Nature Cure: Philosophy & Practice Based on the Unity of Disease & CureLindlahr, Henry
Philosophy
Nature Cure: Philosophy & Practice Based on the Unity of Disease & Cure
Lindlahr, Henry
Naturopathy
In cases of extreme weakness, and where the acute and subacute
processes are long drawn out and the patient has become greatly
emaciated, it is advisable to give such easily digestible foods as
white of egg, milk, buttermilk and whole grain bread with butter in
combination with raw and stewed fruits and with vegetable salads
prepared with lemon juice and olive oil.
The quantity of drinking water should be regulated by the desire of
the patient, but he should be warned not to take any more than is
necessary to satisfy his thirst. Large amounts of water taken into
the system dilute the blood and the other fluids and secretions of
the organism to an excessive degree, and this tends to increase the
general weakness and lower the patient's resistance to the disease
forces.
Water may be made more palatable and at the same time more effective
for purposes of elimination by the addition of the unsweetened juice
of acid fruits, such as orange, grapefruit or lemon, about one part
of juice to three parts of water. Fresh pineapple juice is very good
except in cases of hyperacidity of the stomach. The fresh,
unsweetened juice of Concord grapes is also beneficial.
Acid and subacid fruit juices do not contain sufficient carbohydrate
or protein materials to unduly excite the digestive processes, while
on the other hand they are very rich in Nature's best medicines, the
mineral salts in organic form. Sweet grapes and sweetened grape
juice should not be given to patients suffering from acute, febrile
diseases because they contain too much sugar, which would have a
tendency to start the processes of digestion and assimilation, to
cause morbid fermentation and to raise the temperature and
accelerate the other disease symptoms.
Fasting
Total abstinence from food during acute febrile conditions is of
primary importance. In certain diseases which will be mentioned
later on, especially those involving the digestive tract, fasting
must be continued for several days after all fever symptoms have
disappeared.
There is no greater fallacy than that the patient must be sustained
and his strength kept up by plenty of nourishing food and drink or,
worse still, by stimulants and tonics. This is altogether wrong in
itself, and besides, habit and appetite are often mistaken for
hunger.
A common spectacle witnessed at the bedside of the sick is that of
well-meaning but misguided relatives and friends forcing food and
drink on the patient, often by order of the doctor, when his whole
system rebels against it and the nauseated stomach expels the food
as soon as taken. Sedatives and tonics are then resorted to in order
to force the digestive organs into submission.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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