 discomfort. Accumulatingappetite (true hunger) is like the multiplicationof uncut and uncashed coupons on a railwaybond or on a Government bond. The feeling ofpossession is a joy of itself; and the ability tocollect the proceeds when needed and at leisureis comfortable rather than uncomfortable.Under circumstances of intelligent nutrition, ifwe pass one mealtime we wait patiently for the
next, with the knowledge that we areaccumulating appetite coupons.
SECOND  RULE.
Have you yet learned what true hunger is?
Don't go on unless you have done so. Take a
little more time ; skip a meal or two, and giveNature a chance to show you what real appetite(true watering of the mouth) is. Having learnedto recognise healthy hunger and appetite, andto know what it is to have both of them begging
you for satisfaction, proceed with the second rule.
From the food available at the time take that
first which appeals most strongly to theappetite. It may be a sip of soup, or a bite ofbread and butter, or a nibble of cheese, or,perhaps a lump of sugar. It may be a piece ofmeat, though I doubt that a true appetite willcall for such at the beginning of a meal. Nevermind what it may be, give it a trial. If it besomething that should be masticated in order togive the saliva a chance to mix with it andchemically transform it, chew it " for all that itis worth."" For all that it is worth " means for the
extraction and enjoyment of all the good tastethere is in it.
If the food selected by the appetite happens to
be soup, or milk, or some mushy substance, getall the good taste out of it, doing all you can toaccomplish this ; for to get the taste out of foodis an assurance of digesting it, and the pleasureit gives in the process is Nature's way of gettingyou to do the right thing in helping her tonourish yourself properly. Sip, taste, bite, presswith the tongue against the roof of the mouth,the food in the mouth, not because of anysuggestion of mine, but in response to thenatural instinct to move it about and get out ofit all the taste there is in it.
THIRD  RULE.
The moment appetite begins to slack up a bit,
the moment saliva does not flow so freely as atfirst, the moment there is any degree ofsatisfaction of the appetite, stop eating!
You will have a return of appetite; you will
have another chance to eat; appetite isbeginning to have " that tired feeling " herself ;be kind to her as she has been kind to you. Give
her a rest! Give her a rest! Give yourself a rest!
Rest is the antidote of "that tired feeling "!
Therefore rest the appetite before it gets tired,Stop eating before you are overloaded.
Now, having learned how to do the right
thing in eating so as never more to have " thattired feeling," don't begin to overdo. Don't bendbackward too far. Don't ever overdo a goodthing.
Be temperate ; be deliberate. Be thoughtful;
be forethoughtful ; be forethoughtful withoutbeing fearthoughtful. Don't overdo chewing, forthen you take away much of the pleasure ;smother the psychic enjoyment of eating, andraise the very mischief again.
Just be natural, and know that being natural
is being deliberate in enjoying the thing you aredoing, for that is Nature's way.
To the above simple rules I will append a few
recommendations which occurred to me andwhich I wrote while in a respirationcalorimeter, an experience which I will relate ina subsequent chapter. This list of recommen-dations has since been included in theInstructions to the Medical Department of the
United States Army, under the heading :
Method of attaining Economic Assimilation of
Nutriment and Immunity from Disease,
Muscular Soreness and Fatigue.
(1) Feed only when a distinct appetite has
been earned.
(2) Masticate all solid food until it is
completely liquefied and excites in anirresistible manner the swallowing reflex orswallowing impulse.
(3) Attention to the act and appreciation of
the taste are necessary, meantime, to excite theflow of gastric juice into the stomach to meetthe food—as demonstrated by Pawlow.
(4) Strict attention to these two particulars
will fulfil the requirements of Nature relative tothe preparation of the food for digestion andassimilation ; and this being faithfully done, theautomatic processes of digestion andassimilation will proceed most profitably, andwill result in discarding very little digestion-ash(fæces) to encumber the intestines, or to compelexcessive draft upon the bodily energy forexcretion.(5) The assurance of healthy economy is
observed in the small amount of excreta and itspeculiar inoffensive character, showing escapefrom putrid bacterial decomposition such asbrings indol and skatol offensively intoevidence.
(6) When digestion and assimilation have
been normally economic, the digestion-ash(fæces) may be formed into little balls rangingin size from a pea to a so-called Queen Olive,according to the food taken, and should be quitedry, having only the odour of moist clay or of ahot biscuit. This inoffensive character remainsindefinitely until the ash completely dries, ordisintegrates like rotten stone or wood.
(7) The weight of the digestive-ash may range
(moist) from 10 grams to not more than 40-50grams a day, according to the food; the latterestimate being based on a vegetarian diet, andmay not call for excretion for several days ;smallness indicating best condition. Foods differso materially that the amount and character ofthe excreta cannot be accurately specified. Somefoods and conditions demand two evacuationsdaily. Thorough and faithful Fletcherizingsettles the question satisfactorily.(8) Fruits may hasten peristaltis * ; but not if
they are treated in the mouth as sapid liquidsrather than as solids, and are insalivated,sipped, tasted, into absorption in the same waywine-tasters test and take wine, and tea-tasterstest tea. The latter spit out the tea after tasting,as, otherwise, it vitiates their taste, and ruinsthem for their discriminating profession.
(9) Milk, soups, wines, beer, and all sapid
liquids or semi-solids should be treated in thismanner for the best assimilation and digestionas well as for the best gustatory results.
(10) This would seem to entail a great deal of
care and bother, and lead to a waste of time.
(11) Such, however, is not the case. To give
attention in the beginning does require strictattention and persistent care to overcomelifelong habits of nervous haste ; but if theattack is earnest, habits of careful mouthtreatment and appetite discrimination soonbecome fixed, and cause deliberation in takingfood unconsciously to the feeder.
(12) Food of a proteid value of 5-7 grams of
* Forwarding muscular movement which advances food
along the whole  extent of the alimentary canal.nitrogen and 1,500-2,500 calories of fuel value, *
paying strict attention to the appetite forselection and carefully treated in the mouth,has been found to be the quantity best suited toeconomy and efficiency of both mind and body insedentary pursuits and ordinary businessactivity; and also, such habit of economy hasgiven practical immunity from the commondiseases for a period extending over more than
* The organic materials of human diet are usually classified
into three divisions :—
(1) The Proteids, or Albuminates—the characterising
element occurring being nitrogen. The nitrogenous foods are :
flesh (without the fat), eggs, milk, cheese, legumes (peas, beans,lentils, etc.).
(2) The Fats, or Hydro-carbons. All animal and vegetable
fats and oil. Emulsions of mineral oils have been shown to passthrough the system unchanged, and therefore cannot be
regarded as food.
(3) The Carbo-hydrates (sugars and starches): bread,
potatoes, and grain generally.
Protein is the tissue builder; heat and energy are derived
largely from the non-nitrogenous foods.
A Calorie (large) is the unit of heat required to raise one
kilogram of water to 1° C. The full value of a food is ascertained
by means of the calorimeter, or apparatus used to determinethe specific heat of substances, or the amounts of heat evolved
or absorbed in various physical and chemical changes.
Calorimeters take very diverse forms, varying from quite simplevessels to highly complex apparatus, according to the particular
kind of determination to be carried out in them.fifteen years, whereas the same subject was
formerly subject to periodical illness. Similareconomy and immunity have shown themselvesconsistently in the cases of many test subjectscovering periods of ten years, and appliesequally to both sexes, all ages, and otheridiosyncratic conditions.
(13) The time necessary for satisfying
complete body needs and appetite daily, whenthe habit of attention, appreciation anddeliberation have been installed, is less thanhalf an hour, no matter how divided as tonumber of rations. This necessitates industry ofmastication, to be sure, and will not admit ofwaste of much time between mouthfuls.
(14) Ten or fifteen minutes will completely


A short-term stress has a detrimental effect on the gutflora,but it usually recov
ers well after the stressful situation is over. However, a long-term physical or
psychological stress can do permanent damage to the indigenous flora. Other factors %
Physical exertion, old age, alcoholism, pollution, exposure to toxic sub
stances, seasonal factors, exposure to ionising radiation and extreme
climates all have a profound effect on our friendly bacteria.
Every one of us carries a unique mixture of microbes in the gut. Under
the influence of drugs and other factors, listed above, this gut flora will be
changed in a unique way in every one of us, predisposing us to different
health problems. It is a completely unpredictable process and the science
so far has not got very reliable methods of testing for the full range of
microbes in the gut, let alone treating any abnormalities. This damage gets
passed from generation to generation as a newborn child gets its gut flora
from the mother. And as the damage gets passed through generations, it
gets deeper and deeper. This process reflects in the severity of healthprob-
lems related to abnormal gut flora seen in generations. For example, this is
quite a common scenario, which I see in my clinic: a grandmother has mild
digestive problems as a result of low-key gut dysbiosis. She passes moder
ately abnormal gut flora to her daughter. On top of that she decides not to
breast feed, because it is not fashionable. As a result, her daughter suffers
from allergies, migraines, PMS and digestive problems. Then she takes
contraceptive pills from the age of 16 which deepens the damage to her gut
flora, not to mention a few courses of antibiotics along the way for various
infections and a diet of fast foods. After 10 years of being "on the pill" she
has children, to whom she passes her seriously abnormal gut flora. Her
children develop digestive and immune problems, which then lead to
eczema, asthma, autism and other learning problems.
Most of the factors, described here, are hard to escape in the modern
world. Under the influence of these factors, the beneficial bacteria in the
gut lose their ability to fulfil all the functions we have looked at in the pre
vious chapters. They are unable to protect the digestive tract from oppor
tunistic flora and transitional bacteria, viruses and fungi, which sets up a
whole chain of pathology in the gut and the rest of the body. To gain more
understanding of what happens in this situation, let us have a look at the
opportunistic flora, which lives in our digestive system. 5. THE
OPPORTUNISTIC FLORA
We talked in detail about the essential flora (the good bacteria) of the gut
and its multiple functions. Let's look at the second group of bacteria now -
the opportunistic flora. This is a large group of various microbes, the
number and combinations of which can be quite unique. There are around
500 different species of them found in the human gut. These are the most
common: Bacteroids, Peptococci, Staphylococci, Streptococci, Bacilli,
Clostridia, Yeasts, Enterobacteria {Proteus } Clebsielli Citrobacteria, etc.),
Puzobacteria, Eubacteria, Spirochaetaceae, Spirillaceae, Catenobacteria,
different viruses and many others. Interestingly, many of these opportunis
tic bacteria when in small numbers and under control actually fulfil some
beneficial functions in the gut, like taking part in the digestion of food,
breaking down lipids and bile acids.
In a healthy gut their numbers are limited and tightly controlled by the
beneficial flora. But when this beneficial flora is weakened and damaged,
they get out of control. Each of these microbes is capable of causing
various health problems. It is a fascinating area for future research,
because it appears that it is the character of our individual opportunistic
flora that may determine what disease we succumb to. Yes, we carry most
of our future health problems in our own gut pretty much from birth. As
long as we take good care of our defenders, the beneficial flora, those bad
dies may never show their ugly faces. Unfortunately, our modern life-styles
sooner or later damage our indigenous bodily flora and whatever oppor
tunists were waiting for their turn become active.
The best known is the fungus Candida albicans, which causes untold
misery to millions of people. There is an abundance of literature published
about Candida infection, so we will not concentrate on it here, However, I
have to say that a lot of what is described as Candida Syndrome is in effect
a result of gut dysbiosis (abnormal gut flora), which include the activity of
lots of other opportunistic and pathogenic microbes. Candida albicans is
never alone in a human body. Its activity and ability to survive and cause
disease depend on the state of trillions of its neighbours - different bacteria, viruses, protozoa, other yeasts and many other micro-creatures.
In a healthy body Candida and many other disease-causing microbes are
very well controlled by the beneficial flora. Unfortunately, the era of anti
biotics gave Candida albicans a. special opportunity. The usual broad-spec
trum antibiotics kill a lot of different microbes in the body - the bad and
the good. But they have no effect on Candida. So, after every course of
antibiotics Candida is left without anything to control it, so it grows and
thrives. At the dawn of the antibiotic era the medical profession recognised
this phenomenon, so it used to be a rule to prescribe Nystatin (an anti-can-
dida antibiotic) every time a broad-spectrum antibiotic was administered.
However, for whatever reason, doctors stopped this practise decades ago
and now we are paying the price for it - Candida infection has become
extremely common. Apart from antibiotics another factor in our modern
world plays a major role in Candida overgrowth - our diet. Candida flour
ishes on sugar and processed carbohydrates and these are the foods, which
nowadays dominate our western eating habits.
Some opportunists, listed above, when out of control get through the gut
wall barrier into the lymph and bloodstream and cause problems in
various organs in the body. But of course, the first place to suffer will be the
digestive system. Holding an abnormal bacterial mass, it is no surprise that
the digestive system cannot function well. The most common result of gut
dysbiosis is the infamous Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), where a whole
host of opportunistic bacteria populate the intestines, causing the
unpleasant symptoms of IBS. More and more research is coming out link
ing Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis with the activity of opportunistic
gut flora getting out of control.
Certain opportunists, when not controlled by damaged good bacteria,
get access to the gut wall and damage its integrity, making it "leaky". For
example, microbiologists have observed how common opportunistic
gut bacteria from the families Spirochaetaceae and Spirillaceae have an
ability due to their spiral shape to push apart intestinal cells, breaking
down the integrity of the intestinal wall and allowing through substances
which normally should not get through. Candida albicans has this
ability as well. Its cells attach themselves to the gut lining literally putting
"roots" through it and making it "leaky". Partially digested foods gets
through this leaky gut wall into the blood stream, where the immune
system recognises them as foreign and attacks them. This is how food aller
gies or intolerances develop. What is happening is that foods do not get a
chance to be digested properly before they are absorbed through the damaged gut wall. In many cases, when the gut wall is healed food allergies
disappear.
Opportunistic flora constantly produces toxic substances, which are the
by-products of their metabolism. In a healthy situation many of these by
products can be physiological because in the process of evolution they got
included in the normal functioning of the human body. For instance, a
well-known group of toxins, produced by gut bacteria are amines - the
metabolites of amino acids. Many of them have some important roles to
play in the normal physiology of the body. A good example is histamine -
an important neurotransmitter in the body. Certain cells in the body nor
mally produce histamine. However, it is also produced by Proteus family, E.
coli family, Staphylococci and many other bacteria in the gut. In a situation
where these opportunistic bacteria overgrow due to the lack of control
from the beneficial flora, they start producing too much histamine. As his
tamine takes part in many different functions in the body, all these func
tions go wrong with the excess of histamine coming into the blood. These
are the common symptoms of this condition: allergies, constantly low
blood pressure, excessive production of body fluids, like saliva, dysfunc
tion of hypothalamus with hormonal changes (PMS is a common result),
emotional instability, sleep abnormalities, addictions and many others. An
excess of histamine in the body is called histadelia. This condition was
found by Dr Carl Pfeiffer in many people with depression, schizophrenia,
addictions and autism


’s intake,
the immune system becomes reactivated and healing can begin. The patient’s metabolic rate has
to be established for a correct dosage, but most cancer patients start with 5 grains of thyroid and
18 drops of Lugol’s solution (3 drops in each of 1 orange and 5 carrot/apple juices) a day, for
the first 3-4 weeks only. Then the amounts are reduced to 2 or 2 1⁄2 grains of thyroid and 12
drops of Lugol’s, and subsequently adjusted according to the Gerson doctor’s instruction.
Patients suffering from non-malignant diseases use the less intensive therapy (see Chapter 19 ),
with much less thyroid and Lugol’s solution.
Niacin : (common name for nicotinic acid, or Vitamin B-3) Niacin assists in the digestion
of protein and helps to open capillary circulation, thus bringing freshly oxygenated blood (from
the constant intake of fresh juices) to all body tissues. By improving circulation it also works to
reduce ascites (abdominal edema) and pain. The dosage is a 50 mg tablet 6 times daily, taken
during meals. This medication often causes the well-known “niacin flush,” a temporary reddening
of the face and upper chest area, with some itching. This is totally harmless and passes quickly.
(Do NOT switch to non-flushing niacin: it is ineffective.) Niacin should be discontinued during
women’s periods or in case of bleeding of any kind.
Liver Capsules : The severely toxic and damaged liver of the cancer patient needs maximum
assistance to improve its vital functions. The therapy provides this help in the form of liver
capsules containing dried, defatted powdered liver from healthy animals. Two capsules of liver
powder are given three times a day, with carrot-only juice. According to Dr. Virginia Livingston,
the combination of dry liver powder with carrot juice produces abcissic acid,  a precursor of
Vitamin A, which is essential in attacking tumor tissue.
Crude Liver Injections : An additional substance given to aid in the restoration of the liver.
It normally contains a small amount of Vitamin B 12. However, since virtually all cancer patients
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www.thegersonway.comare anemic, additional Vitamin B 12 is needed to help restore the hemoglobin content of the blood,
promoting the formation and maturation of red blood cells. It works against different types of
anemia and even against degenerative changes in the spinal cord. As seen in animal experiments,
this vitamin is able to restore a wide range of tissues damaged by age, chronic illness, surgery,
degenerative diseases, or various kinds of poisoning. Intra-muscular Liver Extract (3 cc) with
added 50 mcg of B 12—a tiny amount, a 20th of one cc) is given daily for four or more months.
Later the frequency is reduced to every other day, and still later—sometimes after as much as a
year—to twice a week.
Pancreatin : This is an extract of various pancreatic digestive enzymes, normally needed
to digest fats, proteins and sugar.  Gerson patients don’t consume those substances; however,
these enzymes are vitally important in the digestion and elimination of tumor tissue. The dosage
is 3 tablets of.325mg each four times a day—one after each meal, plus an additional dose in
mid-afternoon. For exceptionally large tumors 2-3 tablets a day of a more concentrated 1200mg
pancreatin may be added to the patient’s medication. Some patients cannot tolerate pancreatin and
have to do without it. Dr. Gerson also omitted pancreatin for sarcoma cases.
Acidol Pepsin : These tablets supply digestive stomach juices, badly needed by patients
suffering from chronic diseases, who tend to have insufficient stomach acid and digestive pepsin.
As a result they have poor appetite and poor digestion. Since the Gerson treatment is based on the
patient’s optimum intake of food and juices, the stomach needs help for the intake and digestion
of food. Acidol Pepsin aids protein digestion and the absorption of iron, while helping to eliminate
gas and bloating. The dosage is six tablets a day, two to be taken before  each meal. No Acidol is
given in cases of acid reflux, stomach ulcers or other inflammatory or irritated conditions of the
stomach.
Ox Bile Powder : This helps to emulsify the castor oil, which is used in the castor oil/coffee
enemas. The powder is mixed into the castor oil and stirred, before the slightly soapy coffee is
added.
Flax Seed Oil : Also known as food grade linseed oil, this contains both essential fatty
acids (EFA’s): linoleic acid and linolenic acid, and is particularly rich in the Omega 3 series, as
discovered by Dr. Johanna Budwig. The therapeutic effects of flax seed oil are many:
• It attracts oxygen at the cell membrane and transports oxygen into the cell;
•  It is able to detoxify fat-soluble toxins, and helps to dissolve and remove plaque;
• It is a carrier of Vitamin A, which is important for the immune system; and
•  It removes excess cholesterol, an important function, since patients’ cholesterol levels
sometimes rise during the initial stages of the Therapy.
Dose: two tablespoons daily for the first month, then one tablespoon daily for the rest of the
treatment.
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www.thegersonway.comCo-Enzyme Q10 : Recently added to the protocol, this co-enzyme is valuable in replacing
some of the nutrients that were available in the discontinued raw liver juice. It must be administered
cautiously at first, since some patients are hypersensitive to this substance. To start with, the dose
is 50mg daily for 5-7 days, then it is increased to 100mg per day, to reach 500-600mg daily.
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This material may not be reproduced in any medium, print or electronic without prior written permission from the author.Page 122Healing the Gerson Way—Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases
www.thegersonway.comCHAPTER 15
Pain Control Without Drugs
A large percentage of patients arrive at the Gerson Therapy hospital in pain, on heavy pain
 control medication including morphine, codeine, or the two combined, e.g. in the drug
Oxi-Contin. These drugs are highly toxic, and since detoxifying the body is the basic aim of the
Gerson Therapy, every effort has to be made to control the patients’ pain without the use of toxic
drugs.
 The first tool to achieve this is the coffee enema (see Chapter 13.) Removing the accumulated
toxins from the liver enables that vital organ to absorb and release more poisons stored in the body;
this immediately brings relief to the patient. It does not, however, get rid of the pain altogether:
mild pain relief drugs, such as aspirin, Ibuprofen or Tylenol might be needed. But these may not
work if the patient had been used to morphine. In such cases the Gerson doctor will use one or
more of the following:
Clay packs
Castor oil packs
The “Triad”: 1 aspirin, 1 Vitamin C (500 mg), 1 niacin (50 mg)
Hyperthermia (artificial fever)
Laetrile
Oxygen treatments
Rebounding
This is how to apply them :
Clay (mud) packs
Clay packs help to relieve ‘hot’ inflammations around arthritic joints and tumors, and in
other areas of fluid retention. The best clay is Montmorillonite (not of marine origin), which
also absorbs toxins through the skin. Taken internally in peppermint tea (1/4 to 1⁄2 teaspoonful
to a cup), clay even helps to clear diarrheas and general food poisoning. Clay packs have long
been used in many parts of the world. Applied around the head, they are even able to alleviate
headaches and seizures.
The clay pack is prepared by mixing the dry clay powderwith enough hot distilled  water to
make a spreadable paste, neither too runny nor too dry. A layer about 2-3 mm thick is spread on
a piece of clean white  cloth, placed on the affected area and covered with a piece of plastic and a
wool cloth. Secured in position, it can be left in place for 2-3 hours and removed and discarded
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www.thegersonway.comwhen it has become dry. Clay packs may be used two or three times a day, as required, but must
NOT be placed on an open lesion.
Castor Oil packs
Warm castor oil packs help to alleviate muscle and bone pain


 body, it is also inadequate to provide for the total needs of even the thyroid
gland. As mentioned previously in this book, the exposure to toxic halides--bromine, fluoride, and the chlorine derivatives--have
been increasing over time. These items not only cause iodine deficiency, they can poison the enzymes responsible for organifying
iodine.
THE UNDERLYING CAUSE OF AUTOIMMUNE THYROID ILLNESSES: IODINE DEFICIENCY AND
ANTIOXIDANT DEFICIENCY
I have already described the apoptotic (i.e., anticancer) effects of the iodinated form of lactone δ-iodolactone. δ-iodolactone
is not only important for preventing cancer, its production is also necessary to help regulate the oxidation of iodine.
Figure 10
(next page) illustrates this regulatory step in the oxidation/organification of iodine.

As previously mentioned, the oxidation of iodide to iodine occurs through the interaction of H
2
O
2
 and TPO. Iodine is a
necessary product in order to provide the correct molecule in the cell so that organification can occur. If organification does not
take place or is blocked, thyroid hormone and iodo-lipids will not be formed. As can be seen from
Figure 10
, this reaction is
controlled by intracellular calcium levels and iodinated lipids—δ-iodolactone.

FIGURE 10: ORGANIFICATION OF IODINE AT 100x RDA
 Intracellular calcium stimulates this pathway.
6
 On the other hand, δ-iodolactone and other iodinated lipids act as a brake on
the system.
7

8
 If there is not enough iodine in the cell to organify and produce adequate amounts of δ-iodolactone, it can set the
stage for damage to the thyroid cell and the development of an autoimmune thyroid disorder such as Hashimoto’s or Graves’
disease.
A Proposed Mechanism For The Development Of Autoimmune Thyroid Disorders
The NADPH oxidase system is found in the mitochondria of our cells. The mitochondria are the energy-producing cells of
our body. The mitochondria produce energy (i.e., ATP) through a complex process called oxidative phosphorylation. All medical
students (and most physicians) are familiar with oxidative phosphorylation because we have to memorize the many steps
responsible for producing ATP. This production of ATP requires many items including: oxygen, magnesium, ADP, vitamins, and
amino acids.
9

10
Many people with chronic illnesses, such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and autoimmune disorders, complain
they have no energy. ATP is the molecule that stores energy for the body. The body is constantly producing and utilizing ATP. Its
production is a complex process that is beyond this book. However, there are two cofactors, vitamins B2 (riboflavin) and B3
(niacin), that are integral to stimulating oxidative phosphorylation and ATP production.
Hydrogen peroxide is a byproduct of oxidative phosphorylation.
11
 It is this production of hydrogen peroxide that
is so critical
to the oxidation process of iodine. Hydrogen peroxide and TPO help to oxidize iodide to form iodine.
If there is a deficiency in iodine, which is common when ingesting the RDA for iodine, there will not be enough substrate (i.e.,
iodine) to produce iodinated lipids. As can be seen from
Figure 10
, the lack of δ-iodolactone and other iodinated lipids results in
a loss of the ‘brake’ in the pathway to oxidize iodide. This may result in a temporary production of too much hydrogen peroxide.
This excess hydrogen peroxide can damage the enzyme TPO.
What Happens If TPO Is Damaged? Autoimmune Thyroid Illness
The body’s response to TPO damage is to produce antibodies against TPO or anti-TPO antibodies. A diagnosis of
Hashimoto’s disease requires the presence of anti-TPO antibodies. As the damage worsens, surrounding proteins can also be
damaged such as thyroglobulin. Damaged thyroglobulin will result in the body producing antibodies against thyroglobulin—anti-
thyroglobulin antibodies.

In most cases of Hashimoto’s disease, there are antibodies to both TPO and thyroglobulin present. Although Graves’ disease
may also possess these same antibodies, antibody production is not necessary to make the diagnosis of Graves’ disease.
However,
my clinical experience has shown that the treatment for both Hashimoto’s and Graves’ disease can follow a similar
course with similar positive outcomes.
EARLY AND LATE STAGES OF AUTOIMMUNE THYROID DISORDERS
It is well known that patients with autoimmune thyroid disorders can fluctuate symptomatically between overactive thyroid
symptoms (hyperthyroidism) and underactive thyroid symptoms (hypothyroidism). These patients can also suffer from a
combination of hypo- and hyper-thyroid symptoms. For those struggling with autoimmune thyroid disorders, it can be an
intolerable situation.
Early Stages Autoimmune Thyroid Disorders
As previously explained, the early onset of the illness seems to be fueled by too much hydrogen peroxide damaging TPO and
causing oxidative damage. As the illness progresses, thyroid hormone production can become unbalanced. Thyroid hormone is
integral to stimulating the mitochondria to produce energy or ATP. If the mitochondria are not producing enough energy
molecules, fatigue will set in. This fatigue can be unrelenting. Patients with this type of fatigue cannot exercise, as exercise will
worsen their fatigue. These same patients will also complain of brain fog, as well as muscle aches and pains.
Late Stages Autoimmune Thyroid Disorders
When the mitochondria are producing adequate energy molecules, we have enough energy to do as we please. When the
illness has progressed and energy levels have declined, the system may be ‘burning itself out’ due to excessive oxidative damage.
It is almost as if an oxidative storm has overwhelmed the energy producing cells of the body. Now, the mitochondria are not
producing ATP (energy) in amounts necessary for health. So what can you do?

As shown in
Figure 10
, providing enough iodine to produce iodo-lipids (e.g., δ-iodolactone) is a start. Next, it becomes
necessary to stimulate the NADPH oxidase pathway. Remember, this pathway is integral to energy production. How do you
increase the production of ATP in the mitochondria? You can provide the correct co-factors in this pathway to increase the
production of ATP. Vitamins B2 (riboflavin) and B3 (niacin) are cofactors in the NADPH oxidase pathway and their use can help
stimulate the mitochondria to produce more energy as well as provide the thyroid cells with enough H
2
O
2
 to properly oxidize
iodide.

The initial treatment in either early or late stage autoimmune thyroid disorders is to correct iodine deficiency. Concurrently, acomplete nutritional program, which includes the use of vitamins B2 and B3, vitamin C, magnesium, and unrefined
salt, can be
instituted to correct mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidant stress and tissue damage as described in the next section.
I diagnosed my nurse Angela with Hashimoto’s disease two years ago. Angela’s complaints included fatigue, difficulty
concentrating, and a general sense of not feeling well. “I am only 23 years old, I can’t imagine what I will feel like when
I am 50,” she said. Angela was treated with iodine (50mg/day) and a complete nutritional program including vitamins
and minerals. Angela did feel somewhat better (approximately 30%) but was not satisfied. When she walked into my
office one day, she saw a bottle of ‘ATP Co-Factors
®
’
(
www.Optimox.com
), which contains 100mg of B2 and 500mg of
B3. She asked me what this bottle was for and I told her that this therapy has been a big help for Hashimoto’s, Grave’s
disease, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue suffering patients. She said, “I have Hashimoto’s, how come I am not on it?” I
did not want to tell her that I forgot to tell her to take it, so I sheepishly told her that the next bottle was for her. Angela
took one pill (100mg of B2 and 500mg of B3) and felt her energy improve within two hours. “I have taken so many
supplements without having an effect, either positive or negative. This (ATP Co-Factors) was the greatest. I feel like I
have woken up,” she stated. Angela continues to take the supplement and continues to feel well. Update on Angela’s
case: Angela is still taking B2 and B3 along with iodine and continues to do well. “My antibodies are
gone and I feel
better than I have ever felt. I feel healthy now,” she said.
How to Treat Autoimmune Thyroid Disorders
1. Ingest enough iodine in order to provide adequate substrate to iodinate lipids.
The first step to treating autoimmune thyroid disorders is to assess iodine status. Iodine levels can be measured by checking
blood, urine, and/or saliva. I routinely check every new patient in my office for their iodine levels primarily by measuring urinary
levels. Either a spot urine or 24-hour loading test for iodine can be performed. For more information on testing, please


	would	argue	that	consciousness	governs	this	whole
machinery—reincarnation	is	just	a	variation	on	the	theme	of	time	and	place,
producing	new	talents	and	interests.	As	the	rishis	saw	it,	reincarnation	is	a
creative	leap	that	recombines	old	karma,	good	and	bad,	in	a	unique
combination.	The	new	lifetime	and	the	old	are	joined	inexorably	by	millions
of	karmic	links,	yet	for	the	most	part	the	person	being	reborn	feels	that	he	is
something	totally	new.
This	is	where	a	creative	leap	comes	in,	according	to	the	rishis.	Think	of	it
like	money	in	the	bank:	you	may	have	only	$500,	but	you	are	free	to	spend	it
any	way	you	choose.	In	karmic	terms	cause	leads	to	effect,	and	as	long	as	that
chain	holds,	event	A	is	forged	to	event	B.	A	universe	without	cause	and	effect
would	be	chaotic.	If	you	drop	a	ball,	gravity	makes	it	fall	downward	toward
the	earth,	and	this	result	is	so	reliable	that	it	can	be	reduced	nearly	to	a
certainty.	If	Karma	were	just	as	certain,	there	would	be	no	need	for
reincarnation,	because	the	karmic	balance	at	the	end	of	a	lifetime	would	be	as
reliable	as	the	cocoon	that	produces	monarch	butterflies	from	a	larva,	not
monarchs	one	spring	and	swallowtails	the	next.
Karma	isn’t	predictable,	however.	People	perform	all	kinds	of	actions	and
reap	completely	different	results	from	the	seeds	they	sow.	It’s	disillusioning
that	evil	deeds	go	unpunished	and	virtue	is	overlooked,
that
	bad	things	happen
to	good	people	all	the	time.	The	Vedic	rishis	did	not	mark	this	down	to	the
vagaries	of	a	whimsical	Providence.	Karma	is	unpredictable,	they	said,	for	the
same	reasons	that	consciousness	is	unpredictable:
Creativity	is	innate.
Uncertainty	allows	new	forms	to	emerge.The	unknown	contains	infinite	possibilities,	of	which	only	a	fraction	appear
in	the	known	world.
Nature	is	change	and	stability	at	the	same	time.
These	are	the	basic	tenets	of	Karma,	and	what’s	most	fascinating	is	that
we	are	held	together	not	by	inexorable	mechanics	but	by	a	deep	commitment
to	uncertainty	and	the	creative	leaps	that	result	from	that.
Reincarnation	is	how	consciousness	becomes	new	even	as	it	uses
materials	that	can	never	be	created	or	destroyed.	That	is	the	wonder	of	it.
Infinite	change	and	infinite	stability	coexist—this	is	also	the	mystery	we	have
to	solve	before	reincarnation	can	be	fully	understood.
Karma	on	the	Brain
Karma	may	turn	out	to	be	the	key	to	understanding	the	brain	itself.
Neurologists	are	puzzled	over	what	they	call	“the	binding	effect,”	a
mysterious	force	that	pulls	different	areas	of	the	brain	together.	Recent
advances	in	brain	imaging	show	that	it	takes	several	regions	of	the	brain	to
cooperate	in	any	thought,	feeling,	or	sensation.	Say	you	walk	into	a	room,
recognize	your	mother,	and	ask	her	if	she	remembers	the	recipe	for	the
birthday	cake	she	made	for	your	tenth	birthday.	Your	brain	isn’t	jumping	from
one	area	that	recognizes	who	she	is	to
another
	that	wants	to	ask	a	question	to
a	third	that	remembers	your	past	birthdays.	The	whole	brain	assigns	these
tasks	to	several	areas	all	at	once,	and	the	mystery	is	how	this	happens.
If	the	brain	had	a	high-speed	telephone	system	to	send	messages	whizzing
from	place	to	place,	the	binding	effect	would	be	explained	as	a	series	of
sequential	commands.	But	neurons	act	simultaneously.	Point	A	and	point	B
light	up	at	the	same	time,	leaving	no	interval	for	a	back-and-forth	signal.
Moreover,	the	brain	is	capable	of	infinite	combinations	that	have	little	or	no
relationship	with	one	another.
Every	thought,	then,	is	an	activity	of	the	whole	brain.	Even	though	a	CAT
scan	might	be	able	to	visualize	the	exact	clump	of	neurons	in	the	brain	where
a	murderous	thought	arises	in	a	criminal	mind	and	to	a	kindly	thought	in	a
saintly	mind,	it’s	the	whole	brain	that	differentiates	a	criminal	from	a	saint.	It
takes	an	entire	brain	to	oversee	all	the	traffic	that	coordinates	a	hundred
billion	independent	neurons,	making	sure	that	they	all	tie	in	to	an	infinite,
teeming	conversation.	If	I	want	to	perform	an	act	of	kindness,	my	brain	might
provide	me	with	a	simple	thought,	such	as,
I	should	donate	to	disaster	relief
.
This	single	thought	requires	the	following:
A	moral	sense	of	right	and	wrong
Memories	of	what	it’s	like	to	be	helpless	and	victimizedEmpathy	with	fellow	sufferers
A	feeling	of	compassion
A	sense	of	duty	to	society
These	interlocked	elements	reside	in	various	parts	of	the	brain	and
represent	unique	patterns	of	activity.	At	the	same	time,	at	a	deeper	level	my
brain	has	to	remain	aware	of	who	I	am,	my	history	of	kind	and	unkind	acts,
my	unconscious	guilt,	my	awareness	of	role	models	who	were	also	kind,	etc.
What’s	truly	amazing	is	that	the
brain
	knows	how	to	mesh	all	these
ingredients	instantly.	It	doesn’t	go	to	the	wrong	memory	or	feeling.	It	doesn’t
forget	who	I	am,	or	provide	me	with	bizarre	distractions,	unless	I	am	mentally
ill,	in	which	case	I	could	become	completely	untethered.	In	my	inability	to
recognize	that	my	thoughts	are	actually	my	own,	I	might	think	God	is
ordering	me	to	give	money	to	disaster	relief.
I	may	be	aware	only	of	a	single	thought,	yet	what	my	brain	does	in
support	of	that	thought	spans	a	much	larger	extent.	(Neurologists	estimate	that
a	person	is	aware	of	about	2,000	bits	of	information	per	minute	being
processed	by	the	brain.	This	sounds	impressive,	but	outside	our	awareness	the
brain	is	actually	processing	400	billion	bits	of	information	per	minute.
Miraculously,	it	remains	in	control	of	each	one	and	filters	out	all	but	the	tiny
fraction	that	we	require	to	be	in	the	world	and	follow	our	train	of	thought	and
desire.)
I’ve	gone	into	some	detail	here	because	if	it	takes	the	whole	brain	to
produce	one	thought,	it	also	takes	the	whole	universe	to	perform	a	single
action.	Like	a	neuron,	electrons	and	atoms	seem	to	be	independent,	yet	a
change	of	electron	spin	at	one	extreme	of	the	universe	will	be	mirrored,
instantly	and	without	sending	signals,	by	a	paired	electron	billions	of	light
years	away.	So	the	“binding	effect”	is	cosmic	as	well	as	personal;	it	exists	“in
here”	and	“out	there.”	The	net	result	is	that
you
	are	an	activity	of	the	whole
universe,	an	insight	that	sounds	abstract,	but	just	as	a	single	thought	requires
your	brain	to	perform	a	huge	number	of	unseen	calculations,	so	Karma
performs	unseen	calculations	to	produce	you.
As	we	now	can	prove,	change	and	stability	coexist	in	the	brain;	without
both	it	couldn’t	operate.	When	you	remember


 use the situation for
growth, you relax and allow the energy to push the blockage up. You don’t
have to do anyth ing except not interfere with the process. Shakti will do her
job of pushing up—you have to do your job of letting go.
To reme mber to do this in the moment, establish the practice of
recalling your intention every morning: “The purpose of my day is letting
go of my blockages and evolving spiritually.” Then every evening,
remember: “The  purpose of my day was to let go of my blockages andevolve spiritually.” Never complain about what happened—just inwardly
release the events of the day so they don’t leave samskaras. Don’ t let
anything remain stuck in there. Once you get good at this, you will learn to
do it throughout the day. Do your best with each interaction, then let it go.
Always rememb er what’ s going on: you’re in there, and something is
happening that’s causing the energy to shift inside. Your tendenc y is to push
it away if you don’t like it or grab onto it if you do. It’s as if you have hands
in there,  and you use them to try to control the inner experience. Surrender
means—don’ t do that. That’ s all it means. It means you’re ready, willing,
and able to sit in the seat of consciousness when the energy shifts and just
let it go.
Your interaction with the energy is similar to when you decide to stop
smoking or break any other habit. You’re going to feel the tendency to
resume the habit. It feels like a magnetic pull on you to go in that direction.
The same thing happens when a blockage gets hit. It has attractive power
that draws you into it. You need to see that. You need to notice that it keeps
pulling on you, and sometimes  it won’ t leave you alone. That’ s not bad,
that’s good. Just relax more. It’s all about relaxing. If you’re using your will
to relax,  you can’t use your inner hands to push energy away or grab onto it.
Someday, you’re going to remember this discussion. Something is
going to wake up inside, and you’ll know just what we’ve been talking
about. You’ll observe the energy pulling on you, and you will try to let go.
For the first time you’ll realize what is actually happening—you are
struggling with yourself. You are both sides of the struggle. Part of you
wants to let go but part still wants to give in to the pull of the energy. Once
you sincerely want to let go of the old habitual energy flows, you will
realize that you have all the power you need inside. You’re the only one
living in there. You just need to deeply relax and stop fighting with yourself.
At that point something amazing  is going to happen: All the energy that was
pulling you down and out changes direction. It begins to lift you in and up.
This is the transmutation of the energy, and it is real. As liberat ion becomes
the meaning of your life, this inner process will step up signifi cantly. Once
you learn that your center of intent is stronger than any of the habitual
energy flows caused by your samskaras, you will sit quietly within, in the
seat of consciousness, and allow the process of purification to take place.
Every day, every moment, you have the opportunity to explore the greatness
of your being.Letting go like this is not a struggle or an act of control. It is much
subtler than that. Perhaps this analogy will help. Imagine you’re in a game
of tug-o f-war. You are alone on one end of the rope, and an entire NFL
football team is on the other end. You’re in big trouble. The force pulling
you in the team’ s direction is very strong. You’ve studied all the latest
techniques for how to dig in your heels, how to best use your bodyweight,
and anything else the experts could teach about standing your ground in a
tug-of-war. You’re doing all the techniques, but they’re not working.
Suddenly, Yoda, the great sage from Star Wars shows up to help (he
thinks everyone’ s name is Luke).
Yoda: Luke, you know not how to do this. Let go. Let go, Luke.
Luke: What do you mean, let go? If I let go, they will pull me
through the mud, headfirst.
Yoda: Let go, you must.
Luke: I don’ t get it. How do I just let go when this great force is
pulling on me?
Yoda: Relax hands, Luke. Relax your hands.
Luke: No, not hands—feet, legs, and body position. That’ s how to
end this tug-of-war.
Yoda: Over it will be, Luke, if you relax your hands.
Turns out, it’s true. If you relax your hands during a tug-of-w ar, the
struggle will immediately be over. No more rope. No more pull. No matter
how strong the pull is, if you relax your hands, you can go home and have
lunch. That’ s all you really wanted to begin with. Who said you had to take
the whole football team home with you? Just relax and let go, and the whole
struggle will be over. That’ s exactly what it’s like to surrender. You’re in
there, and the energy is pulling  you into it. Please don’t fight it. Just relax
your inner hands and let go. If this sounds very Zen, good, because it is. Y ou
don’t need to be strong; you need to be wise. The blocked energy can’t take
you anywhere if you simply relax and let go.
Over time, you will find there is a place inside you that is behind the
commotion of the storm. You can simply relax and fall back into that place.This is the place  from which you are noticing the inner commotion, and this
place is still, quiet, and there are never any storms. That is the seat of Self.
You don’ t find your way back to Self—you simply cease to leave.  If you work
on this, you will come to a beautiful state within that is alwa ys there for
you. It is a place of refuge, and all you ever need to do is keep letting go.
That is the life of surrender.Chapter 38.
Exploring the Higher States
Once you are no longer drowning inside, a whole other life becomes
possible for you. We can now begin to discuss who you are, and what it can
be like in there. As the blockage s release, the energy is freed from having to
go aroun d them.  You start to feel happier. You start to feel higher. You start
to feel like you used to feel when you had a really good day or a particularly
great experience. But this time, nothing special is happening. You’re just
feeling an uplift ing energy going on inside of you that keeps getting higher
and higher. You start feeling love simply because the sky is blue. It used to
take a special moment in a relationship to blow you away like that.
Everything that is happening comes in, and you feel it all at a richer, deeper
level. This is because you are more open, more receptive. You don’t have
the need s and problems that you were trying to solve. Because you don’t
have all that commotion inside, and you’re feeling more whole and
complete, there’ s nothing you need from the outside. You start to look at
needs in a completely dif ferent light.
You used to make satisfying needs your priority. Most of our modern
needs are psychological, not physiological. Psychological needs are actually
unnatural, as they indicate that something is missing or wrong. If you are
feeling whole and complete inside yourself, there are no psychological
needs. Psychological needs come from your blockages. When the energy is
freed, what you feel is love, joy, and enthusiasm, which are just different
words for uplifting energy. In the purest sense, this upward-flowing energy
is quite different from emotions.  An emotion emanates out of your heart and
pulls you into its vibration. Enthusiasm is something that wells up inside. It
is a system-wide, spontaneous, uplifting flow of energy. It is, in fact, freed
shakti.When your energies are liberated, you don’t need energy from anybody
else. You have so much energy inside you it’s incomprehensible. Surely you
have experienced from time to time that if something you really like
happens, there can be a sudden  burst of inner energy. How long does that
take? A billionth of a second. Imagine you’re feeling depres sed and not
doing well. Suddenly, something  happens. Perhaps you receive a phone call
that gets you talking and smiling—it makes your energy flow. The energy
was always there, but you opened up because the phone call matched
something you liked. A blockag e temporarily got out of the way, and all this
energy flowed up. Truth is, if that blockage had not been in the way, you
would not have needed the phone call to open you. This is why you do the
inner work of releasing blockages.
As the blockages release, the energy takes you to higher and higher
states. You alrea dy know what the


 we can draw
on i t by  using the thorn of desire to remove the thorn of desire.
But desire for what? If spiritu al traditions have held out th e desire
for love, peace, divine grace, forgiveness, and a ticket to Heaven or
Nirvana, only to fall short in t he end, what is left? The only answer
I can think of is the desire to  be real. The sense of self ul timately
has that to offer, and that alone. There is no stick or carrot, only
the promise that you can be here now, which is how you can
experience reality free of all illusion.
In p ractical terms, the mind can’t learn what it is to be real all
at once. The direct path is s till a path—it takes time. Li fe offersevery im aginable reason to quit the path. Desire lures us to turn
our inte rest elsewhere—the o ld story is very insistent. But you can
cultivate an interest in getting  real. It’s not necessarily har der than
cultivating an interest in wine or stamp collecting or Russian
novels. All that’s needed is curiosity and the flicker of desire
(referred to in the Indian tradition as the spark that burns down
the forest; one urge to escap e the illusion will destroy th e whole
illusion eventually).
The direct path is unique because we are not taught by love,
peace, compas sion, or any other desirable quality our lives can
bring. We are t aught by existence itself. Only knowing wh at lies at
the heart of existence will work. Contrary to Hamlet, “To be, or not
to be” isn’t the question. “To be” is the question, all by itself. If you
ask it every day, your tru e self will hear and then present
fascinating, ever-changing answers. Engaged in finding out what it
means to be here, you tr ansform your mind from its old
conditioning into a vehicle  that can reach the beyond. The
conditioned mind has firmly decided what it means to exist, which
is how we became stuck in the first place.
To g et ourselves unstuck, onc e and for all, the direct path runs
into a practical problem, w hich has been described in ancient
Indian texts as “separating water from milk.” In other  words,
everyday reali ty mixes the real and the unreal so t hey are
inseparable. T his is obvious when you look at the brain, which
presents virtual reality only because the “real” reality makes us
conscious in the first place. The worst movie ever made is
projected on the screen with the same projector as a classic film
masterpiece. M any versions of the direct path teach that we are
like children watching shado w puppets on the wall. We believe in
these images so completely that the truth escapes us—shadows
can’t exist without the light that makes them visible. Virtual reality
only exists thanks to metareality.
To separate light from shadow sounds easy enough, and the
direct p ath proves it. All you need to do is bring the sense o f self to
your at tention. As a practical matter, nothing is easier or more
natural. At any moment in the day, simply shut your eyes, take a
few deep breaths to bring on a state of relaxation, and center your
attention on your heart (or on your breath). It sounds strange,given th e elaborate complexity of religion, that the entire spiritual
journey is only this: relax and be aware of yourself.
By doin g this, you subtly allow  the “pull of the self” to become a
real ex perience. If your intention is more serious, learning to
meditate or making a commitment to yoga intensifies the
experience of sensing the self—the mantras and yoga poses
( asanas ) w ere devised to give a differ ent flavor or coloration of the
self. We  are already outfitted for this process. As children grow up,
for example, they learn to identify the gradations of e motion.
Hostility, outrage, irritation, and hate. Once you connect those
labels with an inner feeling,  it comes naturally to say, “I’m not
angry, just frustrated” or “Don’t go near him—he’s a hater.”
Gradations in consciousness  can also be felt, but they don’t
have labels.
When you experience the sen se of self as directed above, you go
beyond the thoughts and feelings that can be labeled. None of
them, even the most loving thought and spiritual feelin g, is the
basis of  reality. Only the sens e of self is irreducible. You cannot go
beyond it or t urn it into something more basic. Mental activity
vanishes into a kind of nothingness—silent mind. Accordin g to the
direct path, this is the sour ce of everything “in here” a nd “out
there.” But here’s the tricky part. Is “everything” practical? If
someone show ed you a blan k piece of paper and said, “Here is
every b ook” or a blank canvas and said, “Here is every pa inting,”
such a statement would not  help you write a book or paint a
painting. Wha t you want is to write one book, not every book,
paint one painting and not every painting.
Likewise, it seems unhelpful to say that metareality is “always,
everything, and everywhere.” We are attuned to specifics. For
better or worse, we live our lives at this  mo ment, in this  location.
It may seem h opelessly vagu e to tell someone as I’ve been saying
to “Be here now.” Where else are we, on Mars? But a life based on
specifics is misguided, because the spell/dream/illusion contains
thousands of specific things,  so many that you cannot deal with
them all or esc ape their grip. As a child in India, I heard simple
versions of what it means to wake up to reality. In one tale, a fish
is fr antic with t hirst, rushing around to find a drink of wat er. Even
at four years ol d a child laugh s at the silly fish who doesn’t know itis surr ounded by water. Only when you grow up does the
seriousness of the paradox set in.
Once you have the experien ce of sensing yourself, which is
available to each of us in our calmer moments, you can use inner
silence to transform your wor ld, one day at a time. This is done by
looking at your mistaken notions about reality and rejecting them.
Like a physicist sorting through all the objects in the subatomic
world t hat aren’t the irreducible building blocks of the u niverse,
you exa mine yo ur bedrock beliefs and sort them out on the way to
arriving at your true source.
This task is made easy by two invaluable qualities of mind—
insight and intuition. They are reliable guides when rational
thought falls short. They are reliable even when emotions fall
short. When people speak of “aha” moments, insight and intuition
have cut through a tangled pr oblem and gone directly to th e truth.
At such  moments, when the light suddenly dawns, we exclaim, “I
knew it, I just knew it was th is way.” The beauty of an insight is
that it is self-justifying. You just know.
The sen se of self is quiet and so subtle that few people both er to
notice it, but within the self are things we just know. The direct
path as ks us to ferret out the se bits of knowledge, so that they can
be appreciated. The befuddled hero in a romantic comedy typically
quarrels with the lady in his life until he knows—as she k new all
along—that he loves her. We’ve seen this plot a hundred times, but
it still delights us because insight, the moment of “Now I get it,”
brings clarity, and delight often follows.
Having insights about a relationship or a tough mathematical
problem or the next chapter in a book you’re writing is quite
specific. Asking for insight into how life works is as nonspecific as
it gets.  The direct path comes to our aid by simplifying the
mistaken beliefs we must see past in order to wake up. In fact,
there are only a small handful to consider:
MIST AKEN BELIEF:  I am separate and alone.
REALITY :  The separate self is just a mental construct.
MIST AKEN BELIEF:  This is my body.REALITY :  The body is part of the play of consciousness, which
is universal, not personal.
MIST AKEN BELIEF:  The physical world is the basis of reality.
REALITY :  The physical world is one appearance that the play
of consciousness takes.
MIST AKEN BELIEF:  My life is bounded by time and space.
REALITY :  Everyone lives in the eternal now, which is
boundless.
At this point in the book, no ne of these mistakes comes as a
surprise. Now we only need to get over them, which leads to a
sorting-out procedure, as foll ows: At any moment when you have
an e xperience worth noticing, pause and say to yourself, “This is
the play  of consciousness.” So  that the statement sinks in, it is best
to h ave a sense of self along


arbon	monoxide	and
small	amounts	of	the	natural	gas	itself.	With	insufficient	ventilation,	the	gases
became	concentrated,	and	poor	Sally	was	breathing	them	all	day	long.	She	began
to	suffer	from	sore	throats,	eye	irritations,	respiratory	problems,	headaches	and,
eventually,	chronic	fatigue.
I	recommended	they	install	an	electric	hot	water	heater.	Sally’s	worst
symptoms	immediately	were	alleviated,	although	significant	damage	had	already
been	done	(both	by	the	gases	and	the	antibiotics).	Her	health	was	restored
eventually	after	she	worked	to	reverse	the	damage	through	improved	diet	and
nutritional	supplementation.
One	of	the	great	joys	in	my	life	is	to	watch	someone	like	Sally	go	from	being
sick	and	disabled,	with	little	to	look	forward	to,	to	smiling	once	again	and
enjoying	life.	I	am	saddened	to	think	how	many	people	remain	sick	because	their
physicians	do	not	understand	the	toxin	pathway	and	have	no	idea	how	to	helpthem.	In	fact,	physicians	who	prescribe	antibiotics	and	other	medications	often
create	susceptibility	to	such	problems	in	the	first	place.
Gas-fired	appliances	(hot	water	heaters,	ovens,	stoves,	furnaces,	fireplaces	or
clothes	dryers)	diffuse	toxic	gases	into	the	surrounding	air.	If	you	have	such
appliances,	try	to	keep	them	out	of	your	living	space	and	put	furnaces,	clothes
dryers	and	water	heaters	in	a	garage,	shed	or	breezeway	along	with	stored
volatiles	such	as	paints	and	cleaning	fluids.	A	gas	stove,	because	it	is	in	your
living	space,	should	be	replaced	or	at	least	very	well	ventilated.	In	my	own
recovery	process,	I	had	to	convert	from	a	gas	to	an	electric	water	heater	because
I	had	become	so	sensitive	to	these	toxins.
Giving	off	toxic	gasses	is	an	especially	common	problem	with	products	when
they	are	new.	At	one	of	my	seminars,	a	woman	named	Diane	raised	her	hand	and
explained	that	she	was	suffering	from	splitting	headaches.	After	hearing	the
story	about	Sally,	Diane	realized	that	her	headaches	coincided	with	the	purchase
of	a	new	car;	she	suspected	a	connection.	Her	new	car	was	off-gassing	toxins,
producing	the	“new	car”	smell.	Diane’s	family	had	two	cars,	so	I	suggested	that
she	drive	the	older	car	until	the	odor	subsided.	Her	headaches	went	away.	Some
highly	sensitive	people	retrofit	their	cars	with	safer	materials.
Consider	the	risk	of	new	products:	a	new	carpet,	a	freshly	painted	room,	a	new
TV	set,	a	new	mattress.	New	products	give	off	high	levels	of	toxic	chemicals.
With	the	passage	of	time,	the	volume	of	toxic	chemicals	being	off-gassed	drops
dramatically.	Often	you	can	accelerate	the	off-gassing	process	simply	by
applying	heat.	For	example,	the	chemicals	contained	in	a	new	car’s	plastics,
adhesives	and	seating	materials	pollute	the	interior	air	of	the	car.	During	the	first
few	months,	try	to	leave	a	new	car	parked	in	the	hot	sun	with	the	windows	up	to
bake	out	the	toxins.	Air	it	out	regularly,	and	be	sure	to	air	it	out	before	and	while
you	drive.
The	risk	of	new	paint	is	something	my	friend	Jim	discovered	when	he	went
from	being	generally	in	good	spirits	to	suffering	the	worst	depression	of	his	life.
Actually,	he	felt	suicidal.	I	immediately	tried	to	isolate	the	cause	of	Jim’s
malfunctioning	cells.	I	discovered	that	Jim	just	had	the	interior	of	his	house
painted;	paint	off-gasses	neurotoxins	that	can	affect	moods	and	mental	function.
New	paint	takes	at	least	two	months	to	reach	reasonable	levels	of	safety	for	most
people	(depending	on	biochemical	individuality),	which	is	why	it	is	best	to	paint
only	one	room	at	a	time	and	to	close	freshly	painted	rooms	off	as	much	as
possible	while	they	are	off-gassing.
Absolutely	do	not	sleep	in	a	freshly	painted
room!
A	good	idea	is	to	schedule	painting	just	before	leaving	on	a	vacation.	Jim
stayed	at	his	son’s	house	for	several	weeks,	and	his	problem	was	solved.Another	example	of	toxic	off-gassing	was	brought	to	my	attention	when	a
woman	suffering	flulike	symptoms	came	to	me	for	help.	Ellen	Marie	had
“caught	the	flu”	around	Christmas	time	the	previous	year	and	still	was	not	well.
Her	physicians	were	dumbfounded,	as	anyone	would	be	if	they	focused	only	on
mitigating	her	symptoms.
I	discovered	that	Ellen	Marie	had	moved	into	a	newly	constructed	luxury
home	four	months	prior	to	coming	down	with	“the	flu.”	Her	new	home	was
constructed	with	particleboard,	which	off-gasses	formaldehyde—a	highly	toxic
and	carcinogenic	chemical.	Plywood	also	will	off-gas	formaldehyde,	but	far	less
of	it.	(Some	new	man-made	building	materials	no	longer	contain	formaldehyde,
but	the	substitutes	used,	such	as	iso-cyanates,	are	also	toxic.)	This	poor	woman
was	suffering	from	subtle	and	constant	formaldehyde	poisoning.	Her	symptoms
included	immune	suppression,	respiratory	problems,	coughing,	throat	irritation,
headaches,	insomnia,	nausea	and	fatigue.	I	suggested	to	Ellen	Marie	that	she	sell
her	new	home	and	move	to	a	safer	environment.	She	chose	not	to	move	and	she
remained	ill.
Always	select	building	materials	and	furniture	that	are	made	from
real	wood	or	at	least	plywood,	but	not	particleboard.
Inventory	Your	Home’s	Hazards
Do	you	have	carpets	in	your	home	and,	if	so,	from	what	are	those	carpets
made?	Carpets	made	from	synthetic	fibers	(plastics	such	as	nylon,	acrylic	or
polyester),	especially	when	new,	off-gas	large	amounts	of	toxins.	Carpets	are
among	the	most	significant	contributors	to	the	toxicity	of	indoor	air.	The	plastic
fibers	used	to	make	carpets	are	very	thin,	thus	creating	an	enormous	amount	of
surface	area	from	which	off-gassing	can	occur.	Chemicals	used	in	the	adhesive
backing	and	those	in	the	foam	padding	underlayer	also	off-gas.	Carpets	are
treated	with	toxic	soil	and	stain	repellents,	moisture	repellents,	mothproofing	and
other	finishes.	These	chemicals	are	effective	for	their	intended	purposes,	but
toxic—an	important	consideration	if	you	are	looking	for	new	floor	coverings	or
considering	a	move	into	a	newly	carpeted	space.
That	“new	carpet	smell”	is
toxic,	and	the	best	solution	is	to	use	carpets	made	only	of	natural	fibers
(wool	is
a	good	choice,	though	make	sure	it	is	not	treated	with	toxic	mothproofing
chemicals).	Hardwood	or	tile	floors	with	natural-fiber	area	rugs	are	good


 abscess were arranged according to the
incidence for each month. All of these diseases show a relatively high incidence during February
and March, rising in December and January, falling during April and May, reaching a very low
level in midsummer and then making a rapid increase during the autumn. These are opposite to the
vitamin levels found in the dairy products of Ontario for the same months.
    In Chapter 3, I discussed data obtained during two summers in the Loetschental and other
Swiss valleys. The Loetschental Valley has been isolated from contact with surrounding
civilizations by its unique physical environment. For twelve hundred years during which time a
written history of the valley has been kept, the people have maintained a high level of physical
excellence providing practically all their food, shelter and clothing from the products raised in the
valley. Cattle and goats provided milk, milk products and meat. The stock was carefully sheltered
during the inclement weather and great care was used to carry back to the soil all of the
enrichment. This, of course, is a process that is efficiently carried out in many parts of the world
today. In this manner extensive depletion of the minerals required for food for animals and human
beings may be prevented. Their practice is in striking contrast to that in many of the agricultural
districts of the United States in which the minerals are systematically shipped from the land to the
cities, there to be dissipated to the ocean through the sewerage system. Among many primitive
races there is some attempt to preserve the fertility of the soil. For example, in Africa, many of the
tribes that depend in part on agriculture, cleared off only a few acres in the heart of a forest and
cropped this land for a limited number of years, usually less than ten. Great care was taken to
prevent the loss of the humus both through drenching rains and wind erosion. The decaying
vegetation and lighter soil that might be dislodged by the water were caught in the entanglement of
roots and shrubbery surrounding the agricultural patch. The surrounding trees protect the soil from
wind erosion. Care was taken not to form gullies, furrows and grooves that could carry currents of
water and thus float away the valuable humus from the soil. This again is in contrast to conditions in
other parts of the world, particularly in the United States. Sears (5)  has stated that "Bare ground left
by the plow will have as much soil washed off in ten years as the unbroken prairie will lose in four
thousand. Even so, soil in the prairie will be forming as fast as, or faster than it is lost." In Nature's
program, minerals are loaned temporarily to the plants and animals and their return to the soil is
essential. To quote again from Sears.
    What is lent by earth has been used by countless generations of plants and animals now
dead and will be required by countless others in the future. In the case of an element such as
phosphorus, so limited is the supply that if it were not constantly being returned to the soil, a
single century would be sufficient to produce a disastrous reduction in the amount of life.
    The history of preceding civilizations and cultures of mankind indicate the imbalances that have
developed when minerals have been permanently transferred from the soil. There are only a few
localities in the world where great civilizations have continued to exist through long periods and
these have very distinct characteristics. It required only a few centuries, and in some profligated
systems a few decades to produce so serious a mineral depletion of the soil that progressive plant
and animal deterioration resulted. In such instances, regular and adequate replenishment was not
taking place.
    The replenishment may be made, as in the case of the prairie with its plant and animal life,
through a replacement in the soil of borrowed minerals, a program carried out efficiently by a few
intelligent civilizations. The balance of the cultures have largely failed at this point. Another
procedure for the replenishing of the depleted soils is by the annual spring overflow of great water
systems which float enrichment from the highlands of the watersheds to the lower plains of the
great waterways. This is illustrated by the history of the Nile which has carried its generous blanket
of fertilizing humus and rich soil from the high interior of Africa northward over its long course
through Sudan and Egypt to the Mediterranean, and thus made it possible for the borders of the
Nile to sustain a population of greater density than that of either China or India. The salvation of
Egypt has been the fact that the source of the Nile has been beyond the reach of modernizing
influences that could destroy Nature's vast stores of these replenishing soil products. Where human7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 233/250beings have deforested vast mountainsides at the sources of the great waterways, this whole
problem has been changed.
    A similar situation has occurred in China. Her two great rivers, the Yangtze and the Yellow
River, having their sources in the isolated vastness of the Himalayas in Tibet, have through the
centuries provided the replenishment needed for supporting the vast population of the plains of
these great waterways. Together with this natural replenishment the Chinese have been exceedingly
efficient in returning to the soil the minerals borrowed by the plant and animal life. Their efficiency
as agriculturists has exceeded that of the residents of most parts of the populated world.
    The story in Europe and America has been vastly different in many districts. The beds of roots
of trees and grasses that hold the moisture and induce precipitation have been rudely broken up.
An important function of the plant and tree roots is the entanglement of dead plant life. Vegetation
holds back moisture at the time of melting snows and rainy seasons so efficiently that disastrous
floods are prevented and a continuing flow of water maintained over an extended period. Under
the pressure of population more and more of the highlands have been denuded for agriculture; the
forests have often been ruthlessly burned down, frequently with the destruction of very valuable
timber. The ashes from these great conflagrations provided fertilizer for a few good crops, but
these chemicals were dissipated rapidly in the swift flow of the water in which they were soluble,
with the result that vast areas that Nature had taken millenniums to forest have been denuded and
the soil washed away in a few decades. These mountainsides have become a great menace instead
of a great storehouse of plant food material for the plains country of the streams. Loss of timber
which was needed greatly for commerce and manufacture has been another disastrous result. The
heavy rains of the spring now find little impediment and rush madly toward the lower levels to carry
with them not the rich vegetable matter of the previous era, but clay and rocks which in a mighty
rush spread over the vast plains of the lowlands. This material is not good soil with which to
replenish and fertilize the river bottoms. On the contrary, it often covers the plains country with a
layer of silt many feet deep making it impossible to utilize the fertile soil underneath.
    We have only to look over the departed civilizations of historic times to see the wreckage and
devastation caused by these processes. The rise and fall in succession of such cultures as those of
Greece, Rome, North Africa, Spain, and many districts of Europe, have followed the pattern
which we are carving so rapidly with the rise and fall of the modernized culture in the United
States.
    The complacency with which the masses of the people as well as the politicians view our trend
is not unlike the drifting of a merry party in the rapids above a great cataract. There seems to be no
appropriate sense of impending doom.
    An outstanding example of our profligate handling of soil and watersheds may be seen in our
recent experiences in the Mississippi Basin. The Ohio River draining the western slopes of the
Allegheny Mountains has gone on rampages almost annually for a decade carrying with it great
damage to property and loss of life. Other branches of the Mississippi, particularly the Missouri,
draining the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains have gone out of control so that vast areas are
flooded with silt. There is now a concerted effort to stem this series of cataclysms by building
dykes along the great waterways to raise the banks and dams in the higher regions of the
watershed to hold back the floods. These artificial lakes become settling pools for the silt and soon
lose their efficiency by being filled with the debris that they are holding back from the lower levels.
An effort is also being made to reforest which is purposeful, but when we consider the millenniums
of time that Nature has required to build the tanglewood of plant life, shrubbery and trees over the
rocks and through the gullies to act as great defenses for holding back the water, these modern
programs offer very little assurance for early relief.
    Another very destructive force is the wind. When surfaces are denuded either at high or low
altitudes the wind starts carving up the soil and starts it on the march across the country. We call
the demonstrations dust storms. When we travel through our Western States, it is not uncommon
to see buildings and trees partially buried in these rolling dunes of drifting sand. When we were7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 234/250traveling across the desert of Peru in 1937


 bitter, cool drinks, and the
lack of solid nourishment all throw Vata out of balance. When lunch is over,
the two people will walk away feeling different, even though  they ate the
same meal. The Pitta will feel buoyant and refreshed, the Vata will feel
unsatisfied and unener getic.
That is why it is important to match your prakruti, your natural makeup,
with the correct diet. Following  is a table of food qualities as they affect the
doshas.As you can see, each section contains three tastes and three gunas, or
qualities. The six tastes you already know: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent,
and astringent. The six gunas, which come in pairs, are:
Heavy or light—wheat is heavy, barley is light, beef is heavy, chicken
is light, cheese is heavy, skim milk is light
Oily or dry—milk is oily, honey is dry, soybeans are oily, lentils are dry,
coconut is oily, cabbage is dry
Hot or cold (heats or cools the body)—pepper is hot, mint is cold,
honey is hot, sugar is cold, eggs are hot, milk is cold
These qualities speak directly to the tongue and stomach. The operative
principle is “like speaks to like.” If you want to balance Pitta, avoid food that
shares its qualities. A chili pepper, being pungent, hot, and oily, will
naturally cause Pitta to become aggravated.It is not necessa ry to memorize these qualities. Although Ayurvedic texts
offer long lists of foods matched  to their tastes and gunas, this knowledge is
already built into your body. If you are in balance, you will want hot food
when you feel cold, light food when you feel heavy. The same is true of
taste. If you are a Kapha type, having a taste for green salads would tell you
that you are in balance, becaus e greens are generally bitter and astringent
(these are two tastes that are good for you).
In a nutshell, that is what living in tune with nature means—what you like
to eat is what your body needs for balance. On the other hand, if you are the
same Kapha person and exclus ively crave potato chips (salty), ice cream
(sweet), and cheese (sour), your instincts are not in balance, and neither will
be your Kapha dosha. The simple remedy is to start eating all six tastes
again, moving away from your cravings. This will start to bring you back
into balance, and as that happens, you will naturally regain your lost
instincts. You won’ t abandon ice cream and potato chips, but a green salad
will satisfy you just as much, because it satisfies your dominant dosha.
HOW  TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT  BODY -TYPE DIET
Now that you know the general principles behind a balanced Ayurvedic diet,
we can look at the specifics of each body type. Choosing which diet to
follow is quite easy.
Choose the diet that balances your dominant dosha. If you are a pure
Vata, for example, you will generally follow a Vata-pacifying diet. The
same is true if you are a Vata-Pitta, although you can lean in the
direction of the Pitta diet when you need to (during hot weather or if
you display signs of Pitta aggravation, for instance).
If you are undec ided about which of two doshas you should pacify, reflect
on what foods you naturally favor that make you feel healthy and balanced.
These will generally point you in the direction of the right diet. If you are
one of the rare three-dosha types, you can usually eat any kind of Ayurvedicdiet and remain in balance, but once again, let your instincts, the season of
the year, and the state of your health be your guide.
If an Ayurvedically trained doctor has told you to balance a specific
dosha, follow that diet.
Lean your diet in the direction indicated by the season of the year.
Changes of season require certain modifications in your basic diet (you
wouldn’ t drink iced tea in winter, for example, even if you are a strong
Pitta type). These seasonal changes are covered in chapter 14,
“Seasonal Routine.”
Vata-Pacifying Diet
Favor:
Warm food, moderately heavy textur es
Added butter and fat
Salt, sour, and sweet tastes
Soothing and satisfying foods

Vata is a cold, dry dosha, and the warm, nourishing foods we associate
with winter—he arty stews and soups, slow-cooked casseroles,  fresh-baked
bread and fruit pies—give a good diet that soothes this dosha. At the
opposite end of the spectrum, the foods we gravitate to in summer—cold
salads, iced drinks, raw vegetables and greens—are not very congenial to it.
Vata types tend to have erratic  digestion, so soft, thoroughly cooked food
that is easily digested helps them. Vata dosha is also very sensitive to the
atmosphere surrounding a meal.  The best food in the world will not be good
for you if tension at the table is curdling your stomach. Anythin g that makes
dining a calmer, more restful experience will help to pacify Vata dosha.
The Vata-pacifying diet given here is the first choice for all Vata types,
unless diagnosis by a Ayurvedically trained physician has indicated
something else. Within a few days of beginning this diet, you shoulddefinitely notice that your energy level is steady and that you feel more
balanced, calmer, and happier. If you suffer from mild symptoms of Vata
imbalance, such as insomnia, nervousness, or worry, this diet is also a
natural choice. Try it for two weeks and see if your symptoms are alleviated.
We find that the following points are helpful when you start a Vata-
pacifying diet.
All soothing foods are generally good for settling disturbed Vata: milk
(preferably warm), cream, butter, warm soups and long-cooked stews,
hot cereals, and fresh-baked bread. All contain sweet, the most soothing
taste to the body; most are also warm and heavy.
A nourishing breakfast, the more substantial the better, will improve
Vata throughout the day. Cream of rice or wheat is the best hot cereal
for Vata, but anything warm, milky, and sweet is beneficial.
Many Vata types experience a drastic ener gy slump in the late
afternoon. Having hot tea with cookies or some other sweet is a good
idea. Think of the four o’clock English teatime. Herb tea is more
soothing than regular tea, whose high caf feine content can disturb Vata
types. You can try brewing gotu kola tea. This Indian herb, which is
said to be excellent for calming the nerves, is available in health-food
stores. You can also order Ayurvedic tea in bags (page 377). If you take
five minutes for your tea break in a quiet spot before heading home
from work, you will find the end of the day much less tiring.
Pungent is not among the favored Vata tastes, but spicy food generally
turns out to be satisfying to Vata types, because most spicy Mexican or
Indian food is warm and has abundant oil in it. Ginger is the best
pungent spice for Vata and is often used to improve Vata digestion (see
page 301). Also, the use of sweet spices, such as cinnamon, fennel, and
cardamom, helps restore a dull appetite, from which Vatas tend to
suffer.
Warm, moist food is very settling for Vata. Cooked grains and cereals
are the best choices here. When you feel nervous, worried, or otherwiseunder pressure, a bowl of hot oatmeal or a cup of creamed vegetable
soup will make you feel much better than a candy bar or a drink.
Although sweet is good for Vata, sugar eaten by itself gives a quick
energy boost that can make Vatas feel too restless. Warm milk is a
sweet food in itself; it is very good for Vata, particularly with a little
sugar or honey. Sugary sweets should be eaten in combination with
nourishing ones like milk.
Dry, salty snacks are not as good for Vata as salted nuts, which are
heavier and oily, two qualities that pacify Vata. Almonds are the best
choice. Ayurveda always recommends that almonds be skinned before
they are eaten; standard advice is to soak a dozen whole almonds in
water overnight, then peel and eat them in the morning to balance Vata.
Since nuts and seeds are dif ficult to digest, Vatas need to eat them in
small quantities, preferably ground into butters. Tahini (sesame paste) is
an excellent source of sesame oil, one of the best foods for warming up
and balancing Vata.
All sweet fruits are good for Vata, and green grapes and mangoes are
the best. Astringent fruits such as apples and pears need to be cooked
before eating. Unripe fruit, being very astringent, is to be avoided,
especially unripe bananas.
Any cold, light, low-calorie food increases Vata and makes you feel
dissatisfied. If you are partial to salads, let them come to room
temperature and add oily dressing


abolic
wastes	to	clear	from	your	body	more	efficiently,	making	dry	brushing	a	great
detoxifying	aid.
Like	a	light	massage,	dry	brushing	also	provides	some	anti-stress	benefits	and
may	even	help	with
bloating.	Massaging	the	lymph	nodes	can	help	the	body
shed	excess	water	and	toxins,	improving	kidney	function	and	flushing	out	your
system.	Dry	skin	brushing	rejuvenates	the	nervous	system	by	stimulating	nerve
endings	in	the	skin,	and	it	feels	pretty	great,	too!	(Well,	it	can	feel	a	little	rough
at	first	when	you	are	getting	used	to	it,	but	it	will	leave	you	feeling	revitalized
and	with	a	great	memory	of	the	experience.)	Last	but	not	least,	dry	brushing	will
almost	certainly	help	make	your	skin	glow	and	become	tighter.	Try	it	for
yourself	and	see	what	kinds	of	benefits	you	experience!
To	do	it	yourself,	all	you	need	is	about	2	to	3	minutes	a	day	(ideally	layered
into	your
abhyanga
	practice)	and	a	long-handled	brush	made	from	dry	bristles,
which	you	can	generally	purchase	for	under	$20	online	or	at	a	health	market.
Starting	at	your	feet,	brush	your	skin	in	long	strokes	toward	your	heart.	Be	sure
to	brush	your	legs,	arms,	chest,	back,	and	stomach.	Avoid	sensitive	areas,	such
as	your	face,	and	be	very	careful	with	delicate	areas	like	varicose	veins	(thoughgentle	dry	brushing	can	be	great	for	flat	spider	veins).	Be	firm,	but	don’t	press
too	hard.	Your	skin	should	be	pink	when	you’re	done	but	certainly	not	red	or
irritated.	Afterward,	be	sure	to	engage	in	your
abhyanga
	practice	or	apply	a
natural	moisturizer	or	emollient	oil,	such	as	shea	butter	or	coconut	or	sesame
oil.	Since	dry	brushing	helps	slough	off	the	dead,	outer	cells,	your	skin	will	be
able	to
hydrate	more	efficiently	and	absorb	more	moisture.
OCEAN	BEAUTY	DETOX	AND	MINERAL	MASK
Kelp	is	seaweed	that	is	rich	in	minerals	and	vitamins.	Used	in	a	mask	form,	it	will	draw	impurities	out
of	your	skin	as	it	also	helps	restore	nutrition	to	your	complexion.
2	tablespoons	kelp	powder
½	cup	aloe	vera	gel
2	teaspoons	filtered	water
Combine	the	kelp	and	aloe	vera	in	a	small	bowl.	Slowly	mix	in	the	water	until	you	create	a	thick	paste.
Apply	to	your	face	and	neck	for	about	15	to	20	minutes.	Rinse	well.
JUMP	ON	A
TRAMPOLINE
This	type	of	movement	is	particularly	good	for	increasing	lymph	flow,	as	the
up-and-down	rhythmic	gravitational	force	created	by	bouncing	encourages	the
lymph	system’s	one-way	valves	to	open	and	close.
GO	FOR	A	WALK	OR	HIKE
In	addition	to	all	the	other	benefits	of	getting	out	into	nature	(not	to	mention
exercise),
walking	is	a	great	way	to	help	move	your	lymphatic	system	and
improve	circulation.
CLEANSE
Try	a	properly	administered	cleanse,	especially	in	the	springtime.	If	well
designed	and	followed,	this	can	be	a	great	way	to	detox	your	whole	system	and
let	your	lymph	system	flush	out	accumulated	wastes	and	toxins.	If	you	are
interested,	check	out	Kimberly’s	organic	smoothie	and	juice	company
(
myglowbio.
com
)	for
cleanses	she	designs	that	ship	nationally.
WEAR	LOOSE
CLOTHING
Tight	clothing	can	restrict	your	body’s	natural	circulation,	so	peel	yourself	out
of	your	skinny	jeans	(at	least	part	of	the	time)	and	incorporate	more	flowing
skirts
and	maxi	dresses	into	your	wardrobe.	You’ll	be	more	comfy—and	moredetoxed.	After	detoxing	your	lymphatic	system	with	looser	clothes	on	most
days,	you’ll	look	even	better	on	those	nights	when	you	do	want	to	wear	a	tight,
slinky	dress.
PRACTICE
HYDROTHERAPY
If	you’ve	ever	been	to	a	traditional	Korean	spa,	you’ll	find	a	cold	plunge	pool
next	to	a	hot	pool.	Experiencing	side-by-side	temperature	shifts	externally	to	the
outer	surface	of	your	skin	(again,
not
	by	saturating	your	internal	organs	with	icy
liquids!)	is	believed	to	be	invigorating	in	some	Eastern	traditions,	as	it	promotes
enhanced	blood	flow	and	great	circulation	throughout	your	whole	body.	You
can	do	this	at	home	by	simply	alternating	warm	and	cold	water	in	the	shower.
Start	your	shower	with	a	few	minutes	of	warm	water,	and	then	shift	the	dial	for
2	minutes	of	cold	water.	Make	it	as	cold	as	you	can	stand	it!	Then	continue
alternating,	ending	your	shower	with	cold	water.	You	will	feel	refreshed	and
energized,	and	your	hair	will	look	shinier	(on	the	days	you	wash	it).	What	an
excellent	way	to	start	the	day—your	skin	will	also	be	glowing	all	over!
NERVOUS	SYSTEM	SOOTHING	MASSAGE	OIL
Jojoba	oil	is	a	great	carrier	oil	for	most	essential	oils	because	it	is	easily	absorbed	into	your	skin	and	is
rich	in	vitamin	E.	Neroli	essential	oil	is	a	great	choice	for	this	skin	recipe,	as	research	has	found	neroli
helps	reduce	anxiety	and	improve	sleep	quality.
2
	Besides	its	calming,	grounding	properties,	it	has	a
lovely	sweet	and	spicy	aroma.
Combine	½	cup	jojoba	oil	and	40	drops	neroli	essential	oil,	using	it	in	your
abhyanga
	practice	or	with
just	a	quick,	modified	hand	or	foot	massage	at	the	end	of	the	day—or	whenever	you	feel	you	need
some	soothing.SHIFT	8:
Address
Specific	Skin	Issues
While	the	ingredients	we	discussed	earlier	will	naturally	boost	your	skin’s	glow
and	vitality,	there	are	some	common	skin	issues	that	respond	well	to	particular
ingredients.	In	this	shift,	you’ll	learn	tips	to	overcome	any	issues	that	might	be
plaguing	your	skin.	We’ve	also	included	recipes	for	masks	and	tonics	that	were
designed	specifically	for	each	individual	concern.
Acne
Acne	is	an	all	too	common	skin	condition	that	can	be	exacerbated	by
impurities	in	your	blood	that	push	out	through	your	skin,	causing	breakouts.
Here	are	some	of	the	best	ways	to	cut	down	on	these	impurities	and	create	clear,
radiant	skin:
•
Reduce	consumption	of	oils	in	general	and	high
fat,	heavy	foods.	Excessive
oils	in	the	system	can	aggravate	your	moisture	balance	and	clog	the	pores.
•
Incorporate	cumin,	turmeric,	and	ginger	when	cooking	to	boost	digestion
and	help	promote	pure,	healthy	blood.
•
Eliminate	dairy	from	your	diet,	which	some	research	has	linked	to	acne.
1
•
Take	an	excellent	probiotic	supplement	(see


 walls thin; mucosa corrugated and pale.

Death by fasting:
    Several cases showed extreme dilation; two were in st ate of cirrhosis; none showed contractions except Case 3 (hour -glass), and
Cases 10 and 11 (cirrhosis). Other variations as noted.

INTESTINES
Death by starvation:
    Show uniform contraction as to lumen and length; walls usually thin and transparent t o light; their atrophy in this connection is
characteristic. Sometimes empty; sometimes containing dark mucus; sometimes distended with gas.

Death by fasting:
    The condition of the intestines is specifically noted in all cases. There were no general characteristics, but in no instance were
the walls unduly thin.

KIDNEYS
Death by starvation:
    Do not seem to suffer.

Death by fasting:
    Suffered as noted.

SPLEEN
Death by starvation:
    Not noteworthy.

Death by fasting:
    Normal in majority of eases. Disintegration noted in Case 4, atrophy in Cases 6 and 7.

PANCREAS
Death by starvation:
    Always atrophied, sometimes to practical disappearance.

Death by fasting:
    Atrophy noted in Cases 6 and 7; hypertrophy wi th cirrhosis in Case 4; incipient cirrhosis in Cases 10 and 11. Others normal.

OMENTUM
Death by starvation:
    Transparent and destitute of fat.

Death by fasting:
    In all cases some fat; in Case 4 excessive fat. Transparent in no case.

LIVER
Death by starvation:
    Unaltered except in size, which is lessened.

Death by fasting:
    Noted in all cased There were no general characteristics; the organ varied in size and structure with the individual.

GALL BLADDER
Death by starvation:
    Usually full; contents staining adjacent tissues.

Death by fasting:
    Case 8 was the only instance in which there was staining of adjacent tissues. Others were as noted or normal.

Page 70 of  72     One fact of significance shown in the post mortem findings and in the comparison noted above is that, no matter how general
were the defects in other organs, nor how emaciated the body, unless they themselves were organically imperfect, the heart, t he
lungs, and the brain were normal in size and in functioning ability. It may be added that, although not always specifically s tated,
the brain in each instance in the cases cited was thoroughly dissected.

    Through the facts related the immediate cause of death in every case described may easily be traced to its origin. And
furthermore these facts virtually prove that organic deficiency, if not produced by drug dosage, is the direct result of dige stive
impairment. The scientific worth of this observation  is much enhanced for the reason that in these autopsies the entire organism in
each case was exhibited unaffected by recent drug paralysis. Observation also shows that the subjects in whom glands were
hardened or atrophied were invariably of an emaciated or wiry physique, while those in whom a softening of the organs had
occurred were inclined to obesity. It is also interesting to note that, where mental control was lacking at any stage of the fast, the
colon upon dissection showed displacement and distort ion, so much so that its evacuation was rendered most difficult even with
the aid of enemata.

    From the scientific viewpoint the observations included in the present chapter are of greatest import. By them the theory of
Fasting for the Cure of Disease  is fully substantiated, and proof of its efficacy as a therapeutic measure is rendered
incontrovertible.

SUMMARY OF DEATHS IN THE FAST

N
o. Sex Lengt
h of
Fast
Days  Age Height  Weight
at
Begin
ning of
Fast Weight
at Death  Pulse at
begi-
ning of
fast Pulse
at
mid
fast Pulse
before
death  Temp at
begin -
ning of ast  Temp at
mid fast  Temp before
death
1 F 40 38 5'5" 124 86 82 72 86 99 98 97
2 F 57 39 5'2" 110 68 74 72 68 96 98 94
3 F 60 24 5'7" 132 75 90 104 112 97 99 96
4 F 59 35 5'8" 144 90 78 84 108 100 100 96
5 M 19 24 5'7" 110 87 80 68 60 96 97 94
6 M 30 46 5'11"  145 112 88 92 96 98 99 97
7 M 38 56 5'5" 115 70 60 68 50 94 96 94
8 M 49 22 5'6" 128 100 90 86 102 97 98 97
9 M 21 27 5'10"  125 88 56 54 48 94 96 94
10 M 35
(Diet)  34 5'9" 146 120 54 52 50 94 94 94
11 F 80
(Diet)  33 5'2" 78 65 56 60 62 94 96 94

CHAPTER XXI
NATURAL THERAPY AND THE FAST

OSTEOPATHY AND CHIROPRACTIC:
THE TENDENCY OF OSTEOPATHY TO REVERT TO MEDICINE:
THE BROAD BASIS OF NATURAL THERAPY

    AS ELSEWHERE expressed the fast in itself is primarily an eliminative agency, a process of purification, and therefore it mus t
be regarded, not as the actual restorative, curative power, but as a means to this end. Ability to recover from disease, cure  itself,
resides within the individual organism, the fast, together with its accessories, permitting, and at times even compelling, ga thered
body impurity to be eliminated through the various natural, normal channels of evacuation. It prepares and furnishe s a restored and
renovated foundation upon which a new and healthy physical structure may be re -erected.

    The accessories utilized in fasting have been in greater part explained and elaborated. But one important auxiliary agency th at is
daily brought into play during the regimen imposed is that of body manipulation, including adjustment and correction of bony
lesions, be the latter located in the spinal column or elsewhere. In this connection two distinct schools of healing have ari sen
within comparati vely recent time, those of Osteopathy and of Chiropractic.

    Osteopathy, the theory of which was first propounded by Dr. A. T. Still in 1874, is defined as "that science or system of hea ling
which treats disease of the human body by manual therapeutics  for the stimulation of the remedial forces within the body itself, for
Page 71 of  72 the correction of misplaced tissue, and for the removal of obstructions or interferences with the fluids of the body, all wit hout the
internal administration of drugs or medicine." It may perhaps serve to make this definition more lucid if Dr. Still's own
interpretation of his discovery is added. It is this: -- "Osteopathy deals with the body as an intricate machine, which, if kept in
proper adjustment, nourished and cared for, will run smoothly into ripe old age. When every part of the machine is adjusted and in
perfect harmony, health will hold dominion over the human organism by laws as natural and immutable as are the laws of
gravitation. Every living organism has within it the power to manufacture and prepare all chemicals, materials, and forces needed
to build and rebuild itself, together with all of the machinery and apparatus required to do the work in the most perfect man ner,
producing the only substances that can be utilized in t he economy of the individual. No material other than food and water taken in
satisfaction of the demands of the appetite can be introduced without detriment."

    The name, Osteopathy, derived as it is from two Greek words, osteon, a bone, and pathos, su ffering, is not such a misnomer as
at first might appear. The osteopathic theory, it is seen, is based on the belief that disease is caused by some part of the human
mechanism being out of proper adjustment, as in the ease of misplaced bone, cartilage or l igament, adhesions or contractions of
muscle, any one of which results in unnatural pressure on, or obstruction to, nerve, blood, or lymph. Osteopathy, then, throu gh the
agency or use of the bones, especially the long ones which are employed as levers, see ks to adjust the misplaced parts. It pays
attention to all portions of the organism, but it devotes much of its work to the spinal column, which, owing to its complex
structure, is liable to several forms of sub -dislocation, depending upon the region in wh ich they may occur. The