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Everybody�s Guide To Nature Cure
The Fevers. Part 2.
By Harry Benjamin ND
Compiled and Edited by Ivor Hughes.

Continued.
EVERYBODY'S GUIDE TO NATURE CURE
The great thing is for those administering the treatment to keep their heads and just carry on with the simple methods advocated. If any crises occur, they will pass off quite favourably because nothing is being done to interfere with their natural (and therefore successful) termination in any way. And as the whole fever process is a normal move towards the future health and self-regeneration of the patient, no crisis, however alarming on the surface, can do other than help on the healing process. Indeed, these crises are only special manifestations of the self-cleansing process already taking place, and are extra-special efforts on the part of the natural forces of the body to get rid of morbid deposits in special organs or structures. That is why interference with their progress by means of drugs and unwise feeding will tend to react so adversely upon the luckless sufferer. His whole organism is wrought up to the highest pitch during the crisis, and the intervention of outside agents just brings matters to a sudden climax, with the result that death sometimes results.

From the foregoing considerations it is always best to bring in a Naturopath, where at all possible, to supervise the carrying out of the treatment; but, as already said, if people will only have enough faith in the efficacy of the methods employed and they have proved themselves over and over again in thousands of cases the world over then anyone with sufficient confidence in themselves can supervise the treatment in any given case. A complete cure MUST ensue if the treatment is carried out properly.

As regards feeding after the fever, this must be very carefully done. There should be no undue hurry to get the patient on to a full diet again. He should be placed on the exclusive fresh fruit diet outlined in the Appendix for the first few days, having nothing but grapes and oranges or other fresh, ripe, pulpy, juicy fruit for the first two days (the juice only the first day, the juice and pulp the next), and the more solid fruits after. After, say, three or four days on the all-fruit diet, milk may be added to the dietary (fresh and unboiled, or slightly warmed ; never hot)● for a further two or three days, taking up to two pints daily, or a little more, and then the full weekly dietary outlined in the Appendix can be gradually adopted.

● Editors note; Milk as it is produced today can no longer be considered as a suitable food for a convalescent. See here; http://www.notmilk.com/ Far better that raw vegetables and their juices are substituted. See the article on juices in the self help section of the main library of this site.

Article continues;
It goes without saying, of course, that this scheme of dietary should be adhered to strictly thereafter, if the patient wishes to consolidate the beneficial effects upon his system of the successful treatment of the fever, and if he wishes to avoid any trouble in the direction of further disease in later life. So-called " nourishing " foods such as broths, beef-tea, etc., should NOT be given at all during convalescence. They are the worst possible foods to give one who is just recovering from the effects of disease, as they contain more toxic material in their constitution than any other known kind of food. They consist almost exclusively of water and the waste and morbid products of the animal system. As real food their value is nil.

With regard to the use of fruit juices during the fasting period, any fresh fruit juice may be used instead of orange juice, such as diluted lemon juice, grape-fruit juice, etc., or vegetable juices ; but if none of these is procurable in any given case, just water alone will do quite well. The only thing is that the fruit or vegetable juices help on the cleansing process more rapidly because of the body-cleansing elements they contain.

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF FEVERS, WITH SPECIAL REMARKS
Chicken-pox. See general remarks on fevers in the preceding pages re general treatment; see also Childhood diseases in the self help section of the library of this site., where the disease is dealt with in detail.

Diphtheria. See general remarks on fevers in the preceding pages re general treatment; see also Childhood diseases in the self help section of the library of this site where the disease is dealt with in detail.

Enteric Fever. See Typhoid in Part 3.

Influenza. Influenza is being included in the present section because it is an acute disease exactly similar in every way to a fever, its typical symptoms, as with all acute diseases, being high temperature, prostration, pain in limbs, nausea, etc., etc. No disease receives more attention at the present time than influenza, and if one listens to the medical view upon the matter as reported in the popular Press, it would seem that what we have to do to rid the world of " this dreaded scourge " is to furnish huge sums of money for research work so that scientists can find the germ of influenza, and thus enable the medical profession to deal with it successfully.

It does not seem to occur to those who either make or print or read these remarks that the germs of tuberculosis, diphtheria, typhoid, pneumonia, and many others are well known to the bacteriologist, without in the least preventing the continual occurrence of these diseases !

No amount of research work to discover the germ of influenza is going to prevent or stamp out influenza. Although the disease is what is known as a germ disease, it is not primarily due to the action of germs, as people believe, but depends for its development in the first place upon a toxic and run-down condition of the system of the person concerned, as a result of wrong feeding habits and general wrong living.

As already pointed out in the general remarks on fevers at the beginning of the present section, no disease germ can take lodgment and become active in the system of one who is perfectly clean and wholesome within. This remark holds equally good of influenza as of all other germ diseases. It is the bodily condition of the sufferer which we have to look to every time, and not the germ. Germs are merely superficial agents in the matter.

When people have been living for years in the conventional way, eating the wrong food and having insufficient exercise, wearing unhygienic clothing, sitting always in stuffy rooms or equally stuffy cinemas or theatres, keeping late hours, etc., etc., their systems are bound to get clogged with waste material and morbid deposits, and it is because of this that they fall such ready victims to the dreaded " flu." Especially is this so if they are in the habit of loading their system with purgative drugs, etc., or have been the victims of much previous suppressive drug treatment.

As with all acute diseases, influenza originates through a lowering of the vitality of the individual concerned (worry, overwork, and excesses of all kinds being the most potent factors concerned in bringing about the lowering of vitality in question) ; and it has only to make a start in one person here and there for more and more people to " catch " it from them, because all these people are in an equally low vital state themselves, with their systems also choked up with waste matter. That is how an epidemic starts. It only needs a few to make a beginning for more and more to go down with it, because, as just explained, the vast majority of people in civilised countries live in more or less exactly the same way�within limits� and are thus equally ready for the development of the disease within their systems.

It is generally noticed that an epidemic starts during or just after the winter, when vitality is low (especially after the Christmas "gorging" bout !), or after a great crisis, such as the Great War, when physical and nervous tension is relaxed, the reason being that the natural forces of the body take the opportunity thus afforded of indulging in a little bout of much-needed internal " spring-cleaning " (which is all that influenza really is !).

We have said that, like all acute diseases, influenza is a natural attempt at self-cleansing, and it follows therefore that if rightly treated, nothing but good can ensue so far as the future health and well-being of the sufferer are concerned. It is because the origin of influenza is not rightly understood in medical and scientific circles, and because the disease is not rightly treated, that so much ill-health and suffering follow in its train and so many deaths occur.

There are very few common diseases which bring so many complications in their train as influenza when treated along orthodox medical lines, and this is entirely due to the suppressive nature of the treatment employed and the crass feeding which is allowed. That is why pneumonia so often develops after " flu," kidney trouble, heart trouble, ear and chest trouble, etc. All are due to the wrong methods of treatment employed, which have checked the natural cleansing process taking place and forced toxic matter deeper and deeper into the system again, where, plus the drugs administered by the doctor, they take lodgment in this or that vital organ or structure, to the detriment of the organ or structure concerned and of the whole general health of the sufferer.

It is because of the ease with which the disease is passed on from one to another, and the equal ease with which complications may arise during treatment (often leading to death), that influenza has filled the public mind with such dread. But if the matter were only seen in its true light, there would not be the slightest need for all this fear and dread. It is just that ignorance is being allowed to lead ignorance in the matter that all the trouble has arisen. Let natural methods of cure be generally adopted during the next influenza epidemic, and not only would there be no deaths or dreaded complications to fill the papers with scare headlines, but every person treated would be in far better health after recovery than before, because his system would have received a thorough internal cleansing�a cleansing which it very much needed, be it noted.

Let these same individuals live thereafter along Natural-Cure lines, as regards diet, etc., and the statistics for disease in this country would show a remarkable decrease in every direction within a very short time. And all this without one penny having been spent on research work, public health services, and the like ! Just think of the saving that this would mean to the country as regards sick-pay, insurance benefit, doctors' bills, etc., and of the all-round improvement in national efficiency that would ensue, as a consequence of the greatly improved health of the population as a whole !

But there you are, people will not see these things in their true light (especially our leaders of medical thought and opinion !), and so more and more money is asked for every year for research work to discover and " stamp out " the " dreaded germ " of influenza, whilst thousands upon thousands of deaths continue to result annually from the disease�as it is supposed, but really through the totally unwise manner in which treatment is carried out.

Treatment. As regards treatment for influenza, this is exactly the same as for any other acute disease; and the general procedure for fevers given in the preceding pages can be followed out in every case of influenza with nothing but the best results. Of course, whereas in a fever the initial fasting period may last from a week to two or three, in influenza the fast may only have to be carried on for from two or three up to five or seven days, according to the severity of the case. When all temperature has subsided and convalescence is assured (the tongue need not necessarily clear fully in these cases, because the fast is not intended to be conducted to a finish as with a fever), then a day or two on the all-fruit diet, followed by a further day on fruit and milk, can be undertaken, after which the full weekly dietary outlined in the Appendix can be gradually embarked upon. The more closely this scheme of dietary is adhered to thereafter, the less likely is it that future attacks of " flu " will occur. IN NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD ANY DRUGS BE TAKEN.

NOTE. It is quite possible for one living on a healthy dietary for even a year or two to develop influenza, but that is only because his system has still plenty of toxic matter in it and is in need of cleansing. If the disease is treated along correct lines, this excess toxic material is removed, and it only means that the future health of the individual has been further enhanced. Thus, looked at in the right light, all the things that people dread most, such as fevers, colds, influenza, etc., are really blessings in disguise if rightly treated; because they simply remove toxic matter from the system of the individual concerned and thus pave the way for better and better health�always provided, that is, that sensible methods of living are adhered to thereafter.

When people find themselves getting influenza year after year (or sometimes twice a year), it is not obscure germs that must be blamed for this, but THEMSELVES. It only shows in what a deplorable state their body is, and how weak is their vitality. Such people are badly in need of a thorough course of health-building treatment along the lines consistently laid down in the present book.

Malaria. Malaria is the fever most common to tropical and subtropical regions, and it is generally assumed that Medical Science has a sure cure and preventive for the disease in quinine. The germ of malaria is introduced into the human system through the bite of a certain mosquito, and it is claimed that quinine has the power to destroy the poisons set up by this germ. To those who look upon all disease in the usual superficial way, that is quite sufficient; but. to those who look below the surface in these matters and seek for first causes, things are not quite so simple as they seem.

To begin with, no one whose blood-stream is in a really clean condition can " catch " malaria, no matter how many times he may be bitten every day by the malaria mosquito. As with all other germ diseases, it is to the bodily condition of the individual concerned we must look every time, whether the disease is malaria or any other fever. It is quite true that the malaria mosquito introduces the germ into the human system, but unless that system is in such a toxic state that the germ can develop there, not the slightest trace of malaria will there be.

Because of their habitually superficial view of all disease, our medical scientists and research workers lose sight completely of this fundamental fact; and because they have in quinine a drug which definitely has a direct effect upon the malaria germ, they consider that the malaria problem has been quite solved so far as they are concerned. From their point of view all you have to do in malarial regions is to take quinine every day to prevent malaria ; but if the disease should develop " in spite of these precautions," then take more and yet more quinine until the disease has been removed. The fact that quinine is not a sure preventive for malaria, and that even when the disease has been " cured " by its administration it always tends to return, never seems to affect in the slightest this implicit medical belief in the unrivalled value of quinine in the treatment of malaria.

If malaria could be really cured by quinine, why is it that everyone so treated is liable to recurrent attacks of the disease for ever after ? no soil for the development of the germ is present within the system. To secure this immunity, what is required is a dietary suitable for a hot climate, that is one in which juicy fruits and vegetables predominate largely, and in which meat and other flesh foods are conspicuous by their more or less total absence. The taking of alcoholic liquors also largely paves the Way for the development of malaria through the lowering of the tone of the system that takes place. 

If one wishes to avoid malaria in malarial regions, therefore, the correct thing to do is NOT to take quinine, but to live wisely and cleanly. If one should fall victim to an attack (even when living in such wise), then it will be sure to be mild, and if treated as directed will soon pass completely, leaving the individual concerned in better health than before, because the fasting treatment employed will have given the system a thorough internal cleansing.

As pointed out in the section dealing with diseases of the ears, nose, mouth, and throat, many cases of ear trouble are due directly to the taking of daily doses of quinine in tropical climates for the supposed prevention of malaria; whilst long-standing aural troubles are always intensified by the habitual taking of the drug.

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