“The world cares very little about what a person knows; it is what the person is able to do that counts. (Booker T. Washington) The DOCTOR YOURSELF (SM) NEWSLETTER Vol 1, No 21 August 24, 2001 "Free of charge, free of advertising, and free of the A.M.A." Written by Andrew Saul, PhD. of http://www.doctoryourself.com , a free online library of more than 230 natural healing articles with over 3,400 scientific references. LUPUS Many readers have asked me to write about lupus. To do so would be somewhat like reinventing the wheel. Max Gerson, M.D., was successfully treating lupus using whole foods and raw juices… back in the 1930’s. Do not dismiss either the approach or the date out of hand. A time-honored cure is still a cure, unfashionable as it may be among our pharmophilic (drug-lovin’) medical specialists of today. And may I add that just because the cure for lupus is established does not mean that you were in some way negligent to not have known about it until now. If anything, your doctor is negligent if you have not known about it until now. There are 15 references on the subject posted at http://www.doctoryourself.com/bib_gerson_therapy.html The easiest way to find old and/or rare articles is to simply telephone your public library. Ask for the interlibrary loan department, give them the complete reference, and ask them to have the paper photocopied right at the library where it is held. If you offer to pay for the copying and the postage, this usually works best, saves you a lot of effort, and is economical. Have them mail the copies directly to you. It may grease the wheels a bit if you tell the librarian that you need the paper for serious research. If the paper is in a foreign language, ask for assistance in translating it. I have found librarians to be extremely helpful, with only the rarest of exceptions. If by chance you are connected with an unsympathetic librarian, just call a different library. A comment on omega-3 fatty acids and lupus may be found at http://www.doctoryourself.com/psoriasis.html And for recent references: Cheraskin E. (1996) Letter to the editor: Antioxidants and lupus erythematosis. J Royal Soc Health. Feb;116(1):13. Hoffer, A: Lupus Erythematosis. Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, No. 171, 74 to 75, 1997. Reprinted same journal No. 93/194, page 22-23, 1999 I welcome additional references and personal experiences curing lupus emailed to me at drsaul@doctoryourself.com MYTHS ABOUT VITAMINS “Because Vitamin C is ascorbic acid, it will hurt your stomach.” If you believe that, you’d better close down the Coca Cola company, because vitamin C is no more acidic that most soft drinks. Americans happily consume more pop than all other beverages put together. Your stomach’s natural hydrochloric acid secretions make your tummy one of the most acidic places on earth, roughly a pH point short of the inside of your car’s sulfuric acid battery. However, people with sensitive stomachs will do well to use buffered vitamin C (and also to avoid soft drinks!). Non-acidic calcium ascorbate vitamin C is available through any health food store and many mail-order outlets. An internet search will bring plenty of them up for you. The Better Business Bureau is also on-line for you to check their reputations. More hints on comfortably taking your vitamins is posted at http://doctoryourself.com/tabtaking.html And since so many have asked, here are some other vitamin C related articles: http://doctoryourself.com/vitaminc.html http://doctoryourself.com/ortho_c.html http://doctoryourself.com/titration.html http://doctoryourself.com/vitaminc2.html http://doctoryourself.com/klenner_table.html http://doctoryourself.com/vitciv.html http://doctoryourself.com/klennerpaper.html http://doctoryourself.com/hoffer_cancer_2.html http://doctoryourself.com/hoffer_vitc_can.html CONSTIPATION CURES by Jennifer Daniels, M.D. Syracuse, NY Colon cancer is the second most prevalent cancer in America next to lung cancer. The final word in research indicates that the cause, even more than diet. is constipation or inadequate emptying of the bowels. So, the chemicals in our diet, food additives, meat, etc are all factors but none so strong as sluggish or slow bowels. Your intestines are 30 feet long. The average American empties their bowels once a day. This means that the average American is carrying around waste products associated with the meal eaten 1 month ago. One should move the bowels daily to avoid misery. One should move the bowels 3 times a day and do a weekly clean-out to achieve optimal health. The cheapest and most natural way to achieve this is to eat raw vegetables (50 to 100 % of food eaten), walk a mile or more per day and drink 1/2 gallon or more of pure water daily. Not that sugared or flavored water, either; I suggest distilled or highly filtered water. Water is an essential lubricant and no remedy will work without it. If that is too radical or inconvenient, try these: Take 1 teaspoon of fennel seed, chew thoroughly and chase with a glass of water. One dose causes one bowel movement. Fennel seed can be purchased at an Asian foods store, many grocery stores, and most health food stores. This method is portable and convenient. One teaspoon psyllium seed or husk in 1 cup of water as often as needed to achieve 3 bowel movements per day. Senna pods: 6 per cup of water. Simmer for 5 minutes or more and add honey to taste. It is important to clean your colon out at least once a week so that no residue can accumulate and cause diseases such as cancer or arthritis. I recommend castor oil because it is so reliable and inexpensive. 1 tablespoon per 40 pounds body weight maximum starting dose of 4 tablespoons. I advise drinking four glasses water first and maximum tarting dose of 1/4 cup for adults. Magnesium Citrate: 1/2 cup per 100 pounds body weight. Drink plain or over ice. Enemas. This may be done as needed. Heat 1/2 gallon distilled water to warm temperature, fill enema bag. Lay on left side insert enema tube, let water flow in. When you feel the urge to void, get up and empty your bowels. Repeat until enema bag is empty. There you have it! TODAY’S REASON TO BECOME (MORE OF) A VEGETARIAN: VEAL When I was a dairyman, I got to know a lot of calves. One was born while his mother was on her way up the ramp into the milking parlor. Bossy just dropped that little guy onto the concrete, and in less than 10 minutes, he was up and walking around. At the end of the day, I saw him across the pasture, silhouetted against the setting sun, following his mother. He took about ten steps to her one. I didn’t want to be the one to have to tell him what the future was for male bovines. The females would live to become milkers. The boys would become veal. “Veal” has beautiful, big brown eyes with long, delicate lashes. “Veal” will suck on your fingers thinking it is Mom. “Veal” gets kept in horrible, cramped pens. The metal mesh pens we used were so small that the calf literally could not even turn around. He could stand, or he could lie down. There was not even room for him to swat the flies off his own backside, the location of choice for all hungry insects. And there were always clouds of flies, since calves chronically have diarrhea. This is because calves are loaded with antibiotics to keep them alive. A day or two after birth, they are taken from their mother and will never nurse from her again. They are fed nutrient deficient artificial milk replacer, and Mom goes into the milking line to feed our breakfast cereal, not her baby. And her baby is sent to slaughter for your next order of veal parmesan. I was a young son of a gun in my farming days, and I share the guilt of all of animal husbandry. But I learned something since then. There is a way to stop it: eliminate the demand. If we do not eat veal, calves will not be killed. If we do not eat meat, steers will not be killed. If we do not drink milk, cows will not be forced to bear calves that become steers or more cows. You do not have to “udderly” give up everything animal. Just REDUCING your meat intake saves many lives. 100,000 cattle a DAY are slaughtered in the USA alone. That makes 36.5 million a year. If we all simply cut out meat one day a MONTH, we would prevent the murder of over one MILLION animals annually. For every additional day per month that we refuse to eat meat, we will save a million more. WHAT OUR READERS SAY Gordie writes: “You just saved my butt in your description of chronic fatigue. I got out of the Navy in 1952. Been in fairly good health in spite of self-punishment from driving truck. Had to eat and this form of slavery was the only one open to me. 6 days in the cab and my immune system is killing me. Vitamin C, niacinamide, and other vitamin supplements have helped a bunch. “Most of the advertised stuff is hogwash. The old scoop on C and niacin, and the likes, is best. I buffer the mega C by taking it with water or food. The rest of my diet is mostly low-sugar, and cheap. “Read a book called: Body, Mind and the B Vitamins a number of times. Out of print now, but the information on niacin and niacinamide helping with arthritis and knee problems was valuable, and the information on other's work with large doses of vitamin C and niacinamide have helped bail me out and become mobile. I am about 70 years old. Thanks for your book reviews. I find that the good research was a long time ago but approbation is a long time acoming.” DOCTOR-YOUR-PET: Eliminate Fleas Without Using Chemicals How? 1) Sprinkle some garlic powder on your doggie’s or kitty’s food. They will eat it; just serve it with a nice red wine and an Italian motif. Or lace their pet food with brewers’ yeast. Or do both, if you have an unusually tolerant pet. Fleas hate these foods even more than finicky pets. 2) Make a point to bathe that doggie weekly. Forget the flea dip; soapy water kills fleas as well as any toxic chemical insecticide. (If you have a cat, you may skip this step.) 3) Don’t fixate just on adult insects. Kill the flea larvae where they live: in your carpet. Steam- or water-clean your rugs. Need incentive? Flea larvae are large enough to eat tapeworm eggs (found practically everywhere), and they do it, too. When your dog or cat eats fleas (which they do), that’s how they get a tapeworm. To break the cycle: Get out the Bissel (or other similar machine) and slaughter all the little beggers with water. 4) Want to drown adult fleas while you sleep? Build them an indoor swimming pool. Really. Put a pan of water on the floor of your dog’s favorite room before you go to bed at night. Illuminate it by shining the beam of a small study lamp into the water. Stay for the late show and watch the action: fleas will jump in, and right off of, the water. Whoops! They are so light weight that water surface tension holds them up like pack ice holds up an eskimo. The solution? Put a few drops of dish detergent in the water. Next time the jump in, they will go down faster than the stock market of 1929. COMING NEXT ISSUE: A SPECIAL CELEBRATION OF DR. ABRAM HOFFER’S 50th ANNIVERSARY PRACTICING MEGAVITAMIN (ORTHOMOLECULAR) MEDICINE Newsletter Ideas? To submit a question or suggest a topic for the newsletter, email me at drsaul@doctoryourself.com FREE SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR ALL to this newsletter available. We have no products for sale, and we have no financial connection with the supplement industry. AN IMPORTANT NOTE: This newsletter is not in any way offered as prescription, diagnosis nor treatment for any disease, illness, infirmity or physical condition. Any form of self-treatment or alternative health program necessarily must involve an individual's acceptance of some risk, and no one should assume otherwise. Persons needing medical care should obtain it from a physician. Consult your doctor before making any health decision. "DOCTOR YOURSELF" "DoctorYourself.com" and "Doctor Yourself Newsletter" are service marks of Andrew W. Saul. All rights reserved. Privacy Statement: We do not sell, and we do not share, our mailing list or your email address with anyone. You may notice that there is no advertising at http://doctoryourself.com and no advertising in this newsletter. We also do not sell vitamins or other health products, except for Dr. Saul's books, which help fund these free public services. Got Ideas? To submit a question or suggest a topic for the newsletter, email me at drsaul@doctoryourself.com Did You Want a Back Issue of this newsletter? All are available free of charge at http://www.doctoryourself.com/backissues.html Copyright c 2001 and prior years Andrew W. Saul Permission to reproduce single copies of this newsletter FOR NON-COMMERCIAL, PERSONAL USE ONLY is hereby granted providing no alteration of content is made and authorship credit is given.