Q.
I've got some difficult health problems.
I used to eat good food until I
visited a health food store three years ago.
Then I started improving my diet. I ate
brown bread before, but now I eat the best
kind. I ate potato chips before, but now I
eat natural chips. I ate some foods that
were refined carbohydrates - macaroni, rice, candy bars - but I cut that out completely.
I also changed to raw vegetables. I
still cheat, though, by drinking pasteurized
milk, eating processed meats, fried food,
ice cream or jam. I also added yogurt,
herbs and vitamins to my diet. I had two
ailments I wanted to get rid of, tinnitus
and nervous tension, so I added the following to my diet:
Herbal nerve tablets- up to 28 tablets a day for three years.
I didn't get very satisfactory results, so I
added herbs for prevention: ginseng, gentian, capsicum and senna (even though I
didn't have constipation) in order to get
four bowel movements a day which, carding to Jethro Kloss, is the normal rate of
excretion.
I thought I had a good dietary plan. But
after three months of kung-fu training, and
three weeks of lifting 100 lb. railway ties,
and doing spring exercises, and jumping
rope for two years straight plus being a
laborer all my life, I developed, on top of
the other ailments (which showed mild improvement), a new ailment. Fifteen months
ago, I developed intestinal gas and I
haven 't been able to overcome it with the
stomach tonic herbs I 'd been taking. I've
been to five doctors totaling ten visits. I've
been on fasts totaling a month, with
enemas. As a last resort, I had x-rays of the
stomach and lower bowel, which showed
nothing. All the doctors, including the
naturopath, think the condition might be
irritable bowel. It seemed to regulate after
cutting out the vitamins and herbs. The gas
feels and sounds like it is bubbling and
gurgling across my whole abdomen, so
much so that it gets sore, and even the rectum. I am perplexed! I 'm just 25 years old,
but feel like 50. Do you have any advice?
Do you think bacteria from a mini-silverator water filter is causing the trouble?
Do you think the vitamins caused the problem? Are herbal remedies completely
harmless or do you have to use them with
discretion. Can aluminum teflon coated
pans cause the condition? - B.J., Edmonton, Alberta
A.
I am printing this letter because you
are a classic example of what self-doctoring and haphazard self-medication,
even with vitamins and herbs, can do. You
have totally paralyzed your digestive apparatus with the most incredible abuses
that I have seen in a long time - and I see
things you wouldn't believe. Your case
demonstrates the grave danger of indiscriminately taking large doses of
vitamins and herbs without a doctor's
prescription. Anyone who is not educated
and trained in the field of nutrition,
vitaminology or herbology (and very few
are) should not prescribe for himself, but
should seek a nutritionally-knowledgeable
doctor and follow his or her advice.
Here are some of the worst abuses that
have led to your present condition.
I hope and pray that you will take your
tragic example as a learning experience.
Thank God that you are still alive.
Thousands of people die every year from
iatrogenic causes (doctor-caused). I wonder
how many die needlessly as the result of
indiscriminate use of supposedly harmless
alternatives to drugs - vitamins and herbs.
My final words of advice are: immediately stop taking all vitamins, herbs
and supplements. Go to a good fasting
clinic where you can undertake a long,
cleansing juice fast under supervision,
allowing your digestive system to rest and
become revitalized. Ask your naturopath
to recommend a juice fasting clinic. Then
start eating lightly and carefully following
the fast-breaking rules outlined in my juice
fasting book. Gradually adopt an Optimum Diet as recommended in my books.
At your age, you should take no synthetic
vitamins at all - only minimal preventive
doses of mild, 100% natural supplements.
If you ever need therapeutic doses of
vitamins, find a knowledgeable doctor and
let him prescribe them for you. And, get
yourself stainless steel or glass cookware!
Q.
I am trying to make the transition
from supermarket foods to health
foods. I realize this cannot be done instantly,
but is a gradual process. I have lots of
anxiety and depression. I drink certain herbal teas,
such as sage leaves and catnip, but
I still am very nervous and get upset easily.
According to the literature I have read, what
you eat affects your whole metabolism.
If you could give me any advice on
specific nutritional foods that would help
my nervousness, I would appreciate it. - C.A., Palm Springs, California
A.
Your body must be fed with all the
nutrients it requires in order to function properly.
If any part of any body, any
organ or gland, is not functioning properly,
"the nerves" will be affected. Deficiencies of any nutrient, or any bodily
malfunction, such as low blood sugar, for
example, will affect nerves. What I am trying to impress upon you is that you don't
just feed the nerves - you have to feed and
take care of the whole body. Again, the total
approach which I stress so persistently in all
of my writings.
In addition to the Optimum Diet, and a
general health-building mode of living,
which must include plenty of physical exercise in fresh air, rest, relaxation and a
positive state of mind, the following food
supplements are specific in keeping the nervous system working properly:
Q.
Would you please send me information on the cure for arthritis? I
have arthritis in my hips and legs. I would
very much like to find something that
would cure it. - Mr. P.B.L., Chicago, Illinois
A.
No diet, drug, vitamin or herb can
cure arthritis. Arthritis can only be
cured by your body's own healing effort.
Our bodies are equipped with a most
elaborate and extremely effective self-healing mechanism,
and given proper conditions and support (in the form of special
diet, supplements, exercises, therapeutic
baths, fasting, herbs, etc.), the body can
correct virtually any disorder and restore
health. In other words, you must help your
body to cure itself. I wish I had sufficient
space to give you the complete program
which can assist your body to cure itself of
arthritis, but I do not have such space
within this column. The program is outlined in detail
in my books, How to Get Well
and There Is a Cure for Arthritis.
Q.
How much juice should I drink
each day? - Mrs. P.P., Albuquerque, New Mexico
A.
Not knowing your age, your general
health condition or specific illnesses
from which you may suffer, it is very difficult for me to answer your question.
It is amazing (and amusing) how many people
write to me asking advice and telling me
about their various health problems and
what has been done for them so far (in
length - sometimes 20 pages or more!) but
totally omitting their age! You see, if you
are beginning to feel the early symptoms of
arthritis, it would help me tremendously if
I know your age. If you are 82, I might suggest going
down on your knees and thanking the good Lord that arthritis didn't set in
until now. But if you are 18, I would probably suggest
very drastic measures aimed
at preventing you from developing this
crippling condition so early in your life.
This even applies to such a seemingly
simple question as to how much juice you
should drink. If you are very young, and
reasonably healthy, I would say: eat your
fruits and vegetables, don't drink them.
Those who go all out for natural, whole,
unprocessed foods often forget that there is
nothing whole or natural about juices.
They are fragmented, isolated and very
concentrated foods. Gorging indiscriminately on carrot juice, for example (some
juice freaks drink as much as 2-4 quarts a
day), can cause too much stress on the pancreas,
adrenals and liver, and can even contribute to the
development of hypoglycemia and diabetes.
Many juices are extremely rich in sugars, which can play
havoc with your metabolism and have a
detrimental effect if consumed in large
quantities. Therefore, if you are young,
and/or relatively healthy, use juices
sparingly - not more than a half glass at a
time, and dilute juices 50-50 with water if
they are sweet.
Now, having said that, I must add that
juices have their rightful place in many
therapeutic and fasting programs. For example, I advise
juice fasting for practically
every metabolic and degenerative illness,
recommending as much as 4-6 glasses of
various juices a day. Especially for older
people, whose digestion, chewing ability
and assimilation are not very efficient,
juices can be life-saving. Many juices
possess therapeutic, medicinal properties.
Specific juices should be used for specific
conditions.
Q.
In a question and answer period
after one of your lectures, you gave
advice on enlarging small breasts. Among
other suggestions, you mentioned a doctor
having remarkable success with a pituitary
hormone and also some doctors administering female hormones.
Years ago, I heard
that pituitary hormone therapy can lead to
cancer, and just recently there is a great
deal of talk of estrogen therapy causing
cancer. I marvel at your extensive
knowledge and also respect your integrity
very much, and so would like your opinion:
could this kind of therapy lead to cancer?
- Ms. P.S., New York, New York
A.
Since you didn't ask for irrefutable
scientific evidence, only for my opinion, the answer is: yes. It seems any
tampering with the endocrine gland system
and the body's own hormonal levels may
lead to an array of mental and physical
disorders, including the increased risk of
developing cancer.
There is now ample evidence through
several reliable studies in many countries
that estrogen therapy, whether it is in the
form of birth-control pills, or post-surgical
and menopausal estrogen-replacement
therapy with Premarin or similar drugs, increases dramatically the risk of developing
cancer - up to seven times as compared to
women who don't take hormones.
Perplexed
Vitamin A and D tablets - 1200 mg. D and 25,000 mg. A a day.
High-potency time-release 100 mg. B-complex tablets - up to 15 tablets a day.
1000 mg. time-release vitamin C - up to 15 tablets; even though it produced diarrhea,
I thought this was a temporary side effect.
Vitamin E tablets - 400 I.U. , four tablets a day.
Nervousness
Cure for Arthritis
Juice Drinking
Hormones and Cancer