Subject: Re: Natural Hygene

From: [email-masked]
Date: 3 Sep 93 22:59:08 -0500

>From: [email-masked] (Joseph J. Murphy)
>Newsgroups: alt.food.fat-free,alt.support.diet,sci.med.nutrition,rec.food.veg
>Subject: Natural Hygene
>Date: 2 Sep 1993 17:22:33 -0500
>

>Has anyone ever heard of the Natural Hygene system of eating?

I'm not absolutely certain that we're referring to the same thing, 
but I studied a Natural Hygene system of eating in the 1970's.  The 
system was developed by Dr. Herbert Shelton.  In addition I spent 
some time in his health retreat outside of San Antonio, Texas.  He 
wrote many books detailing his ideas pertaining to diet, 
exercise, and health.  The diet he promoted was a raw food diet 
consisting of a wide variety of orgainically-grown fruits, 
vegetables, nuts, sprouts, and clean water (i.e., unchlorinated).

He was also a big promoter of cleansing diets and fasts (like Paavo 
Airola).  His version of a cleansing fast was a "distilled water 
fast" and lots of rest and relaxation.  He believed that the body 
could eliminate old toxic material faster by using distilled water
as opposed to juices.  He also was a strong believer in moderate 
aerobic exercise and sunbathing (in the nude).

Finally, he was one of the biggest promoters of proper food combining 
to improve digestion and thereby have a more complete assimulation of
nutrients.  I can remember seeing his food-combining charts are found
in other more recent diet books by other authors.

I highly recommend reading his books (if you have lots of time) 
because they are very interesting and thought-provoking.  However, I 
do not feel that his dietary restrictions (raw foods and no grains 
and beans--except sprouted) make for a healthy, well-balanced diet 
for *most* people.  I would caution most people to be very careful of 
such restrictive diets.

>I first
>read about it in Anthony Robbin's _Unlimited Power_.  It is a rather
>strict vegetarian diet that runs on about five principles.

Anthony Robbin's book "Unlimited Power" is another extremely interesting, 
useful (IMHO), and thought-provoking book.  I was glad to see that a 
book on self-improvement included a whole chapter on the importance 
of a healthy diet.  From reading the chapter, it appears that some of 
his dietary philosophy comes partly from Harvey and Marilyn Diamond ("Fit 
For Life"), his former partners and partly from Dr. Herbert Shelton.

>  1.  Proper fruit consumption.
>         Eat only fruit in the mornings.  Only eat fruit on an empty
>         stomach.

It appears from the book that he is suggesting that the morning meal 
(breakfast) consist of only fruit.  It doesn't appear that he is 
suggesting *not* to eat fruit at any other time during the day.  His 
rationale seems to be that the body is not ready to digest a "heavy" 
meal while the metabolism is still slow in the morning.  He also 
implies that it give one's digestive system an extra-long rest (from 
the night before).  This resting of the digestive system is similar 
to the theories of some fasting advocates (i.e., Paavo Airola).  I 
don't eat breakfast anymore, so I can't comment on this 
recommendation except that I believe that resting the digestive 
system (i.e., a short juice fast a few times per year) can be 
beneficial.

>  2.  Proper food combining.  Do not eat proteins and carbs in the same
>         meal.  This is supposed to aid digestion.

My biggest increase in health and energy came when I improved my 
digestion.  For me, proper food combining was *part* of the process of 
this improvement.  Of course, there were many other things I did to 
increase what was very poor digestion.  The worst food combinations 
for me were grains and fruit (especially in large quanities) and 
beans and fruit.  This is personal experience, so NO flames please.  
If you notice digestive problems when eating certain combinations of 
foods, you may want to consider experimenting.  On a side note (and 
slightly disgusting note), a friend of mine has extensive daily 
experience seeing what comes out of the "other end" (colon therapist) 
of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian people.  She can attest to the 
fact that there is an enormous amount of fermentation that goes on in 
the stomach and intestines of people who do not properly digest their 
food.  "Fermentation" was discussed in Anthony Robbin's book as one 
of the problems with improper food combining.

>  3.  The Protein myth.  Discourages eating meat for protein content,
>         suggests different vegetable and nut substitutes.

Yeah!  Someone else debunking the myth that meat-eating for protein 
content is necessary.

>  4.  The power of breath.  Deep breathing and aerobic exercise.

I am a strong believer in the importance of deep breathing and aerobic 
exercise.  As someone who *had* asthma and had not learned to breath 
correctly (I was breathing from my chest and not taking full 
breaths), learning deep breathing exercises was *one* of the 
techniques that helped me cure my asthma.  Even if it is done simply 
for relaxation purposes, I think deep breathing is an excellant thing 
for anyone to learn.  Of course, aerobic exercise is obviously 
an important part of obtaining good health.

>  5.  Water-rich foods.  70% of your intake should be from fruits,
>         vegies, and sprouts.
>

If it works for you (*and* your getting *all* of the nutrients you 
need), go for it.  You never know what will work for someone.  I 
prefer a diet of grains, fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, sea 
vegetables, and a few other odds and ends (no meat, no dairy).
I think his theory behind the water-rich foods is that they will 
cleanse one's system.  I have found that I needed more than just 
extra water in my food to cleanse my system.

>The diet sounds low fat even though it is not a principle of the system.
>Its proponents claim it gives massive results for weight loss and
>overall health.  Anyone care to share?

The Robbins Research Institute does recommend reading "Fit For Life" 
by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond.  Since I have only skimmed the book, I 
can only comment on what I read in Robbin's book and what I saw at 
Dr. Herbert Sheltons health retreat.  If we are talking about Dr. 
Herbert Shelton's dietary philosophy, I believe that there are safer
and more effective ways to obtain weight loss and improve overall health.
As far as Anthony Robbins suggestions, they don't appear to be so 
dangerous that it would preclude one from experimenting with his 
ideas.  I happen to agree with some of them.

Hope this helps.

                                - Mark