 Web-sites and internet chat
groups have been set up exchanging the same kind of recipe....
This is just another example of what already happened many times in
our human history: scientific data has been used the wrong way. There is
no doubt, that gluten and casein are better out of the diet of an autistic
child. But these two substances are by no means the one and only decisive
key to autism, schizophrenia and other GAPS conditions. The core issue,
which we have to deal with, is the unhealthy gut ruled by abnormal
microbes. An appropriate diet is an absolutely essential part of the treat
ment. But it is definitely not the GFCF diet, as we know it.
Phenols and Salicylates
There is a theory that GAPS children and adults react to phenols and sali
cylates (a subgroup of phenols), so foods containing them should be out of
their diet. Proponents of this theory advise to cut out pretty much all fruit,
vegetables, nuts, seeds and oils. I don't know why they stop there because
there is no food on this planet, which does not contain phenolic com
pounds. All grains, meats, fish, eggs, milk, fruit, vegetables and plant
matter are full of phenols.
Phenols are aromatic substances of small molecular weight. They give
our foods their colour and flavour. They preserve foods in their natural
state by protecting them from pathogens. They take an active part in ger
mination and growth of seeds and attract flower pollinators. They act as
powerful antioxidants and detoxifiers, when introduced into our bodies.
Many nutrients and active substances essential for us to have every day are
phenols. Let's just look at some of them.
• Vitamin C. Nobody can live without it.
• Vitamin K. Essential in blood clotting and many other bodily func
tions.
• Vitamin E. Essential for brain development and hundreds other jobs
in the body.
• Vitamins Bi (thiamin), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B6 (pyridoxine),
folic acid are phenols. All these vitamins are essential for us to have
every day if we are to be alive at all. • Amino acids - cholin, phenylalanine, tryptophan and others. Without
them we would not be able to produce neurotransmitters for our
brain and the rest of the nervous system.
• Some neurotransmitters themselves: dopamine, norepinephrine,
histmine are also phenols.
• Gallic Acid. Cutting out this phenol is the basis of Feingold Diet or low
salicylate diet. Gallic acid is found in about 70% of all foods including
food colourings. Though food colourings, E-numbers and other food
additives should be out of your GAPS patient's diet, cutting out 70% of
all foods is rather punishing.
This list can go on. All natural proteins, fats and carbohydrates contain
phenolic compounds. If we cut them all out we will have to starve.
However, there is no doubt that autistic children, as well as hyperactive,
dyslexic, asthmatic, diabetic, schizophrenic patients and many other GAPS
people do react to phenols and many other substances in food. These reactions
are very different from the classical allergy and can not be described as allergic
because they do not show the changes in the immune system typical of allergy.
There is no clear scientific explanation for these reactions found yet Here I
would like to propose what I personally believe happens. Many food phenols
have strong antioxidant and detoxifying abilities. Any naturopath, homeopath
or a doctor, versed in natural medicine, will tell you that before making you feel
better any detoxifier initially makes you feel worse. This happens because we all
have various toxins stored in the tissues of our bodies. When a detoxifying sub
stance is introduced it washes toxins out of storage sites into the blood stream
to be conjugated, taken to elimination organs and excreted in urine, sweat or
bile. For those couple of hours, while these toxins are floating in your blood,
being dealt with by the body, they cause symptoms. Depending on the nature
of the toxin and individual susceptibilities these symptoms can be very differ
ent. They can vary from headaches and behaviour abnormalities to skin rashes
and sneezing. So, in effect what is happening is that the phenols from the food
are trying to "clean you up". This phenomenon is called "detox reaction" or
"Herxheimer reaction" and is typically observed in patients doing any detox
programme. Stored toxicity does not just sit silenfiy in the tissues of our bodies.
It causes symptoms of chronic disease and lays down the ground for cancer for
mation. So detoxifying is an important thing to do. It has to be an ongoing pro
cess throughout our lives. Nature provided us with plenty of opportunity to do
that by placing phenols and other powerful detox substances into all our foods.
GAPS children and adults are very toxic. Tests show that they store heavy metals, petrochemicals and other toxic substances in the tissues of their
bodies sometimes in frightening amounts. Many of these toxins are proba
bly responsible for various physical and mental symptoms in GAPS
patients. For example, there are great similarities in the clinical picture of
acute poisoning with mercury, lead and other toxins, found in these
patients, and the clinical picture of autism and psychosis. Based on these
findings recently there has been a lot of attention to heavy metal chelation
in autism, the purpose of which is to take heavy metals out of the body.
Anybody familiar with chelation knows that this process always involves
the child going through a detox period, when autistic symptoms get worse
and a lot of unpleasant new physical symptoms occur. Why? Because
chelation drugs wash out stored heavy metals from the tissues into the
blood to be taken out of the body. This "cleaning up" process causes symp
toms, often quite severe.
There is no doubt that detoxification or elimination of toxic substances
has to be an integral part of the treatment for GAPS patients. Natural phe
nols found in foods are the Nature's way of eliminating toxins from the
body on a daily basis. So, the last thing we should do is to cut them out of
the diet. Of course, in the process of "cleaning up" they will cause the
"detox reaction". Most phenols in the foods will not cause a severe reaction
(unless the patient has a true allergy to a particular food). The child or
adult may experience worsening of behaviour and sleep, more self-stimu
lation, more hyperactivity and mood swings. This period is temporary and
most patients survive it very well. As the body starts to detoxify, the
negative reaction usually goes away. If your GAPS child or adult is particu
larly sensitive to some food, cut it out of the diet for 4-6 weeks and
then introduce it slowly starting from tiny amounts and gradually in
creasing them. This way you can keep the detox reaction under control.
The important thing is to make sure that the person has not got a true
allergy to that particular food, which can be tested for in most medical
facilities.
Clinical experience shows that when the patient has been put on the
appropriate diet for GAPS, his/her sensitivity to phenols changes: foods,
which the patient used to react to do not cause any reaction any more. The
diet, which we will be talking about later, has an ability to heal the gut
lining, so the toxins and maldigested foods, which used to leak through, do
not leak any more. So, the mixture of toxins, which the body has to deal
with, gets greatly reduced. And with it change the reactions to detoxifying
phenols. Generally, as the gut heals, the reactions to many phenolic com-pounds as well as many food intolerances go away. As you "fix the leak"
there will be less "cleaning up" going on in the body and hence less
symptoms, associated with it.
In the meantime there is an amazingly effective way to deal with sensi
tivity to phenols and other food compounds. It will also deal with true
allergies to foods. This way is Neutralisation, The method of neutralisation
was first discovered in 1979 by Dr Robert Gardner from Brigham Young
University. He found that just a few drops of small water dilutions of pure
phenolic compounds would completely neutralise allergic reactions to
foods. There is no explanation found yet for how this method works, but
there is data to show that it can work remarkably well. In every individual
case a particular neutralising dose has to be found, which then will be
given to the patient as drops under the tongue. Today neutralisation has
become a well-established method of treating allergies and food sensitivi
ties and in most developed countries there are allergy specialists who can
do it. Neutralisation may allow your GAPS child or adult to have the foods,
he or she used to react badly to, without any limitations.
In conclusion, there is no need to deprive children and adults with
autism, ADHD, schizophrenia, dyslexia, dyspraxia, etc. of fruit, vegetables,
nuts and many other phenol containing foods. They


 requires
the patient to sign a release, stating that he is allowed to do anything he deems necessary or best,
under whatever circumstances he may encounter. If the patient agrees to such a general release,
she may end up having too many lymph nodes removed. Instead, she should state in the release
that she does not agree to the removal of more than two lymph nodes.
Radiation
Radiation can be used for medical diagnostic or therapeutic procedures. The earliest exposure
of patients to radiation is in the form of X-rays, for diagnostic purposes. These are comparatively
the least harmful. Other diagnostic tools include CAT scans (CT, Computed Tomography
Imaging), which uses a large amount of X-rays to produce detailed images from several angles
of the patient’s body, arm or leg. The only diagnostic tool that does not use X-rays is Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (MRI), which utilizes radiofrequency waves and a strong magnetic field to
produce clear pictures of internal organs and tissues.
If the initial investigation results in a cancer diagnosis, the patient is advised to have a course
of radiotherapy, usually consisting of 30 treatments. Although the technique has been greatly
improved in recent years, aiming to limit the radiation solely to the affected area of the patient’s
body, severe damage in the form of burns can still occur. According to the official allopathic view,
radiation burns are virtually impossible to heal; yet the damage is almost entirely reversible by the
Gerson technique. Dr. Gerson’s book, A Cancer Therapy—Results of 50 Cases, features a patient
(Case #11) who had been pre-treated with 88 applications of deep X-rays, and was left severely
burned. Worse still, his cancer recurred. Interestingly on the Gerson Therapy his spreading
lung tumors and lymph nodes disappeared faster than the radiation burns. However, he healed
completely and lived for almost 50 years in good health.
In cases of oral cancers radiation treatments are particularly destructive, since they cause
the salivary glands to dry up. The resulting dry mouth keeps the patient from sleeping and
requires constant sipping of water, to moisten the dry mouth. Yet we have seen patients’ mucous
membranes reverting to normal after radiation damage in less than two weeks on the Therapy.
In general, Gerson doctors rarely use radiation treatments. There is only one specific case in
which they can be useful, namely in easing the extreme pain of bone cancers or bone metastases,
which are difficult to control and heal more slowly than malignancies in soft tissues. In order to
help the patient, a very few (sometimes just 3-5) radiation treatments are used to stop the advance
of the tumor and alleviate the pain. Radiation is preferable to pain management with drugs,
which—being toxic—interfere with healing. Since radiotherapy makes drugs unnecessary, the
bone can heal and the pain does not return.
Copyright © Charlotte Gerson, 2007.  All rights reserved.
This material may not be reproduced in any medium, print or electronic without prior written permission from the author.Page 142Healing the Gerson Way—Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases
www.thegersonway.comChemotherapy
Since about 1960, chemotherapy has been one of the main tools of orthodox cancer therapy.
It has many varieties, but they all have one thing in common: they are highly toxic. The purpose
of using them is to kill cancer cells and thus eradicate malignant tumors. However, no form of
chemotherapy exists that doesn’t also kill healthy cells.
 The way these toxic chemicals are supposed to work is by interfering with the metabolism of
malignant cells and stopping their rapid division. They do this; but there are other cells and tissues
in the human body that also divide rapidly, namely the bone marrow, which among other things
produces the white blood cells essential to immunity, the mucous membranes of the intestinal
wall, and the hair follicles. These are seriously damaged by the chemotherapy’s toxins, resulting
in reduced immune function, nausea, vomiting, intestinal bleeding, mouth ulcers and loss of
hair. Eventually the damage becomes much wore. Patients report loss of memory, children have
learning difficulties. Heart, lung and kidney damage have been reported, together with a much
higher incidence of infections.
 Chemotherapy drugs are subject to constant innovations, often motivated by financial
considerations. One of the latest drugs, Gemzar, that had originally been accepted for the
treatment of lung and breast cancer, has now also been cleared for use in advanced ovarian
cancer. There is no evidence to show that this drug extends life; on the other hand it worsens the
side effects of previously used chemotherapy drugs; however, it is very expensive. Recent reports
state that one course of Gemzar treatment, consisting of six doses given over six months, costs
about US$12,600.
 Chemotherapy can claim a few triumphs, achieving true cures. But these are limited to rare
and special cancers, such as for instance women’s cancer of pregnancy, called choriocarcinoma. A
type of lymphatic cancer known as Burkitt’s lymphoma, found mostly in certain areas of Africa,
has also been cured in some 50% of cases. An additional area of success has been the control of
many acute childhood leukemias, where some 50% of child patients survived over five years.
Testicular cancer is also claimed to be curable, and indeed a good number of recoveries are on
record.  Unfortunately these successes only refer to rare kinds of malignancy. The most common
types, such as breast, prostate, lung cancer, and more recently colon cancer, have not shown a
good response, even though chemotherapy is almost always administered in such cases.
 A telling and alarming summary of the use of chemotherapy in late cases was given as long
ago as 1972 by Dr. Victor Richards in his book, Cancer—the Wayward Cell: Its Origins, Nature,
and Treatment (Berkeley,University of California Press, 1972). In his book Richards states that
while even palliation  (pain relief and mild tumor shrinkage) occurs only “for brief duration in
about 5 to 10% of the cases, chemotherapy serves an extremely valuable role in keeping patients
oriented toward proper medical therapy, and prevents the feeling of being abandoned by the
Copyright © Charlotte Gerson, 2007.  All rights reserved.
This material may not be reproduced in any medium, print or electronic without prior written permission from the author.Page 143Healing the Gerson Way—Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases
www.thegersonway.comphysician. These potentially useful drugs may also prevent the spread of cancer quackery...”
Deploring the use of chemotherapy, Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D., writes in his book, The Cancer
Industry: Unravelling the Politics,  Paragon House, New York, 1989: “In Richards’ view it is
worthwhile to risk putting patients through possible nausea, vomiting, dizziness, hair loss, mouth
sores, and even premature death simply in order to keep them ‘oriented toward proper medical
therapy’ and away from ‘cancer quackery.’” In other words stopping them from looking for help
other than what is provided by orthodox medicine. In most chemotherapy drug packages the
warning states that this very drug is known to cause cancer.
The seriousness of chemotherapy’s toxic effects may be best seen in an oncology nurses’
manual. It warns nurses who only prepare the drugs for administration that they may experience
“significant risk” of damage to the skin, reproductive abnormalities, hematologic (blood system)
problems, and liver and chromosomal lesions. Nurses are also instructed “to never eat, drink,
smoke, or apply cosmetics in the drug-preparation area.” (From Questioning Chemotherapy, by
Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D., Equinox Press, 2000.)
Breast Implants
These are the choice of some breast cancer patients, mainly for cosmetic reasons, but they
can have serious health consequences. Of course it is understandable that post-mastectomy
patients wish to make up for the loss of one or both breasts. However, there are risks in the
procedure, depending on what materials are used for it. The worst choice is a silicone-filled pad,
which has been known to burst and release the silicone into the surrounding tissues. In one case
we have seen this caused serious toxicity in the entire chest area, as well as migraine headaches
and extreme weakness, to the point where the patient became bedfast. The Gerson treatment
cleared most of the trouble: the patient got rid of the migraines, regained her energy and was able
to function normally.
If other fillers are used, bursting is less of a problem, except that the implant is still a foreign
material, which the body attempts to reject. It cannot do so, since the implant remains firmly in
place; this in turn causes constant irritation, which is particularly dangerous for patients who had
mastectomies for breast cancer. Weighing up the pros and cons of implants, it stands to reason that
cosmetic considerations are less important than the avoidance of a recurrence.
Household Help
The only serious drawback of the Gerson treatment is that it is highly work-intensive, almost
the equivalent of a full time job. Much time, energy and sustained effort is needed to produce
10-13 eight-ounce glasses of freshly made juice a day every hour on the hour, besides preparing
Copyright © Charlotte Gerson, 2007.  All rights reserved.
This material may not be reproduced in any medium, print or electronic without prior written permission from the author.Page


 refer to
the Appendix.

If iodine levels are low, I recommend taking enough iodine to ensure that there will be enough substrate to organify (iodinate)
lipids. As previously mentioned, it is impossible to achieve this with the RDA for iodine. My clinical experience has shown that
most people need from 12-50mg/day of a combination of iodine and iodide. Lugol’s solution or tableted Lugol’s solution have
both proven effective. More information on where to purchase iodine can be found in the Appendix. However, I suggest working
with a health care provider
knowledgeable in how to dose iodine in order to get the best results.
2.
Take Vitamins B2 and B3 in amounts necessary to stimulate the NADPH system to produce adequate
amounts of H
2
O
2
.
The amounts of vitamins B2 and B3 must be sufficient to overcome deficiencies in the system. Dr. G. Abraham’s research has
shown that using 100mg of vitamin B2 (riboflavin) and 500mg of vitamin B3 (niacinamide) twice per day will help to stimulate
ATP production and provide adequate H
2
O
2
 for oxidation of iodide.
3. Correct oxidant stress in the thyroid gland and the mitochondria with antioxidants.
I have used higher-dosed vitamin C in my practice for years with excellent results. My clinical experience has shown that
larger doses of vitamin C are needed when one is suffering an exacerbation of any illness. Generally, between 3-10,000 mg/day
of vitamin C provides the antioxidant protection necessary to overcome oxidative damage for most patients. Some people may
require more. If the illness is severe, intravenous vitamin C can be very helpful. The only major side effect of vitamin C is diarrhea,
which can easily be rectified by reducing the dose.
4. Ensure adequate magnesium levels.
At the present time, my research has shown that magnesium deficiency is widespread. Magnesium levels can be ascertained
by a red blood cell magnesium test. Magnesium acts as an antagonist to excess intracellular calcium levels which can fuel the
oxidative pathways as shown in
Figure 10
.
5.
 Minimize oxidative stress in the body.
There are many ways to minimize oxidative stress in the body. Two of the most important ways are to drink adequate
amounts of pure water and to eat a healthy diet. Drinking adequate amounts of water keeps the body hydrated.
Table 5
 (next
page) shows you how to calculate your water intake. Furthermore, eat a healthy diet that supplies the proper nutrients for your
body. For information on eating a healthy diet, I refer the reader to my book,
The Guide to Healthy Eating.

Ensuring an adequate intake of unrefined salt in the body is also essential to minimize oxidative stress. More information on
salt can be found in my book,
Salt Your Way to Health.
 Finally, reduce stress in your daily life and make sure you get the rest
that you need.
Table 5: How to Calculate Your Water Intake
1
.
Take your weight in pounds2
.
Divide by 2
3
.
The calculated number is the amount of water you should ingest in ounces per day
FINAL THOUGHTS
My research and my clinical experience have been clear: the RDA dose for iodine is inadequate to prevent cancer. In fact, I
believe that lowered iodine levels will provide fertile ground for cancer to begin in many different hormonally sensitive tissues
including the thyroid, breasts, ovaries, uterus, and prostate gland. Optimal iodine supplementation varies in each individual;
however, average doses to achieve the best effects (including cancer prevention) occur with daily doses ranging from 12-
50mg/day for the vast majority of adults.

A diagnosis of an autoimmune thyroid disorder does not have to be a prescription for life-long suffering. In fact, following the
principles outlined in this chapter has proven effective for many of my patients in helping them overcome an autoimmune thyroid
disorder.

An autoimmune thyroid disorder (or any autoimmune disorder) is an example of excess oxidative stress in the body.
Remember, oxidative stress in the body is similar to a fire burning. You can put out this fire by providing the body with what it
needs: adequate intake of water, unrefined salt, and healthy food full of nutrients. Finally, it is important to reduce your stress
levels. To achieve the best results, you should find a health care practitioner who can help guide you as well as monitor your
symptoms. The best results will be achieved with a comprehensive holistic approach.
1
 Farber, J. Mechanisms of cell injury by activated oxygen species. Lab. Invest. 62:670-79. 1990
2
 Kohrle, J., et al. Selenium, the thyroid, and the endocrine system. Endocrine Reviews. 26(7):944-84
3
 Eur. J. of Endocrin. 132. 735-43. 1995
4
 Horm. Metab. Res. 26. 465-69. 1994
5
 Rabinovitz, JL. Identification by nuclear magnetic resonance of iodinated lipids in the dog thyroid. Biochem and Biophy
Res. Com. 1976; 68:1161-8
6
 Bachi, N. Thyroid cell injury is an initial event in the induction of autoimmune thyroiditis by iodine in obese strain chickens.
Endocrinology. 1995; 136:5054-60
7
 Krawiec, L. The inhibition of PB125I formation of calf thyroid caused by 14-iodo-15-hydroxy-eicosatrienoic acid is due to
decreased H2O2 availability. Horm. Metab. Res. 1988:20:86-90
8
 Pisarev, MA. Thyroid autoregulation. Inhibition of goiter growth and of cyclic AMP formation in rat thyroid by iodinated
derivatives of arachidonic acid. J. Endocrin. Invest. 1988; 11:669-74
9
 Abraham, G. Evidence of Defective Cellular Oxidation and Organification of Iodide in a Female with Fibromyalgia and
Chronic Fatigue. Original Internist. June, 2007.
10
 Abraham, GE, and Flechas, JD. Management of fibromyalgia rationale for the use of magnesium and malic acid. Journal of
Nutr. Med. 1992:3, 49-59
11
 Ohayon, R. Inhibition of thyroid NADPH-oxidase by 2-iodohexadecanal in a cell-free system. Molec. And Cell. Endocr.
1994; 99:133-41Chapter 6
Iodine and Autoimmune Thyroid Disorders
CHAPTER 6: IODINE AND AUTOIMMUNE THYROID DISEASE
Graves’ disease is an autoimmune illness whereby the thyroid gland is attacked by the body’s production of antibodies. This
causes an inflammation and swelling of the thyroid gland. Hyperthyroidism–an overactive metabolic state–is common in
Graves’
disease. However, the end-stage of Graves’ disease often results in a hypothyroid picture.
Graves’ disease occurs in 0.25-1% of the population and the number of individuals diagnosed with Graves’ disease is
increasing. Graves’ is more common in females and usually occurs in middle age. In conventional medicine, there is no known
cause of Graves’ disease. Some causative factors reported in the literature include a genetic predisposition, infections, and stress.
Hashimoto’s disease is also an autoimmune illness where the body produces antithyroid peroxidase antibodies (anti-TPO)
that cause an inflammation of the thyroid gland. Goiter is a common occurrence with Hashimoto’s disease. Both hyperthyroidism
and hypothyroidism can be associated with Hashimoto’s disease. Frequently, hypothyroidism is the end result of long-standing
Hashimoto’s disease. In conventional medicine, there is no known cause of Hashimoto’s disease. However, I have identified two
major causes of both Graves’ and Hashimoto’s disease: iodine deficiency and gluten sensitivity. More about these causes later.
Hashimoto’s disease is more prevalent than Graves’ disease. The incidence of autoimmune thyroid disease is commonly
reported to occur in 0.1-5% of the population. The incidence of Hashimoto’s disease is also rising rapidly. However, I
believe the
incidence of autoimmune thyroid disorders is much higher than the reported numbers. Over the last twenty years, I have been
checking every new patient for an autoimmune thyroid illness. My experience would lead me to believe that the incidence of
autoimmune thyroid disorders is much higher–in the range of 15-20% of the population. Part of this estimate is also based on
asking other doctors at my lectures around the country what their experience has been. Nearly 100% of these doctors have
reported finding similar (or sometimes higher) percentages of patients suffering from autoimmune thyroid disorders. Needless to
say, I feel that autoimmune thyroid disorders, particularly Hashimoto’s disease, are increasing at epidemic rates.
FALLING IODINE LEVELS = INCREASED INCIDENCE OF AUTOIMMUNE THYROID DISORDERS
Over the last 40 years, the rising incidence of Hashimoto’s and Graves’ disease correlates with falling iodine levels. I believe
the increase in both Hashimoto’s and Graves’ disease, which are occurring at near epidemic rates, are due, in large part


	reach	as	deep	as	the	level	of	ecstasy.	But	bliss
itself	is	far	from	the	feeling	of	happiness	or	even	joy,	though	in	diluted	form	it
can	be	experienced	as	both.	It	is	the	vibratory	connection	that	allows	pure
consciousness	to	enter	into	creation.
This	Kosha
reveals	wholeness	so	entirely
—through	love,	joy,	and	ecstasy
—that	separation	no	longer	holds	any	attraction.	One	could	say	that
Anandamaya	Kosha	is	pure	Being	mixed	with	just	a	touch	of	individuality,
just	enough	to	allow	someone	to	live	in	physical	form,	and	whatever	form	the
afterlife	takes.	Without	this	gossamer	sheath	you	would	dissolve	into	Being
and	become	bliss	itself,	without	an	experiencer.
It’s	not	difficult	to	see	yourself	in	multidimensions	once	the	Koshas	are
described.
The
physical	dimension
	contains	action.	You	live	here	whenever	you	see
yourself	as	a	body	separate	in	time	and	space.
The
Pranic	dimension
	connects	you	to	other	living	things.	You	live	here
when	you	see	yourself	as	part	of	the	web	of	life,	a	creature	of	Nature.
The
mental	dimension
	organizes	reality	through	thought.	You	live	here
when	you	see	yourself	as	the	sum	of	your	thoughts,	desires,	wishes,	dreams,
and	fears.
The
ego	dimension
	defines	your	unique	identity.	You	live	here	when	you
see	yourself	in	terms	of	“I,	me,	and	mine.”
The
dimension	of	bliss
	holds	out	ultimate	fulfillment	through	love	and
joy.	You	live	here	when	you	see	yourself	blending	into	everything	through	the
power	of	love,	or	when	you	have	no	other	sensation	than	ecstasy.
Making	these	dimensions	more	familiar	doesn’t	automatically	bring	them
together,	however.	Each	Kosha,	as	we	saw,	can	pull	you	closer	to	wholeness
or	increase	your	tendency	to	remain	separate	and	isolated.	The	rishis
considered	wholeness	to	be	the	only	reality,	compared	to	which	every
experience	in	separation	is	a	dream.	The	goal	of	life	is	to	find	unity,	or	Yoga,
and	this	can	be	accomplished,	they	said,	by	focusing	on	each	Kosha.
Physical	body:
	Yoga	uses	physical	postures	(called
Asanas
)	that	combinebalance,	strength,	and	body	awareness	to	bring	us	to	physical	consciousness.
Pranic	body:
	Yoga	uses	exercises	in	soft,	self-aware	breathing
(
Pranayama
)	to	bring	us	to	consciousness	of	the	flow	of	Prana.
Mental	body:
	Yoga	uses	the	whole	field	of	discrimination	(
Viveka
)	to
bring	us	to	consciousness	of	how	the	mind	works.	Manomaya	Kosha	is
therefore	the	level	of	evolution	in	consciousness,	both	for	you	and	me	and	for
human	beings	as	a	whole.	We	carve	out	individual	niches	in	collective
consciousness,	and	as	a	wave	of	evolution	passes	through	humanity,	each	of
us	can	decide	to	catch	the	wave	or	ignore	it,	to	embrace	it	or	defend	against	it.
Ego:
	Yoga	uses	mindfulness	in	all	its	various	forms,	such	as
contemplation	and	meditation	(
Dhyana
),	to	bring	a	person	to	consciousness	of
the	“I	am”	that	underlies	all	experience.
Body	of	bliss:
	Yoga	uses	sustained	periods	in	a	deep	state	of	silence
(
Samadhi
)	to	bring	the	subtle	vibration	of	bliss	to	the	surface	of	the	mind,
making	a	person	conscious	that	the	“hum”	of	the	universe	is	present	in	every
experience.
I’ve	outlined	very	briefly	the	contours	of	yoga	as	a	way	of	life,	but	a
typical	modern	person	cannot	be	expected	to	suddenly	shift	his	or	her
allegiance	so	drastically.	This	makes	the	“after”	in	the	afterlife	too	far	away	to
work	with;	we	must	create	more	unity	in	the	“now.”	Yoga	was	not	meant	to	be
specifically	Indian	or	to	belong	primarily	to	ancient	times,	but,	unfortunately,
this	is	how	things	transpired,	leaving	us	with	a	new	challenge.	How	do	we
take	the	fact	that	we	live	in	five	worlds	and	use	it	to	redefine	life	as	a	whole?
At	Home	in	Consciousness
You	and	I	may	seem	to	live	primarily	in	the	physical	world,	yet	our	awareness
began	in	pure	consciousness,	and	as	we	traveled	into	this	life	layer	by	layer
through	different	dimensions,	each	one	gave	us	a	new	sense	of	self.	We
possess	an	entire	self	system.	The	rishis	studied	this	system	and	came	to
various	conclusions:
Pure	consciousness	is	always	present	in	everything,	no	matter	what
world	it	occupies	or	form	it	takes.
The	physical	world	has	the	least	amount	of	pure	consciousness
because	it	is	dominated	by	physical	things	and	the	illusion	of
separateness.
The	closer	you	get	to	pure	consciousness,	the	more	powerful	it
becomes.
Changing	one’s	consciousness	on	subtle	levels	brings	change	to	all
the	Koshas	at	once.If	we	follow	these	principles,	we	can	gain	the	same	mastery	enjoyed	by
the	sages,	or	at	least	a	fair	share	of	it.
I	posted	opinions	on	the	Internet	to	this	effect,	saying	that	basing	one’s
life	on	consciousness	is	the	best	route	to	mastering	the	physical	world.
Responders	were	quite	skeptical,	however.	Many	said,	in
effect
,	“Talk	about
consciousness	all	you	want,	but	we	have	to	get	people	to	stop	destroying	the
planet.”	Or	“Consciousness	is	all	well	and	good,	but	it	won’t	end	war	and
terrorism.”	Or	“Good	luck	using	consciousness	to	stop	a	bullet.”	In	other
words,	they	were	putting	the	physical	Kosha	first,	assuming	that	material
things	can	only	be	influenced	through	direct	action.
How	can	one	prove	that	the	best	way	to	change	reality	is	through
consciousness?	On	the	physical	level	action	seems	separate	from
consciousness.	The	Buddhist	concept	of	nondoing	seems	quite	mystical	until
you	realize	that	it	means	“action	in	consciousness.”	Action	in	consciousness
takes	many	forms.	The	passive	resistance	of	Gandhi	was	an	outward	form	of
nondoing	that	had	a	huge	effect	on	consciousness;	it	brought	an	entire
historical	era	to	an	end.	Powerful	ideas	are	also	in	consciousness,	and	there	is
no	doubt	that	have	changed	the	world,	from	the	Greek	invention	of
democracy	to	modern	theories	of	relativity.	As	we	move	to	subtler	Koshas,
all
action	takes	place	in	consciousness
.
Let	me	simplify	things	by	making	some	suggestions	about	action	in	each
of	the	five	Koshas:
Annamaya	Kosha
,
	the	physical	body:	Nourish	and	respect	your	body.
Appreciate	its	incredible	inner	intelligence.	Do	not	fear	it	or	taint	it	with
toxins.	Take	time	to	really	be	in	your	body.	Take	it	outside	and	let	it	play.
Pranamaya	Kosha
,
	the	vital	body:	Go	out	into	Nature	and	sink	into	the
feeling	that	this	is	your	home.	Respect	and	nourish	the	ecosystem.	Do	not
harm	other	living	things.	See	Nature	without	fear	or	hostility.	Reverence	for
life	is	the	key	here.


 and as it approaches the heart it can do
one of three things. First, if the energy is totally blocked by the samskaras
while trying to go into the heart, you won’ t feel your heart. A lot of people
don’t feel their heart very much. They are so used to focusing on their mind
that they don’t notice the shifts in the heart until those shifts are too strong
to ignore. Emotions are messy and much too sensitive, so people suppress
them. They want to be analytic al, not emotional. No one told these people
that if they bothered to do the work necessary to clean out the heart, the
increased energy flow coming into the mind would result in more
inspiration, more creativity, and more intuitive brilliance.
A second thing can happen with energy coming into the heart. It can
make it in and begin hitting the blockages stored there. This tends to make
you moody and more sensitive to what is going on around you. Every once
in a while, however, things will line up just right, and your heart will get
quiet. Somebody is in front of you and somehow the way they look, the way
they talk, or something else about them stimulates and rearranges your
samskaras just right. “Her hair looks like my sister ’s hair, and I really got
along with my sister. Look at those glasses. They’re just like the ones my
favorite actress wore in my favorite movie of all time. This is definitely my
kind of person.” The next thing you know, you’re saying out loud, “People
told me nice things about you, and I was really excited to meet you. Now
that I see you, it’s way beyond anything I expected.” So it begins—love at
first sight. The words are right, the hair is right, the glasses are right.
Everything is opening you. You don’t have to do anything—it’ s all
happening by itself. The stimuli coming in through your senses are
rearranging the samskaras just right to create an opening for the energy tocome up. As the energy comes up into the heart, it has the opportunity to
flow out and connect with what caused it to open.
Now we’re talking about a very personal and sensitive subject. Have
you ever felt the energy start to flow out of your heart? Have you ever felt
your heart connect with another person? It’s as if there were an energy flow
tying two hearts together. People who are in love can just sit together not
even talking while that beautifu l, connected flow is happening. It’s almost
as if nothing in this world is as beautiful as that sensation of energy pouring
out through the heart and connecting with someone. From a yogic point of
view, what you are experiencing is shakti pouring out of the fourth energy
center, the heart chakra,  of your energy system. Though this heart center is
really beautiful, it is actually not so high, since there are seven such chakras
that control your inner energy flow. The yogi understands that if all the
energy goes out through the heart center it will not have the power to reach
the higher centers.
What you will come to realize  is that the chakras are like a T-pipe
fitting.
At the bottom there is an entry  point for the energy, and it could be
open or blocked. If it is blocked, no energy will enter that center. If it is
open, the energy will come up into the center and attempt to flow right
through. Should the upper pathway be blocked, however, the energy will
flow out horizontally and connect with whatever stimulated the opening
experience. Now  as human beings, we really like that experience of energy
flowing out through the heart. In fact, we don’t call it like, we call it love.
That experience is human love, and don’t worry, spirituality has no intention
of taking this away from you. It’s beautiful; just know that there is a higher
expression of love.This leads us to the third thing that can happen when the energy rises
up toward the heart—it can make it all the way through. At this point in our
journey, all you have to underst and is if the energy makes it past the fourth
center, there are energy experi ences way higher than human love. This
doesn’ t mean you don’t experie nce connection with people and things. You
actually connect at a much deeper level. People who say the human
connection experience is the meaning of life have not experienced the
higher centers. That’ s like saying food is the meaning of life or intimacy is
the meaning of life. Yes, these are beautiful experiences, but they are
conditional, and they can come and go. The meaning of life is much deeper
than that.
There are much higher energy centers you are capable of experi encing,
and the further you go into these centers, the more beautiful all of life
becomes. But if you can’t work with the heart center, you will never know
the higher centers even exist. To begin to work with the heart, you must first
be able to object ively watch as it opens and closes. What you will see is that
the store d patter ns from your past are getting activated by outside situations
and causing the heart to open or close.
Take our example of love at first sight. If you had met the same person
three days earlier when you were in a bad mood, your heart might not have
opened. If you hadn’ t seen the movie with the actress she reminded you of,
she might not have hit you just right. The bottom line is that you have
blockages stored inside, and they are going to determine your level of
openness in any given situation. All it takes is one word said in just the right
way, and the heart will open. Likewise, all it takes is one word said in just
the wron g way, and the heart will close. We all have differen t samskaras,
and we are taking on new ones all the time. That is why what turns one
person on, turns another perso n off. It is also why the heart behaves
differently for the same person at dif ferent times. It’ s hard to believe that our
moods, attractions, and repulsion s are so dependent on our past, but it’s true.
In our normal state, we’re not paying any attention to what’ s going on—
we’re just being tossed around by it.Chapter 25.
The Secrets of the Heart
We are now ready  to go deeper into the secrets of the heart. From our earlier
explorations, you recognize that the energy can flow out for a while and
create the sensation of love. You also understand that since the opening of
the heart is conditional upon the state of blockages, the energy flow itself is
conditional and generally will not last. Yet it is possible to expe rience great
love all the time. All it requir es is a willingness to work on yourself to
remove the reason your heart tends to close. For examp le, imagine
somebody dies who means a great deal to you. Your spouse can’t go to the
funeral with you because of some important work. You may deeply resent
that. In fact, if you’re not careful, you may resent that for the rest of your
life. You’re playing with fire when you play with these blockag es. You may
lay the groundw ork that will eventually diminish or even destroy your
relationship with your significant other. This is not a game—storing
samskaras is serious business, and it has serious consequences. If you want
love to last, learn to handle these situations better. This is a secret of the
heart that is best to remember.
Another very important thing to understand about the outward flow of
energy through the heart is that it literally makes a connection with the other
person. This connection is real, and you become attached as the energy is
exchanged between you. This is not a physical attachment to one another;
this is a reliance  on the energy flowing between your hearts that is feeding
you both ener getically.
Let’s look at this in detail. Your heart was closed because  stored
patterns from your past were blocking the energy flow. Someone shows up
whose qualities and characteris tics hit you just right so the energy finds a
path around one of your major blockages. The blockage is not gone, but a
pathway has opened up allowin g the energy to flow out through the heart.That energy goes out toward the other person, and the other person’ s energy
goes out toward you. With the help of another person, you have managed to
experience what  you would be experiencing if the original block age was not
there. Perhaps you used to think people didn’ t like you and that you were
not very attracti ve. Someone shows up who always admires you and looks
at you with tremendous love. It makes you feel so comfortable that you melt
in their gaze. It’s unbelievable. You don’t feel that weirdness you used to
feel all the time.
Though this is really beautiful, unfortunately the samskara that was
blocking your energy flow is still there. The energy found a way around it,
but only as long as the energy exchange with this person is still working. It’s
like putting a jumper in an electr ical circuit. You bypassed the sam skara, but
now you are very attached to and dependent on that person. If they start to
leave you, or if you even think


 across his face. Heaven—can’t
you see it? Just there,  the smile says.
Those who wake up see the transcendent world directly. The
time frame of eternity becom es natural and is felt as a seamless
flow. Th e Buddha once said ( in a translation by Sogyal Rinpoche),
“This ex istence of ours is as transient as autumn clouds. To watch
the birth and d eath of beings is like looking at the movements of a
dance. A lifetime is like a flas h of lightning in the sky, rushing by
like a torrent down a steep mountain.”
In every spiritual tradition, such messages have beckoned
believers to a transcendent world, but all have failed to convince
the average person that going  beyond should be the focus of daily
life. At no point in history di d waking up go viral. Somew here in
the evolution of consciousness, Homo sapiens  came to a fork in
the road. Collectively, we could have identified with the true self or
else we could have identified with “I,” the ego-personality.
Obviously, we took the second road. Metareality didn’t abandon
us; we abandoned it.
This made all the difference in how we see ourselves. The true
self is connected to its sour ce in pure consciousness. The ego-
personality has its source only in the stories it imagines and
believes in. Modern people have jettisoned mythology, and many
are reje cting organized relig ion. But at every level, our lives are
still shaped by stories invented by human imagination. The other
road, w hich led to the true self, gained a reputation for being
mystical (i.e., detached from real life), and once this happened,
only a motley crew of saints, sages, poets, artists, and seers
followed that path.
Finding metareality is an impossible task until you question
your ow n story. You must ta ke the challenge personally, because
becoming metahuman is rea l only if it is real for you. I f you are
fully aware of what is happening to you here and now, you have
gone beyond all stories. The  habit of constantly adding to your
story is just that, a habit. By itself, the present moment has no
story—it just is. Why do we embellish it with our story? Because
the present moment isn’t fulfilling by itself until it gets enriched
by t he true se lf. A computer is useless until you plug it in, and
although we use our minds f or everything already, much  time islost in fantasy, distractions, avoidance, denial, procras tination,
self-judgment, and on and on. Every story contains these
undesirable elements. Staying connected to the true self at every
moment brings the fullness of life into our awareness.
Metahuman could be called a new story, another fiction added
to th e s helf, but I think that would be a misnomer. The element of
fiction is taken out when you wake up. As part of the
spell/dream/illusion, our personal stories can’t do with out the
fictional element. Virtual r eality is a fiction to begin with.
Anything based on it participates in unreality. We might pity our
ancestors for their attachm ent to myths, superstitio n, and
unproven religious beliefs. But if we are immersed in a better
story, it’s still a story. Future generations won’t buy int o it any
more than we buy into Zeus, witches, and the heart as the seat of
intelligence rather than the brain (a persistent belief in ancient
Greek and Roman medicine).
This ch apter is about a turn ing point where we stop t elling
ourselves stories, no longer needing them to defend us against
harsh reality or to make sense out of a chaotic world. In
metareality you  go beyond danger and disorder. The true s elf gives
you an unshakable stance in reality, at which point your life finds
purpose and meaning from t he source instead of from a cobbled-
together fiction.
C l i n g i n g  t o  S t o r i e s
Humans are proud to be storytellers, and our story has a gaping
hole because no record was  left from the oldest times, before
writing emerged. Can we imagine so many lost stories? Around
45,000 years ago, people we’d recognize as modern Homo sapiens
started to migrate northward from Africa. All were hunter-
gatherers. Many generations before farming, mining for metals,
and fix ed dwe llings heralded  the rise of civilization, life  45,000
years ago was already too co mplex to do without stories. In the
human mind, fire had to come from somewhere, rain ha d to beunpredictable for a reason, and things we now take for granted,
like a chick hatching out of an egg, posed a deep mystery.
Mythology arose not as fantasy but as the best way to explain
Nature, given the life people were leading. Ascribing meaning to
anything and everything is the thread that binds us to earliest
humans. Stories explain how life works and thus fulfill a need that
is woven into the fabric of being human.
We stil l live by stories, and whatever disrupts our per sonal
story is  usually rejected out o f hand or fought against vigorously.
(Witness the guiltiest sexual abusers coming to light thro ugh the
#MeToo movement, abusers who flatly deny any wron gdoing.)
We’ve a lready discussed how  the ego creates the illusion of being
separate and alone. “I” needs  a good story to feel safe, important,
socially acceptable, and worthy. Seeking to feel secure, people
want to  belong to something larger than themselves—a tribe, a
religion, a race, a nation—but to be accepted by any of these
groups, you first must accept their story. Without thinking about
the freedom they are surrendering, people adopt a secondhand,
sealed-off stor y. You know instantly who is “us” and who is
“them.” Yet no matter how convincing the story, you will always be
“them” to people embedded in another story. The security to be
found in  something larger than yourself breaks down when “they”
turn into a threat, even an enemy of your very survival.
Stories grow out of such ba sic needs that going beyond any
story fe els impossible. A story consists of anything the human
mind c an imagine, which leads to infinite choices. But we can
simplify the matter. Stories are about attachment. We think to
ourselves, “I am X,” and then we cling to X as part of our identity.
X can be the larger group (tribe, race, nation, reli gion)
mentioned above. “I am American” has enormous power over
people, as does “I am French ” or “I am Jewish” or “I am white.”
But in seeing t his, which most people do, we are only sc ratching
the surface. Any version of “I am X” can lead to cling ing and
attachment. “I  am a Patriots  fan” or “I am upper middle class”
creates passionate attachments. At the same time, stories become
more potent by what they exclude. For every “I am X,” there are
many possibilities of “I am not Y.” If you are American, you arenot ever y other nationality, of which there are hundreds. If  you are
Catholic, you exclude all other faiths, and so on.
What’s wrong with this? If stories were held lightly, the way we
experience The Hobbit  or The Great Gatsby, being diverted for a
while before moving on, vexing problems wouldn’t arise. It’s not
the story that i s responsible; it’s our attachment to it. Atta chment
falsifies experience by freezing it in place. The weight of the past
becomes a burden. The pres ent moment is lost in the clutter of
memory, belief, and old conditioning. How many older people
crave to  be young again? How many regrets do we harbor that we
refuse to let g o of? These attachments exist in everyone’s life,
leaving aside the misery and violence created by an us-versus-
them mentality.
Prying someon e loose from a  cherished story lies at the heart of
one of the most popular best sellers in the 1980s, M. Scott Peck’s
The Ro ad Le ss Traveled. The book begins with a gripping
sentence: “Life is difficult.” Immediately, Peck expands on  what he
means: “This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a
great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it…
[and] the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.”
In o ther words, we are hearing the call to go beyond. But Peck,
who wa s a psychiatrist, knew that just because a truth is great
doesn’t mean people can face it—quite the opposite. In his view,
after ye ars of treating patients in therapy, the biggest obstacle to
getting better his patients  faced was their refusal to take
responsibility. Why? “We cannot solve life’s problems except by
solving them,”  Peck writes. Yet this fact “is seemingly bey ond the
comprehension of much of the human race….Many, so many, seek
to a


	to	all	toxins	and	to	take	steps	to	support	the	body’s	detoxification
mechanisms.
A	Buildup	of	External	ToxinsChronic	exposure	to	small	amounts	of	seemingly	harmless	toxins	presents	a
problem	more	dangerous	than	people	realize.	Even	in	trace	amounts,	toxins	can
build	up	and	overload	our	cells,	causing	malfunction.	The	average	American	is
building	up	(bioaccumulating)	between	three	and	five	hundred	manmade
chemicals,	most	of	which	did	not	exist	prior	to	World	War	II	and	have	never
before	been	in	human	tissue.	Therefore,	the	combined	toxic	effects	of	these
chemicals	are	impossible	to	calculate.
Physicians	rarely	consider	toxic	buildup	as	a	primary	cause	of	disease	and
rarely	test	for	toxic	underlying	problems.	In	fact,	about	the	only	time	the	medical
community	will	cite	toxicity	as	a	primary	cause	of	disease	is	when	somebody
dies	or	becomes	obviously	ill	from	massive	toxic	exposure,	such	as	a	chemical
spill.	Subtle	and	gradual	toxic	exposures	typically	go	undetected,	which	explains
how	people	suffering	from	toxic	overload	can	go	to	their	doctors	repeatedly
(with	persistent,	if	vague,	complaints	of	“not	feeling	quite	right”)	and	never
receive	a	correct	diagnosis.
When	people	finally	do	become	sick	from	their	bioaccumu-lated	toxins,
following	the	path	of	their	illness	back	to	the	myriad	toxic	sources	is	nearly
impossible.	If	these	toxins	weren’t	so	insidious	and	if	they	made	us	sick	or	killed
us	quicker	and	more	straightforwardly,	we	would	understand	more	readily	the
need	to	avoid	them.	Instead,	we	expose	ourselves	unknowingly	and	we	lay	the
groundwork	for	massive	cellular	malfunction,	little	by	little.	Combine	these
external	toxins	with	those	generated	inside	the	body,	and	the	eventual	result	is
toxic	overload.
A	chilling	example:	Environmental	and	dietary	toxins	bioaccumulate	in	a
mother’s	fatty	tissues	throughout	her	life.	When	she	starts	nursing,	her	toxin-
loaded	fatty	tissues	produce	cancer-causing	breast	milk.	In	his	1987	book
Diet
for	a	New	America,
John	Robbins	notes	that	the	milk	of	most	American	mothers
is	so	contaminated	with	chemicals	(PCBs,	dioxins	and	various	pesticides)	that	“it
would	be	subject	to	confiscation	and	destruction	by	the	FDA	were	it	to	be	sold
across	state	lines.”	Robbins	also	says	“the	EPA	has	concluded	that	the	average
American	breast-fed	infant	ingests	nine	times	the	permissible	level	of	dieldrin,
one	of	the	most	potent	of	all	cancer-causing	agents	known	to	modern	science.”
Fortunately,	dieldrin,	which	was	used	on	crops,	has	now	been	removed	from	the
market,	but	the	average	mother’s	milk	(while	still	far	better	than	infant	formula)
remains	contaminated	with	numerous	toxic	chemicals.
No	One	Is	SafeAt	present,	toxic	chemicals	can	be	found	in	trace	amounts	in	the	tissues	of
virtually	everyone	in	America—including	you.	These	chemicals	include:	plastics
such	as	styrene	(disposable	Styrofoam	cups),	1,4-dichlorobenzene	(mothballs,
deodorizers),	sodium	lauryl	sulfate	(synthetic	detergent	from	soaps,	shampoos,
toothpastes),	pesticides,	PCBs,	dioxins,	phthalates	(plastics),	formaldehyde
(plywood,	particleboard,	permanent-press	clothing),	prescription	drugs	and
organic	solvents.	No	place	on	earth—and	no	modern	home—is	free	from	man-
made	toxic	contamination.	Molecules	of	the	pesticide	DDT,	for	example,	blanket
the	entire	planet.
Henry	Schroeder,	M.D.,	a	former	professor	of	medicine	at	Dartmouth	Medical
School	and	author	of
The	Poisons	Around	Us,
wrote	that	“five	toxic	trace	metals:
antimony,	beryllium,	cadmium,	lead,	and	mercury	are	involved	in	at	least	half
the	deaths	in	the	U.S.	and	much	of	the	disabling	disease.”	In	all,	more	than	one
hundred	thousand	chemicals	are	now	in	commercial	use,	at	least	25	percent	of
which	are	known	to	be	hazardous;	many	others	have	never	been	tested	at	all!
Even	when	chemicals	are	tested	for	safety,	studies	are	virtually	always	short-
term	and	tested	individually;	few	have	examined	the	long-term	effects	of
chemicals,	or	how	they	react	in	the	body	in	combination	with	each	other.	Yet
these	long-term,	combined	effects	are	the	reality	of	living	in	America	today.	In
other	words,	the	testing	programs	are	flawed.	Adverse	effects	are	not	necessarily
observed	in	small	groups	of	animals,	nor	do	experimental	animals	necessarily
react	to	toxins	the	same	as	humans.	Ultimately,	any	chemical	that	is	not	normal
and	natural	to	our	bodies	puts	a	load	on	our	detoxification	systems	and	may
damage	cell	function.
Most	people	make	little	effort	to	avoid	toxins	because	officially	established
tolerances	presume	that	toxin	levels	are	within	safe	limits.	Unless	you	make
special	choices,	you	constantly	eat	foods	with	trace	toxins,	you	constantly	drink
water	with	trace	toxins,	you	constantly	use	personal	products	with	trace	toxins,
and	you	constantly	breathe	toxic	air.	By	the	end	of	each	day,	these	toxic
contaminants	often	reach	a	substantial	cumulative	total.	EPA	scientists	found
that
the	total	toxic	residues	in	our	daily	diet	can	exceed	500	percent	of	the
recommended	daily	maximum,	even	if	each	individual	food	is	within	“safe”
limits!
A	Poison	Gas	Chamber	of	Her	Very	Own
Several	years	ago,	a	young	married	couple	from	Chicago	asked	me	to	help
their	three-year-old	daughter,	Anne,	who	was	experiencing	seizures.	Anne	hadbeen	examined	by	at	least	a	dozen	specialists,	but	their	only	recommendations
were	anti-seizure	medications	that	made	Anne	sick,	yet	failed	to	stop	the
seizures.	The	desperate	parents	called	me,	a	complete	stranger	two	thousand
miles	away.	They	begged	me	for	help,	even	though	I	am	not	a	physician.
Because	there	is	only	one	disease,	I	knew	that	Anne’s	problem	was
malfunctioning	cells.	But	why	were	they	malfunctioning?	Although	I	asked
many	questions	about	Anne’s	history,	nothing	seemed	unusual	about	her	birth,
background	or	development.	She	had	been	breast-fed	(a	good	thing;	even	though
breast	milk	is	toxic,	it	is	still	preferable	to	the	alternatives),	and	her	diet	was
actually	better	than	average.	In	fact,	she	had	been	remarkably	healthy	ever	since
birth—until	the	seizures	started.
I	began	to	ask	questions	about	her	environment.	As	it	turned	out,	during	most
of	her	young	life,	Anne	had	been	sleeping	in	a	crib	in	her	parents’	bedroom.
When	she	outgrew	the	crib,	her	parents	decided	s


 fat content and still be low in essential fat-soluble vitamins. This constitutes an
exceedingly important phase of our modern problem. Butter ships best when hard and this quality
can be largely controlled by the fodder given to the cattle and hence becomes an important factor
in the wholesale butter industry. Since 1927, I have been analyzing samples of dairy products,
chiefly butter, from several parts of the world for their vitamin content. These samples are received
every two to four weeks from the same places, usually for several years. They all show a seasonal
rise and fall in vitamin content. The high level is always associated with the use of rapidly growing
young plant food. This tide in plant life, fluctuating with the seasons, controlled the migration of the
buffalo southward in the autumn and winter and northward in the spring. They moved at the rate of
about twelve miles per day, travelling with the sun in order to provide the highest-vitamin milk for
the young calves born in the south. No doubt these tides in nutrition control also the migration of7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 171/250birds. By far the most efficient plant food that I have found for producing the high-vitamin content
in milk is rapidly growing young wheat and rye grass. Oat and barley grass are also excellent. In
my clinical work small additions of this high-vitamin butter to otherwise satisfactory diets regularly
checks tooth decay when active and at the same time improves vitality and general health.
   Similarly the value of eggs for providing fat-soluble vitamins depends directly upon the food
eaten by the fowl. The fertility of the eggs also is a direct measure of the vitamin content, including
vitamin E.
   Since the sea foods are, as a group, so valuable a source of the fatsoluble activators, they have
been found to be efficient throughout the world not only for controlling tooth decay, but for
producing a human stock of high vitality. Unfortunately the cost of transportation in the fresh state
often constitutes a factor limiting distribution. Many of the primitive races preserved the food value,
including vitamins, very efficiently by drying the fish. While our modern system of canning prevents
decomposition, it does not efficiently preserve some of the fatsoluble activators, particularly vitamin
A.
   Since the organs, particularly the livers of animals, are storage depots of the vitamins an
important source of some of the fat-soluble activators can be provided by extracting the fat of the
livers and shipping it as liver oils. Modern methods of processing have greatly improved the quality
of these oils. There are some factors, however, which can be provided to great advantage for
humans from dairy products of high efficiency.
   I have shown in the preceding chapter the quantities of several of the minerals that are essential in
suitable chemical form to maintain an adult in good health and make possible tissue repair. The
dietaries of the various primitive groups have all been shown to have a mineral content several
times higher than that which obtains in the inadequate food eaten by modernized primitives and the
people of our modernized cultures.
   Modern commerce has deliberately robbed some of nature's foods of much of their body-
building material while retaining the hunger satisfying energy factors. For example, in the production
of refined white flour approximately eighty per cent or four-fifths of the phosphorus and calcium
content are usually removed, together with the vitamins and minerals provided in the embryo or
germ. The evidence indicates that a very important factor in the lowering of reproductive efficiency
of womanhood is directly related to the removal of vitamin E in the processing of wheat. The germ
of wheat is our most readily available source of that vitamin. Its role as a nutritive factor for the
pituitary gland in the base of the brain, which largely controls growth and organ function,
apparently is important in determining the production of mental types. Similarly the removal of
vitamin B with the embryo of the wheat, together with its oxidation after processing, results in
depletion of body-building activators.
   Refined white sugar carries only negligible traces of body-building and repairing material. It
satisfies hunger by providing heat and energy besides having a pleasant flavor. The heat and energy
producing factors in our food that are not burned up are usually stored as fat. In the preceding
chapter we have seen that approximately half of the foods provided in our modern dietaries furnish
little or no body-building or repairing material and supply no vitamins. Approximately 25 per cent
of the heat and energy of the American people is supplied by sugar alone which goes far in
thwarting Nature's orderly processes of life. This per capita use is unfortunately on the increase.
Therefore we must begin by radically reducing the foods that are so deceptive, and often injurious
in overloading the system. Even this much change in our modern nutrition will raise the factor of
safety sufficiently to check tooth decay in a large percentage of people. It will not, however, be
adequate for most children in whom the additional demands of rapid growth must be satisfied. I
have found the highest incidence of tooth decay in the high school and boarding school girls, and
the next in the boarding school boys. These groups suffer even more than the childbearing mothers.
   In discussing the technical aspects later I shall consider the defensive factors in the saliva as
controlled by the nutrition through the blood stream, and also the role of oral prophylaxis.7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 172/250   It is appropriate at this point to note some characteristics of a decaying tooth. The process of
tooth decay never starts from within but always from without and is most likely to start at the
contact points between the teeth or in the pits and grooves, especially when these are incompletely
formed. Teeth never have caries while they are covered with flesh but decay most easily soon after
eruption, when conditions are unfavorable. If the saliva is normal the surfaces of the teeth
progressively harden during the first year after eruption. While there are many theories regarding
the relative importance of different factors in the process of decay practically all provide for a local
solution of the tooth substance by acids produced by bacteria. The essential difference in the
various theories of tooth decay is the difference in theories relative to the control of these
decalcifying organisms, and relative to their quantity and activity. The dental profession has been
waiting for decades for this question to be solved before taking active steps to prevent the whole
process. The primitive approach has been to provide a program that will keep the teeth well, that
is, prevention of dental caries by adequate food combinations. I have just stated that teeth harden
after eruption if the saliva is normal. This occurs by a process of mineralization much like the
process by which petrified wood is produced.
   The tooth is made up of four structures. The first is the pulp within, which carries blood vessels
and nerves. This structure is surrounded in both the root and crown by the dentine or tooth bone
which is nourished from within. The dentine of the root is covered by cementum which receives
nourishment from the membrane which attaches the root to the jaw bone. The dentine of the crown
or exposed part of the tooth is covered with enamel. Tooth decay proceeds slowly through the
enamel and often rapidly in the dentine, always following the minute channels toward the pulp,
which may become infected before the decay actually reaches the pulp to expose it; nearly always
the decay infects the pulp when it destroys the dentine covering it. When a tooth has a deep cavity
of decay, the decalcified dentine has about the density of rotten wood. With an adequate
improvement in nutrition, tooth decay will generally be checked provided two conditions are
present: in the first place, there must be enough improvement in the quality of the saliva; and in the
second, the saliva must have free access to the cavity. Of course, if the decay is removed and a
filling placed in the cavity, the bacteria will be mechanically shut out. One of the most severe tests
of a nutritional program, accordingly, is the test of its power to check tooth decay completely,
even without fillings. There are, however, two further tests of the sufficiency of improvement of the
chemical content of the saliva. If it has been sufficiently improved, bacterial growth will not only be
inhibited, but the leathery decayed dentine will become mineralized from the saliva by a process
similar to petrification. Note that this mineralized dentine is not vital, nor does it increase in volume
and fill the cavity. When scraped with a steel instrument it frequently takes on a density like very
hard wood and occasionally takes even a glassy surface. When such a tooth is placed in silver
nitrate, the chemical does not penetrate this demineralized dentine, though it does rapidly penetrate
the decayed dentine of a tooth extracted when decay is active. This process is illustrated in Fig. 96
which shows two deciduous teeth extracted from the same child, one before, and the other a few
months after improving the nutrition. These deciduous molars were replaced by the bicuspids of
the second dentition. The tooth at the left had deep caries and was removed before the treatment
was begun. Note that the silver nitrate has blackened the tissue to the depth of the decay. The
tooth at the right was removed about three months after the nutrition was changed. Note that the
decayed dentine is so dense that the silver nitrate has not penetrated


?
By invisible “threads” compos ed of faint vibrations, what Ayurveda calls
primordial sound. This again is plausible from the viewpoint of a modern
physicist. It is obvious that when two electrons are held together in a helium
atom despite the immense void that separates them, an invisible but
extremely strong  bond is presen t. This bond must also have an element of
design in it, since every atom in the universe is perfect and remains perfect
forever.
The sages of Ayurveda claimed to have detected these bonds, which act as
the glue of the universe, through sounds that came into their own awareness.
Having heard them, the sages could also reproduce these sounds and pass
them on to others. A primordial sound can be spoken or chanted aloud; it is
more powerful still if used internally, as a mental sound. The proof that
primordial soun d is real lies in its application. If the body is basically glued
together by sounds, as the sages contend, then the presence of a disease
means that some sounds must have gone out of tune.
Not until she turned 75 did Molly Sanders have any trouble with her heart.
She began to suffer from recurrent bouts of dull chest pain that were
diagnosed as angina pectoris. Molly did not have to exert herself to bring on
an attack—one might come when she was sitting still, or it might wake her
up in the middle of the night.
Her diary records fifteen episodes between January and May when the
angina began, or about three attacks per month. Some were mild and passed
after one or two minutes, others were more severe, emanating pain from the
center of her chest for up to ten minutes, leaving her panting  and feeling
faint. “I didn’ t live this long by worrying about my problems,” she told her
friends. Nonetheless, the experience frightened her.
When she went to her cardiol ogist, Molly’ s tests disclosed no serious
blockage in her coronary arteries. Like most elderly people, her arteries had
hardened somewhat, but there were no large fatty plaque deposits starving
the heart muscle of oxygen. However, there is a second kind of angina that
results from spasms of the coronary vessels, and Molly had that. Her arterieswere just narrow enough that mild, even unnoticeable stress tightened them
sufficiently to bring on an angina attack.
“We don’t know everything about this condition,” her doctor said. “Just
take it easy from now on.”
“When you’re seventy-five years old,” Molly snapped, “all you do is take
it easy.”
Although she began taking a standard medication to stabilize her blood
vessels, she wanted to do everything possible to avoid taking medicines on a
long-term basis.  Early in June, on the advice of her son, Molly became our
patient. After taking a compl ete medical history, we instructed her in
meditation and encouraged her to begin listening to the sounds of nature on a
daily basis.
We then taught her to chant aloud the sound associated with the heart
center. According to Tantra, a spiritual tradition that is close ly related to
Ayurveda, we each possess seven energy centers known as chakras. These
chakras can be thought of as junction points between mind and matter.
The first center at the base of the spine is associated with basic survival
issues. The second center in the reproductive area governs creativity. The
third located in the solar plexus is concerned with personal power. The
fourth center in the heart is important in relationships. The fifth chakra,
located in the throat, is responsible for expressing ourselves. The sixth
chakra is located between the eyes (usually known as the “third  eye”) and is
the cente r for insight and intuitio n. Finally, the seventh center is at the crown
of the head and is said to open when we experience higher states of
consciousness.
Each chakra has a mantra associated with it. According to Tantra
expressing the mantra with your attention in the chakra can open up energy
that may be congested in that region.
The mantras for each of the seven ener gy centers are as follows:We encouraged Molly to chant the sound for the heart chakra several
times per day. Two months later, Molly wrote me a happy letter that began,
“I have no more pain!” Her angina attacks had stopped a week after she
began using the heart chakra mantra and have not returned. Delight and
relief came through in her writi ng. She feels comfortable in activity now—
most angina sufferers are extrem ely anxious about exerting themselves, even
slightly. This summer she took a bold step and enrolled as a full-time college
student. She tells me with pride  that she is the oldest under graduate in the
history of her college.
How does Ayurveda explain the effects of using sounds to heal?
Intellectually, you cannot possibly analyze all the vibrations that influence
your life. The oscillation of the atoms comprising your cells, the beating of
your heart, the rhythms of the planets—each of these influence  your life in
subtle but profound ways. According to Ayurveda the many different
vibrations that comprise our lives sometimes get “out of synch.” This
disharmony that results sows the seeds for illness.
In that event, Ayurveda tells us to apply a specifically chosen sound, like a
mold or template slipped over the disturbed cells coaxing them back into
line, not physically, but by repairing the sequence of sound at the heart of
every cell. In the case of a disorder like angina, we know that the brain sends
specific signals that constrict the arteries, working through messengermolecules that stimulate nerve and muscle cells in the middle layers of the
blood vessels. Molly’ s spasms were being caused by some kind of improper
message. Certain medicines take advantage of this fact by inhibiting the
brain’ s chemical messengers so that their message never gets delivered. But
the real source of these molecules is the mind; if one went directly to the
thinking process and corrected the brain’ s impulses, then treatment should be
even more ef fective and gentler. This is the purpose of healing sounds.
The degree of healing achieved by sound varies from person to person.
After several years of prescribing them, we have witnessed hundreds of
cases where patients with heart disease, cancer, multiple sclerosis, and even
AIDS have reported alleviation of pain, anxiety, and various other troubling
symptoms. Thes e are all anecdotal reports, meaning that they have not been
studied statistically using the proper controls needed for scientific validation.
Therefore, they cannot be offered as proof that this subtle healing technique
is effective; by the standards of scientific medicine, there is a long way to go
before ironclad  proof is available. On the other hand, the Ayurvedic
approach is rooted in thousand s of years of experience, and using it can
supplement the benefits of standard medical treatment.
Discovering that the human body is fundamentally a web of sound comes
as a revelation,  and when put into practice, the theory yields remarkable
results. In a matter of a few hours, one’s self-image complet ely changes;
people often report dramatic transformations in their powers of perception.
Using a healing  sound is a perfect illustration of the Ayurvedi c saying that
“the world is as you are.” When  your perception opens up “in here,” so does
everything “out there.”
HEALING VISUALIZA TION—USING ATTENTION AND
INTENTION
Focusing your attention on an area in your body that needs healing and
introducing an intention is a powerful therapeutic technique. Ayurveda says,
“Whatever we put our attention on grows stronger in our lives.” If you spend
two hours a day at the fitness center building up your body, your muscleswill grow  but your grades in school may fall. If you spend your evenings and
weekends at the office, your business may grow but your family
relationships may suf fer.
Ayurveda states that you can use your attention to activate healing in your
body. You can change your mind and body by consciously directing your
awareness to the aspect you believe needs attention.
Another principle of Ayurveda is, “Intention has infinite organizing
power.” This means that just being clear on a desired outcome can have a
pronounced effect on achieving your goal, without necessarily having to
handle all the details. When you want to throw a baseball, you do not have to
analyze the contraction and release of every muscle in your body—you
simply have the intention and your inner intelligence coordinates the tens of
millions of activities that need to occur for you to throw the ball. The release
of sugar from your liver, the metabolism of the sugar into energy, changes in
blood flow, and your breathing pattern are organized by nature without your
conscious control. If you had to consciously pay attention to the details, you
would never accomplish anything.
You can use these principles to enliven the healing forces in your body,
even though you may not have realized you can influence them. Awakening
your inner healer requires a different set of procedures than the way you
usually accomp lish things. When you want to lift your hand, you send a
signal from your brain to your spinal cord causing certain muscles to
contract and others to relax. When you want to lower your blood pressure or
improve your immune function, you must use a subtler approa ch that relies
upon your attention and intention.
Try the followi ng visualization  and see if you are


	FOOD	AND	GO
ORGANIC	AS	MUCH	AS
POSSIBLE
All	the	preservatives,	pesticides,	artificial	dyes,	and	chemicals	that	go	into
packaged	foods	can	distort	metabolic	processes	in	the	liver.	Eat	clean	and	have
clean,	beautiful	skin.
EAT	MORE	PLANTS
Increase	your	intake	of	fruits	and	especially	vegetables,	which	are	very
nourishing	to	your	liver.	This	is	easy	to	accomplish	by	drinking	the
Glowing
Green	Smoothie	(
this	page
),	eating	bigger	salads	at	meals,	and	keeping	fresh,
cut-up	veggies	around	to	munch	on.
START	YOUR	DAY	DRINKING
HOT	WATER	WITH	LEMON
Water	helps	flush	out	wastes	and	supports	your	liver,	as	well	as	the	functioning
of	your	entire	body.	Hot	lemon	water	helps	purify	and	stimulate	the	liver	andliquefies	bile	while	inhibiting	excess	bile	flow.	It	supports	your	digestion	and
even	has
a	similar	atomic	composition	to	saliva	and	hydrochloric	acid,	which
are	used	in	digestion.
34
DRINK	LIVER-SUPPORTING	TEA	WITH
MILK	THISTLE
Several	studies	suggest	that	substances	in	the	milk	thistle	plant	(especially	a
flavonoid	called	silymarin)	protect	the	liver	from	toxins,	although	research	has
been	limited,	mixed,	and	preliminary.
35
	If	you	are	new	to	this	herb,	be	sure	to
consult	your	health-care	professional	first.
AVOID
FRIED	FOODS
This	particularly	includes	foods	made	from	heated	vegetable	oils	(such	as	potato
chips).	Cooked,	reused,	and	rancid	oils	can	put	an	especially	big	burden	on
your	liver	and	on	digestion	in	general.
36
	In	lab	research,	even	olive	oil	cooked	at
high	temperatures	has	been	shown	to	induce	oxidative	stress	on	the	liver.
37
	It’s
best	to	cook	with	coconut	oil,	which	can	withstand	high	temperatures.
TAKE	A
TRADITIONAL	CHINESE	MEDICINE	APPROACH
In	Traditional	Chinese	Medicine,	if	someone	has	“liver	yin	deficiency,”	the	liver
has	been	compromised.	This	results	in	hair	loss	and	sallow	skin.	To	strengthen
your	liver,	this	ancient	Asian	medical	system	recommends	eating	zucchini,
squash,	potatoes,	sweet	potatoes,	string	beans,	beets,	mushrooms,	tomatoes,
spinach,	carrots,	parsley,	apples,	banana,	mulberries,	mango,	coconut,	peaches,
lychee	fruit,	melons,	oats,
tempeh,	and	black	sesame	seeds.
38
AVOID
FOIE	GRAS
Radical	Beauty	is	more	about	creating	a	balanced	lifestyle	than	adhering	to
absolutes,	but	one	hard-and-fast	rule	is	to	steer	clear	of	beauty-diminishing
foie
gras.	Foie	gras	sounds	fancy,	and	some	people	claim	it’s	delicious,	but	it’s	quite
literally	the	toxic	liver	of	geese	and	ducks	that	likely	have	been	fed	an	unnatural
diet	of	GMO	corn.	Such	a	diet	creates	fatty	liver	disease	in	these	animals,	and
the	excessive	fat	makes	their	liver	taste	rich	and	buttery,	but	it’s	a	lot	less
tempting	when	you	realize	that	it’s	disease	making	it	taste	this	way,	isn’t	it?
Although	consuming	offal	(the	internal	organs	and	entrails	of	butchered
animals)	has	become	an	en	vogue	gourmet	phenomenon,	it’s	best	to	avoid
consuming	animal	liver	from	any	four-,	two-,	or	no-legged	creature	(i.e.,	fish).
Now	that	you	understand	the	liver	is	the	detoxifying	center	for	the	body,	you
probably	want	to	avoid	eating	an	organ	full	of	toxins	without	any	extraencouragement.
EAT	MORE
GRAPEFRUIT
Grapefruit	is	high	in	vitamin	C	and	antioxidants	and	can	help	your	liver	flush
out	carcinogens	and	toxins.	It	also	gives	your	liver	a	boost	in	dealing	with
various
medications.	In	a	lab	study,	grapefruit	juice	was	shown	to	prevent
damage	to	DNA	molecules	that	were	exposed	to	conventional	anticancer
drugs.
39
TRY
BEETS
Beets	are	high	in	plant	flavonoids	and	cleansing	fiber	and	can	improve	the
overall	functioning	of	your	liver.
UP	YOUR	LEAFY
GREEN	INTAKE
Leafy	greens	like	spinach	and	romaine	lettuce	contain	chlorophyll	and
thousands	of	phytonutrients	that	can	help	neutralize	the	metals,	chemicals,	and
pesticides	that	may	be	in	your	food,	thereby	helping	to	protect	the	liver.
DRINK
GREEN	TEA
Green	tea	is	full	of	plant	antioxidants	known	as	catechins,	which	improve	the
liver’s	functioning.
EAT	MORE
AVOCADOS
Avocados	are	a	great	source	of	an	antioxidant	called	glutathione,	which	your
liver	uses	to	filter	out	toxins	and	harmful	waste.
SLOWLY	INCREASE
CRUCIFEROUS	VEGETABLES
Cruciferous	veggies	like	broccoli	and	Brussels	sprouts	increase	the	amount	of
glucosinolate	(organic	compounds)	in	our	bodies,	thereby	increasing	the
digestive	enzymes	that	flush	toxins	and	taxing	pollutants	from	the	body.
(Temporarily	delay	or	start	slowly	when	introducing	these	veggies	if	you
currently	are	prone	to
bloating	or	transitioning	your	diet.)
TRY
TURMERIC
The	spice	turmeric	is	not	only	a	fantastic	anti-inflammatory	aid,	but	it	can	also
help	detoxify	your	liver	by	stimulating	the	production	of	bile	to	help	your	body
digest
fats	better.	Start	incorporating	it	into	your	cooking	regimen—check	out
the
Radical	Beauty	Liver	Tonic	recipe	(below)	and	the
Creamy	Masala	VegetableStew	(
this	page
).
RADICAL	BEAUTY	LIVER	TONIC
This	toning,	cleansing,	and	anti-inflammatory	drink	can	be	made	at	any	time	to	help	nourish	and	give
your	liver	a	boost.
1-inch	piece	of	ginger,	sliced	thinly
Filtered	water	(enough	to	fill	your	tea	mug)
Juice	of	½	lemon
2	teaspoons	raw	honey	(or	coconut	sugar	or	nectar)
¼	teaspoon	powdered	turmeric
Pinch	of	cayenne	pepper
Pinch	of	black	pepper
Place	the	ginger	slices	in	a	tea	mug.	Heat	the	water	in	a	teakettle	or	small	pot	and	then	pour	the	hot
water	over	the	ginger	slices,	allowing	them	to	steep	for	about	3	minutes.	Add	the	remaining
ingredients	and	mix	well.	Enjoy	immediately.
GO	FOR
WALNUTS
Like	avocados,	walnuts	are	also	high	in	glutathione	and
omega-3
fatty	acids,
which	can	support	your	liver’s	cleansing	functions.
Detoxing
Alcohol
It’s	probably	obvious	by	now	that	if	you	want	to	be	as	toxin-free	as	possible,
you	should	avoid	alcohol.	No	one	would	suggest	that	alcohol	is	a	beauty
booster.	But	the	divide	between	theory	and	reality	can	be	wide!	It’s	perhaps
unrealistic	to	think	you’ll	never	drink	an	alcoholic	beverage	again.	This	may	be
the	case	for	s


 given the liver work beyond its capability, the experience of the  fast is
often trying. Bile is cast out in large amounts and floods the intestines to such extent that, often before it can be carried  downward,
some of it finds its way into the stomach, with nausea and vomiting as sequelae. There is no absolute certainty  of the appearance of
this sign, but it is usually present in the subjects referred to. In extreme form nausea with vomiting suggests either the pr esence of
an obstruction in the small intestines situated below the opening of the gall duct, or that of orga nic disease of the liver. If the latter
exists, the vomited fluid is ordinarily blackish in color; if the former be the case, the bile vomited is usually yellow or g reenish -
yellow in tint. In any event the symptom is distressing and it may be more or less serious as to cause, but a number of instances
with it intermittently in evidence are noted that progressed to favorable outcome.

The above remarks may be amplified by stating that, for the reason that excessive vomiting of bile during a fast is a sympto m that
indicates the probability of organic disease of the liver or an obstruction of the intestinal tract, in these cases caution i s urged in the
employment of the protracted fast. The symptom is not to be regarded as alarming when the fluid raised is yel low or greenish -
yellow in hue, nor when nausea occurs at infrequent intervals. But if its color be a vivid green or, as in instances of extre me
organic derangement, blackish in tint, the case may be considered as serious in character and of doubtful progno sis. In any event,
when nausea is present during a fast, it is far better to rid the stomach of its contents through the mouth than to permit th em to
remain with the certainty of absorption and toxication. For this purpose drinking of warm water, a quart o r so at a time, will ease
the act of retching, and at the same time will cleanse the stomach. If difficulty is found in vomiting, titillation of the pa late with the
end of the index finger will usually suffice to cause the muscular contraction necessary. A nd this sort of stomach lavage is much
more simple in operation and just as efficacious as that by means of a pump. In fact, whenever during a fast there is reason to
suppose that the stomach because of inaction has gathered secretion upon its walls, clean sing of the organ in the manner described
is in order, and it is always beneficial.

There are patients with livers organically diseased who undergo a fast with no appearance of bilious vomit. Observation in po st
mortem examination leads to the conclusion  that these subjects usually are affected with some form of cirrhosis, and the instances
referred to were in body of thin and wiry type. On the other hand, those in whom excessive vomiting occurs during fasting usu ally
are inclined to obesity, and, if orga nic disease exists and death follows, post mortem examination will in all probability show a
liver deteriorated or degenerated in structure.

Bile forced into the stomach may produce through irritation spasmodic contractions of the diaphragm, or hiccoughs. These may
also occur because of other stimulation of the diaphragmatic nerve, a frequent happening in cases of functional disturbance o f the
liver or of the small intestines. When the reason for this annoying symptom is purely functional in character, it  may ordinarily be
quickly relieved by drinking water or by inducing vomiting; but, if it persists, the case at once assumes gravity in prognosi s, for in
all probability extreme organic defect has been uncovered. This observation is entitled to additional credence because of several
instances in whom persistent hiccoughing occurred shortly before death, and in whom the autopsies revealed organic disease of  the
upper portion of the small intestine.

In the earlier stages of a fast there will probably be fer mentation with consequent formation of gas in the bowels, and this may
continue for a few days, depending upon the amount of waste retained, and upon what may be termed the virulence of the biliou s
excretion deposited in the intestinal tract. The gas forme d is often the cause of colicky pains, and is always a source of
uncomfortable moments until it is discharged. To this end manipulation of the abdomen and hot water applications upon its sur face
are of much assistance. By these measures peristalsis is stim ulated, and the inflated bowel is reduced by forcing the gas to the
rectum, thence to discharge. However, the enema is to be regarded as the greatest ally of the body for the assistance of bowe l
evacuation, and it should be resorted to in the circumstances  related and in all other similar situations.

In all cases in the fast the evacuations from the bowels are much alike. At first old feces more or less abundant in quantity  are
discovered floating in a brownish fluid that often shades to black. Solid wast e is usually present for a number of days, although its
amount depends in great measure upon the time devoted to preparation for the total abstinence period. These formed feces offe r
definite evidence of the truth of the statement that an overloaded colon does not fully evacuate its contents even though daily
passages are the rule.

At some point or other in the purifying process there appear in the evacuations stringy masses of white or yellowish mucus. I n
catarrhal cases these are discovered at the begin ning of treatment and they usually continue in evidence until purification of the
system is completed. In other subjects mucus commonly does not appear until the fast is well under way, but it is certain to be
found in the discharges before the end of abst inence.
Page 27 of  72 More extended discussion of this phenomenon will later be given, for upon it is based a most interesting question in patholog y. It
suffices here to say that, when the intestinal walls are about freed of old feces, and are in the relaxed condition that results from the
processes in operation during the fast, bowel excretion takes the form of an exudation of pathogen from the blood, and this w aste is
deposited in the form of mucus upon the walls of the intestines. The mucus membrane of the latter in its relaxed state will usually
freely slough this coating, especially if peristalsis is stimulated by manipulation of the abdomen and the enema is properly
employed. The deposit is discharged, often in formed bodies. An instance recurs in which there came away a mass tubular in
shape, eight feet in length, a replica of a portion of the intestinal tract. And often shorter formed sections are discovered. This
mucus is viscous, glue -like, in consistency, and, when it disappears, systemic cleansing is near its end.

The more usual indication of disease as it affects body temperature is fever, but in cases of differing temperament, quite fr equently
after the beginning of a fast, temperature drops a degree or so below normal. This is the result of the absence of food stimulation,
for there is nothing inherent in the fast itself that occasions this phenomenon. Even when food is being ingested in cases of  long-
standing debility temperature is often below register, and in other instances it rises above normal in prop ortion to the severity of
disease. Abstinence from food tends to restore both temperature and pulse to normal, be they high or low at its inception. Wh ile
the average register of body heat is given at about 98 -2/5 degrees Farenheit, and the average pulse a t about 72 beats to the minute,
these figures are not to be regarded as the normal for every organism. There are variations both above and below the standard s
given that cannot in every instance be considered as arising from disease. A fasting case is here  cited in whom, when abstinence
was initiated, temperature was constantly at ninety -four degrees; no change was noted until the twentieth day, when an increase of
nearly a degree occurred; and average individual normal of ninety -seven degrees was reached t en days later and was thereafter
maintained. Here undoubtedly disease was the cause of the abnormally low register observed before the fast, but the norm of t he
patient in health was subsequently perceived to be slightly below the standard commonly accepte d. In a few subjects temperature
at the beginning of a fast was so low as not to admit of register upon a clinical thermometer, but invariably normal individu al
average was reached before the end of treatment Adjustment to standard is likewise attained whe n fever is a symptom in evidence,
and here the change is more rapidly accomplished than when temperature is sub -normal. Body heat, as is seen, has its established
tabular measure, and, when it habitually fails by several degrees to reach the common average, the conclusion must be that vitality
is deficient. And accompanying sub -normal temperature is always the slow and sluggish pulse, while fever with its raised degrees
of heat carries a super -normal heart beat. Of the two pathological states, prognosis in the former is the more favorable. When a
condition of extremely low temperature is encountered, hot applications over the spinal column and hot therapeutic baths
frequently administered greatly assist in restoring and conserving body heat.

Abnormal tempe rature and abnormal pulse as well are but symptoms of a pathological condition, and, whether they be high or low,
they denote that there is in progress a struggle for life that has little need to be suppressed