 little assurance for early relief.
    Another very destructive force is the wind. When surfaces are denuded either at high or low
altitudes the wind starts carving up the soil and starts it on the march across the country. We call
the demonstrations dust storms. When we travel through our Western States, it is not uncommon
to see buildings and trees partially buried in these rolling dunes of drifting sand. When we were7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 234/250traveling across the desert of Peru in 1937, we saw in many places mountain-like dunes rolling
slowly across the country, frequently so completely blocking former traffic routes that long detours
were necessary. When we were flying over eastern Australia in search of groups of primitive
aborigines, we saw great forests gradually being engulfed with these marching billows of sand so
that most of the trees were covered to their tips.
    Few people will realize that it is estimated that only about 45 per cent of the land surface of the
United States is now available for agricultural purposes and grazing. This includes vast areas that
are rapidly approaching the limit of utility.
    In one of my trips to the Western States I visited a large ranch of some fifty thousand acres. I
asked the rancher whether he was conscious of a depletion in the soil of the ranch in its ability to
carry pasture cattle. He said that it was very greatly depleted, that whereas formerly the cows on
the ranch were able to produce from ninety-three to ninety-five healthy calves per hundred cows
annually, nearly all of sufficiently high physical quality to be available for reproductive purposes,
now he was getting only forty to forty-four calves per hundred cows annually and usually only ten
or eleven of these were physically fit for reproductive purposes. He stated also that he was able to
raise as many calves for restocking the ranch on the plant food produced on the fifty acres to
which he was applying a high fertilization program as on the rest of the fifty-thousand-acre ranch.
Of late most of the calves for the ranch had to be imported from other states.
    In a city in the vicinity I inquired of the director of public health what the death rate was among
their children up to one year of age. He stated that the figures were progressively increasing in spite
of the fact that they were giving free hospitalization and free prenatal and postnatal care for all
mothers who could not afford to pay for the service. This death rate had more than doubled in fifty
years. I asked how he interpreted the increasing mortality rate among the infants and mothers. His
comment was in effect that they could not explain the cause, but that they knew that the mothers of
this last generation were far less fit physically for reproduction than their mothers or grandmothers
had been.
    To many uninformed people the answer will seem simple. Those who are responsible for these
programs, recognize the difficulty in replenishing the exhausted minerals and food elements in
adequate quantity. I have been informed by the director of the department of agriculture of the
state of Ohio that it would cost fifty dollars per acre to restore the phosphorus alone that has been
exhausted during the last fifty to one hundred years. He stated that the problem is still further
complicated by the fact that the farmer cannot go to a bank and borrow money to buy this
fertilizer. If, however, he buys adjoining acreage to double his own, he can then borrow twice as
much money as he can on his own farm. But this is not all of the difficulty. Recent data indicate that
if sufficient phosphorus in a form easily available for plant use were supplied to the land at once, it
would kill the plant life; it must be provided in a form in which by a process of weathering it is
made slowly available for plant utilization. Phosphorus is only one of the minerals that is readily
taken from the soil. Other minerals also are difficult to provide. I have been able practically to
double the weight and size of beets in five weeks by the addition of a tablespoonful of ferric
ammonium citrate to each square foot of garden soil.
    An important commentary on soil depletion is provided by the large number of farms that have
been abandoned in many districts throughout the United States. The severe industrial depression
which has thrown large numbers of shop and mill workers out of employment, has induced a
considerable number of these to return to the land for subsistence. As one drives through farming
districts that once were very fertile many farms are seen apparently abandoned insofar as tillage is
concerned.
    In my studies on the relation of the physiognomy of the people of various districts to the soil, I
have found a difference in the facial type of the last generation of young adults when compared
with that of their parents. The new generation has inherited depleted soil. In many communities
three generations of adults are available for study. The yardstick for these comparisons has been
developed in the preceding chapters. It will be of interest for the readers to apply this yardstick to7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 235/250their own brothers and sisters in comparison with the parents and particularly their grandparents.
The most serious problem confronting the coming generations is this nearly unsurmountable
handicap of depletion of the quality of the foods because of the depletion of the minerals of the
soil.
REFERENCES
1. PRICE, W. A. New light on the control of dental caries and the degenerative diseases. J.
Am. Dent. Assn., 18:1889, 1931.
2. ORR, J. B. The composition of the pasture. London, H. M. Stationery Office. E.M.B., 18,
1929.
3. THEILER, A. and GREEN, H. Aphosphoris in ruminants. Nutrition Absts. and Rev.,
1:359, 1932.
4. TISDALL, BROWN and KELLEY. The age, sex, and seasonal incidence in children. Am.
J. Dis. Child., 39:163, 1930.
5. SEARS, P. B. Deserts on the March. Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1935.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 21
PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF PRIMITIVE WISDOM
IF THE observations and deductions presented in the foregoing chapters are exerting as
controlling an influence on individual and national character as seems to be indicated, the problem
of the outlook for our modern civilization is changed in many important aspects. One of the most
urgent changes in our viewpoint should be to look upon the assortment of physical, mental and
moral distortions as due, in considerable part, to nutritional disturbances in one or both parents
which modify the development of the child, rather than to accepted factors in the inheritance. The
evidence indicates that these parental disturbances of nutritional origin may affect the germ plasm,
thus modifying the architecture, or may prevent the mother from building a complete fetal structure,
including the brain. In other words, these data indicate that instead of dealing entirely with
hereditary factors, we are dealing in part with distortions due to inhibitions of normal hereditary
processes. This changes the prospects for the offspring of succeeding generations. Atavism will still
have plenty to her credit even if she must give up her claim to distortions of individual
characteristics.
    Jacobson (1) has summarized the determining factors in individuality and personality when he
says "The Jekyll-Hydes of our common life are ethnic hybrids." Most current interpretations are
fatalistic and leave practically no escape from our succession of modern physical, mental and moral
cripples. Jacobson says of our modern young people:
    Very much of the strange behavior of our young people to-day is simply due to their lack of
ethnical anchorage; they are bewildered hybrids, unable to believe sincerely in anything, and
disowned by their own ancestral manes. To turn these neurotic hybrids loose in the world by
the million, with no background, no heritage, no code, is as bad as imposing illegitimacy; their
behavior, instead of expressing easily, naturally and spontaneously a long-used credo, will be
determined by fears and senseless taboos. How can character be built upon such foundations?
There is a ludicrous as well as a pathetic side to the situation presented by a Greek puzzled by
his predominantly German children, or by the German woman unable to understand her
predominantly Spanish progeny. It is a foolish case over again of hen hatching ducklings, of
wolf fostering foundlings.7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 236/250   If our modern degeneration were largely the result of incompatible racial stocks as indicated by
these premises, the outlook would be gloomy in the extreme. Those who find themselves
depressed by this current interpretation of controlling forces would do well to recall the
experiments on pigs referred to in Chapters 17 and 18, in which a large colony all born blind and
maimed because of maternal nutritional deficiency--from deficient vitamin A--were able to beget
offspring with normal eyes and normal bodies when they themselves had normal nutrition.
    Much emphasis has been placed on the incompatibility of certain racial bloods. According to
Jacobson, (1)
   Aside from the effects of environment, it may safely be assumed that when two strains of
blood will not mix well a kind of "molecular insult" occurs


 smoked or ate the wrong food.
4. That were out in the sun too long.
5. A thousand other excuses causing a defective normal body cell to go into a
wild rampage.
Nothing could be further from the truth!
Malignancy therefore, is NEVER normal (Somatic) tissue gone into wild proliferation,
but ALWAYS a normal primary germ cell growing normally in the wrong place. To
develop malignant tumors four conditions must be present. These four factors are:
25
Winning The Cancer War
1. The presence of an Ectopic germ cell
2. The stimulating presence of the female sex hormones
3. A deficiency of active pancreatic enzymes.
4. The body must be free of enzyme inhibitors and blockers.
Cancer, then, is nothing more than a stimulated normal Trophoblast cell growing
normally in the wrong place, trying to form a placenta in preparation for a new baby.
Cancer and the Placenta
First, you must understand and comprehend that ALL malignant tumors are nothing
more than PLACENTAS or FALSE PLACENTAS. All of these malignant tumor masses,
in every case, arise from the Trophoblast cells produced in the normal asexual cycle
of life of all mammals (humans included).
These malignant tumors/placentas continue to grow uninhibited until:
1. Death!
2. Termination of pregnancy from the pancreatic enzyme production of the mother
and fetus.
3. The intake of adequate supplementation of pancreatic enzymes.
4. Dietary changes reducing demand for pancreatic enzymes.
5. The deceptive temporary effects of surgical intervention, destructive radiation or
chemotherapy, which always fails, causing death.
In a nutshell, what the medical community calls "cancer" (in total error), is nothing
more than a "Placenta or a False Placenta". Cancer then is nothing more than a
stimulated normal Trophoblast cell growing normally in the wrong place trying to
form a placenta in preparation for a new baby. Remember, this happens in every one
every day. Allow me to give you a patient example to emphasize this truth and
fundamental concept.
All malignant tumors, whether they are in the brain or the little toe, are either
Placentas, or False Placentas (a placenta without a baby attached.
26
Winning The Cancer War
There Are No Exceptions!
A Bonnie Scottish Lassie
For well over a century, it was common talk among the peasant girls of Scotland,
should one find a lump (cancer growth) in the breast she should get pregnant as soon
as possible? When these girls lived beyond their reproductive age their cancer
returned and they died. Girls then, as well as now have a multitude of tricks in their
bag to become pregnant, everything from baking a cake to tripping a boy in the
meadow. This 'old wife's tale intrigued the eminent Embryologist, John Beard, D.SC.,
professor of Edinburgh University. Beard was a true scientist. It was he who
determined what cancer is, how it is formed, why it is formed and how to properly
treat it. Some 50 years later Dr. W illiam D. Kelley, D.D.S., having never heard of
Professor Beard came to the same Scientific Paradigm. The medical community
refuses to accept Dr. Kelley's Paradigm. This is unfortunate for the thousands who
could be properly treated and cured. Dr. Kelley often states, 'that's the way it is'. God
may bring this truth to the attention of another scientist, years after his death.
The Direct Cause of Cancer
The direct cause of cancer, according to our research, is the changing of an Ectopic
Primary germ cell into an Ectopic Trophoblast cell. An excess of female sex hormones
brings about this change. Both men and women have male and female sex hormones.
When this delicate male-female sex hormone balance is upset, cancer may start.
Let us explain this a little further. In the human life cycle, the male sperm unites
with the female egg. Now if this fertilized egg would grow directly into a new baby,
we would have no cancer or cancer problems, but nature does not act so simply and
directly, for if she did, the newly formed embryo (baby) would fall out of the uterus.
Therefore, nature had to develop some way to attach the new embryo to the wall of
the uterus and some way to nourish (feed) it.
After the sperm in the fallopian tube of the mother fertilizes the egg the fertilized
egg gives rise to three basic kinds of cells:
4. Trophoblast cells, which form:
5. Primitive germ cells, which form:
6. Primary germ cells, one of which forms the embryo, which form:
7. Normal body or somatic cells; and the
27
Winning The Cancer War
8. Many Primary germ cells migrate to the Testes or Ovaries waiting to form the next
generation. Many are trapped within the normal body cells come to occupy all
sorts of abnormal positions within the new embryo's body and upon stimulation
by female hormones produce;
9. Trophoblast cells, which can form a placenta in any place of the embryo's body
as it grows to a child or adult.
10. These out of place placentas are in error, called by the medical community
CANCER.
By the third day, the fertilized egg has fallen into the uterus. During those three
days and for many days thereafter, the Trophoblast cells (cancer cells) are growing
very rapidly and surround the other two types of cells (primitive germ cells, and
normal body or somatic cells).
The new baby will fall out of the uterus unless something happens fast, and happen
it does. The Trophoblast cells metastasize (as cancer does) to the wall of the uterus.
Now the baby cannot fall out of the mother's uterus, but needs nourishment. The
Trophoblast cells (cancer cells) continue to grow rapidly and form the placenta. Now
with a good food supply and no danger of falling out of the mother, the baby
(embryo) can continue to grow, safe and sound, until birth.
The placental Trophoblast tissue (cancer mass) continues to grow until about the
seventh week when the baby's pancreas develops.
The baby's pancreatic enzyme production along with the mother's pancreatic
enzyme production stops the growth of the placental Trophoblastic tissue (cancer
mass).
As the new embryo (baby) is being formed from the normal body or somatic cells,
the primary germ cells (pre-placenta cells) are multiplying. In a few days, when the
embryo (baby) develops to the proper stage, the primary germ cells stop multiplying
and begin to migrate to the gonads (ovaries or testes).
There are about three billion of these primary germ cells that fatigue and never
have the vital force necessary to reach the gonads. This means that there are two
germ cells for every area the size of a pinhead dispersed throughout your body. Any
one of these germ cells is a potential malignant tumor mass (cancer). That is why a
malignant tumor mass (cancer) can form in any part of the body. All that is needed to
create a malignant tumor mass in our body is a deficiency of pancreatic enzymes, an
imbalance of sex hormones and the embryonic destiny of these primary germ cells to
form Trophoblast cells, which then forms a false placenta (a malignant tumor) in
28
Winning The Cancer War
preparation for the creation of a baby. The imbalance of sex hormones can take place
at any time, but usually it occurs between 45 and 60 years of age.
When all is said and done, a malignant tumor mass (cancer) is a normal growth of
tissue (a placenta) due to the development of a basic (primary) germ cell in the wrong
place (outside of the uterus). Sometimes this placenta also has a "baby" or begins a
tumor inside of it much like a normal pregnancy — only it is in the wrong place.
(When dissecting tumors Pathologists often find partially formed teeth, toenails and
other types of tissue, such as lung tissue, within the malignant tumor masses.
Malignancy therefore is never normal (somatic) tissue gone into wild proliferation,
but a normal primary germ cell growing normally in the wrong place.
Physiology of Cancer
We would like to share with you our concepts of the physiology of cancer. In order
for you to comprehend our concept let us give you a little background by reviewing
with you Pellagra and Diabetes.
Pellagra can be controlled with a diet containing B vitamins
For years patients were placed in insane asylums because they had the simple
deficiency disease called Pellagra. In 1916 Dr. Joseph Goldberger found that diet
could prevent this condition, but it was not until the B  vitamin deficiencies were
discovered that the condition was understood. Now no knowledgeable physician
would commit such a patient, but rather give him B  vitamins
What is Pellagra? It is a symptom of a general systemic condition. For centuries
only the symptoms were treated — now we know better.
Diabetes can be controlled by diet, insulin, or a combination o f both
What is diabetes? It is nothing more than a symptom. It is a symptom that tells us
that our systemic carbohydrate (sugar) metabolism is not functioning properly. Before
the discovery of insulin the great physicians stood by and wrung their hands
helplessly.
The pancreas produces insulin, which delivers glucose to every cell


 ago, I received a brochure entitled
"Stress and Heart Disease," which presented an entire
belief program. The article promoted the idea that
stress is something 'out there', that it is really some
thing that is inherent in life, and that the result of stress
is going to affect the heart, with all its symbolic mean77 STRESS
ing to us. The various articles in the pamphlet dealt
with heart disease and the consequences of stress com
ing about through our physiology and manifesting
within the body. Because all things are experienced
within consciousness, it is essential to look again at the.
relationship between body, mind, and spirit.
We are going to discuss things that we can verify
through our own experience, along with verifiable
clinical experience derived from the viewpoint of the
clinical scientist who believes only what can be clini
cally repeated and verified through inner experience.
A characteristic of the body is that it is insentient,
that is, the body has no capacity to experience itself.
This means that the arm, in and of itself, cannot experi
ence its own existence or 'armness'. It cannot even
experience that it 'is', much less where it is, how big it
is, or what it is doing. How do we know what is going
on with the body?We know solely because ofthe senses.
We do not experience the body itself, but instead, the
senses'report of the body.We also note that the senses
themselves have no capacity to experience them
selves. For instance, in the ear, the vibrations going
through the auditory nerve and stimulating the tym
panic membrane have no way to experience them
selves as sound.
Where does the experience of the body take place?
It registers in the brain, but then awareness occurs in
something greater than the brain itself, in what we call
'mind'.Itis because ofthe energyfield ofthe mind that
we experience the brain and the body, Mind itself, very
curiously, also lacks the capacity to experience itself.
This is an amazing thought until we look into it.We see 78 HEALING AND RECOVERY
that a thought, of and by itself, has no capacity to expe
rience its own 'thoughtness'.A memory has no capacity
in and of itself to experience its own'memoryness'.
Similarly, a fantasy about the future has no such capac
ity either. The imagination, the emotions-all that goes
on in mind-are only experienced because of that
greater and larger energy field than mind called con
sciousness. It is an energy field that is more diffuse,
formless, and capable of experiencing change as well
as any phenomena. It is only because of consciousness
itself that we are aware of what is going on in mind,
and it is because of mind that we are aware of what is
going on with sensations. Because of sensations, we are
aware of what is going on with the physical body.
Curiously, however, even consciousness itself can
not report what is going on within itself except for a
greater field that is infmite and without dimension
called the experiential knowingness of subjective
awareness. Because of that quality of awareness that
accompanies existence and beingness, we are capa
ble of awareness. Out of awareness comes the know
ingness of what goes on within consciousness.
Consciousness reports what is going on within mind,
and mind reports what goes on with sensations about
the body. Thus, we can see that what we are, in its
highest and greatest sense, refers to the capacity for
subjective awareness.
It is solely within consciousness itself that all expe
rience is being experienced. Therefore, to directly
address the source and place of experiencing will lead
to the capabilities of precluding the sources of stress.
As described in Chapter 1, the Map of 79 STRESS
Consciousness is a numerical model based on energy
fields and levels of consciousness. The energy fields are
calibrated as to their relative power, labeled according
to common human experience, and thereby readily
and easily understood. At the very bottom of the chart,
for example, is 'Guilt', which, in its form of self-hatred,
is a destructive, negative emotion. From the position of
Guilt, the world is seen as a place of suffering.
Guiltiness has an energy field of 30. The lower states
are close to Death, which calibrates at zero.With Death
at zero, achieving a consciousness high enough to
become enlightened calibrates at 600 and over.
Guilt, apathy, grief, fear, desire, anger, and pride are
all negative energy fields that have adverse or destruc
tive effects and therefore have a low calibration num
ber. For instance, Apathy at 50 has much less energy
than Fear, which calibrates at 100. Fear at 100 has much
less energy than that of Courage, which calibrates at
200. Desire at 125 has less energy than the state called
Neutral (at 250), or being detached.
Calibration ofthe energy fields can be replicated by
using very common techniques, such as simple muscle
testing, that verify the relative energies and directions
of the fields. These fields calibrate lower when one
holds in mind a thought that is angry, a thought about
something one regrets or is sad about, or a thought
about something one fears. When the arm of the per
son having such a thought is tested, it will instantly
become weak. The cerebral hemispheres become
desynchronized, the acupuncture energy system goes
out of alignment, and the person instantly loses power
and energy. 80 HEALING AND RECOVERY
At the level of Courage, where truth is told, the
energy field moves upwards to that which is positive
and supports and reinforces life. It is the energy of
aliveness and is aligned with integrity and honesty.
When we calibrate the great teachers of wisdom
who have walked this earth, we find that they are at
the level of 600 and above.The great avatars, the great
saviors of mankind, and the great mystics and saints
are in the energy fields of the 700s on up to 1,000. It
could be said that truth begins at energy field 200 and
expands upward into an ever-increasing lovingness
and alignment withTruth. Interestingly, health follows
the same pattern.
The farther up we go in our energy fields, the
healthier our bodies automatically become until, final
ly, there is joy in the aliveness and exquisite pleasure
of the body. At level 540, the energy field of
Unconditional Love and healing, the body begins to
heal its own diseases, depending on inherent propen
sities as well as limitations (e.g., karma, both individ
ual and human).
In relation to stress, it is essential to look at the pre
existing conditions within a person's consciousness
that set them up to experience life in a stressful way. It
is obvious that a person who has identified with the
attitudes of a lower energy field experiences a world
that is perceived as negative. A person who identifies
with the lower energy field of hopelessness and
despair is going to experience the world as hopeless,
and all of life's experiences are going to be colored by
that expectation.
At the level of Grief, people are full of regret, con81 STRESS
cerned with loss in the past, and see this as a sad world.
If there were a God, he would be a God who doesn't
love us, doesn't care for us, and ignores us.
In the energy field of Fear, there is the appearance
of a suppressed energy that has been held throughout
life as fearfulness. There is preoccupation with anxi
ety and constant worry about the future. The world
looks like a frightening place, and a person at that
level experiences everything in the form of fright.The
God of such a world would be considered to be fear
some (punitive).
The person who is always desirous and wanting
experiences this as a frustrating world. The angry
person is prone to conflict and war. The prideful
person is vulnerable to perceived challenges and there
fore assumes a defensive posture. We will discuss the
Map of Consciousness in greater detail to learn how
we are automatically set up for stress.
One begins to suspect from the statement "One
man's meat is another man's poison" that the set-up
for stress comes from one's own inner values, belief
systems, and positions about life.These stem from the
programs that are being held operative within one's
consciousness. One starts to look for the source of
stress not in the world, but in what is being held in con
sciousness that assigns stress to the experience of a
given event. Following are some examples, available to
all of us, that show how some attitudes and ways of
being with life set us up for the experience of stress.
There was an elderly lady, for instance, who used to
visit her married daughter who lived in the middle of
one hundred acres of woods out in the country, thirty 82 HEALING AND RECOVERY
miles from New York City. There was only stillness; in
fact, the only sounds that one could hear were the


 in any medium, print or electronic without prior written permission from the author.Page 9 0Healing the Gerson Way—Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases
www.thegersonway.comGerson, apparently intuitively, selected foods for his Therapy that have since, some 50 years later,
been shown to have anti-cancer properties. She wrote up her findings in an essay, titled “The Case
of the 0.005% Survivor,” which was peer-reviewed by four eminent physicians, and appeared
as an afterword in Professor Gearin-Tosh’s book. To start with, Dr. Wheatley points out that the
Gerson diet contains several foods in which modern research has identified some key cancer-
fighting components, e.g. flax seed oil with its important contents of Omega-3 fatty acids, fruits
rich in minerals and in bioflavonoids, vegetables of the cruciferous family, namely cauliflower,
cabbages and broccoli, whose anti-cancer properties are borne out by current scientific nutritional
research.
She comments, “ Gerson’s fruit and vegetable diet could be subjected to exhaustive
analysis in the light of modern nutritional oncology research. He didn’t have any of this
scientific knowledge, yet empirically devised a method which ensures that a large range of
these products would be delivered to the cancer patient, intact and in pharmacologically
active doses ” (added emphasis).
In the rest of her study Dr. Wheatley reviews further components of the Gerson Therapy,
from the value of juicing to the importance of coffee enemas and finds all of them scientifically
justified. In conclusion let us quote one of her shrewd comments: “ Conventional medical
methods of treating cancer—chemotherapy, radiation—routinely wipe out an already
depressed immune system and do little to restore it. Yet, as Gerson realized, it is the immune
system which is needed to fight cancer, and therefore building it up should enhance chances
of survival. ”
As time goes on and the lack of success of much of conventional oncology becomes ever
more obvious, research into nutritional therapies is bound to expand and take up its due place in
mainstream medicine. Its findings are bound to confirm again and again that the principles and
practice of the Gerson Therapy are sound and accurate, offering an eminently logical way to heal
disease and maintain health.
References:
1. Cope, F.W. Physiological Chemistry and Physics, V ol.10, No.5. 1978
2. Ibid  V ol.9, No.6, 1977
3. Spain Ward, P. Monograph submitted to the US Office of Technology Assessment, 1988
4. Foster, H.D. International Journal of Biosocial Research, V ol.10, No.1, 1988
5. Sparmins, V.L; Lam, L.K.T; Wattenberg, L.W. Proceedings of the American Association
of Cancer Researchers and the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 22:114, Abstract
453, 1981
6. Lechner, P. Aktuelle Ernaehrungsmedizin, V ol.2, No.5. 1990
7. Wheatley, C. in Living Proof— Medical Mutiny, by Michael Gearin-Tosh, Scribner, 2002Copyright © Charlotte Gerson, 2007.  All rights reserved.
This material may not be reproduced in any medium, print or electronic without prior written permission from the author.Page 9 1Healing the Gerson Way—Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases
www.thegersonway.comCHAPTER 9
The Gerson Household
Whether a patient is able to spend some time at a Gerson facility or decides to embark on the
therapy at home, the longest part of the healing process—up to two years or more with malignant
disease, much less with other chronic conditions—will have to take place in his or her residence.
For the duration of the treatment the home needs to be turned into a kind of private clinic, where
everything serves the goal of getting well, and nothing is allowed to interfere with that process.
How do we go about that?  Quite simply by bearing in mind that the twin pillars of the Gerson
program are nutrition and detoxification. Since the ill patient suffering from a chronic disease is
both toxic and nutritionally deficient, as a first task the household has to be cleared of all toxic
chemicals and damaging materials or appliances. These are present in vast arrays in most modern
households. Chemical cleansers, gadgets and labor-saving devices emitting harmful radiation or
so-called electro-smog are used daily and taken for granted. It’s only when their dire effects on
the body are understood that we get rid of them.
As the second pillar of the therapy is to provide the patient with hyper-nutrition, a suitably
equipped kitchen is the all-important center where all foods and juices are prepared daily in large
amounts. Let us start by listing the correct equipment for a smoothly running, efficient Gerson
kitchen.
Refrigerator : one very large one or two of average size will be needed to store the large
quantities of organic produce required. A cool, preferably dark, well-ventilated pantry or laundry
room is ideal for storing root vegetables, which don’t need refrigeration.
Juice Machines
As freshly made organic juices are one of the most important healing components of the
Gerson program, they must be of the best possible quality, and therefore it is vital to choose the
most efficient juicer—one that will stand up to constant use over two years or so.
There are plenty of models on the market. The simplest and cheapest is the centrifugal type,
one of the first to become widely available. It is wasteful, produces deficient, enzyme-poor juice
and cannot be used for healing.
Another type is the Champion juicer, which extracts more minerals as well as more fluid.
However, it is not satisfactory in itself, since what it produces is not so much juice as a mushy
layer of vegetables on top of a watery base. Even so, the Champion juicer can be used, but as a Copyright © Charlotte Gerson, 2007.  All rights reserved.
This material may not be reproduced in any medium, print or electronic without prior written permission from the author.Page 9 2Healing the Gerson Way—Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases
www.thegersonway.comgrinder only.  The machine comes with a plate that can be placed under the base where the strainer
is usually located, releasing the ground up pulpy material.    This then has to be put through a hand-
operated press, based on a hydraulic jack, to squeeze the juice from the pulped vegetables. The
cost of the two items runs at present [2006] at about $400.The Champion is widely available in
the US and in several other countries. For the manual press, contact www.juicepressfactory.com.
Other machines, imported from Korea but also made in the US use two interlocking helical
blades, which grind against each other.  They do a better extracting job than the Champion alone
and may be used, especially if the patient is not suffering from advanced cancer.   However, these
“one-process” juicers do not actually conform to Dr. Gerson’s instruction to use a two-process
method, consisting of a grinder and a press, for obtaining the best juice. These juicers are claimed
to extract more enzymes than the Norwalk (see below), but no mention is made of the equally
important mineral extraction.
The cost of these machines is between $750-900.
The Norwalk : The best two-process juicer is the Norwalk, which is also most attractively
styled, with a stainless steel exterior, or a wood grain plastic outer cover. Naturally in either model
all parts of the machine that come in contact with food are made from stainless steel. The Norwalk
is fully automatic, with a simple lever activating the press.  Well serviced and guaranteed, it
is also the most expensive juicer, costing at present: $2,100-2,250. The stainless steel exterior
model also has a lever that adjusts it to the 220-240 volt current used in Europe. For information
call 1-800-405-8423 (outside USA 760-755-8423). http://www.nwjcal.com.
Taking Care of Your Juice Machine
Aside from your normal routine of maintaining maximum cleanliness in the kitchen, it is
especially important to keep your juicer clean and free from dried up juice or fibers. Since these
are raw, they can easily spoil, dry, and attract flies and other insects, not to mention germs or
worse.
To avoid contamination, the juicer must be cleaned after each use. This should not take up
much extra time, since those parts of the machine that come in contact with fruit and vegetables
are made of stainless steel and are easy to take apart, rinse, dry and re-assemble for the next
juice.
Use only clean sponges or cloths and reserve them for the juicer alone. Do not use soap or
detergent for each cleansing, for it is highly important that not even the smallest amount of soap
or cleanser remains on the parts that come in contact with the vegetables. If you use a Norwalk
juicer, remember to wipe the press plate at the top.
The juice cloths should be rinsed carefully in clean—not soapy—water after each pressing, Copyright © Charlotte Gerson, 2007.  All rights reserved.
This material may not be reproduced


 that shut her pancreas down. Very little of any
digestive activity was left. When she ate any food, it came out in her stoolsthe same way it was eaten. Her gastrin levels were extremely high. During her
program she had at least forty golf-ball-size tumors “pop” out all over both
legs. The medical doctor told her that her cancer had spread throughout her
body. However, I kept her on a fruit diet and within three weeks or so the leg
tumors were all gone.
A month later she went to the dentist because one of her teeth became
loose. The dentist
told her it was abscessed and pulled it. When she found a
second loose tooth, the dentist again recommended pulling it. Luckily, her
monthly appointment to see me took place before the second tooth extraction.
I told her it was just a symptom of her healing crisis and to be patient.
By the following week her mouth was full of abscesses and most of her
teeth were loose. But a week or so later, all the abscesses were gone. All her
teeth were tight and her mouth felt “clean” and healthier than ever. Her sense
of taste improved dramatically as well. After eleven months there was no
cancer left, and she is alive and well today.
Case #2
A thirty-two-year-old female who had a C3-C4 cervical spine severation from
a head-on collision. She had been immobile for twelve years. Besides the
standard healing (cleansing) processes, she went through some tough
emotional releasing. One night she might call me crying deeply. The next
night she would call me laughing uncontrollably. This emotional release went
on for almost two months. Her caregiver wanted to hang me! However, I
assured him that this was her emotional body cleaning itself out. The car
crash that left her paralyzed in her late teens had also resulted in the death of
the other driver. For twelve years she had held in all the feelings that you can
imagine would be associated with such a situation. To make a long story
short, in eleven months she had total neurological reconnec-tion, with free
and conscious movement of any part of her body, with total feeling. Because
the cleansing had assisted her in removing this deep grief, she also became
more emotionally stable and her healing process was accelerated.
These two cases are among thousands that I have witnessed in my thirty
years as a healer, yet they represent extremes. Some healing crises deserve the
“Wow” factor, as these two did, but most are the “Oh, that was nothing …”
type. Most of you will probably have mild to moderate symptoms at most.
SPECIAL NOTEFor those taking multiple chemical medications, have your healthcare
practitioner help you to wean (or titrate) off of these. The advantages of
leaving these medications behind will become self-evident as your blood
sugars normalize, and your blood pressure drops back to normal. High blood
pressure is obviously a reflection of obstructions in the body and acidosis.
Most people with high blood pressure actually have low blood pressure.
When their bodies are detoxified, their blood pressure will reflect this. Your
systolic rate can drop into the low 100s, 90s or even 80s, depending upon
how weak your adrenal glands are.

No matter what your healing crisis looks like, never lose sight of your
goal: total health. Achieving your goal will be worth the discomfort of any
symptoms.
Never fear a healing crisis or cleansing, as these are as natural as the
sunrise every morning. Look forward to these cleansings. With each one you
will feel better, and you’ll be much healthier for your efforts.
END RESULTS OF A CLEANSING PROCESS

Increased energy—many times more dynamic and dramatic
Deeper breathing (greater lung capacity)
Increased sense of smell, taste, and hearing
Tumor reduction or elimination
Loss of lymphatic swelling
Greater strength in previously weak areas
Increased circulation
Gray hair begins to disappear (goes back to natural color)
The skin begins to tighten and become softer
Clarity in thinking
Improved memory
Disease symptoms disappear
Blood sugars normalize
Blood pressure will normalize
Deeper relationship with God and Nature
Higher sense of happiness, joy and well-being
Skin blemishes (like pimples, rashes, etc.) disappearBowels move better
Improved kidney function
Voice strengthens
Heart arrhythmias disappear
Improved eyesight
Overall sense of well-being and vibrancy comes back
Reversal of the “aging” process
Never get “sick” or “catch” what’s going around
And much, much more.
WHAT TO AVOID DURING A HEALING CRISIS

DEHYDRATION
 — Keep yourself hydrated with fresh mineral water or
freshly juiced fruit and vegetable juices.
OVEREXERTION
 — During a healing crisis try to conserve your energy.
TOO MANY PESTICIDES
 — Pesticides can cause shortness of breath and
“hypo” conditions of the endocrine gland system and nervous system.
PUSHING IT TOO FAR
 — If you need to slow down or stop the cleansing
process temporarily, start eating some cooked foods. Try to make do with the
minimal amount, if possible, like some steamed vegetables or whole grain
rice. This will lower the body’s systemic energy for a time and it will stop the
intense cleansing. As soon as you can, resume the cleansing program.
FEVERS ABOVE
 103° FAHRENHEIT — In adults and children such
fevers should be controlled by cool baths and the like. Children can naturally
have high fevers, especially around 104° and 105°. Keep the child cooled
down with cold washcloths and cool baths. There’s a fine line between
interfering with the body’s effort to clean and heal itself and simply allowing
your body freedom to do as it chooses. However, a slight fever would be no
cause for concern, and require no control. But with higher fevers we want to
carefully monitor the body and control those situations that could cause more
severe side effects. Remember, always keep the body hydrated by drinking
plenty of water or fresh fruit juices. But don’t over-hydrate yourself either.
Balance is key.
IMPATIENCE
 — When you start energizing and alkalizing your body, it
will start to clean itself out. Always remember that the body is doing this
cleansing. You can use herbal formulas to increase the cleaning action ofcongested lymphatic systems, to kill parasites, and to enhance the function of
your organs and glands. However, your body has its own rhythm of healing
and cleansing itself. Be patient.
DON’T OVEREAT
 — Animals generally don’t eat at all when they’re sick.
Your body was designed to heal itself and clean itself out, as God is at work
in all its mechanisms. All you have to do is feed the body properly.
SMART CLEANSING

It is important to be smart in helping your body to detoxify itself. Again,
there can be a fine line between helping or hindering it. Have some common
sense about this whole process of detoxification. Each person is unique. What
an asthmatic goes through may be totally different than a case of uterine
cancer.
The healing process is truly magnificent. It’s part of a “Letting Go” that
frees you on so many levels, yet few understand that. Embrace Life, Health
and God!
If as you cleanse you experience side effects such that you feel you need
to go to an Emergency Room—GO! I spent many years working in them.
They are there to help in a crisis. It’s just too bad that most ER personnel
don’t understand about the detoxification process and the “healing crisis.”
During these times, which are generally rare, review
Module 6.5
,
What to
Expect During Detox.

ITEMS FOR YOUR HOME FIRST AID KIT
Below is a list of First Aid items to have in your home to aid your
comfort level during a detoxification process.CASTOR OIL PACKS
See
Chapter 10
 for what is needed to prepare these.

OLIVE OIL
Used like or instead of castor oil.

CAYENNE PEPPER
Used to dilate the skin and/or vascular system; for high blood pressure or
castor oil packs.

PLEURISY ROOT, MULLEIN LEAF AND/OR FENUGREEK SEED
Lung expectorant

A HEAT SOURCE
Hot water bottle or heating pad, etc. Used to dilate or “drive” herbs
through the skin.

AN ANTI-SPASMODIC (AN HERBAL TINCTURE)
Spasms, convulsions, cramping and pain

HERBAL PAIN FORMULA
Tincture, preferably

SLIPPERY ELM AND/OR MARSHMALLOW ROOT HERBAL TEAS
For acid reflux

ARNICA OIL
Use externally for sprains, pulls, stiff or sore muscles, etc.

HERBAL HEALING SALVE
Should contain a variety of healing herbs likecomfrey, horsetail, lobelia,marigold, etc. Used for sprains, muscle pulls, pain in joints, wounds, etc.

PLANTAIN TINCTURE AND SALVE
Used for insect bites, snake bites, and other poisonous bites.

“HEAL-ALL TEA”™
From God’s Herbs™, (see Resource Guide) or another alternative.


Olive oil, 14, 48, 73, 76, 78, 83-84, 173, 211
Organs, coordination between, 84-85
Ormsby, O. S., 62
Osteopathy, 76, 119
Ovarian cyst, 175, 209
Ovaries, 184, 202
P
Pain, 57
Palma Christi, See Castor oil/plant
Palmitic acid, 62
Pancreas, kidneys and, 106-107
Papillomas, 69
Paralysis, 121, 127
Parasympathetic system
activities of, 138-139
blood supply and, 110
elimination and, 180
emotions and, 168
ganglia and, 133
healing and, 179
improved function of, 182
sympathetic nervous system and, 75, 127, 137
See also  Autonomic nervous system
Parkinson’ s disease, 58
Past-life experiences, 99-100, 102, 164
Peace, 54, 168
Pelvic cavity, 189
Pelvic cellulitis, 79
Pelvic disease, 201
Pelvic inflammation, 215-216
Penicillin, 17
Peripheral nervous system, 132
Peristalsis, 59, 74, 138, 172, 180, 207, 213
Pets, 166
Peyer, Johann Conrad, 88, 90
Peyer ’s patches, 64, 87, 88-91, 165
pH levels, 79-80, 103
Physicians
listening skills, 5
use of castor oil packs by, 27-28
Physiology
castor oil working on, 70-96Cayce on, 83-84
emotions and, 99
malfunctioning, 56
See also  Body
Plastic sheet, over castor oil pack, 26, 219
Post-ganglionic fibers, 140
Pre-ganglionic fibers, 139-140
Pregnancy, 73-74, 184-185
bleeding during, 171-172
incoordination and, 109
intestinal obstruction and, 28
pain during, 171, 175
stretch marks in, 33, 42-43
Pruritis, 61-62
Psychoneuroimmunology, 114
Puncture wounds, 38, 173-174, 216
Pyelonephritis, 206
R
Radiations, 101-102
Rami communicantes, 126
Reading ability, 45
Reede, E. H., 136
Regeneration, 21
Reincarnation, 2-3
Relaxation, 46, 57, 165, 186
Riboflavin, 91
Ricinoleic acid, 60, 62, 63
Ricinus communis, See  Castor oil/plant
Ringworm, 58
Rogers, Bill, 10
S
Schizophrenia, 144-146, 149
Schwartz, L., 63-64
Sciatic pain, 25, 162
Search for God, A, 53
Sebaceous cyst, 217
Seizures, 64, 90, 94
Self-understanding, 20-21
Sensitivity, 24
Sensory system, 128, 132, 133, 144, 146-149, 165
Service to others, 8-9
Skin, 59
abrasions, 38-39
acne, 42cancer, XV, 41-43
cleansing, 27, 219
eruption, 61
irritation, 64
rash, 70-71
Sleep, 8, 46, 154. See also  Dreaming
Sleeping Pr ophet, The  (Stearn), 11
Small intestine, 60
immune system and, 64
villi of, 86, 87-88
Smiling, 8
Snoring, 52-54
Sodium ricinoleate, 61
Solar plexus, 46
Solubility, 63
Soreness, 68
Sore throats, 17
Soul, 155-156
Spiegel, David, 103
Spinal cord, 110, 132
Spinal ganglia, 123
Spirit forces, 156, 159
Sprains, 36-38, 218-219
Squamous cell carcinoma, 41
Starling, E. H., 126-127, 131
Stearic acid, 62
Stearn, Jess, 11
Sterility, 58
Stimulant, castor oil as, 60
Stomach, 189
Strep, 84
Stresses, 91, 103, 105, 142, 154
Stretch marks, 33, 42-43
Study groups, 53
Subluxation, 119
Sugrue, Thomas, 11
Support group, 103-104
Suprarenal gland, 140
Surgery, castor oil pack after, 28
Swelling, 57, 80
Sympathetic nervous system, 54
blood supply of, 110
cerebrospinal system and, 91, 119, 123-125, 128, 151-156
characteristics of, 149-151
ganglia of, 117, 118, 119, 124, 125, 126-127, 133, 137-138
irradiation and, 60
parasympathetic system and, 75, 127, 137
soul and, 155Synapses, 141
Syncope, 212
Syndrome, 45
T
Tao Te Ching, 3-4
Teeth, 167
Temple Beautiful Program, 47-48, 94-95
Therapists, 35-55
There Is a River  (Sugrue), 11
Thoracic duct, 86, 92, 93
Thoracic nerves, 127
Thoughts, 99-100, 135
Thymus gland, 64, 88
Tinnitus, 34
Toes, 218
crushed, 43-44
horny nail, 41
Toxemia, 57
Toxins, 61
T-pan lymphocyte count (T -11 cells), 64
Tranquilizer, 46, 74, 97, 207
Trichomoniasis, 202-203
Triglyceride, 62
Tumor, 40-41, 205-206. See also  Cancer
U
Ulcers, 154, 203, 213-214
Umbilicus, 68
Unconscious mind, 135-136, 143, 154, 163-165
Uremic conditions, 72
Urinary infection, 206
Urinary system, 180
Urinary wastes, 139
Uterus, 184
fibroids in, 79
hemorrhage of, 210
V
Vagina, 184
dischar ge of, 215-216
Vaginitis, 79-80
Varicose veins, 36
Vegetative functions, 133
Verruca vulgaris, 209
Vertebrae, subluxation of, 119Vibrations, 55
castor oil creating, 30, 65, 167, 179
Cayce on, 32, 154
changing, 23
coordination of nervous systems and, 154
exercise on, 65
Violet ray, 74
Viscosity, 63
Visions, 154
Vitamins, 7-8
Vomiting, 97, 172-173, 213
W
Warts, 68, 209
Wisdom, 67
Wrist pain, 33
Y
Yeasts, 63
OceanofPDF.com<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>MOSES  BEN  MAIMON
(Maimonides)

The Preservation of Youth

Essays on Health

Translated from the Original Arabic
(Fi T ADBIR AS -SIHHA )

and with an Introduction by
HIRSCH L. G ORDON, M.D., P H.D., D.H.L.

PHILOSOPHICAL LIBRARY
New York

Copyright 1958 by Philosophical Library, Inc.
15 East 40th Street, New York 16, N. Y.

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America
Maimonides as Physician and Medical Author

Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon) was one of the most
colorful personalities of the twelfth century. He was an
outstanding physician with a very extensive practice,
holding, at the same time, important medical
appointments in the royal court of Egypt. He was equally
eminent as a commentator


 ligion  there have been those who
understood reli - gious ideas and statements in a
very different way.  On the whole, this has been
more true of the East  than of the West, though
Christian history contains  a long list of me n and
women who could have talked  on common
ground with  orthodox  Hindus  and  Buddhists.
From this other and, we think, deeper point
of view, religion is not a system of predictions. Its
doc- trines have to do, not with the future and
the ever - lasting, but with che present and the
eternal. They  are not a set of beliefs and hopes
bul, on the con - trary, a set of graphic symbols
aboul present experi - ence.
Traditionally, these symbols are of two kinds.
One  describes the religious way of
understand ing the present in the form of
concrete images and stories.  The other
describes it in an abstraer, negative lan - guage
which is often similar to the language of aca-
demic philosophy. For convenience, we can call
thesc  two kinds of symbol the religious and the
metaphy - sical. Bue we must remember that
"metaphysic" in this sense is not speculative
philosophy. lt is notan  attempt  to anticípate
science  and give  a logical  de- TJ-IE WISOOM  OF INSECURITY
scription of the  universe and  its origins.  It is a
way  of representing  a knowledgc  of the present.
Reli - gious symbols are spccially characteristic of
Chris - tianity, Islam, and Judaism, whcreas
doctrines of thc Oriental  type  are more
metaphysical.
We said that sciencc and rcligion are both
calking  about the same world, and throughout this
book we  have never been concerned with
anything but every - day life, wilh things which can
be seen, felt, and ex - perienccd. We shall  thereforc
be told,  by religio us critics, that we are rcducing
rcligion to "naturalism,"  that we are identifying
God with  naturc, and mak - ing a mockery  and
travcsty  of religion  by taking  away  "its essential
supernatural  content."
But when  you ask theologians  what  thcy  mean
by
the " supcrnatural," thcy burst immediately into
sci- entific  language.  They  talk about  a God  having
"concrete  reality clistinct  from  this universc,"  and
speak of him in tcrms of past history and future
pre- dictions. They insist  that  thc supernatural
world  is not of the same  "ordcr" as thc universe
studied by  science, but exists on anothcr plane of
being invisi - ble to our natural  scnses.  lt begins  to
sound  likc somcthing psychic, something of the
same order as  the phcnomena of tclepathy,
clairvoyancc, and clair - audiencc.
Yet this is naLUralism  purc  and simple;  it is
even
pseudo -science. For science and naturalism are
not necessarily  conccrned  only  with  things
visible  to the
138  RELIGION  REVIEWED
senses. No one has seen electrons or quanta, nor
been  able to construct a sensual image of curved
space. lf psychic phenomena exist, there is no
reason to sup - pose that they cannot be studied
scientifically, and  that they are not simply
another aspcct of "naturc."  Indeed,  science  is
concemed  with  innumerable  things which
cannot be experienced with the senses,  and
which  are not present  to immediate  experience
-for example,  the entire  past,  the process  of
gravity,
the nature of time, and the weights of planets
and stars. These invisible things are inferred
from im - mediate experience by logic. They are
hypotheses  which seem to give a reasonable
explanation of ob - served events. The
theological God is exactly the same thing -a
hypothesis accounting for ali experi - ences.
When a theologian makes such a hypothesis
he uses the methods of scicncc and enters the
field of  scicnce. He must expcct, thereforc, to be
qucstioned,  examined,  and criticized  by his
fellow naturalists.
But the difference between the natural and
the supernatural can be understood in a
simpler and  much more useful way. lf "nature" is
the province of  science, we can say that nature is
this world as it is named, measurcd, and
classificd. Nature is che world  which thought has
analyzcd and soned into groups  called "things."
lt has, as we saw, given things an  identity by
naming them. lt distinguishes motion  from
stillness  by comparing somerhing  which  moves
139  THE  WISDOM  OF INSECURIT \'
rapidly in relation to something which moves
slowly,  though  both  move.
Thus the whole world of nature is relative and is
produced by  thought and comparison.  Is the head
"really"  distinct  from  the neck? Why shouldn't  we
have  made  the "thing"  called  head  include  the
"thing" called neck, justas it includes the nose? It is
a convention of thought that head and neck are
two things instead of one. In this sense, the
ancient meta - physicians are perfectly right when
they say that the  whole universe is a product of
the mind. They mean  the universe  of "things."
On thc other hand, the supernatural and
absolute  world  consists  of the mysterious  reality
which  we have so namcd, classified, and divided.
This is not a  product of the mind. But there is no
way of defining  or describing what  it is. At every
moment we are  aware  of it, and it is our
awarcness.  We feel and sense it, and it is our
feelings and sensations. Yet try - ing to know and
define it is like trying to make a  knife cut itself.
What is this? This is a rose.  But "a rose" is a noise.
What is a noise? A noise is an impact  of air wavcs
on the eardrum. Then a rose is an im - pact  of air
waves  on the eardrum?  No, a rose  is a rose
... is a rose  is a rose  is a rose ....
Definition is simply making a one -to-one
corrcs - pondence betwecn groups of sense data
and noises,  but because noises are sense data, the
attempt is ul - timately  circular.  The  real  world
which  both  pro-
140  TIIE  WISDOM  OF INSECURlTY
Otherwise, we can use the negative,
metaphysical  language about this undefined
reality.  It is che in - finite,  not thc definite.  It is the
eternal,  thc ever - present, not the past and future,
not the convcntions  of thought  and time.  It is the
unchanging  in the sensc  that the idea of changc is
but another word,  anothcr definition, which the
rcality called changc  surpasscs.  Obviously,  if all
movcmcnt  is relacive,  therc is no absolute
movement. It would be mean - inglcss to say that
ali bodies in the universe are mov - ing uniformly
at ten thousand miles pcr minute, be - caus e "ali"
has cxcludcd any othcr body with respect  to
which  they  could  be said  to move.
Mctaphysical  language  is negative  bccause  it
is
trying to say that,vords and ideas do not explain
re- ality.  lt is not trying to persuade us that reality
is something likc a boundlcss mass of transparent
jelly.  lt <loes not spcak of sorne  impalpable
abstraction,  but of this vcry world in wh1,h we
live. This expe - riencc  which we call things,
cc,1.ors, sounds, smells,  tastes, forms, and weights
is, in itself, no thing, no  form,  no number,  no
nothing -but at this moment  we behold it. Wc are,
then, beholding thc God which  traditional
doctrines  call che boundless,  formless,  infinitc,
eternal, undivided, unmovcd, and unchang - ing
Rcalily -the Absolute  behind  che relativc,  the


 retreats, for instance,
that many people will resonate with the messages you share. They
will go home on a “workshop high,” feeling like at last they
understand life, and have clarity about who they are and why they’re
here.
Yet within a few days, or a few weeks, or a few months if
they’re lucky, many if not most people will revert back to the cultural
story that “Who I Am is what  I have.” And I say this because I work
with these people; I get emails from them asking why it’s such a
challenge to implement these concepts in an ongoing way...
So my question is why?
NEALE: Because people are reluctant to even consider the
possibility of giving up what  they have in order to be Who They
Really Are. They’ve confused the experience of their possessions
with that which they imagine is prohibiting them from being Who
They Are.
People who understand that they can be Who They Are and
still be the richest person on Earth, that they can be Who They
Really Are and still have three vacuum cleaners, and that being Who
You Are does not mean have to give up what you have, are people
who stay within their spiritual awareness long after the retreat ends.
But the reason that so many people have a difficult time
embracing that notion, and they go back to their Monday through
Friday lives, is that they have it in their mind that “Oh, it’s all very well
and good what Neale is talking about, but you know, I’m not really
willing yet, I’m not even sure that I’m able, I don’t know how to exist
without my stuff. Gosh, just take my iPhone away from me and I’m
dead, much less strip me of my laptop. I can’t get through the day
without my laptop!” And, one could add in many cases, “the other
possessions that I have in my life.”
And it’s understandable that we would be reluctant to do that,
even afraid to do that, because we have not been trained. We don’t
know how to exist without these things!
You know, when I was a youngster I could rattle off the phone
numbers of everybody important in my life. My Grandma, my aunt
Irene, my friends—I even knew the phone number of the school.
These days you ask somebody, “What’ s the phone number of yourcousin Jean?”  and they have to look in their cell phone, because
we’ve forgotten how to use our minds to memorize anything.
Watch the younger clerks operating the cash register at the
supermarket. If the cash register doesn’t tell them how much change
the customer has coming, they don’t know how to figure it out. They
don’t know how to make change.
When I was a kid, there was no cash register that explained
that if you were  given a $20 bill and the customer spent $5.37, what
they got in change was $14.63. You simply counted backwards, and
you learned how to do that pretty quickly. These days, many a
nineteen-year-old cashier at the grocery store would be flummoxed
at having to stand there and simply make change if they didn’t have
the machines that tell them exactly how much is owed the customer.
What we’ve seen in our world is the dumbing down of humanity.
And the incapacitation of humanity.
We have seen ourselves incapacitated. That is, we don’t know
how to survive without these things.
So naturally, when you get home after a workshop “high,” you
fall back  into your modes of living, because it’s self-survival time. We
actually don’t know how to survive without, you know, a television in
every room of the house.
When I was a child, it was a huge, huge luxury to have  one
television set. We had one little black and white TV set with a screen
the size of a handkerchief. Now we have television sets with screens
the size of the state of Monta na. And we have one in every room of
the house—or at least one on every floor. One upsta irs in the
bedroom, one downstairs in the recreation room, one in the living
room, perhaps a smaller one in the kitchen.And we don’t know how to survive without our “stuff.” If the
cable goes out, and we can’t get television, we’re dead! We don’t
know even how to talk to each other anymore.
You know, like... let’s just get some cheese and crackers out,
with some apple juice or some wine, and sit in the living room and
talk to each other. It would  be incomprehensible. “You mean we’re
going spend from six o’clock in the evening until ten o’clock, when
we go to bed, talking? Are you kidding me?”
Or, God forbid, reading a good book?
So the answer to your ques tion is that people return to their
lifestyles because they don’t know any other way to live. They have
not been shown or trained in any other way to live.
But we don’t have to give up our possessions in order to claim
our identity. It’s perfectly okay to have a television in every room of
the house, you know, and three cars in the driveway, and whatever
else it pleases you to enjoy, in terms of your physical accouterment.
It’s perfectly fine to do that. There’ s nothing inherently wrong with
that, and it won’t damage you in any way or curtail your spiritual
growth, as long as it hasn’t overtaken your ability to identify with Who
You Really Are, and to demonstrate and express that in your
experience.
To the degree that your poss essions stop you from expressing
and experienc ing Who You Really Are, then to that degree your
possessions have gotten the best of you. That is, they have literally
gotten the best of you! But to the degree that you’re using your
possessions to facilitate the demonstration and experience of Who
You Really Are, then those possessions actually wind up being toolsthat you use beneficially to generate larger and larger expressions of
your true identity.
So the possessions themselves are not the issue.

DR. COOPER: Do you mean if our possessions serve a spiritual
purpose, they are okay, but if we are mistakenly allowing them to tie
us to our “story” (or to what we “have”), then they are not serving us?
I’m not quite sure I’m following everything here.
I get that our “possessions” are not Who We Are, but I have
also been taught—as has been the Cultural Message for as long as
most of us can remember—that “becoming established” and “getting
our act together” (when it comes to what we “have”) is key to a
successful life and to a life well-lived.
How does what you are saying tie into what the Cultural Story
tells us about our possessions?

NEALE: I don’t disagree with you that that has been the Cultural
Message. And by the way, some of the possessions that I have in
my own life, just to use myself as an example, have no apparent
spiritual value or benefit—no  way to bring benefit to the process of
expressing my true self... unless I include as my identity that I am a
being, an essence in the universe, who enjoys “enjoying Self.”
There’ s a place in life for us to enjoy ourselves.
So I don’t apologize for the fact that I have a television set in
my living room with a screen as big as the state of Montana,
because I enjoy watching a good movie, and I enjoy watching sports
events. And that’s okay with me. I had to really allow myself to bringthat device into my living room, my big screen television set, and be
okay with the fact that I derive enjoyment, recreation, from it.
Because to the degree that I allow myself enjoyment, to the
degree that I allow myself to have a good time—to have  wonderful
recreation—to that degree I can re-create myself anew in the next
grandest version of the greatest vision ever I held about Who I Am.
It’s clear to me that the happier I am, the happier that I can
make other people around  me. So I’m in favor of material
possessions that bring happiness to me. And I’m very grateful that
my life has provided me with the wherewithal to provide myself with
those kinds of physical possessions.
So the possessions don’t have to serve what looks to some
people like a “spiritual purpose.” Being happy is a spiritual purpose.
Yet if I provided myself with those possessions in a way that stopped
me from sharing my happiness with anybody else, then I would
consider that I had been overtaken by my possessions. So I make
certain that, financially and in other ways, I share abundantly with all
those whose lives I touch. This allows me then to feel very good
about sharing with myself as well.
I put myself on the list of people I love enough to go out and
obtain the possessions that I have, to make myself feel happy and at
peace and good about the life that I’m living. I’m not suggesting for
one minute that my possessions are the source  of my feeling happy
and at peace. But they certainly assist me in having a joyful
experience of life, and allow me to continue to experience myself as
one who is happy, and can therefore share happiness and, for that
matter,


 author of Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill, has extensively researched the topic of fat consumption and
health. What’s more, he sells fat for a living. Y et in his book he recom mends we eat just 15–20% of our calories as fat. 52
The Pritikin Longevity Center, a facility that holds the finest heart disease reversal record of an y such organization in the
U.S., recommends a dietary fat consumption of 10%. 53
Dr. Dean Ornish, a renowned cardiologist and author, also guides his heart patients to grea ter health and disease reversal
through his near-vegetarian dietary program that includes not more  than 10% fat. 54
Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, surgeon at the famed Cleveland Clinic and author of Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, also
recommends a low-fat cooked vegan diet where approximately 10% of calories com e from fat. 55
Dr. Neal Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and aut hor of several books on vegan
nutrition, is another proponent of approximately 10% fat for health. 56

Many other doctors and PhDs famous for their work in nutrition have writt en extensively on the health benefits that predictably
accompany a drastic reduction in dietary fat consumption. These include  John McDougall, Michael Klaper, Alan Goldhamer,
William Harris, Ruth Heidrich, Michael Greger, and Matthew Lederm an and Alona Pulde, among others. All of these professionals,
as well as many dietitians, nutritionists, sports scientists, and oth er health experts agree that the magic percentage could be as high a s
the teens, but not much higher. Only industry-influenced governmen t bodies recommend that we should limit fat consumption to 30%
of our total calories. I would steer clear of any health “professional” or  diet plan that claims that consuming 20% or more of our
calories from fat is healthful (or even acceptable).
Several years ago, I read an interview in an airline magazine wit h the then-current director of nutrition for the U.S. Olympic
Team. In it, she stated that the relative percentages of fat, prot ein, and carbohydrates in an athlete’s diet should not vary, regardlessof whether the athlete runs the mile or the marathon, lifts weight s or plays table tennis, shoots skeet or puts the shot. She stated that
without a doubt, the only nutritional change she would recommend from athl ete to athlete would be the number of calories
consumed, not the choice of food or caloronutrient ratio. She went on to assert t hat fruit is like magic food for athletes. The
International Olympic Committee, in its book Food, Nutrition and Sports Performance,  concluded that a diet based on fruits and
vegetables was the healthiest for athletes and would result in the  best possible performance. 57

The Role of Fats
Fats serve a wide variety of functions in our diet and in the human body. It  is wrong to think of fats as being all bad. Fats are a
concentrated source of fuel, providing more than double the calories per gra m of either carbohydrates or proteins. They play an as-
yet not totally understood role in satiation, possibly because they are so dif ficult to digest. The fat in foods serves as the sole
carrier/source of our fat-soluble vitamins. Dietary fat is also the  source of the widely misunderstood nutrients known as essential fatty
acids.
Fat plays many important roles in regulation of various bodily functions. It is essential to our production of hormones, although
too much fat will exert an adverse influence on our hormones. It also hel ps to regulate the uptake of nutrients and excretion of waste
products by every cell. Fat is the primary insulator within the body. It prot ects us against cold and heat, keeps the electricity that
flows through our nerves on course, and protects our vital organs from jarr ing and other types of physical shock.

Types of Fat
Fat is fat, or so a great many people think. Actually, there are many type s of fat. Some are considered good; others are
considered bad, and still others are a mixed bag. Some fats are solid at room tempe rature; others are liquid. Many fats are
indigestible and unusable by the body, while some are indispensable. There a re overt fats and covert fats, short-, medium-, and
long-chain fats, saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fa ts. There are cooked fats and raw fats—and yes, there is a
difference. There is also a big difference between animal-derived fa ts and plant-based fats, at least where our health is concerned.
Yet with all the dietary fats available on the planet, a man walking i n the jungle with nothing more than his bare hands would
have a very difficult time putting his lips to any but a minimal amoun t of fat, and then only if he hit the season exactly right. Animals
that are built similarly to man eat a diet that is very low in fat. T hey rely upon fruits and vegetables for their calories, not fats. Let ’s
look at fat in a little more detail.
Fatty acids comprise the basic structural unit of all “lipids” ( a term comprising oily, water-insoluble substances that include  fats,
oils, waxes, sterols, and triglycerides). You can think of fatty acids as  the building blocks of fat. They are found, on their own, in all
whole foods. When fatty acids are joined to the other more complex lipid struct ures, the fatty acids are responsible for the
properties demonstrated by that lipid.

Overt and Covert Fats
Overt fats are the fats that you can see, or at least tell, are in our f oods. Since our taste buds cannot distinguish fat, we only detect it
by the greasy feeling on our hands or lips. To us, fat is tasteless. If a food is  fatty, oftentimes people have to be told. Many people
are surprised to find out the actual fat content of the foods they eat.

Typical Fat Content of Selected Foods
(percentage of calories)

Nuts and seeds: 60 to 90% fat
Wieners and sausages: 70 to 85% fat
Beef ribs: 65 to 80% fat
Hamburger patty: 55 to 65% fat
Chicken with skin, roasted: 36 to 63% fat
French fries: 45% fat
Chocolate chip cookies: 45% fat
Apple pie: 40% fat
Swordfish, grilled: 30% fat
Baked potato with ¼ cup of reduced-fat sour cream: 20% fat
Chicken breast, broiled skinless: 20% fat

Flesh, including fish, fowl, and game, as well as eggs and dairy, nuts and s eeds, olives, avocados, and all oils make up the bulk of the overtly fatty foods. Deep-fried foods of all kinds are extremely fatty  and also count as overt fats. Many desserts are also
overtly fatty, such as cheesecake, ice cream, pastries, and nutty can dies. Yet all of these foods account for less than half of the fat
consumed in the typical American diet.
The remainder is often referred to as “invisible” fat. W e will call  it “covert.” Covert fats are more hidden. V egetables, sweet
fruits, and nonsweet fruits like tomatoes and cucumbers contain enough  fat that should you eat them exclusively (in quantities
sufficient to meet your caloric needs) and consume no overt fats whats oever, you will average between 3 and 5% of your total
calories from fat.
Eating primarily low-fat fruits and vegetables—accompanied by a very small amount of nuts, seeds, and fatty fruits such that
total fat does not exceed 10% of calories—provides sufficient fat to cover al l of our nutritional needs.

Solid and Liquid Fats
We readily identify fat when we see it congealed on the top of soup that has  cooled. We have no problem recognizing a stick of
butter, or that white stuff around the edges of our steak, as fat. But many pe ople find it difficult to conceive of liquids as fat.
All oils are fats, but all fats are not oils. What is the difference? Oi ls are fats that tend to be liquid at room temperature. Both
solid and liquid fats function nutritionally as fat. Both oils and fats ex ist within walnuts and avocados. Whereas you can feel the liquid
oil in a pine nut, you cannot separate the oil from the lettuce; they are  one. The 80/10/10  diet does not recommend the consumption
of refined oils, those separated (extracted) from foods; rather, we recomme nd eating foods with oils in them, especially over foods
with solid fats in them.

How Can 2% Milk Be 35% Fat?
Y ou may have heard someone say that “2% milk” is anything but low fat. M ost of us who have not taken the time to learn the
nuances of interpreting food labels find this quite paradoxical. How can it  be?
The answer lies in the distinction between percentage by weight ve rsus percentage by calories. The following macronutrient
calculation example demonstrates this distinction and shows just how  misleading food marketing can be.

100 grams of whole milk contain


 are caused by other  people’ s selfishness, unfairness, and the
external world.6. Seek to give love rather than to r eceive it.  Most humans believe that
love is something that you ge t, that it is an emotion, that i t has to be
deserved, and that the more the y give away, the less they will have. The
opposite is the truth. Lovingness is an attitude that transforms our
experience of the world. W e become grateful for what we have instead of
prideful. W e express our lovingness when we acknowledge others and their
contributions to life and to our convenience. Love is not an em otion but a
way of being and relating to the world.
7. A void cr eating “enemies.”  Peo ple fall into the trap of gett ing even or
making constant remarks “pushing buttons.” They create enemies and
animosities. These preclude a peaceful life. Nobody needs enemies. They
can retaliate in ways unseen and so bring on unfortunate consequences.
There is  no such thing as winning a conflict; it only results in hatred by the
loser. It serves s piritual progress to always accept responsibility  for all that
befalls y ou and avoid the trap o f being a victim. From a higher view, there
are no victims. Nothing in the world of appearances has the pow er to cause
anything.
8. Choose a benign r ole and view of life.  Harsh viewpoints are not
conducive to spiritual growth. Even if they are “right” or “justified,” a
spiritual seeker cannot af ford them. One has to give up th e luxury of
revenge or enjoying that “justice  has been done” when a supposed murderer
is executed. One cannot violate basic spiritual principles without paying a
price. The spiritual seeker sees through the illusion and therefo re gives up
the role of judge  and jury. Nob ody goes “scot-free,” as people indignantly
protest. W ith kinesiology, we ca n quickly af firm that not one iota is missed
by the universe; literally, every hair is counted, every fallen sparrow noted.
No kind word goes unnoticed. All is recorded forever in the field of
consciousness.
9. Give up guilt.  G uilt is an atte mpt to buy salv ation, manipulate God,
and purchase for giveness by suf fering. These attitudes stem from the
misinterpretation of God as a great punisher. W e think we will assuage
God’ s ri ghteous wrath by our pa in and penance. There is actua lly only one
appropriate “penance” for wro ngdoing, and that is change. Instead of
condemning the negative, choose the positive.T o m ake progress and to chang e oneself takes more ef fort tha n feeling
guilty, but it is a more appropriate response. W e note from the Map of
Consciousness t hat Guilt is way  down at the bottom, whereas God is way
up at the top. Consequently, wallowing around in guilt at the bottom of the
field of consciousness does not get anyone to the top!
Humility means that we see our own lives as the evolution of spiritual
consciousness. W e learn from m istakes. “It seemed like a good  idea at the
time” is  maybe the most usefu l of all quotes to revise whatever the past
behavior is. Later, of course, in retrospect, it becomes recontextualized, and
if w e see the error, then wisdom can follow. W e are all intrinsically
innocent, because that is the nature of consciousness.
Along with giving up guilt, it is also very helpful to give up “sin” as a
reality. Error is correctable; si n (that is, ignorance) is a mistake and is
for givable. Mos t of what people  call sin  is an attachment, an emotionality
stemming from the child within. It is actually the child who lies, steals,
cheats, calls other people name s, and hits other people; therefore, sin is
really im maturity and ignorance  of the true nature of Reality an d the nature
of consciousness. As spiritual values replace worldly ones, temptation
diminishes and error is less likely to occur.
10. Let go of r esistance  and find the joy of giving 101 percent.
W illingness is the keystone to all spiritual progress as well as su ccess in the
world. Unpleasantness is due to resistance, and when resistance is let go, it
is replaced by feelings of strength, confidence, and joy.
In a ny endeavor, there is a po int of resistance that becomes a block.
When th is is overcome, the endeavor becomes ef fortless. Athletes often go
through this discovery, as do physical laborers. There is suddenly the
release o f enormous ener gy, an emer gence into an almost enlightened state
in which all is happening of its own. There is a peace, a serenity, and a
stillness. The exhausted ballerina or laborer is closer to the d iscovery of
God than they th ink. The awareness of the presence of God is preceded by
surrender. It is often in the pit of despair that the ego lets go, so that all
crises can be turned into the opportunity for spiritual discovery.
11. Realize that “T ruth” is dependent on context.  All  truth is only so
within a certain level of co nsciousness. For instance, to for give is
commendable, but at a later stag e, one sees that there is actually nothing tofor give. There is no “other” to be for given. Everyone’ s ego  is equally
unreal, including one’ s own. Perception is not reality.
12. Practice nonattachment, which  is an attitude of withdrawal of
emotional entanglement in worldly af fairs. It leads to serenity and peace of
mind. It is supp orted by refusing the emotional seduction of other people’ s
upsets and problems. It also involves a willingness to allow the world to
work o ut its own problems and destiny. Reactive involvement and
intervention in the world can be  better left to people who have a dif ferent
calling.
A “ good person” is one thin g; Enlightenment is another. Y ou are
responsible for the ef fort and n ot the result, which is up to G od and the
universe.
Nonattachment is not the same as indif ference or detachment.
Misunderstanding it to mean that the development of detachment is
required often ends up as flatn ess or Apathy. In contrast, no nattachment
allows full participation in life without trying to control outcomes.
13. Accept that everything serves a purpose.  Acceptance is the great
healer o f strife, conflict, and u pset. It also corrects major imbalances of
perception and precludes the dominance of negative feelings. Humility
means th at we will not understand all events or occurrences. Acceptance is
not pass ivity but nonpositionali ty. The development of a spiritual ego can
be avoid ed by the realization that spiritual progress is the result of God’ s
Grace and not our personal endeavors.
14. A void false gurus. Th is cannot be overemphas ized. The naïve
spiritual initiate is easily swayed by trappings and reputations of spiritual
figures a nd the charisma of tho se who have many followers. W ithout the
spiritual awareness of advanced  states of consciousness, the spiritual seeker
has no means of guidance, and popularity clouds judgment.
At t his time in human history, not a single guidepost can be relied upon
other than the kinesiologic test of the actual calibration of the level of
consciousness of a teacher, or ganization, or teaching. The naïve are
impressed by outward piety and claims of supernatural powers, paranormal
feats, an d fancif ul titles and sp ecial “spiritual” garments. Serio us spiritual
students are encouraged to verify each teacher or teaching acco rding to thecalibrated list of “Characteristic s of Integrous T eachers and T eachings” in
Chapter 8.
Q&A
Q: What is the value of being in the physical pr esence of the
consciousness of the teacher?
A:  W ithin your aura is much that you have learned in this world, most of
it nonve rbal, wh ich you cannot share. Y ou don’ t have enough  time to sit
down and describe to everybod y everything you’ve ever known about life
in a line ar way. The total of yo ur entire life and all the collective wisdom
and exp erience exists as an ene r gy field. When you share that  which you
have be come with others—sim ply by being with them—they pick up the
ener gy field of all that knowingness.
That’ s h ow it is that the spiritual teacher transmits the state of
Enlightenment via an ener gy field. The aura of the advanced, realized
teacher has within itself the coll ective wisdom throughout all time. There is
no amount of world time in which all of this can be laid out in a linear
lecture. Y ou could extract som e principles from it, but the principles are
only basic ones. Whatever is speaking to you right now is the accumulation
of th e in fluence of teachers going back to the


 Béchamp or Pasteur?19.
Some Lessons from World War Iand a Few Reflections on World War II
It is constantly asserted that the comparative freedom from epidemic
disease of the armies fighting on the western front during World War I
is a demonstration of the value of ‘preventive’ inoculations.
We, on the contrary, believe that a study of the subject proves such
a conclusion to be based upon only superficial observation. It has to be
remembered that every sanitary and hygienic precaution possible was
attended to on the western front.
And here we may pause to notice that World War I was not without
accompanying epidemics, providing an interesting illustration of
the substitution theory of disease conditions, to which we havealready alluded.
1
Throughout history we find that plagues have followed in the wake
of war, with a systematic diminution in intensity according to theestablishment of sanitary and hygienic conditions among the
population. Thus the black death of the Middle Ages was, in later times,
replaced by smallpox, which, in our own day, has found its substitutein mysterious outbreaks of influenza.
In reference to World War I, we read as follows:
“The war ended with the outbreak of the influenza epidemic
of 1918-19 (just as that of 1870-71 ended with pandemicsmallpox) – an epidemic which, without including SouthAmerica, China, Japan and great tracts of Asia and Africa, isestimated to have claimed eight million lives.”
2
Thus it can be suggested that the war involved the inevitable
aftermath of disease, whose far-reaching ravages may perhaps be
explained by the distribution of campaigns in widely diversified areas.
To return to the subject of inoculation; its success as a preventive of
disease can only be tested under conditions where sanitary and hygienic
measures fail, and as, wherever these were wanting, whether in EastAfrica, Gallipoli, Palestine or Mesopotamia, disease conditions ran riot,
1. See Chapter 13.
2. Report of Chief Medical Officer to the Ministry of Health on Influenza, p.46we confess that we fail to see where the success of inoculation has
been demonstrated.
Nevertheless, the press is inundated with medical arguments such
as the following statement by Lieutenant-Colonel S. Copeman, Officer-
in-Charge of the R.A.M. College, which appeared in The Times  for the
15th February, 1917:
“As to typhoid fever, contrasting admissions to hospital and
deaths in the South African campaign and in France for thefirst two years of the war, there had been a marvellous effectof prophylactic inoculation in the prevention of attack, andto an even greater extent in the saving of life. A similar resulthad followed the later introduction of inoculation in theFrench Army, which suffered heavily from typhoid fever inthe early months of the war.”
No better criticism of the above can be found than that of Mr. E.
McCormick in the Vaccination Inquirer  for March 1917:
“The implication here is that conditions during the South
African and European wars were similar, apart from the timeat which inoculation was introduced during the campaigns.
Now, nobody denies that sanitary conditions are a
governing factor, or at least an important one, in theprevalence of typhoid. It is well known that sanitaryconditions were deplorable in South Africa, whereas in Francethey have been, in Sir Frederick Treves’ words, withoutparallel in the history of war.
What are we to think of medical logic which (in its special
pleading for inoculation) continues to ignore this vital factor?
When we remember further that the two campaigns are
not even fully differentiated in respect to inoculation, butthat 400,000 doses of Sir Almroth Wright’s poison were sentto South Africa for the Army, and that in the first part of thecampaign in France inoculation was hardly practised at allamongst British troops, the grotesque inadequacy ofLieutenant-Colonel Copeman’s line of argument is apparent.
That his accuracy on points of fact is on a par with his
logic is demonstrated by his suggestion that the introductionof inoculation was later in the French Army than in ours,whereas the fact is that it was not only introduced earlier,but was made compulsory by law in 1913, whereas ours isstill nominally optional. The admission that the French Armysuffered heavily from typhoid in the early months of the waris therefore worth noting.”
Some Lessons from World War I...   319320   Béchamp or Pasteur?Where we can make something of a comparison is in respect to the
Japanese troops, who, in the Russo-Japanese war, inaugurated the
sanitary and hygienic measures that have since been followed in theEuropean war, where they were rigorously carried out on the western
front. As regards inoculation, the conditions are diametrically opposite.
At the time of the Russo-Japanese war, it was stated that:
“no prophylactic inoculations are being practised in the Army
with regard to enteric fever. Professor Kitasato has advisedthem, but the Army medical authorities refuse to allow themuntil they are better satisfied as to the results of Wright’sprophylactic treatment.”
1
Yet among those uninoculated troops, the cases of enteric numbered
only one-sixth of those that occurred among the partly inoculated Britishtroops in the Boer War. The Japanese cases were almost entirely in the
First Army, in which sanitary and hygienic regulations were less adhered
to; whereas in the Second and Third Armies, enteric was almosteliminated, although these armies were uninoculated. This Japanese
experience surely supports the argument that sanitary and hygienic
precautions, not inoculation, were the cause of the good health rateon the western front.
Foremost among safeguards for the health of the troops was,
undoubtedly, the care exercised in regard to the water supply. Onoccasional houses in the outskirts of Lille and along the Menin Road,
German notices still remain
2 to indicate where good drinking water
may be obtained. Such was the Teutonic attention to details.
The history of water purification for our own troops has been
described by Captain J. Stanley Arthur, in a paper read before the
Institution of Mechanical Engineers on November 19th, 1920, andpublished in The Engineer  of November 26th and December 3rd, 1920.
Here we are told how:
“bleaching powder, or chloride of lime, was first used to
sterilise drinking water in 1897 at Maidstone, where anepidemic of typhoid was raging. Its use was attended withvery successful results, typhoid being rapidly stamped out.”
1.The Russo-Japanese War Medical and Sanitary Reports, p.360. See also Anti-typhoid
Vaccine s, by L. Loat, published by The National Anti-Vaccination League, London. See
also Anti-Typhoid Inoculation, by M. Beddow Bayly.
2. August, 1922.Further, we read that:
“chlorine in the gaseous condition, although used in America
to a small extent for some time, has only come into generaluse during the last few years. The amount of chlorine, eitheras a gas or from bleaching powder, required to sterilise wateris quite small.
At the outbreak of the war, the only method of water
purification – other than that involving the use of tablets ofacid sodium sulphite – that could be carried out in the fieldwas embodied in the water cart.
Attempts were made to devise a simple method by which
the amount of bleaching powder required to sterilise a givenamount of water could be determined in the field. The firstsuggestion was made by Professor Sims Woodhead, and theactual technique, involving the fitting up of a case containingthe necessary apparatus and chemicals with instructions forcarrying out the test, were worked out at the Royal ArmyMedical College under the direction of Sir William Horrocks.
With this test case, known in the Army as ‘the Case Water
Testing Sterilisation,’ and the water cart as the starting point,the whole of the water purification scheme of the Army hasbeen built up. That the methods adopted have been successfulis seen from the fact that throughout the war, there has beenno epidemic of any waterborne disease.”
 Captain Arthur goes on to speak of advances in the water cart
technology and also of work done in America for the administration of
chlorine gas to water for sterilisation purposes. The two types of
chlorinators constructed by Messrs Wallace and Tiernan of New Yorkhave proved most satisfactory, and their direct feed type was ‘adopted
throughout the water purification plants in use in the British Army.’
The article also deals with stationary and portable plants and the
whole process of purification. Captain Arthur also mentions the
difficulty of supplying sterilised water to the troops in the East in the
early days of the war; but shows that now
“a supply of sterilised water can be maintained under almost
any possible conditions, by use of one or the other of thevarious types of water purification plants mentioned,”
and he tells of the new plants ordered for use in the East. To this
system of water purification he gives all the credit for the Army’s good
health rate.
That this is the case is evident from the contrasting rates of sickness
Some Lessons from World War I...   321322   Béchamp or Pasteur?on all those fronts deprived of similar advantages.