Natural hygiene diet

Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine by Patricia Skinner

Definition

The natural hygiene diet is a system of healthy living whereby moral, physical, and environmental pollution is strictly avoided, and natural healthy food is chosen in preference over processed food. The principle is to provide everything the body needs to be healthy, and to avoid anything that may hinder health and well being.

Origins

Actually, early in the twentieth century, there were similar "natural hygiene" movements or health culture societies advocating exercise, the consumption of healthy foods, and massage. The American Natural Hygiene Society was founded in 1948, and as such is the oldest and largest natural hygiene organization in the world. The Society publishes the Health Science magazine. The British Natural Hygiene Society was founded in 1959 by president, Keki Sidhwa and two other natural hygienists. Their magazine, the Hygienist, which is published quarterly, was started in 1959, making it the oldest natural hygiene publication. Both organizations aim to educate and inform, and they can also recommend practitioners and clinics.

Benefits

This regime is designed to clean the body of all toxic matter, so that it is free to work, instead of being hampered by stored wastes that reduce the efficiency of the human organism. Together with improved nutrition, this should bring about a complete transformation for most people. Less sleep may be needed, and there should be a general feeling of increased well being and energy, which will almost certainly help the individual to make better and more productive use of their time.

It is possible that an improvement may be noticed in powers of recall; many people complain of loss of memory in our time, and this is usually due to a combination of stress and a toxic body system.

Improvements in symptoms, such as arthritis, migraine, hypoglycemia, diabetes, and more can be expected. In addition, the principles of natural hygiene often lead to unexpected benefits, such as improvements in the appearance and texture of skin, and improvements in the condition of hair and fingernails, the disappearance of eye bags, and a marked improvement in the level of body odor .

Description

The term "natural hygiene" refers more to a way of life than merely to a diet. For some time, aficionados have asserted that their recommendations can provide the foundation for a healthy, fulfilling life that is disease-free and emotional ennui that have become commonplace in so-called modern society. These, and many other diseases of modern life, are due to the multi-faceted pollution of ourselves and our planet, and a denatured diet. Together, it is considered that they cause poisoning and the stifling of the body's natural strength and vitality. Natural hygienists reason that since the body "constructs itself" after the fertilization of the ovum, it must also have powers of repair and renewal in order to maintain the organism, if given the right conditions.

Natural hygiene concerns every aspect of a human being's life, because everything--the physical, the spiritual, and the moral--affects the well being of the individual and society. The theory is that people should obey their natural instincts, and that only when they have achieved perfect health, will they be able to achieve their full potential as human beings.

Natural hygienists believe that mankind is naturally good and virtuous, but will not display these traits unless they are following all the principles of healthy lifestyle. The theories of natural hygiene, they claim, if properly adhered to will allow mankind to achieve supreme heights of achievement at all levels of his being.

If given the right circumstances and facilities, the human body, believed to be perfect in its creation, will be able to preserve itself in an optimum state, and efficiently perform repairs when needed, quickly returning to a state of total well being. The prerequisites for total well being are pure air, pure water, sufficient rest and sleep, and uncontaminated food of a high quality that will provide all the necessary nutrients in a readily available form. In addition to these, satisfactory human companionship should be sought, as well as protection from extreme cold and extreme heat, sunshine, sufficient exercise, a purpose in life, and in general, an atmosphere conducive to all that is good concerning human life.

An essential concept of natural hygiene is that to be healthy is normal, and healing is a biological process that cannot be bought. The same natural laws apply whether one is sick or well, and that which makes a well person sick can never make a sick person well. Allopathic medicine, in treating merely the symptoms of disease, in many instances actually worsens the condition in the long run.

A simple example of this would be the administering of laxatives to a patient suffering from constipation, as opposed to finding the underlying cause of the constipation. With time, laxatives cause the bowels to become even more sluggish, and so the cycle continues. Natural hygiene aims to correct the cause.

The first step, when embarking on a regime of natural hygiene, is to rid the body of accumulated toxins. There are many aspects to be taken into account for this procedure. Usually, the first to be considered is the gastrointestinal tract, but in addition, the skin, liver, gallbladder, lymphatic system, lungs, kidneys, and bladder all need to be detoxified in order to facilitate perfect functioning of the human organism. Although cleansing is of major concern, natural hygiene therapists caution that it is also very important to ensure that the body has access to fresh, clean air, clean water, and good food while the detoxification is in process, so that the body can rebuild itself. They warn that cleansing without rebuilding will weaken a body and its immune system.