The Six Fundamentals Of Natural Medicine

Why are so many people sick?

What is responsible for the rise of all of the chronic diseases?

I will answer this question shortly. My answer will show a point of view of health care shared among the experts in natural medicine.

But first please consider the challenge that the question poses to a scientist.

The language of a scientist can be tough to understand, even for us. And we are trained to investigate small pieces of large puzzles. Few of us join the puzzle pieces to see the causes for the chronic diseases of the developed world. This is why solutions for the epidemics of chronic diseases are scarce. 

Here is my explanation for the rise of all of the chronic diseases: 

A person becomes ill when harmful stresses overcome the forces of nature that work within us to maintain our health. 

When excessive, these stresses can break up the order and balance of the structures and functions of the body, mind, and spirit. 

I think these six statements are central to a case for working with the forces of nature within us to improve health:

1. We should do more to bond with nature.
2. Health is a state of order and balance.
3. A disease is a health disorder, nothing more.
4. All chronic diseases begin with the failure of tissue repair.
5. Healing resumes when the requirements for health are met.
6. A disease persists when the conditions for health are lacking. 

1. We should do more to bond with nature.

We in the industrialized world need to strengthen our connections with nature to stay healthy. Those of us who drop out from nature through unnatural foods and surroundings are the most diseased.

There is a reason for this:

The body’s cells, tissues, and organs are made of products of nature and use substances of its own kind.

This reality of biology means four things:

1. Your health depends on your intake of substances made by nature and prepared with care.
2. Any substance foreign to the body and interacts with it can foul its functions. This is why drugs cause adverse reactions.
3. Foods and food supplements cause trouble to the degree that the substances within them differ from the natural state.
4. What you put in your mouth can promote order, disorder, or both.

So, pay close attention to what you put in your mouth. What you eat will support your system, hurt you, or do some of both.

2. Health is a state of order and balance.

Health is a state where each of the structures and functions of a person's body, mind, and spirit are in order and all systems are in balance. 

In health, you are whole and feel that way. The required matter and energy are present and moving freely as they should.

With full and free function in body, mind, and spirit, just being alive feels good. 

To enjoy life more, do what you can to restore order and balance in your system.

3. A disease is a health disorder, nothing more.

Disease is a state where the structures and functions of a person's body, mind, or spirit are not in order and systems are out of balance.

The terms, disease, the disorder, and health disorder mean the same thing. A diagnosis is only a name for a group of findings of what is out of order in a person’s system. 

Doctors that work with nature do not treat a patient for the name of a group of findings. These doctors want to identify the causes for each finding and look for others not named by a diagnosis.

There is a cause or reason for each finding of disorder in a person's system. Matter, energy, or a mix of both may be in disarray, deficient, or out of balance. Or something foreign may disrupt a person's system. It is important to identify and correct these issues.

For example, if there's a problem with brain function, memory may be failing. Imaging may show a loss of brain structure. The flow of blood to the brain might be inadequate. Blood tests may show imbalances in chemistry that lead to these problems.

4. All chronic diseases begin with the failure of tissue repair.

Your body's ability to repair its tissues is a measure of your health and these two things:

1. Order and balance in your system
2. Resilience against a health disorder

A disorder will persist as long as the conditions required for tissue repair are not met.

The processes engaged in tissue repair bring back the order and balance that was missing. The repair of the body tissues that were out of order ends the disorder that impaired a person’s health.

5. Repairs resume when the requirements for health are met.

Health has its demands. Once those demands are met, repairs can proceed. 

The body can heal when given the support it needs. The same is true for the mind and spirit and the emotions. All three parts - the body, mind, and spirit - form our emotions.  

Our body, mind, and spirit require five things:

• Nourishment
• Protection
• Work
• Balance
• Purpose

Nourishment

Healthful foods and required supplements have top priority in fueling the repair of body tissues.

It is vital to consume a whole food, plant-based diet low in toxins and high in nutrients. Health depends on eating foods close to their natural state.

If you are healthy, a diet that is wholesome and free of contaminants should provide the nutrients you need. You would then take food supplements only for "health assurance." But few people today enjoy optimal health or a wholesome food supply.

Likewise, the mind and spirit need sound input to process and assimilate and to clear out rubbish.

Protection

The next requirement for long-term health is to avoid and get rid of toxins in all of its forms. Toxic surroundings can disrupt repairs of the body, mind, and spirit.

Substances not found in nature bear adverse effects ranging from mild to severe. One study found over 230 toxins in the cord blood of newborns.

Toxins come from everywhere. They are in the air, water, buildings, cleaners, cosmetics, clothing, crops, foods, containers, and so forth.

EMF is another disruptor of health. Cell phones and towers disrupt the signals made by our cells and tissues to harmonize its functions.

Many things harmful to the body are not obvious. But we can see and hear assaults to our mind and spirit everywhere.

Work

Work to exercise the body, mind, and spirit is the third requirement for long-term health.

Physical exercise helps the body use nutrients, eliminate waste and other toxins, make repairs, and maintain strength.

Likewise, the mind and spirit should be active and proactive instead of passive. The following practices can be vital for a healthy mind and spirit:

• Gratitude
• Meditation
• Prayer

Balance

Health requires support to our body, mind, and spirit while we serve the needs of our family, work, and community in a balanced way.

Pain, lack of sleep, and excessive physical and mental stress can become urgent issues for long-term health. There are natural, non-toxic ways to correct or reduce these problems. Balance in the chemistry within us is vital to all aspects of our lives. 

Purpose

Having goals for each area of your life help keep it in balance and aligned with a state of health.

What are your top priorities for improved health? Begin there and make a plan to create the conditions you need for health and healing.

6. A disease persists when the conditions for health and healing are lacking.

Health cannot endure in surroundings that may appear safe but are not. Denatured food and toxins in the environment disrupt health and healing, but this is not all.

Chronic health disorders develop from the effects of several factors:

1. Poor nutrition (food, water, air)
2. Physical inactivity or lack of sleep
3. Toxins (cell waste, chemicals, drugs)
4. Physical or mental distress and trauma
5. Infections, mostly from weak immune defenses
6. Bioelectric disturbances from internal or external stressors
7. Damaging thoughts, attitudes, feelings, and personal relationships
8. Inflammation from the above causes, which disrupts cell functions
9. Organ and tissue dysfunction from the above or other (rare) causes

Six or more of these factors affect most people. 

Other (rare) causes include certain errors in the genetic code. These errors in genetics are more serious than the susceptibilities to illness that run in families. Susceptibilities to illness develop only after other factors stress the system. 

Here are things to keep in mind:

• The mix of factors will differ from one person to the next.
• Exposure to each of these factors and resistance to them will differ.
• Health disorders resolve by reducing exposure to these factors or compensating for them.

Information On Natural Health Care

For Doctors

Medical schools do not teach students how to use lifestyle changes and natural products in health care. But there are sources for doctors to get this information. Here are three of them:

1. A fellowship in integrative medicine offered by The American Board of Physician Specialties 
2. The Institute For Functional Medicine (IFM), the Non-profit Organization that teaches functional medicine
3. Directly from individual practitioners and researchers in natural medicine.

For Instructors

The experts who train these doctors get their information from the following sources (just as I do):

1. The works of research scientists and clinicians as found at pub med and other sites.
2. Other practitioners and researchers in natural medicine.
3. The producers of natural products made for use by health care practitioners.

For Patients

Do you have an illness that calls for an in-depth analysis? Hands-on attention from a doctor may prove important to you. To find a doctor trained in functional or integrative medicine, look into  IFM’s referral network or your favorite internet search engine. 

For Everyone

To see the latest of what I recommend to our clients, type ADVICE in the bot at the bottom right corner of our website, www.lifesciences.care. I want to show you what to do for your health before you must see a doctor.

As a company, our mission is to help you optimize the conditions within you that restore and maintain health. Our new website bot is happy to serve you and connect us at your request.

About Horton Tatarian

I’m a biochemist who examines scientific findings on health and disease. My degree in biochemistry is from U.C. Berkeley. UCLA School of Medicine granted an M.D. degree in 1974. Since then, independent research prepared me to advise clients on natural ways of self-care.

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