2 The Complete Home Guide to Herbs, Natural Healing, and Nutrition
importance rests on the fact that the human body has the ability to
regenerate itself using its own genetic blueprint. Until recently it was
believed that it took two years for the individual cells of the liver to
regenerate and thus create a new liver; now it is believed to take just a few
months. This possibility offers phenomenal hope for so many people. Of
course, the health of each new blood cell and thus each new organ refl ects
what it is created from — that is to say, if we feed our bodies nutritionally
defi cient or toxic food, we cannot expect to create healthy organs.
However, with the correct directives and input, repairing our bodies is
possible. Three groundbreaking healers of the twentieth and twenty-fi rst
centuries — Dr. John Christopher, Dr. Richard Schulze, and Dr. Deepak
Chopra — have proved this and continue to teach this inspiring thought
for many years.
Other methods, which will be explained, include the use of water: to
heat or cool the body in order to encourage circulation, to support and
nurture, to destagnate, to cleanse, and to provoke. As you read the chapter
on diseases, you will see how vigorous some of the programs need to be in
order to get results. You may be tempted to follow only part of a program
and to leave out some of the harder tasks, but if you are seriously ill, it is
imperative that you carry out the treatment as directed. If your condition
is not chronic, or if the treatment is simply a preventative, you may use
cleanses, such as a bowel or liver cleanse, specifi cally suited to your needs.
It is no coincidence that one of the most important health quests of the
twenty-fi rst century is the understanding of the immune and hormone
systems, which are now being tested and punished in a myriad of ways.
We must, therefore, ask more questions, and herbs are very good at
providing some of the answers.
Why Try Herbalism?
Medical science took a big leap forward in the United States and Europe
after World War II with the introduction of a whole collection of drugs,
including beta-blockers, anesthetics, antidepressants, steroids, and
antibiotics, to name but a few. Some remain extremely useful, especially the
anesthetics, some painkillers, and antibiotics, when used in highly selective
situations. Medical technology also took a big leap and, although some
discoveries are now readily accepted as being useful and noninvasive, much
new technology seems to have been designed simply to make lots of money
for the manufacturers, while some is positively destructive, invasive, and
life-threatening.
Robert Mendelsohn, MD, says in his book Confessions of a Medical
Heretic,
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