.
HEART AND CIRCULATORY DISORDERS
For people with cardiac and circulatory disorders, one of the most important foods is fatty cold-water species of fish such as wild salmon. Raw shellfish may be eaten in season as desired. (Shellfish are best from September through April, when they are not molting.) People with these problems are usually warned to avoid shellfish and organ meats because of the high cholesterol content they contain. As discussed in other parts of this book, however, the cholesterol content of foods is a red herring. Cholesterol-rich foods are good for you; cholesterol is simply not the cause of heart disease.
The consumption of organ meats and of several dozen oysters or clams a week, when in season, has been the rule for various individuals I have worked with during their recovery from heart disease. Recovery was adequate even in an individual who without fail consumed four to six ounces of liquor daily, though that is definitely not recommended.
Dairy products derived from grass-fed animals and meats from grass-fed animals are beneficial. Information presented earlier on seafood, fats, and protective nutrients should serve as a guide in food selection for people with a history of heart disease.
Calcium and the Heart
Abnormal deposits of calcium are present in both atherosclerosis (the buildup of plaque on arterial walls, particularly those of the coronary arteries) and arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). In the former, calcium, cholesterol, and other fatty materials are involved; in the latter, the hardening is mainly calcification. In both cases, vitamin K2 prevents the problems. Again, the MK4 type is preferred.
These two problems are generally concurrent and are often associated with arthritis; imbalances in calcium metabolism affect all three. Again, abnormal calcium metabolism traceable to the diet appears to be the major contributing factor in the deposition of calcium in both joints and arterial walls. Research over the course of the past twenty years or so indicates that a lack of vitamin K2, in short supply in modern diets but richly supplied in grass-fed animal foods, is the predominant cause of this problem.
These abnormal deposits occur in a host of medical conditions. Arteriosclerosis may lead to senility and stroke when arteries to the brain are affected, and it contributes to the poor circulation to the extremities common in old age. Kidney stones and gallstones usually contain large amounts of calcium. In multiple sclerosis, calcium is precipitated into muscles, and in arthritis deposits occur on bone surfaces and in joints. Calcium deposition may also relate to hypertension, for a gradual deposition of calcium contributes to a hardening of the arteries. Resultant inelasticity of these vessels raises blood pressure.
Blood Pressure, Cholesterol Levels, and the Thyroid Gland
High blood pressure usually accompanies heart disease and is often involved in its development. Both high blood cholesterol and high blood pressure are classic signs of hypothyroidism, low thyroid function, and a lack of optimal amounts of vitamin A and vitamin D. Recent research has demonstrated the importance of vitamin D. Extensive writings in the medical literature in the earlier part of this century detailed relationships between blood pressure, blood cholesterol, and the thyroid gland. Thyroid problems were then diagnosed symptomatically rather than through laboratory testing. Tests now used often indicate a normal condition despite the presence of overt symptoms of low thyroid function, and articles in medical journals frequently point out the limitations of these tests.
Thus many Americans have both high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol that are caused in part by undiagnosed low thyroid function. Thyroid hormones control the rate at which cholesterol and other fats are metabolized; their relative lack thus leads to higher levels of blood cholesterol. How a lack of thyroid hormones contributes to high blood pressure is not as clear, but in the 1920s physicians involved in the new field of endocrinology proposed the concept of cellular infiltration.
Because fats in cells throughout the body (including those in cells lining the blood vessels) are not burned up at a normal rate when thyroid function is low, they accumulate along with other waste products of incomplete cellular metabolism. Liken this to a wood fire getting insufficient oxygen—it smolders, and charcoal accumulates. The accumulation in cells lining blood vessel walls causes these cells to take on extra fluid and swell. As the vessels become less elastic, the blood pressure is slowly raised over the years. This is the concept of cellular infiltration, a physiologically sound theory to explain the observation that hypertension occurs in hypothyroidism.
Current standards for blood pressure reflect averages rather than what is healthy. Blood pressure measurements among the elderly in Vilcabamba and Georgian Russia as measurd in the 1970s were in the range of 100 over 60 to 120 over 80. Americans are considered to be doing well if the blood pressure stays under 140 over 90.
When people who do not have marked blood pressure problems begin a traditional diet, blood pressure usually slowly falls into the 110 over 70 to 120 over 80 range (if not there to begin with). Those with markedly elevated pressure at the start (higher than 140 over 90) usually experience gradual reductions until no medication is needed (under 140 over 90). Further reductions occur if a careful program is continued and, if weight is a problem, it is reduced into a reasonable range.
Caffeine and the Heart
Caffeine often increases blood pressure, which may drop twenty or more points within a few weeks of abstaining from coffee even if no other changes are made. Caffeine also may cause palpitations (alarmingly strong and rapid heartbeats) and influence arrhythmias (irregularities in the rhythm of the heartbeat). Sugar too may bring on these symptoms.
An example is a gentleman who “converted,” as he puts it, to eating mostly natural food over the course of several years. Still, he maintained a fondness for sweets and coffee. He began mixing his regular drip coffee half and half with decaf; he drank twice as much. Once a week or so, he binged on rich desserts.
He occasionally began experiencing unnerving palpitations and arrhythmias during the night. Evaluation by a cardiologist revealed no serious problems, and he continued his regular program of jogging, tennis, and rowing; he was in quite good condition. The problem occurred only during the night.
Questioning revealed that the problem occurred two or three nights a week, sometimes after binging on sweets and sometimes on nights he ate no sweets. He concluded that coffee rather than sweets caused the trouble. His cardiologist, knowing caffeine can produce the symptoms, advised he cut down on, or give up, coffee.
He cut down to a cup or two a day, but the problem continued to occur. He seemed to think that such a small amount of coffee couldn’t be responsible for his problem. He was persuaded to give up coffee entirely, which he nearly did (he still had a cup once or twice a week). But the problem still occurred once a week or so, sometimes on the nights he had coffee, sometimes on other nights.
We discovered in time that the symptoms often occurred on the nights he ate sweets. On nights he did drink coffee (with or without sweets), the symptoms might occur. Both coffee and sweets were capable of inducing his palpitations and his arrhythmia, though neither one did so every time; the occurrence of symptoms was apparently related to the dose. The combination of coffee and sweets was most likely to cause symptoms.
This case is typical of the potential effects of caffeine and sugar on the heart. It also illustrates the strong tendency toward denial of the possibility that favorite foods and drinks may cause problems. People tend to think that unless a food causes a readily identifiable symptom every time it is eaten in any quantity, it is not a likely cause of the symptom. This is not accurate. Though foods may act upon us in such an easily identified manner, the process is often more subtle. Our reactions depend upon the amount of the food ingested, when it was eaten last and in what quantity, what it was eaten with, and the overall status of the body at that time. An equal amount of a food causing no reaction once may cause a marked reaction the next time it’s eaten.
In rotation diets, foods not known to cause allergic reactions are eaten once every three, four, or five days. Foods that do cause reactions are avoided for a time, after which one may attempt to introduce them on a rotational basis. Foods that previously caused allergic reactions may then cause no symptoms. As we have established, allergy symptoms are caused by malfunctioning of the immune system, which produces antibodies in response to the allergenic food. The allergic reaction may then be strong if the food is soon eaten again, causing marked symptoms. When the food is not eaten again for several days, antibodies causing the allergic reaction dissipate, and any reaction occurring tends to be milder.
The heart symptoms above were a response to both caffeine and allergens in foods. Changes in blood-sugar levels caused by sugar (caffeine affects this too) may interplay with these reactions. The acute heart symptoms, like acute symptoms that may occur in any system of the body, were directly caused by the foods.
The Importance of Exercise
Regular and controlled exercise is of particular benefit for problems with the heart and circulatory system; for full recovery it is essential. Although parameters vary for each person, the heart should be taxed slightly beyond its customary workload for (at first) a short time, and daily. Very short walks are a good beginning for most people, at a speed not so fast as to cause any shortness of breath. For a person unaccustomed to walking, only a distance causing no strain or fatigue should be covered. The keys to success are commitment and regularity. As one grows stronger, the length and intensity of the walk may be gradually increased. Moderate resistance exercise, beginning with light weights, is also extremely beneficial.
CANCER
People with cancer and seeking help usually feel a great deal of tension. Often pressure from different family members and physicians has been placed on the individual concerning the variety of possible treatments available. This dilemma can lead to confusion for the patient.
Controversy surrounding the treatment of cancer through alternative therapy adds to this difficulty. The medical establishment condemns alternative treatments of cancer. Surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, the accepted treatments, usually alleviate symptoms of cancer for a time by destroying or removing cancer cells. But the underlying conditions that led to cancer are left unchanged, and cancer cells remaining continue to multiply.
Statistics concerning cancer survival are discouraging, but the actual situation is worse. Many of the people who survive for five or more years after the initial diagnosis end up in the later stages of cancer. Still they are counted as cures in the statistics; a cure by definition is anyone surviving five or more years. This makes the official statistics almost meaningless.
These people often seek alternative therapy. Having exhausted conventional treatments, they hope that an alternative may help them. Other people seek to use nutrition and other alternatives in support of their conventional treatments. This has become more popular as some individuals in conventional medicine have recognized that optimal nutrition strengthens the patient and allows him or her to withstand chemotherapy with fewer side effects. And some people decide from the start that their best chance of survival is to avoid conventional treatment and search for a natural approach that will work for them.
For those having had (or in the process of having) conventional treatment, anything done to improve nutrition is in support of that treatment; nutrition should not be considered the primary means of treatment. For the individual who has had chemotherapy or extensive radiation, nutrition may be of only limited benefit. This was Max Gerson’s experience, as it has been mine. The basis of natural therapy is the strengthening of the immune system to enable it to reject the cancer. The capacity of the immune system to be so strengthened is compromised by the poisonous chemicals used in chemotherapy.
Whole-food diets and proper supplements reduce side effects of chemotherapy or radiation. Often individuals subsequently feel well for several months while continuing excellent nutritional programs. Unfortunately, in many cases I have followed, tumors eventually reappear.
This is why the choice between conventional and alternative therapy should be made at the outset. It is difficult for a nutritional or any metabolic program to succeed after chemotherapy has failed.
The recent trend has been for more people to use nutrition as an adjunct to chemotherapy. This diminishes side effects and also often helps make the person in the later stages of cancer more comfortable. It may alter chances of survival. But although such cases are not a fair test of the value of nutrition as therapy for cancer, the failure of such programs to increase survival may increase established resistance against nutritional therapy for cancer.
An extensive review of the problems inherent in conventional cancer treatment may be found in Ralph Moss’s book The Cancer Industry (originally titled The Cancer Syndrome). While working as assistant director of public affairs at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, Moss wrote anonymously for months in an in-house booklet titled Second Opinion about the efficacy of Laetrile in cancer treatment. Laetrile is an extract of apricot pits, which some Sloan Kettering researchers had found to have an anti-tumor effect in animal experiments. When he confessed at a press conference that he was the writer, he was fired the next day. The booklet expressed opinions that were contrary to those of his superiors. He subsequently wrote The Cancer Syndrome. The book is a revealing inside view of the cancer establishment and very helpful for anyone who may be questioning conventional therapy; propaganda and misinformation about cancer and its treatment abound.
Information about the realities of conventional treatment enables one to choose intelligently.
As with all diseases, no one treatment for cancer is best for everyone. For many people, conventional treatment is appropriate simply because they are unable to go against conventional medical advice. Nutritional therapy for cancer requires personal commitment, discipline, and hard work; well-meaning family members who believe it offers the best chances of recovery may not realize this. Unless the patient comes to understand and embrace a natural approach to disease and to cancer, nutritional therapy cannot succeed.
For the individual rejecting surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, and willing to follow a rigorous nutritional course, nutrition-based therapies offer the best chance of survival. Some people die, but some survive for years with cancer—with no sign of it worsening. Others recover completely.
Physicians writing earlier in this century reported that people with cancer typically survived many years unless operated upon, in which case death often shortly followed. A tumor is the body’s way of segregating a diseased area, and when cut, cancer cells may spread much more rapidly than when the tumor is left alone. But cancer may be legally diagnosed only by a biopsy, presenting a dilemma.
Most people want to know what a biopsy will show before choosing a course of therapy, despite the risk involved. Others, particularly those who are certain they would choose natural therapy whatever a biopsy showed, may choose to avoid it. A number of people I have worked with have rejected biopsy, in many cases with good results. These include women with breast lumps and men with lesions of the prostate gland, testicles, or breast. An individual choosing this course should be highly motivated to follow a careful and thorough nutritional program. Even if someone is not, however, we should recognize a person’s right to choose to live out his or her life without being subjected to surgical dismemberment and an array of poisonous drugs.
One reason little is known with certainty about the best ways of approaching cancer is that few individuals with cancer find reasonable alternatives to conventional treatment. Until more people with cancer seek these alternatives, this problem will remain. The difficulty is increased by restrictions placed on medical doctors by the medical establishment about the ways they may treat cancer, making it difficult or impossible for them to use alternative therapies.
The person with cancer must look deep inside him- or herself and choose how he or she wishes to live the rest of their life, whether that be for one week or fifty years. The therapy or combination of therapies best for a person is that which is most attuned to judgments and emotions including (but perhaps going beyond) reason, common sense, and the conventional wisdom such a person may have accepted all of his or her life. The philosophy and ideas expressed in this book are intended to help clarify an understanding of why—perhaps most of all when death is threatening—a return to a more natural way of living and eating may provide a better chance of survival than conventional therapy does.
The course of cancer, when treated with the kind of nutrition discussed, varies according to several influences. Among them are the stage of the cancer, the condition of the individual when starting nutritional therapy, the type of cancer, and the thoroughness with which the individual applies the recommended therapy.
A Case of Malignant Melanoma
One case is that of a man named Konrad whom I initially saw a week after he was diagnosed with malignant melanoma. A small mole on his arm had been removed and the biopsy showed grade IV melanoma (deep penetration of a highly malignant tumor below the surface of the skin into the underlying dermal layer). This type of melanoma has a poor prognosis. The treatment his surgeon had recommended was excision of the tissue around the area of the melanoma and removal of all lymph nodes in the arm and armpit, followed by extensive chemotherapy. Five-year survival is less than 50 percent.
Konrad decided to have the surgical excision of the tissue around the area where the mole had been removed; a patch of skin about two inches square and half an inch thick was removed. He declined lymph node removal and chemotherapy and began a program of carefully planned nutritional therapy. His surgeon continued to see him monthly and, displeased with Konrad’s decision to forgo more extensive surgery and chemotherapy, offered the opinion that he had little chance of survival.
Konrad’s therapy included many elements. Fresh raw-vegetable juices were made twice daily, yielding at least two quarts a day. Fresh organic vegetables and some whole grains were consumed. Liver juice was made daily, and coffee enemas were taken twice daily. Most vegetables were eaten raw. Fish was regularly eaten. Since dairy products of sufficient quality were not available, we used none.
Konrad did well, to the surprise of his surgeon (who eventually grew curious about his diet), and the melanoma had not reappeared when I last heard from him some fifteen years after I had initially seen him. He had continued eating natural organic foods, including a considerable amount of liver and fish, and he regularly makes raw-vegetable juice. The liver juice, coffee enemas, and many of the supplements used in the earlier stages of his therapy had long since been reduced or stopped.
He considers himself recovered, but he shied away from using the word “cured,” agreeing with me that he must remain vigilant to minimize chances of a recurrence. Some patients let their programs slide once cancer is no longer evident; too often the disease subsequently returns. In individuals fighting cancer, I have often seen tumors diminish and increase in size according to how thoroughly programs are followed.
I have met several people who recovered on the Gerson therapy in the 1950s, and have worked with several others who recovered in a similar manner, including a woman who recovered from breast cancer under the care of Max Warmbrand. He was a naturopathic physician and osteopath who practiced for many years in Connecticut and New York City until his death in 1976.
But by and large, cancer is difficult, and many people lose the battle. For the person who believes in it, natural therapy without the damaging effects of conventional treatments offers the best hope for recovery. I have seen many encouraging results, but in the later stages of cancer, even the most rigorous therapy may fail to halt the disease.
Many clinics have been established for alternative therapies for cancer, mostly in Mexico and Europe. A number of promising therapies have been developed, the best of which have integrated many of the methods discussed here.
Optimal diet for cancer varies for each person. Some people have recovered on mostly raw-food diets; others have used mostly a cooked-food program. Some do best on a regimen comprised of large amounts of animal protein and fat; others thrive on mostly vegetables and fruits. An individual’s needs may evolve as he or she progresses through therapy. One size does not fit all.
While many nutritional regimens stress a low intake of animal protein and fat, I have found that in some individuals a great deal of animal-sourced foods of the proper quality to be of crucial importance. For many people, a substantial amount of their food should be eaten raw. The most important foods to choose from include sprouts, salad greens, parsley, and other raw vegetables, raw carrot and green juices, fruits, wild salmon and other seafood, grass-fed meats and organs, and raw dairy foods from grass-fed cows. The diet must be strict; it is critically important to avoid all industrial fats and oils and refined carbohydrates, particularly sugar.
A number of special foods and food supplements are useful when combatting cancer; some will be discussed later. The most useful and universally applicable supplement is bovine tracheal cartilage. Thoroughly researched for many years by John Prudden, M.D., this supplement has a proven record of helping many cancer patients recover.
The Work of Dr. John Prudden
Decades of research by Dr. Prudden has shown that bovine tracheal cartilage (BTC) can be an effective and safe anticancer agent. Prudden, a surgeon, authored sixty-six journal articles and other publications, including “The Treatment of Human Cancer with Agents Prepared from Bovine Cartilage” ( Journal of Biological Response Modifiers 4, no. 6 [1985]: 551–84). With colleagues at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, he initially demonstrated that BTC dramatically accelerated the healing of wounds and reduces inflammation. This led Prudden to test it for other possible therapeutic applications.
Scores of his cancer patients benefited from the use of BTC, in addition to many patients with inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and immunological skin disorders. Patients with shingles or mononucleosis often made rapid improvements when ingesting BTC, which works by stimulating and normalizing the immune system. Other physicians have written that it attacks cancer directly via anti-mitotic effects (preventing cell division). These effects and much more are described in Dr. Prudden’s 1993 article, “Summary of Bovine Tracheal Cartilage Research Program.”
Here are some of the most impressive individual results Prudden wrote about:
Dr. Prudden supervised the investment of over $10 million in research on BTC, showing it to be effective in a wide range of conditions, using an optimal dosage of twelve 750 mg capsules daily. This is also the optimal dosage following wounds or injuries. To best facilitate healing after surgery, begin taking BTC one month prior, and continue for two to three months after.
A number of different BTC products of varying quality are available. The product I have recommended for over thirty years is manufactured by the same New Zealand company, using the same process, that produced this material for John Prudden. Freeze-drying freshly harvested cartilage preserves the unaltered proteins, enzymes, and fat-soluble activators present. The tissues are taken only from grass-fed, inspected animals, raised without the use of pesticides, hormones or antibiotics, in New Zealand—where mad cow disease has never occurred. (See www.drrons.com.)
Cancer Prevention
Prevention is the best way to deal with cancer. In many primitive societies, cancer was rare or perhaps even unknown; evidence indicates that food was the primary protector. Current research has focused on individual nutrients such as vitamins A, C, D, E, and selenium as cancer-inhibiting factors. Extensive research has been done on the nature of carcinogenic substances. Industrial fats and oils are extremely carcinogenic and they also enhance the effects of other carcinogens. They are a major reason for the worldwide epidemic of cancer.
For many people, two themes emerge. One is the idea that “everything is bad for you,” and the other is the notion that large doses of nutrients thought protective against cancer are helpful. We all know people who attempt to avoid everything potentially carcinogenic or who dose up on the “anticancer” nutrients, or both. Others rationalize that since everything is bad for you and one can’t avoid everything, why try—just eat whatever you want!
Avoiding carcinogens to the extent possible is reasonable, and native foods are rich in nutrients protective against cancer. Carcinogens are not the crucial issue, for if the immune system is sufficiently strong, one is protected. Primal nutrition provides that strength. Even a person who has for years eaten refined foods may avoid cancer. Of patients I have seen over the years, several hundred have been followed for at least six months; these were people who embraced in whole or in part diets of traditional foods. Among them, very rarely has anyone developed cancer during the time followed.
This is not coincidence. Cancer seems to be rare among people eating traditional, native-type diets, even in twentieth-century America.
GASTROINTESTINAL DISEASES
Colitis
Colitis is an inflammatory reaction in the colon, often autoimmune or infectious. An acute bout of colitis is nearly always best dealt with by fasting. If rectal bleeding occurs, a physician should be consulted to determine the cause. In ulcerative colitis, fasting until the bleeding stops allows the lesions to begin healing. Although this may take several days, usually a day or two suffices. Warm water enemas may be helpful; herbs may be used in the enemas to promote healing.
When one stops eating, peristalsis (the involuntary wave-like motion of the intestines that propels feces toward the anus) is greatly reduced, and feces may stagnate in the large bowel. As water is reabsorbed across the bowel wall, they become hard and impacted. Enemas remove them, and the bowel is left clean; healing of lesions may then occur much more easily.
Once rectal bleeding has stopped, a diet of well-cooked vegetables, broth, and fish may be very helpful. No other foods and no raw vegetables or fruits should be eaten. Chew foods well, and eat little at first. If no further rectal bleeding occurs, more food may be eaten. After a few days, slowly introduce other primal foods. Very small amounts of raw vegetables should be gradually introduced only if no symptoms occur; the amounts may then be slowly increased. Usually it is best to not consume any grains.
Gastritis (inflammation of the stomach) and ulcers are treated in much the same manner as colitis. If bleeding is present or suspected (dark stools are a cardinal sign), see a physician for a definitive diagnosis.
Coffee and alcohol increase secretions of gastric acid, aggravating nearly all gastrointestinal problems.
Hemorrhoids
Hemorrhoids are a common problem afflicting a large percentage of people. They may be either internal (inside the anal opening) or external, and occur as early as the teen years. A hemorrhoid is actually a dilated rectal vein, and if the blood within it clots, the hemorrhoid is said to be thrombosed. These are the large, dilated, painful, inflamed, sometimes incapacitating hemorrhoids often given surgical attention.
In office surgery, the thrombosed hemorrhoid is incised and an attempt is made to remove the clot. This is an extremely painful procedure usually giving little relief, temporary at best. A hemorrhoidectomy is the more extensive hospital procedure in which hemorrhoids are surgically removed.
Although an acutely inflamed hemorrhoid might ideally be treated by fasting, enemas are simply too painful to endure for long. And without enemas, pressure exerted by stagnant and hardening feces within the bowel makes hemorrhoids worse. Although bowel movements are somewhat painful during the three to five days required for a thrombosed hemorrhoid to resolve, the best course is to follow the dietary principles described in this book. Be sure to get plenty of fats and use coconut oil liberally, as well as daily cod-liver oil. Soft stools should result, keeping pressure exerted on the hemorrhoid by the large bowel to a minimum, since such stools may be easily passed without straining.
I have treated some severe cases of thrombosed hemorrhoids in this way. In one case, a thrombosed hemorrhoid with a diameter the size of a quarter took five days to resolve. The patient was uncomfortable being on his feet for more than a few minutes at a time and spent most of the five days on his back, after which he began moving around a bit more. Within two weeks he could function normally.
Conventional medicine gives little recognition to the role foods play in gastrointestinal disease. The digestive tract directly interfaces with food, and in many people is the part of the body first and most easily influenced by food. The gastrointestinal tract indicates which foods eaten are well received; a poor reception often indicates developing problems. Belching, intestinal gas, indigestion, and often diarrhea speak of problems with certain foods. If these early warning signals are ignored and not addressed, symptoms of more advanced gastrointestinal problems may result.
HYPOGLYCEMIA, DIABETES, AND WEIGHT PROBLEMS
The interrelated and often associated conditions of hypoglycemia, diabetes, and excess weight, to one degree or another, are due to problems with carbohydrate metabolism. Hypoglycemia may be an early stage of diabetes; both involve abnormalities in blood sugar. Avoidance of refined carbohydrates, fruits, fruit juices, and sweeteners lies at the heart of the dietary treatment for diabetes and hypoglycemia. Weight problems usually involve the excessive consumption of carbohydrates, especially refined carbohydrates. A sluggish thyroid gland, typically undiagnosed because of the inadequacy of standard thyroid tests, also often plays a role.
Whole-food diets featuring a lot of vegetables, good fats, and grains may control symptoms of hypoglycemia, but are improved by the addition of substantial amounts of high-quality animal foods. The latter will often reduce cravings for sweets, especially when sugar is completely avoided for a few weeks.
The same is true in diabetes. The diabetic condition is chronic; improvement comes more slowly. Eating whole foods with plenty of fats nearly always results in a reduction of the need for insulin in diabetics. Indeed, many individuals beginning a careful diet soon after a diagnosis of adult-onset diabetes have eliminated the need for insulin.
The main causes of excess weight are refined carbohydrates, poor quality and unnatural fats, and lack of exercise, all of which may depress the function of the thyroid gland. This in turn may make the weight problem worse. Not only do refined foods provide poor nutrition and excessive calories; they also displace foods needed for a fully active thyroid gland and thus a fully active metabolism.
Fats of proper quality need not be avoided by an overweight person. Many people fail to lose weight eating unbalanced low-fat diets. This often leads to binge eating. A more reasonable approach uses the primal foods necessary for good health and utilizes necessary food supplements to achieve a well-balanced metabolism that allows weight to be lost naturally.
HEADACHES
Many people suffer regularly from at least an occasional headache. These headaches in nearly all cases disappear within the first few weeks of carefully following a carefully balanced primal diet.
The reason is simple: almost all headaches, including migraine, are food related. Many are direct expressions of allergies. Like other organs, the brain may react to constituents in certain foods by retaining fluid and swelling, causing a headache. Similar reactions in the nasal sinuses may also cause headaches. Eyestrain and fatigue may also play a role.
A persistent headache failing to end with careful dieting, or a headache following an injury, should be investigated by a physician, for headaches may be a sign of serious injury or disease. Much time and expense could be saved, however, by instituting a simple primal diet for a few days before an extensive work-up is done in an attempt to determine the cause of the headache. (Cheese is often suspected of precipitating migraines.)
One middle-aged patient of mine suffered from severe migraines once or twice a month for over thirty years before finding they ceased when she stopped drinking alcohol. She was not a heavy drinker, taking a drink or two a few times a week. And the drinks did not always precipitate a migraine. But they sometimes did, for when she stopped drinking entirely, the migraines stopped. In the years since, she has had headaches only on some days after the rare occasion when she has had a drink or two the night before. Other individuals have told me they are particularly susceptible to headaches after drinking red wine. Perhaps this is due to the pesticides used on many wine grapes. The grape skin is used in making red wine, but not in white.
ANXIETY, EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCES, AND MENTAL ILLNESS
Thinking is as biological as digestion. Disturbances of the mind must ultimately have a biochemical explanation, though we may be unable to provide it.
Nutrients profoundly affect some mentally disturbed states, and reactions to foods may cause such states. Sugar-induced hypoglycemia, for example, is often accompanied by depression, anxiety, or both. Deficiencies of vitamin B12, vitamin D, and vitamin A often accompany depressed mental states.
In studies of inmates in American jails, reformatories, and mental institutions, Weston Price discovered that large majorities, often approaching 100 percent, had deformities of the dental arch and other marked abnormalities in the shape of the skull. His work paralleled that of other investigators—he was not the first to discover these correlations between changes in the shape of the skull and criminal behavior, mental backwardness, and abnormal mental states.
Price’s work suggests that dietary changes have led to anatomical changes that have resulted in increased incidence of these problems. Given that anatomical changes have occurred in large segments of the population, we are left with the issue of how the foods eaten influence the mental state of an individual, whatever anatomical equipment the individual might have (this taken in terms of potential as dictated by the physical capacity of the brain).
In the experience of many clinicians working with natural food, including myself, the mental state of an individual may sometimes be profoundly influenced by dietary changes. Feelings of greater stability, calmness, and confidence are common in patients embracing a whole-food diet. Broth especially helps with this.
Many factors besides food affect the state of mind of individuals with marked mental and emotional problems, but, as we have discussed, food can be a profound and even a dominating influence. Some of the early proponents of megavitamin therapy were physicians using vitamin and mineral supplements for people suffering from schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. The use of traditional foods in a carefully controlled diet would significantly enhance the responses of individuals with these problems.
Among patients specifically seeking help for more deep-seated mental disturbances, however, results are mixed. Many are unable to follow the details of a thorough program. Among those who have, particularly those suffering from anxiety and depression, many have experienced relief, but a few have had no improvement. It is impossible to know who will or will not respond.
How does food affect future generations? The mental well-being of Western society requires us to abandon refined foods, which have led to degenerative changes in the shape of the human skull that often (perhaps usually) accompany mental disease. Though this may be difficult to believe, the evidence is difficult to ignore.
CANDIDIASIS
Candida albicans is a yeast microorganism found in the normal human organism; it is concentrated on the skin and mucous membranes. Antibiotics, sweet foods, and oral contraceptives are among the influences affecting the amount of Candida occurring in an individual; overgrowth of Candida is called candidiasis. The orthodox viewpoint holds that candidiasis occurs only as either a localized yeast infection (as in the vagina) or as a systemic illness that may occur when the immune system breaks down in debilitating chronic illness. However, a growing number of physicians believe that overgrowth of Candida may lead or contribute to a wide variety of symptoms and conditions, including most of those previously discussed in this chapter.
Chronic yeast infections are thought to be capable of affecting any system of the body. Because the drug nystatin has activity against Candida and seems to have little other effect, it is often prescribed for individuals thought to be suffering from candidiasis. Often a yeast-free and sugar-free diet is prescribed in conjunction.
In my experience, symptoms of candidiasis disappear without the use of nystatin when the dietary principles explained in this book are carefully followed. This usually occurs in spite of the consumption of small amounts of yeast-containing foods such as apple cider vinegar, beer and wine, and certain breads. Many people achieve best results when all concentrated starches, including grains, breads, and particularly extruded breakfast cereals are completely avoided. All yeast-containing foods are eliminated for a few weeks. Nystatin may give more rapid relief, however, it must be kept in mind that although nystatin has proved useful for many patients unwilling to follow a sufficiently careful natural food diet, the relief it gives often disappears when the drug is stopped.
SKIN PROBLEMS
Eczema is often an allergic skin reaction to certain foods, particularly dairy products and sweets. Improvements usually begin within days of eliminating these foods. Lasting improvement comes when following a primal diet.
Psoriasis is chronic and recurrent; often arthritic symptoms accompany the silvery, scaly skin lesions. More intensive therapy is needed to treat psoriasis than is needed for eczema. Elements of the Gerson therapy—raw-vegetable juices, enemas, and raw-liver juice—are helpful, for the juices and enemas cleanse the body of toxins that cause eruptions. Vitamin D is a particularly critical nutrient for most people with skin problems, who are advised to consume broth, bovine tracheal cartilage, and other carefully selected special foods and supplements containing this important vitamin. (Vitamin D is also especially important in healing the gut.)
Acne, too, may be chronic. It may take several months for the acne of an individual following a primal diet to clear up. As the healing gets underway, new eruptions become less marked and eventually no longer occur. Cysts still present slowly dissipate. Hormones influence acne, and symptoms often become worse at puberty and during menstruation. Most fruits and all sweets are best avoided. Grass-fed animal foods and wild seafood are highly beneficial when treating acne. Cod-liver oil should be used for its vitamin A content. Once again, broth and bovine tracheal cartilage supplements are also very helpful.
Lesser skin eruptions that many teenagers and young adults experience are mostly due to sweets, excessive fruits, processed fats and oils and milk products, and a lack of fat-soluble protective nutrients. Vegetable oils, especially when used for commercial frying, affect the body’s ability to metabolize fats normally. As noted above, citrus fruits and juices may contribute to eruptions, as can tomatoes, which may also affect mucous membranes, causing sores inside the cheeks and on the tongue, which are more common during the late-summer tomato season.
It may be hard to believe that these common foods may cause these symptoms, but sometimes they do—and even many more. Understanding how the body reacts to foods is not a simple matter. Think of the body as a laboratory and food as the experimental variable in a continuous study. Take notes. There will be a test.
OTHER CONDITIONS
People sometimes ask about the nutritional treatment of uncommon and seldom seen conditions. They tend to think their problem will not respond to nutrition, despite evidence of successful cases. This thinking results in part from their believing that their own diet is quite good and thus can have little to do with their problem.
Even for these individuals, a committed effort to follow the program outlined in the pages of this book has usually led to significant improvement. This includes people with well-known conditions such as multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, epilepsy, macular edema, cataracts, and glaucoma, as well as those with other, seldom seen, chronic and debilitating diseases. Even those with conditions typically believed to be entirely genetic, such as Down’s syndrome, have shown some improvements in overall health and mental function.
Price’s evidence indicates that the occurrence of such genetic conditions is profoundly influenced by the parents’ nutrition and may be almost entirely prevented if their nutrition prior to pregnancy, and the woman’s during pregnancy, was optimal. His observations are in conflict with the views of most geneticists, who have largely rejected the concept that nutrition affects the genes. Recent research and discoveries, however, have provided theoretical models for how the genetic material outside the nucleus of the fertilized egg may be directly affected by the mother’s nutrition. This nonnuclear genetic material is now known to reside in the mitochondria, the energy-making part of the cell.
This research provides an explanation for Price’s observations and indicates that the conventional thinking about nutrition in genetics has been erroneous. As with controversy in medical circles over the role of nutrition in health and disease, we may hope that what common sense, empirical observation, and traditional wisdom tell us is right will eventually be proved to the satisfaction of those who control policies affecting millions of lives.
The development of chronic disease is influenced by a person’s genes, but the fundamental and underlying cause is the slow breakdown of the body as it is poisoned by foods for which it is not adapted. A host of other influences affects this process, particularly physical activity and one’s mental and emotional state.
Treatment of all disease is thus accomplished in a similar manner. Recovery involves understanding natural laws governing human nutrition and the physical and psychological needs of each individual. To help oneself, these things must be well understood; to help others, they must be well communicated. For the physician, the foundation of such communication is best built by his own good health. This is the meaning of the ancient words, “Physician, heal thyself.” Physicians should note, however, another ancient saying: “Only a fool has himself for a doctor.”