pharmacological medicine has insisted that fever is no good and must be lowered as soon as it appears— in other words, that the fever is the sickness. Fortunately, science is becoming sophisticated enough to begin to discover through the scientific method what the ancients knew by dream, vision, or intuition. It has been found recently that bacteria cannot live at fever temperatures and that iron and zinc stores— which bacteria need for growth— are lowered during a fever. During a fever, therefore, bacteria are both cooked and starved. 13 Instead of being seen as an enemy, fever is now acknowledged as an ally in the treatment of disease. Fever generally starts in the intestines, and in my experience it is almost invariably associated with the consumption of animal protein, such as meat, chicken, eggs, and milk products. An excess of this protein, if not moving fast enough through the intestines, will putrefy and invite bacteria as scavengers. Fevers then arise to burn up the putrefying matter as well as the bacteria. Interrupting this process with aspirin or antibiotics is akin to killing the cleaning lady in the midst of her spring cleaning, when everything is one big mess. Because the job doesn’ t get finished, all the debris is left lying around, including the corpses of the dead bacteria, and the stage is set for more extensive and complicated infections and illnesses later on. Witness the discovery, in recent years, that there is a relationship between Reye’ s syndrome and the administration of aspirin to children with simple viral infections; this discovery has already resulted in widespread injunctions against the use of aspirin for children’ s infections and fevers. 14 Each interrupted infection leaves debris and residue in the body. Subsequent“ illnesses” attempt to clean up not only whatever problem is then acute, but also the leftovers of prior unfinished business. Keeping this in mind, we can understand in a new light why people become sicker and sicker as they age. Every time the body has attempted to do housecleaning, the process has been interrupted with medication, and the body has become more and more overloaded. One day, the immune system takes a look at the mess and says, in effect,“ This stuff doesn’ t belong here; let’ s take care of it,” and turns around and attacks the whole body. This could be the beginning of autoimmune diseases such as allergies, Guillain-Barre syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, Lou Gehrig’ s disease, multiple sclerosis, lupus, even cancer and AIDS. 15 Treatment of a simple fever that does not exceed 104 ° F and is not accompanied by other symptoms will be most effective if it:( a) allows the fever to do its job; and( b) avoids exacerbating the condition that caused the fever. This can be accomplished by observing the following measures:
• Keeping warm, to allow body temperature to build.
• Fasting, that is, eating no solid food or at least no protein or fats.
• Drinking hot fluids, perhaps with some spice, to encourage perspiration: Five-Phase Drink, vegetable broth, ginger tea.
• If the patient has chills or is restless, a fifteen-minute warm bath of the same temperature as the fever is very soothing and will banish the chills. This remedy is especially good for children.
• After the fever breaks— or if the patient is really hungry— barley water, soft rice,( this page) and salt-free vegetable soup( this page) are the best choices in foods. Because it is a beneficial physical reaction, a simple fever can be allowed, should even be encouraged, to run its course. Should it last longer than two or three days, or present any peculiar aspects, it’ s best to consult a competent health professional. The Common Cold One of the most widespread adjustments / discharges, the common cold is also commonly misunderstood. Viewed as a threat, it is, like most“ sicknesses,” more of a loving friend that comes to warn us about, and at the same time set aright, the misalignments, stresses, and dietary errors in our lives. Instead of heeding the message and making the corrections, we ignore or shoot the messenger— leaving ourselves open to repeat messages, which usually become more intense. Nature is persistent: If we don’ t respond to a tap on the shoulder, we’ ll eventually get a kick in the behind. What, then, should we do about a cold? First, we must find out what kind of cold it is. As with headaches, I’ ve found it useful to classify colds into those that result from expansion and those that result from contraction. Expansive colds can be caused by:
• Sugars, sweets, refined starches, and similar acid-forming foods
• Ice cream, milk, and other milk products