What Is Nature Cure?

by

Kenneth S. Jeffrey

3rd Edition
First published 1970

No. 4 of a Series

Copyright No.71208

K. S. Jaffrey 1969

This book is copyright. No part may be published without permission of the

author.

STATEMENT BY THE PUBLISHER

The opinions expressed in this book are based on the Naturopathic

philosophy of health and do not coincide with currently accepted medical
theories on health and healing. The publisher does not claim that any advice
given represents a "cure" for disease.

2
INTRODUCTION
With the tremendous growth of interest in natural health and natural healing in
recent years there is a need for a small booklet which explains clearly and
simply what nature cure is.
So many people have consulted "natural healers" and arrived home laden
with "natural" remedies and food supplements - their hearts full of hope and
pockets drained of loose cash. They have been subjected to doses of
electricity and "treated" by exposure to mysterious little black boxes. Is this
nature cure?
At the risk of becoming unpopular I have decided to set down for all to read
what I believe to be the truth about nature cure. I present for your
consideration my reply to the question -

What IS Nature Cure?

KENNETH S. JAFFREY

3
What is Nature Cure?
I shall take as my text a statement made IN THE 1850’s by the
founder of Nature Cure - Vincent Priessnitz.
“Various causes engender vicious juices (by which he meant an
abnormal composition of the body fluids).
The principal are: Food of bad quality, the excess of good food, the
suppression of perspiration, the want of exercise and mental
affliction acting violently upon the system, such as anger, sorrow,
care or melancholy.”
We have good reason to be proud of Nature Cure because it is the
only healing art, with which I am familiar, which has not had cause
to change its fundamental principles since the day it was
discovered.
These words are as true to day as they were way back then.
I would recommend that you memorize these words – and when
you have occasion to use them – think on an illiterate peasant
farmer who used them.

What is the best way to achieve and maintain health?

Since I am a Naturopath it is natural that I should advise everybody
to investigate and adopt Nature Cure.
But - what IS Nature Cure?
Sooner or later most of us are faced with this question.
Like all other questions it demands an answer - clear, concise and
all-embracing.
If we ask a friendly enthusiast we could receive a weird, inaccurate
description of certain methods, which he believes, benefited him in
his search for health. We may consult books or magazines. They
could prove even worse. Nature Cure, it seems, can be many
things.
Practitioners can be just as disappointing. A practitioner calls
himself a Naturopath, professes to disbelieve in drugs, yet when
faced with an actual case of ill-health, will unblushingly put his
patient into a hot bath laced with Epsom salts - a DRUG.
If this ‘cure’ fails to cure, he may then advise the patient to take a
dose of a drug (which he professedly condemns), mixes it with

4
water and hopefully gives this remedy to his patient to drink, telling
him that it is a "natural" remedy.
If these two procedures fail to make the patient happy he may
produce a contraption like an old-fashioned wireless set with knobs
all over it. He seats the patient in front of the box and after
adjusting to the wavelength of the patient (whatever that means),
tells his victim to call again for a further session of this pure
bunkum. This foolishness he calls Radiesthesia or Radionics - Big
words that mean exactly nothing.
Is it any wonder that the genuine enquirer pleads “What IS Nature
Cure?” In this booklet I will try to set out what Nature Cure is, what
it is not, and briefly, how it works.
Definition
Nature Cure - What does the term mean? Nature Cure is derived
from two words.
The word ‘nature’ implies that which is natural and normal - that
which derives from nature itself.
The word 'cure' means care and attention.
So, we can define Nature Cure as the art of caring for human
beings in a way, which is natural to their organisms.
And so we start to think about that which is ‘natural to our
organism.
Nature Cure is not only a way to assist in the removal of disease
but also a way of life that provides the natural care and attention
necessary to maintain health.
This is a very important statement – it encompasses a philosophy
of living based on astute observation, care and attention.

Why do we need the system of Nature Cure? Have we not already

got perfectly competent medical physicians, trained and qualified
to advise us how to keep healthy and how to restore health when it
has been lost?
The answer is NO. It is precisely because the medical hotch-potch
of cures lacks a correct underlying principle and because it does
nothing to solve our problems that we MUST look elsewhere for
the truth about health.
Can any sane rational person believe that in order to enjoy good
health one has to be drugged, injected and mutilated from birth to

5
death? Yet, this is the thoroughly negative and futile approach,
which is current today.
Silver Nitrate or some other drug is dropped into a baby's eyes at
birth. He is given soothing syrups and teething powders. His life
begins with drugs. Before long he is being injected with poisonous
vaccines that are supposed to prevent him from becoming sick.
No logical reason is offered why a healthy person, if normally
cared for, should ever become ill.
Yet, the round of superstitious injections goes on. We are
immunised against measles, whooping cough, poliomyelitis and a
host of other diseases we may never get. Throughout life, various
organs such as tonsils, appendix or gall bladder may be removed
surgically. And still humanity remains ill.
Diametrically Opposite
Nature Cure has a completely different approach to health and
healing.
It claims that health is the natural consequence of providing the
body with its normal, natural materials and environment.
• We believe that when we are ill there is a perfectly natural
cause for that condition.
• We believe that illness is simply the organism reacting to a
situation that is causing it some difficulty.
• Something has interfered with the normal, natural functioning
of the body.
• The body, previously at “ease”, comfortable and efficient, is
in a state of “dis-ease.” It functions imperfectly and is in a
state of discomfort, illness or “dis-ease.”
The advocates of Nature Cure believe that the correct approach is
to …
• Remove the cause of the “dis-ease” and to render any
assistance that will provide the body with the most
favourable conditions for a return to health.
Doesn't this sound more logical than the blind hit-and-miss
methods now customary? So it is!

6
Disease – like death and taxes…
Let me state quite emphatically that the idea that ill health is
inevitable, is false.
• If we give the body what it needs we will enjoy normal health.

Health is NOT the result of drugs

• The idea that human beings can be “poisoned” into health is
also false.
• NO poisons of ANY kind are of any benefit to a well person
and they are less beneficial to a sick one.
Poison = In Nature Cure we classify as a poison any substance
which is not needed by the body as a source of food and which the
body cannot profitably utilise for the purpose of providing energy or
building tissues.
Drugs, medicines and many commodities sold under the guise of
foods are in reality poisons. They may be mild poisons in some
cases, but they are poisons nevertheless.

Causes of Health
Let us return to the causes of health for a while.
When we are well we rarely stop to consider what it is that is
keeping us well.
Obviously, SOMETHING is.
• Nature Cure teaches that it is NATURAL to be healthy.
• We believe that Human beings, like animals in their natural
state, SHOULD be healthy.
• No drugs, vaccines or electrical gadgets are necessary to
keep a normal person in good health.
What then, is needed?
Right living - Correct living habits will produce normal, natural
health.
• If you are ill, have headaches or pains, feel tired and out of
sorts, if you need a laxative to force your bowels to work
properly, then you are ill.

7
 • If you constantly have catarrh or get frequent colds, there
MUST be something wrong.
But doesn't everybody get a cold now and then? Of course they
do, if there is a need for it.
• Colds just don't happen capriciously.
• Colds are nature's way of removing unwanted material
through the mucus membranes.
• They are our safety valves.
Behind every illness or disability there is a CAUSE.
• The body is self regulating and self-repairing.
• We don't need to take medicines to ensure that the bowels
work normally.
• We don't need to apply ointment if we cut ourselves.
• Healing is a natural process, which should proceed without
the use of any external or internal aids.
Nature Cure does NOT use drugs, medicines, herbs, vitamin
preparations, food supplements or electrical machines.
• It uses only such methods as are natural to the body.
• Nature Cure teaches that illness is caused by an infringe-
ment of natural law.
• It teaches that the only sure way to regain health is by
obedience to natural law.
In other words, we should live naturally.
• In order to be healthy we need suitable food, exercise, rest,
water, sunlight, fresh air, correct living habits and a positive
mental attitude.
When a person is ill, the SAME factors are necessary as in health,
but in different proportions.
The chief causes of ill-health are
foodless or poisoned foods, worries,
drugs, fears,
lack of exercise, excessive stimulation,
insufficient rest, impure air,
tensions, polluted water,

8
occupational strains or wrong living habits and
accidents, unbalanced emotions.

Any one or more of these things can cause

1. Enervation, which is depletion of nerve force.
2. This leads to imperfect elimination of body wastes and
3. Retention of poisons, causing toxaemia, which is an
abnormal composition of the blood.
This is the chain of events through which disease arises;
Wrong living habits > enervation > imperfect elimination > retention
of poisons > blood poisoning > disease

The job of a Naturopath is to uncover the factors that cause

disease and then teach the patient how to adjust his way of
life so he will live in harmony with nature and not against it.

So - the Naturopath is NOT a medical practitioner.

• He does not supply medical or surgical advice or treatments.
If he does these things he is really an amateur physician and
has no right to call himself a Naturopath.
• Nature Cure is devoted wholly to the achievement and
maintenance of normal health by natural means.
• It seeks to provide the correct environment and conditions so
the Life force within the body will restore and maintain health.
• Nature Cure recognises nature as the ONLY healer.
We use the following natural factors
Natural Foods Exercise and Relaxation
Fasting Positive Thinking
Water Manipulations such as
Sunlight Chiropractic / Osteopathic /
Naprapathic are used to assist
Air in establishing normality of the
Earth body structure.

9
The treatments used are not treatments in the usual sense of the
word.
• Naturopathic treatments are used only to achieve normality.
• When the body is normal it repairs itself automatically.
Naturopaths therefore do not promise to CURE disease and they
do not TREAT disease.
They concentrate solely on normalisation of the patient.
• Naturopaths do not prescribe drugs, medicines or remedies
of ANY kind.
• The only substance used in Nature Cure, which even
remotely resembles medicine, is water, and water has never
injured anyone or produced any harmful side effects.
• The approach of Nature Cure to health is scientific, logical
and rational.
• Its treatments are biologically sound and normal.
Whilst theory is very interesting, actual practice is better still.
Many thousands or people all over the world have been restored to
health after all other methods had failed and medical authorities
had said their case was hope less.

Does it always work?

“Will the simple natural methods which I have enumerated suffice

to banish disease?”
They will - providing there is sufficient vitality within the body.
Nature Cure will not save a dying person.
It will undoubtedly prolong life – but unless there is enough vitality -
even Nature Cure will fail.

“If Nature Cure is so effective, why do not more people adopt it and
why has the medical profession ignored its teachings?"
• Many people do not adopt Nature Cure because they do not
wish to discard their old living habits.

10
 • Many people would rather die or remain ill than give up
drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco or eating the flesh of
animals.
• The choice is theirs. They elect to indulge their old tastes
and habits rather than discipline themselves and discard
their wrong habits of a lifetime.
• Members of the medical profession can be forgiven if they do
not adopt natural healing methods. Most physicians do not
know anything about Nature Cure and are too busy to
investigate it thoroughly.
• There is also the natural resistance to change - It's in most of
us.
• Another reason why Nature Cure is not popular is that there
is little money in it. There is nothing to sell or exploit
commercially.
If people lived normal, natural lives there would be no need for
drugs nor for physicians to prescribe them. Hospitals would be
drastically reduced in size and number. Only a few surgeons would
be needed to attend to people who were accidentally injured.

BIOLOGICAL REQUIREMENTS
If we accept the claim that it is natural to be healthy and that there
are certain principles to be followed in order to maintain the highest
degree of health, it is logical for us to study the human body and its
environment and then determine what we should do to be healthy.
NUTRITION
Living foods
In our short list of requirements we mentioned suitable food.
Most people would accept this.
But just what IS suitable food?
Here is where we have the widest divergence of opinion.
The diet recommended by most authorities is, according to Nature
Cure philosophy, most UNSUITABLE.
In a booklet of this nature it would be impractical to enter into a
long discussion on food. Suffice it is to say that the secret of good
nutrition is LIVING FOOD

11
 • We need a daily intake of foods in a state as near natural as
possible.
• It is best to adopt what is commonly called a vegetarian diet,
although I prefer to tall it a natural diet.

EXERCISE
Next in our list of health needs is exercise.
• If man lived in a wholly natural environment he would not
need planned exercise.
• Living under our civilised conditions it is vitally necessary to
have daily exercise in order to build and maintain strong
flexible muscles and tissues.
REST
Rest is the opposite to exercise and just as important.
• Rest is really a period of relaxation in which all muscular
tension is relieved.
• Sleep is the most natural and essential form of rest.

SUNLIGHT
Sunlight, although feared by many, is the power from nature's
generators.
• All life on earth derives its power indirectly from the sun.
• This power in the form of solar radiations is absorbed
through the skin, the air we breathe, the water we drink and
the food we eat.

AIR
That rare commodity, fresh air, is also a most desirable factor in
our search for health.
• Modem man is polluting his atmosphere with gases from
factories, homes and transport machinery.
• This gives us a good reason for visiting the country or
seaside as often as possible.

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WATER
Water, once a wholesome beverage, is now becoming an
unwholesome poisoned soup.
• Many town water supplies are unfiltered which means that
the water contains sludge and algae.
• Then fluoride, chlorine, aluminium sulphate, copper sulphate
and other chemicals are added to make substandard water
still less suitable for human consumption.
• If we MUST drink this poisoned water it is advisable to distil
or filter it to remove all impurities.
• Incidentally, water is not only used for drinking and bathing
but also for producing better tone of skin and muscles.

MENTAL POISE
As well as the concrete factors just discussed we have the abstract
factor of the human mind.
• Nature Cure teaches that a positive, constructive and
optimistic attitude of mind produces the best mental climate
for high-level health and emotional stability.
If we attend to these factors we will be living fairly naturally.
Should we be already ill, then it, is necessary to eliminate the
illness by removing the CAUSES and the necessity for the illness.
This process is called Nature Cure or Naturopathy.
There are many schools of thought and each school stresses the
factors, which appeal most strongly to its adherents.
To give you an idea of the wide divergence of treatment methods, I
will quote the experience of a patient who consulted seven natural
healers. These are the methods they recommend, in various
combinations: - Diet, Fasting, Exercise, Relaxation, Sunbathing,
Osteopathic Manipulations, Chiropractic Adjustments, Massage,
Spinal Traction, Herbs, Vitamin Pills, Homeopathic Drugs,
Biochemic Tissue Salts, Ultra-sonic Treatments, Diathermy, Short
Wave, Vapour Baths and Radiesthesia.
All of the practitioners consulted by this patient called themselves
Naturopaths. It would be interesting to compare the various
combinations of treatments and advice given and to try to analyse

13
the reasons for using these particular combinations of methods.
Perhaps, after all, they really believed in them.
Whilst it is only natural that individual practitioners will always lay
the greatest stress on the methods that have the strongest appeal
to them personally, the effect on the patient is confusing.
It is wrong to encourage belief in the power of medicine or food or
a machine to heal; or even for that matter, to encourage belief in
some magic power in the practitioner's hands.

TREATMENTS
• At this point it would be wise to give a list of the most popular
methods of treatment, which have been classified from time
to time as natural.
• Some of these treatments are far from natural and have no
place in a system of healing called Nature Cure.
• This will be explained as we go along.
• A simple description will be given of each method, with my
comment on each one and my opinion as to its merits or
otherwise.

DIETETICS - This subject covers everything that is consumed by

the mouth.
• Nothing but food should ever pass the lips.
• There is never a time when a poison or non-food has any
value.
• Dietetics is the cornerstone of Nature Cure but it is also the
most difficult of all subjects connected with it.
• A fully balanced diet contains everything needed for nutrition.
• Such things as vitamins, food supplements and so-called
natural remedies are of very little, if any, value.
• The vast majority of people do not want to give up their
orthodox eating habits, so we have many schools of thought,
all vying with each other to make dietetics attractive and
acceptable to the average person.
• All kinds of queer diets are proposed. There are diets for
almost every conceivable complaint - Ulcer diets, Obesity

14
 diets, Constipation diets, Diets for Arthritis and Rheumatism.
One enterprising practitioner has even resurrected the old
and discredited Salisbury diet consisting of cooked minced
meat and hot water. Such diets are not only useless but also
harmful.

LIGHT
• This subject covers sunlight, chromotherapy, infrared, ultra-
violet and other forms of light radiation.
• It is very doubtful if any of these methods, except
sunbathing, has any value beyond what psychological help
they may give.
• The only benefits derived would be produced by the faith one
has in them.
• Sunbathing on the other hand is a perfectly natural method
of absorbing solar radiations from the sun and should be
included in every natural health program.
• In the beginning, the exposures to the sun should be
carefully graduated in order to avoid burning.
AIR
• Air bathing, breathing, hot-air baths, ozone and oxygen
therapy have all been used.
• Air bathing is most beneficial in that it tones up the muscles
and develops efficient skin reaction.
• Breathing pure air by means of rhythmic diaphragmatic
breathing should form pan of every health program.
• The ozone and oxygen treatments and hot-air baths have
little value and act mainly as symptomatic treatments.
• Tobacco smoking could also be mentioned under the
heading of Air. Inhalation of these poisonous gases pollutes
the bloodstream and not only causes respiratory diseases,
but also aggravates many conditions in other parts of the
body.

15
EXERCISE
• Under this heading we find physical culture, weight lifting,
sports and gymnastics.
• Running, Jogging, Swimming and all non-violent sports are
the ideal form of exercise.
• Violent movements should be avoided.
• Those exercises that rotate, flex and stretch the spine are
the most valuable as personal systems of exercise.
• Conscious posture correction has great value in overcoming
some of the wrong postural habits of civilised life.

PHYSICAL THERAPIES
Under this heading we can group all of the mechanical treatments,
those that study and treat the body as a mechanical contrivance.
The philosophy behind all of these treatments can be stated as “A
place for everything and everything in its place.”
They all strive to produce normality of the body structure.
The best-known are - Osteopathy and Chiropractic. They
commenced as entirely separate and distinct systems. Today, they
have overlapped to such an extent that chiropractic schools teach
many osteopathic movements, while osteopathic schools teach
almost all of the chiropractic methods.
Chiropractic formerly concentrated its efforts on the examination
and adjustments of the bony joints of the body, paying particular
attention to the spine. Chiropractors now use hydrotherapy,
electrotherapy, vitamins and many other adjuncts.
Osteopaths originally depended solely on manipulation of the soft
tissues and bony structure, and declared that there was no room
for anything else. Osteopaths today use chiropractic adjustments,
dietetics, food supplements, massage, electrotherapy and several
other methods. American osteopaths even use drugs and surgery.
Osteopaths claim that the osteopathic lesion is the main cause of
ill health. This is defined as a tissue-change in any part of the
body, which impedes nutrition, drainage and flow of nerve-force,
blood and lymph.
Chiropractors claim that an impingement of a nerve by a slightly
misplaced or abnormally fixed vertebra or joint (called a

16
subluxation) can cause an excess or shortage of nerve-force and
thus act as a cause of disease.
The osteopath uses a series of actions, which he calls osteopathic
movements. These are leverages on the bony structure and
manipulation of the soft tissues. The chiropractor uses a quick
recoil thrust against a maladjusted vertebra or joint and calls this
an adjustment.
Unfortunately, much mumbo-jumbo has surrounded Osteopathy
and Chiropractic. Exaggerated claims have been made for them
and they have been grossly misused.
These manipulations are not always necessary. If there is no
appreciable mechanical disability they are not needed. However, if
there is interference with the normal flow of blood, lymph and
nerve-force, it is wise to adjust these abnormalities. Many
thousands of people have recovered their health without
manipulation, which proves that in some cases it is unnecessary.
Manipulation should only be used when needed.
When spinal discs are thinned or crushed, spinal traction is very
beneficial.

MASSAGE
• Under this heading we have manual rubbing, stroking,
kneading and vibration, as well as ultra-sonic, electrical
vibration and concussion of the spine.
• Massage and vibration can best be described as external
pushing.
• The effect is purely palliative and has been much over-rated.
• Massage does not produce any permanent beneficial change
in the structure or chemical composition of the body.
• Some massage methods have value in that they relieve pain
by breaking up congestion and dispersing toxins.
• They do not aid the body to remove the cause of disease so
cannot be claimed as having any healing value.
• Massage should be used for relief of pain and even then only
for as long as is necessary and until the body has been able
to remove the cause of the pain.

17
ELECTROTHERAPY
• This includes Diathermy, Short wave, Galvanic Faradic and
all other methods of applying electricity to the body.
• Except for the slight psychological help they may give some
suggestible people, the total effect of electricity applied in
these ways is almost nil.
• It is far better and less risky to absorb natural radiations into
our bodies through sunbathing and contact of the bare feet
with the earth.

PSYCHOLOGY
• Under this heading we have many schools of thought. All
claim to teach the patient how to correct his mental faults
and to give him the right approach to the problems of life.
• The system, which has been used by Naturopaths right from
the beginning, is Positive thinking or the development of a
positive mental attitude.
• This system teaches that a pessimistic, destructive and
negative attitude of mind produces tensions, fears and
worries and they in turn generate the climate favourable to ill
health.
• Conversely, it teaches that a positive, optimistic and
constructive mental attitude assists in the achievement of
harmony and health.
• A few practitioners have used hypnotism. Hypnotism is a
psychological crime. Never surrender your mind to anyone,
not even a Naturopath.

HYDROTHERAPY
• This is the use of water. Many modem Naturopaths have
now discarded the use of water and so in recent years this
cheap, efficient and safe health aid has been neglected.
• Some people claim that water applications are not natural
and have no value.
• If they are genuine in their belief this could only mean that
they have not properly tested hydrotherapy.

18
 • In the early days of Nature Cure, water was widely used to
cleanse, tone and harden the organism.
• It was even called The Water Cure.
• Water may be used in the form of affusions, sprays, vapour
baths, sitz baths, packs and compresses.
• It can also be used in internal baths.
• It is fully conceded that some forms of water treatments such
as colonic irrigations, hot mineral baths and other violent
applications should be avoided. This however, does not
detract from the great value of the simple forms of
hydrotherapy when intelligently applied.

SEMI-MEDICAL TREATMENTS
Herbal remedies, Biochemic tissue salts, Homeopathic drugs and
the thousands of remedies sold as natural remedies are all almost
valueless.
They have no place in a natural system of healing.
While some of these remedies are much less harmful than
orthodox drugs, they cannot remove the causes of disease nor can
they supply any of the biological requirements of the body or be
used by the body to build normal tissues. By their very nature they
are either mild poisons or non-foods and therefore should not be
consumed by well or sick people.
Herbalism is a system of botanic medicine.
Plants are treated in many ways to make them into medicines.
The body recognises these substances as unwanted material and
makes more or less violent efforts to expel them.
Most herbs, if eaten in the natural state, are wholesome foods and
should be regarded as such. When converted into medicines by
roasting, boiling, drying and mixing with harmful ingredients they
lose any value they originally possessed.
Biochemic tissue salts and Homeopathic medicines are all highly
diluted drugs.
Here again the body will try to expel these mild poisons and so
produce a reaction. But, as these drugs do not remove the causes
of disease and simply mitigate the effects of wrong living habits
they do not qualify as natural methods of treatment.

19
Many modern Naturopaths give medicines because they feel that
most people are not yet ready for the pure teachings of Nature
Cure and because there is a demand for something to take.
They have even gone so far as to rationalise this procedure by
claiming that people suffer from certain deficiencies that these
natural remedies supply.
The medical profession has used placebos for many years. A
placebo is defined as medicine, which contains solely inactive
ingredients. The only possible benefit gained would be produced
by the faith patients have in these remedies. Early hygienists
made use of coloured water and bread pills. People were
encouraged to believe that these so-called medicines contained
some powerful and mysterious healing powers. Today, this faith
has been transferred to vitamin pills and food supplements.
In Great Britain, the situation has become so serious that an
organisation known as the British Register of Naturopaths accepts
as members only those practitioners who practise pure
Naturopathy. In order to gain membership the applicant must
promise not to prescribe remedies of any kind. This is a step in
the right direction and members of this organisation assure
patients of a high standard of practice.
There have been other methods used from time to time. Each has
had its day. Some of these survive today and are used by a few
practitioners. Under this heading we find Nerve-pressure, Zone
Therapy and Radiesthesia, including the so-called Colour-
therapy.
The first two I have mentioned constitute a group of methods that
depends upon pressure at strategic points on the body to produce
effects of stimulation and inhibition. They either speed up or
slow down the flow of nerve-force and do on occasions, produce
effects. Their value is minute, brief and not worth the trouble
involved. At best, they do little harm. At worst, they suppress
slightly some symptoms of disease. They are all unnecessary.
Radiesthesia or Radionics is based on the claim that disease is
caused by unfavourable radiations and that inducement of
favourable radiations can improve health. Radiesthesia is quite
useless for the purpose of making changes in the body structure or
body chemistry. It has the saving grace that it does not do any
harm except to convince the patient that there is some magical
quality of healing in the little black box.

20
The truth is that the inherent healing power within the cells of the
body alone can bring about a return to health. You will get good
results with Nature Cure, with or without Radiesthesia, but you will
NOT get results without that force known as the Vis Medicatrix
Naturae or the healing power of nature.
Acupuncture and Chicken embryo injections are methods that
have become popular in recent years. They have the glamour of
the east about them.
• Acupuncture makes use of needles, which are thrust, into the
skin in certain well-defined areas. It is highly unnatural and
quite useless.
• The embryos of unborn chickens are used to provide the raw
material that is injected into dupes who believe it will confer
some benefit on them. It is supposed to produce rejuvenation
- Another most unnatural and useless procedure.

FASTING
I have left the most important and least understood subject until
the last.
Fasting can be described as nature's own method of healing.
Not that there is any healing power in the act of depriving yourself
of food alone - but Fasting does give the digestive system directly -
and the rest of the body indirectly - a much-needed rest.
Right from the beginning Naturopaths have held the belief that rest
or conservation of energy was the best way to assist the body to
heal and repair itself.
Naturopaths were not quite alone. Many years ago an eminent
medical doctor, John Hilton, wrote in his classical work "Rest and
Pain", the following words - "Pain is the monitor. Rest the cure."
Doctor Hilton understood that pain was the reflection of the
nervous system telling us that something was wrong. He also
understood that at this time the body needed rest to effect a cure
The secret of Fasting is not mysterious. It provides physiological
rest, which combined with mental and physical rest - is the most
important tool in the hands of the Naturopath.
Fasting is the Rest Cure.

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We have now concluded our review of the most important and
best-known methods, which have been included in the practice of
Nature Cure.
Any one or more of these methods has been called Nature Cure.
I leave it to the judgment of the individual as to what he or she
thinks about each one.
I have tried to indicate fairly those methods which I feel should and
should not be included. If my readers feel that I have been unduly
harsh on some natural health practitioners, I would point out that
ANY unorthodox treatment is better than the orthodox medical
treatment.
ANY treatment, which poisons the body less, or which subjects it to
less strain or less enervation is bound to be more beneficial than
orthodox treatment. Since it is the inherent healing power within
the body that heals, it follows that the less hindrance caused the
better the end-result will be.
Some remedies are simply placebos, which act on the principle
that they keep the patient happy while nature does the curing. The
bottles of coloured water and bread pills that were used at the
close of the 19th century were used on the assumption that
patients expected the doctor to give them something to take.
We can only hope that humanity is ready to emerge from this
infantile stage and can now adopt a more scientific and more
rational outlook towards health and healing.
There is a widespread misconception that anything that is not
“medical” treatment must therefore be Nature Cure.
Members of the medical profession are impatient with Naturopaths.
They claim that doctors already use everything that Naturopaths
use so there is no need for a separate profession.
It is true that the medical profession at one time or another has
used all of our methods, although they have now largely discarded
most of them. Dietetics, Liquid Diets, Fasting, Exercising,
Relaxation, Sunbathing, Water Treatments and Manipulation have
all been used by medical practitioners.
The essential difference between medicine and Nature Cure is the
philosophy behind them.
The tools we use are not so important. Give one tradesman a saw,
a hammer, a plane and a square. He will produce a piece of
furniture or a house and it will be a work of art.

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Give the same tools to an unskilled man and he will produce an
inferior job.
It is not the tools but the skill and understanding of the
operator and how he applies his knowledge and skill that
matters.

THE POWER TO HEAL

Here we can anticipate a question. "If there is no healing power in
drugs, surely there MUST be some healing power in herbs or
electricity. Aren't they natural?" My reply is NONE at all. The power
to heal does not lie in ANY substance, ANY machine or in any
other human being.
• The power to heal is within the tiny cells of every living body,
animal or vegetable.
• Every cell of your body is vibrating with life, expanding and
contracting, pulsing with movement.
• It is absorbing electricity and radiating electricity.
• It is absorbing chemicals and excreting chemicals.
• THIS is the power that heals.
• When we understand this simple basic truth, we understand
almost everything there is to understand about Nature Cure.
There is NO healing power in anything outside the body.
• Nature Cure is used only for the purpose of releasing the
inherent power within the cell.
• Only such treatments and procedures as those that help the
body to achieve normality are of any value.
We of the Nature Cure school know through experience that
the human body will function perfectly if it is given the right
foods, a favourable environment, proper hygienic care and
congenial activity.
We believe that unsuitable foods, drugs, medicines and
unnecessary surgical operations, unfavourable environments,
unhygienic living habits and negative mental attitudes all
cause disease, reduce efficiency, hinder nature's self-healing
efforts and shorten life.

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Every cell of the body has within itself the Will to live - the Will
to survive. This is the Life force in action and this is what we
have to encourage.

CAUSE AND EFFECT

A visit to a Naturopath is a pleasantly different experience from a
visit to a medical physician.
• The physician is concerned mainly with outward symptoms
and his treatments are directed largely towards removal of
these outward symptoms (Effects)
• The Naturopath, on the other hand, concerns himself mainly
with the search for CAUSES of disease. His treatments are
directed mainly towards removal of causes.
Germ Theory
• The medical profession holds to the belief that germs and
viruses cause disease. The treatment is therefore directed
largely towards the killing of these germs and viruses by
means of drugs, which are loosely, called antibiotics.
Toxaemia
• The Naturopath makes no effort to kill germs or viruses
because he does not recognise them as being basic causes
of disease.
• While he accepts the existence of bacteria, he knows that
the bacteria are secondary in the scheme of disease
causation.
• Germs arise within a diseased and poisoned organism and
thrive on the filthy matter they find there.
• Germs and viruses cannot and do not harm a healthy body.

Germs Do Not Like a Clean Environment

You can make a simple test for yourself, which will prove this.
• Get two clean bottles. Stand them side-by-side.
• In one bottle place scraps of decaying food.
• Wait for a few days.
• The bottle containing the food will be infested by all kinds of
vermin.

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 • The empty bottle will be free from infestation.
• Why?
• Because there is nothing in the empty bottle of interest to the
vermin.
• Germs and viruses are scavengers of the human body.
• Germs find no habitation or food supply in a healthy body.
• Those who live in accordance with natural law have nothing
to fear from germs.
• Every housewife knows that the secret of a healthy home is
cleanliness.
• Apply the same line of reasoning to your body.
• If you have neglected your home it will become infested. So
will your body.

We return to our original question.

What IS Nature Cure?
Nature Cure is a way of life, which lays down certain requirements.
If these are met we will be able to live in health.
It also offers hope for the restoration of health to those who are
afflicted.
The right way back to health is to remove all unnatural living habits
and obstructions to normal functioning of the body.
The methods based upon natural law, which I described earlier,
have their uses in varying degrees.
When a Naturopath makes his diagnosis of a case he forms a
picture of the patient and his living habits.
Obviously no two people are exactly alike and so his instructions
may differ in each case.
One person may eat suitable food but does not exercise enough.
Another may exercise enough and eat suitable food but due to the
adoption of negative mental attitudes, nullifies all his efforts
towards health.
Some people eat basically good foods - yet grossly overeat, thus
overloading their digestive capacity, producing indigestion and all
of the ills that follow.

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OMNI-LATERAL
Good health demands attention to all of the factors we have
discussed.
If we neglect one or more of these we may not necessarily die or
develop cancer, but we WILL have reduced efficiency or shortened
life span.
Any attempt at restoring health should take into account as many
as possible of the essential factors, especially those that have
been neglected over long periods.
A one-sided approach (UNI-LATERAL) to health is NOT Nature
Cure.
Dietetic errors account for by far the largest proportion of disease
conditions and that is why Naturopaths lay such stress on the
adoption of rational eating habits.
No matter how positively we think, how much we fast, how much
we exercise, if the food we eat is sub-standard we will never
achieve the highest standard of health of which we are capable.
• We need food, which is naturally suited to our digestive
system. This is briefly raw fruit, raw vegetables, nuts, whole
grains and a few other minor items.
• Our food should be masticated thoroughly and we should not
overeat.
• Our food should preferably be organically grown using
compost instead of artificial fertilisers.
• Food grown organically lasts better keeps longer and has a
higher nutritional value.
• We need pure air on our skins.
• We should breathe this air deeply and rhythmically using the
diaphragm rather than the chest for this purpose.
• We need plenty of sunshine, both through the food we eat
and directly on the bare skin.
• Our skin also needs regular bathing with cool water and then
rubbing vigorously.
• We need exercise and plenty of it.
• We should adopt a positive, constructive and cheerful
outlook on life.

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 • We should radiate love, harmony and helpfulness towards
our fellow man. We should try to achieve mental poise.
These are the minimum requirements for health and given
these we should live long healthy lives, providing our heredity
is sound.
If we have disobeyed nature's laws and suffer sub-standard
health we may reverse the process providing the damage
done to vital organs has not been too great. We must remove
the CAUSE of disease and do everything in our power to
produce normality of the body structure and body chemistry.
• There are times when such treatments as manipulation can
be used to correct structural faults and deviations.
• If the skin action has been impaired through years of neglect
and it is no longer able to carry out its function of eliminating
body wastes efficiently, hydrotherapy in the form of vapour
baths, sitz baths or compresses can be used to assist in
normalising skin action.
As long as the treatments are non-violent in character and carefully
applied, they can assist in achieving normality.
The wise and competent Naturopath is the one who can detect
the faults in his patient and then selects a routine, which is
the best suited to his needs.

ACUTE V CHRONIC DISEASE

The philosophy of Nature Cure recognises only two forms of
disease. It is unnecessary to give names to various sets of
symbols. The body is either in the Acute state or the Chronic state.
That is all we need to know.
ACUTE
• If the body is in the acute state, the temperature will be
above normal and it will also be more active than usual.
• This is a sign of high vitality.
• We call this the Healing Crisis.
• It may take the form of colds, influenza, diarrhoea, head-
aches, boils or skin eruptions.
• The Healing Crisis is an example of Nature's effort to heal
and restore normal functioning of the organism.

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 • When you develop a healing crisis the correct procedure is to
Fast at once and continue to do so until the body indicates
that the fast should be concluded.
• If you have not fasted before it is advisable to undertake your
first fast under correct supervision.

CHRONIC
• If the body is in the Chronic state then a different approach is
necessary.
• In the chronic state the temperature is normal or below
normal.
• If through years of neglect, the taking of drugs or submission
to operations, or incorrect management of previous acute
diseases, the disease ceases to be acute, it then proceeds
towards the chronic state.
• In this state there may be loss of efficiency, tiredness, pains,
deformity or anyone or more of many symptoms.
• In this state the body is unable to heal itself and restore
health. It has virtually ceased to struggle against its enemies.

RAISE THE VITALITY

As the acute disease is nature's method of healing, we must direct
all of our energies towards raising the vitality of the body so this
state will be produced.
• This could take from seven weeks to two years.
• We make use of all the forces of nature, which we have been
discussing under the heading of natural treatments and
which are appropriate to our case.
• When the body is given the right foods and all other
requirements and there is an unobstructed flow of nerve-
force and blood - it will proceed to heal itself.
• It does this by producing the healing crisis. As stated before,
this is the correct time to undertake a fast.
When health has been restored it seems logical that the person
should then rearrange his or her life and living habits so as to
prevent a recurrence of disease in the future.

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There are characteristics peculiar to Nature Cure, which should be
explained to the newcomer.
Citing a case history can best do it.
• A patient presents himself to a medical physician for
diagnosis.
• The physician finds that the patient has ONE symptom only -
a headache.
• A drug is prescribed and subsequently the headache
disappears.
• As far as the physician is concerned the case is closed.
• The patient suffered a headache, a drug was given and the
patient now has no headache.
In Nature Cure the case would not be closed so readily.
We of the Nature Cure School would ask some pertinent
questions.
• What set of conditions within the body produced the
headache?
• What was the action of the drug, and by what means was the
headache cured?
• What is the condition of the body?
• Have the conditions, which produced the headache been
removed?
• Has the drug caused any permanent change within the
body?
Until these questions are satisfactorily answered we insist that this
kind of treatment remains unscientific and invalid.

PATTERN OF DISEASE
Cure of disease does not always run quite as smoothly or directly
as this case history would indicate. The body has its own way of
dealing with causes of disease.
A short time after the adoption of a normal living plan, certain
dynamic and revolutionary changes take place within the body.
• The toxins or blood poisons which were most recently
acquired, are eliminated.

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 • Then those poisons that were accumulated further back in
time will be eliminated progressively in reverse order to that
in which they were accumulated.
• The poisons you accumulated a month ago will be eliminated
first.
• The poisons you accumulated two months ago will be
eliminated next.
• Those you accumulated twelve months ago will be next, and
so on.
• Thus the body progressively and systematically cleanses its
tissues of unwanted and harmful material.
• This continues until the body finally rids itself of all harmful
matter.
• A person who has had many diseases in the past and has
cured them medically must understand that these diseases
were not in reality cured at all, but only suppressed.
• Not only do his tissues contain the actual poisons, which
caused his disease in the first place, but also the residues of
the drugs used to CURE the disease.
• So, the body, acting under the stimulus of the new Nature
Cure program, builds vitality, which enables it to
progressively throw off both the original disease-producing
poisons, AND the drugs used in treatment.
In carrying out a Nature Cure Treatment we commonly find that the
patient has a revisitation of his old illnesses, but in a milder form
and for a shorter period. This is what distinguishes Nature Cure
markedly from all other forms of healing.
A patient following a Nature Cure regimen actually re-lives his
past medical history in reverse.
The intelligent patient is pleased to note that his body is now vital
and active and that for the first time in years it is healthy enough to
rid itself of poisons accumulated over a long period.

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DISCIPLINE AND WILL POWER
Even though many so-called miracles have occurred under Nature
Cure, it would be wrong to demand dramatic results in every case.
Each case is different.
• People have had organs removed. Others have taken drugs
or eaten unsuitable food over a long period.
• Others again have sustained injuries to the spine or other
vital parts of the body.
• A person, who after a long period of wrong living, simply
adopted more rational eating habits may find that his
condition persists or even becomes worse for a time.
• Only a complete change in the way of life will be of any avail
in these cases.
• Half measures will not do.
• A body saturated with poisons or unwanted materials will
take some time and patience to rehabilitate.
• In rare cases, the sufferer must be content with prevention of
any further deterioration in health, or at best, to experience a
slow transition back to full health.
• We cannot dictate to nature.
• A healthy person is one who can do a hard day's work and
enjoy it. He recuperates quickly.
• He needs no artificial stimulants such as tea, coffee or
alcohol.
• He needs no poisonous sedatives like tobacco.
• He has normal bowel action without having to resort to
laxatives or the enema.
• What is more he is free from aches and pains.
• His tongue is clean, his breath sweet and fresh.
• He feels well every day.
• His mind is alert and intelligent.
If you do not measure up to these standards it is time you took
stock of yourself to see what changes you can make in your way of
life to correct any deficiencies.

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Is there to be no compromise?
Of course!
Those who are unwilling to adopt the full program may go as far as
they wish.
They will derive benefit in ratio to the effort they make in the
beginning.
• You can make minor changes in your diet - eliminate harmful
foods and add others more nutritious.
• Then as time goes on and as you feel the benefit you gain,
you can increase your involvement.
• The decision you make is entirely your own.
• You are a free agent.
By neglecting your health you hurt only yourself.

It can be seen that Nature Cure is quite different from any other
healing art.
It requires two things of us - Intelligence and Will power.
Intelligence is necessary to enable us to carry out the program that
is suited to us.
Self-discipline and will power are essential to achieve the results.

IN THE BEGINNING
In the beginning it is advisable to have a consultation with a
Naturopath, one who is competent, one who has experienced
Nature Cure in his own case.
He will give you an assessment of your condition and then plan a
program for you to follow.
It is also advisable to join a Natural Health Society if there is one in
your locality.
By means of lectures, films, demonstrations and discussions, you
will learn more about this fascinating new approach to health.
Buy some good books and magazines and make yourself familiar
with the simple fundamentals of Nature Cure.
If you have absorbed the contents of this book you will at least
know the answer to the question - What IS Nature Cure?

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But - is information enough?
It is not.

ENTHUSIASM
We also need some enthusiasm.
• Enthusiasm infuses the whole organism with vitality and
activity.
• Having taken the stand in favour of natural living and natural
healing, only a positive, constructive and optimistic attitude is
good enough.
• Give this new program your full co-operation.
• Apply the rules precisely and regularly.
• Don't keep changing your program.
There are those who start off well.
They adopt a good diet, do some exercises and maybe have a few
treatments.
Then, they hear of some magic remedy such as Apple Cider
Vinegar.
They become excited at the prospect of a quick cure.
A few months later we hear of them taking vitamin tablets.
They might try the latest craze of Radiesthesia.
Next we hear of them going to a Magnetic Healer, a Faith Healer
or a Spiritual Medium.
These people get some kind of satisfaction out of trying everything
novel, but they NEVER achieve real health.
Only patience and consistency will do this. It takes time to get
well.

NATURE CURE PRINCIPLES

To recapitulate, here are the principles of Nature Cure
1. ALL healing power is within your own body.
2. There is NO curative power in drugs, medicines, herbs,
foods, electrical apparatus or anything else outside your own
body.

33
 3. Nature has NOT provided cures for disease. Nature has only
provided penalties for the breaking of some natural law.
4. Return to obedience of natural law IS the only valid method
of cure.
5. Drugs cause disease. If they succeed in "curing" one
disease, they cause another. ALL drugs have two effects.
One is that intended to benefit the patient and the other is
the side effect, which harms the patient. You cannot have
one without the other.
6. Since all drugs are potential CAUSES of disease we should
avoid them at all times.
7. Drugs do NOT act upon the body, as taught in medical
schools and in medical textbooks. The body reacts to the
drug. The body recognises the drug as unwanted material
and makes an attempt to expel it.
8. True medicines are materials and influences, which have
normal relations to the body. Drugs are all harmful because
they are not normal to the body by nature.
9. Nature's medicine chest contains: Sunlight, air, water, rest,
exercise, correct temperature, natural foods, positive mental
attitude and correction of misaligned bony joints.
10. Nature Cure consists in supplying the body with whatever it
needs, and can use, in the particular circumstances.
11. Nature Cure assists to get well by removing the CAUSES
of disease, and by providing the most favourable
conditions.
12. Nature Cure is not a one-sided approach to health. It
makes use of all non-harmful methods that have as their
objective the normalisation of the body.
13. When the body is given its normal natural materials and
conditions it maintains health. It will also restore health
when it has been lost.

NO medicines! NO remedies! NO cures! Only normalisation

THAT is Nature Cure

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Published and Edited by:
HINTONHEALTH
Kevin and Katy Hinton
Teaching the Science of Natural Living and Natural Healing
www.HINTONHEALTH.com.au

All Rights Reserved.

© Copyright, 2014

STATEMENT BY THE PUBLISHER

The opinions expressed in this article are based on the naturopathic philosophy of health and do not
coincide with currently accepted medical theories on health and healing. The publisher does not claim
that any advice given represents a "cure" for disease. If the reader has any doubts regarding his or her
health, it is the responsibility of that individual to consult a competent health practitioner.

35