"Let food be medicine"

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 279, 21 March 1989, Page 11

"Let food be medicine"

By

Errol

vlncent

Naturopathy is an approach to health which relies strongly on the beneficial effects of diet.

As Hippocrates said: "let food be your medicine and medicine be your food." Many of the foods available today are "denatured" and when ingested leave in the body many unwanted toxic residues which then interfere with cell function. As our bodies depend entirely on upon effective, and efficient cell function, the gradual, and in many cases not so gradual, build up of toxins in the body lead to a state of dis-ease and this in turn leaves the body susceptible to infection. The body then can no longer defend itself against viral or bacte-' rial invasion. There are many times however, when a well established diet is not easily changed - a person is under mental, physical

or emotional stress or the person has experienced some trauma in the form of an accident. Then Naturopathy moves into the area of assisting the body to regain a high level of wellness. Four important ways of doing this are through the use of Homeopathics, herbs, Homeo-botanicals and Cranio Sacral techniques. Homeopathics uses minutes amounts of various substances, animal, vegetable or mineral to react with the dis-ease condition of the patient in a manner which leads to the elimination of that unwanted state. In many cases the amount of the active ingredient is so small as to be non existant and the remedy then relies on the potent vibration or force of the

remedy to bring about a healing change. Modern scientific methods find this difficult to prove but thousands of people who have used homeopathic remedies including the British Royal Family, would willingly testify to their effectiveness. Modern Homeopathy uses combinations of remedies to treat conditions like eczema, hay fever, menopause and allergies. Healing with herbs is certainly not new, in fact many modern drugs owe their origins to the scientific extraction of the herb's 'active ingredient'. Unfortunately this active ingredient when separated from the rest of the herb loses the controlling synergistic effects of these other compo-

nents which, in a physical application, allows the isolated active ingredient to elicit unwanted side effects. Naturopaths and herbalists use the complete unprocessed effective portion of the herb, including the roots, leaves, flowers and seeds. Dosage rates are easily controlled, side effects are virtually non existant and herbal combinations are very effective in treating many physical ailments. Herbs like Ginseng and Gotu Kola actually slow down the ageing process by retarding cell degeneration and through the mopping up of destructive 'Free Radicles.' Homeo-botanicals is a New Zealand developed healing system which is part way betwwen Homeopathics and Herbalism. It retains all the effective parts of the herbs in a dilute homeopathic liquid solution. Individual remedies can be easily blended to suit the patients complaint and because it is in liquid Turnpage 12

"Let medicine be your food"

Frompagell form is is easily taken by children. Homeo-botanicals is an exciting development and is proving to be ex'tremely effective and fast acting. A powerful hands-on healing technique is the Cranio-Sacral osteopathic method of re-en-ergising and activating the cranial dural membranes. It frees the skull joints where they are immobilised, thereby allowing the bones of the skull to move and pulse with the Cranio Sacral Rhythm, a pulse of about 10 cycles per minute, and freeing the spinal cord down to the tail bone so energies can flow freely through the central nervous system.

This method is proving effective in cases of hysteria, autism, back pains, headaches and hyperactivity. The Cranio Sacral membranes were only recently discovered and the Cranio Sacral technique, through working on these dural membranes, stops cranial fluid pressures building up. A build-up of pressure can lead to disfunction and ill health. It is a system of left-right brain integration and 'Energy Therapy'. It is a gentle hands-on technique. In all, naturopathy works by stimulating the body to heal itself and then to maintain a high level of wellness.

Errol

Vincent