Your Amazing Biological Machine: An Overview

Release date: January 17th, 2015 / Last revised: October 31st, 2015

A living assemblage and consortium of delicately functioning organ systems and a self-regulating organism created with an inborn ability to regenerate itself provided the necessary circumstances. Have you ever taken a brief moment of opportunity to be struck with awe of its often overlooked magnificence? Perhaps not, for many of us do take it for granted yet know very little concerning what goes on “behind the scenes” to keep it running and in a condition to serve us throughout the duration of our physical journey.

Intricately complex in design, function and features, spanning from the microcosm of the individual cell to the macro manifestation of our physical frame, the human body is truly a phenomenal work of art on the creator’s behalf; a masterpiece to behold by whom may so be compelled.

Furthermore, it lives and operates in all its subtlety on electrical principles; it is an electrical being—a bioenergetic system in actuality—composed of trillions of tiny, fundamental units of life; these being electricity-generating, membrane-enclosed little sacs of watery solution that emit a controlling and nourishing subtle electromagnetic field; a biofield of which has been found to undergo measurable changes prior to the onset of illness or tissue health abnormalities.^[1][2][3]

In The Phoenix Gazette newspaper of April 9th, 1970, an article called “‘Body Electricity’ Offers New Hope,” written by Paul Harvey, reads: “At the University of The Pacific, Stockton, California, a student in pharmacy has devised a device which allows a cerebral palsy patient to communicate by using his forehead muscles to activate a typewriter.” The article later continues, “Where preceding generations have been preoccupied with ‘body chemistry,’ young Larry’s generation is pioneering a new understanding of ‘body electricity.’ You are electric!”

”This idea that you’re electric, it opens up everything and makes so many things so very simple to understand. When you stop to think about it, you know it’s right. You’re made up of matter; all matter is made up of atoms; the atoms [are] electrons, protons and neutrons. It’s impossible to separate the atom from electricity. Truly, we are electric. In fact, let me ask a question: Do we live off of the food directly or off of the electrical energy produced?” ~ Dr. C. Samuel West, D.N., N.D., during the presentation: ‘Foundations of Health & Healing’

Throughout history, human bodies have been subject to much intensive study and examination, exploratory research (surgical or otherwise) and experimentation.

Yet despite all our history meddling with and “digging” into our now perceivably well-understood physical vessels, there exists still a plethora of well-kept “secrets” hidden inside these bodies of ours; many secrets of which we are to unravel in due time, and many more little and big things we may very well never figure out regardless of how deeply motivated we are to make the attempt—mechanisms left to remain unknown—perhaps including the sort of secrets that are decisively best kept with nature for eternity, if not at least to be kept out of the way of mankind’s currently exploitative tendencies until and if there ever is a drastic change of stewardship.

But, today, with relationship to our health and wellbeing, we do not know so little as to be rendered still incapable of developing a basic understanding of the inner workings of our physical frame and how to effectively care for it.

No, quite to the contrary. We have in this age arrived at a point where there exists indeed an outright over-saturation of sophisticated information and knowledge, which has taken us from knowing very little about the human body to knowing so much we have successfully complicated things beyond many people’s means of comprehension, which has without doubt spawned much confusion across the general population of our world, and simultaneously produced an array of authoritative figures that we place much trust and faith in, in hopes that they can teach and guide us in a direction that will lead to a meaningful solution to our health complaints. So contorted it has become that should many a laymen be informed by said authority that “there is nothing that can be done,” then this conclusion—typically arrived at due only to incompetency and lack of awareness on the practitioner’s end—is simply accepted without question. People are as a result misfortunately led to believe that their suffering is to remain a constant in their lives with no end in sight.

To gradually climb ourselves out of this blurry depth of hopelessness, it helps foremost to have a foundational understanding of our human body, how it works, and how to support its innate efforts toward maintaining systemic homeostasis—all in simplicity—so that we can increase our ability to take care of ourselves. Realize that to make sure our vehicle is kept in a pristine, well-functional state, is our own responsibility. It’s not the local auto mechanic’s job to ensure we drive mindfully, that we put the most appropriate and high-quality fuel into the gas tank, or that we get the vehicle oiled and cleaned as necessary along with all else involved in proper auto maintenance.

In similar fashion, the responsibility lies not with any doctor, surgeon, healer or other health figure to see to it that you achieve and remain in a state of good health, nor is it their job to progressively render a vast majority of their profession obsolete and out of business by committing all they can to teach you how to maximize your own independent self-care, albeit a noble endeavor on their behalf.

We may at times need the expertise of any given health professional, at which point it is wise to consult and work with one. But whatever you may learn from them that they suggest you should do, and only if it resonates with you at present, YOU are the one who must decide to put your new awareness into action; not through the sorts of disempowering decisions akin to “putting your life in their hands,” but rather through a change of mindset that positions you in the driver’s seat whence you will seek the guidance and additional support you might require to succeed. To accomplish this, it is helpful to first know a little something about the car (body) we’re driving and how it works, thus the purpose of this article henceforth.

The basis for our understandings must commence first at the basic, electrical living unit and battery of our body where life, death, healing and sickness all take place: the cell. For it is the approximately 100 trillion cells, which comprise our body, that either come together in specialized groups to form different tissues which in turn become our many different organs or become part of our circulatory network such as the staggering 25 trillion red blood cells travelling throughout our bloodstream, these being the most abundant single type of cell.^[4]

So, whether it is your brain, heart or liver; your pituitary, adrenal glands or pancreas; your skeletal, visceral (smooth) or cardiac (heart) muscles; your hair, nails, teeth or skin—every part of your body is made up of individual, fluid-bathed cells living a closely controlled aquatic life.

A Cell’s Needs

Much like our modern age societies, each healthy-functioning cell, like each member of a society, contributes in one way or another toward the maintenance of homeostasis throughout the entire community that the cell is a part of. Each community (entire organ or tissue group) is then able to help maintain the proper order of the society as a whole, and every community works together for the greater good of the whole.

Each community or tissue group is adapted to serve a specialized function or series of functions (occupational jobs), whether it is the red blood cells transporting vital oxygen to every member of the community, this being absolutely essential to the community’s survival, or the pancreatic beta cells secreting insulin allowing the body to use the glucose you consume from food; the exocrine pancreas cells producing digestive enzymes for digestion of food; pineal gland cells producing melatonin to regulate your sleep-wake cycles and reproductive hormones; neurons (nerve cells) facilitating electrical impulses (signals to initiate some type of action) throughout the nervous systems, and so forth.

To have a prospering and well-functioning community, the community must consist of thriving members—or cells.

A cell in a thriving state is a cell that (1) has its needs met at all times, needs of which are provided from the outside, and (2) isn’t impeded by any burdens whether of physical, metaphysical or chemical nature.

The utmost principal requirements of every cell are oxygen and simple sugars (carbohydrates), molecules of which—by tens or thousands of mitochondria (the “powerhouses”) inside a cell—are to be converted into the cell’s chemical energy currency: adenosine triphosphate (ATP). If you suddenly have no oxygen coming into the body, you’ll be left with no more than a matter of minutes to live. Additional needs are amino acids (building blocks of proteins), fatty acids (building blocks of fats), a delicate balance of salts (minerals) in and around the cell, vitamins, and water.

ATP serves as pure energy and fuel to drive each cell’s battery in order to generate electricity which in turn becomes power for the cell to function. The mechanism whereby electricity is generated on the physical level occurs through the life process of every cell,^[1] driving the constant rotation of that which within each cell is called a “sodium-potassium pump” or “sodium-potassium exchange pump.”

This electricity gives the cells of every part of your body the power to operate:

• Power for the brain to process information;
• Power for the eyes to see;
• Power for the heart to beat;
• Power for the pancreatic beta cells to produce insulin;
• Power for the muscles to ambulate, run and muster feats of strength; as well as
• Power for the white blood cells to literally eat up other cells, foreign microorganisms or particles, and so it goes for every part of the body.

Every cell relies upon this power. Without sufficient energy (ATP) to drive the sodium-potassium pump, a cell begins to shut off and stops working. At this point, if and until the cell dies, it will sit in place and function simply as a brand new car out of gas. The more cells of an organ or tissue group that have run out of gas or have died in an environment that is unconducive to the rapid reproduction of new, healthy cells, the more that particular area of the body begins to decline in functional ability, suffers and degenerates.

To maintain the normal life processes of every cell is to keep in place the necessary conditions that will allow for this process to continue without disruption. This will simultaneously enable good health and the absence of dis-ease for as long as you are alive. However, every move or decision we carry out that are in defiance of the mental, physical, emotional and nutritional natural laws which govern our wellbeing, will take us one step closer toward altering the optimal conditions for healthy cells.

The Cellular Environment Dictates Health

Just as we are affected, influenced by and dependent on our environment, each cell is subject to its environment, and lives very much on a tiny river of interstitial (spaces between the cells) fluid. Within our body exists two circulatory networks that run parallel to each other: The cardiovascular (blood) system and the lymphatic system.

The cardiovascular system can be likened to a kitchen where food (oxygen, sugars, dissolved minerals and other nutrients) has been prepared to be transported and delivered directly to the cells for their sustenance.

The vascular system has three major types of vessels: arteries, capillaries, and veins. Freshly-oxygenated blood flows from the arteries and then through the capillaries where it rapidly diffuses numerous times to deliver its contents to the cells and picks up carbon dioxide. The now deoxygenated blood enters the veins where it is carried back to the fist-sized heart to be pumped through the lungs to be re-oxygenated, while the collected carbon dioxide—a waste by-product of aerobic respiration—is expelled. From here, the blood returns to the heart and is pumped out and carried away by the arteries to repeat the same cycle over and over about every 60 seconds for as long as we are alive.

Blood Circulation Simplified

*Blood plasma passes out of the bloodstream through the capillary beds to deliver “food” to the cells, picking up waste material (such as carbon dioxide) in the process. 9/10 of plasma is pulled back into the bloodstream by proteins in the blood to continue the journey; 1/10 of plasma is left behind to become interstitial lymph fluid.

**Here, blood drops off carbon dioxide and picks up fresh oxygen.

The capillaries are the smallest blood vessels which go down to the bed of the cells and permeate every solid tissue structure, interpenetrating all bones, muscles and organs of our body. The capillary membranes are porous—in this context meaning full of tiny holes—through which water (plasma) and constituents from the bloodstream can flow across into the tissue spaces where the cells are to deliver the oxygen and nutrients.

All the water from the bloodstream diffuses out into the tissue spaces and is magnetically pulled back in 80 times per minute,^[4] reaching out only a minute distance due to the rate of diffusion back and forth. Each time, one-tenth of the water is left behind and should ideally become lymph fluid without spending much time as interstitial fluid. This one-tenth of fluid flows through the tissue spaces carrying leftover nutrients and collecting waste material on the way to the lymphatic terminals to be siphoned out and back to the bloodstream.

The cardiovascular system in cooperation with the lymphatic system ensures that cells are well fed. Following cellular metabolism and the various chemical reactions involved, cells now excrete waste by-products into the extracellular (outside a cell) fluids surrounding them, and this waste material along with other substances coming from the bloodstream must be removed promptly as to avoid damage to the cells and swelling of the tissue spaces.

This is where the lymphatic system really comes into play. This circulatory network has been dubbed such things as “the bathroom,” “garbage collector” and the “internal vacuum cleaner” amongst other labels. It’s a one-way circulatory system that runs up and down the body like a series of blind-end tubes cut off in the feet, head and hands. 

It “houses” the immune system, our internal police force, and is comprised of (1) vessels that transport lymph fluid, as well as (2) primary and secondary lymphatic (lymphoid) organs that play a vital role in immunity.

The vessels start off as microscopic, fluid-collecting lymphatic capillaries (that go up between our cells), which merge into lymphatic vessels; these vessels then form into larger lymphatic trunks which eventually connect with the two lymphatic ducts that return lymph to the bloodstream: the large thoracic duct that comes up the chest between our lungs, and the smaller right lymphatic duct situated near the base of the neck.^[5]

There are two primary lymphoid organs: the red bone marrow and the thymus gland. Our lymphocytes and all other white blood cells are produced in the bone marrow. The main lymphocytes are our B-cells and T-cells. B-cells mature in the bone marrow while T-cells are transported to the thymus gland to mature.

The secondary lymphoid organs include: hundreds of lymph nodes (including tonsils and adenoids), spleen, appendix, certain body regions of mucosal lining, and the Peyer’s patches of the gut. Immune cell activation and the monitoring and filtration of body fluids (lymph and blood) are key operations of this secondary lymphoid network.^[6][7]

Beyond providing immunity, the prime functions of this biomechanical super system is to (1) pull out excess seepage from the bloodstream, waste material, toxic substances, as well as dead or irreparably damaged cells that require replacing—a thorough vacuum cleaning which will then enable (2) vacuum-packing the cells tight together and close to the blood capillaries so that all cells are always within range of irrigation from the capillaries (remember that the water from the bloodstream can only reach out a very short distance before it’s pulled back in).

And finally, (3) the lymphatic vessels now circulate the lymph fluid containing waste material, foreign matter and plasma proteins (the latter constantly seeping out from the bloodstream) to our many lymph nodes—septic tanks, if you will—so that these materials (except the proteins) can be processed, acted upon, neutralized and filtered out. The purified lymph fluid, still containing plasma proteins, is then returned to the bloodstream via our paired subclavian veins at the base of our neck. These three functions serve to maintain the perfect-health environment that was originally referred to as the “Steady State,” what is still widely called the “Dry State,” but is more aptly described as the “Vacuum State.” In this state, enabled and maintained only by the lymphatics, the bloodstream becomes the environment of the cells as it constantly showers them.

Certain areas of the body have been found to be devoid of typical lymph drainage channels. These areas include the:

• Central nervous system (brain, spinal cord, etc.)
• Epidermis (top) layer of the skin
• Endomysium tissues of muscles
• Bones

However, these areas still possess interstitial channels known as prelymphatics. In all parts other than the brain, these tiny channels connect with and drain carried fluid into lymphatic vessels. In the brain, the fluid is instead emptied into the cerebrospinal fluid.^[4]

Speaking of the brain: In 2012, scientists discovered a distinctive network of channels that carry out a function just about identical to what the lymphatic system does in terms of elimination of waste. This system, called the “glymphatic system,” is essentially the department in charge of cleansing the brain by use of cerebrospinal fluid and has been found to be most active while we’re asleep.^[8][9]

Concerning the health and wellbeing of mankind, one of the absolute most important and embraced-then-ignored findings ever unveiled about the human body is that the plasma proteins in our bloodstream come out with the water into the tissue spaces in significant quantities, opposing all prior knowledge at the time, while being too large to be reabsorbed back through the capillaries; laboratory calculations indicating about 50% or more of the bloodstream’s protein content seeping out every 24 hours.^[10] And if these proteins are not retrieved and constantly returned to the bloodstream via the lymphatic system, at optimal efficiency, it would set the stage for pain, loss of energy, dis-ease and death, and could spell swift catastrophe at the cell level.

“There has never been a discovery made known to man that will affect mankind more than what we have now learned from the research concerning our blood proteins.” ~ Dr. C. Samuel West, D.N., N.D., during the presentation: ‘How to Conquer Disease with 8 Keys to Beauty and Peace’

The three major plasma proteins in our blood are the (1) albumin, (2) globulin and (3) fibrinogen. They are manufactured in our liver and then secreted into the bloodstream; the albumin being the smallest of the three proteins (therefore the protein that escapes through the capillaries the easiest) and constituting some 60% of the total plasma protein pool.^[11][12]

These plasma proteins carry a net negative charge and therefore magnetically attract positive ions, notably sodium, which subsequently pull water to the proteins.^{[12][13][14][15][16]}

Since a principal function of the plasma proteins is to pull back and hold the constantly diffusing water in the bloodstream to maintain plasma volume and thus prevent our blood vessels from collapsing (resulting in imminent death),^[17] then if these proteins, albumin especially, for any reason, come out from the bloodstream in abundance and end up trapped in the tissue spaces around the cells, the proteins will begin pooling excess water and sodium around the cells and this is the only way the perfect-health environment can be altered.

It is basically an instance of internal drowning at the cell level, wherever it takes place, and will unfold on an invisible, subtle (minor swelling and potential abnormal growth) or full-blown edematous (lymphedema) scale.

In extreme cases, as in circulatory or traumatic shock, much water will have left the bloodstream resulting in a lethal condition known as “hypoalbuminemia,” in other words low albumin protein in the blood. In this instance a large volume of albumin leaves the bloodstream and pulls the water out with it. This can collapse the blood vessels and cut off the oxygen and nutrient supply to cells at which point life is prematurely ended. As for the majority of us, the degree of trapped proteins, excess fluid and excess sodium we’re dealing with will cause our degeneration and death in slow-motion as the weeks, months and years pass by, with increased suffering involved, until we take active and preemptive measures to stop, prevent, and rectify this situation.

The glaring question thus becomes: “What causes our blood plasma proteins to become trapped around our cells, and how do we address this issue?”

A series of articles, ‘When Life-Saving Research Is Buried’ and ‘Healing at the Cell Level’ (parts 1-5), have been dedicated to answering this question.

You will come to learn that the scientifically documented research necessary to dramatically reduce suffering and to understand the life, death, healing, and dis-ease processes, hence giving mankind the proficiency and knowledge to effectively put an end to the “disease” concepts that have been fostered and perpetuated through misguidance and ignorance of basic, natural laws, has already been done, and has been available for some time.

These discoveries have also made it undeniably apparent that a permanent solution to the global health crisis, in particularly a solution upon which much profit cannot be gained, is NOT a desired attribute within a governing system that inherently enables profiting from servicing of the sick; a system that also perpetuates lucrative financial models generated through the generosity of those with charitable hearts hoping to help find cures, but in vain.

A Necessary Revolutionizing of Our Thinking and Actions

For centuries or millennia, even without this knowledge, varied pockets of members of our human family have possessed the know-how to instigate and support the body’s healing mechanisms in different ways, whether you may call the traditional indigenous methodology Native American medicine, African medicine, Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, Tibetan medicine, or otherwise call it shamanism, Natural Hygiene or something along the lines of simply following a health-promoting way of life in alignment with nature. Practitioners of each efficacious modality or methodology may up until this point never have been able to accurately explain, beyond vague ideas or theories, how their methods and concepts produced tangible results originating at a cellular level.

But results they in fact yielded. So, you’re sometimes left to ponder, why has it taken so long for even ancient healing practices, like properly conducted water fasting for instance, to take hold and receive the widespread recognition they sorely deserve, even if it happens to be that they aren’t backed by “empirical evidence”—a requisite that there is most often no financial incentive to even attempt to meet in the first place? Why is it only in recent times that we’re finally beginning to see such marvelous findings as that of prolonged fasting being able to (1) ‘re-boot’ the immune system, (2) trigger stem cell regeneration of tissue cells and immune cells, and (3) protect against the toxic effects of chemotherapy,^[18] penetrate into mainstream media?

In similar fashion, there exists history of medical professionals helping people dissolve tumors and heal with electricity dating back over 130 years ago,^[19] yet it is only in the last several decades that the application of electricity has appeared to become more recognized and accepted.

As of recent, doors are being opened up in dentistry for the use of electricity to encourage painless healing of cavities through dental remineralization; technology, currently in its infancy stages, that the researchers involved have dubbed “electrically accelerated and enhanced remineralization”; this certainly ought to be a dream come true once it takes foot.^[20]

And finally, why is it that when a figure, usually an individual later found to have been far ahead of their time, makes very promising contributions, that they’re not listened to on a wider scale, instead often broadly ignored and receiving much ridicule from even their peers?

Is it pride? Some conspiracy? The ego being afraid of losing control? Is it ignorance? The inability to fathom a world free of mass suffering? Apathy? A lack of empathy? A money-driven motive? Or is it perhaps the very circumstance that we currently reside beneath a fragile economic structure where having millions of people just sick enough to be reliant on profitable treatment protocols, one of many to-be-expected symptoms spawned naturally out of an inherently flawed system that at its core mechanics wasn’t designed in a way that would enable it to work long-term, has simply become an integral part of driving a presently faltering economy and producing a plethora of jobs within the thriving modern medical-industrial complex or health care industry that this reality has created,^[21][22] in which case change cannot fully occur until this system has either imploded or been universally dismantled, and a new, more humanity-and-planetary conscious governing structure, built in its place?

”From an economic perspective, sick people—needing servicing—are great. Think about it. There is nothing to gain economically by the resolution of any given problem on any level. It is the maintaining and servicing of problems that underlies actual economic growth.” ~ Peter Joseph, during the presentation: ‘From Consequences to Solutions’

Whatever the reason for this instigated technological paralysis and impediment to revolutionary advancements, and regardless of whether we are laypeople or health professionals of remarkable caliber, know that time and time again a vast majority of us have been shielded from life-saving or otherwise important information that could’ve had major impact on the lives of many, past and present, had the public and medical profession been routinely exposed to these findings, and the curricula taught in educational institutions consequently updated and oriented in accordance with these advancements.

Even the American Medical Association (AMA) long ago documented the aforementioned critical discovery which made the importance of the lymphatics stand out beyond measure. Then just before it was mysteriously decided to put a lid on all of it for now 5 decades and counting, the AMA stated, “The lymphatic system has puzzled physiologists since early Greek times. Only now is the ‘white bloodstream’ beginning to yield up its secrets—thanks to new tools and laboratory techniques. One thing becomes increasingly clear: Our health, even our lives, depend on how well this complex system functions.”^[23] With critical laboratory findings swept under the carpet, what we get instead today, fresh off the press this year, is scientists conveying to us that some of our most devastating health challenges, let’s say, most cases of cancer for instance, are due essentially to “biological bad luck” and “randomness.” After all the financial fuel and effort going into disease research decade after decade, this is the progress that’s been made. Unceasing exceptional brilliance, isn’t it? Yet these will remain the type of nonsensical revelations researchers will routinely chase their tails to end up sharing with us in the final analysis for as long as they, too, are spared from what’s under “that” carpet. Until the reverse is true, the cause of modern chronic and degenerative suffering will continue existing as a riddle and conundrum—where essential clues have been deliberately removed—rendered incapable of solution, and it thus becomes crystal clear as to why increased public awareness and education regarding these matters is imperative to humanity’s moving forward.

In my home country, Denmark, Kræftens Bekæmpelse (The Danish Cancer Society) is our equivalent of the American Cancer Society. It is a not-for-profit, private organization structured around conducting research pertaining to cancer, along with focusing on preemptive measures and rehabilitation of the afflicted.

In these recent years, the small population of this country, an estimated 5.6 million people as of 2014, has proven itself increasingly generous and optimistic. The Danish Cancer Society hosts annual country-wide money-collecting campaigns to keep their endeavors in motion.

The organization collected (over a week’s time each year):

• In 2012: 102.530.846 kr. (~$16.171.803)
• In 2013: 144.641.805 kr. (~$22.813.805)
• In 2014: 153.309.504 kr. (~$24.174.446)
• In 2015: 145.486.640 kr. (~$21.773.570)
• In 2016: 163.140.992 kr. (~$25.732.424) (At this point, guys, you may as well load trucks full of money and dump them in the ocean. See you next year.)

Now, in the grand scheme, all the time and monetary contributions has produced results similar to that which the ongoing War on Cancer initiative has achieved in the United States (the U.S. having spent many billions of dollars in comparison): disappointingly little.

Looking through the National Cancer Institute‘s retrospective list detailing “250 Years of Advances Against Cancer,” most of all notable key milestones accomplished over this vast period of time relate predominantly to advancements in the specialization of, you guessed it, cancer treatment; some relate to discoveries concerning contributive factors, while there appears to have been not a single noteworthy finding made relating to the impact of diet on health.

You’ll instead find just two references to lifestyle factors (both concerning cigarette smoking) and one reference noting an environmental link, in summation exemplifying a highly reactive in lieu of preventive health care emphasis.

Priorities set in this way will offer nations only more of the same scant progress we’re used to seeing across the board as time goes on regardless of how much money we dump into these incessantly voracious black holes that keep asking for more in exchange for little else beyond false hope. Because, at this point, solving the aforementioned riddle has increasingly become a matter of what is being ignored, intentionally or otherwise, that sits right under our noses, than anything else.

Albeit we’re not discussing the use of nuclear energy here, the following portion of Albert Einstein‘s conveyance to the World Congress of Intellectuals in Defense of Peace in 1948 bears remarkable relevance to the situation we face with respect to our current health crisis:

“Our situation is not comparable to anything in the past. It is impossible, therefore, to apply methods and measures which at an earlier age might have been sufficient. We must revolutionize our thinking, revolutionize our actions, and must have the courage to revolutionize relations among nations of the world. Cliches of yesterday will no longer do today, and will, no doubt, be hopelessly out of date tomorrow.” ~ Albert Einstein (A Message to the World Congress of Intellectuals), Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, pp. 295, 299

Principal Needs and Circulation

In terms of cellular environment, some people like to use the analogy of a fish tank or aquarium, where the body is the water-filled tank and the individual cells are the fish. 

We know that the health of the fish in our fish tank depends primarily on six things:

1. Clean water and environment maintained through an efficient filtration system and periodic cleaning (lymphatic system)
2. Sufficient oxygen availability (cardiovascular system and proper breathing)
3. Efficient carbon dioxide (CO2) removal (cardiovascular system and proper breathing)
4. Sufficient, quality food (cardiovascular system and proper diet)
5. Healthy pH environment (not too acidic, not too alkaline)
6. Natural cycles of light and darkness (for us, meaning cycles of natural sunlight and absence of light)

Meet these principal needs outlined above and the fish are able to live blissfully. Failure to accommodate these needs will inevitably lead to loss of health and premature death of the fish. The same applies to the cells of our body.

While the bloodstream has an unceasing muscular pump (heart) to drive circulation, the lymphatic system is devoid of such a pump. What it has in lieu of a heart is a series of millions of one-way check valves that line the lymphatic vessels, which prevent backflow and pump lymph fluid forward little at a time. But these valves are dependent on having the pressure above them relieved through deep diaphragmatic breathing along with being compressed and massaged through physical activity; the former method being the single most effective way of increasing lymph circulation, yet is sorely neglected due to (1) many of us tending to breathe shallowly, while (2) so few appear to be aware that a group of lymphologists more than three decades ago discovered proper breathing to be the central propulsion of the lymphatic system, as opposed to physical activity and exercise, which settled their ongoing debate once and for all. Following their discovery, little if any effort was ever put into getting this revelation out to the general public, so it remains no surprise that still today nearly everyone is teaching “exercise to move lymph!” while only a handful of health advocates devote any time to illuminate the detrimental effects of poor breathing habits.

Therefore it is to be understood that laziness and shallow breathing will greatly hamper lymphatic circulation, while much physical activity without frequent deep breathing will, as chemist and lymphologist Dr. C. Samuel West, D.N., N.D. (1932-2004) put it, suffice “enough to keep you alive—sick, but alive!”

Blocked blood circulation would result in very quick death while stagnant lymph circulation, if to a complete extent, could cause our death within 24 hours from a condition of trapped plasma proteins in the tissue spaces.^[24] Luckily, most of us haven’t achieved such poor circulation and maintained it for an extended period of time as to cause our own death so quickly, but suffice it to say, poor lymph circulation will still produce more or less of what could be termed a murky “swamp state” environment of stagnant water around our cells. (The water being held there by the plasma proteins that came out from the bloodstream but have yet to be removed.)

This in turn presents two major problems for any affected cells, which can damage or kill them:

1. It increases the distance between the cells and blood capillaries, as if suddenly your source of food and water was relocated many miles almost beyond your reach, pushing the cells outside the range of maximum oxygen and nutrient irrigation thus resulting in lack of oxygen, fermentation of glucose and nutritive damage. This particular problem isn’t effectively resolved by putting more oxygen or various nutrients into the bloodstream.
2. It upsets a very delicate intracellular (inside a cell) and extracellular (outside a cell) balance and ratio of minerals that must be maintained at all times. This happens through an accumulation of sodium from the bloodstream, thus increasing the concentration of this mineral around the cells.

In whichever part of our body we develop these pockets of swamps or fluid retention, due to compromised lymphatic circulation or stuck plasma proteins, will set the stage for oxygen and nutritive deprivation, altered pH and electromagnetic biofield, loss of energy, and the onset of dis-ease and cellular degeneration in the areas affected. It has been stated by someone not so insignificant, a past president of the International Society of Lymphology, Dr. John R. Casley-Smith, D.Sc., M.D. (1935-1997), that “the fact remains that many millions of people will suffer because of this widespread ignorance. Some will lose their lives, some will lose their limbs; many will suffer needless pain and incapacity; many research workers will get incorrect results. All of this through simple ignorance of the importance of the lymphatics.”^[25]

So, your body is comprised mainly of electrical cells bathed in fluid, and it has two circulatory networks installed to ensure their wellbeing.

One system (cardiovascular) takes care of oxygenating and nourishing the cells along with picking up a little waste (e.g. carbon dioxide) on its way out. It has a big, automatic muscle-pump to keep things moving all the time.

The other circulatory system (lymphatics) is in charge of the daily house-cleaning, removing all sorts of big and small waste material to keep the environment clean with as little water-spillage around the cells as possible, so that cells can be kept neatly together and close to a blood capillary for their constant, nutrient-replenishing showers.

The second circulation also carries the “water and sodium magnets” (blood proteins) back to the bloodstream; a very essential job without which our cells will encounter major trouble. Something of great importance to know is that this system was not designed and built with lazy or retired-therefore-physically-inactive people in mind. Rather, this system depends on your ability and will to activate it and keep the circulation dynamic. There is a multitude of ways to stimulate the lymphatics, or “power up the vacuum cleaner,” some methods of which enhance the entire lymphatic system while others affect only the localized area(s) being worked on. It can be as simple as frequently engaged deep breathing and stretching, as unusual as using a whole-body vibration machine or a chi machine, as subtle as the application of biomagnets or gently bouncing on a trampoline, or as involved as suction cupping or any form of physical activity that will induce an oxygen debt to get you to breathe deeply, yet without creating undue stress on the body.

There are even astringent plant-foods and medicinal herbs that will stimulate the lymphatics, targeting either the lymphatic vessels throughout the entire body, while most other plant-foods target just specific organs or tissues of the body that they produce the corresponding energy frequencies for.

Now, while there are many methods, some are generally more effective than others; some also more relevant than others, which is dictated by the situation at hand.

The take-away message is this: Engage various activities to promote dynamic lymphatic circulation. Use your body to the degree that you’re able; move; breathe, breathe some more, and really expand your lungs to decently massage and put pressure on the largest lymphatic vessel in your body—the thoracic duct—to make the lymphatic system “shoot [lymph fluid] like a geyser, like an oil well.”

The Four Processes Essential to Health

Now that we have laid the groundwork for understanding what enables a healthy cell, we’ll further our explorations by looking at four key processes essential to the thriving state of every man, woman and child, and maximizing the benefits we can gain from natural foods.

These four processes are:

• Digestion
• Absorption and assimilation
• Utilization
• Elimination

Digestion

Our 30-feet-long digestive system is constituted of the gastrointestinal (aka. digestive) tract along with our liver, gallbladder, and pancreas. It begins in the mouth and runs down the esophagus into the stomach, then enters the small intestine and continues into the large intestine, reaches the rectum and ends finally at the anus.

There are two parts to the digestive process:

• Mechanical (e.g. chewing, grinding, churning, mixing, etc.) and
• Chemical (e.g. alkaline pancreatic juices containing enzymes and sodium bicarbonate; acidic gastric juices; bile, etc.).

It starts in the mouth with mechanical and chemical digestion using your teeth to chew and grind your food while it mixes with watery, enzyme-containing saliva produced and secreted by the salivary glands. This saliva moistens and lubricates the food while you chew on it.

The food is then swallowed down the esophagus and through the lower esophageal sphincter muscle (which keeps stomach contents out of the esophagus) into the stomach. A wave of muscular contractions called peristalsis moves the food down the esophagus. Digestion of starches, aka. complex carbohydrates (polysaccharides), and some fats starts in the mouth due to the enzymes amylase (carbohydrate-digesting enzyme) and lingual lipase (fat-digesting enzyme) contained in the saliva. Enzymes are indicated by the ‘-ase’ suffix.

In the stomach, food is churned and mixed with gastric juices also by muscular contractions. Due to the acidic nature of the digestive fluid within this muscular sac, the digestion of carbohydrates—that have at this point become chyme, i.e. swallowed and partially digested food—will cease, as the alkaline-based digestive enzymes like salivary amylase are neutralized or deactivated.

Fats will go through the initial stages of digestion facilitated by lingual and gastric lipase enzymes, the latter secreted from the stomach lining.

As for proteins, the stomach furnishes an acidic medium strong enough for acid-based enzymes, or proteases, to initiate the breaking down of the proteins you eat. The entire process ends in a conversion of complex protein chains into the building blocks they were made from (amino acids) to be absorbed into the bloodstream.

Once ready to exit the stomach, the food—or chyme—is moved through the pyloric sphincter valve into the first of three parts of your small intestine, called the duodenum. The chyme is immediately mixed with alkaline sodium bicarbonate produced and secreted by the pancreas to neutralize the acidic stomach juices. This will enable enzymes that are added by the pancreas right after to resume their activities to complete the digestive process.

Pancreatic enzyme amylase proceeds to help finish the job of breaking down complex sugars into absorbable simple sugars, while pancreatic protease goes to work on reducing long amino acid chains (polypeptides) down into peptides. The small intestinal lining secretes the peptidase enzyme to break down peptides into the final, absorbable product: amino acids.

Digestion of fat is also finalized in the small intestine. In response to the ingestion of fats, our liver produces bile which is stored and secreted by the gallbladder via the bile duct into the duodenum, to be mixed with the fats once these substances enter from the stomach. Bile contains bile salts and is an emulsifier, and like a detergent, it breaks down large fatty lipids into smaller droplets, which allow pancreatic lipase enzymes to finish the job. Together, bile salts and lipase turn fats into its readily absorbable building blocks: fatty acids.

The

• Monosaccharides (or simple sugars),
• Amino acids, and
• Fatty acids are now ready to be absorbed.

Understand that the success of this entire digestive process depends on the integrity and proper functioning of multiple body systems and certain good habits we’re responsible for adhering to.

It involves the:

• Stomach
• Pancreas
• Liver and gallbladder
• Small intestine
• Enteric nervous system (a division of the autonomic nervous system that is in charge of esophageal and gastrointestinal peristalsis)

It further requires that food is well-combined (preferably kept as simple as possible in terms of number of ingredients used), thoroughly chewed and consumed while in a relaxed state and positive mood.^{[26][27][28][29]}

Absorption and Assimilation

The majority of nutrient absorption occurs in the small intestine. The mucosal lining of the small intestines is covered in villi, of which are often described as hair- or finger-like projections. The surface cells of the villi add a second layer called microvilli, which substantially increase the surface area for nutrient absorption. Each villi contains blood capillaries and a lymphatic vessel.

Once thoroughly broken down into their simplest components, the carbohydrates (now simple sugars or monosaccharides), proteins (now amino acids) and fats (now fatty acids), as well as mineral salts, vitamins and other nutrients can then be absorbed out of the digestive tract through the intestinal villi. Most products of fat digestion will first be absorbed into the lymphatic system through the lymphatic vessel, while the rest are absorbed just like amino acids and monosaccharides, entering the bloodstream via the blood capillaries in the villi.

For maximal absorption to take place, (1) the mucosal lining, villi and microvilli, must remain unobstructed and in good health and (2) food must be sufficiently digested before reaching the duodenum. This in large part signifies the importance of chewing our food well. As some say: “Your stomach doesn’t have teeth.”

Successful delivery of nutrients to the bloodstream is only half the battle. The next phase is getting the nutrients to the cells and across their membrane wall.

Cells that are either:

1. Outside the range of irrigation from the blood capillaries, due to fluid retention; and/or
2. Have their sodium-potassium pumps impeded or shut off, cannot successfully receive and assimilate nutrients. This is one reason why some professionals prefer not to rely exclusively on blood tests for assessing a patient’s nutritional status.

Another factor to consider is insufficient or complete lack of needed nutrient “carriers.” One example being insulin, which is essential for active transport of glucose across a cell’s membrane wall into the cell. Without insulin, glucose would not be able to pass through the cell wall, essentially causing glucose deprivation and cellular starvation.

Utilization

According to Robert Morse, N.D., and as is readily recognizable across the majority of health practitioners, this is one of the most over-looked and absolute neglected areas of nutrition in respect to the healing process. While it is common to encounter talk of poor quality, nutrient-impoverished topsoil along with the undesirable effects and chemical intensive requisites of agricultural monoculture farming, yielding nutritionally compromised produce, I have in 5 years yet to come across anyone other than or trained by Dr. Morse that pays much (if any) attention to our hormonally-driven utilization factors. Processes that when not taking place to a fully functional capacity are akin to being given a specific task and provided the materials (nutrients) necessary to fulfill the job yet receiving incomplete or infrequent instructions on what, how or when to proceed and put the materials to use. Throwing more materials (nutrition/supplements) at this particular problem doesn’t exactly solve it.

The adrenal glands are considered the main players in this area. The adrenal cortex (outer portion) synthesizes and secretes mineralocorticoid steroids (notably aldosterone and deoxycorticosterone) which, amongst numerous functions, serve to regulate mineral metabolism, keeping extracellular mineral concentrations in check; a process obviously requiring well-functioning adrenals.

Then there is the tight regulation of calcium concentrations in blood and bones by the parathyroid and thyroid glands respectively.

We can find that many health programs focus entirely on synthetic and/or whole-food product supplementation, neglecting emphasis on restoring health to the tissues that have a direct influence on the proper metabolism of various nutrients that one may have been found to be “deficient” in, and many times also ignoring the issues that lay background for the nutritional problems we encounter.

As stated by Karl J. West, president of the International Academy of Lymphology, “It takes only seconds to resolve a significant nutritional deficiency, while it may take years to alleviate a toxic burden of assimilation. In other words, we should be primarily concerned with avoiding the consumption of unnecessary burdens.”

Where special support is needed to rectify specific tissue weaknesses, it should be satisfactorily serviced through the various natural ways that it can be done.

Elimination

The fourth and final process. Elimination is utmost vital to our health, for if there are any harmful substances or parasites within our system that aren’t effectively expelled, this can and often does lead to a gradual building of health complications.

We could for our purposes and intentions term the opposite of elimination as constipation, something most people are familiar with. However, constipation doesn’t just constitute inhibited bowel regularity. You can be constipated in the bile ducts of the liver (which has been labeled “biliary obstruction”); constipated in the energy flows; constipated in the lymphatic system and lymph nodes; your stuffy sinuses are a form of constipation. We could even say that emotional baggage is another form of constipation, albeit of metaphysical nature. Any organ can become constipated and have a difficult time draining.

The stagnant cesspools of fluid containing cellular metabolic wastes, carbon dioxide, plasma proteins, excess salts and so forth; the excess mucus, fermenting glucose, stones, sulfur compounds, fecal impactions and other intestinal obstructions, inhibitive emotions, as well as poisons and toxic matter stored between and inside our tissue cells, are all burdens on your internal society.

Now, imagine having hundreds or thousands of chemical compounds in your body that do not belong there in the slightest. It was recently found that out of 3.000+ different chemical compounds routinely contained in the fluid you pee into the toilet daily, give or take 2.282 of these compounds originate from our diet, drugs we’ve ingested, cosmetics we’ve applied or environmental exposure.^[30] Really, imagine that our bodies are carrying around such a diverse array of foreign substances and what long-term impact this has.

To help out our internal society is to do what we can to “lift and drain” these burdens from the body; and to do so it is essential that we frequently activate our internal vacuum cleaner and open up our channels of elimination.

We have within and as part of our body certain communities—or tissue groups—that deal very specifically with the process of carrying off wastes from the body, facilitating elimination to the outside world. In medical terms they are each referred to as an “emunctory.”

Our principal emunctories are our:

• Large intestine (fecal matter and mucus);
• Kidneys (urination and sediment filtration);
• Skin (sweating); and
• Lungs (efficient expelling of carbon dioxide through deep diaphragmatic breathing).

These tissue groups may well be designed for the task of processing and eliminating undesired waste material from the body, but what can be sensibly questioned is: Can they handle the excess burden of modern-age toxicity, which in all our history was recently introduced, nullifying any chance of potential biological adaptation before it’s too late and the damage is done?

Well, some, including the British Dietetic Association (BDA), would interestingly enough have us believe that, “It’s a complete fallacy that the body needs to detox. Removal of waste products and toxins is a continuous process and we don’t need to periodically flush them out. The body does a perfectly good job of eliminating any substances on its own.” So, if you’re ever having concerns of any kind with relationship to toxicity, worry not, because according to a toxicologist, “Toxic substances we inhale or eat go into the blood stream and are filtered into the liver. The main function of this organ is to break down chemicals [during phase 1 and phase 2 liver detoxification] using enzymes. If the body doesn’t need them, it excretes them.”

A spokesperson and dietitian with the BDA then recommends what most of us already know: Cease smoking, limit alcohol consumption, eat a “balanced” diet emphasizing all the major food groups—dairy included—remember to incorporate more fruits and vegetables, and engage in adequate physical activity.^[31]

In light of this, the answer to the initial question appears to be: “Yes. Our body can handle the chemical burdens just fine without breaking a sweat.”

On the contrary, the American Center for Biological Medicine states:

“We are living in a modern age where chronic illness occurs because our food, water, and air are constantly being exposed to a myriad of toxins. These toxins include pharmaceutical drugs, heavy metals, electromagnetic toxic fields, pesticides, smog, hormones, antibiotics, and [a] host of other harmful contaminants that even a healthy body is not equipped to process. When a patient’s organs, specifically the liver, are in a weakened state, it becomes increasingly difficult to eliminate these toxins,”^[32] in which case our answer to the initial question is instead a sound “No.”

Using personal experience and achievements as a principal differentiator and taking time out to carefully observe and examine the playing field is often our best move to navigate through the endless confusion and conflicting information constantly encountered. And in doing so, one will find that major successes in health restoration—not to mention feats of advanced tissue regeneration—only ever seem to occur amongst laypeople or professionals that peculiar enough did not rely simply on concepts and recommendations such as those expounded on by both the BDA spokesperson and the toxicologist, nor are many people truly helped on a deep level, especially with chronic and degenerative health complications, by turning to the medical profession.

“We have a world full of people teaching nutrition and teaching health that are sick. And they are as sick as their customers; the average medical doctor dies about 10 years sooner than his average patient [non-verifiable]. So I begin this lecture by saying, ‘If you want to learn how to be healthy, start by finding healthy people to emulate.’ So far, the academic system has not got us very far, and if we don’t turn around now, it’s going to be very interesting…” ~ Paul Chek, during the presentation: ‘How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy’

There is a major difference to note between the typical short-term, quick fix oriented “detox” products, diets and programs flooding the market, and that of a long-term holistic approach that involves education in how to achieve and remain in a positive condition of health, as well as not replacing but assisting the body’s emunctory tasks.

Elimination on all levels is a key component to our success, and we are wise to support the body systems involved in the best ways we can.

Cellular Conditioning and Health Maintenance

While one aspect of the process to health creation is bodily purification, another, and just as important, is that of physical rebuilding and conditioning for increased cellular strength and integrity. The four processes covered in the prior section play a critical part in this respect. In addition, however, physical movement and the conditioning of tissues through opposing the gravitational pull of the earth is equally as important, and the latter pertains not only to muscle and bone cells, but every cell of every part of your body.

“We all have a body and we all move, we have no choice; the only question is how well are you doing it? And most people just don’t have the user manual for their own machinary. […] We’re not forced anymore into developing the user manual and when we’re not forced to do stuff, we lose it…” ~ Ido Portal, during the interview: ‘Just Move’

To increase or maintain strength, there are certain factors upon which each cell is foremost dependent.

These include:

• Having nutritional needs met;
• Optimal blood and lymphatic circulation (for oxygenation, nutrient irrigation and hormonal delivery, as well as efficient waste removal);
• Nerve supply; and
• Hormonal support (serviced by a healthy endocrine system)

Beyond having the above factors covered, the proper signaling that commands cells to maintain or increase in strength is generated through physical stimuli, i.e. a positive form of stress to which they acclimate through adaptational mechanisms that result in cellular hypertrophy (increase in size) and also neural adaptations that enable the recruitment of more of the already-existing muscle cells. In the prolonged absence of such stimuli, cells are prone to atrophy (decrease in size, i.e. slowly wasting away) as any additional muscle and strength beyond what is needed, is basically deemed superfluous by the body.^{[33][34][35][36]}

The physical stimuli occurs when your cells work against gravity, as this puts resistance on them. When this frequently-experienced resistance is greater than what the cells are used to, they gradually adapt by becoming stronger to more effectively cope with the workload in the future, and it works the same way in reverse when resistance is less. Perhaps no other group of professionals understand better the need for putting our muscles and bones through some level of resistance on a consistent basis, than do the scientists and astronauts at the U.S. space administration: NASA. Because the one major problem their free-falling colleagues in space must constantly compensate for, is that (1) there is no external contact force pushing or pulling upon their bodies and (2) the pull of gravity is reduced—therefore significantly lessened resistance to their tissues during locomotion—which has been found to cause in the astronauts an estimated loss of 1-2% of their bone mass per month, while it is stated that muscle mass can vanish at a rate of up to 5% per week if left unengaged.^[37][38]

Your body: Use it or lose it.

Energetically, the movements we can engage in generally have one of two net effects on our bodies.

Paul Chek, Holistic Health Practitioner and founder of the C.H.E.K. Institute coined the concept of being mindful of “working in” versus always “working out”; that there must exist a balance between the draining and regenerative activities.

According to Chek, working out results in added stress and expenditure of energy; a drain and burden on the body that many of us really can’t afford due to the cumulative negative impact that other neglected areas of our lifestyles have on our health. Many of us shouldn’t be focusing on stressing the body even further through exercise to expend energy. Instead, most people, especially those whom are ill, would benefit more from rhythmic movement activities that work by “using movement to accumulate more energy than it cost to do the exercise,” which in turn will enable a building and harboring of energy in the body. This will simultaneously help disengage our fight-or-flight sympathetic nervous system and engage our parasympathetic nervous system to induce relaxation. One technique Chek recommends is the ‘Breathing Squat’ which is demonstrated to be adaptable for people in wheelchairs or otherwise paralyzed leaving little room for excuses.

Examples of working OUT (energy expenditure): Running, climbing, swimming, resistance training, dancing, cycling, etc.

Examples of working IN (energy generation): Gentle rhythmic movements with deep diaphragmatic breathing, therapeutic rebounding (‘health bounce’), tai chi, qigong, yoga, pilates, etc.

Bear in mind: Both aspects are necessary while certain instances make one approach more appropriate than the other. “Working in” is generally the most relevant movement form where healing work is concerned.

“The body will become better at whatever you do, or don’t do. If you don’t move, your body will make you better at not moving. If you move, your body will allow more movement.” ~ Ido Portal

The Mental and Emotional Component

Our mental and emotional state also warrant due attention, as these components largely govern our state of being, navigating us toward a state of good health or the absence thereof; this reality being something we can and should take advantage of to maximize our healing potential.^[39]

Within the scope of sports, each of us have the ability to bring to fruition such effects as improvement of performance, maintaining acuity of mind during injury, increasing intrinsic motivation, heightening confidence and problem-solving abilities, and enhancing self-control, with very little action required. To do so, many athletes have taken advantage of the power and efficaciousness of mental imagery, otherwise known as visualization or mental rehearsal, a practice that involves simply envisioning oneself undergoing the experience or carrying out the activity or actions of interest, which has been found to activate certain parts of our autonomic nervous system. In other words you can practice, say, bowling, in your head sans bowling balls and alleys, yet you will still improve at your craft—albeit to a lesser extent compared to actual physical practice.

The author of the report detailing these findings, Annie Plessinger, states: “Although it is not as beneficial as physical practice, visual imagery fairs better than no practice at all. Hence, a program with physical practice combined with mental training seems to be the best method. Virtually all of the studies show that mental training improves motor skills. More recently a lot of studies go even further and prove that visual imagery can improve various skills related to sports in actual field contexts.”^[40]

The following is but another area that clearly exhibits the power and influence of the mind. Counter to experiencing the placebo effect, which most are familiar with, it is also commonplace to find people devoid of hope or “locked” in with their suffering from the negatively associated “nocebo effect” spawned out of being told by a perceived health authority—typically a health care professional of some stature—that there is essentially no chance of improvement to be had. One lady, Nichole Lemelle, writes on her multiple sclerosis oriented blog: “’There is nothing we can do for you,’ is the definition of a chronic debilitating disease. But when I heard it live, out-loud and directed at me, the reality of it crushed my spirit. And the circumstance put me in the mist of one of the saddest moments I have ever experienced.”

Is that what we’re supposed to do? Shatter people’s spirits when that’s the exact opposite of what they need the most during times of great fragility? Take a moment to reflect on what it might do to the psychology of a person that has placed full faith and trust in conventional medicine, to be told by said profession, following diagnostic procedures, that they have only weeks or months to live, or they have some other serious health abnormality to which a solution does not exist. This sort of programming can strongly infiltrate and wire into their consciousness often stripping them of any hope they may have had left and potentially doing more damage than the health complication itself. For as practitioners, we can occasionally receive clients in which we have a very difficult time relieving them of the mental and emotional obstruction caused. And during the entire process of cooperation, the client has little if any faith in that what they’re doing, whatever it is, will work, and if critically ill, will in effect slowly close themselves off from life.

“True health and vitality is found when we have these mental and emotional ‘bodies’ in balance. Each of these bodies impact one another. Your emotions, especially the negative ones like anger, hate, and jealousy, can make your physical body sick and full of disease. These emotions are stored in the liver and kidneys. They block proper pancreatic function (digestion) and other glandular functions as well. Emotions can even shut down our mind, affecting our ability to comprehend, think and make rational decisions. They especially can close off the heart centers. Once the heart center is closed, your ability to get healthy drastically decreases, even to the point where death is the inevitable result.

Among the cancer clients whom I could not help were those who had their heart center closed, for one reason or another, and had a hard time opening to love. In some people this is a complex and deep-seated issue. This is where meditation, deep personal prayer, and spiritual counseling comes in. One should start enjoying life for what it is. Observe nature and surround yourself with flowers and plants, as these are very healing. Nature embraces with energies of love. If we can let go of the past, we can enjoy every moment for what it is. Let all hate, anger, and opinions go. Give them over to God. An old saying I use personally is, ‘Let go and let God.'” ~ Robert Morse, N.D., The Detox Miracle Sourcebook, p. 168

That isn’t to say the process will be a piece of cake for all parties involved. Elements of anger, disappointment, insecurity, fear, and/or depression, the lack of a supportive network when it’s most needed, or other social factors and life circumstances that add to the degree of difficulty, are not uncommonly encountered. But we ought to take it one day at a time and calibrate our focus to work ourselves out of the situation as best we can. If only failure, hopelessness, and “no way out” is continually conceived and envisioned in our mind, the journey will without doubt be turbulent-prone; the odds stacked greatly against us in favor of poor results, as this self-defeating outlook will taint the reality we gradually create for ourselves.

If we desire instead to have and maintain good health, feel strong and often invigorated, and to be immersed in a sense of harmony, peace and tranquility, we should frequently picture and visualize ourselves in such a state; visualize ourselves in a state of holistic rejuvenation. And we should do so only as a result of truly wanting it, not accepting “no” for an answer, and being prepared to do what it will take to relieve ourselves of emotional encumbrance and to achieve the desired condition of vitality. For if the mind isn’t onboard, or the emotions are not unlocked, expressed and effectively harnessed instead of being left to periodically run amok, very slim our chances of success will become regardless of the measures taken.

American essayist, journalist and professor, Norman Cousins, has been considered to be the person who brought considerable attention to the tremendous power that lies untapped in positive emotions (love, hope, faith, etc.) and the therapeutic nature of laughter.^[41] Using a combination of positive emotions, much laughter, rest, and high-dose vitamin C, Cousins at one point recovered from serious illness which defied the prognosis the physicians had arrived at. During an interview, he gives an account of his experience stating, “And so I informed my doctor that we’re going to leave the hospital, because I realized that the hospital may have certain virtues, but it’s no place for someone to be sick in. It just doesn’t give you the repose that you need. I made some interesting discoveries. I had plenty of hope, plenty of love, as for laughter, this was something that was not beyond my means—and at night we showed some of the funniest films that we could rent, and I made the very interesting discovery that 10 minutes of good belly-laughter would give me 2 hours [of] pain-free sleep; and I got rid of the pain killers, the Codeine, the sleeping pills; they were giving me 36 Aspirin a day, I got rid of that and went with the things that I believed in. And as I say, I discovered that laughter did produce a natural body-anesthesia.”^[42]

Having a positive and optimistic psychology by itself will not suffice through the course of time, as it will not help us defy the law of cause and effect pertaining to what we eat, drink, apply on our body, inhale, or that otherwise permeates and affects our tissues in a negative fashion, but it is still a necessary instigator to propel you in the right direction and to motivate you to make mindful decisions toward the best outcome. A recent study surrounding some 600 patients suffering from coronary artery disease also signifies this link, regardless of whether the positive attitude came first or was developed as a result of exercise. It was noted that amongst patients with a positive attitude, 42% of them had a decreased chance of dying over the course of a 5-year period.^[43] Relating to the same condition, in 2007, another study had come to a closure; it involved 6.000 men and women followed over the course of 20 years. It highlighted that “emotional vitality,” as in possessing “a sense of enthusiasm, hopefulness, of engagement in life, and the ability to face life’s stresses with emotional balance,” produced a distinct and measurable protective effect even when accounting for other variables including cigarette-smoking and exercise.^[44]

“I have seen too many people labeled ‘terminal’ or ‘incurable,’ only to find out they proved modern medicine wrong. The worst thing people, including doctors, can do, is to put limitations on ourselves and our patients. When we adopt self-limiting beliefs, we ultimately fulfill the prophecy of those self-limiting beliefs.” ~ Dr. Corey Sondrup, D.C., Reclaiming Your Power, p. 62

If everything in our universe is connected, then understand, too, that this governing principle also applies at the level of our body. Everything within the body is interconnected; each body system influencing each other in an interdependent relationship; collectively operating as a unified whole. You’re only as strong as your weakest link it is commonly said. The connectedness extends through our multidimensional existence: Our physical, mental, emotional, and soul bodies. Many have lost touch with this concept and we have allowed our intellectual capacity to delude us so thoroughly that we today insist on having been blessed with body parts we “don’t need,” some of which are therefore routinely removed as a preemptive measure or at the first sign of a problem.

High level health creation must be furnished across and in mindfulness of the mental, emotional, physical and spiritual spheres of our human experience. In other words, it isn’t just about diet or purely physical measures, nor does it all come down to positive psychology, emotional freedom, unconditional love, universal forgiveness, or having purpose in life. Truly, it is contingent on a fusional integration of the aforementioned and other factors relevant to our unique circumstances. It’s not one component or the other, it’s all of them together.

Recognition of the above helps us understand why the perpetual chase for selective or universal “cures” for so-called “disease” has proven utterly futile. The disease-and-cure paradigm has demonstrated itself to be a truly lost cause; a focus that from day one made us lose sight of the grand picture, admittedly sharpening our abilities and expertise at treating and alleviating problems, but ultimately prolonging the complications we face and leading us in the direction toward a dead end. Conventional medicine has propelled forward this paradigm as the driving force behind it, while the natural healing arts have largely adopted these same, fear-fueled, Dark Age concepts. Time and resources aplenty on both sides have been spent seeking a form of solution to humanity’s suffering that will never be found, even if members of either party really wanted it, for what is being sought after does not exist. Perhaps a modified vernacular on our part would prove refreshing, not to mention, at least for those of us outside the medical field, freeing ourselves from the legal implications of professionally using sensitive language (“cure,” “prescribe,” “diagnose,” “treat,” “prevent,” etc.) some of which we really have little reason or purpose to be using in the first place.

If we can say that illness is generated as a direct, natural corollary of sufficiently prolonged intentional, inadvertent or unconscious defiance of the universal laws that govern our multidimensional wellbeing, then it stands to reason that the genuine, lasting cure everyone is hoping to find takes form only in the absence of such defiance and through satisfactory adherence to the dictating “rules of the game” that every animal species here on planet earth is subject to; a mandatory paradigm shift, if you so will. Much else we do to the contrary will amount only to lesser improvement, management or suppression of illness, yielding perhaps periods of “feeling better” for as long as it may last.

”Healing is about accepting, allowing and supporting; not fighting and resisting—it’s that which makes it even worse. Resistance is the first act of war. There’s nothing to resist. In nature, nothing resists, it works in harmony.” ~ Magnus Mulliner, B.Sc (Hons), M.Sc, during the presentation: ‘Cancer is not a dis-ease, it’s a survival mechanism’

We’re offered three distinct options and we can choose to embrace either one at any given time:

1. To our best capabilities, we orient our lives around and in accordance with the path that will maximize our health potential and sense of vitality and that will enable us to maintain this state for as long as we are in alignment with the governing laws of nature and remain on course.
2. We orient our lives in discord with the governing natural laws that dictate our health, in effect inevitably producing states of illness and degeneration for as long as this path is persisted on, until our body—resilient as it may be—is pushed to succumb and perish.
3. We settle for “everything in moderation,” as some are keen to justify, and experience aspects of both the prior two options.

The decision is each our own to arrive at. The transition going from b. to a. is not always an easy or comfortable one, and people generally shouldn’t jump over instantly as this often yields an undesired outcome, so focus your attention on approaching the transition at a pace you can cope with; i.e. progression over perfection.

Every step of the way down an injurious path—a path incompatible with our physiology—we’re repeatedly tapped on the shoulder by nature. We’re likely to be given warning signs and indications aplenty in the form of “lesser” problems and discomforts at first: The moles, warts, pimples, unexplained rashes or other skin expressions; frequent or chronic aches and pains; loss of energy; sensory imbalances (vision, taste, smell, and hearing are typically affected); sinus issues, disagreeable breath; malodorous stools; poor digestion; frequent or chronic constipation or diarrhea; weight challenges; gradual loss of hair; low or high blood pressure; our internal microbes having a thriving party compensating for the mess we’ve created; and so on. If these signs fall on selectively blind eyes, deaf ears and numb skin, and the call-to-action is not favorably responded to, then it’s only a question of time before the “major” complications enter into and flip our world upside down to draw our attention. Some of us will intuitively know that either drastic changes are to be made soon, if we wish to prolong our stay here, or our current path will involve significant suffering leading up to premature closure.

Attempt now to find a magical plant in nature, to forge a to-be patented invention in a laboratory, to devise and manufacture a product, or a combination of all three should you care for it, that will put an end to our unstable and non-sustainable mode of conduct. Success will not be had, as these are but complementary elements capable of serving a supportive function, therefore constituting only part of the health creation process. Modern humanity has thus far been preoccupied with finding ways to compensate for every rule our species breaks, so we in effect can continue breaking them, instead of figuring out and emphasizing how to collectively correct the underlying misalignment and disconnection that exist in unison between humanity and nature, which would help institute a necessary reconciling.

“We need to go back and take a peek underneath the layers of societal conditioning. The real answers are in nature and … in nature. The answer is in nature, because there is nothing else.” ~ Marco Cesii, BSc. (Hons) Psych

Until a universal reorientation occurs, we are each left to explore within ourselves and carefully observe and emulate nature’s grand wisdom to slowly piece together the puzzle applying to our own lives. For a lot of people this will translate into rubbing against the grain and, if need be, working toward bringing balance to one of the greatest obstacles that at times can be in the way of our successful progression: the mind and ego.

Once provided the tools to climb out of the box, indeed great strength is further required to muster forward in opposition of many commonly held belief systems concerning what is and is not part of cultivating, achieving and upholding physiological freedom, as these belief systems slowly rob us of this exact freedom. At times it is a prerequisite that we learn a lot to grasp our subjects in simplicity. But once we get it, foregone will be the days of ongoing confusion and welcome are the days of self-empowerment. Matters encountered thereafter become only as complicated and frustrating as you will allow them to.

“Health is not everything, but without health, everything is nothing.”
~ Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher (1788-1860)

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