Author: Lauren Farris

Parasites: A Symptom, Not a Cause – Rethinking Worms and Other Parasites

New clinical studies prove what the science of health, Natural Hygiene, has always asserted: parasites are not a cause of disease

For decades, the dominant medical model has taught us that parasites are invaders – dangerous intruders that must be eradicated at all costs. Dewormers, anti-parasitic drugs, and routine chemical treatments have become standard, especially in the care of animals. But emerging long-term research now confirms what the science of health, Natural Hygiene or the Terrain Model has always known and taught:  parasites are not the cause of disease but a natural consequence of a biological terrain that invites their presence. 

 The Study That Flipped the Narrative

In 2022, Dr. Martin Nielsen and his team at the University of Kentucky published a groundbreaking study examining a herd of horses that had not been dewormed since 1979, over 40 years without a single chemical intervention. These horses were not suffering. They were thriving.

Despite consistently carrying parasite loads, including Strongylus vulgaris (the bloodworm), the horses remained in good health. The study showed:

  • No seasonal rise in egg shedding (debunking previous assumptions)
  • Pregnancy, foaling, and lactation had no effect on parasite levels
  • Mares transferred antibodies naturally to their foals through colostrum
  • The parasites were present year-round, yet disease was virtually absent

“Parasitism is a natural state… worms only extremely rarely cause disease or ill-thrift.”
– Dr. Martin Nielsen

These findings challenge the mainstream belief that the presence of parasites is synonymous with pathology. They also affirm what the terrain model and natural hygiene has taught all along: the health of the host determines the presence, behavior, and impact of microbes, including parasites.  

Parasites as Natural Clean-Up Crews

In the terrain model of health, a toxic or compromised internal environment, the “dirty terrain”, is the true foundation of disease. When waste builds up in the body due to improper diet, stress, or poor elimination, nature sends in specialized helpers. Worms and parasites feed on the backlog of decomposing matter and cellular debris.

Just as vultures flock to roadkill, parasites emerge in a sick body, not to cause damage, but to consume what doesn’t belong. They are the clean up crew.  Their population expands when there is a bounty of cellular waste for them to feed upon and their population drops when the waste has been cleaned up.  But they are always present, waiting for their opportunity to help the body maintain a state of health. 

More Evidence from the Field

Another 2022 study in Germany analyzing horses on low-intervention farms found Strongylus vulgaris seropositivity in 21% of horses, without any signs of illness. Even when egg shedding wasn’t detected, antibodies were present, showing that the body had encountered the organism and maintained equilibrium through its internal defense and elimination pathways. This wasn’t a sign of disease, but rather a reflection of a well-functioning internal terrain capable of handling exposures without distress.  (Link to full study)

Similarly, a 2016 study in BMC Veterinary Research confirmed that S. vulgaris DNA could be found year-round, even when no active shedding occurred.  The key finding? Parasites existed quietly in the background, not causing harm unless other conditions were already at play.

And again, in 2022, long-term monitoring of naturally infected horses (PMC8822790) reaffirmed that parasite burdens alone are not predictors of illness.

The presence of the parasite’s genetic material did not equate to sickness, it simply revealed that these organisms exist in the environment and the body, and are kept in check when the terrain is clean and the lymphatic and circulatory systems are functioning properly.

The Terrain Determines the Outcome

From a terrain model lens, these findings echo a deeper truth: microbes and parasites are not villains, but natural recyclers and responders. They flourish in bodies burdened with waste, just as mold grows on rotting fruit. But if the terrain is clean –  supplied with proper nutrition, proper hydration and avoiding drugging or other damaging habits –  there’s nothing for them to feed on.

  • In healthy animals, parasite presence is mutually harmless
  • Disease arises when the body is burdened by inappropriate foods choices or poisoning, not when worms are present
  • Attempting to kill parasites without addressing the terrain misses the point. Any substance capable of killing a parasite is also damaging to the animal ingesting that substance. So when we apply dewormers, rather than improving the health of our animals, we are poisoning our animals in order to kill creatures which were put in place intelligently to help the animal clean out the damage from prior exposure to poison. So the animal gets poisoned once, the parasite spring into action increasing their populations to feed upon the cellular waste debris and toxins, and our response is to then poison. The animal, a second time in a vain effort to try to kill the helpers.

This new discovery aligns perfectly with what Natural Hygiene principles have always proven: toxemia, caused by systemic waste buildup, is and has always been the true root of disease. Parasites, bacteria, and viruses are simply symptoms of a toxic terrain. They appear after the body has been injured and are working with the body to clean and repair. 

Rethinking Deworming Protocols

Instead of defaulting to pharmaceutical dewormers:

  • Clean the terrain: Focus on species-appropriate diets, fasting, and hydration
  • Support elimination: Proper bowel function and and a hydrated lymphatic system are essential to maintaining waste levels within the requirements of health.
  • Respond to symptoms as warnings and red flags of the mistakes in diet and care that they reflect.  Don’t blame parasites or bacteria for a food induced problem.  ,
  • Honor the Laws of Nature:   Nature does not make mistakes; but humans certainly do, especially when profit is a motive, parasites have a role, they are intelligently designed for their role not mistakes.  Medicine always bases it’s foundations upon the body being a mechanical robot, poorly built, which requires their various poisons to operate properly. They neglect to remember that they have only been producing their poisons for around 150 years now, but the intelligently designed body has been living in harmony with parasites and bacteria for thousands of years.

As Dr. Nielsen put it, “[This herd] reminds us that parasitism is a natural state.” Indeed, it is the terrain, not the germ, or worm, that matters.

Parasites are not invaders to be feared, but part of the body’s natural cleanup crew. Like bacteria and viruses, they play an essential role in the body’s internal ecology—breaking down waste, aiding in the detox process, and responding to the conditions present. In healthy animals, they exist without causing harm. We do not poison our companions with dewormers—natural or synthetic—because parasites are not the problem. The problem is the terrain. When the body is clean and the diet is aligned with the animal’s biological design, there is no need for chemical interventions. If you’re ready to learn more about how to support your dogs and cats with their species-appropriate diet, start with our Getting Started Guide for Dogs , our Getting Started Guide for Cats, or join our thriving Facebook group for support and community, and explore our videos on the YouTube channel where we teach the truth about pet health and healing through nature’s design.

📚 References:

  • Nielsen et al. (2022). A year-long parasite surveillance in an untreated horse herd. Link
  • Nielsen et al. (2022). S. vulgaris exposure in German horses. Link
  • Tydén et al. (2016). Year-round PCR detection of S. vulgaris. Link
  • Kaplan & Nielsen (2011). Sustainable parasite control. Link

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Are Your Fruit Choices Causing You to Fail?

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to thrive when transitioning to the natural diet, while others struggle?

One of the biggest factors I’ve seen time and again that determines success or failure is the choice of fruit.

Those who base their diet on calorie-dense fruits tend to succeed. Those who gravitate toward watery fruits like melons often struggle, binging on cooked foods in the evenings or losing too much weight.

Why? Most people simply can’t eat enough watermelon, cantaloupe, or berries in one sitting to meet their body’s daily calorie needs.

The average person needs between 1,700 and 2,000 calories for a moderately active lifestyle. If you’re exercising, lifting weights, biking, or running, you’ll need more than 2,000. But let’s say you aim for an average of 1,800 calories per day, spread across three meals and a snack:

  • Two fruit meals at 600 calories each
  • One salad around 300–400 calories
  • One snack around 200–300 calories

How much fruit do you  need to make a 600-calorie fruit meal?

  • Bananas: about 3 cups (roughly 5 to 6 medium bananas)
  • Watermelon: 21 cups! 

This is where many go wrong. Influencers may glamorize “watermelon island cleanses”, but unless you’re eating a 20- to 30-pound melon each day, you’ll likely fall short on calories, leading to cravings and fatigue.

Not only that, but melons are highly fermentable in the digestive tract. If your digestion is still compromised from previous habits or you’re still eating cooked foods, melon meals are more likely to ferment, leading to bloating and gas, and those calories get wasted. Unripe melons make this problem even worse.

In contrast, those who make dense fruits like bananas, mangoes, papayas, apples, pears, and even durian the foundation of their fruit meals are far more likely to succeed. These fruits are easier to eat in calorie-sufficient quantities, helping you:

  • Meet your daily energy needs
  • Avoid cravings for cooked foods
  • Prevent unnatural weight loss and muscle wasting

Take a look at the chart below and save it for future reference. Make sure at least one meal per day is built around dense fruits. Pair watery fruits with dried fruits or bananas, and periodically check your total calorie intake to ensure you’re on track.

Remember: Your body needs calories to heal. Healing is a high-energy process, and underfeeding the body—especially to the point of excessive weight loss—starves it of the very energy it needs to cleanse and repair.

Don’t sabotage your healing by eating too light. Fuel your body with the fruits it was designed to eat—dense, sweet, juicy fruits—and give yourself the best chance to succeed in both your transition and long-term health journey.

Fruit by the piece

Bananas – 6 medium     623.04 kcal

Pears – 6 medium         608.76 kcal

Grapefruit – 6 medium    645.12 kcal

Apple – 7 medium 662.48 kcal

Orange – 10 medium 615.7 kcal

Peaches – 11 medium 643.5 kcal

Kiwi Fruit, Green – 15 fruits 631.35 kcal

Mandarin Orange – 15 small 604.2 kcal

Tangerine – 15 small 604.2 kcal

Plums, Raw – 20 medium   607.2 kcal

Cucumber – 20 medium 604.8 kcal

Fig, Raw – 21 small  621.6 kcal

Tomatoes – 30 medium 664.2 kcal

Apricots, fresh – 38 each 638.4 kcal

Fruit by the cup

Durian – 1.75 cups 625.12 kcal

Mango – 4.5 cup 619.41 kcal 

Papayas – 5.5 cups 614.6 kcal

Grapes –  6 cups 625.15 kcal

Cherries, Sweet –  6.5 cups 630.65 kcal

Blueberries – 7.5 cups 632.69 kcal

Honeydew Melon – 9 cups 617.37 kcal

Raspberry – 10 cups 627.26 kcal

Blackberries – 10 cups 619.2 kcal

Strawberries – 12 cups, 601.91 kcal

Cantaloupe – 15 cups 621.01 kcal

Watermelon – 21 cups 620.14 kcal

Dried Fruits

Dates, Medjool – 10 dates 664.8 kcal

Raisins – 1.5 cups 650.31 kcal

Figs, Dried – 1.75 cups 649.25 kcal

Apricot, Dried  –  2 cup 626.58 kcal

Lauren FarrisLeave a comment
Quote: The obesity and malnutrition problem experienced in epidemic portions by those who follow the Standard America Diet are due in large part to the overconsumption of grains and the underconsumption of fruit.

🌾🍕 Why Bread, Cheese, Pizza and Pasta Are So Addictive—And How They Trick Your Body Into Overeating

Have you ever wondered why it’s so hard to stop eating foods like bread, cheese, pizza, or ice cream—even when you’re full?

It’s not just habit, taste, or lack of willpower. The answer lies in opioid peptides—powerful food-derived compounds that hijack your brain, override your body’s natural signals, and leave you craving more.

🧠 What Are Opioid Peptides?

Opioid peptides are drug-like substances that are released during digestion from certain food proteins. The most well-known are:

  • Gliadorphin (also called gluteomorphin), from gliadin, a component of gluten in wheat
  • Casomorphin, from casein, the primary protein in dairy
  • Less potent variants also come from corn (zein), soy, and even spinach (rubiscolin)—but wheat and dairy are by far the most powerful and problematic

These peptides bind to the same opioid receptors in the brain that respond to drugs like morphine and heroin. The result? A flood of dopamine in your brain’s reward center. You feel comforted, relaxed, and emotionally “numbed” for a while—and your body wants more.

🍕 How They Lead to Overeating

These opioid peptides interfere with the body’s finely tuned hunger and satiety system in multiple ways:

1. They Hijack the Reward System

  • Foods containing gliadorphins and casomorphins stimulate dopamine release, producing pleasure and comfort.
  • This reward response becomes addictive, causing cravings that have nothing to do with true hunger.
  • The more you eat these foods, the more your body associates them with emotional relief.

2. They Block Satiety Signals

  • Normally, when you eat enough, hormones like leptin and cholecystokinin (CCK) tell your brain you’re full.
  • Opioid peptides dampen these messages, allowing you to continue eating well past the point of biological need.

3. They Promote Emotional Eating

  • Because they produce a sense of calm and pleasure, these foods are often used to self-soothe.
  • Bread, cheese, and pasta become emotional crutches, eaten not for nourishment, but to numb stress or sadness.

4. They Disrupt Digestion

  • From a physiological standpoint, these proteins are difficult to digest and unnatural to our frugivorous bodies.
  • The incomplete digestion produces these opioid byproducts, creating a vicious cycle of enervation, toxicity, and craving.

🧬 The Worst Offenders

These foods combine opioid peptides with high fat, salt, and sugar, making them neurologically irresistible:

  • Pizza (gluten + casein + fat + salt = addiction formula)
  • Mac & cheese
  • Cheese sandwiches and burgers
  • Ice cream
  • Pasta with cheese or cream sauce

They don’t just taste good—they chemically manipulate your brain.

🍃 Natural Hygiene Perspective: Why This Matters

According to the science of Natural Hygiene, the human body is designed to be guided by clean, honest biological signals. True hunger is felt in the throat, not the stomach. True satisfaction is light, energizing, and requires no stimulant.

Opioid peptides disrupt these signals by:

  • Creating false hunger
  • Overriding satiety
  • Causing emotional dependence on food
  • Enervating the system and leading to toxemia
  • Fueling disease and dysfunction through chronic overeating and wrong food choices

Overeating is not just a behavioral problem—it’s often the result of being stimulated by foreign substances that never belonged in the human diet to begin with.

🍇 What Doesn’t Contain Opioid Peptides?

✅ Fruits
✅ Tender leafy greens
✅ Raw, properly combined plant foods

These foods:

  • Do not produce opioid peptides
  • Restore true hunger and natural satiety
  • Don’t stimulate or sedate the nervous system
  • Leave the mind clear, the emotions balanced, and the body energized

🌱 The Takeaway

If you’ve struggled with overeating, cravings, or emotional eating, the solution isn’t in self-control—it’s in removing the stimulants.

Wheat, dairy, and processed foods hijack your body’s natural intelligence. When you return to the Natural Human Diet, your cravings fade, your portions regulate naturally, and food becomes nourishment, not a drug.  

Ready to make changes but not sure how to begin? Need some motivation or accountability? Why not join our 30-Day Natural Human Diet Support and Education Group? New Groups start on the 1st of every month! https://www.therawkey.com/the-natural-diet-support-group/

Have more questions? Want to get answers about your specific health issues or concerns? I offer consultations, learn more about them here: https://www.therawkey.com/consultations/

Eat fruit and be well my friends.

Lauren FarrisLeave a comment
What Should raw Fed Cat Poop look like?

Cat Poop! What Should raw Fed Cat Poop look like?

Let’s talk poop 💩

Cat poop

A lot of people get really concerned when they transition their cats to the natural diet, that their cat is constipated because they are used to seeing huge kibble and canned food stools. Raw fed stool is tiny in comparison to these big bulky stools you might be used to. Don’t worry, that is exactly how it should be!

The reason for this is with the canned and kibble and other cooked foods there is so much unusable waste matter in the food that the poop is full of bulk waste. This is also why your kibble and canned food fed cats (and dogs) poop always smells awful. On the natural diet, their stool should have little to no odor because everything usable is being digested, rather than fermented and putrefied by bacteria. The odor comes from the bacteria breaking down the indigestible materials in the processed commercial foods – in other words, all the toxic junk they put in those foods leads to lots of bacterial waste that stinks!

With the raw natural food, the body can use the majority of the material coming in. This means there is very little left over to be eliminated, creating small stool. The reason the stool is dry and crumbly is that most of what’s left over in the waste is broken-down bone, which is used like we use fiber by the cat’s body. This is what we want to see: all the protein being used, and most of the bone being used, and the body only pushing out the excess of bone with little to no odors.

Your cat’s stool should be small and gray or whitish in color. Once it has had some time to dry out in the litterbox it should be easy to crumble and turn to powder.

What color should my cat’s stool be?

Most of the time cat’s stool will be a pale gray, and when it dries, it will be more white. But if you have liver or other organ meats in the meal, it will sometimes be a bit darker, light brown to dark brown. It’s fine if you are seeing a darker shade than the photo above!

What if their stool is black or very dark brown?

Black stool can be old waste being eliminated. If your cat was originally fed cooked or processed foods before returning to their natural diet, they will have old, dried-out waste stuck in the digestive tract, which will be eliminated over time the longer they are on their natural foods. This old dry waste needs to be rehydrated before the body can eliminate it. This is why it comes out slowly, bit by bit and can occasionally cause some slow downs and constipation.

Black stool can occasionally be a cause for concern. Tarry stool, which is stool that looks like coffee grounds, can be an indication of internal bleeding. If you see stool that is black in color and also looks like coffee grounds, you may need to get your cat to the vet. If you suspect your cat has eaten something non-edible, then get an X-ray as quickly as you can to check for internal bleeding.

What if their stool has red blood in it?

Red blood means irritation of the colon or anus. This is rarely a cause for concern, it just means that something irritating has passed through, causing some small abrasions. But, whenever we see red blood in the stool, it is always best to fast for a day or two. This digestive break allows time for the body to repair any small abrasions and keeps the digestive tract from becoming chronically irritated. Sometimes old waste being eliminated by the body can be irritating to the tissues, so giving the body a bit of a break to rest after eliminating something irritating is always beneficial.

If you are seeing red blood in the stool frequently though, this can be an indication that something is wrong in your feeding routine. Check the feeding guide to make sure you are not missing anything – https://www.therawkey.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Natural-Cat-Diet-Quick-Start-Guide-March-2023.pdf or join our facebook group for troubleshooting and support – https://www.facebook.com/groups/naturaldogdiet

Have more questions? Need one on one help getting started or troubleshooting feeding or healing issues? I offer consultations here: https://www.therawkey.com/consultations/

Lauren FarrisLeave a comment
Are Fleas Tormenting your Pet? Learn how to get rid of fleas quickly without harming your companion animal. Photo: Dog scratching

How to Get Rid of Fleas Naturally on Dogs and Cats (No Chemicals Needed)

Sick of Fleas? Here’s What You Need to Know to Get Rid of Them Naturally!

Fleas can feel like one of the most frustrating seasonal challenges for pet parents. But if you’re committed to caring for your animals naturally — without chemical treatments, toxic sprays, or harsh shampoos — you might wonder what you can safely do when fleas show up.

In this post, I’ll walk you through a simple, natural, step-by-step approach to help your dogs and cats through flea challenges, even if you’re facing a full infestation.

Why Avoid Conventional Flea Treatments?

Most traditional flea treatments, whether topical medications, oral tablets, or chemical sprays, are loaded with neurotoxins. These can cause severe side effects, including seizures, tremors, and even cancer in both dogs and cats.

Most conventional flea treatments are pesticides, which are poisonous substances designed to kill small creatures.  Any substance that is a poison capable of killing a small creature quickly, also kills larger creatures, like our cats and dogs, and ourselves, just more slowly.

Spraying poisons around your house doesn’t just put your pets at risk — it puts you and your family at risk, too.

So, what’s the best way to handle fleas without bringing harmful products into my animals’ lives or environment?

Step 1: Improve the Diet

First, understand that a healthy body is naturally less attractive to parasites.

When dogs and cats eat a biologically inappropriate diet (like kibble or heavily processed commercial foods), their skin produces excess cellular waste, which makes them more appealing to fleas.

Switching to a natural, species-appropriate diet improves skin health, strengthens the immune system, and reduces the chances of flea infestations — though it won’t eliminate fleas entirely. Even wild animals get fleas! But a good diet makes your pet less of a target.

Get our Natural Dog Diet Quickstart Guide here:   https://www.therawkey.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Natural-Dog-Diet-Quick-Start-Guide.pdf

and our Natural Cat Diet Guide here:  https://www.therawkey.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Natural-Cat-Diet-Quick-Start-Guide-March-2023.pdf

Step 2: Use a Flea Comb

A bit tedious but truly the most effective tool in your flea fighting arsenal is the humble flea comb.   If you catch the problem early — maybe you spot a few fleas or notice your dog scratching occasionally — the simplest, safest tool is a flea comb.

Here’s how to use it:

  • Sit with your dog or cat and run the comb carefully through their fur.
  • Focus especially on areas where fleas like to hide: around the face and neck, under the armpits, along the back near the tail, and around the hips.
  • Have a dish of soapy water nearby, and after each pass, dip the comb into the soapy water to knock off and drown any fleas you catch.

If you stay consistent, combing once or twice daily for a week can often knock out a minor flea problem before it becomes an infestation.

Step 3: Bathing (Only When Necessary)

If your pet already has multiple fleas or is itching and scratching constantly, you’ll probably need to add a bath.

Important tips for flea baths:

  • Use a simple, non-toxic soap like plain coconut soap or Castile soap. Avoid shampoos with essential oils, fragrances, or harsh ingredients like sodium lauryl sulfate. Essential oils may seem harmless, but they are concentrated plant poisons that can cause severe symptoms in both cats and dogs.  
  • Apply the soap thickly, working up a heavy lather, and cover the entire body, especially the face, armpits, and base of the tail.
  • Leave the lather on for at least 5 minutes before rinsing.  Spend those 5 minutes giving your companion a nice relaxing massage and telling them how handsome or beautiful they look today!  Then rinse very thoroughly.  
  • Repeat the process: lather a second time, leave for 5 minutes, then rinse again.  It’s important to do the second round to get any fleas that might have been missed on the first pass.   Do a thorough job the first time to avoid having to do a second, third and fourth bath!   A few extra minutes in the tub will save you hours of work getting fleas out of your home.  

Be aware that too many baths can dry out your pet’s skin, making them even more uncomfortable. That’s why you want to be thorough when you bathe — it’s better to do one or two very effective baths than multiple weaker ones.

Step 4: Daily Combing After Bathing

Once you’ve bathed your pet, continue with daily flea combing for at least a week.

Even just a few minutes a day helps catch any stragglers before they can lay eggs and restart the cycle.

Step 5: Carefully Use Natural Flea Collars (If Needed)

If you have multiple pets or a severe infestation, you can consider using essential oil–based flea collars — with caution.

While essential oils can be toxic to pets (especially cats) if applied directly or diffused into the air, collars with small, controlled amounts embedded in the material can help repel fleas short-term.

Safety tips:

  • Use essential oil flea collars only during active infestations, not year-round.
  • Monitor your pet for any signs of sensitivity, such as drooling, scratching, skin irritation, or behavior changes like agitation.  If your pet starts to develop any symptoms immediately remove the collar and give them fresh air and a bath if needed to remove the essential oils from their fur. 
  • Never use essential oil sprays, drops, or diffusers around pets, as they can cause serious health problems.

Step 6: Treat the Environment

This is the step most people skip — and why their flea problem keeps coming back.

Fleas lay tiny eggs everywhere your pet walks, especially in carpets, rugs, beds, and furniture. These eggs can hatch weeks later, creating a whole new wave of fleas, even if you’ve already cleared them off your pet.

Best tool: Steam.

  • Use a carpet steamer or small cleaning steamer to treat dog beds, couches, carpets, curtains, and baseboards.
  • Steam penetrates fabrics and kills flea eggs far more effectively than vacuuming alone.

While daily vacuuming can help, it’s often not enough — even vacuuming multiple times a day may miss eggs hidden deep in fabrics. Steam, on the other hand, breaks the flea life cycle and prevents reinfestation.

Recommended Products

Here is what I use for my rescues!

Coconut soap  ->   https://amzn.to/4dANAsT or Castile soap → https://amzn.to/3SfOmlg

High-quality flea comb → https://amzn.to/4jmPFdl


Essential oil–based flea collar (use cautiously) →

For Cats -> https://amzn.to/4k2ZDBA

For Small Dogs ->   https://amzn.to/4dvP5sp

For Large Dogs -> https://amzn.to/43d7I0F

Flea traps – https://amzn.to/46Pymg8

Carpet steamer (for large jobs)  -> https://amzn.to/4jfARNl

or fabric steamer (for small jobs) → https://amzn.to/46PYTKd

While I prefer not to use essential oils because of their risks, there are some times when the flea infestation is strong enough to require essential oils to get the situation under control in the short term. Always use with caution. Never use on a sick pet. Never give essential oils internally. Never use a diffuser with essential oils around your pets. Always check all essential oils for safety before using, as many are highly toxic to cats and dogs. Cats are more sensitive than dogs. Never place undiluted essential oils on your pet’s skin. Only use essential oils sprays that specifically are labeled for use with cats and dogs, but remember, just because it says it is safe on the bottle, does not mean it is healthy, it just means the product is unlikely to cause major, catastrophic symptoms in most cats or dogs!

The following items should only be used for the shortest period possible to get a difficult flea situation under control:

  • Flea Shampoo with essential oils – https://amzn.to/3YgoVRn
  •  Essential oil-based flea spray – https://amzn.to/3SPsspy
  • Very strong flea spray – use only in extreme cases, take all pets out of the home, spray house thoroughly to kill fleas, then open windows and air out several hours before returning with your pets. – Vet’s Best Flea and Tick Home Spray – https://amzn.to/44UULtK
  • Diatomaceous earth – https://amzn.to/3YfUlr8
    • It’s best not to apply either of these directly on your cat or dog unless you’re dealing with a severe infestation that hasn’t responded to bathing. Instead, use them on dog beds, blankets, and carpets where fleas gather. Essential oils are plant toxins — their ability to kill small insects like fleas shows they are toxic — so use them sparingly and only as a last resort. Diatomaceous earth can irritate the lungs and eyes, so apply it carefully. Let the dust settle before allowing pets back into the room, and wear a mask and eye protection when using it.

Final Thoughts

While fleas are a natural part of life — and even the healthiest pets will encounter them — they don’t have to take over your home or make your pets miserable.

By combining the natural diet your companion is designed to thrive on with simple mechanical tools like combs, careful use of natural products, and targeted home cleaning, you can keep fleas under control without resorting to toxic chemicals.

If you found this helpful, be sure to check out my other posts and videos on natural pet care, and let me know in the comments if you have any favorite flea-fighting tips!

Lauren FarrisLeave a comment

TERRAIN MODEL ON DMSO (Dimythelsulfoxide)

First, let’s familiarize ourselves with DMSO and its reported effects on the body.

DMSO is classified as an anti-inflammatory and pain reliever drug which is marketed as a dietary supplement. It is also available by prescription as a pharmaceutical drug.

It has recently been promoted in the natural health and alternative health communities as a supplement. Its purported uses include treatments for:

Headache

Painful Bladder Syndrome

Shingles

Rheumatoid arthritis

Eye problems

Scars

Scleroderma (disease that causes scar tissue to form in the skin)

And an alternative Cancer Treatment

According to WebMD, the most frequent side effects from using DMSO on the skin include:

Stomach upset

Skin irritation

A strong odor of garlic

Using DMSO by mouth can cause:

Dizziness

Drowsiness

Nausea

Vomiting

Diarrhea

Constipation

Decreased appetite

More serious side effects include:

Severe allergic reactions

Headaches

Itching and burning when applied to the skin

DMSO can also be lethal to humans when used in high concentrations.

Now let’s look from a terrain perspective. Does this product trigger any expulsion symptoms in any humans?

Keep in mind that the more toxic our bodies become the less energy they have for expelling toxins. We look at humans as a whole; One individual may not get an expulsion symptom if their system lacks the vitality to expel toxins. However if some humans are reporting these expulsion symptoms then we can know that the substance is toxic to humans.

Looking at the list of side effects we see nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and decreased appetite. These are all expulsion symptoms. Expulsion symptoms tell us that the human body sees DMSO as a threat. This is a strong indication DMSO is harmful to our health.

Another thing to consider from the Terrain model perspective: What is the supposed benefit of the medicine or treatment?

DMSO is being marketed as a treatment for headaches, irritated bladder, rashes, shingles, inflammation, rheumatoid arthritis, eye problems, and scarring of tissues. Treatments are generally harmful to the body because the symptoms exist to promote the healing process; either to aid in the expulsion of toxic materials or in an attempt to create protections against them. This is why we refer to them as “expulsion symptoms” and are often part of a healing crisis.

The body also attempts to protect itself through the creation of inflammation, swelling, and formation of scar tissues or tumors to encapsulate the toxic chemistry. When the body lacks the vitality to expel toxins, it will use other methods to protect the cells from any toxic chemicals it cannot expel. This is most often accomplished by bringing water to the area to dilute the acidic chemistry, but may also include the creation of scar tissues or tumors to encapsulate.

Therefore the symptoms DMSO claims to stop are in reality the body’s natural attempts to clean, heal, and protect itself from waste which is generating the disease conditions. Not only does DMSO do nothing to remove the cause of the initial disease conditions, but it actively interferes with the body’s attempts to remove the waste while also adding to the total toxic burden in the body. While DMSO may provide some short-term relief from a given symptom in some cases, it is certainly not a cure but instead, it is a toxin. The body itself is in worse condition after DMSO has been ingested. DMSO would not be recommended if a return to health is the goal. A poison applied to the body may temporarily alter the symptoms created by the body, but the symptoms themselves are the cure for disease conditions, so stopping them is not helping the body, it is always hurting the body. As usual, from a Terrain Model perspective, we focus on supporting the body and its natural systems to remove the true cause of disease rather than the application of chemical bandaids and toxic remedies to suppress symptoms. One can never poison the body back to health.

Lauren FarrisLeave a comment

Blood Transfusions

by Dr. Herbert M. Shelton

We have received numerous requests for information about blood transfusions, blood banks (or, as, one correspondent called them “bloody banks”), and the desirability of donating blood to the sick and wounded. All this curiosity has been aroused by the frequent calls for blood and the many stories carried by the press of the great good accomplished by transfusions and by the use of the blood banks.

Our readers, despite the information they possess, are still very susceptible to voodooism’s propaganda. If the propaganda is persistent enough, or repeated often enough, or if its claims are great enough, they think there may be more to it than there is to other forms of propaganda.

That blood-transfusing is a hoax and a swindle; that it is only an expensive and dramatic piece of grand-stand play by voodooism’s white-robed priests; that it is a damaging and often fatal procedure, have been known for years; yet our readers seem to think there may be good in it.

On the other side of the picture, one of our readers in Rochester sent us what he calls a “good one.” He tells us that “the Red Cross is making its rounds in the Rochester industries to replenish its blood bank—or should I call it, its bloody bank? It has just completed its stay at Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester’s largest industry. Pressure was put upon all the workers to donate of their substance.

“Here is the procedure: A pint of blood is taken from the arm of each worker. After that, each one is ushered into a sort of traveling cafeteria. The worker is now given a treat for his donation. The treat is supposed to help him recover from his loss of blood. And here it is:

“Sandwiches of white bread and baloney or cheese or peanut butter, coffee, tea, or milk (pasteurized) with white sugar cookies—cigarettes—a shot of liquor!!

“These same blood donors (or suckers) are expected to give a new transfusion within two months. Perhaps the above offerings ought to make this entirely possible. Viva La Red Cross!”

The Red Cross, which is the left hand of the Medical Trust, may always be counted on to build up the blood of its victims with good white bread, spoiled meat, coffee, good white sugar, pasteurized milk, cigarettes, and booze. When the present world madness has ended and the world is being reorganized in a way to prevent its (mis)leaders from creating another hell on earth, the Red Cross must be sent to the same oblivion to which political organizations will go. The Red Cross must be punished by forcing it to spend eternity in the same padded cell with the A.M.A. Who was it dubbed the old harlot, “The Greatest Mother of Them All”?

The present vogue is to transfuse as often as possible and, if this does not result in death, credit the transfusion with recovery. Every recovery following transfusion is attributed to the transfusion. If the patient “fails to rally” and dies, this is due to other causes.

Deaths following transfusions are more frequent than the public is aware of and, while it is positive that the transfusions do often kill outright, there is no unquestionable proof that they ever save a life, or, even that they ever result in positive good.

Apparent successful results of transfusions are usually played up for the public, while the evident failures and damages are not given any great flare of publicity. Front page space is for the spectacular.

Blood transfusions were first made from animals. Later human blood was used. At first the blood was caught in a funnel as it spurted from the artery of the donor and sent through a tube into the veins of the patient. Later a method was devised that conveyed the blood directly from the donor’s artery to the vein of the receiver. Still later, instead of direct transfusions, “blood banks” were made by taking the blood, mixing it with an anti-clotting chemical and storing it until used. The latest development is that of “blood dust.” The blood plasma is dried in huge sausage skins and stored or shipped. Later this dust is mixed with distilled water and pumped into the veins. Or, if distilled water is unavailable, the unopened skins are immersed in ordinary water. The water passes through the skins, which filter out foreign matters from the water. Enough water passes through the skins to create a fluid “plasma.”

It should be recognized that the introduction of the blood of one individual into the body of another is the introduction, therein, of a foreign serum. True, it is human serum and, therefore, theoretically at least, should not produce the symptoms or reactions of serum poisoning—anaphylaxis. Actually, however, it does this very thing as we shall show often adding a few symptoms that are missing from serum poisoning.

Let me list the symptoms and evils which follow transfusions as given by these great surgeons—chills, nausea, vomiting, muscular pains, dyspnea (difficult breathing), cyanosis (blueness due to heart and circulatory difficulties), urticaria (nettle rash), headache, fatal hemolysis, (breaking up of the red blood cells), spasm of the un-striated (involuntary) muscles, asthmatic symptoms in the lungs, involuntary voiding of the urine and of the feces, acute edema (dropsical accumulation) of the lungs, hemorrhage, embolism (blood clot), and death. Hemolysis may occur without going far enough to result fatally. Some of these surgeons are convinced that in some conditions in which transfusions are employed, generally, those patients who receive the transfusion “will die sooner than those without.”

“Fatal anaphylaxis following blood transfusions,” “the deaths following usually in a few hours after transfusion” and occurring often in cases where “previous study of the blood had shown that they were entirely satisfactory,” should convince everyone that blood shown to be “entirely satisfactory” is not really satisfactory. I am sure that no blood would satisfy me which would kill me in a few hours, or, even in a few days.

The damages to the body listed above, as resulting from transfusions may seem to the reader to be enough. Yet there is no reason to doubt that all the tissue damages throughout the body, which result from all serums (foreign proteins), or serum sickness, also result from blood transfusion. The above-listed damages and symptoms are only the most prominent and most important ones among those that have been studied.

Does it not seem a bit strange that a patient who is very low, who perhaps, is thought to be almost at the point of death, and is fighting desperately with the little remaining strength which he has, should be subjected to such damaging, and deadly treatment? It is stranger still when we consider that the authorities themselves consider it to be valueless in most of the conditions in which they employ it and are hopelessly divided in their opinions about which conditions it is, or may be, of limited value in occasional cases.

Dr. Peterson is evidently correct when he says that “a procedure which lends itself so readily to commercial exploitation is apt to come in for a certain amount of abuse.”

Lauren FarrisLeave a comment

On the Self Healing powers of the body: Life’s Engineering

How the Body Heals

by Dr. Herbert M. Shelton

The greatest engineering feat of which we know anything is the building of a complex animal organism from a microscopic ovum. Think, for instance, of the marvels of the human body with its pulleys and levers to perform mechanical work, its channels for distribution of food and drainage of sewage and its means of regulating its temperature and adapting its actions and functions to its varied environments and needs. Its nervous system and the eyes, ears, etc. are constant sources of wonder. We regard the radio as a wonderful invention, as indeed it is, but we are all equipped with more wonderful “sending” and “receiving” sets than any radio manufacturer will ever produce. All human inventions have their protypes in the animal body.

In studying the wonders of the body, its structures, functions, development, growth and its varied powers and capacities, it is well to keep in mind that the building and preservation of all these things is from within. The power, force or intelligence that evolves the adult body from the fertilized ovum is in the body, is part of it and is in constant and unceasing control of all its activities. Whether it is an intelligent power or a blind energy, it works determinately toward the latest results in complexity of structure and function. In development and maintenance, and in health and disease, the movements of life appear to be guided by intelligence more often than the conscious intelligence of man. Indeed, unless we grant that something can come out of nothing, that intelligence can come out of that which has no intelligence, we must believe that the conscious intelligence of man is a subordinate part of that broader intelligence that evolves his body and which inheres in it.

If we view a few of the engineering feats performed by the body in cases of injury and disease, we are forcibly struck with the truth of Sylvester Graham’s remark: “In all these operations the organic instincts act determinately, and, as it were, rationally, with reference to a final cause of good, viz., the removal of the offending cause.” Some of these wonderful feats have been presented to you in previous chapters. We will here present a few of a different class.

To begin with, let us consider the natural healing of a wound, scratch or broken skin. We have become so accustomed to this familiar phenomenon that we have come to regard it as an almost mechanical process. But a close examination of the process shows us the presence of that same marvelous intelligence that built the body from a tiny microscopic speck of protoplasm to its present state.

Whenever the skin is broken or cut there is an exudation of blood which coagulates and forms an airtight scab. This scab serves as a protection to the wound and remains for a shorter or longer time as is needed.

Underneath this scab a wonderful thing occurs. Blood is rushed to the injured part in large quantities. The tissues, nerve and muscle cells, etc. on each side of the wound start multiplying rapidly and build a “cell-bridge” across the gap until the severed edges of the wound are reunited. But this is no mere haphazard process. Everywhere is apparent the presence of directing law and order. The newly-formed cells of the blood vessels unite with their brothers on the other side so that, in an orderly and evenly manner, the channels of circulation are re-established. In this same lawful and orderly manner the connective tissues reunite. Skillfully, and just as a lineman repairs a telegraph system, do the nerve cells repair their broken line. Muscles and other tissues are repaired in a similar manner. And what is a wonderfully marvelous fact to observe, no mistakes are made in this connective tissue, but each tissue connects with its kind.

After the wound is healed, when a new skin has been formed so that there is no longer any need for the protecting scab, nature proceeds to undermine and get rid of it. As long as the scab was useful it was firmly attached to the skin so that it was not easy to pull it off, but when there was no longer need for it, it was undermined so that it fell off of its own weight.

What more evidence than this does one require to know that the same intelligent power that built our bodies is also the power that heals it? What better evidence do we want that the healing process is accomplished in the same orderly manner and by means of the same functions with which the body is built, maintained and modified to meet its present needs.

We get a still more wonderful view of how nature performs her work if we observe the healing of a fractured or broken bone. If an arm or leg be broken, this same marvelous intelligence that has brought us from ovum to adulthood immediately sets about to repair the damage done. A liquid substance is secreted and deposited over the entire surface of the bone in each direction from the point of fracture. This section quickly hardens into a bone-like substance and is firmly attached to the two sections of the bone. Until nature can repair the damage, this “bone ring” forms the chief support whereby the limb can be used. By the same process of cell multiplication which we saw in the healing of the wound, the ends of the bone are reunited. The circulatory channels are re-established through the part. It is then that the “bone ring” support is softened and absorbed, except about an eighth to a quarter of an inch about the point of fracture.

If you strike your finger with a hammer, a very painful bruise is the result. There is an effusion of blood under the surface, with inflammation and discoloration. The tissues are mangled, the cells are broken and many of them are killed. But does the thumb always remain so? No. As time passes, new tissues are formed to replace the dead ones and the dead blood and tissue cells are carried away by the bloodstream. The inflammation subsides, the pain ceases and the bruise is healed and soon forgotten. Thus again is manifested the marvelous intelligence of the power that superintends the workshop which we call our body. Once again we watch its work and see its marvelous efficiency as a workman.

A similar manifestation of the body’s self-healing, self-adjusting and self-repairing powers is seen in the common accident whereby a sliver becomes embedded in the flesh. If it is not removed immediately, nature, or vital force, does a skillful little piece of engineering and removes it for us. Pain and inflammation are soon followed by the formation of pus, which breaks down the tissues, towards the surface of the body. Gradually increasing in amount, the pus finally breaks through the overlying skin and runs out, carrying the sliver along as a souvenir.

A remarkable engineering feat is presented to us in abscess formations. Ordinarily the abscess is limited by a thick protective wall of granulation tissue which prevents the abscess from spreading and prevents rapid escape of the pus into the circulation.

In appendicitis the loops of the bowels around the appendix form friendly adhesions. They adhere together and form a strong wall against further spread of the trouble. Within this enclosure the abscesses form. The line of least resistance normally is into the bowels so that practically every case, if not interfered with by meddlesome doctors, will rupture into the bowels and the pus will pass out with the stools.

Where the ice bag is employed for one or two days prior to the usual operations, there is a noticeable lack of effort on the part of nature to wall off the appendix from the rest of the abdominal cavity. However, where the ice bag has not been employed, a distinct walling off of the acutely inflamed and gangrenous appendix from the general peritoneal cavity is found. So greatly does the ice bag interfere with the curative and protective operations of nature that one of the leading abdominal surgeons of this country declares: “I have entirely discarded the use of the ice bag, and in cases brought to me in which it has been used, I always announce beforehand that I expect to find a gangrenous appendix and am seldom surprised. Clearly the ice bag should never be used in cases of actual or suspected appendicitis.” Nature can do her own work in her own way, and all our so-called aiding of nature amounts to is nothing more than meddlesome and pernicious interference.

Acute inflammation of the liver usually terminates in resolution, but sometimes it terminates in suppuration with abscess formation. This is more apt to be the case in hot climates. The amount of matter discharged from an abscess of the liver is sometimes enormous, and it is wonderful to see in what ways nature operates in getting rid of it.

There are several channels through which the pus may be sent out of the system. The inflammation may extend upward until an adhesion to the diaphragm is accomplished. A dense wall of scar tissue is first formed around the abscess. The abscess then extends through the diaphragm to the lungs, which become adherent to the diaphragm. Liver, diaphragm and lungs form one solid piece. A tight union of these organs prevents the pus from pouring into the peritoneal or pleural cavities. A hole is eaten through the lung and the pus is poured into a bronchial tube and is coughed up, emptying the abscess and leaving a clean hole. The wall of scar tissue thrown up around the path of the abscess grows stronger and contracts until, finally, only the scar remains, it having closed the hole, and the patient is well.

The abscess may be directed downward or to the side of the liver. In such a case the process is the same except the liver becomes united to the stomach, the intestines or the walls of the abdomen by adhesions produced by inflammation. If it adheres to the stomach or intestine, the abscess will perforate into these and the pus will pass out in the stools. If it becomes adherent to the wall of the abdomen, the abscess will “come to a head” under the skin and the pus will be discharged on the surface of the body. In either case cicatrization follows and the patient is well. In some cases the abscess discharges into the gallbladder and passes from there into the intestine. It has also been known to “point” on the back.

It sometimes happens in weak individuals that nature is not able to make proper connections along the line of march and the pus ends up in the pleural cavity, resulting in empyema, or in the abdominal cavity, where it results in peritonitis and, usually, death.

Another daring engineering feat is often accomplished by nature in the case of gallstones that are too large to pass through the bile duct directly into the small intestine. She frequently causes the gallbladder to adhere, by means of inflammation, to the wall of the intestine. An ulcer forms, making a hole through both the wall of the gallbladder and the wall of the intestine. The stone slips through into the intestine and passes out with the stools. The hole heals up and all is well again. In other cases the stone may be sent out through the abdominal wall and skin, on the outside of the body.

An unusual piece of engineering which shows, in a remarkable manner, the ingenuity of nature in her efforts at prolonging life in spite of every obstacle, is recorded by J. F. Baldwin, A.M., M.D., F.A.C.S., in a surgical paper dealing with blood transfusions. He performed an operation on a middle-aged woman who had been having frequent hemorrhages from her bowels for several years. He says:

At the operation I removed a snarl of small bowel, making the usual anastamosis. Examination of this snarl showed that there had been an intestinal obstruction, but nature had overcome it by ulceration between adherent loops of the bowel above and below the obstruction. The ulcer persisted, however, and it was its persistent bleeding that caused her anemia. She made an excellent recovery and got fat and hearty.

It looks like a real intelligence at work when nature causes two folds of the bowels to adhere together and then ulcerates through them in order to make a passage around an obstruction. There cannot be the slightest doubt that the ulcer would have healed, leaving a passage, and the bleeding stopped, had the opportunity been afforded it. Nature probably cried out day after day in unmistakable language for the cessation of feeding long enough for her to complete her engineering feat. But this was never given her. The ulcerated surface was kept constantly irritated with food, and drugs as well.

Abscesses everywhere in the body are limited and walled off by the formation of a thick wall of granulation tissue. Gangrene is also walled off in the same manner. The necrosed portion then sloughs off; nature grows new tissue to take the place of the destroyed tissue and the place is healed.

Encapsulation is the process of surrounding a body or substance with a capsule. A cyst or capsule consists of a cavity lined according to its origin by endothelium (in preexisting cavities of connective tissue—exudation cysts) or epithelium (in pre-existing epithelial cavities—retention cysts) with a fluid or semifluid content.

Those of chief interest to us here are known as distention cysts and are divided into:

(a) Retention cysts, which are due to the obstruction of the excretory ducts of glands. The cavity becomes filled with the secretion of the gland which later becomes altered and circumscribed by a fibrous wall. These may develop in any glandular structure, as pancreas, kidneys, salivary glands, mammary glands, sebaceous glands (wens).

Around a foreign body like a bullet, such a capsule forms. There is first inflammation and perhaps suppuration. But if this fails to remove the bullet, a capsule of tissue also containing fluid is formed, and the bullet is rendered innocuous. A similar thing frequently happens in the lungs in the case of germs. Rausse thought this fluid was a variety of mucus and thought that chemical or drug poisons were enveloped in this same “musus” to render them harmless and that they were then deposited in the tissues. He says with regard to the face that this theory cannot at present be demonstrated:

This theory is founded upon the incontrovertible principle of nature in the alimentary and organic world, that nature operates similarly under similar circumstances. Hence, the theory here offered loses none of its certainty because we are unable to recognize with the unaided eye, on account of their minuteness, the inimical atoms and the minute network around them, and to exhibit them by section.

—Water Cure Manual, p. 92, 1845.

The encapsulation of exudates, excretions, extravasions, disintegrating tissues, germs, parasites, bullets and other foreign bodies renders them harmless. The process and structure it evolves are plainly defensive measures. They once more remind us of the many and varied emergency measures the body has at its command.

The formation of gallstones and other stones is in itself an engineering feat that serves a useful purpose and even extends and saves life. In the lungs, for instance, in those who have tuberculosis, the affected spots are often the seat of the formation of stones. When this takes place, the disease in that part ends. Medical authorities consider that nature employs this means to wall up the tubercle bacilli.

The formation of stones in the gallbladder and kidneys, just as in the lungs, is the end result of inflammation and undoubtedly serves a definite and useful purpose. Sometimes, it is true, they are made so large that they are the source of much trouble, but it is safe to assume that they are never made larger than the gravity of the situation demands. Most gallstones are small enough that they pass out without causing pain, and the individual is never aware that he or she has had them. A large number of people examined at autopsies are found to have gallstones in the gallbladder and were never aware that they had them. They never cause trouble until they go to pass out and only then if they are small enough to get into the gall duct but too large to make the entire passage. A stone that may easily travel through the common duct may be forced, with extreme difficulty, through the small opening of the duct into the intestine. This causes severe pain. As soon as the stone is forced through, the pain ceases. (The sufferer then thinks that it was the last treatment he employed that relieved the pain and “cured” his troubles.)

A thrombus is a small blood clot formed inside a blood vessel. The condition is called thrombosis and the vessel is said to be thrombosed. They are the result of injury and inflammation and may completely plug the vessel.

In the intestines are many small glands composed of lymphoid structure just as are the tonsils of the throat. They are known as Pyer’s patches. In typhoid fever these patches are swollen or enlarged (hypertrophied), and frequently they suppurate. They may slough off. This peeling off may result in a hemorrhage or it may not, depending on whether or not all the vessels in that locality are tightly thrombosed. If they are all tightly thrombosed, no hemorrhage occurs. If the work of sealing the vessel is not complete or perfect, then a hemorrhage occurs with more or less loss of blood before it finally ceases. This is but another evidence of nature’s engineering work. These thrombi may later be swept into the general circulation and carried to some vital spot where they are too large to pass through the artery and may there cut off the blood to parts of the organ, causing it to die of starvation. Starvation would only occur in cases of stopping of an “end artery.”

“Anastamosing” arteries would soon establish sufficient collateral or compensatory circulation to supply the part with blood.

If heat or friction of sufficient intensity and duration is applied to the skin, a blister forms; that is, a watery exudate or serum is poured out of the surrounding tissues and circulation into the “space” between the dermis and epidermis and detaches the dermis from this, raising it up and thus protecting the tissues beneath. The accumulated fluid holds back the heat or, in the case of sunburn, the actinic rays, and protects from the friction. This little piece of engineering work is quite obviously a defensive work. In both burns and sunburn, inflammation and healing follow the blister, and in the case of sunburn pigmentation occurs to protect from future sunburn.

Of a similarly defensive nature are corns and callouses that form on the feet and hands or any other surface of the body that is subjected to constant friction. The clerk who deserts the store for manual labor finds his hands are tender and blister easily when he handles tools. However, before many days have passed, the skin on his hands has become thickened and hardened, ultimately becoming almost horn-like. When this occurs, he finds that no reasonable amount of hard work blisters his hands.

Tumors likely begin in this same manner. They probably begin as hardening and thickening of the tissues at a point of irritation as a means of defense.

Hardening and thickening of the tissues occurs in any and all parts of the body to resist constant irritation. This can be seen in the mouth, stomach and intestines of those who employ salt and condiments. It is seen in the constant use of drugs. Silver nitrate, for instance, if repeatedly employed, converts the mucous surface upon which it is used into a kind of half-living leather. Other organs harden and thicken as a result of toxic irritation. Toxemia, with or without the aid of external irritation, often necessitates, at certain points of the body, the erection of greater than ordinary barriers against it. When the normal cells of a local spot become so impaired that they no longer successfully resist the encroachment of toxins, not only are the usual defense processes brought into activity, but also, since a more than usual condition is to be met, nature calls into play her heavier battalions. She begins by erecting a barrier of connective tissue cells. Then, with a slowly-yielding fight against the toxins, she continues to erect her barriers. This may continue until the tumor becomes so large as to constitute a source of danger itself. Were it not for the erection of this barrier, the causes against which it is erected would destroy life long before they ultimately do. The tumor actually prolongs life.

A process similar to this is seen in plants that have been invaded by parasites. The large, rough excrescences seen on oak trees form about the larva of a certain fly. This fly lays its eggs beneath the bark of the tree. The larva which develop from the eggs secrete a substance that results in the formation of the huge tumorous mass. Large tumor-like masses form on the roots and stalks of cabbages as a result of parasitic invasion. The olive tree also develops tumors from a similar cause, while cedar trees present peculiar growths called “witches’ brooms” as a result of a fungus growing on them. There are many other examples, and they are all quite obviously protective measures. Tumor formation is undoubtedly due to a variation in the complex relations determining normal growth and is of a distinctively protective nature. A tumor is not a source of danger until it begins to break down.

In inflammation of the kidneys due to the impairment of kidney function, the normal constituents of the urine are decreased. They remain in the blood instead of being eliminated. Due to the necessity of removing from the circulation, the salts, etc., that are normally eliminated through the kidneys, and due also to the necessity of keeping these in dilute solution so long as they remain in the body, and to the equal necessity of removing them from the circulation, drospy develops in various portions of the body, particularly in the tissues immediately under the skin. It may also collect in the cavities of the body. When kidney function is restored, the dropsical fluid is gradually absorbed into circulation and eliminated.

An aneurism is an inflated portion of an artery. If the walls of an artery become weak at a given place, they either burst, some of its coats are strengthened or else it becomes bulged out due to the pressure of the blood from within. The body at once sets about to protect itself by forming a vail of new tissue around the aneurism. Should it rupture so that the blood finds its way along between other organs, a wall of scar tissue is thrown up around the aneurism to limit the escape of blood. This is called a dissecting aneurism.

Thus we might continue giving example after example of the wonderful engineering feats of the body and show with what marvelous powers and works it meets emergencies and protects its own vital interests. When we consider the wonderful mechanism of the human body, the certainty with which all organs perform their allotted work, the marvelous ingenuity with which the body meets emergencies, its almost limitless powers of repair and recuperation, we develop a large respect and admiration for the healing powers of the body and learn to view with contempt and disgust the means that people employ in unintelligent efforts to “cure.”

Well did Jennings affirm:

But at every step of her (nature’s) downward progress (in the face of pathoferic causes she cannot overcome), her tendency and effort have been to ascend and remount the pinnacle of her greatness; and even now, in the depth of her degradation, the tendency of all that remains of her, of principle or law, power and action, is still upwards.

Have more questions? Want to get answers about your specific health issues or concerns? I offer consultations, learn more about them here: https://www.therawkey.com/consultations/

Ready to make changes but not sure how to begin? Need some motivation or accountability? Why not join our 30-Day Terrain Model Diet Support and Education Group: New Groups start on the 1st of every month! https://www.therawkey.com/terrain-diet-support-group/

Eat fruit and be well my friends.

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Lauren FarrisLeave a comment

Euthanasia

Question:

Can you please educate me on why euthanizing your pet is more cruel than allowing them to die naturally? I spent hours today watching videos on YouTube trying to see the unpopular viewpoint but all videos I watched had the same narrative, that euthanizing your pet when they are suffering is the kind choice.

Answer:

Certainly. This is a sensitive topic that no one really wants to think about too deeply. It is especially difficult if you have made this choice in the past as I did. It’s far easier to just go on believing in the narrative than to look at it objectively. We all want easy fixes and life to be free from pain.

Really this entire concept stems from the utter failure of medicine to return health to their customers. If you can’t help them get better then just teach them that to die at their hands is a blessing. So the first issue that arises from euthanasia is that many times these vets are euthanizing an animal that is fully capable of healing. Therefore they are playing God and taking away a life prematurely. Because these vets only see animals that follow their treatment plans and are fed disease-causing foods their perspective is skewed. In their eyes nothing is fixable, all of the body’s healing processes are bad, wrong, and dangerous and must be stopped with poisons. None of the animals that they treat ever get better, so it is in their minds better to kill the animal than to drag on the treatments which always end up with the animal getting sicker and sicker.

However, we know better. We know that when a vet says that Cancer is terminal, this is not true. We have seen dogs that were given 2 weeks to live, go on for years, heal all of their conditions, return to the bountiful energy of puppies, and pass peacefully of old age many years later. Had we followed the vet’s recommendation to “put them out of their misery” we would have lost many years of companionship. Happy for example, lived another 3 years after being told that we should immediately euthanize her. She healed from Cancer, Vestibular disease, cataracts, and hearing loss. She went from being obese and falling over unable to walk to racing up mountains with me every day. Had I fallen for the logic of the vet I would have lost out on hundreds of amazing memories.

Most vets these days cannot even recognize the signs of an animal preparing to pass naturally, and they believe nothing is curable, so how, if they are so wrong in both of these areas can we trust them when they tell us that our animal is suffering and dying?

This alone is enough to pause and wait. What if what you think is your cat or dog dying is really just their body detoxing and healing? A vet cannot tell you the difference between an animal healing and an animal dying and is more likely to tell you that your animal is on the brink of death and sell you a poison when your animal is cleaning and healing their body.

Then we have the Euthanasia drug itself. This is a poison. A poison that is so strong that it takes their life away in just a few minutes of circulating through the blood. If you ingest poison or have it injected into you, you always feel it. Think about how the baby screams and is inconsolable after the injection of a vaccine. They feel the injury of this very small amount of poison acutely. If you drink coffee, a comparatively mild poison, you feel anxiety and become hyper. Your body registers the discomfort even if you have not taken a lethal dose of a toxic substance. If you drink alcohol you become sick. We always feel when we are being poisoned and so do our animals. They feel the discomfort of their cells being injured by the poison.

The euthanasia drug is a two-part drug, one part is a paralytic agent which paralyzes the muscles so the body cannot seize when the second poison is administered. So rather than the narrative of an animal drifting off to sleep peacefully what we really have is an animal being paralyzed followed by the poison going through their system. Imagine how terrified you would feel if you suddenly had no control over your body and could not move. This alone is a very distressing situation, a far cry from the advertisement.

Many years ago I believed the Vet when they made Brutus sick and could not help him get well again. We spent nearly $20,000 on specialists and then when he was struggling to breathe they convinced me that his life would be made better by “putting him to sleep” at age 5. A euphemism that distracts us from the reality of the situation. Rather than it being a peaceful process where he just drifted off to sleep, they held him down on a cold steel table and he looked at me in pure terror as the paralyzing agent made it so he could not move his body. His eyes though did not lie. Then the poison was administered and you could see the pain in his eyes. I thought I was doing the best for him, putting him out of his misery. Today I know that all I needed was someone to tell me to get him off the kibble and the junk supplements that we were feeding him. It was nearly 20 years ago but still, to this day I can see the look of suffering in his eyes as they administered the lethal dose. It still makes me cry to this day.

You will hear from so many others who have had the same experience, and seen the same look of terror in their eyes. The vets always sell us on how terrible and scary natural death is and how wonderful putting them to sleep on a cold steel table in the scariest place they ever go is, but I have had many dogs pass on since then the natural way and none has come close to the trauma I went through with euthanasia. When a dog or cat passes naturally there is peace in their eyes. Sometimes they have some symptoms that make us feel uncomfortable, sometimes they have accidents or maybe a seizure, sometimes they cry out – but not out of pain, it is more like they are saying goodbye – but it’s always very manageable. I have never had an experience that wasn’t more positive than negative.

They have given us their whole lives unconditional love, the least we can do is let them pass in their home surrounded by loved ones and in peace, naturally, as intended.

Death is a peaceful process when it occurs naturally, but it is a violent process when it occurs unnaturally. I know this is hard for many people to hear but it’s something that needs to be spoken honestly about.

Lauren FarrisLeave a comment
Why is my dog shivering?

Why Is My Dog Shivering?

Shivering, tremors, or shaking in dogs can occur throughout the healing process. Learn why and when we should be concerned.

There are a few common reasons why dogs tend to shiver:

  1. They are excited or nervous or have excess energy to burn off
  2. They are in pain. Typically there will be other signs of pain to go along with this.
  3. They are cold.

Dogs Shiver from excitement

Shivering from excitement or an excess of energy is the most common reason that dogs will shiver, especially among toy breeds and smaller dogs. Shivering can become a trained behavior with toy breeds and smaller dogs. For example, they might get excited about food and then start shivering whenever they think they will get fed. Or they might shiver around one person in the family due to excitement or nervousness but not shiver around others. If your dog is shivering frequently, it is most likely a learned behavior; some training can help correct this. If you have recently changed your dog’s diet to the natural canine diet it is very common for them to have a lot more energy and not know how to burn off this excess energy, so shivering becomes a way that they burn off the excess energy. Giving your dog a longer walk or more play sessions can correct this excess energy issue.

Dogs can shiver when they are in pain

Dogs can also shiver if they feel discomfort. So if we see our dog shivering and it’s not obviously due to excitement then we should check them over. Check their teeth, paw pads, and ensure they don’t have a thorn in the foot or a bramble, etc. Check their mouth for injury if you can do so safely. Check their walk to make sure they are not limping and check their tummy to see if they have gas or bloating.

Shivering could also be due to stomach upset if they are not digesting food well. If they have gas and are shivering then it’s very likely that their meals are too large or you are combining too many ingredients leading to fermentation and gas. If you think this is the case you should decrease the portions or simplify the meals. Sometimes as their digestion heals we need to start them off with smaller meals and slowly increase the meals over time. If you have noticed any gas, bloating, lip licking, scooting, or loose stool then adjust their meals to smaller portions which will improve digestion and avoid any gas or fermentation from undigested foods.

Dogs can shiver when cold

If the weather has turned colder, or you have the air conditioning on in your house your dog might simply be cold. Try putting on a sweater, giving them a blanket or a heated bed or dog safe heated pad to lay on.

If your dog has recently lost some weight this can cause them to shiver as the loss of body fat means a loss of insulation. It can take a little time for the body to adjust and the thyroid to maintain temperature more effectively, so sometimes when dogs lose weight they can shiver until their body adjusts to their new weight and is able to better manage their temperature.

Shivering can also result from eating cold food. If you are currently feeding their fruit or meat meals out of the fridge you might try warming them on the counter or in a zip top bag submersed in warm water. Feeding right from the fridge can be another cause of shivering.

Shivering as a result of detox

When the body is healing, sometimes our animals will go through periods of discomfort, just like when we humans experience a cold or a flu detox healing event. Just like a cold or flu puts our body in a state of discomfort while it cleans and heals our body, when our dogs and cats are healing they can go through periods of mild to moderate discomfort. When this happens they may sometimes shiver. This type of shivering is usually accompanied by some level of fatigue as well as other detox symptoms like itchy skin, mucus, coughing, sneezing, or lack of or limited appetite, or picky eating. If you notice growing fatigue then this would be a good time to fast so the body can focus all of its energy on the healing processes.

Have more questions? Want to get answers about your dog or cat’s specific health issues or concerns? I offer consultations, learn more about them here: https://www.therawkey.com/consultations/

Lauren FarrisLeave a comment