Why do we get sick?

Everything You Know About Sickness Is Backwards and Hurting You – Here’s the Truth.

What Creates Disease Conditions?

What is the internal process that creates the state we call “disease,” and how does it progress?

Everything in nature eats and poops – including our cells. When we work our cells in ways that are normal and natural, the waste they create is easily managed by the body. The area around the cells stays clean and free-flowing.

When we eat outside of our physiology – consuming high-protein, high-fat, or denatured foods – we overwork the cells. Our digestive system must work longer and harder, using energy that should be available for cellular cleaning and repair. (See also: What is the Natural Human Diet?, Nutrient Density vs. Assimilation.)

How the Lymphatic System Becomes Backed Up

Our cells sit in intercellular fluid, which drains into the lymphatic system. In normal functioning, this fluid is well-hydrated and free-flowing. When we eat cooked foods, animal proteins, and other inappropriate substances, we dehydrate the body and therefore the lymph.

A dehydrated lymph system cannot efficiently remove waste from around the cells. As flow slows, wastes become more concentrated, causing further backups.

When cells sit in their own waste, they work less efficiently – and inefficient cells create more waste. It’s like walking on a sidewalk versus slogging through deep mud: the same activity becomes far more exhausting.

To maintain health, the cells must be free from accumulated waste. This requires two things:

1. Enough energy available for cleaning.
   
2. Cells creating normal (not excessive) levels of waste.
   

When either condition is not met, waste accumulates, and symptoms of disease follow.

Two Types of Symptoms

All symptoms that medicine labels as “disease” fall into two categories:

1. Cleaning Symptoms

These are the body’s expulsion processes:

• Coughing
  
• Sneezing
  
• Vomiting
  
• Diarrhea
  
• Fever
  
• Fatigue (a shift of energy inward for healing)

For a deeper breakdown of why these happen, read: The Medical Label of Infection

2. Cellular Malfunction Symptoms

These arise when cells are so backed up with waste that they can no longer function normally:

• Altered heartbeat
  
• Altered blood pressure
  
• The pancreas no longer produces insulin
  

These symptoms reflect abnormal cellular conditions, not different “diseases.”

The Meaning of Disease

The word disease comes from:

• “dis-” meaning “lack of” or “away from”
  
• “ease” meaning “physical comfort or peace”
  

Disease simply means the body is not at ease.

Health is the state of the body functioning in comfort and ease.

Disease is a progression – beginning with the first mild eliminative events of childhood – and building over years of misfeeding and overworking the cells. Medical labels (heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc.) are just names given to clusters of symptoms. The underlying process is one: the body no longer functioning in normal, efficient parameters.

Cleansing Events: Colds, Flus, and Rashes

Our detoxification systems run constantly to keep the cells clean. When we eat according to our design and get rest, relaxation, sunshine, and movement, the body operates efficiently.

When waste reaches the body’s current tolerance level, it initiates a high-intensity cleaning event – what we call:

• colds
  
• flus
  
• rashes
  

These are not diseases. They are the body remedying disease conditions.

(See also: One Disease, Two Types of Symptoms.)

If we allow a cold or flu to complete without interference, the body becomes cleaner and functions more optimally afterward.

What Happens When We Interfere?

When we try to stop cold or flu symptoms with drugs or natural remedies – garlic, ginger, honey, echinacea, elderberry syrup, etc. – we interrupt the cleaning process.

(Related: Parasites: A Symptom, Not a Cause.)

These substances are still poisons. When introduced, the body must divert energy away from cleansing to deal with the incoming poison instead.

This is why people believe remedies “stop” colds: the body stops cleansing because it must address the new toxin.
But the waste remains.

If we eat during a cold or flu, especially heavy meals, we slow the cleaning process further:

• Digestion steals energy needed for healing
  
• Heavy foods add more waste to the burden
  

A simple cold fed with chicken soup can progress into flu or pneumonia simply because digestion was forced when the body was trying to heal.

Why Fasting Works

Fasting at the first sign of a cold allows the body to:

• Redirect all energy toward cleaning
  
• Expel waste rapidly
  
• Complete the process in hours to a few days
  

This is why every species naturally stops eating when ill.

Learn more about Fasting by reading Dr Shelton’s book, The Hygenic System Vol 3 – Fasting and Sunbathing

Foods That Burden vs. Foods That Support

Heavy, Disease-Creating Foods

Animal products, wheat, beans, cooked foods, dairy, eggs, and other unnatural substances:

• Require long, energy-intensive digestion
  
• Add large amounts of cellular waste
  
• Dehydrate the system
  
• Slow the lymph
  
• Overwork cells and drain energy
  

This combination – more waste + less energy for cleaning – is what produces disease conditions and initiates cleaning events.

Foods Aligned With Our Physiology

Whole raw fruits, tender vegetables, leafy greens, and small amounts of nuts and seeds:

• Do not overwork the cells
  
• Provide nutrients in usable, assimilable form
  
• Require minimal digestion
  
• Do not create excess metabolic waste
  
• Keep the lymph clean and flowing
  

With the natural human diet, all systems function efficiently, generating minimal waste and requiring minimal cleaning.

(Learn more about why the natural human diet works so well: The Great Protein Myth.)

📘 Continue Learning

Explore these foundational articles to deepen your understanding of how the body heals:

• What is The Natural Human Diet
  
• Disease 101
  
• The Nature and Purpose of Disease Series
  
• The Medical Label of Infection
  
• One Disease – Two Types of Symptoms
  
• Parasites: A Symptom, Not a Cause
  
• Nutrient Density vs. Assimilation
  

🌿 Join the Natural Human Diet Support Group

If you want daily guidance, meal plans, detox support, Q&A, and access to three Natural Hygiene practitioners, join us inside the Natural Human Diet Support Group.
You’ll learn step-by-step how to support your body’s healing intelligently – without supplements, herbs, or suppressive “treatments.”

💬 Book a One-on-One Consultation

If you’re dealing with persistent symptoms or need personalized guidance, I offer private consultations for humans, dogs, and cats.
I’ll help you understand exactly what your body (or your pet’s body) is doing – and what steps to take next.

👉 Book a consult here: Consultations