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 WhitemanLeave 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 WhitemanLeave a comment

Healing Dogs with Parvo

Why the medical industry fails to heal dogs with Parvo and what you need to know to make sure your dog survives and thrives!

Parvo is one of the most misunderstood conditions by the medical for-profit business. The medical narrative of Parvo is that it is a deadly virus that attacks the body and commonly leads to death in puppies. It is greatly feared in the rescue and shelter communities and sadly, like most things that are approached from a state of fear, it is the fear that drives the high rate of deaths.

Biologically, parvo is, in fact, a detox process. It is the normal biological process of a body that has been exposed to a toxic substance. In other words, parvo is a collection of symptoms that the body creates when it has been poisoned, as a life-saving response to being poisoned.


Parvo is common in puppies because puppies are being weaned off their mother’s milk and onto poisonous food – kibble or commercial/canned foods. Because puppies have high vitality, being young, their body responds aggressively to toxic materials.


This means very frequently a dog that is moved from mother’s milk to kibble will initially develop diarrhea. If they are unlucky enough to be rushed to the vet at this point they may be tested for dead cell debris which the medical industry calls viruses and if they are positive for a particular shape of dead cell debris which they call the parvovirus they will be subjected to a lot of drugs to kill the dead cell debris which medicine pretends is alive and attacking the body, or invading the cells.


Even though medicine readily admits that viruses lack all the requisites of life they must still blame the virus, the dead cell debris, so that they can legally apply poisons to the body.


I have had many dogs of my own diagnosed with parvo, as well as many client’s dogs over the years. They always survive by fasting and then returning to the proper foods suited to their body. We always fast for a minimum of 24 hours after the last sign of vomiting or diarrhea. Having water always available but never forced and never given by syringe. Then after the diarrhea stops and it has been 24 hours since the last instance we start them on ripe bananas.


We do not ever feed cooked food, including kibble or canned dog foods because these cause the initial symptoms to begin with. Here is an article explaining why cooked foods lead to disease – https://www.therawkey.com/the-folly-of-cookery/


The reason that a parvo diagnosis is so deadly is that the most common treatment for parvo is antibiotics combined with IV Saline. Both of these treatments on their own are potentially deadly. Here is an article that explains why the saline drip leads to so many human and animal deaths. – https://www.therawkey.com/the-dangers-of-saline-drips/


Reading the warning labels on antibiotics will tell you all you need to know about their ability to cause organ damage, organ failure, and death.


As I mentioned above, parvo is not a disease, it is a healing process or a detox process. All of the symptoms are expulsion symptoms. Parvo never kills dogs, it’s all the treatments that people and vets use that end up killing the dog.


Parvo occurs when we transition a puppy from mother’s milk to toxic foods and the puppy’s body has high vitality so it tries to expel those foods creating diarrhea, but because we keep trying to give them commercial dog food, which is toxic, instead of real food the body keeps having to create diarrhea leading to dehydration.


Often a parvo diagnosis will also occur following vaccination for the same reason, the body is attempting to expel the toxins and waste that were created as a result of the injury from the injection of toxic substances.


All we do for Parvo is stop the processed commercial foods and any other materials going into the body that are not just whole foods in their whole natural form, and fast the dog for 24 hours, making sure they drink water throughout the day but not forcing water, letting them drink to thirst. Then we start them on fruit after 24 hours of no diarrhea or vomiting. Bananas, watermelon, papaya, or smushed blueberries are all good options to start with.


Once we stop putting in the cause of the body’s distress the body can quickly complete its healing processes and return to a state of health. If we then continue to feed properly and not poison the dog with cooked foods and unnatural substances then they will live a long happy life. But if we take a dog that is having diarrhea as a reaction to heavily processed foods and drugs and add more drugs and more heavily processed foods then the health of the dog will be continuously at risk until we stop putting in the cause.


If we follow the drugging route, even with “natural” drugs, herbs, medicinal supplements, or anything other than whole natural raw fruits in their whole form then the body will very likely be seriously injured and may succumb to the poisoning.


Since most people struggle with the concept of not doing anything, and especially not continuing to force food into the body, most people unwittingly kill the animal with all their attempts to help.


Whenever the body is creating expulsion symptoms the only safe path is to stop all inputs until the expulsion symptoms have completed. Doing anything else, no matter how innocuous it might seem, is risking the death of the animals.


Expulsion symptoms, especially diarrhea, vomiting, anything impairing breathing, and fever always require a complete cessation of food going in until the symptom passes.

Lauren WhitemanLeave a comment

Nutrient Density vs Assimilation

Is meat beneficial because it is nutrient-dense? Should we be eating grass-fed beef because it is nutrient-dense?

Have you heard people saying they eat a nutrient-dense diet? Often those promoting non-human appropriate foods like grass-fed beef promote this false concept of nutrient density as though the amount of one specific nutrient in a food makes it beneficial and can cancel out all of the detrimental effects of a food. This falls under the more is better fallacy.

For example, the disease industry promotes cooked tomatoes because they are higher in lycopene, but they ignore the fact that cooking the tomato turns the organic minerals into inorganic minerals, making them unusable, that cooking destroys the vitamin C content of the tomatoes and that cooking results in a destruction of the enzymes and many other nutrients. More lycopene does not make the cooked tomato better than the raw tomato, in fact, the cooked tomato is significantly worse for our health.

Another example of this fallacy is when people promote eating animal tissues for iron. Animal tissues contain heme iron, while plants contain non-heme iron.

The claim is the body absorbs more heme iron but this is NOT a benefit, it is an injury to the body. The non-heme iron is usable, but the heme iron is not. Heme iron that comes from animal tissues increases the risk of cancer, stroke, heart disease, and metabolic syndrome. (see Heme vs Non-Heme Iron – https://nutritionfacts.org/…/the-safety-of-heme-vs-non…/ )

Fruits and lettuce greens are full of usable iron in appropriate amounts to meet the body’s needs without overwhelming the body. More is not better, more is often much worse. Just like getting in more calories than we need is detrimental or eating more protein than we need is the leading cause of cancer and chronic disease.

Nutrient density is not a factor that results in health. Nutrient assimilation is. It’s not about how much of any one nutrient we can get, but how much we can use and if the source is free from causing injury to our body. It doesn’t do any good to load up on a substance that is high in a specific nutrient if that substance also contains things that injure the body. For example, spinach is rich in calcium, but it is also full of oxalates. A small amount of spinach, with its small amount of oxalates is easily managed by the oxalobacter bacteria in our digestive tract, but eat a lot of spinach and you will find that your health begins to suffer.

But that is precisely what the nutrient-density promoters are doing. They are eating a substance – red meat – that poisons their body with ammonia laboring under the false idea that it is nutrient-dense and therefore healthy. Please don’t fall for their tricks.

HEALTH IS NOT ABOUT WHAT WE EAT BUT ABOUT WHAT WE CAN ASSIMILATE

Food constitutes some of the raw materials that become part of the overall nutritive processes that sustain our bodies. When our bodies receive food, it is broken down mechanically and chemically into components that can be absorbed and synthesized by our cells into substances usable by the body. Many people think about foods as having different actions on the body but in fact, food is inert and the body takes all actions upon the food.

To be appropriated for the use of the body, food must be first mechanically crushed, then mixed with digestive enzymes and acids to be chemically broken down into its smallest components. Those components, amino acids, fatty acids, sugars, vitamins, and minerals can then be transported through the walls of the digestive tract, into the bloodstream, and to the cells for use.

“Nutrition is a vital process carried on only by a living organism. It is a process of growth, development and invigoration. To eat good food and enough of it, to drink pure water and breathe pure air, in and of themselves, are very desirable, but something more is needed in order to acquire health, strength and vigor. Nutrition is dependent on function. We can have better nutritive function only when we have a capacity for better nutrition.

Food is of value only in its physiological connections with air, water, sunshine, rest and sleep, exercise or activity, cleanliness and wholesome mental and moral influences—in short, all the natural or normal circumstances which we know to be necessary for the preservation of health.” – Dr Herbert Shelton

Assimilation and utilization are oft overlooked when discussing nutrition. We can eat all ideal foods but if we aren’t able to assimilate or make use of those foods then they simply pass through our bodies wasted.

There are many factors that can affect our body’s ability to assimilate the nutrition we are giving it. Some of those factors are under our direct control, while others are a result of the long-term damage to our digestive tracts and take time for the body to be able to make the necessary repairs, clean out the backed-up waste that is inhibiting the cells from optimal performance and clean out the fat that is blocking nutrients from getting into our cells.

Sometimes this damage requires full physiological rest – water fasting – in order to fully repair. In those cases, fasting for a week or a few weeks can make more of a difference than many years of eating because we are, by resting fully, allowing the repair of the mechanisms that assimilate our foods. If those mechanisms are impaired then all of the eating we can do will never lead to health because what we eat is simply being wasted.

The primary factors that affect our capacity to process and assimilate are:

• CHEWING OUR FOODS THOROUGHLY

• EATING SLOWLY AND DELIBERATELY

• PROPER FOOD COMBINING

• MANAGING WATER INTAKE TO NOT DILUTE STOMACH ACIDS DURING A MEAL

• ALLOWING ADEQUATE TIME FOR THE FIRST MEAL TO EXIT

• OVEREATING

• EATING WHEN STRESSED, UPSET, OR EMOTIONAL

• EATING WHEN WE HAVE NO APPETITE OR WE HAVE STOMACH DISCOMFORT

Let’s look at each of these in a bit more detail.

CHEWING OUR FOOD

You may have heard the saying, “Digestion begins in the mouth.” Another favorite of mine is “Your stomach doesn’t have teeth, chew your food.” As we grow up on a predominantly cooked foods diet we lose some of our natural habits of thorough chewing. Cooked foods are soft and mushy and require very little chewing, so we develop a habit of just one or two bites and then swallowing. Unfortunately, this behavior not only leads to poor digestion of foods and limits the assimilation of foods leading to indigestion, acid reflux, fermentation, and upset stomach, but it also leads to the slow destruction of our teeth. Chewing thoroughly strengthens the teeth, and the opposite minimal chewing means less blood flow and thereby fewer nutrients brought to the teeth for the teeth to be rebuilt and strengthened. Over time this lack very slowly breaks down teeth from the inside out.

When we eat we should be chewing food until it reaches a liquid state. If we swallow before this we are making it much more difficult for our digestive tract to break down foods and we will find that we are not getting as much out of our foods as we should be. The side effects of this are bloating, gas, fermentation, and overeating because we aren’t giving time for the full signal to register, and in more extreme cases excessive weight loss can result from the foods simply passing through our system without being utilized.

EATING SLOWLY AND DELIBERATELY

In modern times it is common to eat on the run, while working at our desk, or to snack in front of the television. In all these instances we are often not focusing on the slow and deliberate eating of our foods but are instead wolfing foods down, eating quickly, chewing very little, swallowing before foods are properly chewed, and as a result overeating because we eat faster than our full sensor can communicate back to us.

As we transition back to the natural diet it’s important to recenter our focus on setting time aside to eat in a relaxed fashion where we focus just on the meal and our eating habits. Slowing down can make a big difference in how much of our food we assimilate. When we focus on what we are eating we eat less, we chew more and we digest better because we are relaxed. When we eat on the run we end up doing the exact opposite of all of that.

PROPER FOOD COMBINING

Foods require various enzymes to digest. Digestive enzymes are proteins that your body makes to break down food and aid digestion. There are different enzymes for starches versus proteins and different enzymes to break down fat versus enzymes for carbohydrates.

These enzymes are meant to be used one at a time to digest just one type of food, as a result, many of these enzymes cancel each other out when two different types of foods are ingested. When this happens, neither food is properly digested.

If we put a carbohydrate and fat in the stomach at the same time the digestive enzymes work against each other and instead of digesting and assimilating the foods, both foods remain undigested and begin to ferment or putrefy inside our digestive tract leading to gas and bloating.

When this occurs the body is unable to utilize the nutrients in the food and instead the wasted food is rushed out of the body to avoid fermentation or putrefaction from releasing too much alcohol or ammonia into our system.

If we regularly combine foods in a way that is contradictory then this can lead to excessive weight loss as the body is not utilizing nutrition. On the opposite end, if we are having a lot of food fermenting in our system the excess alcohol or ammonia can also result in weight gain.

The biggest indicator of proper digestion is that we are not getting any bloating or discomfort after a meal.

MANAGING WATER INTAKE TO NOT DILUTE STOMACH ACIDS DURING A MEAL

Waiting at least 15 minutes after drinking to start eating allows the water to exit the stomach and not dilute the digestive acids. We also need to avoid drinking water during a meal or too soon after a meal for the same reason.

If we dilute our stomach acids then we can end up with fermentation, gas, and bloating or we can also experience acid reflux or indigestion.

The best way to manage drinking water is to drink early in the day before your first meal. Then drink prior to each meal just before you prepare your meal. Avoid drinking water for at least 1 hour after eating, preferably 2-3 hours.

ALLOWING ADEQUATE TIME FOR THE FIRST MEAL TO EXIT

Eating too often can lead to food mixing in the stomach which can result in the same issues mentioned above regarding food combinations. While transitioning it may be necessary to eat more meals per day to get in enough calories, but we want to make sure that the food from the last meal has had time to move out of the stomach before putting in the current meal.

As we eat more and more raw foods our stomach will naturally stretch to accommodate the bulky water-rich foods, making eating just two or three meals a day much more natural, but in the short term, we may need to eat five or six meals a day to meet our calorie needs.

We can avoid foods running into each other by eating fast-digesting watery fruits early in the day, followed by slower digesting denser fruits next, and then salad greens and then nuts and seed and dehydrated foods late in the day. Or by allowing at least 1 hour for watery fruits, 2-3 hours for dense fruits, and 4-6 hours for everything else.

OVEREATING

When we are dealing with excessive thinness on the natural diet it can be our natural inclination to keep trying to stuff in more and more food leading to overeating. Also, we may carry over habits of overeating from our cooked foods diet, looking for that stimulation that we get from the harmful effects of the cooked foods. Other times we overeat when we are stressed out or upset because we have learned this habit as a coping mechanism.

Whatever the reason, overeating overtaxes the stomach and digestive tract to a point where the foods being put in are not being properly utilized and are instead being rushed through without the benefit of assimilation. These are wasted meals, but they are also a waste of our precious nerve energy.

“The overstimulation of the physiological functions, which results from over-eating, weakens and impairs them through overwork. Fasting reverses this and permits them to recuperate. During the rest thus afforded, these organs are enabled to repair their damaged structures and restore their lagging energies, thus they are prepared for renewed function and are given a new lease on life. A fast is to the organs of the body what a night of restful repose is to the tired laborer.

Digestion and assimilation of food are a tax on the vital powers of the organism and increase the work of the stomach, liver, intestines, heart, lungs, kidneys, glands, etc. The more food eaten the more work these already overworked organs are called upon to perform. How can increasing the work of these organs help the sick? If feeding does not prevent sickness how may overfeeding restore health?” – Dr Herbert Shelton

Overeating results in bloating, fatigue, undigested foods in our stool, constant hunger (because nothing we eat is being utilized), indigestion, and many other symptoms. Eating more slowly and deliberately can help to improve digestion and avoid overeating. Eating whole foods and chewing them thoroughly helps to slow us down. Also, focus only on eating when eating, and do not try to multitask. Stop what you are doing, enjoy your meal, eat slowly and deliberately, and then the body will have time to signal you when the stomach reaches capacity.

EATING WHEN STRESSED, UPSET, OR EMOTIONAL

When we are under stress or emotional strain our digestive system shuts down. One of the ways that I learned to cope with stress in my life was through eating. I think there are a lot of people out there like me, who have used food as a pacifier whenever life didn’t go as planned. Unfortunately, this habit we develop is terrible for our digestion. Try your best to avoid eating when upset. Instead, sip water and try to focus on the problem at hand until it is resolved, then resume eating once the stress has passed. By doing so you will avoid the fatigue and fermentation of sluggish digestion and your mind will be clear and you will be calmer and better able to remedy the stressful situation effectively.

EATING WHEN WE HAVE NO APPETITE OR WE HAVE STOMACH DISCOMFORT

Our body communicates to us when it is in need of a break from food. Nausea, lack of appetite, a burning stomach, or any sort of uncomfortable feelings in the stomach are all signs from the body to skip the next meal. The more we obey these communications the better our health will become.

If we follow these guidelines we can improve digestion and assimilation which leads to greater energy for healing and activity and avoidance of any digestive discomfort. Eating with focus and intention can help to quickly correct any of the bad habits we have learned along the way.

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/the-natural-diet-support-group/

Eat fruit and be well my friends.Have you heard people saying they eat a nutrient-dense diet? Often those promoting non-human appropriate foods like grass-fed beef promote this false concept of nutrient density as though the amount of one specific nutrient in a food makes it beneficial and can cancel out all of the detrimental effects of a food. This falls under the more is better fallacy.

For example, the disease industry promotes cooked tomatoes because they are higher in lycopene, but they ignore the fact that cooking the tomato turns the organic minerals into inorganic minerals, making them unusable, that cooking destroys the vitamin C content of the tomatoes and that cooking results in a destruction of the enzymes and many other nutrients. More lycopene does not make the cooked tomato better than the raw tomato, in fact, the cooked tomato is significantly worse for our health.

Another example of this fallacy is when people promote eating animal tissues for iron. Animal tissues contain heme iron, while plants contain non-heme iron.

The claim is the body absorbs more heme iron but this is NOT a benefit, it is an injury to the body. The non-heme iron is usable, but the heme iron is not. Heme iron that comes from animal tissues increases the risk of cancer, stroke, heart disease, and metabolic syndrome. (see Heme vs Non-Heme Iron – https://nutritionfacts.org/…/the-safety-of-heme-vs-non…/ )

Fruits and lettuce greens are full of usable iron in appropriate amounts to meet the body’s needs without overwhelming the body. More is not better, more is often much worse. Just like getting in more calories than we need is detrimental or eating more protein than we need is the leading cause of cancer and chronic disease.

Nutrient density is not a factor that results in health. Nutrient assimilation is. It’s not about how much of any one nutrient we can get, but how much we can use and if the source is free from causing injury to our body. It doesn’t do any good to load up on a substance that is high in a specific nutrient if that substance also contains things that injure the body. For example, spinach is rich in calcium, but it is also full of oxalates. A small amount of spinach, with its small amount of oxalates is easily managed by the oxalobacter bacteria in our digestive tract, but eat a lot of spinach and you will find that your health begins to suffer.

But that is precisely what the nutrient-density promoters are doing. They are eating a substance – red meat – that poisons their body with ammonia laboring under the false idea that it is nutrient-dense and therefore healthy. Please don’t fall for their tricks.

HEALTH IS NOT ABOUT WHAT WE EAT BUT ABOUT WHAT WE CAN ASSIMILATE

Food constitutes some of the raw materials that become part of the overall nutritive processes that sustain our bodies. When our bodies receive food, it is broken down mechanically and chemically into components that can be absorbed and synthesized by our cells into substances usable by the body. Many people think about foods as having different actions on the body but in fact, food is inert and the body takes all actions upon the food.

To be appropriated for the use of the body, food must be first mechanically crushed, then mixed with digestive enzymes and acids to be chemically broken down into its smallest components. Those components, amino acids, fatty acids, sugars, vitamins, and minerals can then be transported through the walls of the digestive tract, into the bloodstream, and to the cells for use.

“Nutrition is a vital process carried on only by a living organism. It is a process of growth, development and invigoration. To eat good food and enough of it, to drink pure water and breathe pure air, in and of themselves, are very desirable, but something more is needed in order to acquire health, strength and vigor. Nutrition is dependent on function. We can have better nutritive function only when we have a capacity for better nutrition.

Food is of value only in its physiological connections with air, water, sunshine, rest and sleep, exercise or activity, cleanliness and wholesome mental and moral influences—in short, all the natural or normal circumstances which we know to be necessary for the preservation of health.” – Dr Herbert Shelton

Assimilation and utilization are oft overlooked when discussing nutrition. We can eat all ideal foods but if we aren’t able to assimilate or make use of those foods then they simply pass through our bodies wasted.

There are many factors that can affect our body’s ability to assimilate the nutrition we are giving it. Some of those factors are under our direct control, while others are a result of the long-term damage to our digestive tracts and take time for the body to be able to make the necessary repairs, clean out the backed-up waste that is inhibiting the cells from optimal performance and clean out the fat that is blocking nutrients from getting into our cells.

Sometimes this damage requires full physiological rest – water fasting – in order to fully repair. In those cases, fasting for a week or a few weeks can make more of a difference than many years of eating because we are, by resting fully, allowing the repair of the mechanisms that assimilate our foods. If those mechanisms are impaired then all of the eating we can do will never lead to health because what we eat is simply being wasted.

The primary factors that affect our capacity to process and assimilate are:

• CHEWING OUR FOODS THOROUGHLY

• EATING SLOWLY AND DELIBERATELY

• PROPER FOOD COMBINING

• MANAGING WATER INTAKE TO NOT DILUTE STOMACH ACIDS DURING A MEAL

• ALLOWING ADEQUATE TIME FOR THE FIRST MEAL TO EXIT

• OVEREATING

• EATING WHEN STRESSED, UPSET, OR EMOTIONAL

• EATING WHEN WE HAVE NO APPETITE OR WE HAVE STOMACH DISCOMFORT

Let’s look at each of these in a bit more detail.

CHEWING OUR FOOD

You may have heard the saying, “Digestion begins in the mouth.” Another favorite of mine is “Your stomach doesn’t have teeth, chew your food.” As we grow up on a predominantly cooked foods diet we lose some of our natural habits of thorough chewing. Cooked foods are soft and mushy and require very little chewing, so we develop a habit of just one or two bites and then swallowing. Unfortunately, this behavior not only leads to poor digestion of foods and limits the assimilation of foods leading to indigestion, acid reflux, fermentation, and upset stomach, but it also leads to the slow destruction of our teeth. Chewing thoroughly strengthens the teeth, and the opposite minimal chewing means less blood flow and thereby fewer nutrients brought to the teeth for the teeth to be rebuilt and strengthened. Over time this lack very slowly breaks down teeth from the inside out.

When we eat we should be chewing food until it reaches a liquid state. If we swallow before this we are making it much more difficult for our digestive tract to break down foods and we will find that we are not getting as much out of our foods as we should be. The side effects of this are bloating, gas, fermentation, and overeating because we aren’t giving time for the full signal to register, and in more extreme cases excessive weight loss can result from the foods simply passing through our system without being utilized.

EATING SLOWLY AND DELIBERATELY

In modern times it is common to eat on the run, while working at our desk, or to snack in front of the television. In all these instances we are often not focusing on the slow and deliberate eating of our foods but are instead wolfing foods down, eating quickly, chewing very little, swallowing before foods are properly chewed, and as a result overeating because we eat faster than our full sensor can communicate back to us.

As we transition back to the natural diet it’s important to recenter our focus on setting time aside to eat in a relaxed fashion where we focus just on the meal and our eating habits. Slowing down can make a big difference in how much of our food we assimilate. When we focus on what we are eating we eat less, we chew more and we digest better because we are relaxed. When we eat on the run we end up doing the exact opposite of all of that.

PROPER FOOD COMBINING

Foods require various enzymes to digest. Digestive enzymes are proteins that your body makes to break down food and aid digestion. There are different enzymes for starches versus proteins and different enzymes to break down fat versus enzymes for carbohydrates.

These enzymes are meant to be used one at a time to digest just one type of food, as a result, many of these enzymes cancel each other out when two different types of foods are ingested. When this happens, neither food is properly digested.

If we put a carbohydrate and fat in the stomach at the same time the digestive enzymes work against each other and instead of digesting and assimilating the foods, both foods remain undigested and begin to ferment or putrefy inside our digestive tract leading to gas and bloating.

When this occurs the body is unable to utilize the nutrients in the food and instead the wasted food is rushed out of the body to avoid fermentation or putrefaction from releasing too much alcohol or ammonia into our system.

If we regularly combine foods in a way that is contradictory then this can lead to excessive weight loss as the body is not utilizing nutrition. On the opposite end, if we are having a lot of food fermenting in our system the excess alcohol or ammonia can also result in weight gain.

The biggest indicator of proper digestion is that we are not getting any bloating or discomfort after a meal.

MANAGING WATER INTAKE TO NOT DILUTE STOMACH ACIDS DURING A MEAL

Waiting at least 15 minutes after drinking to start eating allows the water to exit the stomach and not dilute the digestive acids. We also need to avoid drinking water during a meal or too soon after a meal for the same reason.

If we dilute our stomach acids then we can end up with fermentation, gas, and bloating or we can also experience acid reflux or indigestion.

The best way to manage drinking water is to drink early in the day before your first meal. Then drink prior to each meal just before you prepare your meal. Avoid drinking water for at least 1 hour after eating, preferably 2-3 hours.

ALLOWING ADEQUATE TIME FOR THE FIRST MEAL TO EXIT

Eating too often can lead to food mixing in the stomach which can result in the same issues mentioned above regarding food combinations. While transitioning it may be necessary to eat more meals per day to get in enough calories, but we want to make sure that the food from the last meal has had time to move out of the stomach before putting in the current meal.

As we eat more and more raw foods our stomach will naturally stretch to accommodate the bulky water-rich foods, making eating just two or three meals a day much more natural, but in the short term, we may need to eat five or six meals a day to meet our calorie needs.

We can avoid foods running into each other by eating fast-digesting watery fruits early in the day, followed by slower digesting denser fruits next, and then salad greens and then nuts and seed and dehydrated foods late in the day. Or by allowing at least 1 hour for watery fruits, 2-3 hours for dense fruits, and 4-6 hours for everything else.

OVEREATING

When we are dealing with excessive thinness on the natural diet it can be our natural inclination to keep trying to stuff in more and more food leading to overeating. Also, we may carry over habits of overeating from our cooked foods diet, looking for that stimulation that we get from the harmful effects of the cooked foods. Other times we overeat when we are stressed out or upset because we have learned this habit as a coping mechanism.

Whatever the reason, overeating overtaxes the stomach and digestive tract to a point where the foods being put in are not being properly utilized and are instead being rushed through without the benefit of assimilation. These are wasted meals, but they are also a waste of our precious nerve energy.

“The overstimulation of the physiological functions, which results from over-eating, weakens and impairs them through overwork. Fasting reverses this and permits them to recuperate. During the rest thus afforded, these organs are enabled to repair their damaged structures and restore their lagging energies, thus they are prepared for renewed function and are given a new lease on life. A fast is to the organs of the body what a night of restful repose is to the tired laborer.

Digestion and assimilation of food are a tax on the vital powers of the organism and increase the work of the stomach, liver, intestines, heart, lungs, kidneys, glands, etc. The more food eaten the more work these already overworked organs are called upon to perform. How can increasing the work of these organs help the sick? If feeding does not prevent sickness how may overfeeding restore health?” – Dr Herbert Shelton

Overeating results in bloating, fatigue, undigested foods in our stool, constant hunger (because nothing we eat is being utilized), indigestion, and many other symptoms. Eating more slowly and deliberately can help to improve digestion and avoid overeating. Eating whole foods and chewing them thoroughly helps to slow us down. Also, focus only on eating when eating, and do not try to multitask. Stop what you are doing, enjoy your meal, eat slowly and deliberately, and then the body will have time to signal you when the stomach reaches capacity.

EATING WHEN STRESSED, UPSET, OR EMOTIONAL

When we are under stress or emotional strain our digestive system shuts down. One of the ways that I learned to cope with stress in my life was through eating. I think there are a lot of people out there like me, who have used food as a pacifier whenever life didn’t go as planned. Unfortunately, this habit we develop is terrible for our digestion. Try your best to avoid eating when upset. Instead, sip water and try to focus on the problem at hand until it is resolved, then resume eating once the stress has passed. By doing so you will avoid the fatigue and fermentation of sluggish digestion and your mind will be clear and you will be calmer and better able to remedy the stressful situation effectively.

EATING WHEN WE HAVE NO APPETITE OR WE HAVE STOMACH DISCOMFORT

Our body communicates to us when it is in need of a break from food. Nausea, lack of appetite, a burning stomach, or any sort of uncomfortable feelings in the stomach are all signs from the body to skip the next meal. The more we obey these communications the better our health will become.

If we follow these guidelines we can improve digestion and assimilation which leads to greater energy for healing and activity and avoidance of any digestive discomfort. Eating with focus and intention can help to quickly correct any of the bad habits we have learned along the way.

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/the-natural-diet-support-group/

Eat fruit and be well my friends.

Lauren WhitemanLeave a comment

WHAT IS NERVE ENERGY? 

Nerve energy is a form of electricity measurable in millivolts.  It is the electrical impulse that runs through our nervous system, allowing for the communication of every cell in our system with every other cell in our system.  Nerve energy is central to the cleaning and healing processes of the body and when it runs low our body’s ability to clean up after itself becomes impaired.    

“Demonstrating that nerve energy is electrical is easy. If you mashed your finger, a message would immediately go to the brain and back would come a command to remove the finger from that which applied the pressure. Moreover, the brain would command the entire balance of the body to cooperate in the extraction of the finger from the offending pressure. Only electricity is capable of such speedy transmission. No chemical process or circulatory process is capable of this dispatch. It occurs only through a network of nerves with conductive abilities, and electricity is the only form of energy it can conduct. 

If you take a weak voltage and hook up to it while holding someone else’s hand, the other person gets a shock immediately when you touch the live electrical source. I don’t think anyone can doubt that we do generate electricity, and that is the form of energy we use to conduct our physical and mental activities. Sensations are transformed into electrical stimuli and forwarded to the brain. The brain interprets these and sends out commands based upon the interpretation. Thus, if you put your finger to a hot object, the finger is commanded in a flash to withdraw from it.”  – T.C. Fry, The Life Science Health System

WHY IS NERVE ENERGY IMPORTANT TO OUR HEALTH? 

“All diseases have an element of nerve derangement. Indeed, we must have enervation before any disease can develop and enervation may be brought about by anything–any influence–that uses up nerve energy.” – John Tilden, Impaired Health Vol. II

Diseases can be caused by any improper life practices, but generally are caused most by dietary indiscretions.  The primary mechanism that causes disease and root of all illness is reduced nerve energy.  Reduced nerve energy results in reduced ability of the body to eliminate the normal by-products of cell building and cell destruction.  

“In the process of tissue building— metabolism—there is cell building— anabolism—and cell destruction—catabolism. The broken down tissue is toxic and in health—when nerve energy is normal—it is eliminated from the blood as fast as evolved. When nerve energy is dissipated from any cause—physical or mental excitement or bad habits—the body becomes enervated, when enervated, elimination is checked, causing a retention of toxin in the blood or Toxemia. This accumulation of toxin when once established will continue until nerve energy is restored by removing the causes. So-called disease is nature’s effort at eliminating the toxin from the blood. All so-called diseases are crises of Toxemia.”  – John Tilden, Toxemia Explained

Toxemia/toxicosis may arise from many different sources: diet, water pollution, air pollution, injections, drugs, herbs and other poisons.  The toll toxemia takes and the reason we manifest disease symptoms when we are experiencing toxemia is because of insufficient nerve energy to eliminate the cellular wastes.  

“Obviously, to remain free of burdensome accumulations, both physical and chemical in nature, the body must have full use of its eliminative faculties. If these faculties are impaired by lack of nerve energy, if they have been disabled by toxic materials or if ingestion of toxic matters exceeds ability to cope, then elimination is likewise impaired. Accumulations further vitiate the elimination process until the body must undertake an eliminative crisis (disease) to free itself of its morbid load. – T.C.Fry

As nerve energy lags the body falls further and further behind in its elimination of cellular waste and this in turn further impairs the body’s ability to generate nerve energy.  The more nerve energy we squander the less we are able to generate until we crash. 

“…the body is primarily an organism that works on the amount of electricity it generates and which it has in its reserves. If this supply is depleted or otherwise insufficient to cope with the needs of the body, then body functions become impaired, including the processes of elimination of both endogenous metabolic wastes and exogenous poisons introduced into the body. This impairment begets further impairment including diminishing the body’s ability to restore depleted nerve energy.”  – T.C. Fry

This can be clearly evidenced in the individual who consumes coffee.  They quickly become dependent on having coffee every day, often multiple times per day because each cup of coffee makes their body more exhausted then the previous cup.  They begin to rely on the stimulation in a vicious cycle of fatigue and stimulation which drains their nerve energy and impairs the creation of nerve energy.

As we drain our nerve energy we build a backlog of waste that the body falls behind on eliminating.  Eventually the body must force a healing crisis to eliminate this cellular debris and at this point we experience a cold or flu healing event.  

“Due to unnatural practices or influences, humans frequently accumulate toxic substances in their bodies beyond normal capacity for elimination. When the accumulation becomes intolerable within the context of residual vitality, the body will preempt its nerve energy and redirect it to the task of extraordinary elimination or cleansing”  – T.C.Fry

SQUANDERING NERVE ENERGY LEADS TO DISEASE  

The word toxemia means blood poisoning. Toxicosis refers to any disease brought on by poisoning.  In the normal daily processes of life our cells themselves produce toxic byproducts.  In a normal functioning body these toxic substances are rapidly eliminated from the area and the cell’s function is unimpeded.  However, when we squander our nerve energy the body’s ability to eliminate these normal byproducts of cellular metabolism becomes impaired.  The body becomes less able to eliminate, which then impairs the body’s ability to generate nerve energy, which then impairs every other function in the body. 

“Nerve energy is required to digest food; nerve energy is required to keep up secretions and excretions; nerve energy is required to prepare enzymes for digesting our food intake and keeping up a normal resistance to environmental influences as well as those that are autogenerated. 

When this nerve energy is up to the standard, we are poised–or balanced, as it were, with our environments–and we can eat a maximum amount of food, and take care of it. This being true, it should be obvious to those who care to reason that any influence which uses up nerve energy lowers the digestive powers of the body, and that an amount of food which can be utilized when the nerve energy is up to standard must necessarily be too much when the energy is used up in work, play, or sensual indulgence.

It should be obvious to any reasoning mind that a full dinner taken into a tired body cannot be digested properly; that a full meal, or any meal at all, eaten by one in great mental anguish over some great trouble, cannot be digested. And, when food is not digested, it becomes a poison.”  John Tilden, Impaired Health Vol I

“Using nerve-energy in excess of normal production brings on enervation. Few people waste nerve-energy in one way only. Food is a stimulant. Overeating is overstimulating. Add to this excess one or two other stimulants—Coffee or tobacco—excessive venery, overwork and worry, and one subject to that amount of drain of nerve-energy will become decidedly enervated.

Elimination falls far short of requirements; consequently toxin accumulates in the blood. This adds a pronounced auto-toxin stimulation to that coming from overstimulating habits, and completes a vicious circle. This complex stands for a disease-producing Toxemia, which will be permanent except as toxin crises—so-called acute diseases—lower the amount of toxin, again to accumulate and continue until the habits that keep the body enervated are controlled. Perfect health cannot be established until all enervating habits have been eliminated.” – John Tilden, Toxemia Explained

The more nerve energy we waste the less ability our body has to clean out the cellular waste and debris that build leading to disease conditions.   As the body becomes more fatigued the disease conditions build and we move from minor discomfort to major chronic disease. 

HOW IS NERVE ENERGY CREATED? 

Sleep and rest are the only way that we can regenerate nerve energy.  When our sleep is disturbed or we ignore our bodies’ need for more sleep we set off a cycle of degeneration. 

“Enervation can be caused by depletion of nerve energy in any of hundreds of ways. Sleep regenerates nerve energy. Obviously, insufficient sleep will not supply us with our needs. It will not fully recharge our batteries. We need sleep to regenerate nerve energy for the brain and nervous system. Rest and total abstinence from food, liquid and solid, and reforming all enervating habits, will restore nerve-energy; the elimination of toxin through the natural channels will take place, and full health will return.”  – Tilden Toxemia

“Sleep is the condition under which the brain generates nerve energy with which to conduct body activities. The deeper the stage of sleep into which the body enters, the more efficiently can nerve energy be generated. There are five stages of sleep if we include the R.E.M stage, popularly called the dream stage, when there are rapid eye movements. Other stages are named after the brain wave frequency. The threshold stage of sleep is the alpha stage and the deepest stage is delta wave sleep. As nerve energy is the spark of vitality for vigorous activity and high level function generally, adequate sleep is very essential to well-being.”  – T.C. Fry

Closing our eyes and resting on the couch for a few minutes periodically throughout the day can also help to regenerate our nerve energy and allow the body to clean out and improve its efficiency.

“While sleep regenerates a fund of nerve energy, rest enables the body to restock physical stores as well as to “clean house.”” TC. Fry

Sleep is controlled naturally, your body will only sleep when sleep is required.  If you are tired and you force yourself to stay awake and push through you are only impairing your body’s ability to clean and heal.  When your body tells you it needs rest, obey it and it will pay you back in health and comfort.   Disobey and pain and suffering will be the end result. 

“We become sleepy when sleep is needed. If we don’t fight it off by taking pep pills or coffee, we naturally drop off into a state of unconsciousness when our bodies need sleep. And we will remain in this state until our nerve energy is sufficiently recovered— unless our sleep is prematurely put to an end by a jangling alarm clock or other disturbing influence. It is impossible to sleep if we do not need sleep. Sleep cannot be “stored up” for future use. – T.C. Fry

It can be tempting to just push through and use those stimulants to make it through our day, but by doing so we are selling ourselves short.   The rest we take today will pay us back in abundant energy.  The stimulant we take today will pay us back in erratic, nervous energy that makes us less efficient and less effective and will cost our energy for the rest of the day and the rest of the week.   

HOW IS NERVE ENERGY WASTED?

Sadly there are a great many ways in which we are wasting our nerve energy each day.  When we look at the list we must marvel at how well our body maintains some semblance of normal functioning with all of the mistakes in living that we throw at it each day.  Here is a list of just some of the ways that we squander our nerve energy:

  • Cold and heat – “Extremes of temperature require the expenditure of nerve energy to adjust to changes” – TC Fry   “If a person spends all his nerve energy in keeping warm, he has none left for taking care of food. All other influences work the same way. Anything that reduces the nerve energy lowers the digestive function. When any part of the nerve energy is used up in keeping warm, there is just that much less for digesting and assimilating food.” – John Tilden   “Deliberate cooling or heating of the body is exhausting of nerve energy and lowers the body’s functional abilities.”  -TC Fry
  • Seeking pleasure excessively  – “this condition may be brought on by exhausting the nerve energy in seeking pleasure–wearing out the nervous system enjoying, so to speak. Instead of taking a moderate amount of pleasure in going to the theater or picture shows, dancing, etc., the nerve energy is worn out taking these pleasures in excess.” John Tilden, Impaired Health Vol II
  • Excessive eating
  • Imprudent eating – “In processing food for use, we expend two kinds of energy. We expend metabolic energy, which is the chemical and mechanical energies expended, and we expend nerve energy. For instance, we use very little nerve energy in digesting watermelon. But, in processing foods to which we are not biologically adapted, an enormous expenditure of nerve energy is occasioned. Meats may cause nervous exhaustion due to the body’s frenzied activities in dealing with proteins, uric acids and other toxic substances in them. Though we may feel exhilarated while expending nervous energy just as we feel “a pickme- up” when taking coffee (which really drains nerve energy), the stimulation occasioned by eating unsuitable foods such as meat is an indication of the inefficiency with which the body handles it.” T.C. Fry
  • Eating wrong combinations
  • Fermentation
  • Consuming stimulants – Coffee, tea, chocolate and drugs all drain the body of nerve energy
  • Eating foods that are artificially prepared
  • Eating cooked and processed foods 
  • Eating excess proteins – “neutralization and elimination of the toxins of protein degeneration (putrefaction) uses up vast amounts of nerve energy which, though stimulating at the time, exhausts and debilitates the body.” T.C.Fry
  • Eating starches instead of fruits – “A larger amount of the body’s limited supply of nerve energy is used up when starches are used for fuel than when fruits are used because starches are, as you know, polysaccharides and must be broken down (digested) into monosaccharides before the body can use them. Fruits contain a preponderance of monosaccharides, which, as you also know, need no digestion at all. Therefore, fruit eating leaves more of the body’s energies available for other activities. This explains, in part, why people feel so “light” when they eat fruits and so heavy when they eat beans or bread.”T.C.Fry
  • Overwork 
  • Worry and fear 
  • Excessive emotions and outbursts
  • Arguments with loved ones
  • Stress 
  • Lack of discipline 
  • The use of stimulants of all kinds 
  • Carelessness in looking after the functions of the body
  • Any influences that will produce overstimulation, intoxication, enervation, or imperfect elimination
  • Overstimulation – Social media, television, even reading a book can be a source of nerve energy drain if done to excess, or to upset.

As you can see there is a wide range of ways that we can drain our nerve energy.  Some of these are behaviors that are required, like eating or enjoying ourselves, but when taken to a place of excess, like gluttony or lust, they become a negative habit, while in moderation they provide health.  Other habits are purely nerve energy depleting, such as consuming stimulants or watching negative television news or scary movies.  These are ways in which we trap ourselves in draining experiences.   Relationships can also be another form of energy drain, fighting with a spouse or child instead of having a calm and reasonable discussion can run us down leading to impaired function of our body.   Some of these things can be avoided while others we have little control over.  But the more aware we are of the various drains on our energy, the more we can adapt our lifestyle to meet the needs of our body through the healing process. 

“Intoxication occurs when we overload the body with toxic materials from the outside, or we fail to observe our capacities, and overwork, get insufficient sleep, or are subjected to great stress, or when any number of other factors deplete the body of nerve energy or prevent its sufficient regeneration. For instance, stresses, emotional shocks, or traumatic experiences can drain our bodies of nerve energy very quickly.” – T. C. Fry

The more we take charge of our life experiences the better we can mitigate the drain on our nerve energy.   

HOW DO WE CONSERVE NERVE ENERGY AS BEST WE CAN?

“Insufficient nerve energy arises from dissipation, stress, overindulgence, excess or deficiency of the normal essentials of life, or pollution of the body with substances not normal to it. Accordingly,recovery from sickness can be achieved only by discontinuing its causes and supplying conditions favorable to healing.” T.C. Fry

“Find out in what way nerve-energy is wasted, and stop it—stop all nerve-leaks,” etc. I am appalled at my stupidity in saying to a patient to stop enervating himself, and allowing the matter to end by naming one or two gross enervating habits; for example: Stop worry; stop smoking;  stop stimulants; control your temper; stop eating too rapidly; stop allowing yourself to become excited. Stopping one enervating habit benefits; but dependable health brooks no enervating habits at all.” John Tilden, Toxemia Explained

As with all things health the answer is fairly simple but the implementation becomes more complicated.   The goal is to eliminate as much of the stimulation that is draining away our energy to make room for enjoyable activity that we can partake in because of our abundant energy.   The largest drain to our energy every day is digestion.   If you eat far removed from your natural foods the body will struggle in digestion and eat up nerve energy.   Correct the diet and a large improvement will occur.   

Next we must look at our sleep and rest habits.  Improve upon the quality of your sleep by getting to bed earlier and minimizing disruptions to your sleep.   Incorporate a nap into your routine, particularly after a meal or if you cannot nap at least close your eyes and sit quietly for a period.   

Do you want to learn more about how our self-healing and self-cleaning body remedies disease conditions and returns to a state of health when the conditions of health are supplied? Start by reading “Why do we get sick?“

Have more questions? Want to get answers about your specific health issues or concerns? I offer consultations, learn more about them here: 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! Support Group Information and Sign Up Form

Eat fruit and be well my friends.

Lauren WhitemanLeave a comment
Reader Q&A

Reflexology – Does it help or Hinder Healing?

Question:

What is the Natural Hygiene or Terrain Model position on Reflexology?

Answer:

Reflexology would be considered to be minimally harmful, but it is based on the idea of cures for disease. Cures cannot exist. Only removal of cause corrects disease conditions. So ultimately, these types of programs, reflexology, massage therapy, acupressure, acupuncture, etc all work at symptom suppression rather than removing the underlying cause of the disease. They may offer temporary relief but they will not create health because they do not provide for the requirements of health.

To explain further, here are TC Fry’s comments on Reflexology:

Reflexology (Zone Therapy)

Reflexology is a specialized form of massage and, among the many claims, it is said to be able to restore normalcy of function and give relief from pain to virtually any part of the body. The two basic modes of this therapy are foot reflexology and hand reflexology.

According to reflexology therapists, organs or parts on the right side of the body have their reflex areas on the right foot or hand. Organs on the left side of the body have their reflex areas on the left, foot and hand. Organs extending past the middle or center of the body will have reflex areas on both feet and hands. Where there are two like organs or parts (kidneys, ovaries, etc.), each has a reflex area on its corresponding foot and hand. The lower half of the body has its reflex areas on the lower half of the, foot, and the upper half of the body has its reflex areas on the upper half of the foot. The waistline is located approximately halfway between the base of the toes and the lower part of the heel.

It is said that reflexology stimulates the internal organs and increases circulation. It is based on the theory that if the body is in a healthy condition, with no congestion in it, no tender areas should be found on the feet. The tenderness, they say, is caused by crystalline deposits that form at the nerve endings in the feet. The purpose in doing compression foot massage is to break up these deposits (or crush them) so that they may become solvent and be carried away with the rest of the waste material in the body. Once these deposits are dissolved, the congestion is relieved, and the circulation to the body is improved.

This theory sounds reasonable, but like other therapies, it is based on symptomatic relief. It does not restore health because it does not remove the underlying cause of ill health. There can not be any “cures” through this method or any other if the causes of disease are left in force. Calcium deposits that may be deposited in the feet are the result of incorrect living habits. Simply removing these deposits does not create health.

Lauren WhitemanLeave a comment

What is Fatigue?

Fatigue and the Healing Processes

Fatigue is how we heal.

This is one of the hardest concepts that so many people struggle against.

Healing occurs when we are fasting and our legs get so weak that we cannot stand.

Healing occurs when the cold or flu makes us feel the lowest of low.

When I healed the mass in my breast I spent 72 hours in agony, with even the lightest of bed sheets touching my skin being excruciating. Bouncing between being freezing and being so hot that I felt like my skin was on fire. For 3 days I thought I was dying but I trusted that my body was intelligent. I also understood that my body has a biological mandate to survive. The body will never injure itself. The body will never create a symptom too dangerous. The body never needs to be rescued from itself. The body never benefits from interventions. The body is never made stronger by applying poisons.

When Happy, one of my Miniature Schnauzer rescues healed from a grapefruit-sized mass on her spleen, vestibular disease, sight, and hearing loss she slept all day for weeks on end and had several seizures during the healing process. Her body was always in control. Always creating symptoms for the benefit of the body.

When Mr Bean healed from seizures he fasted for 5 days and slept 23.75 hours a day, only getting up to pee once per day and drinking water on some days. He slept so soundly that I had to keep checking to make sure he was breathing.

Sleep is easy for the dogs to embrace. When healing begins they go straight to their dens, curl up, and sleep. The cats too. They don’t have any fear of rest like we humans do. They don’t fear their body’s healing processes. They don’t worry about missed meals. They don’t worry about missed activities. They just feel tired so they stop eating and go rest.

We humans though fight against every effort our body makes to heal us.

Rather than go to sleep and heal, we stimulate and fear the rest, further poisoning ourselves. We fear permitting ourselves to rest. We fear the wobbly legs, we try to eat through the nausea even with our bodies screaming at us to stop eating.

We fear heart palpitations as the body eliminates the poisons. We fear the mucus the body uses to wrap up the poisons and expel them and we try to use medicines or herbs to break up the mucus, as though dead materials can take action. Poisons cannot ever take action. They can never improve our condition. They can only poison.

We reach for drugs or herbs to save us from the very life-saving symptoms that the body is creating to heal us.

We fear the fever that heals but take a poison pill to bring the fever down. Many people succumb to the pill, many children die from the drugging of their body during a body creates fever.

We fear the diarrhea created by the body to expel the toxic materials, take anti-diarrheal medications, and drink salt-laden waters because we have been fed the electrolytes lie.

We fear the swelling of the lymph nodes that indicate the body is actively healing and working as designed and have our body’s sewer system surgically dissected for fear of the greatest healing process the body can create.

Every step of the way we battle against our body until our body has no choice but to give up the fight. And it all starts with fatigue.

Fatigue is the first sign of disease at our earliest juncture. It becomes chronic as we ignore it and disease builds. Yet, we continue to ignore it, stimulating it with salt, coffee, meat, or other irritants.

Fatigue is the result of the available energy turning inward to heal. Every time our legs get weak and wobbly or we feel like we cannot move our arms or lift even our water cup this is the tremendous gift of healing. The body has moved all available nerve energy internally and is cleaning and expelling the waste that has been slowly killing us.

But sadly, every step of the way most people will stimulate their way out of this healing with pharmaceutical drugs, herbs, salt, coffee, or a long list of other poisons until the body is left with no choice but to expire under the poisoning we have put ourselves through.

Fatigue is how we heal. Never forget that and health will be in your future.

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/the-natural-diet-support-group/

Eat fruit and be well my friends.

Lauren WhitemanLeave a comment

Why do Vets discourage raw feeding?

Often people who have done any research about the health or healing of their animals are shocked to find out that their vet discourages them, or even outright tells them they are putting their dog’s life at risk by feeding a natural, species-appropriate raw diet.   The vet will often launch into a tirade about dangerous bacteria and will even at times go so far as to threaten the dog or cat owner that they are abusing their animal by offering real food.   

Sadly some people will fall victim to this abusive gaslighting and misinformation campaign and trusting that the vet has their pet’s best interest at heart.  They will bend to the demands of the vet and will put their dog or cat on the path to chronic disease by going back to what the vet considers safe foods that the vet just so happens to sell conveniently in their office.  

What most people don’t realize is that the AVMA, the American Veterinary Medical Association, which licenses all Vets allowing them to run their business has made an official statement that raw foods are not recommended. Specifically “AVMA discourages the feeding to cats and dogs of any animal-source protein that has not first been subjected to a process to eliminate pathogens because of the risk of illness to cats and dogs, as well as humans.” This means in order to keep their veterinary license a vet must comply with the AVMA in all its decisions or be at risk of losing their license. 

To some this might seem logical, the AVMA being the medical organization in charge of making policy decisions that are uniform. Many people believe that the AVMA has the best interests of our pets in their hearts, so why shouldn’t we follow their advice. Many often even mistakenly believe that these organizations are subject to strict and thorough scientific rigor.   

However, the AVMA sponsors that fund and influence all their policy decisions include: Hill’s, Zoetis, Elanco, Merck, Purina, The Farmer’s Dog and many other companies that sell cooked and heavily processed foods that would suffer from the loss of business should vets inform their clients about how to create health through proper feeding.  The vet, the pet food company, and the pharmaceutical company only profit when your animal is sick.  Raw food not only competes with their dog food sales but it also threatens their investments into pharmaceutical poisons and vet offices.

This means that decisions are made based on the bottom-line profitability of the industry and its industry partners, NOT the health of your pet.   Your vet only gets paid when your pet gets sick and stays sick.   The industry only stays in business if your pet gets sick and stays sick.  

Vets come out of vet school with tremendous debt, little to no nutritional education, and a desire to open a business, which requires additional capital.   The pet food and pharma companies know this and so they offer funding with the stipulation that the vet uses their products and sells their disease-causing foods.

The vet is visited regularly by the industry reps from their pharma sponsor or pet food sponsor.  Often these are one and the same. The consolidation of business means that many of the pet food brands we find both in the grocery store and the vet offices are owned by just a handful of multinational corporations, such as the Mars corporation which owns the Banfield Veterinary Hospitals, VCA Animal Hospitals, BluePearl Specialty and Emergency Pet Hospital.  Mars also owns common pet food brands like IAMS, Pedigree, Nutro, Royal Canin, Cesar, Temptations, Whiskas and many others.  

The AVMA has a huge conflict of interest and as with all corrupt organizations the AVMA bases its decisions on what furthers the agenda of those that fund the organization.    

Many raw food companies have brought this to the public’s attention and the courts, such as the Answers Pet Food company response found here – https://catcentric.org/resource-center/regulations-and-policies/avma-anti-raw-policy-response-pet-food-manufacturer-answers-pet-food/

To reinforce my points above I would like to share an excerpt from “Why some vets are still suspicious of raw feeding” by Jonathan Self, of Honey’s Real Dog food:

“….Which brings me to a fascinating question. How is it that so many vets are still suspicious of species-appropriate feeding? Not a day passes here at Honey’s HQ without us hearing from a dog lover looking for a practice which will support rather than criticise their decision to raw feed. The fact is dogs may have been eating raw food for millions of years, but a massive percentage of highly educated and compassionate vets simply won’t countenance it.

The reasons for this are various and complex.

To begin with, there is a perception amongst some veterinary professionals that there is not yet sufficient scientific evidence to support raw feeding. This perception is encouraged by the big pet food manufacturers, who have massive marketing budgets to support their anti-raw stance.

Happily, there is more and more research showing that a natural diet is both nutritionally adequate and safe. At Honey’s we contributed to this research in the form of a two-year study, which we called 𝑅𝑎𝑤 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑓 (please do ask for a free copy) and I can also recommend Conor Brady’s 500 page 𝐹𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐷𝑜𝑔𝑠: 𝐷𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑟 𝑅𝑎𝑤? 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝐵𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑒𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑒, which contains over 1200 references.

Then there is the practical side of things. It takes a vet seven years to qualify, after which he or she will probably spend a year or two gaining experience in someone else’s practice before, possibly, starting up on their own. If and when they do set up on their own, they will have to invest heavily. Building a surgery is far from cheap and insurance is particularly expensive. They won’t ever become rich, either. Last year, the average GP earned around £120,000, whereas the average vet earned around £41,000. Bear in mind that their seven years of study must also be paid for. Indeed, student debt is a huge problem for the majority of vets. They are, by the way, also in one of the most stressful professions, with a high incidence of depression and suicide.

There are two highly profitable sectors that exploit this situation.

The first is the pharmaceutical industry. The behaviour of pharmaceutical manufacturers need not concern us here, except it is worth remembering that it is not in their commercial interest for dogs to be healthy.

The second is the pet food industry. Ever since pet food was invented by James Spratt in 1860, manufacturers have been persuading vets to endorse and sell their products. Today, pet food manufacturers provide vets with financial support in the following ways:

-​They pay commission to vets for selling food via their surgeries;

-​They pay vets to carry out research, attend conferences, write papers and so forth;

-​They support the larger professional bodies;

-​They subsidise the costs of education for vets undertaking training and professional development.

Understandably, vets want to support the people who support them (in this case the big pet food manufacturers). Moreover, until the growth of the raw food movement, they had no reason to doubt what they were being told, especially as the pet food industry employs thousands of so-called scientists.

Vets can be forgiven for their lack of knowledge about raw feeding for another reason: they are taught very little about canine digestion during their studies. Colleges rarely devote more than a day to the topic and the lectures are often sponsored by the big pet food manufacturers. You can guess how impartial such lectures are likely to be. To the best of my knowledge raw feeding isn’t on any veterinary college curriculum in the UK or, indeed, the world.

Another problem is that a tiny percentage of vets and scientists genuinely believe – for reasons that aren’t entirely clear – that raw feeding is dangerous. These vets and scientists spread fake news and put their names to very dubious research. Because they use medical terminology and publish learned papers, some other colleagues believe what they say. The Raw Feeding Veterinary Society and other organisations work hard to correct these false claims. Nevertheless, some innocent vets are taken in.

As an aside, I could say a lot here about why so much medical research is not to be trusted but will save it for another day. One of the problems with the way in which the majority of not just vets but also doctors are trained is that they are taught not to question ‘scientific research’. What they are not taught is to be open-minded, use common sense, listen to their instincts, consider anecdotal evidence or – crucially – take a holistic view of medicine. A very good example of this in human medicine is the lack of training in nutrition.

The good news? Although some vets are not yet convinced of the benefits of raw feeding, the situation is changing. I doubt there is a veterinary practice in the country that doesn’t now care for several raw-fed dogs. As a result, vets are seeing the benefits for themselves. Moreover, new, genuine research comes out every year in support of species-appropriate diets, and this must help, too. Crucially, those who raw feed are part of a movement. A movement which, I believe, will come to dominate the whole pet food sector.”

As you can see, there is both an intentional push to keep the public misinformed and a push to keep the vets themselves uneducated and misinformed when it comes to dog and cat nutrition.   

Most vets would be completely unwilling to sacrifice their financial well-being to support a feeding method that will put them completely out of business.   They are far too heavily invested financially to make this type of sacrifice and more than willing to accept what the industry tells them to avoid having to face sacrificing their entire livelihood and walk away from a profitable career with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and no other way to pay it off.  

Additionally, many pet owners who choose to educate themselves on raw feeding also choose to avoid the toxic veterinary practices that are typically accepted as normal or desirable by the kibble-feeding public.   

When a dog or cat owner realizes that the food is poisonous and creating disease in their companion, this naturally opens their eyes to all of the other poisons our beloved dogs and cats might be coming into contact with.  

When we finally wake up to this reality it is not long after that we recognize that the vet is not a health industry, it is a disease for-profit business with practices that are contrary to healthy outcomes for our pets. 

Many raw feeders have seen firsthand their pets being slowly killed by the vet they trusted with their health. Often they experienced the trauma of seizures or rapid death from antibiotics, saline fluids, and anti-inflammatory meds, or they witnessed the slow and painful degeneration of steroids and heart medications or the organ-destroying properties of a wide variety of medications.  

This means that naturally those who raw feed are far less likely to ever walk in the door of your vet’s office.   First, because they are not creating disease which requires any sort of veterinary interventions, and second because they want to avoid any injections or ingestion of poisons into the body which are a requirement of participating in the disease industry.   

This means that most vets will rarely if ever see a raw-fed dog and they have no personal experience to draw from.   They only see the dogs whose owners believe in the disease-for-profit system and who participate in all the disease-for-profit methodologies from feeding the disease-causing foods to forcing the symptoms-suppressing poisons and toxic injections.  

Vets seem to believe they are stuck in a false dichotomy of either A:  Take our poisons and pay us, or B:  Don’t take our poisons and kill your dog.  They seem to have little or no awareness of choice C:  Correct the diet, remove the cause of disease and watch the animal return to pristine health on their species-appropriate diet.  


The vets often mean well but they are only able to go as far as their training takes them and since their training is to become a salesperson for the disease industry, everything they learn is only going to teach them that which supports maintaining the disease-for-profit business at its most profitable.   

Lauren WhitemanLeave a comment
Nutritional Robbers - Are you killing yourself slowly with your addictions?

Nutritional Robbers

by T.C. Fry

Every day millions of people ingest various substances that have no food value at all.

Worse yet, these “nonfoods” not only do not supply any needed nutrients, but they also rob the body of vital minerals, vitamins, etc. As a result, eating these nonfoods cheats the body of nutrients and has profound harmful effects on the mind and emotions. Perhaps the most pervasive and insidious nutritional robber is white sugar.

SUGAR

Sugars occur naturally in most of our foods. Fruits especially are high in sugars that supply the body and mind with high-quality fuel. Sugars in their natural forms as they occur in fresh, unprocessed foods are a valuable part of the diet.

Refined white sugar, however, is a chemical menace because it lacks the essential minerals and B-vitamins for its metabolism. As a result, the body surrenders its own minerals and B-vitamins for use in metabolizing refined sugar.

The sugar-caused depletion of vitamins and minerals from the body upsets the body’s nutritional balance and predisposes the individual to mental and emotional illnesses that have their roots in nutrient deficiencies.

White sugar causes emotional outbreaks, especially in children and adolescents. Interestingly enough, it was discovered that the juvenile offender in Chicago on the average consumed over three times more white sugar in his diet than did the nonoffender.

Schools that have removed their carbonated drink and candy machines have discovered that vandalism and absenteeism also decrease.

Long-term sugar consumption, as indulged by the majority of the American population, leads to chronic blood-sugar level problems that may manifest as diabetes or hypoglycemia.

People with such blood-sugar problems are prone to periods of depression, irritability and nervous attacks. Many times they actually experience “nervous shakes” as their blood-sugar level slides and rises.

An abnormal plunge in blood-sugar levels is insidious—it sends shock waves through every cell in the body and affects the brain and nervous system most of all. An erratic mental state results, and some of the accompanying symptoms are: headaches, fatigue, insomnia, irritability, restlessness, crying spells, nervous breakdowns, excessive worry, inability to concentrate, depression, forgetfulness, suicidal thoughts, illogical fears, allergies and so on.

CAFFEINE, NICOTINE AND ALCOHOL

Besides sugar, some other nutritional robbers are the cigarette, the cup of coffee and the martini.

Nicotine, as obtained from smoking tobacco, adds to metabolic dysfunctioning. It impairs the absorption of vitamin C and interferes with the blood circulation. By constricting the blood vessels, nicotine robs the brain of its essential nutrients, particularly blood glucose, its major fuel. In fact, not only does nicotine inhibit vitamin C absorption, but it actually destroys some or all of the vitamin C already in the blood. One of the mental effects of vitamin C depletion is increased irritability. Smokers tend to be quick to irritate and often exhibit emotional outbursts.

The drug, caffeine, found in coffee, tea, cola drinks and chocolate, causes nervous disturbances, including anxiety. One to three cups of coffee contain enough caffeine to cause anxiety and other emotional disturbances. Caffeine also stimulates insulin secretion, thereby disturbing the blood-sugar level in the body.

Alcohol, too, disturbs the blood-sugar level. In fact, low blood sugar occurs in 70-90% of all alcoholics. As a result of studies, it was also discovered that most alcoholics suffer from a niacin (vitamin B3) deficiency that leads to periods of depression and feelings of lack of self-worth. Such emotional states may then lead to more alcohol drinking in an effort to escape these feelings.

All of the above-mentioned nutritional robbers tend to be self-perpetuating; that is, they create the very conditions that often make the user of these items return to them.

Caffeine withdrawal symptoms, for example, can be halted by drinking another cup of coffee. The irritability caused by smoking is soothed by another cigarette. The “shakes” caused by a period of sobriety can be removed by another slug of whiskey. The crashing blood-sugar level created by sugar intake can be temporarily raised by a candy bar or other sugary “food.” In short, all of these nonfood items are actually addictive drugs just as opium and heroin are. If we are truly concerned about the “drug problem” in America, it would be best if we set our own house in order first. This would remove the cause of many of 6ur mental and emotional problems that result from faulty nutrition.

____

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/the-natural-diet-support-group/

Eat fruit and be well my friends.

Lauren WhitemanLeave a comment