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The Natural Hygiene approach to hypersensitivity

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada Roca) — Sun, 13 Jun 2021 13:23:00 +0100

Allergies, asthma, multiple chemical sensitivity, electrosensitivity, hypersensitivity to sun, noise, smells, stress... different types of hypersensitivity are explained by the Natural Hygiene approach as an extraordinary elimination process, that happen when there is a toxemic overload in the body. In this post I explain with detail this process and I discuss a method of desensitization.
Photo by Shena Tschofen

Continue reading The Natural Hygiene approach to hypersensitivity

The theory of toxemia and the vital energy or nerve-energy as the onset of disease was advanced by one of the leading exponents of the Natural Hygiene (or Life Science) approach, Dr J. H. Tilden MD. Since then, this approach has been adopted by doctors and practitioners of Hygienism.

Toxemia

As seen in the previous section, the opportunistic and pathogenic bacteria in our body produce toxins that must be removed, as well as metabolic waste.

First of all, it is important to understand what toxemia exactly is, and how it is related to disease. In his book entitled Toxemia Explained, Dr Tilden clarified (74):

“Every so-called disease is a crisis of Toxemia; which means that toxin has accumulated in the blood above the toleration-point, and the crisis, the so-called disease—call it cold, “flu”, pneumonia, headache, or typhoid fever—is a vicarious elimination. Nature is endeavouring to rid the body of toxin. Any treatment that obstructs this effort at elimination baffles nature in her effort at self-curing.”

Additionally, he elaborated further:

“When the elimination takes place through the mucous membrane of the nose, it is called a cold —Catarrh of the nose; and where these crises are repeated for years, the mucous membrane thickens and ulcerates, and the bones enlarge, closing the passage, etc. At this stage hay-fever or hay-asthma develops. When the throat and tonsils, or any of the respiratory passages, become the seat of the crises of Toxemia, we have croup, tonsillitis, pharyngitis, laryngitis, bronchitis, asthma, pneumonia, etc.” “All are symptoms of the expulsion of toxin from the blood at the different points named, and are essentially of the same character and evolving from the one cause—namely, Toxemia— crises of Toxemia. “

“It should be obvious to the discerning how extraordinarily illogical it is to treat a catarrh of the nose as a local disease; or, when crises are repeated until ulceration takes place, and the mucous membrane becomes so sensitive that dust and pollen cause sneezing and watering of the eyes—symptoms called hay-fever—to treat these symptoms as a distinct disease caused by pollen. “

Shelton illustrated the following point in his book Human Life (28):

“In the case of the inspired gnat or cake crumb, the sneezing and coughing are obviously normal and are defensive efforts. Why should they be considered as other than this when it is mucous they are directed against as in a cold, a bronchitis, or a pneumonia? They should not.”

When the normal detoxification pathways (i.e. organs) — intestines, lungs, liver, kidneys, skin — become overwhelmed, then toxins and all kinds of harmful substances have to be eliminated through extraordinary pathways. One of these means can be through secretion. Rhinitis can thus be the response of the body trying to remove toxins by producing mucus and inducing sneezing.

This is congruent with the fact that rhinitis is stronger in the morning, because the body is expelling the harmful substances that have been accumulated overnight. The more toxins — especially, the heaviest and the unhealthiest an evening meal is — the more mucus is to be expelled.

As seen in the previous section, the removal of toxins due to unhealthy eating habits by the respiratory system leads to irritation in the nasal mucosa. This, in turn, creates an environment for hypersensitivity to all kinds of airborne particulates, such as smoke, perfumes, pollen, dust, and animal hair. This could explain why sensitivity increases when unhealthy food is consumed.

Nerve-energy

Since disease is the mechanism through which the human body has to rid itself of its problem: toxemia, it is paramount to understand why such a problem arises initially. As Dr Tilden explained, toxemia stems from a reduction of nerve-energy:

“Without nerve-energy the functions of the body cannot be carried on properly. The present-day strenuousness causes enervation, which checks elimination, and the retained toxins bring on Toxemia.”

By the same token, he argued: “Everything that acts on the body uses up energy. Cold and heat require the expenditure of nerve-energy.”

Figure 3.23 Vital Energy

As a result, Dr Tilden concluded that enervation was the most fundamental cause of disease. Self-indulgence or committing all kind of excesses — overeating, using stimulants, sex, or overworking — as much as a shock, an injury, or even abuse, fear, grief and envy, can, for instance, lead to disease. In other words, the enervating habits of body and mind stem from a lack of positive lifestyle factors, bad life habits and certain emotions, or feelings that are subjectively experienced as negative by the persons suffering from them.

If enervation is the root cause of disease, then the enervating habits of life must be changed in order to allow the body to heal. Moreover, Dr Tilden added: “Rest from habits that enervate is the only way to put nature in line for curing. Sleep and rest of body and mind are necessary to keep a sufficient supply of energy. Few people in active life rest enough.”

Enervating habits of life are the weakening factors contributing to hypersensitivity in persons predisposed to this kind of condition.

Toxemia management

There are two types of toxins: the internal ones (i.e. endogenous) and the external ones (i.e. exogenous).

There are two ways to manage these toxins: by elimination and by storage. Regarding elimination there are two kinds: normal and extraordinary; and two kinds of storage: harmless and harmful.

A normal elimination does not have any important consequences for the body; the main detoxification organs are used. But an extraordinary elimination requires considerable efforts from the organism, which exhibits a set of symptoms of disease: pain, swelling, phlegm, sneezing, cough, redness, high temperature and prostration, for instance. These are warning signs indicating us that something is done wrong and must be stopped. The issue arises when these alarm bells are ignored and muffled with chemical, natural or alternative medication, whereas the real solution would be to break these bad and unhealthy habits.

In the storage toxicity management, the body strives to keep toxins in a place which should not disrupt its functions and organs, such as adipose tissue (i.e. fat). However, the organism may decide that toxicity cannot be stored in this harmless place — it may already be “full”, or it may be due to the nature of the substances or due to other reasons. As a result, such toxins may be deposited in areas of the body in which harm can be caused. Nonetheless, the body will naturally endeavour to prevent these toxins from damaging the most vital organs. For instance, the joints of the knees may be chosen over the facet joints of the spine; or the muscles of the extremities over the cardiac muscle. Overweight and ulcerative diseases such as colitis, ulcers and sclerosis, as well as induration such as fibromas, tumours, cysts, atherosclerosis and cataracts may be the consequence of this storage strategy.

Whilst each individual has a genetic predisposition to one of these types of toxicity management, several factors influence the strategies adopted by the organism. In one single individual, the organism can decide to rid itself of certain substances, whilst storing others. Moreover, depending on the state of the body, the same substance can even be processed differently. For instance, medication and/or any other remedies for hypersensitivity tip the balance of the organism towards a storage mode, in order to stop the processes of elimination. Then, when using these medicines, instead of developing an inflammatory disease or hypersensitivity in the short term, we develop an ulcerative or induration disease in the long term.

In general and as depicted in the next section, when unable to be excreted from the body through the normal pathways, these harmful substances will be stored and will accumulate until a toleration threshold is exceeded. This will in turn trigger an extraordinary mechanism of elimination. This toleration level varies from one person to another, and is subject to change throughout life.

There are four different types of toxemia or toxicity management: normal elimination, extraordinary elimination, harmless storage and harmful storage. Hypersensitive persons fall into the second category, while chronic diseases may belong to the third and the fourth type.

Toleration level and reserves

Dr Tilden explained

“When nerve-energy drops below normal, the elimination of toxin—a natural product of metabolism—is checked, and is retained in the blood, bringing on Toxemia.

It should be obvious to discerning minds that the amount of toxin in the blood must vary with each individual, and that the degree of resistance also must vary with each individual. An amount that would cause a toxemic crises in one would apparently have no effect on another.”

Shelton elaborated further on this tolerance to toxins:

“Crisis usually last until the disease producing factors have been reduced to the toleration point. This point varies with the individual and with the varying conditions of the individual. Thus, the greater the amount of vitality one possesses, the less morbid matter will his system tolerate, and as the vitality of one with chronic disease is gradually raised, his toleration point also rises so that crises occur”.

Some persons who eat unhealthy food, smoke or drink alcohol may appear to be in good health, while others may often be sick although they take very good care of their health.

There are mainly two diametrically opposed explanations for this fact:

1) One obvious answer is that on the one hand, the person with unhealthy habits may be strong and may be able to lead an unhealthy lifestyle without falling sick.. On the other hand, the person with healthy habits may be so weak that even the wisest healthy choices may not prevent disease. If this second person followed unhealthy habits, it is likely that they would find themselves in a poorer state of health.

2) According to the approach of Hygienists Tilden and Shelton, a person with unhealthy habits has a very high toleration level, which means that their body have become accustomed to consuming a large amount of harmful substances, which are stored. However, once these toxins have accumulated above the toleration level, disease will be contracted in order to eliminate this excess of toxins. On the contrary, the weak person with healthy habits probably has a very low level of tolerance. Therefore, any small amount of toxins will be immediately excreted from their organism with a disease crisis.

Along with every hypersensitive person, my toleration level is extremely low. From a scientific point of view, I consider this as an advantage: similarly to a canary in a coal mine, We react to any harmful substances in tiny amounts and quickly. Our reactions occur well before the body of other persons may have accumulated or have been damaged by such substances.

The level of toleration, or sensitivity, varies throughout life. Children are more sensitive, thus more prone to developing elimination diseases (i.e. colds, flu or gastroenteritis) more often than adults. As the person ages, adults in general develop chronic diseases instead, which are the result of the harm inflicted by the accumulated toxins. Shelton stated (28):

“At first the young man’s body will not tolerate more than two or three cigarettes a day, but, in the course of a few years, he is smoking two or more packages of these daily. So, in infancy and childhood, the body will not tolerate much of the toxins of disease, but develops frequent crisis and throws them off. As time passes, however, more toleration is built, and crises become less frequent and less vigorous.”

However, as soon as the person stops having that harmful substance over an extended period of time, their body will become intolerant and sensitive again to this particular substance. This also applies to dairy products or gluten, for instance: When the person starts having these products again after avoiding them for some time, an intolerance reaction appears stronger than before it stopped, and the nature of this reaction can differ according to the person.

Figure 3.25 Pool of toxemia

In Figure 3.25 the toxemia pool represents the accumulation of harmful substances for the body (i.e. toxins from bacterial decomposition, metabolic wastes and toxics from outside sources). In fact, this toxicity is deposited and stored in several places of the body such as in the interstitial fluid surrounding the cells, in fat tissue, organs and joints. This allocation will be made by the organism depending on factors, such as the genetic predisposition, the nature of the substances, and the amount of nerve-energy stored.

The elimination organs need nerve-energy or vital energy for the process of emptying this toxemia pool. If the levels of energy are low, or if the normal pathways of elimination are overwhelmed with toxins, the barrel will fill progressively until the amount of toxins reaches the toleration threshold. Then, the body will resort to the extraordinary pathways of elimination. This mechanism will cause a crisis (e.g. diarrhoea, mucus or inflammation) by calling up the reserves of nerve-energy or vital energy that the body has built up to respond to dangerous situations,

Once toxins have decreased below the toleration point, elimination will resume through the normal pathways if there is enough nerve-energy. Nonetheless, toxins will be retained again within the body if the levels of nerve-energy are too low.

After a crisis, the body is so exhausted because it has been depleted of all his energy reserve supplies, that collapse and pain forces the individual to rest. However, expending more vital energy than they can replenish by resting, eating healthy and receiving the energy of the sun, for instance, will be very detrimental to their health.

Shelton explained the mechanism of the reserve of power (28):

“The body seeks always to maintain a certain reserve of power and we can get this power out only by supplying emergencies such as this reserved is stored up to meet.”

“The capital stock of energy, over and above the usual expenditures, is held in store for an emergency, and while, therefore the draft upon this reserve is increased by every assault, the supply necessary for the work of maintaining functional action and structural integrity will be furnished till the reserve is exhausted. After this, if the demand for power to sustain functional soundness exceeds the income, the organ or organs must falter in their functions, and here commences Functional Disease.”

Unconsciously, most of us are heavily depleting our vital energy reserves, whenever we rely on painkillers, anti-inflammatories, on a cup of coffee or on any other kind of stimulant or sedative upon suffering from ailments or pains, which, in normal circumstances, would force us to pause. Our busy lives do not allow us to do so, and rest as much as we should to recover. Such a lifestyle takes a toll on our health.

Finally, Shelton added (28):

“The loss of power that must precede the development of disease is due to waste of power largely occasioned by the use of irritants and excitants — stimulants. Hence the egregious folly of the habitual employment of stimulants or tonics of various kinds, until the vital economy is forced to hang out its distress signals, and then employing the same means in larger amounts, or others of similar character and greater power, to remedy the damages of the habitual over-stimulation.”

For the time being, I believe the theory advanced by Hygienism to be one of the most coherent ones about disease.

Desensitisation by adaptation

In conventional medicine, desensitisation is performed by means of the adaptive capacity of the human body.

Nature has a large capacity of adaptation to gradual changes occurring overtime, such as temperature, humidity, pressure, exposure to the sun and the amount of food.

Under subtle environmental changes, living beings have the ability to gradually perform changes in life functions and adapt to the new conditions. Nonetheless, their adaptive capacity remains limited. Therefore, for an organism to survive, it is crucial that these environmental changes, albeit gradual, occur at the same rate as adaptation’s.

On the other hand, living beings will not be able to adapt in a rapidly-changing environment (e.g. if the temperature is too extreme). In response to such a threat to survival, they will either flight or freeze. A typical example to illustrate this case is the fable of the boiling frog: if sitting in a pot of gradually heating water, the frog will adapt to the changes in temperature, but will eventually be boiled to death without leaping out of danger when the temperature rises too much. However, if the frog is suddenly plunged into boiling water, it will immediately jump out to save itself. Although it has been shown that the frog would jump out in both cases, this fable is an appropriate analogy of the capacity of adaptation of living beings.

Humans react in a similar fashion: for instance, when non-smokers start smoking, their body will react to the poisons being introduced, and they may experience coughing and vomiting as a result. However, after smoking regularly for a long period of time, or if their daily consumption of cigarettes has increased very gradually, these initial reactions will stop. Their body will have built up a tolerance to tobacco. Smokers, albeit accustomed to smoking, are slowly damaging their body.

In the same vein, unhealthy food is not rejected by the organism of the average person. Only hypersensitive persons, who are being diagnosed with food intolerance or allergies, are the ones whose bodies are rejecting some or all of these junk foods, although sometimes also reacting to agents which are normally inoffensive.

One way to desensitise a person to these harmless agents is to allow their body to slowly adapt to them. This is the procedure used by allergists in desensitisation. At the beginning, the organism is exposed to a tiny amount of a particular allergen, which does not cause any reaction. The doses are then gradually increased until the body can become accustomed and build up a tolerance to the allergen to a normal level. In fact, it is the same process as the frog being slowly boiled alive: our body systems are misleading us into accepting substances, which would not be tolerated in normal circumstances.

Although the human mind is deemed to be more powerful than the infinite wisdom of our body, how can we be sure that an allergen is not actually a threat? Doctors insist on desensitising children to peanuts, cow milk protein and egg protein. It is questionable whether these foods are actually healthy for humans; from my point of view, and as illustrated in the next chapter, they are not. To summarise, desensitisation involves adapting the organism to harmful substances.

By the same token, how can we be sure that some allergens targeted by the treatment, such as pets, dust, bee venom, dust mites or pollen, are harmless to hypersensitive persons? If the organism had the power to rid itself of these particles through the normal pathways of elimination, it would do it, but resorting to the extraordinary pathways is sometimes the only way to do so (if the organism is using extraordinary pathways, this means that it has run out of options.). Forcing the body to build up a tolerance to allergens does not help the organism to excrete the toxins through its normal channels. Desensitisation does not lead to reduced levels of toxicity and enervation. What this treatment does is prompting the organism to store allergens instead of eliminating them, which can lead to chronic diseases in the long term.

The French Hygienist Albert Mosséri stressed in his book La nutrition hygiéniste (75): “It is time to stop this deception about the adaptability and tolerance of the human body. It is a double language, unique to medicine. […] It is also time to understand that this so-called adaptation is an illusion and a disappointment; has anyone who has smoked or consumed alcohol for a long time adapted to these poisons, to the point of tolerating them? Have those who eat meat, fish, bread and grains as the staples of their diet, adapted to these foods? Is their body able to tolerate them? At what cost?”

Compared to the average person, individuals with hypersensitivities have a limited adaptive capacity. A sudden exposure to a large amount of allergens can sensitise the organism to them.

In today’s world, we are constantly challenged by the drastic changes in the composition of the environment. Indoor air (i.e. inside homes, cars and offices) is different from outdoors owing to the organic chemical compounds found in furniture, carpets or cleaning products, for instance Moreover, traveling can increase the exposure to these sudden, abrupt environmental changes.

I think that respiratory allergies are due to a lack of adaptation to changes in the environment.

I have personally experienced such allergic reactions in spring: hay fever starts as soon as I get into or out of the car, or when I travel long distances. However, after spending some time in a new environment — it can be one hour or longer — my organism slowly adjusts to it; the reactions would slowly diminish and, in most cases, eventually stop. Many people suffering from rhinitis have declared that a reaction would be caused as soon as they enter or exit a store, a building or a house.

In the natural environment, human beings would not be exposed to such radical changes in the environment: due to a gradual increase in the amount of pollen in the air, animals slowly adapt to changes in their current environment.

The hypersensitive organism strongly reacts to changes. Similarly to the fable of the boiling frog, hypersensitivity may be an asset in the face of a harsh and rapidly-changing environment — such reactions can often save lives. Probably, a compromise between adaptation and reaction could be ideal.

It would be interesting to understand why hypersensitive persons have such a limited adaptive capacity. This phenomenon may be due to a genetic predetermination, through which an organism will develop a strategy when facing sudden changes in conditions: it will either resist, or adapt to them..

As previously depicted in the theory of toxemia, the normal pathways of elimination can become saturated by the weakening factors or by an overload of toxins. As a result and in order to adapt to an environment, the organism reacts by calling the extraordinary pathways into play. According to this theory, desensitisation could be achieved by reducing the toxemia.

Desensitisation by toxemia reduction

Hypersensitive persons usually have a very low toleration level. Nonetheless, the immune system can be made less sensitive.

I succeeded in decreasing my hypersensitivity. I have suffered from MCS (Multiple Chemical Sensitivity) for most of my life. By following a healthy lifestyle, I seldom suffer from the allergic and hypersensitive reactions I have had since I was a child. Now, I only suffer from light rhinitis a few days of the year when the pollen count is very high and it is very windy.

Sensitivity can be decreased by reducing the level of toxins that can be controlled. Keeping toxicity below a certain threshold enables us to be in a stronger position when facing the external agents we are sensitive to. In fact, the body will not be overwhelmed by the daily toxic load, and more vital energy will be available to remove allergens.

In other words, neither the environmental nor the triggering factors for hypersensitivity reactions, such as the pollen, dust, mosquito bites, chemicals, noise, pollution and smoke can be fully curbed. Nonetheless, the weakening factors can be limited by what we eat, how much we exercise and by how many hours we sleep, for instance. By improving our lifestyle and our nutrition, we can minimize and better manage the risks we face in our daily lives. Moreover, the same principle can be applied to emotions; whilst we cannot control the acts and words of other persons, we can strengthen our resilience to challenge aggressive behaviours.

Impacts of other factors and limitations of nutrition

In Natural Hygiene, health is influenced by many other factors besides nutrition. For instance, Dr David Klein mentions 30 of them in his book Self Healing Colitis & Crohn’s (76): “Love of self, healthy self-image and esteem, passionate love of all life, awareness, intention, inner focus/listening, abidance of the senses of intuition, true knowledge, graceful, grateful, respectful, generous attitude; organic, properly-combined vegan diet; pure water, pure air, sunshine, warm climate, fitness and posture, security and peace of mind, rejuvenative rest and sleep, heart-centered self-nurturing, sharing of love, relaxation, humor, creative expression, emotional flow and release, rhythmic movement, musical indulgence, simple lifestyle, communing with nature, gardening, service—living your life’s purpose, engagement in self-improvement challenges.”

Changing our dietary habits is one of the steps that can be taken in order to bring about beneficial and more positive effects on vital energy. However, there are many other life factors that can have a more negative impact, which means that all efforts towards improving nutrition can be in vain.

For instance, I met a child called Neil. He suffered from severe asthma attacks on an almost daily basis, with most of them requiring hospitalisation. His condition was associated with gastroenterological disorders such as GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease), stomach aches, inflammation, flatulence, loose stools as well as insomnia, behavioural disorders, dermatitis, headaches, back pains and fatigue.

After following my advice and changing his diet, the improvement was still not satisfactory: only tiredness, headaches and backaches were relieved, and milder symptoms of dermatitis were exhibited.

I think that the outcomes expected with the nutritional changes were not achieved because Neil was on medication on a daily basis. The contribution of medication to the toxic load is such that a tremendous amount of vital energy has to be expended in order to expel it from the body, hence restricting the supply of energy for digestion. Subsequently, any food eaten, albeit healthy, will be converted into more waste, thus further increasing the amount of toxins. Additionally, the discomfort caused by the elimination of toxins disrupts rest and a good night of sleep, which decreases vital energy levels as well. Unfortunately, it was an unbreakable circle.. The only solutions would have been either to stop medication or to go on a fast, but neither options were available because that could have caused conflict with the medical establishment, and because in any case, parents would have refused to participate.

Some harmful substances such as those from medication can have such a strong negative impact on health: increasing toxemia to such high levels that any effort made in improving nutrition and other lifestyle factors will fail in achieving visible results.

I have faced this situation in other cases, too: with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, epilepsy and hypertension. In all of them, the person was on a medication that prevented any improvement in nutrition.

We can understand this limitation with a mathematical equation: imagine that having the best nutrition improves health by 100 points, and taking medication worsens it by 1,000,000. It is clear that the impact of a good nutrition will not be perceptible whilst taking medication. The same happens with any of the weakening factors influencing health.

Fasting

“Fasting: Nature's Best Remedy” — Albert Mosséri (77)

In my opinion, fasting is one of the best remedies to treat most illnesses. It has been shown that fasting is effective for many diseases (78, 79, and 80).

Personally, I have never fasted for more than 48 hours. However, if ever I suffer from a severe health condition, I think that a long fast will be my first choice.

I once coached a person who was going on a water fast (i.e. no food, only water) for 20 days, and we did not see the expected results. Unless necessary and unless the person is absolutely determined about it, I am not very enthusiastic about prolonged fasting because it is a great sacrifice.

Hypersensitive persons do not need prolonged fasting, namely for more than two days, because hypersensitive reactions are a consequence of both an overactive immune system and detoxifying system. In hypersensitive people, toxins are not stored in the body, but the organism finds alternative ways to expel any harmful substances; even some inoffensive substances are targeted by the immune system in order to be removed.

Consequently, a detoxifying treatment of any kind will not be necessary for hypersensitive people, whether juicing, hydrotherapy, herbs or prolonged fasting, for instance. Our body naturally detoxifies itself very well — albeit excessively. This could be interpreted as our internal organs being “obsessed with cleaning”, and the fact that many of us are quite obsessed with order and cleanliness may not be a coincidence after all…!

Any detoxifying therapy is going to increase hypersensitive reactions.

The type of fasting that I regularly practice and I advise is intermittent fasting. On most days, I eat only once a day, between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. In my experience, I think this is the schedule that works the best. If I eat more frequently, this is, two times a day, for example, I will not sleep well at night and I will feel much worse the next day, mainly hampered by rhinitis in the morning. This happens even if I split the same amount of food that I eat in one meal into two meals.

Resting and sleeping

We have the erroneous idea that food provides energy, but this is not exact. Here, Dr Douglas Graham (81) explains the difference between energy and fuel in detail:

“In health sciences […] the term, ‘energy’ is defined as a low-voltage electrical current produced by your brain during sleep, which run through your body via your nervous system (also known as vital nerve energy). When you are awake, you use nerve energy more rapidly than the brain can produce it. Hence, you eventually run out of energy. After an appropriate period of hours procuring sleep, you awaken, fully recharged and full of nerve energy again.

On the other hand, food is referred to as ´fuel´. We need to consume fuel for three primary reasons—nutrition, hydration, and pleasure. Through the process of digestion, we burn our fuel (food) to release its own energy potential and utilize it for ourselves. During this complicated process, we receive a net gain in energy by using our own nerve energy to release the potential in food.”

Consequently, the energy provided by food and the one provided by rest and sleep are different; one does not replace the other.

The best remedy I resorted to in order to reduce the symptoms of severe allergic reactions was to take a rest. Sometimes, five minutes are enough in order to stop an allergy attack, and on occasion, I needed more time and I had to rest more frequently during the day. Resting with the eyes closed is very important. Meditation is not compulsory; relaxation is what matters.

I can think of several different explanations as to why rest is so effective:

1) Closing eyes and being inactive saves on energy, which increases vital energy, which in turn reduces toxemia.
2) Similarly to sleep, resting the body allows the immune system to recover and the senses to rest. All activities of daily living are more or less stressful, which leads to an overactive immune system in hypersensitive persons.
3) Hypersensitive persons are very sensitive to the world around us, as if it was “hurting” us. When sensory receptors are shut down, we feel better. Hypersensitive persons have a very active nervous system, hence a high sensory processing ability and a heightened sense of awareness for detail and for any events that occur simultaneously. In fact, more energy is allocated to the nervous system than in the average person, and a very high amount of energy is spent in processing the information from the environment through senses, mainly as images. However, this is at the expense of a high vital energy expenditure. As a result, other systems of the body may lack energy to perform tasks, such as neutralising and eliminating toxins through the normal pathways.

In Human Life , Shelton stated (28): “Rest and replenishment of power is the first step in the curative work.”

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Continue reading The Natural Hygiene approach to hypersensitivity

New book: "A Holistic Approach to Hypersensitivity"

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada Roca) — Sun, 11 Apr 2021 17:08:00 +0100

My book is published!

This book is dedicated to those people who suffer from any kind of hypersensitivity - whether it be of an immune, sensorial or emotional nature; though it is a useful book for any person who reads it.
Living Fully Nourished - a good nourishment of the body, mind and spirit - is the key to healing. It is a holistic approach, with nutrition (food) as the main subject.
The Living Fully Nourished method examines weakening and triggering factors as the source of diseases, it reveals to the reader how to know oneself, and offers guidance on putting lifestyle changes into practice. It focuses on hypersensitivities, the main theories surrounding their origin, and how to find and apply the most appropriate treatment to overcome them.

Buy it here

Continue reading New book: "A Holistic Approach to Hypersensitivity"

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Continue reading New book: "A Holistic Approach to Hypersensitivity"

Bloating: causes and prevention

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada Roca) — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 17:09:00 +0100

Bloating is one of the most current affections of population in general.
It is commonly known that certain foods, such as beans and pulses produce gas. But there are many other foods that can make you bloated too.
How does bloating appear and how can we prevent it?

Continue reading Bloating: causes and prevention

In general, intestinal gas is released by bacteria that lives in our intestine when decomposing the food that they digest, if there has been a bacterial overgrowth and the food has gotten stuck in the intestine during enough time to ferment or putrefy.

Given the current meal habitudes, one bowel movement a day is not enough. With the amount of food we ingest usually, three or four meals a day, we would need to have several daily bowel movements. But once a day, or even less, seems to be the norm. This fact makes it so that large amounts of waste stagnates in the intestine, with the consequent fermentation or putrefaction, causing the bloating.

Bacterial overgrowth is produced due to the important food supply they enjoy. They are fed by the matter that our body cannot digest, if we give them enough time. There are many different reasons why we cannot digest a certain food: it may be indigestible, or there is a food intolerance, or we have gone beyond our digestion capacity because of an excess of the amount; or we were submitted to stress or some kind of distress; or in general, in that moment the situation of our body was not suitable in order to digest that food. When fed, bacteria thrives in our intestine and releases gas in their metabolism, as well as toxins.

Face to this problem, there are mainly two options:

1) Taking antibiotics and/or antifungals and/or treatments such as colon hydrotherapy, in order to remove all these bacteria and/or fungi off of our intestine. This option tends to work in the short term, but it is not sustainable in the long term because if the same nutrition is unchanged, bacteria is still feeding. The same phenomena occurs with ants in fields; they come again even after killing them if there are still leftovers remaining on the floor.
Another issue is that these kind of medicines or treatments cannot be taken or followed forever, even if they are very natural or food (such as spices, garlic, herbs, etc.)

2) Changing the nutrition and/or life style in a way that we only nourish our body but not the bad bacteria. We must identify the reason of the slow intestinal transit and of the defective digestion.

In order to improve the intestinal movements, food that slows down and blocks the passage of quicker food must be avoided.

Fruits are digested much faster than other foods. Meat and fish can take up to three days to pass through the digestive system, while fruits do so in 12 to 24 hours. Consumption of meat can thus block the passage of fruit through the intestines. Starches and fats are likewise problematic, taking longer to digest than fruit. Imagine your digestive system as a road. On the road, there is a truck blocking the cars and they can’t pass. The cars honk, the noise annoys the neighbours, who blame the cars. But the real culprit for the noise is the truck blocking the road. The cars represent fruit, and the truck represents meat, fish, starch and fats.

When fruit is blocked in the digestive tract, it ferments, producing toxins and toxic gases which causes bloating. Unfortunately, many doctors and nutritionists diagnose this as SIBO (Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth) or as a fructose intolerance and recommend a FODMAP diet, which bans most fruits and vegetables. But fruits and vegetables are not the source of the problem.

Before I stopped eating animal protein, these vegetables left me bloated, with stomach aches and intestinal problems. After some time, I began following the FODMAP diet (Fermentable Oligo-, Di-, Mono-saccharides And Polyols), avoiding fructan-containing vegetables, as well as most fruits. In reality, the problem was not these healthy food, but rather the animal protein, which provoked an intolerance to fructans and fructose, by inducing a small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), blocking or delaying the passage of fruits and vegetables through the intestines. The moment I changed to a diet of only fruits and vegetables, these problems I had associated with FODMAP intolerance disappeared.

In cases where a FODMAP diet is needed, instead of removing fruits and vegetables from the diet, it would be better to avoid animal protein and all other foods that slow down bowel transit, such as grains, especially cereals with gluten and refined cereals.

Lactose of dairy products may also be a problem for most people, mainly in adults, due to the lack of lactase. Since the moment of weaning, the production of this enzyme decreases progressively, until it disappears.

Legumes contain oligosaccharides that are indigestible.

There are a long list of conditions to take into account in order to have good digestion that are also good to know: avoid excess amounts, don’t eat too quickly and chew throughly, be careful with food combining, etc. Having water negatively impacts digestion, although most meals need water because of the food being dry such as meat, fish, potatoes, grains, legumes and nuts. In this article I mention several important aspects in order to get a good digestion.

Overall, the key to avoid bloating is to keep a healthy intestinal transit.

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Testimonial of Acute Severe Respiratory Syndrome

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada Roca) — Sat, 24 Oct 2020 19:32:00 +0100

Gemma Calzada, Ph.D. and Najat talk about the acute respiratory crisis that Najat suffers since the beginning of the pandemic. These crisis are the real SARS, the new disease of severe acute respiratory syndrome that was identified by some doctors in China and USA and has been the trigger of the pandemic. We wonder if there is a link with electromagnetic radiations.
(Activate subtitles in English, click on "CC")

Testimonial of the Spanish engineer: https://www.instagram.com/elfindelcabal/
Medical doctor in USA that explains his experience with patients that suffocate which seem to have been put in the top of the Everest: https://www.bitchute.com/video/dsjdgqR4mjlX/
I call to everybody that had a similar experience to contact me to try to find out what is the cause of this condition: https://livingfullynourished.com/forms/contact

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Iron deficiency: causes and solutions

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada Roca) — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 12:25:00 +0100

The low iron rate in blood is associated with anaemia, and it is mainly physically shown as weakness and fatigue. To face this problem, doctors recommend that the affected people get supplements in iron, usually by injection.
Another solution that people try is to increase their daily intake of iron contained in their meals. However, this generally doesn’t solve the problem.
Are there any other solution? Where does this low iron level comes from?

Continue reading Iron deficiency: causes and solutions

In the last few years the number of people with low iron count has blown up, mainly in women. We must take into account the fact that reference values in blood tests are changed by the laboratories over the years and this can start an “epidemic” of certain kinds of health problems. But assuming that the real problem is a lack of iron, there are some possible causes.

The first issue that comes to the mind is the ingestion of enough iron in our meals. We tend to think that we don’t take enough iron in our food, so we search for good sources of iron. Here are some examples of where iron can be found and it’s positive and negative impacts:

1) Spinach:
Spinach is very rich in iron. The problem is that it also contains oxalic acid, that impairs the absorption of iron. So this big amount of iron doesn’t reach the blood, but it is flushed away with the oxalates.

2) Liver:
The problem with liver is that it is the detoxification organ of animals, so it is loaded with toxins, heavy metals, and all kind of toxic substances.

3) Shellfish and fish:
Seafood, in general, is very polluted with heavy metals.

4) Legumes, mainly lentils and soy:
The inconvenience of legumes and pulses is that they are quite indigestible and cause bloating for most people.
Soy contains high amounts of goitrogens, that disrupt the function of the thyroid. Some studies show that soy is also linked to breast cancer, early puberty and early dementia.

5) Red meat:
Red meat may be a good source of iron if you are not vegetarian. High red meat intake has been linked to several health issues, mainly cardiovascular, and also cancer.

Other sources are quinoa, broccoli, chocolate, nuts, potato, etc.

But the amount of iron that is ingested in our food isn’t the origin of the low level of iron in most cases. People regularly eat red meat or legumes or other food that contain enough iron to fill the need. The main problem is not the lack in daily intake of iron, but the absorption of this iron.

The main preventer in this absorption of iron is due to the antinutrients. Antinutrients are substances that prevent the absorption of nutrients. You can find a detailed description of this topic in the article Foods by their antinutrient content. Food that contains a considerable amount of antinutrients against iron are:

1) Coffee. Caffeine can reduce the absorption of iron by up to 80%.
2) Legumes, whole grains and other seeds contain phytates that prevent the absorption of iron, zinc, calcium and other minerals.
3) Tea, chocolate, wine, coffee and vinegar contain tannin, that if consumed in excess, may lead to zinc and iron deficiency.

A poor iron absorption can also be due to damaged intestinal villi. These finger-like projections are the ones responsible for the absorption of the digested nutrients from the intestine to the blood. When their function is impaired, their task cannot be well performed. An example of this is the case of celiac disease, an auto-immune disease caused by a strong gluten intolerance. But villous atrophy can have other origins, such as parasites, some medications that suppress the immune system, some antibiotics and some anti-inflammatories; radiation, Crohn’s disease, lymphoma and AIDS, to name a few.

Anaemia is very often related with vitamin B12 deficiency. This deficiency is very often due to a lack of intrinsic factor, a protein made in the stomach. The production of intrinsic factor in the stomach can be impaired because of antiacid drugs, and it may also be due to an autoimmune disease against the parietal cells that make the intrinsic factor.

B12 deficiency is mainly caused by an unhealthy gut flora. Even though the intake of B12 is correct, this B12 that is present in the food must be transformed to methyl B12 in order to be available to the body. The responsible of this transformation is the good bacteria in our intestine. But if we have a bad gut flora then the process of methylation of B12 can not be performed, and it results in B12 deficiency.

Another possible cause of iron deficiency is the overgrowth of iron lover bacteria in the intestine. Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride explains in her book Gut and Psychology Syndrome: “ Most people with abnormal gut flora have various stages of anaemia. It is not surprising. They not only can’t absorb essential-for-blood vitamins and minerals from food, but their own production of these vitamins is damaged. On top of that, people with damaged gut flora often have a particular group of pathogenic bacteria growing in their gut, which are iron-loving bacteria (…). They consume whatever from the person gets from the diet, leaving that person deficient in iron. Unfortunately, supplementing iron makes these bacteria grow stronger and does not remedy anaemia. “…
“it takes more to remedy anaemia than supplementing iron. To have healthy blood the body needs magnesium, copper, manganese, iodine, zinc, and many other minerals, a whole host of vitamins: B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, C, A, D, folic acid, pantothenic acid and many amino acids. It has been shown in a large number of studies all over the world, that just supplementing iron does not do much for anaemia. It saddens me to see that doctors still prescribe it to anaemic patients giving them a lot of unpleasant digestive side effects due to encouraging growth of pathogenic iron-loving bacteria and direct negative effect on the cells of the gut lining, which are already inflamed and very sensitive in GAPS patients”.

So a profound change in the nutritional habits has to be established in order to heal the gut flora and remove the iron loving bacteria. Supplementing iron is not the solution. The GAPS treatment is one possible approach, but there are many others, and it depends on every person. A deep study of the health condition and dietary habits has to be made in order to decide which is the best treatment.

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Virus and exosomes

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada Roca) — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 16:28:00 +0100

Recent studies are showing that viruses are exosomes, messages between body cells. Exosomes are produced by cells when they are poisoned by some kind of toxicity (chemical, electromagnetic, emotional or any nature). Exosomes don’t come from outside, but from inside of the body, and they play a very important role in disease healing.

Continue reading Virus and exosomes

Bruce Lipton was the first one I watched suggesting that exosomes are like viruses (1). Then, when I researched, I found several articles talking about exosomes:
"Exosomes: Generation, structure, transport, biological activity, and diagnostic application" (2),
"Exosomes - structure, biogenesis and biological role in non-small-cell lung cancer. (3)
"Exosomes: nanoparticles offering a new future to cure disease | Shivani Sharma | TEDxManhattanBeach" (4)

Dr. James Hildreth "now proposes that 'the virus is fully an exosome in every sense of the word.' " (5)

Later on, Doctor Andrew Kaufman published a presentation that shows that Covid-19 virus has exactly the same anatomy as exosomes. (6)

Exosomes are vesicles that contain genetic material inside, produced by cells with the purpose of communication between cells. It is suggested by Dr. Kaufman that when a cell is threatened by some kind of chemical, bacterial toxin, electromagnetic radiation, stress or any other element, exosomes are released by the cell with two main objectives. Firstly, prevent the other cells about this danger; secondly, capture these toxics or toxins.

The message can be directed to the close cells or to cells that are placed in other part of the body, far away. In order to recognize which cells are the destiny, exosomes have a “key” in their membrane, that only can fit specific receptors of certain cells. These keys are proteins that confers the appearance of a “crown” in the case of Coronavirus.

Once an exosome gets to the recipient cell, it goes inside it and this cell takes the message, acts in consequence and replicates the exosomes. The action performed by this cell depending of the message can be the activation of the immune system, for example, in order to clean some kind of intruder, in other words, an inflammatory response. Another example can be the actions directed to a wound healing. In the previously mentioned articles has been found that exosomes help the immune system, nervous system messaging and wound healing.

According to the conventional theory about virus, it is said that virus invade cells. In my point of view, this idea is an mis-interpretation. The virus doesn’t attack or invade, it just “opens the door” to go inside a cell because it has the key.

In a bacterial infection, exosomes help to destroy the toxins produced by the bacteria.

Koch’s postulates

(7)

Koch’s postulates for microorganisms were redefined for viruses because viruses don’t fulfil the first requirement of the initial Koch’s postulates. Since then, the criteria for virus causality of a disease have evolved along the years. (8, 9)

Current Koch’s postulates for viruses have been shown to be fulfilled for SARS-CoV-1 (the virus related to SARS epidemic on 2002-2003) (10), although it has not for Covid-19 virus (SARS-CoV-2) yet, but I’m pretty sure it will be shown soon.

My question is: can we be sure that following these postulates is a guarantee of cause-effect relationship between a certain virus and a certain disease?

I’m pretty sure that exosomes also follow these postulates.

If a person is inoculated (injected) with exosomes, the body will react as if these exosomes have been produced by the self body: they will be replicated in the recipient cells and they will start to execute the message, such as activate the immune system (inflammation). These actions are what is commonly identified as a “disease”. So of course, exosomes would be the responsible of the “disease”, in the same way as viruses are.

However, this doesn’t proof that viruses, or exosomes, are contagious. In Koch’s postulates the inoculation or transmission from person to person is via manual intervention, by retrieving a sample in the source person and injecting the virus to the recipient person. The contagion theory has never been shown.

In Natural Hygiene we believe that people doesn’t catch viruses from other people, because we are protected by our skin, mucosa and immune system. Every person carries trillion of viruses inside. (11). There are always billions of symtomatic and asymptomatic persons in the world of flu, cold, SARS and all kind of viruses. If they were contagious, we would be continually experiencing pandemics. The only way to get a virus from another person, or other living being, is by injection. The viruses / exosomes that are found in a person should come only from the same person, produced by their own cells. This is one of the reasons why vaccines are so dangerous, because we are directly injecting in a person a message, even if it has been "attenuated", that induce to a certain disease when there is no need. We are telling our body to combat a bacteria that doesn’t exist, or to have an immune response to something that doesn’t exist, or to heal a part of the body that has not been hurt. This is, I think, one of the reasons why allergies, hypersensitivities and auto-immune diseases rise; we are making the body to get crazy with misleading messages.

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Continue reading Virus and exosomes

Colds and Flus

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 17:42:00 +0100

We have been taught that colds and flus are caused by viruses, and we are prescribed medicines for coughing, fever and pain.
Natural Hygiene has a very different perspective about these diseases, their cause and their treatment. In this post T.C.Fry’s teachings about the common cold and influenza are explained, from his book "The Life Science Health System"

Continue reading Colds and Flus

Almost as common as the “common cold” is the virtually universal misunderstanding as to what a cold really is.

The condition known as a “cold” is characterized by inflammation of the mucous membrane of the nose and throat; there also may be inflammation of the membrane lining the nasal sinuses, the larynx, the pharynx, or the bronchial tubes.

There is a profuse flow of mucus, initially thin and watery, gradually becoming thicker and whitish or greenish. The nasal lining thickens and interferes with breathing.

There may be a temporary loss of smell and taste. Often there is a raw, sore throat with a flow of mucus from this membrane, a husky voice, and a cough. The eyes and ears may become involved. The person feels miserable, and may have a fever, often a headache.

A disease that can be aborted to 24 to 48 hours lasts for weeks in many cases.

Treatments for colds

Everyone who has had a “cold” (and who hasn’t?) will agree as to the nature of the symptoms, and the misery they cause. But it is almost incredible to realize that the misunderstanding of colds, and the type of treatment commonly employed today, have changed very little in the last few hundred years.

The current medical community admits, that it hasn’t made much progress in its efforts against the common cold. The American Medical Association and doctors at Harvard Medical School say that colds still resist the best efforts of the world’s combined medical research talent.

German scientist Dr. W. Kruse announced in 1914 his discovery that colds were caused by viruses and this was hailed as the first big discovery on colds. After that, research sputtered along, seeking the elusive “cure” that was always just around the corner.

Dr. Robert Muldoon, specialist in virology, and professor of medicine at the University of Illinois, said in 1978, “Disgustingly enough, there is not much new about the, common cold. There really isn’t much you can do to protect yourself from a cold, and there still isn’t anything you can do for it once you get it except to treat the symptoms.” (We beg to contradict him!)

Dr. Muldoon took part in a classic experiment at the university with Dr. George Jackson, showing that exposure to cold temperatures or wet feet do not increase a person’s risk of catching a cold. He said that when a person with a cold sneezes on you, you can expect to receive a direct blast of germs, but your chances of catching his cold are only about one in ten. Dr. Muldoon does not give any explanation as to why he thinks nine out of ten people will not get the cold, even when directly exposed.

A cold research establishment in England has been working for twenty-five years to find a definite cause for the common cold. Everything they have tried has failed, though they have subjected volunteers to every conceivable circumstance in order to find some pattern or combination of factors which produce a cold.

Notwithstanding these conclusions (that no one knows the causes of colds)—I must insist that the causes of colds are known, and that the proper method of dealing with a cold has been known for many years. As long ago as 1873, Dr. Robert Walter said, “A cold is simply an effort of the system to relieve itself of its accumulated waste particles.”

Failure of the medical community to find the cause of colds is due to the fact that researchers are looking for something that isn’t there. No cure for the common cold has ever been found by the researchers for an excellent reason: the cold itself is the “cure.”

When the state of nervous energy is lowered, excretion, elimination and digestion are impaired. The two great causes of colds are exhaustion and repletion (surfeit).

When the state of bodily clogging which precedes a cold reaches intolerable proportions, the body organizes for a radical eliminative crisis. The temperature rises, the head and nasal passages become congested, appetite may disappear. The cold may go through various stages of eliminative processes, usually regarded as disease symptoms, instead of being understood as cleansing efforts of the body to unburden the vital organs.

If drugs are used to stop these processes, the body may face a more serious situation later on—perhaps influenza, or pneumonia, or possibly problems with other organs or functions.

We have been taught that colds lay the foundation for other more serious diseases. Rather, they are efforts to prevent the development of more serious conditions. The persistence of the causes, or the drug treatment common today, can lay the foundations for future degenerative pathologies. Chronic disease is due to chronic provocation.

Means of eliminating the accumulations must be employed by the troubled organism. Coughing, sneezing, discharge of mucus, all represent efforts on the part of the body to remove the accumulated unexcreted waste. The symptoms represent part of the remedial process, as the body is striving to maintain or restore the status quo—the homeostasis or physiological equilibrium.

When the body produces symptoms of a cold as vicarious elimination of toxic material which is threatening its survival, we should not even consider suppressing them. Why should we try to check a cough that is necessary to remove an obstruction? Why should we try to dam up in the body the noxious matter that the wisdom of the body has determined must be expelled?

Aspirin is the most commonly used cold remedy. Among so-called “health-minded” people, aspirin is often supplanted by vitamin C. Some people take both aspirin and vitamin C. Antihistamines are commonly used.

Neither “booze,” nor aspirin, nor antihistamines, nor vitamin C (nor anything else) can possibly “cure” a cold. Whatever temporary symptomatic relief they may afford is expiated later by accentuation and prolongation of the symptoms, and by insidious damage to the organism.

The most common “side effect” of aspirin is internal bleeding. Most people who experience slight gastric bleeding are unaware that it is occurring. Many people do experience overt, often serious, effects including burning mouth, throat and stomach; breathing difficulties and congestion; dizziness; lethargy; tinnitus (ringing of the ears); vomiting; a decrease in blood circulation; gastric bleeding, or hemorrhaging serious enough to cause ulceration or anemia, or to be life threatening.

Aspirin also interferes with the prostaglandin system, the body’s key defense against disease-causing elements, and the key to detoxification.

A study by researchers at the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland reported that five to ten percent of permanent kidney failure is due to damage by aspirin, acetaminophen (e.g., Tylenol), and other analgesics (pain killers). I believe this to be a low estimate—Hygienists have been maintaining for years that drugs subject the kidneys (and the liver) to intolerable stress. The report says that taking three aspirin tablets a day for three years causes renal (kidney) disease, and many people are advised to use much more than that as blood thinners for chronic pain or to relieve arthritis and other inflammatory ailments. Dr. William M. Bennett told a National Kidney Foundation seminar that mixtures of drugs appear to cause more kidney damage than each drug alone. Dr. Bennett said it is not uncommon for people to take analgesics daily in the danger-level amounts, sometimes just to “feel good” or for the mild mood-altering qualities they have.

The mood-altering drugs in coffee and tea also have adverse effects on gastric, cardiac and renal function.

Alcohol, aspirin, antihistamines, and all drugs are designed to stop the body from doing what it is trying to do. The drugs form chemical unions with body tissues, fluids and processes, destroy the body’s ability to purify itself, dam up the poisons, and multiply the problems. So-called “natural cures” (herbs, vitamin C, etc.) are also used in an effort to thwart the action of the body.

Some people are under the impression that colds can be prevented or “cured” by megadoses of vitamin C. The publicity generated by Linus Pauling’s research and writings helped to perpetuate this belief. It is particularly unwise to use vitamin C if one is also taking aspirin, because vitamin C tablets intensify the effects of aspirin in the body, such as hemorrhaging and anemia.

It is true that a diet predominating in raw foods is high in vitamin C, and it is also true that such a diet is a good start in not developing disease. But vitamin C supplements are not food (contrary to what vitamin pill advocates are fond of proclaiming). The body’s reaction to their use is indisputable proof that they are just another form of drug. They are recognized by the body as acids and irritants, to be expelled as quickly as possible. Large amounts of vitamin C supplements trigger an extraordinary detoxification effort of the body (just as do garlic, mustard, camomille, etc.), at great cost in vitality and energy. Some of the toxins which made the cold necessary will often be borne out of the body, riding out on the “fast train” the body is using as an emergency measure to rid itself of the even more intolerable vitamin C supplements. The cold symptoms may disappear, due to the concurrent elimination of some of the toxins, but primarily due to the diversion of the attention of the body from the toxins causing the cold, to the more urgent necessity for getting rid of the acids and irritants in the vitamin C pills.

Viktoras Kulvinskas says, “Fighting colds with vitamin C results in acidification of mucus, which prevents its elimination via the respiratory system. It must instead be expelled by the kidney. The overall effect is strain on the kidney.”

The ultimate result of forcing the symptoms “underground” is insidious damage to the organism, and chronic degenerative disease.

Causes of colds

There is nothing mysterious about a cold—it is the body’s own cure for an intolerable condition brought about by the errors and omissions inherent in “civilized living.” Overeating; overconsumption of refined carbohydrates; too few fresh, uncooked fruits and vegetables; coffee, tea, chocolate; soft drinks, hard drinks (even copious water drinking); insufficient muscular activity; not enough clean, fresh air; too little rest; excessive stress—the more of these mistakes we commit, the more often our bodies require “colds” or other eliminating crises.

Air-tight homes add to the problem. Modern homes outfitted with double- or triple-glazed windows; air-lock vestibules; weather stripping; insulation and plastic vapor barriers in walls, floors and ceilings make a “residential thermos bottle” which traps dangerous pollutants inside. In older, draftier homes, air is replaced by fresh air about once an hour. In today’s tightly-sealed homes, inside air is replaced only about once every ten hours.”

The net result of “civilized living” is that every cell in the body is filled with and surrounded by waste material, the blood vessels are lined with excesses of food, and the blood itself is overloaded with waste materials and excesses of food. Hygienists call this condition toxemia, and consider this to be the basic cause of disease.

When the cells, tissues and body fluids contain an abnormally high amount of metabolic waste, it is a threat to the organism. When the body reaches its toleration level, it must employ means of eliminating these accumulations.

Since the cells will, at all times, act in their own best interests, individually and cooperatively, they initiate a process to eliminate the wastes and excess food residues. The body speeds up some activities and reduces the level of others. Elimination is accelerated. The increased burning activity of the body in disposing of the excess materials produces greater heat—the body temperature rises and a fever is experienced. Loss of appetite is a self-protective mechanism.

“A cold is an intense and acute activity designed to rapidly, efficiently, and effectively expel accumulated wastes. … It is pure insanity to suppress the symptoms of a cold as is commonly done. … A cold is no more nor less than a period of intense housecleaning.” (Dr. Immerman) People speak of “catching a cold.” People with colds have not “caught” anything—it is just the opposite—they are getting rid of something: they are getting rid of accumulated foul material. A cold is a cleansing, rejuvenating, renovating process.

Toleration

A cold, or any disease, usually takes a lot of causation. The bodies of most people have taken so much punishment during the time since infancy, their bloodstreams have become so contaminated, that their levels of toleration have gradually increased. A nontoxic, healthy baby (or a truly Hygienic adult) has a relatively uncontaminated bloodstream. Improper feeding of the infant, too little sleep and rest, too much clothing, not enough fresh air and sunshine, results in a retention of toxic material and the baby develops a cold to eliminate wastes in excess of the toleration level.

As the bad habits continue and the child is dosed and drugged and “immunized,” the child’s body gradually learns to tolerate more toxins and will develop fewer eliminative colds and fevers. When bad habits force the system to learn to live with poisons, the waste products remain to damage the body and pave the way for the development of degenerative disease.

When the body has established high toleration levels, a cold does not eliminate all the toxemia—it only brings it down to a level at which the body has become adapted to functioning.

This adaptation is accomplished by the body as a means of preservation of life, since it could not survive the tremendous and constant elimination required by the mode of eating and living or the frequent interference with its remedial processes by drugs and treatments. So it adapts, sacrificing its level of vitality to the necessity for survival. Most physiological adaptations are regressive, as explained in detail in Lesson No. 66. The adaptation is not toward health; it is away from health. But the body has no alternative.

The toleration point can be returned to its pristine low level by fasting and improving the way of life. The toleration level of the average Hygienist has been reduced. The vitality has been restored to a point where the body will no longer tolerate a large toxic load, and may conduct extraordinary elimination at a level that would allow others to continue insulting their bodies. But if a Hygienist perceives the beginnings of cold symptoms, he knows what to do.

How to deal with colds

It is not true that colds are caused by viruses; that there really isn’t anything you can do to not cause a cold; or that there isn’t anything you can do for a cold once you get it except treat the symptoms (admittedly with scant success).

My [T.C.Fry] grandchildren have known what to do about colds since they were just a few years old. They know that the way to avoid colds is to avoid junk foods and overeating; and they know that a cold can be eliminated by withholding food completely when the first symptoms appear. They know that if one fasts for 36 or 48 hours (or, at the most, three days), the symptoms will usually disappear, and it will not be necessary to contend with a seven- to fourteen-day period of suffering nor the organic damage that can be caused to the respiratory organs or other parts of the body by a prolongation of the causes and the symptoms.

Such cooperation with the self-healing power of one’s own body enables the necessary elimination of toxins to proceed with a minimum of discomfort, a procedure which is quickly consummated.

It is not what we eat, but what we digest and assimilate that produces health and strength. Conditions which disturb or impair digestion produce decomposition, thus poisoning the body instead of supplying it with nutritional elements from the food eaten. Whether or not the individual is aware of overt symptoms of such decomposition, insidious damage occurs.

Acute diseases, such as colds, are debilitating, but they are self-limiting. Most people eventually recover without any treatment, or in spite of the treatment. For that reason, almost anything seems to be a “cure.”

When it is fully understood that a cold, or any disease, is body action and not an attack by an external entity, attempts are not instituted to suppress the body’s own defensive and remedial processes.

If the body is allowed to continue its cleansing actions, the person will feel much better afterwards. The only helpful means of aborting or shortening the duration of a cold is through fasting, keeping warm, getting plenty of fresh air and as much bed rest as possible.

This methodology will increase elimination of toxic materials through the regular channels of excretion, and will decrease the necessity for vicarious elimination through the nose, throat, eyes, etc. The headache and fever will subside and the other uncomfortable symptoms will be reduced and gradually disappear.

People who have frequent colds are conducting beneficial and necessary eliminative processes. Other people, equally toxic (or more toxic) may not have the energy to conduct such housecleaning and may, instead, undergo insidious degeneration.

The wise Hygienist will avoid toxemia, and avoid the necessity for so many housecleaning episodes. If such episodes are too frequent, damage to the channels of vicarious elimination will be inevitable.

Dr. Sidhwa says, “It must be pointed out that too frequent use of the same paths of vicarious elimination will lead to atrophy and degeneration of any path of elimination, as well as a gradual wearing down of the strength of the glands themselves. Although disease, especially acute disease, is a life-saving process, it is also a life-consuming process. Frequent stimulation leads to exhaustion, leading to further enervation of the whole system.”

Bacteria and viruses

When the body is undergoing a crisis of elimination, virulent bacteria (or viruses) may become involved as secondary or tertiary factors. The use of drugs may produce mutant, more resistant strains. Edwin W. Schultz, M.D., in an article in the Cyclopedia of Medicine, states, “It is well established that viruses do undergo variations … in virulence, in antigenic structure, and in the character of lesions induced … sometimes of a stable mutation type.”

All the newer knowledge about bacteria and viruses substantiate the Hygienic viewpoint: A healthy body will eliminate virulent or threatening influences, making disease unnecessary. Hygienists understand that disease originates inside the body as a result of poor eating and living habits; of physical, mental and emotional practices which subtly and insidiously weaken the organism.”

The true role of germs is as scavengers, breaking up and consuming dead and dying cells and other debris. Bacteria perform the same function in the toxic body as they do everywhere in nature.

Viruses, which the medical profession has been incriminating more and more as the cause of so many diseases, are not even living entities in the same sense as bacteria. Bacteria are microorganisms which have the ability to act. A Virus on the other hand, is not a living entity.

The poisonous materials called viruses have no existence apart from a living organism. They are actually the debris of spent cells—the genetic material or nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) from these spent cells. Viruses are in no sense alive, nor do they have any ability to act, but their presence in the body is as toxic as any other retained body waste material, favoring the surfacing and multiplication of bacteria.

Actually, humans live symbiotically with bacteria. We adapt to, and are dependent on, bacterial flora. Health and disease are not antagonistic to each other. Disease does not attack the body, but rather is produced by it as a means of restoring health.

There are no “disease-producing” bacteria, germs, microbes, bacilli or viruses. It is the environment—the host—the disease condition—that determines the type of bacteria that proliferate. The germ does not produce the disease. The disease produces the germ by changing nontoxic bacteria into toxic bacteria in a septic environment.

During the early stages of a cold, the nasal secretions are completely void of bacteria. None are found in the thin watery secretion the first two or three days of the cold. When the thick purulent secretion begins, then pneumococci, staphylococci, or streptococci make their appearance.

Dr. Vetrano says, “Since bacteria are so conspicuously absent at the beginning of a cold, another cause had to be found. The unpopular idea that a person could change his life habits and not develop colds was too preposterous to entertain. The virus saved the day.” People don’t have to change their ways of life as long as they believe their colds are caused because they “picked up” a very malignant virus.

She adds, “Volunteers, we are told, developed colds when infected by filtrates of nose and throat washings from those who had colds. A poison, a virus is a poison, or any foreign agent, in contact with the nasal mucous membranes, occasions inflammation, rhinorrhea (running of the nose) redness and swelling, and fever in children. An example of which you can perform yourself, is to run a match stick up into the nostril. The nose will begin to run, sneezing will commence, and if kept there longer inflammation will develop to rid the body of the foreign agent.”

“When viruses are injected to cause colds in “susceptible” invidividuals, it must be remembered that only certain individuals develop symptoms of coryza, and that the great numbers of viruses present are treated as foreign agents and expelled by the only method the nose knows—inflammation and sneezing.”

A summation by Dr. Vetrano is concise and eloquent: “Colds develop and are not ‘caught.’ Bacteria and viruses have nothing to do with the development of coryza. They may be complicating features or function as saprophytes feeding on the debris. They arrive on the scene when tissues and fluids are abnormal and survive as long as the tissues remains abnormal. They help clean up the debris. Our enervating way of life is the true cause of colds.”

Why More Colds Develop in Cold Weather

Colds may develop at any time of the year, but the summer months show fewer colds because most people get more fresh air, sunshine, and exercise, and commonly eat less. The first colds of early winter are not “caught” from someone else with a cold but develop in those most susceptible because of the way they have been living and eating. The added stress of cold temperatures further checks elimination, adds to the general toxemia and enervated condition, and precipitates a crisis.

Leslie Thomson says, “To many people a ‘chill’ and a ‘cold’ are almost synonymous. It is an easy error, all the more so because it is not a complete fallacy; rather it is a seriously misplaced emphasis. Many people do develop a cold after an unpleasant incident in bad weather, but one should ask a few questions. In most cases the feelings of chill and the development of a cold are only different aspects—or successive stages—of a bodily springcleaning. When the body reaches a state in which retained wastes seriously impede normal vital functioning, the process has been so slow that the individual is only dimly aware of being substandard. Then some circumstance presents his system with an unusual challenge and the tolerance of his vital system is exceeded.” There is an inability to keep warm because the normal physical and chemical processes are so retarded that the heart is unable to maintain adequately free circulation. The body must, and does, organize for a thorough cleansing and rejuvenating “crisis”—uncomfortable, to be sure—but necessary—and eminently worthwhile. If no stupid interference occurs, “this wonderfully complex process achieves in a few days a massive ejection of waste and a burning up of combustible rubbish.”

Types of Influenza

Influenza often starts out like a simple cold. Sometimes the first symptoms are vigorous, and arrive without warning,. Suddenly the patient may suffer from fever, nausea, vomiting, severe neuritic pain, severe inflammation, general muscular aching, or other distressing or violent symptoms.

Leslie Thomson (son of Dr. James C. Thomson) describes the four main types of flu. No matter how novel the identifying names given by epidemiologists or immunologists, any particular case consists of either one of these types, or a combination of two or more.

Respiratory, which starts off with violent, paroxysmal coughing.
Gastro-Intestinal – nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain are the immediate indications.
Nervous – headache of unusual severity, often concomitant with pains in neck, chest and upper abdomen. Depression and sleeplessness are common accompaniments.
Febrile – quite intense fever, sometimes accompanied by disorientation, to the extent of delirium. In this form, it is imperative that no nourishment whatever be given to the patient until the fever has subsided.

Leslie Thomson says that how individuals have lived, and the relative strength of the various vital organs—the individual physical makeup and the inherited temperament—are dominant and significant in determining the type and severity of the flu episode. Nobody needs to be “infected” by anyone else to develop flu. Flu is something which originates and is directed within the individual system.

Dealing with Influenza

A couple of days or more of bed rest with nothing taken in except sips of water, is all that is necessary. Plenty of fresh air should be provided, but chilling should be carefully avoided. No attempt should be made to bring down the temperature by prolonged cold bathing, or by applying ice packs, or alcohol, which can be a dangerous interference in the body’s processes.

After perhaps forty-eight hours, if the temperature is more or less normal, fresh fruit or small quantities of green salad may be offered. But the patient must continue to rest. There might be a second phase in a few days, during which food should again be withheld or reduced to a minimum. The patient should continue to rest in bed until the fever and shakiness have cleared.

If one must vomit, or experience diarrhea, to remove irritants and morbid matter from the body, it is the height of folly to try to block it. The body does not go to the trouble of initiating these modifications in its activities unless they are essential for survival.

Some waste is directly transferred from the bloodstream through the walls of the intestines into the alimentary canal, and then eliminated via vomiting and diarrhea. Violent diarrhea and vomiting rapidly clear the digestive tract so that it can be temporarily put to rest, and repair, rejuvenation and cleansing are accelerated. To eat while experiencing the flu is sheer insanity.

The heat of spontaneously-induced fever is produced for the purpose of acceleration of cell activity When the organism perceives that this is necessary. When there is an emergency, the metabolism is accelerated by increasing the amount of heat available. This is controlled by the hypothalamus, which is sort of a human thermostat.

Metabolism consists of the absorption of nutrients and the excretion of wastes. The heat is necessary to accelerate the excretion of wastes which have accumulated beyond the body’s ability to tolerate them, and beyond the body’s ability to eliminate without some extraordinary modification. Heat acts as a catalyst which causes the toxins to liquefy and pass into the bloodstream, where they are transported to the organs of elimination, and thus out of the body.

Herbert M. Shelton said, “Fever is a necessary increase in body temperature designed to enable the body, or some part or parts of it, to effectively meet and destroy some foe of life that is threatening the body and to repair damages.”

Eugene F. Du Bois, professor of Physiology at Cornell, University, in his monograph on fever, stated that antipyretics were abandoned in the early part of this century (although later their use was revived). Cold-tubbing in typhoid was also abandoned. Du Bois said, “Clinicians began to regard high temperature as helpful. This belief was strengthened by the realization that many pathogenic organisms (germs and viruses) were inhibited or killed at temperatures that could be tolerated by the human body.” The metabolism and chemical reactions of the body, including enzyme activity, are accelerated by a rise in temperature, thus enhancing the healing process. When fasting is employed during a fever, the metabolism and healing process are even more dramatically multiplied.

Both vaccinations and medications not only add more poison to the already overburdened system, they frustrate nature’s attempts to help you, and they prolong and intensify your miseries. In addition, they both Have the more insidious quality of increasing your susceptibility and vulnerability to future chronic and degenerative diseases.

Hygienists live to have health, not to prevent certain specific diseases. Good health is immunity against influenza and all diseases. Microorganisms only surface when there is a job for them to do—they help to clean up the debris created by atrocious diet and living habits.

Herbert Shelton said, “It is unfortunate that our seasons of good will and festivities are always seasons of overeating (commonly also of drinking), so that they are followed almost inevitably by colds, coughs, ‘flu,’ and more severe illness. Beginning with the orgy of Thanksgiving, extending through the revelry of Christmas and ending with the bacchanalia of New Year’s, our periods of festivity not only result in hundreds of deaths and much mayhem on the highways, but in more suffering and death from indulgence and excess. More bronchitis follows such indulgences than ever follows exposure. Those who are more moderate in indulgence, those who are least enervated and least toxemic escape the evolution of crises at these times, but often, they escape by the ‘skin of their teeth.’ “

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David's testimonial

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Sat, 23 Feb 2019 15:46:00 +0100

The scientific literature on nutrition is very complex and full of contradictions. I am very critical about experts and very grateful to have met Gemma five years ago when I was looking for answers about celiac disease. At present, I am interested in nutrition as a general health and lifestyle issue. I started with a Paleo / GAPS diet for six months, followed by an essentially vegetarian diet. For the past five months, I have been on a natural hygiene diet (life science) based only on whole and fresh raw fruit, with an intermittent daily fasting. Symptoms I had, such as bad breath and hemorrhoids, completely disappeared for the first time in ten years.
Gemma kindly advised me during these five years. She explained the different theories in a simple way so that I could decide what to do. She helped me apply them, from theory to practical advice, with recipes and weekly menus, as well as cooking lessons. She also supported me in decisions to be made at key moments (dips of tension, exaggerated weight loss), to become self-taught and to listen to my body (for example, to determine which foods suit me), and to become aware of the impact of sport, stress, emotions and sun on my health. Obviously, she does not have the answers to all the questions, but she admits it without any problem when it occurs.
Gemma is open, critical, scientific and passionate about nutrition and health in general. I particularly appreciate her thorough and up-to-date knowledge of nutrition and her honesty (she never tried to sell me nutrition products). We arrange an appointment in person or by videoconference when I need it, and she replys to my emails in less than 24 hours. I recommend Gemma's coaching warmly and without reservation!

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David's testimonial

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Sat, 23 Feb 2019 11:18:00 +0100

The scientific literature on nutrition is very complex and full of contradictions. I am very critical about experts and very grateful to have met Gemma five years ago when I was looking for answers about celiac disease. At present, I am interested in nutrition as a general health and lifestyle issue. I started with a Paleo / GAPS diet for six months, followed by an essentially vegetarian diet. For the past five months, I have been on a natural hygiene diet (life science) based only on whole and fresh raw fruit, with an intermittent daily fasting. Symptoms I had, such as bad breath and hemorrhoids, completely disappeared for the first time in ten years. I also feel more vitality and brain clarity.
Gemma kindly advised me during these five years. She explained the different theories in a simple way so that I could decide what to do. She helped me apply them, from theory to practical advice, with recipes and weekly menus, as well as cooking lessons. She also supported me in decisions to be made at key moments (dips of tension, exaggerated weight loss), to become self-taught and to listen to my body (for example, to determine which foods suit me), and to become aware of the impact of sport, stress, emotions and sun on my health. Obviously, she does not have the answers to all the questions, but she admits it without any problem when it occurs.
Gemma is open, critical, scientific and passionate about nutrition and health in general. I particularly appreciate her thorough and up-to-date knowledge of nutrition and her honesty (she never tried to sell me nutrition products). We arrange an appointment in person or by videoconference when I need it, and she replys to my emails in less than 24 hours. I recommend Gemma's coaching warmly and without reservation!

Continue reading David's testimonial

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Vegan or paleo? Choose vegan and paleo!

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Mon, 04 Feb 2019 19:45:00 +0100

Vegan or paleo? Two approaches to nutrition that are completely opposed. How is it possible that both have considerably improved the health of many people?
Vegan and paleo!. Why not unite both approaches, taking the best of each one, to form a diet that is even better?

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Both the nutritionists that favour vegan plant-based diets and those that stand for paleo diets have very good arguments supported by scientific studies. Innumerable testimonials are cited on both sides crediting the respective diet for their healing while criticising the damaging effects of the opposite diet on their health. The explanation for this may be found in the fact that both entail an improvement compared to a conventional “healthy and balanced diet”.
In the vegan diet, this improvement is the elimination of animal products and sub-products; while in the paleo diet grains, beans and pulses are removed. That is to say, not one but both of these foods are detrimental to our health: animal products, as well as grains and pulses. As such, by eliminating any of these foods, our health will benefit, as long as they are replaced with healthier products.
That is, if a person becomes vegan by replacing animal products by eating more bread, pizza, pasta and desserts, their health will worsen. In the same way, if by adopting a paleo diet grains and pulses are replaced with processed meat, canned fish, and dairy products, one’s health will also decline.
Instead, the replacement must be made by increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables. By doing so, either diet will bring about an improvement.
However, if one’s health does not improve even after making the replacement with fruits and vegetables, it is possible that the chosen diet was not appropriate to the type of healing (i.e. addressing a specific disease/illness) that was needed. For example, the principal causing factors of the Raynaud syndrome are the complex carbohydrates, so a vegan diet based on grains and starches won’t work. In this case, a paleo diet is more suitable. When following a paleo diet, however, it’s possible that new symptoms may begin to appear, including fatigue, dark circles under the eyes, constipation, bloating, slowing down of mental abilities, or even memory problems.
The improvement achieved by one of these diets would be even more significant if both of these were combined, by becoming vegan and paleo at the same time. How can we do this? This is possible by eating only the foods that are common in both diets.

Although there can be big differences between different branches of vegan or paleo diets, in general the food that is allowed in both diets are: fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. And these are precisely the foods that are recommended by the Natural Hygiene approach to health as the best sources of nutrition for humans.
As always, it is important to consider that one’s health condition may temporarily worsen in the process of changing one’s diet, due to the detoxification and possible withdrawal to food products that one might have been addicted to. In this case, consulting a nutritional therapist can be helpful.
Thus, if changing to a paleo or vegan diet has improved your health and you want to progress even further, opt for a paleo and vegan diet.

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Put an end to your headaches without any kind of medicine

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Mon, 28 Jan 2019 19:28:00 +0100

Headaches can be caused by certain foods when there is a predisposition to suffer neurological diseases, and also it can be due to bad life habits.
In this article we expose the main sources of headaches.

Continue reading Put an end to your headaches without any kind of medicine

We can highlight as the most common causes of headaches the following agents:

* Tobacco, smoked meat and fish:
Consuming smoked products and swallow tobacco smoke can lead to headaches.
These products contain a harmful substance called PAH (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) that result from the incomplete combustion of food, tobacco and any kind of organic matter.
In addition to smoked food, other food that contain a high amount of PAH are food that has been cooked at very high temperatures, mainly barbecued, baked, fried, and roasted food. Boiling and steaming creates much less PAH. Here you will find more information about PAH concentrations in different cooking methods.
PAH are carcinogenic, and although in small doses, like the amount that can be normally found in the environment, it doesn’t signify a danger for most of the people; in more considerable amounts, like the intake of a smoked product or smoking tobacco, the effect begins to be significantly important enough to trigger a headache; and higher doses imply a significant risk of cancer.

* Alcoholic drinks and endogenous alcohol
It is known that the intake of an amount of alcoholic drinks that a person is not accustomed to, ends up in a hangover the following day.
But our body will suffer the consequences of the alcohol even without having any alcoholic drink, if we have a dysbiotic gut flora, such as for example, if there is an intestinal candidiasis or an intestinal overgrowth of any kind of mold or yeast. In this article you can read more about the endogenous alcohol production and its consequences. In this case, it’s necessary to find out which are the causes of that dysbiosis: a food intolerance, an excess of food consumption, stress, etc.

* Coffee addiction
The people who have coffee daily, experience migraine when they don’t have their daily dosis of coffee (caffeine).
Coffee is like a drug that creates addiction, so when the consumption is stopped or decreased, the related withdrawal syndrome appears, characterized mainly by headaches.
In order to abandone this addiction, it’s recommended to gradually reduce the amount of coffee every day, until stopping completely.

* Histamine intolerance
The people who have a histamine intolerance can suffer headaches, between other symptoms, when they have a certain amount of histamine in their food that exceeds their tolerance threshold.
The food that contains more histamine are all fermented food, such as dairy products, wine, vinager, soy products and fermented vegetables (sauerkraut, pickles, etc.). Other foods also high in histamine are: all processed meat and fish, such as charcuterie and canned fish; and shellfish.
Other food with a considerable amount of histamine are chocolate, coffee, tea, bread yeast, nuts, some fruits and any kind of food that is not fresh made.
Also, some food induce the release of our own histamine, such as some fruits, spices, egg yolk and additives.
To know more about histamine intolerance you can consult this article.

* Food intolerances
Eating food that you are intolerant to, such as gluten, eggs, dairy, nuts, etc., triggers an immune response caracterized by inflammation. The inflammation is shown as heat, redness, swelling, and pain. Depending on every person, the part of the body affected by the inflammation can differ. If the weak part of your body is the head, then food intolerances can lead to headaches.

* Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
Some women suffer migraines before the period due to the hormonal changes and, headaches can start up to 14 days before the menstruation.
But PMS shouldn’t be considered as something “normal”. Improving nutrition and different aspects of life style PMS can be greatly decreased or even completely get rid of it.

* Electromagnetic sensitivity and multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS)
The people with electromagnetic sensitivity can experience migraines and cephalea when exposed to electromagnetic fields (WIFI, mobile, etc.); and people with MCS have the same problem when come in contact with any kind of chemical substance (cleaning agents, pesticides, perfumes, smoke, paint, etc.)
This sensitivity can be reduced in large part to a lower sensitivity thanks to nutrition and life style. In this article I explain my personal experience with MCS and how I got rid of it.

* Dehydration
The lack of water in your organism decreases the blood flow in the brain, and this may cause headaches.
In order to know if your headache is caused by dehydration, you can observe the presence of other usual symptoms associated with dehydration: dry mouth and thirsty; tiredness or sleepiness; low volume of urine and darker coloured urine; dizziness; dry skin; and even rapid heart rate, fever, nausea and vomiting, etc.
Evidently, you must drink more water if you are dehydrated, or take more food with high water content (fruits and vegetables).

* Other possible causes are: sleep depravation, extreme temperatures, strident noises, emotional problems, etc.

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The effects of stimulants

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Mon, 17 Dec 2018 20:28:00 +0100

Alcohol, coffee, tea, chocolate, coke … are some of the stimulants that we consume on a daily basis.
We think that they are not harmful, and even some studies even claim they may be beneficial in small amounts. But what is really happening in the body of a person when he/she has these products? And what happens when he/she tries to stop having them?
Did you know that some foods containing sugar, dairy and gluten follow a similar process in the body?
This article is a review of Herbert Shelton’s teachings about stimulants, from his book “Human Life. Its Philosophy and Laws”.

Continue reading The effects of stimulants

One of the Laws of Life, the Law of Vital Accommodation, states “The response of the vital organism to external stimuli is an instinctive one, based upon a self-preservative instinct which adapts itself to whatever influence it cannot destroy or control”. This means that when a human is exposed to a stimulant, the organism will try to defend itself from these substances, but if the defense is not possible, then the body will try to accommodate to it.

The intake of a stimulant produces the following phases in the body:

1) Refusal: Reaction against the product by developing a more or less strong acute disease
2) Tolerance and accommodation: Ceasing of the acute reaction. Stimulation and craving for that substance. Desensitization to the substance with the subsequent need to increase the amount. Protective reaction.
3) Exhaustion: Development of the chronic disease and organ failure.

Dr. Shelton explains the process the body undergoes from a strong refusal of the toxic substance to a resignation and tolerance:
“The first effort of the living organism, in response to adverse influences, is to overcome and destroy these. Failing in this it attempts to accommodate itself to such conditions and influences. For, what it cannot overcome, it must learn to endure or perish.
The man who habitually indulges in stimulation would exhaust and destroy himself with but few indulgencies if the organism had no means of curbing its reactions against the stimulation and thereby lessening the expenditure of vital power. The first effect of stimulation is exaltation of function; if it is long continued, or often repeated, exhaustion with an almost total abolition of function results. The repeated use of stimulants would soon result in death. But their repeated use soon brings about a condition in which the organism ceases to respond so readily and violently to the stimulant. If the former amount of stimulation is to be received from the stimulant a larger amount of the stimulant must be used.
All normal individuals are possessed of a natural repugnance to poisonous and injurious substances. The instinctive aversion to any kind of poison may be perverted into an unnatural craving after that poison. Instinct is plastic. If the warnings of the organic instincts are unheeded, and the offending substance is again and again forced upon the body, nature, true to the law of self-preservation, seeks to prolong life by adapting the body to poison.
The first smoke usually occasions a very powerful reaction against it on the part of the organism. The young man or woman is made very sick; there is headache, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, weakness, dizziness, muscular relaxation, tremor, weakness, etc. So long as the physiological powers and instincts are undepraved and unimpaired they instantly perceive the poisonous character of the tobacco and give the alarm to the whole system. A vigorous effort is made to destroy and eliminate it and the user is forced to throw away his tobacco. But if he continues to repeat the performance, the reaction against it grows less and less with each repetition until, finally, he is able to use many times the original amount without producing such results. His system learns to tolerate it and adapts itself to its use as far as possible. The system soon becomes depraved and its power impaired by the use of the tobacco, its poisonous character is no longer detected and no alarm is given; rather a craving for the substance is developed. However, the habitual use of any substance that is injurious in itself cannot in any way render it harmless or beneficial and the habitual presence of any such substance is injurious to life, even, though, no energetic effort is made to resist its action.
What is here said of tobacco is true of other poisonous substances. Ordinarily the user of drugs such as tobacco, opium, alcohol, cocaine, etc., becomes so accustomed to their use that he is able to take at one time enough of his favorite drug to kill several non-users outright, and yet, it only produces in him an apparent normal condition of comfort and strength.
If given time the body is able to adapt itself to all kinds of varying conditions. Only sudden and violent changes become immediately destructive of life. If we suddenly force upon the non-user the amount of alcohol, arsenic or opium used by the accustomed, it may cost his life.
Under natural living conditions, where enervating influences are removed and the organism is gradually strengthened, the body arouses itself to acute eliminating efforts or crises. These, too, occur, apparently, in accord with the law of periodicity and are similar to all other crises. Crises usually last until the disease producing factors have been reduced to the toleration point. this point varies with the individual and with the varying conditions of the individual. Thus the greater the amount of vitality one possesses, the less morbid matter will his system tolerate, and as the vitality of one with chronic disease is gradually raised, his toleration point also rises so that crises occur.
After toleration for any deleterious substance has been established, those acute reactions that followed its initial employment, arise only when one takes an unaccostumed amount of his accustomed poison. I will give a few examples from life to illustrate what I mean by this.
A man who suffers from constipation resorts to epsom salts to force his bowels to move. They work like a charm. He continues to use them until toleration is established and, then, finds that in order to secure the desired movement, he must increase the size of the dose. By using more slats than the body has learned to tolerate he secures bowel action. Similarly, physicians, in giving stimulants to their patients, find that they must continually increase the size of the dose, or, resort to another and unaccustomed poison, to secure the desired stimulation. The body is forced to accommodate itself to such substances, so that it no longer reacts violently against them, or else it will exhaust itself in the frequent reactions.
Arsenic may be taken with food as a seasoning; as freely as table salt, with as little immediate evidence of its poisonous character; and even prussic acid, which kills instantly like lightening, where the body is wholly unaccustomed to its action, may with proper care be gradually brought to act upon the human system, till it can be used with considerable freedom.
This wonderful capability of the living body to adapt itself by physiological depravity to the action of poisons of every kind, has not only led the human race to the excessive use of such substances as means of intoxication, but, almost as a necessary consequence, has also led them to the full belief that those substances are innocuous and salutary.
From an experience of this kind, the poisonous character of tea, coffee, tobacco, opium, alcohol, and all other narcotic substances, has been boldly and vehemently denied, by those who habitually use them as means of stimulation and intoxication.”

Regarding how to stop an addiction to these stimulants, Dr. Shelton says:
“Habits, gradually built and long established, cannot usually be suddenly broken. It is often the sudden breaking off of a habit, long practiced, it is often followed by one or more crises more or less severe as the organism seeks to accommodate itself to the changed conditions.
When a bad habit, like the tobacco habit or alcohol habit, is given up, the individual will lose weight and undergo crises and this will convince him that the abandonment of the bad habit was injurious. What was really happening was the tearing down and casting out of the system of the depraved tissues and substances and this is then followed by a renewal and regeneration of the body. The crises and loss of weight are beneficial measures and should be welcomed, not feared.
The headaches suffered by the coffee user when deprived of coffee, the pams suffered by the drug addict when deprived of his drug; the the unsteadiness of his nerves suffered by the tobacco user when deprived of his tobacco; the depression suffered by the stimulant user when deprived of his stimulant - these are not evidences of the beneficial influences of these substances but are evidences of their deleterious character. Outraged nerves and other tissues are simply coming out from under their influence and making their true condition known. Greater or less suffering and discomfort which are regarded by superficial and ignorant observers as indications of an adverse change, immediately result, but the sequel is a happy issue. “

In the presence of these substances, the body’s most important protective reaction is the hardening of tissues, as Dr. Shelton explains:
“The law of accommodation cushions the bottoms of the feet of bare-foot boys, girls and adults, and guards the hands of the manual laborer by a similar cushion. In the mouth, throat, stomach, intestine and bowel, a similar hardening and thickening takes place to guard the at first sensitive linings of these organs against the constant irritation to which they are ignorantly subjected by those who use tobacco, mouth washes and gargles, alcohol, coffee, tea, salt, pepper, mustard, horse-radish, spices, cathartics, mineral waters, etc. But this is an expensive business - this business of keeping the system accustomed to the action of irritants so that the sensibilities shall not be kept under torture by these. Such protection does not render them harmless.
A similar hardening and thickening must take place in the arteries and veins. Hardening of the arteries is due to irritation caused by toxins and irritants of all kinds.
Alcohol, whether ardent spirits, malt liquors, wines, cider or other alcoholic drinks, is a strong poison. It is highly irritating to every organ and tissue of the body and there is not one of them that is immune to its destructive influence. it coagulates the protoplasm of the cells of the body, just as it coagulates, or cooks, the white of an egg. This coagulation impairs and destroys the cells.
The normal cells are then replaced by a substitute of connective tissue cells forming what is called ´scan-tissue´. This may occur in the brain and spinal cord resulting in paresis, paralysis, insanity and other nervous disease; in the liver producing sclerosis; in the heart and arteries producing hardening and other troubles in these; or it may occur in the lungs, kidneys, muscles or any other organ of the body. The functioning powers of these organs are gradually destroyed and the individual’s resistance to other disease influences is lowered.
Moderate drinkers are not immune to these effects. They receive their full share of them. In fact, the habitual ´moderate´ drinker receives more injury from alcohol than the occasional drinker who gets drunk when he does drink. It is used as a stimulant to digestion, but finally wrecks digestion.”

Don’t forget that a person can have alcohol in their body even if he/she doesn’t drink alcohol at all, if he/she presents some yeasts in his/her gut flora that produce alcohol from the ingested carbohydrates. This results in the same damage as drinking alcohol.

"Tea, coffee, coca-cola cocoa and chocolate shall all be considered together because they all contain very much the same active principles and have very much the same effects. Neither of them have the slightest excuse for existences as beverages. Tea and coffee contain no food value, while the unaltered flavors of all of them are obnoxious to every unperverted taste.
They act primarily as stimulants and secondarily as depressants, or sedatives. Like tobacco, opium, and alcohol they are habit forming, and they are habit forming to exactly the degree in which they are stimulating. And they are stimulating in the degree to which they are poisonous and unfitted for the real needs of the body. The bitter, nauseous tastes of all these substances require the addition of sugar or other substances before they can be used by the undepraved taste.”

Finally, the toxicity of these products leads to exhaustion and chronic diseases:
“Give a stimulant to a man of full-resistance and he reacts to it with increased activity and an increased feeling of well-being. When the period of increased activity ends there sets in, due to the excessive expenditure of energy and substance, a period of depression.
All stimulants enable one to work beyond one’s normal strength. That is, they enable to keep on working long after nature has called for rest. They do this, not by adding to the powers of the body, but by calling out the powers held in reserve. They act in the same way a spur does on a tired horse. Slowly but surely, the reserve powers of the body are consumed under the influence of stimulants and physical bankruptcy follows.
Coffee, tea, coca-cola, cocoa and chocolate, because of their almost universal use, are great offenders in this respect. They produce enervation and sleeplessness in proportion to their use. Those who use them become coffee and tea or cocoa inebriates. They are addicts as truly as the opium user. the habitual user of tea or coffee is tired, irritable and suffers with headache and other discomforts when deprived of his habitual cup. Nervous diseases result from the employment of such nervines.
The body accommodates itself to the habitual use of tobacco, alcohol, opium, etc., to the extent of its ability to do so, but this does not prevent these substances from slowly and gradually undermining the constitution and finally resulting in disease and death.
Likewise, the unnatural and morbid conditions which have been imposed upon the system, which it has not been able to overcome but has been compelled to accommodate itself to, also, gradually and insidiously undermine the system, resulting in disease. If the body is able by the means of a crisis to overcome the disease influence then health is the result of disease. But if it is unable to overcome such influences and is not destroyed by them, it is forced to settle back into its accustomed quiet and make the condition as bearable as possible, This gives us chronic disease.”

Even if sugar, gluten and dairy products are not exactly stimulants, they have addictive properties and it has been suggested in several studies that they may be considered as “drugs”, at least for some persons, i.e. those who have difficulty digesting these products.
The following are some important studies that reveal the addictive character of sugar, which is even stronger than cocaine:
"Evidence for sugar addiction: Behavioral and neurochemical effects of intermittent, excessive sugar intake"
"Intense Sweetness Surpasses Cocaine Reward"
And here you can read more about the opioid effect of gluten and dairy products.
Tolerance to sugar, gluten and dairy products is developed in the organism the same way that tolerance to stimulants or any kind of drugs.

In infancy, from 4 months old, babies are gradually introduced to different grains or cereals, animal dairy products and other food. The organism of most of the babies refuse these foods showing up in different ways: vomiting, regurgitations, diarrhoea, eczema, mucus, etc. But we, parents, believe blindly in our doctors, who never link these diseases with food, and then we persevere giving these foods in increasing amounts and unhealthier forms, until child’s body finally gives up and stops the refusal, an inaction that we interpret as a “tolerance”. But in the same way as stimulants, what really happens in the long term is an exhaustion of the system, damages in body organs, development of chronic diseases, etc.
Later on, as teenagers, the process starts again with other more harmful substances: alcohol, tobacco, and sometimes also drugs. First there’s a rejection, second a tolerance, and finally exhaustion.
And in adulthood, if not before, we need the use of even stronger neurolytic substances, because the softer ones don’t have an effect on us anymore - we tolerate them - , and the real causes of our problems (physical, psychological or spiritual) and diseases have never been addressed.

Desensitisation treatment (Immunotherapy) uses the same accustomation or tolerance process, by "exposing people to larger and larger amounts of allergen in an attempt to change the immune system's response" (Wikipedia). This means that your immune system, your organism, doesn’t refuse anymore the estranger substance (allergen) and doesn’t try to eliminate it anymore. What could be the consequences of suppressing the immune system and avoiding it to do his task of cleaning the body…?

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Has lettuce opioid effects?

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Fri, 09 Nov 2018 16:06:00 +0100

Has you ever felt a little bit sleepy after eating a salad? Or lightly constipated when you eat a very large salad?
Lettuce contains a substance called lactucarium that “is known as lettuce opium because of its curative sedative and analgesic properties”, although it’s not an opium derivative.
“The chemical constituents of lactucarium that have been investigated for biological activity include lactucin and its derivatives lactucopicrin and 11β13-dihydrolactucin. Lactucin and lactucropicrin were found to have sedative activity in measurements of spontaneous movements of the mice.” (Wikipedia)
Not every person will feel the sedative effect of this substance; the sensitivity of every person is very different. But if you are a hyper sensitive person, and you react to food-drugs such as coffee, chocolate, tea, coke, spices, herbs, etc., then I recommend you to be careful with lettuce. Have salads preferably in the evening meals, and avoid lettuce if you have tendency to have constipation. But also, if you are highly sensitive, you may use it as a medicine as an analgesic!

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Food Intolerances: do they only affect some people?

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Sun, 16 Sep 2018 07:39:00 +0100

A food intolerance or allergy is a rejection of a certain food that can manifest itself in one or several of many ways, though principally in the form of gastrointestinal and dermatological problems.
We perceive these as illnesses, given that the body rejects foods that we consider to be healthy. This happens because the body considers these foods to be harmful. But according to the Natural Hygiene perspective, the human body is wise, and it always generates the most adequate responses towards survival. In that case, why is it that it reacts in such an exaggerated way to regular foods?
A possible answer to this question is that perhaps these foods that people develop intolerances/allergies to are not as healthy as we thought. But why do only some people reject these foods, and not others?

Continue reading Food Intolerances: do they only affect some people?

When a harmful food product is ingested, a two-stage elimination process begins to take place. The first is an attempt to neutralize the harmful substances, and the second is through excretion: feces, urine, expired air and transpiration. But, what happens if these elimination routes are overloaded, for example, due to an excess in the amount of food eaten? The way the human body deals with this problem depends on several factors: genetics, the amount of food eaten, the general health of the individual, their personal history with that particular food, etc.
Genetically, we are programmed to deal with inadequate foods in one of two ways: using ‘extraordinary’ routes of elimination or storing harmful substances where they do not cause any immediate harm.

The ‘extraordinary’ route for elimination is the immune system. It cleans our body of the harmful substances that have entered our blood circulation due to overloaded or low-functional routes of elimination. This may be due, for example, to the leaky gut syndrome; constipation; an overloaded liver due to large quantities of ingested toxic products or toxins, stress, depression or any other emotional problem that reduces the energy of our organs; lack of sleep, or rest; etc.
But the immune system’s action creates inflammation, with its consequent effects: pain, mucus or pus, swelling and redness. These are the common symptoms of strong respiratory or dermatological allergies such as Quincke’s Edema.
And when we need urgent elimination due to the dangerousness of these products, the elimination process is accelerated with vomiting and diarrhea.

In the case where the organism opts to store undesirable substances instead of eliminating them, we encounter an increase in weight. The advantage for these individuals is that they do not suffer from illnesses of elimination, but the transport of these substances until the point of storage is not without cost: that’s where cardiovascular diseases appear.
Subsequently, these substances will end up by dirtying the extracellular environment, and harming tissues and organs of the body, forming ulcers, cysts, and even cancer.
In autistic children, for example, it seems their disorder may be due to a deficient detoxification system, which entails an accumulation of heavy metals in the brain.
Most people tend to be a mix of these two types (elimination and storage), such that under certain circumstances, they may suffer from acute or chronic inflammatory elimination illnesses, according to their energetic state and the food ingested, and under other circumstances will tend to store them where it is least harmful.

So to answer to the question of the title (Food Intolerances: do they only affect some people?): everyone has some type of intolerance and/or allergy. What is different is the way that it manifests itself, with gastroenterological, dermatological, respiratory, cardiovascular, or inflammatory illnesses.

In medical jargon, it is considered that those who do not react with elimination, as in, with allergies and/or intolerances, tolerate all foods. Simply, due to being overweight, they are recommended to eat less and do more exercise. But the problem is much more serious, and it must be treated in the same way as with a person who has intolerances/allergies; the solution is much more complex than simply reducing the food intake and doing more exercise.
If, in face of certain foods, the human body either tries to eliminate them or store them where they do not cause any issues, could it not be that certain foods are simply not as healthy as we thought? Instead of blaming the human body for rejecting certain foods, perhaps we should question whether the problem lies in the foods that we eat, and the circumstances that affect digestion, as in, our entire way of life, from exercise to our emotional and spiritual lifestyle.

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The Brain Microbiome: a new discovery with important potential implications on brain health?

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Sat, 16 Jun 2018 19:26:00 +0100

We already know about the gut microbiome or gut flora - the population of bacteria and other microbes that live in our gut. Recently, Dr. Marco Ruggiero has started to study the brain microbiome - the microbes that live in our brain, and the impact of those microbes on the function of the human brain.

Continue reading The Brain Microbiome: a new discovery with important potential implications on brain health?

Dr. Marco Ruggiero gave a very interesting webinar called “The Brain Microbiome” last February 2018. He introduced some very new ideas in the area of medicine; some of which I will explain to you in this post.

First of all he coined the concept of “The Fourth Brain” . The first brain is the one we all know about, which is located inside the skull. The second brain is the Enteric Nervous System, a network of neurons that lines the entire digestive track. It causes the sensation of nervous butterflies or a pit in your stomach for example, as well as performing very important digestive functions. The third brain is the Gut Microbiome, which is responsible for providing 90% of body’s serotonin and 50% of its dopamine. And this new Fourth Brain is the Brain Microbiome, the microbes in our brain.

Up to now, it was thought that our brain was sterile, that there was no kind of microbe inside. But in January 2013 an article was published that attracted the attention of Dr. Ruggiero: “Brain Microbial Populations in HIV/AIDS: α-Proteobacteria Predominate Independent of Host Immune Status” (1), a study of the susceptibility of people suffering from AIDS to develop infections in the brain due to their weakened immune system. In order to do this, the research team analyzed the microbes that were present in the brains of the people who had died from AIDS, and compared them with the microbes from people who had died for other reasons. To their surprise, they found that there were microbes in ALL the people, not only those suffering from AIDS! Of course, they verified that there was not a contamination.

The kind of microbes that were found in the brain are different to the ones that are present in other parts of the body. In the brain the predominant bacteria is α-Proteobacteria, while in the other body parts the ones that dominate are Firmicutes, Bacteriodetes and Actinobacteria.

They also analyzed the microbes in the brains of animals, and found that only the brain of primates contained some microbes, but not any other mammals.

It seems that some microbes that exist in the environment, i.e., soil and water, get into our body through oral consumption or inhalation and they are transported to the brain by our immune system: lymphocytes and macrophages that are trafficking into the brain; probably in purpose, hypothesizes Dr. Ruggiero. The reason why these microbes are transported to the brain would be because it represents an evolutionary advantage. Let’s explain the benefit of these microbes.

The first beneficial function of α-Proteobacteria is detoxification. Dr. Ruggiero says that some research indicates that they may help to keep the brain clean from harmful toxic products that could get into the brain.

The second benefit is the stimulation of neural connections. Dr. Ruggiero conducted an experiment where brain cells were cultivated in a petri-dish with brain microbes. He found that the number and complexity of connections were increased by the presence of microbes. He concluded that “there is experimental evidence that the influence of the microbes on the neurons is immense”.

Dr. Ruggiero found in another research paper (2) that probiotic supplementation promotes calcification, through the stimulation of the expression of key genes involved in ossification. He then extrapolated that research to the time where the skull fontanelles are closed. In humans this time is delayed compared to the other primates, which allows the brain to grow more, and an increased cranial capacity allows the development of a more complex neural system.

He then concludes that “fermented foods (rich in probiotics) were the responsible of us to have a higher craneal capacity, more rich neural network and brain detoxification”.

All these discoveries are quite important in terms of how nutrition, especially fermented foods and probiotic supplementation, can impact the brain function. However, he must also consider:

1) In the first article on the brain microbiome in AIDS patients (1), living patients who had undergone brain surgery for epilepsy were also studied and considered within the control group. The rest of the control group included patients who had died from diseases other than AIDS. Interestingly, the bacteria count was much lower in these living patients than in dead patients (AIDS or control). No actinobacteria, beta-proteobacteria or gamma-proteobacteria were found in the surgical samples, while these was present in the rest of the brains from deceased patients. The amount of α-Proteobacteria was also considerably lower in the living patients.
In the next table, the exact counts of each bacterial class for each case are shown as published in the article (1) , where ‘HIV’ denotes the patients who died of AIDS, ‘SUR’ denotes the patients submitted to surgery for epilepsy, and “Others” are the patients who died for reasons other than AIDS.

Clase bacteriana	HIV1	HIV2	HIV3	HIV4	SUR1	SUR2	Others1	Others2	Others3	Others4
α-Proteobacteria	41	49	37	17	3	19	168	39	98	27
Actinobacteria	17	9	24	4	0	0	13	8	6	7
ß-Proteobacteria	0	0	1	0	0	0	5	3	0	0
γ-Proteobacteria	0	4	1	0	0	0	2	0	2	20

This raises the question of whether the development of these microbes is a post-mortem effect (which would explain why the living patients have lower counts of bacteria, perhaps depending on their health). So in my humble point of view, perhaps the presence of microbes in the brain could be a sign of decay, that is, the development starts when there is some kind of disease, especially neurological diseases such as epilepsy, or after death in the case of a person with a healthy brain. It would be necessary to analyse the brain microbiome of a perfectly healthy, living person for this to be confirmed, however this has never been done, or at least published in a scientific journal.

2) Similarly, the experiment showing augmented neural connections when brain cells are in a proteobacteria-rich environment may be interpreted in a different way. It is known that slightly stressful situations, such as challenges, stimulate our intelligence. In nature, it is known that organisms who are submitted to some degree of defiant environment grow better. For example, fruit trees that grow in wild environments submitted to weather inclemencies such as strong winds give much richer fruits than the ones that grow in protected environments without wind. In the same way, an environment full of microbes constitutes a very important challenge for the survival of a cell, stimulating them to grow more and create more connections in order to solve this problem of microbial infection. Again, we cannot know for sure whether the presence of microbes is an advantage for the brain’s development or just a dangerous and stressful situation.

So I think that the conclusions that Dr. Ruggiero states concerning the brain microbiome must be taken with a little caution and more research is required.

One must also take into account the conflict of interests that he himself recognizes. He is the founder of a company dedicated to the development and production of advanced microbiome-based probiotics.

References

(1) Branton WG, Ellestad KK, Maingat F, Wheatley BM, Rud E, Warren RL, et al. (2013) Brain Microbial Populations in HIV/AIDS: α-Proteobacteria Predominate Independent of Host Immune Status. PLoS ONE 8(1): e54673. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0054673

(2) Maradonna F, Gioacchini G, Falcinelli S, Bertotto D, Radaelli G, Olivotto I, et al. (2013) Probiotic Supplementation Promotes Calcification in Danio rerio Larvae: A Molecular Study. PLoS ONE 8(12): e83155. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0083155

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Having a dog: The best way to Live Healthier and Longer

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Sun, 22 Apr 2018 19:00:00 +0100

Having a dog is one of the best investments for your health and your whole family's.
According to studies, people who have a dog have a longer presumed life span of 10 years (1).
The exercise done thanks to the necessary daily walks, the unconditional love, the company, the fidelity and the protection that a dog offers you; and the love that a dog portrays in their owner, these are all factors that spectacularly improve someone’s health. Additionally, there exists dogs trained for people with disabilities and for kids with a development disorder.

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We have recently adopted a dog. She is a Labrador, a breed that is very strong, energetic and intelligent; and very sweet and affectionate. They need a lot of exercise and offer a lot of love.
The positive effects in our family’s health have already begun to be noticeable.
My daughter is responsible for walking her when she comes back from school and in the week-ends; so now the time that she spends in front of her computer has decreased, and has increased the amount of time that she spends outside; evidently, walking the dog.
My husband and I also walk her daily, we have substantially increased the amount of daily physical exercise. In my case, this helps me with being able to better tolerate certain foods and to have better quality of sleep.
Like mentioned before in this previous article, increasing the energy of the body thanks to many different factors, such as physical exercise or the sun, affects the energy used in digestion, improving the capacity of tolerating different foods. The physical exercise also helps fall asleep faster and to enjoy a deeper sleep.
In addition, if the owner suffers from some kind of psychological disorder, such as a depression, a bipolar disorder or a obsessive compulsive disorder, having a dog can be the best kind of therapy. In my case, my obsession with cleaning the house has greatly disappeared. The truth is that it is impossible to maintain a house with a garden impeccably when you have a dog, and the love for the dog will overpowered the need to have an immaculate house.
And for hyperactive, autistic and disabled kids, a dog can be a great help in their situation. In these cases it is preferable to have an assistance dog trained to accompany these kind of kids. In this article is mentioned that these dogs "They act as motivators and reinforcers of behaviours, as well as catalysts of emotions, their socialising effects are very effective, and encourage, among other things, the increase of social skills; the attention; concentration; the communication; and self-esteem. “
In the words of David R.Hawkins (1): “The more we love, the more we can love. Love is limitless. Love begets love. this is why psychiatrists recommend having a pet. A dog, for example, brings love and expands love in the heart of the owner. Love prolongs life. In fact, research documents that having a dog extends the owner’s life by ten years! Just think of all the bizarre exercises, diets, and other regimens that people go through to add relatively small amounts of time on to their life, when they can simply get a dog and add ten years! Love has a powerful anabolic effect. Love increases endorphins, which are life-enhancing hormones. You live ten years longer with a dog in your life because a dog catalyses the energy of love, and that energy of love heals and prolongs life.”
Having a dog is an experience that I recommend to all families and it suits people of all ages!

References:

“Letting go. The pathway of surrender”, David R. Hawkins (p.177):

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Hunger and appetite

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Tue, 27 Feb 2018 20:26:00 +0100

This explanation about the difference between hunger, real need of food, and appetite, just a desire for food, has been extracted from “The Life Science Health System” by T.C. Fry.

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“Hunger is the great safeguard of all life. It impels the organism in need of food to search for and procure food. It may be safely inferred that if there is no hunger, there is no need for nourishment. Hunger is a normal expression of a physiological need and when it is absent, we may take it for granted that the physiological need that gives rise to it is also absent. When hunger is absent, therefore, no food should be taken.

We use to mistake the morbid sensations of a food-drunkard for the normal expressions of life. Real hunger, rather than producing lassitude and drowsiness, or faintness, produces alertness and activity in the search for food.

The feeling of emptiness, and the gnawing are not symptoms of hunger. Neither it is a feeling of weakness, headache, or nausea. These are morbid sensations representing gastric irritation, a neurosis, gastric ulcer, indigestion, gastric catarrh, reaction from withdrawal of stimulation, etc., rather than hunger. That faint sinking feeling at the pit of the stomach, with a morbid craving for something to eat, is due to catarrhal inflammation of the lining membrane of the stomach. Such symptoms of gnawing and faintness are seen in their height in cases of acute gastritis as well as in gastric ulcer. Indeed, a bowel movement may induce them in cases of colitis.

How often we see people who are always eating and who complain that they are always hungry. They eat several times a day and three or more times at night, but they never seem to get enough to eat. Of course, these people are never hungry; they are food drunkards who employ food as palliation. Eating temporarily “relieves” their gastric and nervous distress. They are merely extreme cases of what physiologists mistake for hunger. The sense of all goneness in these cases is not from a lack of nutrient material, but owing to the absence of the habitual stimulus.

If left alone these morbid sensations sooner or later pass away, but if palliated by eating or or by drink; they are but temporarily smothered. As soon as the stomach is again empty of food, they are back again, perhaps with renewed intensity. It is true that eating will allay these sensations, just as a shot of morphine will relieve the morphine addict, and there is just as much sense in taking food in the first instance as there is in taking the morphine in the last.

True hunger is felt in the mouth and throat and is related to the senses of taste and smell. it is indicated by a watering of the mouth for plain food, for any kind of food. True hunger is a mouth and throat sensation rather than a stomach sensation. It’s similar to thirst. Thirst if felt in the mouth and throat and there is a distinct and conscious desire for water.

Most men and women have never experienced normal hunger in all their lives. Their appetite and taste are perverted by overfeeding in infancy, and have never had a chance to become normal during the whole course of their lives - owing to the overfeeding being continued ever since. It began with the first meal which the baby was forced to eat before they were ready for it. Thereafter, every outcry of nature was interpreted as a signal of hunger. The meals of the infant, all through the first year of life are regulated by the tunes of crying. Gastric impairment and gastric distress are built in infancy by wrong feeding. “

In this other article you will find more information about the cause of cravings, food addiction and overeating, as well as some tips to overcome these food-related disorders.

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Natural anti-inflammatories

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Thu, 08 Feb 2018 19:50:00 +0100

It is well known that anti-inflammatory medicines are associated with a long list of harmful side effects so, many people search for natural remedies to treat pain and inflammation.
In this post I call into question the need of fight inflammation, which is a thought shared by both conventional and alternative medicine.
I offer other solutions to alleviate inflammation while respecting the wise decisions of the body concerning the need of the inflammatory process.

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First of all we need to clarify the concept of inflammation.
We identify inflammation mainly with redness, swelling and pain in the tissues or organs.
Inflammation has two origins: immune and restorative. The immune response may be caused by different reasons, but the goal is always the same: cleaning our organism from harmful substances, whether they are foreign substances coming from outside - toxics and microbes - or from internal substances - toxins resulting from the metabolism.
The restorative inflammation happens when some part of the organism has been injured. In this case, the body dilates the blood capillaries in order to allow the passage of healing substances, such as platelets, and cleaning and defensive substances to the damaged area.
From this explanation, we may deduce a fact: the inflammation is a beneficial process for the body, because the purpose is the restoration, defence and cleaning of the organism.
Deepening a little bit more into the deduction, we may understand that when the inflammatory process is stopped then the restorative, defensive and hygienic action can not be taken place, so the organism can not heal. Further more, the anti-inflammatory medicine inhibit the inflammation - the healing process!
But, what about the natural medicine, such as phytotherapy and homeopathy? We have been told that natural remedies are not harmful and they have insignificant side effects. Yes, their side effects are lower, as well as lower anti-inflammatory effects. Nevertheless, it’s also an anti-inflammatory - they disturb the healing process.
Regarding the anti-inflammatory food, such as turmeric, broccoli, omega 3 rich oils, garlic, coconut oil, etc., they perform the same function as a natural remedy, although less powerful. So they are not as counter-productive as conventional or natural medicine, because these last ones are a pure extract of anti-inflammatory agents, while food is an aggregate of substances with different effects. So this kind of food are not a problem, provided they are taken in normal amounts. Juicing therapies or turmeric supplements, for example, have the same effects as a natural remedy.
Now we understand that inflammation is necessary for healing. But, isn’t it possible that the body makes a mistake, and it produces an excessive inflammation when it is not needed? There are several conditions in which medicine considers that the organism is taking wrong decisions. This is the case of allergies and autoimmune diseases.
In this other post I expose the reasons that show that autoimmune diseases and hypersensitivites are not an immune malfunction. Therefore, neither in these cases is not convenient to stop the inflammatory process. The inflammation, although is an annoying process, is also needed in these diseases.
In the same way, flu, a cold, the inflammatory bowel disease, a faringitis, vaginitis, bronchitis, conjunctivitis, gastritis, otitis, cistitis, tendinitis, … are the result of the proportionate answer of the immune system to the current circumstances. They mustn’t be stopped. But we can search the way to alleviate them respecting the immune process; and of course, we can search the causes of that diseases in order to prevent happening again.
The immune system is never excessive. If inflammation exists it is because it is needed. The body is very intelligent, it doesn’t make mistakes, it always acts in the best direction for us, in a proportionate way depending of circumstances.
Medicines, both natural and conventional, help us to live better, relieving our physiological and psychological pains, so we can continue with our daily frenzy of stress, pollution, junk food and other live pleasures. But our health pays a very high price for that, with a chronic deterioration.
Pain and suffering shorten our health too, I don’t suggest dying of pain. What to do then?
The only therapies that help to soothe the pain in the emergency, without any side effect, are the body-mind and energetic therapies: meditation, visualisation, laughter therapy, hypnotherapy, reiki, massages, prayer, etc. Because they don’t block inflammation, but in first place, they deviate the attention of the mind to another point, and in second place, they stimulate the production of endorphins, the wellbeing substances. In order to understand it better I suggest an exercise. Any day you have a worry, a fear, a malaise; stop for a moment and distract your mind to another subject. Think about your vacations, a pleasurable event in the past, or simply watch a comedy on the TV. You will see how your problem substantially decreases. However, another day concentrate your attention to your problem, making your head spin. You will verify that it makes the problem worse.
The solution is to evade the mind with a method that is not harmful for the health, strengthening the mind. Then, in the long term, the pain will disappear when the cause has been identified and you have put an end to it.
Our organism is immensely wise, and it knows perfectly how to heal. In the same way that when a bone is fractured, or when we have a wound, it is the organism who restores the bone of the skin - the same happens with every disease.
We simply must stop the process that is hurting the body, whether the stress, unhealthy food, negative emotions, sleep deprivation, lack of sun, etc.
Following a healthy life style in all the areas we can heal and prevent inflammation. It’s not easy, but at least it’s worth to try it. And finally, if we don’t succeed in changing our life style, because of different reasons, the resource of anti-inflammatory medicine is always available - natural ones if you prefer.

Bibliography:

* “Head First: The Biology of Hope and the Healing Power of the Human Spirit”, by Norman Cousins

* “The Life Science Health System” by T.C. Fry.
Lesson 2 – The Nature And Purpose Of Disease
Lesson 72 - Rheumatic Diseases
Lesson 71 – Allergies, Hay Fever, And Other Chronic Diseases

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Auto-immune diseases and allergies: an error of human nature?

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Thu, 08 Feb 2018 19:49:00 +0100

Auto-immune diseases and allergies have in common that they are considered by conventional medicine as a malfunction of immune system.
But, are there any other hypothesis? Is it possible that in reality the organism is not wrong, but it is giving the most adequate response in the given circumstances?
If it’s not a failure of the immune system, have the anti-inflammatory remedies any sense?

Continue reading Auto-immune diseases and allergies: an error of human nature?

In auto-immune diseases, medicine considers that cells of our body are attacked and destroyed by mistake. Depending on the damaged organ, it will result in different diseases. For example, in rheumathoid arthritis the attack is produced in the joints; in celiac disease the intestinal villi are destroyed; in diabetes type 1 it is the pancreas the affected organ; in multiple sclerosis it is about nerves; in psoriasis it is the skin; etc.
“The exact cause of autoimmune disorders is unknown” is said in MedlinePlus, as well as in any site dedicated to conventional medicine that addresses this subject.
In conventional medicine several hypothesis are offered to explain the auto-immune process.
The first one, the most accepted one, is the cross reaction. It consists that when certain microorganisms are attacked or harmful substances are to be removed, then the self cells of the organism are also damaged, because of the similarity between both of them (the harmful agent and self cells).
The second hypothesis is that for some reason, such as a virus or a toxic compound, the cells have been modified, and therefore, they are not recognized as self.
The third one is that the white cells doesn’t work well, destroying healthy cells.
The fourth one is that a substance coming from another part of the body comes to another part, and because it is not found in the proper place, the immune system attacks it. For example, when there is a damage in the eye and the eye fluid gets to the blood.
We are going to analize with a little more detail each hypothesis in order to know if in any of them the immune system is not working well.
First hypothesis: it is absurd to think that it is possible in the nature to exist a confusion of this kind between harmful external substances and the self cells. If evolution and/or Nature would had allowed this phenomena to happen, neither the humanity nor most of species that exist nowadays in this world would not exist. Even more, if this hypothesis were true, many wild animals would also suffer this condition, and this is not true. (Only domestic animals also suffer the same kind of diseases like humans, because they are submitted to the same kind of inadequate life style).
Second hypothesis: if the cells of the body have been damaged for some reason, it is not an error that the immune system destroy them in order to be replaced by new healthy ones. So the immune system is not mistaken in his labour.
The third hypothesis is not a true hypothesis, it is not a reason. It is said that the immune system malfunction is due to the malfunction of white cells, but no reason is given to explain this. If white cells don’t work it is for some reason!
So we can imagine that the most logical reason is because the white cells have been damaged, for example.
The immune system is very complex, and there are multiple mechanisms to detect that if some process doesn’t work well could be controlled. It’s is like an army where the soldiers shoot against the citizens of his own country. If this happens, immediately the higher officials arrest the soldiers. In the same way, if the white cells doesn’t work well, there is a type of cells in our immune system that controls the white cells, called regulatory T cells, that prevent this kind of errors.
But, what if the high ranks, the regulatory T cells, have become crazy? Yes, it’s true that certain psychological troubles are self-destructive. Addiction, depression and desperation are states of mind that lead to a subconscious suicide. In these cases, the mind is sending signals of self-destruction to our body, and the immune system just obey them.
So even in this case the immune system has a correct functioning, it is just following the instructions that receives.
In the fourth hypothesis, if there is a substance coming from another place of the body that shouldn’t be there, it is the duty of the immune system to clean this substance. So again, the action of the immune system is right.
We can conclude that the auto-immune diseases are not a mistake of the human nature.
Regarding hypersensitivities or allergies, conventional medicine explains that it’s about an exaggerated response of the immune system against inoffensive external agents, such as pollen or certain food. They add that the factors that can influence the development of allergies are mainly genetic, but also stress may worsen the situation, and they mention the hygiene hypothesis. In this hypothesis is argued that the children that live in an aseptic environment have a weakened immune system. Other factors that can have an impact on allergies are suffering certain diseases in childhood and environmental pollution. Nevertheless, conventional medicine doesn’t offer any real explanation to the fact that the immune system have become hypersensitive to natural substances. Simply the consider that the immune system is disrupted.
Functional medicine states the hypothesis that when the intestine is damaged by different reasons, such as chemicals, stress or bacteria, then it becomes leaky and different harmful substances can cross through the small intestinal lining and get into the blood stream. This is called the leaky gut syndrome. Then the immune system reacts against these substances that are not supposed to be found in the blood, such as partially digested food, toxic products and bacteria. This is an underlying inflammation that is the indirect cause of the environmental hypersensitivities, and the direct cause of food allergies and intolerances.
Upon this theory, the immune system is not malfunctioning, because it is necessary that it carries out his task of cleaning the undesirable substances that have crossed the leaky gut. So in this case, the immune system is wrong neither.
The immune system is our defence and our internal cleaning system. It is a perfect army, that always gives an adequate and proportionate response to the problem that it has to face.
The only case where the immune system may have a deficient answer is when the body does not have enough nutrients to work. In this case, we are talking about a completely opposite kind of diseases compared to allergies and auto-immune system; it’s about a lack of reaction, instead of an over-reaction.
There are some theories that show that cancer may be caused by an immune system insufficiency, where damaged cells are not cleaned. This will be the subject of another post.
For the moment, the conclusion is that diseases associated to an hyper-active immune system are not because of an impairment.
Then, if the immune system is just doing all his best, it does not make any sense to impede its functioning with anti-inflammatory remedies. In this other post you can read the continuation, where we address the mechanism of action of anti-inflammatory remedies.

Bibliography:

* “The Life Science Health System” by T.C. Fry.
Lesson 2 – The Nature And Purpose Of Disease
Lesson 72 - Rheumatic Diseases
Lesson 71 – Allergies, Hay Fever, And Other Chronic Diseases

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Continue reading Auto-immune diseases and allergies: an error of human nature?

The vital energy system. Can sunlight, exercise or Reiki compensate for an unhealthy diet?

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Wed, 06 Dec 2017 09:47:00 +0100

Millions of people travel every summer to the south of Europe, looking for sunlight and Mediterranean beaches. Others prefer to spend their vacation doing sports in a little mountain village. We are attracted to beaches by the sunlight, warm temperatures softened by the sea breeze and the idyllic landscapes; and to the mountains by the various sport possibilities, the clean water and air, nature, cool nights as well as the dreamlike landscapes. In both cases, people look to find activities that will bring them wellness and health.
Sunlight, warm temperatures, sports, nature, … from the Natural Hygiene or Life Science perspective, it is considered that for a person to enjoy good health, they need to obtain all elements that are essential in life: pure air and water, the appropriate nutrients, sunlight, nature, physical exercise, rest, sleep, emotional stability, etc. (see description and detailed list in this article)
Nevertheless, in our busy everyday life, it is difficult to fulfil all of these needs. There is always an element that is missing in every person: for some it is a healthy diet, for others it is sufficient sleep, or physical exercise, emotional stability, etc. However, it seems that we survive, and even manage to live in good health, despite missing some of these essential elements in our lives.

Continue reading The vital energy system. Can sunlight, exercise or Reiki compensate for an unhealthy diet?

We could say that there exists a type of compensation between each of the different necessities in our lives. When one fails, it can be compensated by another that is stronger. This happens in the same way as in people with any kind of disability.
Have you ever observed a disabled person? Blind people, for instance, have develop their senses of hearing and touch extraordinarily. This heightened development of these two senses compensates not being able to see. In the same way, when an essential aspect is missing in a person’s health, they must look to compensate it by other needs.

Although a person’s problem may be of a psychological nature, the simple fact of improving their diet, taking care to eat foods that facilitate the flow of neurotransmitters, will always make them feel better and stronger psychologically. And if a person’s problem is of a nutritional nature, then being strong psychologically – for instance by having a positive attitude and knowing how to accept the disease – will help them to recover from their disease.
The most important objective to help a person restore good health is to find the causes of their disease. For this reason, therapists should master all those disciplines related to health: physical health, sleep, nutrition, psychology, spirituality, etc. This is the aim of the Natural Hygiene approach to healing. But it is difficult for a health counselor to learn so much about so many different topics in sufficient depth. This is why therapists specialise in a specific topic; and the truth is that a great majority of people are satisfied to follow a certain therapy, even if this discipline is not the real cause of their disease. Doing more physical exercise always helps all people, in the same way that eating healthily, having a stable emotional, and spiritual life also has an important impact.
Personally, I always notice the fact that when I am on holidays, I enjoy a better health. I can even eat some foods that make me sick in normal conditions, as they barely affect me when I am on holiday. For instance, I would be able to eat a paella every now and then without a problem, whereas during the rest of the year I can’t eat any rice without suffering serious circulatory problems (see this article). We could say that the fact of enjoying the sunlight, having less things on our mind, less stress, a more agreeable temperature, etc. can compensate for dietary excesses. In my case, alimentary intolerances and an inadequate diet are better tolerated when the other aspects necessary to life are more than fulfilled.
From these facts, you could see the functioning of the human body as an energy system. The energy I am referring to has nothing to do with calories; you could compare it to a battery. Our human battery can be charged with vital energy in different ways: being exposed to the sun and nature, doing physical exercise, sleeping, eating healthy foods, etc.
There exist a great number of human activities that decharge our vital energy batteries. For instance, listening to strident music, as Masaru Emoto demonstrated; electromagnetic radiation such as from our mobile phones; cold temperature and humidity from the fog; travelling on an airplane; …
Some of the essential aspects needed for life can spend vital energy if provided negatively. Once a person breathes polluted air or water, they will need to spend energy to get rid of the toxic products in their body; if they eat unhealthy foods they will spend energy to get rid of such products from their body; if they suffer from stress or negative emotions the body will use up more energy than if the person is happy and relaxed; if one carries out physical exercise beyond one’s capacity this will also reduce their energy. Physical exercise consumes calories, yet if it is carried out correctly, it charges the energy in our batteries positively.

We need a certain level of vital energy to enjoy good health. When the level reduces beyond a certain value, we start to suffer from health problems. The lower the level of vital energy, the more serious the diseases, and when the level of vital energy is chronically deficient, diseases also become chronic. Let’s see some examples to better understand this phenomenon.
Imagine that eating a paella consumes 5 units of energy. If this person is just at the limit of the energy level for good health, by eating a paella they will fall sick. But imagine that sunbathing for a few hours provides you with 6 units of energy. Providing that all other essential elements that intervene in the human energy system are constant, if the person has sunbathed, they will have sufficient energy to eat a paella without falling ill.
Another example would be to suppose that every minute of physical exercise brings one 0.25 units of energy. Then, a person who has carried out 40 minutes of exercise (0.25*40=10) would be able to eat a paella (5 units of energy) for lunch and some French fries for dinner (if the French fries consume 5 units of energy).
Now imagine that eating a salad with the adequate ingredients, adequate quantity, and at the adequate time, gives you 20 units. Then the person can endure maybe 20 minutes of intense stress without becoming sick (if every minute of stress consumes 1 unit of energy).
On the other hand, some actions have an energy cost that is too high. Let’s suppose that the minimum level a person must maintain to be in good health is 10,000. People who have a level of energy higher than 10,000 enjoy a good health and can afford certain vicissitudes in their lives without becoming sick, and they can also afford certain negative actions, depending on the amount of energy they have in excess.
We can consider, for example, that eating a hamburger with French fries and coca-cola has an energy cost of 100 units. If a person’s energy level is no higher than 10100, they will begin to suffer certain health issues when they eat this food.
As logic predicts, it is necessary to have the necessary level of vital energy to be able to spend it in certain activities that consume it. Then, it is not a question of eating unhealthy food in excess, believing that these excesses can be consumed or “burned” by exercising. It doesn’t work this way – instead one must elevate their energy level sufficiently by exercising before, to afford a treat.
A person with alimentary intolerances would be able to overcome them, in a way, by improving other aspects in their lifestyle, in such a way that their energy is elevated to a sufficient amount to be able to “spend” it on those prejudicial foods.
I would like to add that Reiki and a number of other energetic therapies increase the vital energy level of our batteries in a very significant manner. See more about my offer on energy therapy sessions here.

However, what I explained is not as simple as it seems, our body does not function in such a mathematic manner. This phenomenon consists of a non-lineal system, with an infinite number of variables, and therefore it is not as deterministic. It is also much more complex and there probably exist many different types of vital energy: physical energy, emotional energy, spiritual energy… and also within physical energy we might be able to distinguish between the energy of each organ and body part.
All of the different vital energies that a person possesses are related and there exists a compensation between them: good physical energy can compensate for low emotional energy; a good health and sleeping well can help one to be emotionally stronger. Although evidently, physical activities have a more important impact over our physical energy; emotions and beliefs over our emotional energy; and spiritual lives over our spiritual energy.
But despite the complexity of the human vital energy system, we can try to understand a bit about how our own vital energy system works, and identify what are our limits, even if sometimes we are mistaken. For this reason I suggest you keep a diary where you write down every day what you have eaten, and the other important variables: how much physical exercise you carried out, stress, types of activities, sleep, etc. With time, you can arrive to conclusions based on studying this diary. For instance, a person may conclude that every time that they eat rice they feel more tired, more bloated, and their memory fails them; but if they exercise for an hour or fasts for 24 hours, eating rice doesn’t have this negative effect.
I encourage you to write your diary and learn to know your personal vital energy system better and its possible compensations!

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Continue reading The vital energy system. Can sunlight, exercise or Reiki compensate for an unhealthy diet?

Winter foods to keep warm and healthy

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Sun, 19 Nov 2017 20:24:00 +0100

When its cold outside we prefer to eat warm or hot food, such as soup, potaje, stew, legumes and chestnuts in Spain; or fondue, raclette and croûte in the Swiss alpine villages. But, are these the best dishes to consume in winter?

Continue reading Winter foods to keep warm and healthy

Traditions are wise and traditional foods usually adapt to the climactic conditions of different countries. But sometimes, other circumstances determine what the traditional food is. For example, the scarcity of food in winter. This would be the case for rösti, fondue and raclette. These dishes originated to make use of the scraps of stale bread and cheese by melting it and softening it with wine. In fact these dishes were often the meals in poor villages and nowadays has become a luxury food!

The wine that is in the fondue and the croûte produces an effect of corporal warmth. And in general warm dishes produce a sensation of immediate internal bodily warmth. However, this sensation does not last long. After a few hours the effect of warmth will not depend on the initial temperature of the food but on the kind of food consumed.

In general, foods that are rich in protein, such as meat, fish, eggs and dairy products, produce a stimulation of the heart and increases the blood flow to be able to eliminate the metabolic residues from the body, for example uric acid and urea. In the same way, the body tries to dispose of the alcohol toxic sub-products as soon as possible. (1) This activation of the circulatory system produces a sensation of bodily warmth.

When digestion commences, there will always be a sensation of stupor that can be more or less strong depending on the person and the foods that have been consumed. This is why in Spain, it was usual to have a nap after lunch. This is because the blood and the energy from the organism concentrates on the digestive system, reducing the blood circulation in the brain and muscles. So a sensation of coldness is felt during digestion. Therefore, during winter it is better to have the main course after coming back home in the afternoon.

Foods that are rich in complex carbohydrates, like legumes and grains, are known for providing energy slowly. But many studies show that the longterm effect of eating carbohydrates is disrupting blood circulation because of a phenomenon called glycation of proteins (2). Therefore, foods rich in carbohydrates are not adequate for winter. Even though legumes, chestnuts and rösti are very sought after in winter, they do not help us gain warmth, in fact the opposite is true.

Fruits and vegetables first give a sensation of coldness but in the long-run the reaction they have in the body is neutral. They don’t stimulate or reduce the blood circulation. They are the ideal foods for our health. A vegetable soup or potaje can be one of the best dishes to have in winter, because they comfort us when being eaten and are healthy. Regarding fruits, even though the ideal is to eat them raw, it’s possible to prepare some warm foods made of fruits: baked apples, compote, fruit pudding, fruit casserole, fruit soup, etc.

It is true that the larger majority of winter foods, both Spanish and Swiss, help heat us up in winter. But this doesn’t mean that they help to get our health any better.

We have to consider that humans are designed to live in warm or hot regions, like the Mediterranean (1). The cold does bother us humans… and wanting to fix this problem eating foods that are not appropriate is not the best solution. If we don’t live in a warm zone we have two options: we continue with a healthy Mediterranean diet rich in fruits and vegetables and we suffer from the cold temperatures of winter, or we take the typical foods of colder countries and we damage our health. The best alternative is to eat warm foods made from fruits and vegetables that can comfort us when eaten and are healthy in the long-run.

References:

(1) “The Life Science Health System”, T.C.Fry
(2) “Grain Brain”, David Perlmutter

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Brain fitness: How to improve concentration and learning

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 14:46:00 +0100

May 6 from 09:30 to 10:30
at Impact Hub Geneva
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Continue reading Brain fitness: How to improve concentration and learning

Alcoholism without drinking alcohol

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Sun, 23 Apr 2017 15:27:00 +0100

Irritability, aggressiveness, borderline personality disorder, hyperactivity, attention deficit disorder, development delay, defiant oppositional disorder, and insomnia are some symptoms seen in alcoholics. But alcohol may also induce the opposite effects: depression, hypoactivity, somnolence, brain fog, social apathy, anxiety, etc.
If the person never drinks alcohol, how is it possible that they show characteristics of an alcoholic person?
The answer is: a yeast-like fungus infection or intestinal candidiasis. In this article we are going to explore the topic of yeast overgrowth: testing, causes, consequences and treatments.

Continue reading Alcoholism without drinking alcohol

Candida is a kind of yeast that can develop in different parts of the body, for example, the mouth, vagina and the intestine, when adequate conditions are present: over abundance of sweet food, acid pH, warmth and humidity.
The original source of a vaginal and oral mycosis is the intestine. The yeasts first develop in the intestin and later they can migrate to different parts of the body. The candidiasis can even be found in the blood. This is because of a food intolerance, that is caused by an insufficiency of the production of amylase enzymes in the saliva and pancreas, and/or maltase, lactase and sucrose in the intestine. Many other causes exist, for example: an inadequate food combination or an excess amount of food consumed that exceeds the capacity of digestion or any other situation that perturbs the good digestion of carbohydrates and sugars (read here for other causes and this other article for the principles of food combinations)
Candida is not the only yeast that can reside in the intestine; saccharomyces and aspergillus can also be found. They all nourish themselves on carbohydrates and sugars. The products of their digestion are CO2, ammoniac, alcohol and 80 different toxic wastes such as tartaric acid, arabinose, etc. It’s an alcoholic fermentation, that is the base of the production of wine and alcoholic drinks.
Out of all the different kinds of alcohol produced by yeasts, the most dangerous one for the brain is acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde gives a long list of toxic effects, such as:
* Gastro-intestinal disturbance: diarrhoea, constipation, gas, stomach ache
* Damage in liver, pancreas, estomac, intestine, etc
* Damage in the central nervous system (brain) and peripheral (nerfs) and its consequences that are psychological disorders, neurological disorders, behavioral disorders, neuropathies, neuralgia, etc.
* Reduced capacity of detoxification of other toxic substances
* Hormonal disorders, premenstrual syndrome
* Auto-immune disorders
Many available pharmacological treatments exist, such as fluconazol, and natural treatments, such as grapefruit seed extract, coconut oil and multiple other essential oils and herbs. But the source is located in the intestinal candidiasis, so it’s mainly this that we need to treat.
All these natural or chemical medications are usually effective in the short term but candidiasis appears again after some time if the source has not been treated properly. It’s the incorrect digestion of carbohydrates and sugars that must be addressed. If you continue nourishing the microorganisms, they will continue to thrive. By identifying the cause of this bad digestion (read here some of them) you will need to act accordingly. For example, if the problem is a stressful situation you will have to find a way to get rid of stress; if the problem is an antibiotic therapy you will need to take probiotics; if the food is inadequate you will need to change your diet, etc.
To confirm that your health problems come from a candidose or a yeast overgrowth, it is possible to have to different clinical tests: blood antibodies, presence of yeasts in stools and urine fungi organic metabolites.

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Are our children malnourished?

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Sat, 22 Apr 2017 19:38:00 +0100

Although in the occidental world we don’t suffer of hungry, undernutrition is common in most of the children and adults. Because symptoms of lack of nutrients are present in most of the people, we think it’s normal.
In this article, I would like to alert parents about the danger that we and our children are exposed because of our incorrect way of eating and living, showing how to identify a possible case of malnutrition.

Continue reading Are our children malnourished?

HOLAHerbert Shelton (1) says that “ A child may be normal, as far as height and weight are concerned, ans still present many evidences of malnutrition. A child that is fat may be undernourished.
The more common symptoms of malnutrition are:
* a dry, delicate skin, which is either pale or wax-like or else sallow. or pasty, or earthy in appearance;
* dry, rough hair, brittle nails;
* blue circles or dark hallows under the eyes, with a pale, colorless mucous lining of the eye-lids;
* loose skin, flabby, underdeveloped muscles, round shoulders, projecting shoulder blades, fatigue posture, prominent abdomen,
* irritability, listlessness, inattention, laziness, undue mental and physical fatigue, mental backwardness, a temperamental disposition, lack of natural inquisitiveness and a lessened * power of concentration
* the child is also likely to be picky about his food
You don’t need to have all the symptoms, if any of these symptoms are present malnutrition is likely to be the cause.”
There’s a lot of other symptoms linked to a faulty nutrition. Recurrent ENT diseases, learning and behavioral troubles; teeth and bone problems such as cavities, the need of orthodontia and flat foot; sight problems such as the need of wearing glasses; and a long list of symptoms that currently appear in most of our children.
Malnutrition doesn’t mean that the person is not eating enough; all the contrary, in our occidental world, paradoxically undernutrition comes from an excess of food intake, or the consumption of inadequate food.
Shelton says “Overcrowded nutrition means starvation, whether it be in the infant that is fed more because it cries from already having had too much, or in the adult who glutonizes because he is drunk on food and craves more stimulation of the same sort”.
The most frequently life style deficiencies that can lead to these health problems are also the lack of sunshine, lack of rest and sleep, lack of exercise, lack of caring, lack of clean air and water; or it may be an excess of unhealthy life style routines, such as improper kinds of amusement or chronic exposure to some kind of toxicity (medicine, vaccines, and any kind of chemicals).
In any case, if you or your family suffer of any kind of disease, and you are following a normal, standard, and what the conventional medicine community considers an “balanced” diet, then you are not following a healthy diet. Most of the food that is commonly considered as healthy is not healthy at all. A nutritionist may help you to find out what could be the problem in your diet, so you can live really fully nourished.
Read more about the causes of malnutrition in this other article.

References:
(1) Hygienic Systems Vol. II, “The science and fine art of food and nutrition”, by Herbert M. Shelton.

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Workshop: "L’impact de la nutrition sur les troubles de l’apprentissage”

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 19:50:00 +0100

April 8th 10:00 to 11:00
at Grand Hôtel du Domaine de Divonne.
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HOLA

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Workshop: "L’impact de la nutrition sur les troubles de l’apprentissage”

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 15:44:00 +0100

April 8th 10:00 to 11:00
at Grand Hôtel du Domaine de Divonne.
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To what extend does nutrition affects psychology?

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Sun, 12 Feb 2017 20:44:00 +0100

In a previous article I introduced the narrow relationship between body and mind; and I concluded that a physical and/or psychological perturbation may be the origin of any physical and/or psychological disease.
In this present article I would like to focus on the influence of physical disorders on psychological diseases, and more specifically, to what extend nutrition can change our mind.

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Continue reading To what extend does nutrition affects psychology?

Raynaud syndrome, neuropathies, fatigue, concentration deficit, somnolence, brittle nails. ...

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Sun, 12 Feb 2017 18:56:00 +0100

Raynaud’s disease, tingling and numbness in hands and feet, cramps, fatigue, concentration difficulty, drowsiness, … these diseases may have different causes, but one of the most important one is a problem in the circulatory system, that prevents to provide the needed energy to the extremities and to the brain.
After experiencing these diseases during lot of years, I explain in this article my conclusions about the influence of nutrition and life style on these diseases.

Continue reading Raynaud syndrome, neuropathies, fatigue, concentration deficit, somnolence, brittle nails. A personal experience

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Continue reading Raynaud syndrome, neuropathies, fatigue, concentration deficit, somnolence, brittle nails. ...

Nutrition for optimal brain function

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 18:29:00 +0100

We all long for an optimal brain function, but most people, from children to the eldest, complain about brain weaknesses: lack of memory, poor concentration, learning disorders, poor results at school, low performance at work, absent-mindedness, hyperactivity, …
We can do a very important job using different therapies for the brain function, but it is very hard work to improve these issues when there is a physiological problem, which can come from an incorrect nutrition.
Check in this article if your diet is healthy enough in order to sustain a high brain performance..

Continue reading Nutrition for optimal brain function

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Continue reading Nutrition for optimal brain function

Iván's testimonial: development delay

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Sat, 01 Oct 2016 17:55:00 +0100

Arnau does not have a clear diagnostics. The doctors talk about autistic spectrum, development delay, … The physiological diseases he presents when he first comes to my consultation are: bloating and abdominal distention, parasites, sensitive skin, very frequent and strong bronchial spasm attacks and otitis.
He follows several alternative therapies: homeopathy, osteophaty, and development stimulation such as Tomatis. He’s already having a gluten-free, sugar-free, and dairy-free diet that have allowed an important improvement, but his evolution is still deficient.
Thanks to food intolerance tests, we discover that Arnau is suffering some food intolerances.
We install a GAPS diet taking into account these food intolerances.
Putting GAPS diet into practice is not easy for the family. Arnau suffers a regression in his cognitive skills: disconnection, return of some stereotypes, … but they persevere with the diet, and very slowly they begin to appreciate the improvements.
Finally, we succeed to remove the bronchial spams and Arnau begins to experience a normal development: oral expression, concentration, memory and motivation. Two years afterwards, it’s possible to reintroduce some food and go out GAPS diet without problems.
You can read his father’s testimonial:

Continue reading Iván's testimonial: development delay

Iván's testimonial: development delay

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Sat, 01 Oct 2016 17:55:00 +0100

Continue reading Iván's testimonial: development delay

“Our son Arnau, who is now 5 years old, began to present difficulties few months after his birth. We have tried different therapies, some of them have been discarded because of lack of improvement, but we do have followed the GAPS diet suggested by Gemma.
We have always said that between all things we have done, one of them that we know that has worked is the diet. When we did it, we saw a positive change and evolution in Arnau”

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Iván's testimonial: development delay

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Sat, 01 Oct 2016 17:55:00 +0100

Continue reading Iván's testimonial: development delay

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Continue reading Iván's testimonial: development delay

Xelo's testimonial: Epilepsy

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 17:57:00 +0100

Samuel suffers multiple chemical sensitivity. He can’t tolerate any chemical substance such as medicines, pesticides, sweeteners, preservatives, personal hygiene products, etc. His mother says that he has allergy to everything.
With a low histamine GAPS diet, ecological, and rich in vegetables we succeed to completely control the epileptic crisis in this 16 years old boy without any kind of medicine.
You can read his mother’s testimonial:

Continue reading Xelo's testimonial: Epilepsy

Xelo's testimonial: Epilepsy

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 17:57:00 +0100

Continue reading Xelo's testimonial: Epilepsy

“We came to visit Gemma Calzada after more than one year of GAPS diet by our own. We bought Dr. Campbell-McBride’s book, and we installed more or less the protocol on our 16 years old boy suffering autism and epilepsy. Sometimes it worked well, and other times, not so well. After more than a year, we perceived that he had important rise in histamine levels, and we didn’t know how to manage this question.
We contacted Gemma, who guided us to a more adequate diet for our son’s pathology. We changed to a low histamine GAPS diet, more alkaline, with more raw vegetables.
The use of ecologic fruits and vegetables has been crucial in the treatment.
Our son has greatly improved, calming down his nervousness. Today he is free of epilepsy and without medication.
Gemma has guided us, but mainly, we have learned a lot. She’s a professional that doesn’t keep her wisdom for herself, but she shares and encourage us to study and to learn”

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Ana's testimonial: autism

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 18:00:00 +0100

Ana M. comes to my consultation because his autistic son Victor when he’s 26. Ana has tried all kind of alternative treatments, and thanks to that, his son has greatly improved since he was a baby.
When Victor follows the GAPS diet he experiences another important improvement that greatly satisfy Ana. This is her testimonial:

Continue reading Ana's testimonial: autism

Ana's testimonial: autism

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 17:55:00 +0100

Continue reading Ana's testimonial: autism

“Victor was diagnosed with autism a little bit before 4 years old. He had a quite problematic behaviour that derived in an important aggressiveness. When he was 8 years old he even had to take anxiolytic medication:, Sinogan, Meleril, Haloperidol, Tranxilium, … in very high doses. But even though, we didn’t succeed to control his aggressiveness attacks and self-harm.
At the beginning of 1998, when he had about 10 years old, he started a gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, sugar-free diet, avoiding other 52 food to which he was intolerant. The diet was a success and in less than a week his behaviour completely changed. Little by little the medication that he was taking since 2 years ago was lowered, and in 3 months he completely stopped them.
In addition of violent behaviour, he also improved his constipation that he was suffering since he was a baby.
Although all the improvements with other therapies during some years, Victor didn’t put on weight, and when he was 24 years old he still wore a 14 years old size, so it was quite difficult to find trousers that fit him!
At the beginning of 2013 he started the GAPS diet. His diet was very high in fats and proteins (eggs, meat, coconut oil, seeds, nuts) and he also took a lot of vegetables and some fruits. There was a very low carbohydrate intake. The most impressive effect was that in a few months he started to gain weight. He jump two sizes in little time.
Another very important data was a significant change in the cell tests. Since some years, we observed in the microscope the irregularity of his cells, the fragility of cell membranes and the dirty in the interstitial liquid that bath cells.
In Mars 2015, after following GAPS diet for more than a year, there was a huge change in this cell test. Cell shape was beautiful and cell membrane was not fragile anymore. The doctor told us that cell membranes are made of phospholipids, cholesterol, proteins… just what he was receiving in his diet. It seems that his intestine could absorbe now better and this was reflected in the weight.
I think that the glutathion treatments could help too, but sincerely, I think that the diet was determinant”.

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Healing with Nutrition Series

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 10:59:00 +0100

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16 main causes of gastro-intestinal disorders and how to heal them

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 19:25:00 +0100

“All disease begins in the gut” stated Hippocrates. The main causes of most diseases are the lack of nutrients due to imbalanced nutrition, malabsorption and an imbalanced gut flora with bacterial overgrowth.
It’s not only the kind of food we eat that matters, it’s also or even more important how, when, how much, how frequently we eat, apart from many other circumstances.
In this article we are going to study the main sources of digestive and health problems as their consequence.

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Cravings, food addiction and overeating

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 13:45:00 +0100

Everybody knows that junk food is unhealthy, however, some people struggle to give up this kind of food. Other people would like to follow a certain diet, but they find it difficult to avoid eating the forbidden food, such as for example, cooked food in a raw food diet.
Every day, everybody in the occidental countries is faced with temptations focused on us by the food industry. They create the most attractive packages, ads and flavours to get us addicted to their food.
How can we resist? How can we manage to follow a healthy diet? How to control our cravings, food addictions and overeating?

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The Food Combining System

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Sat, 25 Jun 2016 19:56:00 +0100

The food combining system, logically evolved from the study of gastric physiology and the actions of enzymes and digestive juices. Hygienic food selection and the principles or food combining are based on the nutritional needs of humans and the limitations of our digestive systems. It is not what we eat, but what we digest and assimilate, that determines the nourishment our bodies receive. Food combining is based on the discovery that certain combinations of food may be digested with greater ease and efficiency than others.
This article has been extracted by the “Digestive Physiology and Food Combining” by T.C..Fry

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Gabrielle’s Testimonial

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Fri, 03 Jun 2016 19:36:00 +0100

On her fist visit, Gabrielle talked about her symptoms which were imporant gastro-intestinal disorders; cramps; strong pain often even causing her immobility, migraines; fatigue; dizziness; tingling and spots in front of her eyes. Furthermore, she had a tendency to depression and changeable mood. She had followed a vegetarian diet for several years and had also tried many different therapies and diets.
You can read a brief explanation below about the way she became healthy again thanks to the Natural Hygiene approach.

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Gabrielle’s Testimonial: Lyme disease

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Fri, 03 Jun 2016 10:50:00 +0100

Gabrielle suffers Lyme disease. On her fist visit, she talked about her symptoms which were imporant gastro-intestinal disorders; cramps; strong pain often even causing her immobility, migraines; fatigue; dizziness; tingling and spots in front of her eyes. Furthermore, she had a tendency to depression and changeable mood. She had followed a vegetarian diet for several years and had also tried many different therapies and diets.
You can read a brief explanation below about the way she became healthy again thanks to the Natural Hygiene approach.

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The Erroneous Medical Notion of “Cure”

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Thu, 05 May 2016 14:31:00 +0100

This article has been mainly extracted from the chapters “Discussion Of The Medical Approach To Health And Disease”, “The Nature And Purpose Of Disease” and “The Dangers Of Drug Medication” of “The Life Science Health”, by T.C.Fry, and “The Alkalizing Cleanse & The Alkalizing Diet” by Dr. David Klein.

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The Immense Wisdom And Providence Of The Body

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Tue, 03 May 2016 14:30:00 +0100

This article has been mainly extracted from the lesson “The Immense Wisdom And Providence Of The Body” of “The Life Science Health”, by T.C.Fry.
The human body is possessed of an intelligence and order that is incomprehensible to our intellects. While many humans are vain and will not admit to an inability to know and understand, let’s face it—we are all finite in our capacities. We cannot comprehend the concept of infinity and we are mystified by many realities of existence.

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Osteoporosis, bone diseases and calcium deficiency. Part II

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 13:55:00 +0100

In the first part we described the physiological process of osteoporosis and we revealed the real causes of bone diseases. In the second part we will explain what interventions may be taken at a nutritional level and lifestyle in order to prevent osteoporosis.

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Osteoporosis, bone diseases and calcium deficiency. Part I

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Sun, 20 Mar 2016 13:12:00 +0100

The main worry that comes to mind when you have an intolerance to dairy products is how you can get all the calcium your body needs.
We all have always been told that dairy products are essential in order to get the calcium for our bones, as if dairy was the only food that contained calcium. In the same way we are told that we need meat and fish for proteins, oranges for vitamin C, carrots for vitamin A, and so on.
But foods are much more complex than that. Every food product, including fruits and vegetables, except for refined sugar, salt and oils, contain proteins. Lots of different fruits and vegetables contain vitamin A and C. In the same way, a large list of foods contain calcium, some of them even in a similar amount as dairy products.
The total amount of calcium in a food is not the only parameter to take into account when we want to take care of our bones. Other issues are even more important: calcium absorption rate of the body; calcium availability of the food; refined-food, anti-nutrients, acid-forming food, chemicals and lifestyles that make the body loose calcium; the state of the gut flora; all the other minerals that compose the bones; studies on populations with high rate versus low rate of bone diseases, etc.
In this article we will discuss all these issues related to calcium and bone diseases.

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Epidemics, cancer and media terror. Can we really blame disease on bad luck and genes?

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 15:21:00 +0100

We live in a world dominated by fear. We are constantly worried for money, for our health, for work, for the family… We are also constantly bombarded with news about crimes, terrorism, and all forms of insecurity (social, political, and economic). But every once in a while, we also receive news about epidemics, or about famous individuals who have died of cancer… These news result in a gradual development of fear within us, sometimes even reaching to the point of terror.
Out of all negative emotions we feel, fear is the most destructive. Fear creates an internal stress response that leads to an inflammation of the body and to an unfavourable epigenetic expression of the genes that are involved in disease.
I will be focusing on just one of the fears we are exposed to nowadays: the fear of disease.
In this article I will discuss what one can do so as to prevent these news and current threats to our health from worrying us excessively.
There is a lot to discuss about this topic - such as the hidden interests behind developing this fear of disease - but I would like to concentrate on how we can make this fear disappear by understanding the origin of diseases and taking responsibility over our own and our family’s health.

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Epidemics, cancer and media terror. Are bad luck and genes the responsible of bad health?

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 14:12:00 +0100

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The Human Dietetic Character, Part II

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Sat, 23 Jan 2016 20:24:00 +0100

This article and the next two endeavor to establish all the particulars of human dietetic character.
The information is originally written by T,C.Fry in The Life Science Health System and Dr. Douglas N. Graham in his book “The 80/10/10 Diet” .

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The Human Dietetic Character, Part I

gemmac@gemmacalzada.com (Gemma Calzada) — Sat, 16 Jan 2016 20:35:00 +0100

In this post we will see what are the physiological criteria that foods must meet for humans.
This article has been taken form The Life Science Health System by T.C.Fry.

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