Our health depends more on lifestyle than the kind of doctors we have. Even the best advice, from the best doctors, will do us no good if we do not follow it. It is we, and not our doctors, who are ultimately responsible for our well-being.

Doctor as Teacher

According to the new Paradigm, doctors must give up their role as high priests and demigods and assume their new role as teachers. The word "doctor" comes from a Latin word for "teacher," so this is the task they should have performed all along. It is the doctor's responsibility to be knowledgeable about the principles of good health and to be willing to teach that knowledge to others. This requires that the doctor spend time with the patient, a difficult task in our technologically-based system.

Our doctors have been acting more like technicians than teachers, because our high-tech system is disease-oriented rather than health-oriented. A disease oriented system works for crisis situations, because a disease is a crisis. Our medical system excels in the treatment of trauma. They also perform amazing acts in such crises as heart attacks. A heart attack, however, is the end result of a long-term degenerative condition, such as hardening of the arteries. In such conditions prevention would make much more sense than waiting for the crisis to occur before taking action. It is in the prevention of disease, and in the treatment of degenerative and self-limiting conditions, that our technological medicine falls short.

Prevention is Better than a Cure

The art of medicine would never have been discovered, nor would there have been any medical research—for there would have been no need for medicine—if sick men had benefited by the same manner of living and by the same food and drink of men in health.
Hippocrates

The new paradigm led to the rediscovery of a truth that wise physicians have always known, even since ancient times: Prevention is better than a cure. Since most of the factors that affect our health are lifestyle choices, prevention is our responsibility.

Our Responsibility

Many choose the path of ignorance,
for knowledge demands responsibility.
Many, otherwise educated,
choose ignorance in matters of health.
They are easy prey for the vampires of Aesculapius,
patiently awaiting the twilight,
to feast upon their children's inheritance.
Anonymous

It is amazing that the average person knows more about the internal mechanisms of their automobile than they do about the physiology of their own body. This is a dangerous folly since you can always buy a new automobile, but you can never buy a new body. (Many try to buy new parts for the body, but these are poor substitutes for the original equipment.) It is only because we have been so unwilling to assume responsibility for our health that we have been so willing to hand it over to others.

Knowledge is power. In no area of life is this truer than in health care and maintenance. The more we know, the better equipped we will be to make intelligent decisions when we are presented with options. Being informed also means that we will be better equipped to make decisions regarding lifestyle choices—the foods we eat, the supplements we take, our activity level, thought processes, etc.—choices which are an important part of preventing disease and maximizing energy and health.

The Five Fundamentals of Health

The Five Fundamentals of Health, according to natural health philosophy, are the five areas of lifestyle that we must attend to in order to maximize health and prevent disease. We will now take a brief look at each of these five areas.

Cleansing

In our fastidious society, everyone understands the importance of keeping the outside of the body clean. This is because we can see the outside. But it is just as important, if not more so, to keep the inside clean. I am reminded of a television commercial promoting a tooth paste that is purported to clean tar stains off the teeth of smokers. But what about the tar you can't see—the tar in the lungs?

Hygiene, both inside and out, is important to health. But the importance of hygiene applies to more than just the body. Since we depend on our surroundings for the essentials of life—air, food, water, etc.—a clean environment is just as important. Many of the great plagues that have befallen humankind have been the result of unclean living conditions. The Bubonic Plague, or "Black Death," which wiped out a large part of Europe during the Middle Ages, was carried by fleas, which were in turn carried by rodents. It was the lack of sanitation, resulting in the accumulation of garbage and proliferation of rats, that ultimately led to the many deaths caused by the "Black Death."

Many deaths throughout history and even today are the result of diseases such as dysentery and cholera, which are spread by unclean water. Drinking water that has been contaminated by sewage is particularly dangerous. Modern sewage and water treatment facilities are largely responsible for the increased lifespans we enjoy today, and have done more to prevent disease than all the doctors, drugs, and hospitals in the world. But even today most drinking water is not as clean as it should be. Many disease-causing parasites are spread by drinking water so it is prudent to take extra precautions by using an appropriate water filter.

Intestinal (Colon) Cleansing

Imagine what would happen if your household trash was allowed to accumulate. This would soon attract all sorts of disease-carrying vermin. We could kill the vermin with poison, but it would be much better to clean out the trash that is feeding it.

The same happens in the body when waste is allowed to accumulate because elimination is not keeping up with waste production. In this case the vermin are opportunistic disease-carrying "germs" and parasites. We could poison the vermin with antibiotics and other drugs, but wouldn't it be better to clean out the waste that is causing the problem?

The average American consumes five pounds of chemical food additives per year. To add insult to injury, modern food processing has removed most of the fiber from our foods, and we eat too many foods, such as meat and dairy products, that contain no fiber at all. Fiber acts like a broom, helping sweep chemicals and toxins through the intestinal tract. When we don't get enough fiber in the diet, the movement of the intestines is slowed, promoting the build up of waste material and toxins in the bowel, liver and blood. Everyone can benefit from a periodic colon cleanse to clear out these accumulations.

The term "colon cleansing" is a little misleading, because true cleansing means much more than simply taking a laxative to empty the bowels. A good herbal cleanse will not only improve elimination but will aid all of the organs and tissues that have an eliminative function including, not only the colon or bowel, but the liver, lungs, skin, blood, and kidneys as well. The herbal cleansing product that I recommend for this is CleanStart.

Cleansing opens the body's channels of elimination so that waste can be properly eliminated before toxins build up to dangerous levels in the tissues and blood. Toxins produce stress and deplete the body's energy systems. Proper elimination conserves the body's healing energy making more energy available for healing and repair.

We do not recommend that people who are thin, pale, emaciated or in a weakened condition begin with a cleanse. Such people should begin by building. We also do not recommend cleansing for women who are pregnant or lactating. For the rest of us, it is a good idea to begin our nutritional programs with a cleanse. We then recommend a cleanse twice a year—once in the Spring and again in the Fall.

So the first fundamental of health is cleansing—cleansing the body (inside and out); and insuring that our environment, air, and drinking water are also pure.

Leisure

The second fundamental of health is Leisure. By this I mean rest, relaxation and sleep. Adequate Rest is necessary for physical and mental rejuvenation. Sleep is essential for our well-being, but it isn't just the quantity of sleep that is important, it's the quality. There are four phases of sleep. Once the fourth or deepest phase is attained, the body goes through a sort of sleeping rhythm, alternating between dream sleep and non-dream sleep. Distinct types of emotional and physical healing and building take place during these two distinct types of sleep. Both are necessary to maintain our health. Researchers have shown that sleep deprivation, and even poor quality sleep, suppresses the immune system and is detrimental to mental and physical well-being.

People who have trouble sleeping often feel the need to resort to sleep-inducing drugs. Although these drugs may put you to sleep, they interfere with the natural rhythm of sleep and almost never result in quality sleep. Herbs like hops, valerian and passion flower help induce a more natural sleep and are better alternatives for people who have trouble sleeping. (These three herbs are available in a sleep combination appropriately named Herbal Sleep.)

Exercise

One of the greatest contributors to our fat society is lack of exercise. We have become a nation of "couch potatoes" who would rather sit in front of the television than enjoy a brisk walk outdoors. It will come as no surprise that exercise is an essential key to weight loss and weight management. Our bodies burn calories at a faster rate when we exercise, but just as important is the fact that regular exercise speeds up the body's metabolism so we continue burning calories at a faster rate even when at rest. Exercise raises blood sugar levels giving us more energy and helping us feel better. It also promotes better sleep. When we feel better and have more energy we tend to be more active which also helps.

Vigorous exercise for at least 15 to 20 minutes, three times a week, is a fundamental of health and a fundamental of weight loss and lifetime maintenance. Our exercise programs do not necessarily have to include intense activities such as jogging or running. A brisk walk at a comfortable pace is an ideal exercise for most people. Since walking is less vigorous than running or jogging, we should ideally try to do it for at least 40 minutes at a time, if health permits. If you have been sedentary for most of your life you might have to start slowly, gradually building up your endurance level. Other activities such as bicycling are also excellent as long as they are done on a regular basis—preferably every day, but at least three times a week.

Attitude

Our attitude is our internal dialogue—what we tell ourselves about the events taking place around us. A good attitude is a buffer against stress and disease. It promotes a good immune system. A bad or negative attitude causes the body to release chemicals into the bloodstream that are inappropriate for the situation and detrimental to health. These will suppress the immune system and can lead to sickness. Listen to your internal dialogue or "self talk" and become aware of the thoughts that are not helping you. Release those thoughts and trust that they will be replaced by others which will be more helpful.

Nutrition

Earlier in this lesson I mentioned the extracellular fluid—the fluid that bathes our cells providing them with a constant supply of nutrients and carrying away their waste products. All of the water and nutrients in this fluid come from the general circulation of blood, which in turn comes from what we take into the body. The quality of this extracellular fluid, and thus the quality of our internal environment, is determined by the choices we make in our food and drink. If a nutrient needed by a cell is not in the diet, and is not produced by the body, it will not be available to the cell. The cell will not be able to perform its job properly and our health will suffer.

Is it necessary to supplement?

In order to maintain our maximum health potential throughout a lifetime, I believe that it is necessary to supplement our diets. Due to modern farming methods, overworking of the soil, and the depletion of beneficial bacteria in the soil by pesticide use, the foods we eat today are lacking in sufficient quantities of many trace minerals. Food processing techniques designed to extend shelf-life destroy many important nutrients—especially vitamins, enzymes and phytonutrients. Furthermore, for many of us a stressful lifestyle and polluted environment increases our need for certain vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients.

Today's typical diet in the industrialized nations, although high in calories, is grossly lacking in the nutrients we require for good health. Sometimes the effects of this malnutrition do not show up until later in life, when chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and osteoporosis are most likely to occur. But for many of us the effects are present even today, with a decreased ability to fight off disease and a general lack of energy and vitality. We will cover nutritional supplementation more thoroughly in the remaining lessons of this course.

We have briefly covered the Five Fundamentals of Health, the five areas of lifestyle that we must attend to in order to reach our maximum health potential. To help you remember them, remember the acronym CLEAN:

Cleansing
Leisure (Rest and Sleep)
Exercise
Attitude
Nutrition

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Conclusion

In the beginning of this lesson I mentioned the word "alternative" and intimated that its use is incorrect when referring to natural methods of health care such as herbalism, nutrition and massage. These natural methods have been around for thousands of years, even since the dawn of humankind, and so they can hardly be correctly referred to as "alternative." The correct term is "traditional." It is modern technological and pharmacological medicine, which has only been around for the past century or so, that is the alternative. Modern pharmacological medicine is an experiment that has largely failed with regard to prevention and treatment of chronic and degenerative conditions. It is time to take a new look at our health care system to decide what we should keep and what we should discard.

Do we need to provide free prescription drugs to the entire population, paid for by our tax dollars? The drug companies and their stock holders will have us believe so! But their interest is profit—not health. In fact, the sicker the population, the more profit there will be for them. It is the lobbying done by the drug companies that has convinced many of our politicians to support this immense boondoggle. But when we consider that Americans—especially our seniors—are already enormously over medicated, and that millions have already died from their prescription drugs, we can see the enormous folly of this line of thought. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, reactions to prescription and over-the-counter drugs kill more than 100,000 Americans and seriously injure an additional 2.1 million each year. This does not include prescribing errors, doctor and hospital mistakes, or drug abuse. This means that medications rank as one of the leading causes of death in the U.S., behind heart disease, cancer, lung disease, strokes and accidents . Say "NO" to prescription drug coverage!

In this lesson we have discussed the tenets of Natural Health Philosophy. We have explored a new paradigm which has arisen from the grass roots level of the people, as more and more people, disillusioned with technological medicine, are taking a new look at traditional and natural methods for caring for their most valuable possession—their health.

Reading Assignment:

"How to Cure Health Care" by Milton Friedman, 1976 Nobel Prize winner in Economic Science

Word Review List:

The following terms pertain to this lesson. If you are unsure of any, click on the word for a definition. (Use your browser's "back" button to return here.)

1. extracellular fluid
   
2. holism
   
3. homeostasis
   
4. innate
   
5. paradigm
   
6. reductionism
   

End of Lesson 4

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