Natural Hygiene Represents Nutrition For The Whole Person

2. Natural Hygiene Represents Nutrition For The Whole Person

Those who adhere to the principles of Natural Hygiene are not members of a cult or of a religious group. They are not “oddballs.” They are rather a people divorced from the herd because they have observed the herd and do not like the largely inherited common practices of the herd. Neither do they admire what they view as the natural results of such practices, especially those seen as direct consequences of the prevailing eating and living habits of the masses.

Natural Hygienists realize that we are presently witnessing the beginning results of the largest chemical experiment in the long history of mankind. They realize that physiology teaches us certain facts about the requirements of life and that life itself tells us that when these requirements are fully met as and when presented, superior health is as natural a result of this kind of intelligent action as the bursting forth of a wondrous oak from the seed when the environment is friendly and conducive to the life process. Life Scientists believe that, if we desire full health and not just a reasonable facsimile thereof, then we must answer our bodies’ needs in every particular and at the right time, but not in excess thereof. Simply put, Natural Hygiene is the study of discipline of total human nutrition and the application of its principles in one’s daily living.

2.1 Putting Life Into Perspective

In these fast moving times, in this period in our history when a constantly changing kaleidoscope of newly gleaned facts and details flood the media of the world about things and chemicals purportedly guaranteed to restore youthful beauty and health to the millions, Life Science (Natural Hygiene) represents an “anchor in the wind,” a beacon of truth to guide the most weary and inspire the more informed.

If anything be certain in this world it is that life is change, that tomorrow we will not be as yesterday: that we can either be less productive, less healthy that we are today or that we can take positive, physiologically- and biologically-sound steps to gain something back of what we may have perhaps carelessly tossed aside because we formerly lacked knowledge or perhaps even thought that tomorrow would always be forthcoming in spite of all of our shortcomings and errors, known and unknown. Life Scientists, however, know that, within the parameters of the possible, tomorrow, our beauty and our very presence, will depend on the correctness of what we do this day, today.

If we are correct in the doing, tomorrow, our being and our beauty, will all be there. And, perhaps, as Life Scientists, each one of us, having reaped our own reward, can impart to others some of what we have learned and will continue to learn in this course and in reading other Hygienic studies elsewhere in an on-going effort to understand the most challenging of all studies, the Science of Life.

2.2 The Skin as a Part of a Complex Whole

The human skin is an amazing organ. Nothing is ever static about it. It is part of the living organism. Throughout, it is a functioning live entity, except for its outermost layer. Just as life itself is evidenced by activity, by change and motion of parts, so the skin is active in the sense that changes are constantly taking place, often very subtle changes invisible to the naked eye.

In fact, even the outermost layer participates in this change because, as dead cells are scuffed or rubbed off, they are rapidly replaced and this dead layer itself becomes a part of the ever-changing, ever-dying, and ever-rebirthing which is so characteristic of living things.

2.3 Quick Solutions

Because the skin lives and is constantly in flux, it is certain that when errors are made in body care and feeding, abnormal changes often exhibit in the skin. Manmade substances are not the answer when abnormality of any kind exists. Only the body possesses the inherent knowledge of what should be done, how it should be accomplished, and precisely when. As humans, we know so little about humans! About how we are made and how we function. Much of what is touted as scientific knowledge consists of estimates and guesstimates, not fully-established truth. Hopefully this discussion will provide facts and enlarge on truth.

For example, it is fact that, being a living entity, the skin must receive proper nourishment throughout the whole of life and that topical applications are never a long-term solution to problems and that they can often prove destructive to health and beauty. Face lifts and injections can provide only a temporary illusion of beauty and are unable to stem the tide of the degenerative effects of nonadherence to healthful principles of life. Life, being an ongoing kaleidoscope of change, demands total nutrition and care of person, including the skin. True beauty comes only as a response to total life care.

It is estimated that every square inch of the human skin is made up of 19,500,000,000 individual cells. This is amazing, but even more amazing is that all of these cells must work together harmoniously. They are required to serve in many diverse capacities, all of which influence the functional efficiency and performance of every other cell within the total human economy. We must pause to consider and agree that man is, indeed, “fearfully and wondrously made.”

Like functioning cells, every cell of which the skin is composed is in and of itself a complete entity which is prepared to cope with all kinds of emergency situations. It possesses, among others, that amazing talent, resident only within the living, of knowing exactly how to heal its own wounds; this, of course, within the realm of possibility.

While a totally self-contained unit, it is at one and the same time a contributing member of the total synergistic society of cells, not only those which comprise the skin itself, but also those which make up the body as a whole.

Thus, the skin is an integral part of the living person and one which plays a vital role within the body economy which is both supportive and functional.

Just as the cells of the skin support the internal functions, it is, in itself, supported by that which lies within. It reflects, like a mirror on the wall, the condition of the inner SELF.

When the skin is ugly, pimply, coarse, puffy; and gross looking, it is conveying a message of internal disarray, it is telling its owner that that is exactly the way the inner body also looks and if we could hold a mirror to our inner self and examine it just as carefully as both sexes do with their faces, we might observe the inner man with some distaste and even revulsion.

The skin, just like the internal organs and parts, is subject to the same rules and regulations that pertain to every other part, whether it be bone, muscle tissue, nerve tissue, or other. Food for the skin must first be eaten, then digested, absorbed, and transported via the blood and lymph to each individual skin cell just as food which is intended for the brain cells or for those in our big toe! Skin wastes must be eliminated as regularly as other body wastes.

If the mirror on the wall reflects a sick skin, it is giving us the word that the total body is also sick. As Dr. J. H. Tilden, M.D., one of the great early Natural Hygienists, so well said, “If the outer skin is measly looking, that’s the way the inner body is, too!”

The skin is a living part of man and, if we wish to have a beautiful skin which will last for a lifetime, then it must be serviced by an inner self which functions, as close to perfection as possible. There is no quick magic road to skin beauty, no single or simple solution. Skin problems, such as rashes, itching, bumps, warts, or lesions of whatever kind, are, barring accidental injury, the result of errors in eating and living habits, errors which have caused the interior organs and parts to be reduced in their efficiency of performance to the extent that they have not fully performed their duties anywhere within the body economy including the part which we examine most closely, our skin.

The danger in looking for quick solutions to multiple problems always results in dashing our hopes and worsening an already worrisome condition. Salves and ointments can only serve, at best, to drive toxins elsewhere within the system either to remain as an encumbrance to total body performance or to add to existing debris. Regardless, in time, the poisons must emerge to the surface or create some havoc within some organ or tissue, thus further accelerating systemic decline.

We well remember a time when we were in London, England, and Dr. Elizabeth developed a rather annoying rash which was quite painful at times. This was long before we were “sold” on Natural Hygiene. We were still in the “exploring” stage and even yet wedded to the more orthodox methods we had learned at the various universities where we had studied.

We therefore sought medical advice for the rash and were given a cortisone-based ointment to put on it. In a few days the rash went away but we were soon to receive a very expensive lesson because a funny thing happened shortly thereafter. We had travelled on to Barcolona, Spain, and, “suddenly” Elizabeth came down with a cold which became so deep-seated that it kept her indoors confined to bed in the hotel for almost two weeks, all the while she continued to eat “three square meals” a day. She was so weak after that, that we were unable to resume our investigative studies for almost a month. This particular lesson was not only wasteful of money but wasteful of opportunity and time.

We had not as yet learned that it makes no scientific sense to palliate symptoms of a malfunctioning skin as we did by applying “remedies,” per se. The skin is a living part of a complex whole. It must be fed through over 70,000 miles of channels by blood that is replenished from a common pool and which feeds the whole of man. The skin’s outward appearance and condition reflects how well the total operation is proceeding and when it is sick, the entire body likewise suffers. To solve the skin’s problems, we are required to answer the multiple needs of the entire body through total nutrition.

The new molecular biological sciences are enlarging our understanding of many of man’s inner mysteries. Certainly the application of our knowledge of the manner in which all cells receive their nourishment underscores the futility of applying creams, lotions, and other manmade chemicals to the skin in the mistaken notion that they will transform a sickly skin into one that glows with vibrant health. Such is not the reality of the living man or woman.

In our work with our clients we must be cognizant of the fact that in the arena of actually practicing as professional Hygienists, we will be facing the reality of life, not the mirage of commerce. We must be able to convince our clients that when the diet and lifestyle are health producing, the skin will be health revealing! And, lest we forget, our own appearance should be such as to inspire those who seek our services to achieve some higher degree of perfection in their own lives by emulating us and putting into practice what we teach.