Indigestion Its Cause And Cure

INDIGESTION

ITS CAUSE AND CURE

A Practical Guide to the Home-treatment of
Stomach Troubles and other digestive disorders

L. RAM ACH AN ORA SARMA* M. Sc.

INDIGESTION

ITS CAUSE AND CURE

A Practical Guide to the Home-treatment of
Stomach Troubles and other digestive disorders

L. RAMACHANDRA SARMA. M. Sc.

Associate Editor, The Life Nfifura;

November ! 948

The Nature-Cure Publishing House Ltd.,

PUDUKKOTTAl, S. India.

Re. 1-8

PREFACE

I am one c: ;/.ose who believe that it is not only

possible but necessary for everyone to be his own
doctor. This book is specially meant to be a guide
in the self-treatmerd of digestive disorders.

The title of the book gives one the impression that
its 'scope is limited to a-very small range of disease
conditions. But actually there is no such limitation/
because the principle of unity forms the fundamental
basis ofHature-Cure. Almost every chronic disease
is dyspepsia of some degree. Real^ cure in any
chronic disease is unthinkable so long as the root of
the trouble, namely, dyspepsia, is ignored. Once
digestion is set right and normal hunger is restored
other superficial symptoms will go the way they
came. This truth may seetMjitjredible to those who
are unacquainted with Nature-Cure; but the real
proof lies in practical experience.

18th October, 1948
Malad, Bombay.

L. RAMACHANDRA SARMA.

CONTENTS

; Digestive organs of man

The process of digestion
... Symptoms of indigestion

.v Causes of indigestion

Eating of indigestible or difficultly digestible foods

Wrong combinations of foods
Some correct combinations
Lack of .vegetables

.■■■■Denatured/Foods

Fried foods, white sugur, spices and condiments"
Hungerless eating
Eating too fast
Number of meals
Work alter food
Some misconceptions
Harmful remedies# Sedatives# Tonics
Alkaline mixtures
■ The bland diet
Surgery

Treatment of Digestive Disorders
The bewildering variety of symptoms
The beginnings of indigestion

Acute indigestion
Water-Cure methods
Chronic^ indigestion

Obstinate pain in the stomach
Casa of gastric ulcer
A case of duodenal ulcer
'Jfedra#%nia
Treating the chronic
ijhet lbr’ n the chronics

: . : .......... .. ,.•** .. .. ;

Important rules of eating

A general line of treatment for the Chronic

as Aid

anga Asana, Halasana, Paschimottanasana,
^ueedToTwork ^hasana, Dhanurasana, ■ 85 to

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INTRODUCTION

It is by no means an exaggeration to say that
almost all our ailments, possibly, with the exception
of those which are due to accidental iniuries, have
their origin in the digestive system- A very large
majority of the chronic or destructive constitutional
diseases can be traced to these twin evils—indiges¬
tion and constipation.

A time was when indigestion and disorders of
the digestive system were the exclusive monopoly
of the rich. But v/ith the spread of urban civilization,
with its debilitating habits and unnatural modes of
living and eating, these troubles have become far
more common than they were two or three decades
back.

■ The fact that the drugging school, both of the
west and the east has failed to give the sufferers
anything more than a temporary relief from such
troubles cannot be questioned. Patients nowadays
rely more upon patent medicines than on the usual
allopathic prescriptions. The position of the physi¬
cian has now been usurped by the chemist and
druggist

Said ah honest allopathic physician to my father
who was then suffering from dyspepsia of the worst
type, " Dyspepsia is a disease of millionaires. If any
.doctor is lucky enough to tumble upon a sure remedy
for this malady, he will very soon be the richest man
in the world." The remedy has not yet been found,
because there cannot be one in the very nature of
things. Nevertheless unscrupulous men continue to
.make fabulous sums of money by holding out
promises of cure with their quack remedies;

DIGESTIVE ORGANS OF MAN

DESCRIPTION OF DIAGRAM

1-Oesophagus or Gullet. 2-Cardiac end of
tbe siomaoh. j5-P y loric end of the stomach.

uodenum. o, 6 Convolutions of the small
mtasiine, 7-C*c™. 7 .- Vermiforffi

f Caecum, called "apendicula vermiformis."
S-Ascendmg Colon. 9, 10—Transverse Colon

^Descending Colon. 12-Sigmoid Colon the'

Eecti" 0 !, R e r l0n + u bef ° re tt *«■*“*• in the
Rectum. 13—Rectum, the terminal part of the colon. ,

0

14— Anus, posterior opening of the alimentary canal,
through which the excrements are expelled. 15,

15— Lobes of the Liver, raised and turned back.

16— Hepatic Duct, which carries the bile from the
Liver to the Cystic and common bile Ducts. 17—
Cystic Duct IS —Gall Bladder in which bile is stored
19 —Common Bile Duct. 20—Pancreas, the gland
which secretes the pancreatic juice. 21—Pancreatic
Duct, entering the Duodenum with the Common
Bile Duct.

THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

The system of channels traversed by food from
the time of its entry into the mouth, to the final
stage of the excretion ox the undigested part of it,
is called the alimentary canal { aliment=food ). The
various parts of this canal which is about 30 feet long,
and other organs involved in the digestive process
are indicated in the diagram above:

The alimentary canal starts with the mouth. Then
we come to oesophagus which leads into the stomach.
The stomach is a large, pear-shaped muscular bag.
This is the most dilated part of the digestive system
and lies in the upper part of the abdomen just
below the heart, from which it is separated by the
diaphragm. Very often patients complain of heart
disease when they are really suffering from an
excess of wind in the siomach. The reason for this
is the nearness of the two organs The broad end
(fundus) of the stomach lies to the left under the
ribs, while the narrow end (pylorus) is at a lower
level on the right side. The stomach ordinarily
holds about 3 pints of food. In some persons it may
hold as much as 5 pints and more. From this store
house, the partly digested food is passed on little

u

by liiile to ihe small intestine through, the
duodenum. The passage of food from the stomach
to the duodenum is controlled by a sphincter at the
pyloric end.

The duodenum is about 10 inches in length and
is of particular importance because it is into this
part that the juices from the pancreas and the liver
enter. The pancreas which is about 6 inches long
and 14 - inch wide/ lies just behind the lower edge
of the stomach. The liver which is the largest
glandular organ in the body, lies on the right side
of the abdomen. Attached to the under surface of
the liver is a small storage place for bile, the gall
bladder. The bile contains a substance named
cholesterol, which may sometimes be thrown out of
solution and lead to formation of v/hai are called
Gallstones. When these stones obstruct the passage
of bile from gall bladder, there will be intense bilial
colic and jaundice may develop.

Then we come to the small intestine which is
about 22 feet long. The portion of the large intestine
where it is joined by the small intestine is called the
caecum. There is a small tail-like appendage to
the caecum, called the appendix, which, in the
opinion of medical men, exists only to provide a
means of income to the enterprising surgeon.

THE PROCESS OF DIGESTION

Digestion starts in the mouth where the food is
subjected to the chemical action of saliva and the
physical action of mastication. Through thorough
.chewing the food gets divided up into finer particles
facilitating the process of digestion.. When saliva
gets intimately mixed with the food, the starch in

7

ihe la!"cr ge!.'? convened into sugar. Oaliva is
slightly slkniine and salivary digestion can take place
only in an alkaline medium.

From the mouth the food goes to the; stomach.
Here again, it is subjected to the chemical action of
the gastric juice secreted by the glands lining the
inner walls cf the stomach, and the physical action
of churning brought about by the waves cf contrac¬
tion beginning high up in the body of the stomach
and travelling towards the pyloric end (the narrower
part of the stomach). In the stomach the salivary
digestion, initiated in the mouth continues for some
time till the hydrochloric acid in gastric juice
permeates the food and brings it to an end.

Gastric juice contains, besides hydrochloric
acid,, two ferments or enzymes, pepsin and rennin
and some micro-organisms. The digestive action of
this juice is much more powerful and wider in its
range. Pepsin digests protein, the necessary
acidity for this chemical reaction being provided by
hydrochloric acid. Rennin brings about the curdling
of milk. [The commercial nennet used for preparing
junket from milk is extracted from the stomach
of a calf.]" The micro-organism split up carbo¬
hydrates into gas and organic acids like lactic acid.
The last mentioned action does not take place when
there is too much acid.

The liquified and partly digested food is
expelled in small quantities at a time from the
stomach into the duodenum. Hence, if we eat in
excess, it is the stomach -alone which suffers. The
trouble spreads to the duodenum and intestines
only if there is persistent over-eating. This is indeed
a blessing for which we should be thankful to
Nature. If there .is trouble due to overburdening

10

A chronic sufferer from indigestion is generally
highly nervous, irritable and quarrelsome. He
never has a good word to say about anythtng.
Mentally, he may become depraved and he likes
only foods wdch are highly spiced and fried. This
factor makes his cure a bit difficult. He cannot
reform his -diet unless he regains his mental
balance. But unless he gives up his appetising
foods and takes to a natural diet, he cannot get
control of his mind. It is advisable for such people
to join a Nature-cure Sanatorium, and put themselves
completely in the care of a competent Naturopath.

Most people may not know that the common
cold from which few people escape, is really orie of
the milder symptoms of indigestion. It was Dr. Page
who remarked that we catch cold in our stomachs.
The tendency to catch cold is greater in winter
because during that season an important eliminating
organ, the skin, is comparatively inactive;

If some heaviness is felt in the stomach immedi¬
ately after a meal, it means that the quantity of food
has been too much. If the trouble is felt not only
about an hour after a meal, it means that the mea!
has been too rich, (difficult to digest), or the foods
might have been combined wrongly.

There are some symptoms of chronic indigestion
which are mentioned as causes of indigestion by
allopaths. It is deplorable that some Naturopaths
also should get confused over this matter.

Thus Neurastheuia is an effect and not the cause
of indigestion. The same is the case with hysteria
and menstrual disorders in women.

CAUSES OF INDIGESTION

The causes of indigestion are two-fold : wrong
choice of food? and wrong ways of eating. The

11

former mistake may very often lead to the latter;
the two causes are therefore interlinked. It is very
essential to examine all the causes thoroughly
because without knowing and eradicating them
completely, cure is unthinkable. We shall now deal
with the first set of causes, namely, wrong choice of
foods. It should be noted that the order in which
the causes are mentioned, has little significance.
The importance of each cause depends upon
individual circumstances. ' It never rains but pours,'
goes the proverb. Thus we are never guilty of one
mistake ; we commit a host of them.

CAUSE (1) Eating of indigestible or difficultly
digestible foods :—

Foods which are rich in protein and fat or oil
are more difficult to digest than starch foods.
Protein foods stay in the stomach twice as long as
starch foods. Fats stay even longer. All pulses,
nuts and animal foods are high-protein foods.
Persistent use of such foods is bound to lead to
indigestion.

Medical people will tell you that every adult
should eat at least 100 grams of protein daily.
-I advise you not to pay any heed to them. For want
;of space I am not giving here my reasons for saying
so. I shall deal with this question at length in
■another book of mine ' Food for Health.' I shall only
state here that I have very sound reasons for saying
that we do not need so much of protein as the
allopath says we do. In the matter of food, if there
is any one who is competent to give you advice,
it is the Naturopath. Long before the allopath
could convince himself that food may have some
relationship with health and disease, the Naturopath
; had not only recognised this basic law, that wrong
food is at the root of all disease , {Note: I am using

the singular.) but had actually built up a compre*
hensive system of dietetics both in health and in
disease. Every honest and intelligent allopath
admitsvthis.

For getting cured of your digestive troubles you
may have to reduce your daily intake of protein to
30 or even 20 grams. A healthy adult does not need
more than 50 grams unless he is a hard-working
labourer, in which case he will need 10 or 20
grams more.

Some foods which are easily digested, normally,
may be difficult to digest owing to some personal
idiosyncracies. For instance, the ripe banana is
normally very easy to digest. But there are some
people whose stomachs do not tolerate it.*
Dr. Milton Powel, a famous Naturopath of the west,
writes that disregard of such idiosyncracies is a cause
of indigestion. But he is putting the cart before the
horse. These idiosyncracies are not present in
healthy people. They are in fact a symptom of
indigestion and not the cause thereof. But once
they are developed, it is prudent to respect them so
that the digestive trouble may not get worse.

But that does not mean that a person whose
stomach does not tolerate the banana or any other
food should go without it for the rest of his life. He
should of course avoid it in the initial stages, but
after some improvement is attained, he should try
to accustom himself to that food little by little in the
proper manner and thus train his stomach to
tolerate it. If he proceeds step by step, this should
not be difficult.

* Such idiosyncracies are very rare. Frequently it is found
that there is no idiosyncracy at all and that ihe refusal of the
stomach to digest certain foods is due to the wrong manner
of eating them*

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2. Starchy foods shall not be mixed with sour
or acid foods.

3. It is a safe rule to take only one concentrated
food at a time. Healthy people may occasionally
take upto two concentrated foods in the same meal.
But persons with impaired digestive powers/ shall
on no account take more than one concentrated
food at a time. Some patients may have to avoid
concentrated foods altogether.

Non-concentrated foods can be mixed with one
another or with any one concentrated food.

For the guidance of the reader, foods are
classified below and some correct and wrong com¬
binations are indicated:—

CONCENTRATED FOODS

Nuts (Almonds, walnut, groundnut, etc.,) . Fat and protein
Pulses (.Black gram, green gram etc.) . Protein and Starch
Cereals (Wheat, rice, maize etc.) ... ... Starch

Flesh foods
Dried fruits * (dates, raisins etc.)

Eggs

Roots and tubers (Potato, yam etc.) 1

N O N -CO N C E NTRATED

■ • Fat and Protein
Sugar,
. Fat and Protein
... Starch

FOODS

Vegetables, leafy and others ; Fruits
Milk

SOME CORRECT COMBINATIONS

Starch and vegetable
Protein and vegetable

# Dried fruits contain sugar, but for the purpose of this
classification they may be regarded as starch foods. They are
concentrated foods but are easily digested Hence they can
be combined with other concentrated foods like nuts A
mixture of dried fruits and nuts is food for the Gods, as
Dr. Alsakerwould put it.

t In the uncooked state, grains are three times as concen¬
trated as roots and tubers : But after cooking there is not
much difference between the two in concentration.

15

Protein and fruit

Protein and Fat

Protein, fat and vegetable

Protein, fat and fruit

Milk and fruit

Milk and nut

Milk/ fruit and nut.

WRONG. COMBINATIONS
Starch and protein
Starch and acicliruit *

CAUSE (3) Lack of Vegetables :—

Vegetables contain a good percentage of
cellulose/ or indigestible fibre. The fibre in vegeta¬
bles is soft and plays a very useful role both
in digestion of food and the elimination of waste.
Foods which do not contain much cellulose
(rice or wheat) form a sticky paste on cooking
(like the one which book binders use). The digestive
juices cannot penetrate into such sticky foods,, and
digestion consequently becomes difficult, t

But when they are mixed with vegetables, even
rice and wheat which do not contain enough celluse,

* All fruits which have a sour taste come under this class
f The role which cellulose plays in digestion is explaind as
follows by Sri K. Lakshmana Sarma—

" Cellulose is the coarse woody fibre which is present in
foods, serving as the frame-work on which the other food
factors are contained. This is not digested in the food-canal,
but comes out in the stools; for this reason it was supposed
to have no health-value whatever and that it is right to get
rid of it or avoid it as far as possible. In fact it is this woody
fibre which ensures the digestion of the digestible consti¬
tuents; without it the food-substance would unite into compact
pasty masses, which the digestive juices cannot penetrate
sufficiently, even if there be enough of such juices, except
perhaps in the very rare case of thorough insalivation and
abstemiousness in eating; the particles of food in its natural
state, from which the cellulose has not been removed, are
held apart by cellulose, so that the digestive juices can
penetrate the food through and through.

16

lose their sticky character and do not form
a compact mass. Besides, cellulose gives bulk to the
faeces and helps in their elimination.

Vegetables are non-concentrated foods, because
they contain plenty of water.* Hence they are
easily digested. But grains are heavy foods. The
man who eats only grains, excluding vegetables
more or less completely, is likely to overburden his
stomach, because people are accustomed to eat the
same bulk of food, whether they eat vegetables
or not.

CAUSE (4) Denatured Foods :—

Milling and polishing of grains have now
become very common. In the case of rice, the bran
and germ are removed by polishing, while in the
case of wheat, the housewife removes with the help
of a seive the coarser particles in the flour, which
mostly consist of the bran and the germ. The bran
and germ are important in three respects. Firstly
they contain more vitamins and minerals than the
inner core which we retain; secondly, the bran
layer is said to contain some enzymes which can
help to digest the inner core ,* thirdly they contain
more cellulose than the inner core. The whole
grain does not form such a sticky paste as the
polished one on cooking.

Lack of vegetables and the other protective
foods and the eating of denatured foods seriously
affect all vital processes, including digestion. The
necessary materials for body building will be lacking
under such conditions. With the help of sham,
impoverished foods like white flour, white sugar and
vegetables which have been boiled and drained,
we cannot build sound bodies. An organ which is

* There are starchy vegetables like the banana which are ”
an exception.

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kept working all the time cannot keep up its
muscular vigour on such food materials- Not only is
the vitality of the digestive organs lowered, but the
digestive secretions are also vitiated in course
of time.

CAUSE (5) Fried Foods :—

Frying of foods in oil destroys the vital consti¬
tuents. Since the oil is strongly heated in
process, some oxidation products are formed which
are poisonous. The oil itself is very difficult to
digest. And what is worse, the oil forms a thin
layer covering every particle of every morsel of food
and prevents the digestive juices from having an
access to the easily digestible part of the food also.

Y®< 3 ©table or vanaspati ghee should on no
account be used for cooking. It is much worse than
vegetable oil.

CAUSE (6) White Sugar :—*■

White sugar is not food. The enormous increase
in the consumption of this article is a curse of
modern civilisation. It contains neither vitamins
nor minerals and depletes the body of all its vitality.

Besides, sugar is a preservative All perishable
foods keep for a long time when they are soaked in
syrup. Dr. Alsaker points out that this quality of
sugar. is likely to hinder the digestive process,
because digestion is the opposite of preservation.
In this respect also, the eating of sugar or of foods
preserved in syrup is likely to lead to indigestion.

CAUSE (7) Spices and Condiments :—

Spices and condiments cater to our unnatural
cravings. When our sense of taste is natural and
not perverted, we not only find them unnecessary,
but do not relish them. Devitalised foods which are
insipid are made palatable by the use of spices.

3

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Spices and condiments encourage indigestion by
inducing overeating. They irritate the mucus
membranes, make them secrete more juice, and in
course of time deplete our resources. But, for the
time being, they give us a false sense of increased
digestive power; they make us misjudge our own
digestive power. So we deceive ourselves and
continue to overeat with serious consequences. All
spices and condiments must be removed from the
diet of a dyspeptic as a first step in the cure.

CAUSES OF INDIGESTION

( 2 )

In the last section, we saw some causes of
indigestion which relate to wrong choice of foods.
In this section, we shall deal with those which
pertain to wrong modes of eating.

CAUSE (1) Hungerless Eating :—

This is perhaps the most potent cause of
indigestion. There seems to be a good deal of con¬
fusion with regard to the nature of hunger. Hence it
will be dealt with separately, in greater detail in
a later section.

Hunger is preceded by an emptying of the
stomach. The stomach is an elastic bag; its size
is always equal to the volume of its contents. When
all the food has left the stomach, it contracts and
assumes a very small size. This contraction takes
place in successive stages and at each stage a little
of air imprisoned in the stomach is expelled. If the
stomach is completely empty, the wind which comes
out is absolutely odourless. But this is not the time
for eating,- but for drinking water. Hunger usually
develops two to three hours after the escape of
these clean winds,

Hunger may be defined as an indication of the
readiness of the stomach to receive food,
and to undertake the task of digestion. This feeling
has nothing to do with giddiness, feeling of exhaus¬
tion, or a gnawing sensation in the stomach.
Hunger is a cool, pleasant sensation. A hungry
man does not feel tired; on the other hand, he feels
a lightness in his limbs and has an inclination
to work.

But hard and exhausting work will drive away
hunger. Similarly, sudden shocks and emotional
excitement, or mental anguish tend to drive away
hunger. Food eaten at such times is not well
digested.

Regularity is eating is not a rule of health.
Even though it may be meal-time, hungerless eating
is always bad. Postpone the meal till hunger
is felt, or, better still, forego the meal completely
and take only the next one, at the usual time. You
may thus keep up your regularity in eating and at
the same time, avoid hungerless eating.

CAUSE (2) Eating too Fast :—

" We have been provided with teeth, not for
ornament, but for use." It is indeed a pity that few
people realise this simple truth. Older people in
our country eat much more leisurely than younger
people do, and that would explain the enormous
increase in digestive disorders in the present day.
Hurried eating is especially common among the
educated, who should know better.

Dr. Milton Powell writes that when he sees
some people eating, he is reminded of a stoker with
his showel feeding a furnace with coal.

Moderation in eating is not possible when you
eat hurriedly. Hasty eating and overeating always
go together.

20

The mouth is a digestive organ. It digests part
of the food and prepares the rest for digestion in the
stomach and other parts of the digestive tract. The
teeth and the tongue together divide the food into
finer particles; saliva secreted in the mouth gets
intimately mixed with the food and converts starch
into sugar. There are no teeth in the stomach.
Grinding of the food should be done by the teeth.
To tax the stomach with work which it is not meant
to do is a crime which is deservedly punished with
digestive disorders.

Once the food leaves the mouth, we have
absolutely no control over the process of digestion.
It is always prudent to be careful where it is in our
control. Let us choose well and chew well.

Foods which are dry compel chewing. But soft,
watery foods have a tendency to slip in without
being chewed. The diet of the rice eater is defec¬
tive in this respect. The South Indian makes it
worse by mixing buttermilk or rasam with rice.

Water is necessary, but it should be drunk at
least an hour before the meal. The meal should be
as dry as possible. This is especially so in the case
of people who are habituated to ' rapid fire' lunches.

Many people are accustomed to washing down
each mouthful with water cr some other drink. This
is a very bad habit. Food must be moistened not
by vtfater, but by saliva in the mouth.

Some people may not like dry food- This is
because their, mouths are dry, there is not. enough
saliva. If their mouths are dry it is an indication that
they are not hungry. They must wait till they get
hungry. Or the dryness may be due to thirst. Let
them sip water slowly and wait for some time; the
mouth will then begin to water.

21

Liquid foods like milk or fruit iuice must be
eaten and not drunk. That is, they must be treated
as solid food and taken in slowly, so that insalivation
may be complete-

It was Fletcher who first drew the attention
of the west to the need for mastication. Simply by
adhering to the rule of eating slowly, he not only
regained nis lost health, but established world
records in endurance tests. But he did not live to
a ripe old age, partly because he wasted his vitality
in exhausting physical exercise and mainly because
though he chewed his foods well, he chose them ill.
However, his example has clearly demonstrated
that slow eating and abstemiousness will alone
go a long way in setting right many obstinate
digestive disorders.

CAUSE (3) Eating too much :—

Overeating is bound to lead to indigestion.
Suppose you eat twice the quantity of food which
your stomach can tolerate, it will not be digested in
double the normal time even.

The stomach is an elastic bag, but there is a limit
to its elasticity. When it is filled to its maximum
capacity, it cannot contract and expand and do the
churning. This can be easily understood if you try
to gargle with your mouth filled completely with
water. You cannot, unless you spit out a little of the
water. That is why you get acid risings in the throat
after a very heavy meal. The stomach is trying to
get rid of part of its load. Under such circumstances,
the best course is to vomit.

Food is perishable. It retains its perishable
character up to the time it is assimilated and
becomes part of the body substance. If food stays
longer than normal in the digestive tract, it will
deteriorate; starches will ferment, proteins will

putrefy, toxins will be formed, poisonous gases will
be generated. The most potent cause of disease is
formation of poisons in the digestive tract and their
absorption into the blood.

Habitual overeating will lead to a dilation of the
stomach. If the foods are also prone to ferment or
putrefy, the gases will lead to still further distention
of the walls of the stomach. A distended stomach
does not retain its original elasticity and tone and
hence it becomes weak and loses much of its
efficiency.

Overloading of the stomach may even lead to
sagging or even its displacement from its normal
position. Such structural defects, apart from
worsening the digestion, will have. other more
serious repercussions. Dr. Lindlabr has shown that
sagging of the stomach may lead to prolapse of the
uterus in the case of women. Displacements of the
uterus are invariably due to pressure occasioned by
sagging or displacement of digestive organs.

Though it is easy to explain the dangers of
overeating,ut is not so easy to say what constitutes
overeating. One cannot exactly say where the line
should be drawn between abstemiousness and
indulgence. I shall give some practical hints which
are applicable to healthy people; but each person
must be his own guide :

1. When the stomach is empty of food (it will
contain some air) it is in a contracted state. As food
enters it, it slowly expands and provides more room
inside. This expansion goes on till no strain is
felt, but when there is even a slight strain, the
stomach instead of expanding further expells some
of the air which is imprisoned therein and thus
makes room for more food. This wind carries the
smell of the food. To this wind the author

23

of the Practical Nature-Cure gives the name.
Stomach's Veto. It is now that we should stop.
This veto may be missed once or twice, especially
when you eat rapidly, but when it does come, we
can form an idea of the quantity which we can take
safely and bear it in mind even when the veto does
not come. If this limit is passed, there will be
a series of such winds, but it is the first one which
we should take note of.

2. Much of our overeating is due to our having
too many dishes in the same meal. Each dish
constitutes one course or one meal, so much so that
the plural ‘ meals' is much more appropriate than
the singular ' mealThe sense of taste and also our
appetite gets dull when we have had enough of one
course of food. But we do not stop there, but turn
our attention to the next course. At the sight of the
new course, which tastes differently from the first
one, the senses and appetite are revived once again,
so that we make a full meal of that course also. If
we. are having rotis and vegetables, we should stop
with that and not go in for a second course of rice
and vegetables. If we do want to take both, let us
have them is separate meals. The South Indian who
takes rice alone is also a very bad sinner in thi3
respect. He starts with rice and dal or rice and
sambar, then goes in for rice and rasam, then again
rice and curd or buttermilk. These are regular items
in his menu. On festive occassions there will
be more. If we restrict ourselves to one course of
food in each meal (rotis and vegetables constitute
one course), the quantity of food will automatically
get adjusted.

3. Overeating is relative to the quality of food.
A pound of rice or wheat may, for an individual,
constitute overeating, but two pounds of vegetables
or fruits may not. This is because while the former

is concentrated food, the latter is four-fifths (or even
more) water. Again, a pound of gram or nuts may
constitute overeating, while the same quantity of
wheat, rice or maize may not. This is because,
grams or nuts are richer than cereals—richer in the
sense that they contain more of protein or fat
or both; proteins and fats are difficult to digest.

4. Overeating will lead to a feeling of
discomfort in the stomach. This feeling may rise
immediately after the meal and disappear after about
an hour, or it may rise immediately after the meal and
continue for some hours, or it may rise only about
an hour after the meal and continue for a long time.
In the first case only an adjustment of the bulk of
the meal is needed. The second case needs an
adjustment of the bulk, quality and combination of
foods. The third case needs a setting right of the
quality and combination of foods.

Just a word here about expectant mothers. The
popular motion is that they need to eat for two, or
at least that they should eat much more than others.
That is a mistaken idea. Actually, only a very small
fraction of what she eats goes to nourish the baby.
She does not nee’d more food, but better food. In
fact, it is during this period that she should take
greater care of her digestion. The womb is situated
between the urinary bladder and the rectum, and
any stagnation in the bowels will cause an undue
pressure in the womb. The child in the womb is
a sacred trust and it is an unpardonable crime to
spoil the chances of that innocent babe by over-
indulgence in ea.ing at this period. Most people
think that a baby which is plump at the time of birth
is the normal one. Animals living free in Nature
give birth to young ones which are almost
skin and bone. •

25

CAUSE (4) Number of Meuls :—

There is a proverb current in our country, which
says, ' He who eats once a day is a yogi, he who
eats twice a day is a bhogi (one who is after
pleasure) and he who eats thrice a day is a rogi
(sick man }.' This statement is true to the letter.

When we are eating three or more than three
meals a day, the digestive organs are not afforded
any rest at any time in the day. Before the stomach
can finish with one meal, it has to get ready to
digest the second. The difficulty is worsened by
the fact that people who eat three times in the day
pass stools only once in the day. This leads to
stagnation and this stagnation both directly and
indirectly restricts the free passage of food through
the digestive tract. A vicious circle is thus set up.

A person who eats only twice in the day cannot
give sufficient rest to all his digestive organs at the
same time, but he can give rest to each one of them
in turn. Thus when the food is in the stomach the
intestines may be resting and vice versa.

The best plan for fully grown adults is to eat
only twice in the day, once in the forenoon and
a second time in the evening or night; of the two
meals one should be a light one. Old people can
keep fit only if they are content to live on only one
substantial meal in the day; apart from that they
may just have a drink. In this case, for a few hours
every day, the whole digestive canal will remain
empty. For children two substantial meals and one
very light one should be sufficient. For boys and
girls one substantial meal and two light ones should
be the rule.

CAUSE (5) Snacks between meals :—

Women are perhaps the worst offenders in this
respect. I do not object to the taking of sweets
4

26

occasionally, but such sweets or savouries should,
properly speaking, lorm part of the meal. People
take milk as a sort of a drink in the morning or
evening or before going to bed. This is also bad.
Milk is good nourishing food, and not a drink- It
should be regarded as a light meal or made part of
a meal. Those who regard milk as a drink are" not
treating it with the respect which is due to it.
Naturally, it turns against them and has its revenge.

CAUSE (6) Work after food :—

Any kind of work interferes with digestion tc
some extent. If the work is a hard one, digestion is
completely upset. This is especially so if the work
commences within about half an hour after a meal.
I have found that in the case of those whose
digestive power is not up to the mark, half an hour's
strenuous work ( particularly when it involves brisk
walking or running) immediately after a meal, is not
compensated for even by six hours' rest afterwards.

Eating must always be followed by rest, but our
hours of work either in offices or schools are quite
unsuited to our habits of eating. We take our food
hurriedly at about 9 or 10 a.m. and rush to our place
of work. Unlike the westerner who takes his
heaviest meal at night, we take our principal meal
before going to work. Either' we should change
our habits of eating or get our hours of work altered.
The latter is perhaps the more feasible proposition.

Our ancient scriptures say, " Do your work with
water alone." The Bible says : " Woe ur.to ihee.

oh land, when thy king is a child and thy princes
eat in the morning." Celsus, the famous physician cl
Rome laid down the golden rule, ’ Let them study
,not after food but after digestion.' In our own times
Dr. Jules Virev proved/ by his experiment on dogs

that digestion is arrested more or less completely
by work. Hunting dogs are said to know this truth
so well that they always avoid eating before going
for a hunt. Strange that most people are not aware
of this simple truth and are often relucant to change
their habits even when they, are taught the
correct way.

Other Causes :—

Any habit which reduces our vitality and
weakens our Life will also lead to indigestion/
because it is Life which digests- All stimulants like
coffee/ tea, alcohol etc. are a tax on our vitality.
There is of course an energetic feeling after we take
coffee. But this increased energy has not been
obtained from these drinks- As is explained in
Practical Nature-Cure, the brain is entrusted with
the task of regulating the flow of vital power; coffee,
tea or a’cohoi poisons the brain and thus makes the
regulating machanism inoperative. Hence vital
energy lows along the nerves uncontrolled, and we
get a feeling of increased energy. But the ultimate
effect is a depletion of our vitality. Dyspeptics who
v/ant a cure must first give up these debilitating
drinks. They are as bad as drugs.

Non-observance of Brahmacharya in younger
vears and excessive indulgence in later years may
often be the cause of chronic indigestion. I know
;’ome young men who, due to sexual abuses, became
chronic dyspeptics before they were 20. When
such abases exceed a limit,—it is difficult to limit
oneself in these things once one qives way to
temptation—the vitality of the patient gets so much
reduced that even Nature-Cure may not avail to save
him. For it is Life which cures and Nature-Cure
only provides the conditions necessary for enabling
Life to do its work of healing.

A consultant wrote that his case was diagnosed
as dyspepsia due to an excited condition of the
nerves. In order to strengthen his nerves, he was
being given injections of vitamin B. I wrote to him
that the excited state of his nerves was not the cause
but a symptom or effect of dyspepsia, that he must
get cured of his digestive trouble first and that his
nervous trouble will vanish automatically.

SOME MISCONCEPTIONS

I wish to remove some misconceptions of the
relation of food and Life which, thanks to the
influence of medical teachings on the subject of
nutrition, have rooted themselves in the minds
of the educated.

Nutrition experts of the allopathic school always
lay the emphasis on abundance. But the Naturopath*
stresses the need for economy.

To bring out the marked contrast between the
allopathic and Naturopathic approach to the subject
of nutrition, I shall cite some examples.

Chittenden demonstrated experimentally that
about 40 to 50 grams of protein a day is guite
sufficient for the maintenance of their full vigour and
fitness even for athletes. (Many of the athletes even
excelled their old records when they were on this
low-protein ration.) We Naturopaths accept
Chittenden's conclusions as being consistent wfth
our principle of economy. The allopath on the
other hand, while he admits the genuineness of
Chittenden's experiments, recommends the taking

. * Strictly speaking, I should say Naturopath of the Lnkshman
School; tor the principle of Vital Economy, which was just
hinted et by pioneers of the west like Dr. Dewey, was fully
developed for the first time by Sri K Lakshmana Sarma- The
central idea of his system of "Nature-Cure, as explained in his
Practical Nature-Cure, is Vital Economy. .

29

of nearly three times the Chittenden ration of
protein on the plea, that we shall be on the ' safe
side' when we have everyihtng in abundance. It is
not the safeside, but the danger side, because
protein is a putrefyable food.

To be on the safe side, says the allopath, we
should have an abundance of food—much more than
what we actually need. To be on the safe side, says
the Naturopath, we must not eat more than what we
really need or what we can assimilate.

When a patient is suffering from fever, the
Naturopath wants to conserve Life and refuses to tax
the patient with the work of digestion; he puts him
on a complete fast. On the other hand, the
allopathic text books, under the same circumstances,
recommend feeding the patient with nourishieg food
in order to sustain life *. While the Naturopath
tries to conserve Life by abstaining from food, the
allopath tries to sustain Life by taking in food.

Why should there be this radical difference in
method between these two systems of treatment ?
The reason, as I said already, lies in the radical
difference in their conceptions of life.

•Dubois in his 'Basal Metabolism ' recommends liberal
feeding of fever patients He admits that patients under such
conditions, are generally unwilling to take food, but insists
on coaxing or even forcing them to eat. An intelligent nurse,
he writes, should not find it difficult to cajole the patient and
make him eat. According to this author, feeding is necessary
to keep up the nitrogen balance, for which purpose the
patient may have to eat even more than people normally do-

But many sensible allopaths, when they find that the
Nature-Cure method of putting the patient on a fast works
better in oractice, set aside the teaching of their text books
and put their fever patients, sot exactly on a fast, but on
a diet which is an approach to a fast.

30

The allopath denies Life, or at least, the way in
which he treats his patients amounts to a denial of
Life. To him there is nothing beyond the material,
the qross. He conceives of Life as an effect of an
inierplay of chemical processes. The source of Life,
he says, is the energy derived from the combustion
of food.

To the allopath, the body is just a machine. But
he fails to understand that a machine should have
an operator. That operator is Life.

The allopath believes that Life is sustained by
food, so for ensuring an abundance of Life, or vitatity,
he recommends an abundance of food.

But the Naturopath believes in Life as something
beyond the material. It is Life which assimilates
food, releases the energy stored therein and makes
it available for work. Life makes use of food, but
Life is not sustained by food.

When we eat in excess of our need, we may or
may not gain in weight, but we are by no means
adding to our vitality ; we are only depleting it.

Vitality is something which requires to be
conserved, economised. One of the ways of
economising our vitality is to be economic in eating.
That in essence is Vital Economy.

Food is building material; it is also the source
ot muscular energy. But it is not the source of Life.
Life is the subtle power which builds up the living
body according to a definite pattern and maintains
it in working order. It is Life which makes that
microscopically minute particle grow into a compli¬
cated living body with innumerable parts, an exact
copy of its parent. It is Life which separates it from

31

its parent snd start:’ it as an independent being. It
is Life which differentiates the original substance
into a great variety of tissues and organs, and guides
their diverse activities so as to serve one common
purpose. It is Life which is behind all the workings
of the body, both in health and disease.

We should therefore speak of conserving Life,
not of sustaining it,

Space does not permit me to elaborate thi's
point further.

A second misconception is with regard to our
food requirement. Food requirement is usually
given in terms of Calories. According to the
allopathically-inclined scientist, even a person who
is resting in bed needs to consume about 2000
Calories daily, which is equivalent to about 20 oz.
of grains.

A dyspeptic who wants to act up to this teaching
of medical science has no hope of cure because he
cannot digest even a third of the quantity of food,
which, the allopaths say, is absolutely essential for
sustaining Life. Herein lies the secret of the failure
of allopaths to cure dyspepsia.

But hundreds of dyspeptics are annually being
cured by natural methods. My father himself
suffered from the worst type of this malady. In my
father's case, so long as he religiously adhered to
the allopathic dictum, which prescribed 2300 Calories
of food for a man of his type, he found that he was
getting worse day by day, even when he was relying
on predigested food. He drastically cut down his
rations to a very small fraction of the allopathic
minimum. At one time he lived for six months on

one cup of milk and two bananas taken twice in the
day. During the past thirty years, his daily intake
of food has rarely exceeded 1,000 Calories. For
montha together he has lived on 600 Calories and
less even. Once he went on a fast for 35 days at
a stretch; there have been many other fasts of
shorter duration. He refused to be bullied into
obeying the dictates of the allopath, and thanks to
that, he is still LIVING, free from the troubles which
clung to him tenaciously till then. But his getting
freed from disease was a small thing compared to
the enormous work he has turned out after that.

This is just a typical example. Every dyspeptic
who was treated naturally has followed a similar
course, and has had the reward which the obser¬
vance of such a course entitles him to-

Whether the fundamental basis of the Calorie
theory is correct is a different question. But the
food requirement calculated on the basis of the
Calorie theory is unreliable, to put it mildly.

Our Calorie requirement for mere sustenance,
is very low, so low that we' need never worry
about a Calorie deficiency.

Nature-Cure never cares for Calories, but it
advices its patients to be careful not to exceed their
capacity to digest, never to eat more than what
their vital power can cope with. If they are desirous
of getting back their lost health they must eat even
less than what they can assimilate, so that enough
vitality will be left over to do the work of repairing
the body and restoring health.

HARMFUL REMEDIES

Digestive troubles have opened up a lucrative
channel of trade to doctors, druggists and manu¬
facturing chemists. There are three classes of
remedies which find general application—sedatives,
tonics and alkaline mixtures. These drugs are, one
and all, harmful They may give a temporary relief,
but in the long run they tend to worsen the disease
and make it incurable, because they give rise to
the very causes which brought about the trouble.

SEDATIVES

Opium, bismuth, oxalate of cerium etc., which
are the sedatives in common use, have an imme¬
diate effect of dulling the pain. But this sedative
action is due to their stupefying the nerves of
sensation. These dope-drugs do not do us an atom
of good. On the contrary, their frequent use
deadens and destroys the natural vitality of the
stomach muscles and nerves and corrupts the
digestive juices.

TONICS

The second class of drugs, the tonics are
generally employed after the sedatives or dope-
drugs have lost their power to lessen the pain, even
temporarily. Such tonics which contain deadly
poisons like arsenic and strychnine are meant for
whipping up the flagging energies of a tired and
overworked stomach. To call it an utter folly is to
put it too mildly. "You would, never dream of
administering deadly poisons like arsenic or strych¬
nine to a perfectly healthy, strong man; yet when
a sufferer can barely crawl about and is suffering all
the weakening effects of prolonged failure to digest
and assimilate food, that is the time when the
s

allopathic doctor chooses to introduce these deadly
drugs into the poor, ill-used stomach ! " (Milton
Powell). These ionics may or may not have a tem¬
porary stimulating action. But let not anybody
imagine that this increase in vitality is obtained
from the drugs. What happens is that the patient's
reserve of vitality is quickly exhausted. No wonder
that this spendthrift policy of drawing from the
capital ultimately makes the patient, vitally,
a bankrupt.

ALKALINE MIXTURES

The most widely used among the remedies for
digestive disorders are perhaps the alkaline mixtures
containing alkalis like bicarbonate of soda, magnesia
etc. An indication of the enormous quantity of such
powders consumed by sufferers who are desperate
after some remedy, can be had from a report in
the British Medical Journal, quoted by J.C. Thomson
in his ' Two Health Problems ."

As a sidelight on the prevalence of dyspepsia
in the services—and among the civil population
from whom they are recruited—I had a conversation
some time ago with a member of a firm of retail
chemists, who own about a dozen shops in an
area- He asked me to guess the amount
of alkaline powdet sold by his firm each month. In
putting the figure at a couple of hundred weights
I imagined I should be well outside the mark. To
my surprise, he said that the amount averaged
about half a ton per month. (H. M Stanley—Turner,
B M. J., 19—4—'41)."

Where excessive acidity is one of the attendant
symptoms of the digestive disorder, these alkaline
mixtures do give an apparent sense of relief at first,
lo the short-sighted medico it may appear to be

35

easier to pour alkalis down the throat instead of
searching out the primary cause of the acidity and
and eradicating it. But the final effect of introdu¬
cing artificial alkalis info the human stomach, is, as
Keliog has shown to encourage the secretion of
more acid to overcome the artificially induced
acidity.

THE BLAND DIET

It is not true to say that the allopath has not
paid any attention to diet. He does advise some
dietetic modifications to the dyspeptic patient, but
the sort of diet which he recommends only tends to
make the condition worse.

Medical science has its roots in a mechanistic
concept of life; medical practice consists in the
treatment of isolated symptoms. So the fault of
prescribing the wrong diet lies not on the indivi¬
dual medical man but on the system itself.

The walls of an overworked stomach will natu¬
rally be sore and inflamed. The medical man. reels
that such sores should be soothed by the eating of
soft pasty foods, mixed with plenty of ghee.
A bland but highly nourishing diet is the usual
prescription for a dyspeptic.

The only thing that an average allopath knows
of dietetics is a crude idea of how much a man of
a certain age, height, weight and occupation should
consume. So when he speaks ol a nourishing diet
he does not refer to something health-giving but
only thinks of the quantity of starch protein and
fat which will be available in that diet. ^ He thinks
in ierms of Calories to give life, and of protein and
fat to enable the patient to put on weighs But
ignores the Inner Eater (Life) who assimilates the
food.

So the only consideration which an allopath
has in choosing what he thinks to be the right type
of foods for the dyspeptic is only this. The
dyspeptic is weak and hence he should have enough
calories to make him energetic; he should have
enough protein and fat to enable him to put on
flesh. So the foods which he chooses are, rice,
wheat, pulses, meat, milk, eggs, sugar, ghee, etc.

The allopath, as was pointed out already, only
treats isolated symptoms. Hence he advises that
foods meant for dyspetics should be soft and
slippery so that they will not irritate the walls of
the stomach by friction. Wheat flour is carefully
sifted in a sieve and the coarser particles* which
contain a high proportion of vitamins and minerals,
are removed and only the fine flour or maida,
which being deficient in the essential elements, is
disease- causing, is prescribed Similarly rice is
polished well in order to remove the bran and
germ Indigenous doctors recommend ' Punaf-
pakam' in cooking rice. That is rice is cooked
once, the excess of liquid is decanted off, more
water is added, the once-cooked rice, is cooked
a second time and the excess of liquid is again
decanted. This rice is mixed with plenty of dal,
and ghee, and this dishf along with milk constitutes
the highly nourishing, bland diet commonly
recommended to the dyspeptic in the south. Little
thought is paid to the fact that the digestive trouble
itself was the consequence of eating such devitalised
foods. Rice, cooked in this fashion, contains only

* The coarser particlss are bran and germ- These contain
a high proportion of protein and are much tougher than the
inner core of the grain which is mainly starch* Because of their
tougnness, the bran and germ remain as coarse particles after
milling.

t. This South Indian dish is the same as the Kiohdi of north
I udia.

37

starch. It is the sort of stuff which is only fit to be
used as glue by a book binder. It will clog the
bowels and constipation will be the result, thus
paving the way for other chronic diseases. No
wonder that in all cases of dyspepsia the allopath
fails miserably. In ihe beginning the stomach will
overwork itself to digest such indigestible combina¬
tions of foods.* But later, a stage will be reached
when the tired digestive organs will cease to take
the trouble of digesting such stuff and the food will
pass along, either partly digested or undigested.
Diarrhoea will then be the result.

Another queer medical notion is that the
stomach should never be allowed to remain empty
whenever its walls are inflamed. One writer says
that the inflamed edges of the wound may come
into contact with another part of the stomach and
give rise to more pain. It is a fact that in many
cases where suffering is due to the presence of
irritating fluids in the stomach, the pain is slightly
lessened for some time when some food is eaten.
The lessening of the pain is probably due to the
irritating liquids getting diluted. But eating at this
stage will lead to the formation of more of such
irritating liquids and the pain will become more
intense after a short time. The right course in such
cases is to induce vomiting to bring out the irritating
liquids, and to give rest to the stomach for a mini¬
mum period of 12 hours. Other soothing measures
to be adopted when there is acute distress will be
dealt with in a later section.

* A pasty mixture of rice and dal is by itself difficult to digest
When ghee also is added in plenty, every particle of rice and
dal gets covered with a filament of ghee and thus the digestive
juices are prevented from having direct access to the particles
of grain.

3b

SURGERY

As a result of medical bungling an ordinary
indisposition of the digestive apparatus, often
results in a more serious trouble. The trouble
generally starts with inflammation of the stomach or
duodenum. The inflammations develop into ulcers,
and when conditions become worse still, perforation
might take place.

It is generally supposed among the allopaths
and their very large following that surgery is the
only hope in cases of gastric or duodenal ulcers.
But it is hardly understood that the resort to surgery
is itself an admission of the failure of allopathy to
cure the trouble in its initial stages.

Excepting in very rare cases (which would be
rarer still but for medical bungling) surgery is an
unwarranted interference with Nature and it'
generally results in a permanent injury to the
patient. Just a few days prior to the writing of these
pages the writer met an unfortumate invalid who
had a tragic story to tell of the cruel role played by
doctors and surgeons in his life. Dyspepsia was at
the root of all his troubles. But the doctors, as
usual tried to pick out some particular organ and
put the whole blame on that. When the doctors
had failed, the surgeon came in. He cut open the
patient's abdomen and made a careful examination;
there was nothing wrong particularly. However the
surgeon removed the appendix, the idea being that
some organ must be removed once the abdomen
had been cut open. " I cannot find out what is
exactly wrong with you; anyhow as a matter of
trial, I have cut out the appendix. Let us hope
that you will improve." Unfortunately, the patient
got worse, and returned to the surgeon after

30

a short time. Again his abdomen was cut open
and this time/ his gall bladder was removed; of
course just to make a trial. This second operation
made the patient worse still. The surgeon then
passed him on to a dentist who declared that his
teeth had decayed and they formed the septic focus
poisoning the blood. Accordingly all the teeth
were pulled out. Then followed some minor ope¬
rations. When they had failed to give him any
relief, the medical men coolly told our patient that
there was nothing wrong with him really. The
trouble was all in his imagination. They explained
it off with the help of a high sounding name neuras¬
thenia. He had only to think that he was well, the
doctors told him, and all could be well. This
patient has now come to Nature-Cure, having got
fully disillusioned about doctors and drugs. It now
remains to see, with what is left of his anatomy, how
far Nature-Cure will be able to help this wreck of
a human being. Though surgery is the only method
which has the full support of all orthodox practi¬
tioners, Nature-Cure practice in the past few
decades has proved beyond question that such
troubles do not require an operation, but rather
a thorough reform of the patient's mode of life.
" With the passing of time," Russel Sneddon writes,
" the success of the latter treatment has been tested
proved and recognised, and to-day ulceration is
commonly regarded as a case for the dietecian and
physician and not the surgeon, and medicinal and
dietary treatment take the place of the knife."

41

What a bewildering variety of symptoms! But
these are not alb by any means. However, this is
more than sufficient to confuse anybody if he begins
to think that each one of these symptoms is a separate
disease, needing a separate treatment.

The Nature Cure Principle of Oneness of Disease

There is only one disease, because there is only
one cause of disease, and there is therefore only
one way of treatment which is the eradication of
that one cause.

If you want a proof of this statement, you
question yourself. You go through your past life
carefully, and you will find that whatever you suffer
from is only the result of your own mistakes in the
past. As I said in the beginning, nobody suffers
from disease, who does not deserve it. The life
history of every sufferer should alone be sufficient
proof to show that neglect of Nature's Law is at the
root of all disease.

Perhaps you are not satisfied with this simple
explanation. Perhaps you are one of those who
will be satisfied only by so-called laboratory experi¬
ments. The experience of hundreds of thousands
of men and women may not appeal to you as
a convincing proof. If experiments with rats, mice
and guinea pigs will alone satisfy you, I shall recount
some of that type.

Sir Robert McCarrison conducted some experi¬
ments in Coonoor, which have since become famous.
But there is one aspect of his results which have not
been given the publicity it deserves. From our
point of view that is the most important outcome of
his researches.

©

42

Sir Robert McCarrison had a big colony of rats,
which he divided into different groups. They weie
all put in identical cages, kept under identical
conditions. The degree of cleanliness achieved was
indeed remarkable ; in a room where 1189 rats were
housed, there was not a trace of bad odour. But the
food of the different groups of rats was different.
One set was getting just the right type of food
—chapatis made of wholemeal wheat flour and
lightly smeared with fresh butter, sprouted pulse,
fresh, raw carrots and raw cabbage in unlimited
guantities, unboiled whole milk, a small ration of
meat with bones once a week, and an abundance
of water both for drinking and washing. The other
groups of rats were fed on diets of ordinary civilised
people. The result was remarkable. The first set
of rats were specimens of perfect health, strength
and endurance; disease was entirely abolished.
But in the other sets, it seemed as though the lid
of a veritable Pandora's box had been opened. The
long list of diseases which they suffered from is
simply staggering. As Dr. G. T. Wrench puts it, as
many diseases as could be packed into the small
body of a rat were present. There was not a single
organ or part of the body which was unaffected.

This should give one food for thought. The only
difference between the first set and other sets of
rats lay in their diets. If one set developed intg
specimens of perfect health, while others we^'
quite the reverse of it, there can be but one cause-
wrong food. There were so many disease conditions,
—the list will run to a page-and a half—involving jthe
eyes, ears, .nose, lungs, heart, stomach, intestines,
liver, kidneys, bladder, reproductive organs, blood,
ordinary glands, special glands, and nerves. (The
brain was not examined) All these disease condi¬
tions which allopathy regards a$ independent

43

diseases with separate causes and requiring separate
treatments, all of them in this case were the result
of one cause—' vko-o. j-'oc..-.

As an illustrsiion of the allopath's utter disregard
of the real cause cf disease Dr. G. T. Wrench has
chosen at randoo three of the disease conditions
mentioned in that list—Prveuhaonia, Peptic ulcer and
Acute Infection c ine middle ear. Under each
disease, on the left hand side are given the causes of
that disease according to medical text books
and on the right hand side the cause of the
same according to the Coonoor experiment. The
comparison is very interesting indeed.

CAUSES OF PNEUMONIA

Text Books Coonoor

Pneumococcus Microbe

Weakness of old age

Exhaus tion
Chill

Previous Attack Wrong Food

Some other illness

A Blow on the Chest

CAUSES ot PEPTIC ULCEfi.

Text Books Coonoor

Occupation: anaemic and
dyspeptic servant girls/
shoemakers, surgeons. Wrong Food

Injury

Associated diseases such as
anaemia, heart disease,
diseases of liver,
appendix, gall bladder,
teeth, tonsils.

44

CAUSES OF PEPTIC ULSER. ( Continued )

Text Books Coonoor

Nervous strain

Disturbance of the circulation Wrong Food
Large superficial burns
Certain families are said
to be more liable.

Increased acidity of the stomach
Several of the above in combination

ACUTE INFECTION IN THE MIDDLE EAR

Text Books Coonoor

External atmospheric

conditions
Cold in the head
Infectious diseases, such as
measles, pneumonia,

and influenza Wrong Food

Sea baths
Nasal douches

Comment is needless

The evidence given above is overwhelming.
But after all, the proof of the pudding is in the eat¬
ing. Nature Cure recognises wrong living as the
only cause of disease and right living as the onlj
remedy, and this mode of approach alone has bee#
found to be successful in practice

Indeed the record of Nature Cure in the treat¬
ment of disease conditions affecting the stomach-
and intestines is remarkably bright, and it is no
secret that it is in the treatment of these disease,
conditions that allopaths grieviously fail.

45

THE THREE STAGES

Disease is one and the principle underlying the
ihe treatment is also one. But the exact mode of
application of the principle will depend upon
individual circumstances. For facilitating the under¬
standing of the treatment, I shall divide all digestive
disorders into three categories or stages. The first
one marks the first stage in the progress of the
disease, that is, the beginnings of indigestion,
when the foundation is laid for the onset of
indigestion. The second is the acute stage, and
the third the chronic. In the third one 1 shall make
a sub-division - an acute phase with a chronic
background and the genuine chronic stage.
Here it will be possible only to indicate how to
distinguish between the three stages of disease.
For a fuller understanding of the Nature-Cure
conception of disease, its beginning and progress,
the reader should go through my father's Practical
Nature-Cure.*

THE BEGINNINGS OF INDIGESTION

Indigestion is generally associated with pain or
a sense of acute discomfort in the upper abdomen.
As a result, people do not think that they have
indigestion unless there is some pain. But often, in
the early stages, pain or discomfort may not be
marked. In fact, generally, a feeling of pain is
an indication that digestion has been out of order
for some time. This is because pain in the stomach
is felt in a rather indirect or complicated way. So
in most cases pain starts only after indigestion has

* Practical Nature-Cure, by Sri. K Lakshmana sarma,
Published by The Mature-Cure Publishing House, Fuduk&ottai,

( Trichinopoly ) South India.

46

persisted for some lime, which may be from few
days to a few weeks-1-

In the early stages, indigestion may manifest
itself only as a sense of heaviness or fullness of the
stomach or a sort of uneasy ieeling. Real hunger
will be absent, though there may be a craving for
highly spiced or appetising foods. Inclination to
activity will be lacking. If treatment is begun at
this early stage, cure will be only a matter of a day
or two. Often, missing the next meal will be
sufficient.

TREATMENT : Fasting for a day or two, as might
be necessary, is the best remedy. Break the fast
with a glass of fruit juice or vegetable soup. Apply
a cooling abdominal wet bandage (to be described
later) in the afternoon or whenever there is
discomfort and keep it on for about three hours, or
as long as it is pleasant to keep it on. A spinal
bath with a cold trunk pack may be taken when
the day is warm. Some people who are unaccus¬
tomed to a fast may feel giddy during that time.

t That the stomach and intestines ar© insensitive to ordinary
irritation, may be illustrated by a familiar example : When
something pungent (Chillies for example > is swallowed,
the irritation is felt only in the mouth, throat and the anus
( at the time of passing stools ), that is, in the beginning
and end of the alimentary canal- Surprisingly enough,
the irritation is absent in the middle region, comprising
the stomach and intestines. The reason is that the
middle and end parts ofthe alimentary canal are controlled
by nerves which are connected with the spinal nervous
syscem and the brain, whereas the stomach and intestines
are controlled by the sympathetic nervous system which,
,i£ not connected with the bjain. Pungent articles do
1 irritate the mucus membranes ol the stomach and
'intestines, hutthe irritation is not conveyed to the brain
ahd .therefore not, felt by us. But when the irritation
. is too frequent,:the, tension of the walls, of .the stomach
ahay.be disturbed, leading in turn to a disturb a, no e in the
. .'internal pressure 1 It is omy in £uch oases that, 'pain,is

4 '/

They should not imagine I hat they are hungry and
rush to take some food. In a few cases the trouble
may be largely an imaginary one. But generally,
the development cf a feeling of giddiness during a
one-day fast is an Indication ihat the person con¬
cerned is not quite healthy, that there is much of
accumulated filth in him which needs to be elimi¬
nated. To be able t;, fast for a day or two without
loosing one's energy and without feeling the
slightest discomfod is, perhaps, the surest sign of
a high degree of good healtii.

It Is not difficult to suggest an alternative course
of dieting for those who are rather afraid of fasting.
For instance, if only diluted fruit juice or tender
cocoanut water be taken three or four times in the
day, it will be an approach to a fast. But my advice
to you is not to fight shy of a short fast Some
people will frighten you into thinking that any kind
ot fasting is fraught with danger and should never
be undertaken except in the presence of an expert.
Such propaganda only serves the interests of the
so-called experts. Anybody can undertake a short
fast safely, provided be observes some simple
rules. The main principles will be indicated, but
a fuller understanding of the science of fasting can
be had by going through my father's Fasting Cure.*

To say that fasting is good is to minimise its
importance. Fasting in some form is an absolute
necessity both for the preservation of health and
eradication of disease. Fasting for health is of two
kinds: FASTING FOR A FEW HOURS EVERY DAY
and FASTING FOR A FEW DAYS EVERY MONTH.
Of the two kinds, the first one is absolutely neces¬
sary for all people. The stomach and other digestive

* Fasting Cure, by Sri K. Lafcshman, Published by The
Nature-Cure Publishing House Limited. ( 2nd Edition!

organs should have complete rest from digestive
labour for a few hours at some time or other every¬
day. This is the main idea underlying the NO
BREAKFAST PLAN advocated by Dr. Dewey.

ACUTE INDIGESTION

Acute indigestion is characterised by the
complete breakdown of the digestive function
accompanied by acute discomfort of some kind.
This is very easy to cure/ but a genuine case of
acute indigestion rarely comes for treatment at the
hands of a Naturopath. We generally meet with
an acute phase of the disease with a background
chronic of ill health

It is not difficult to distinguish between these
two conditions. A genuine acute disease has no
history behind it. It is possible, only when the
person enjoys a fair degree of health. Hence it is
to be found only in younger persons.

In a genuine acute disease acute distress will
be easily relieved with in a day or two by fasting and
water-cure methods When these measures fail
to give relief, the inference is that the disease has
a background of chronic ill health.

Acute indigestion is generally associated with
all kinds of fevers. Fasting is the rule in such
cases. For more details regarding treatment in
such cases, the reader is referred to the Practical
Nature-Cure of which mention has so often been
made in these pages.

Fasting alone will suffice to cure acute indiges¬
tion. But for affording immediate relief from
distress, some other measures are also necessary.

Induced vomiting; Vomiting induced in
S non-violent way is very useful in relieving acute

49

distress in the stomach. Distress in the stomach is
generally due to presence of irritating fluids. The
irritant may be either hydrochloric acid (when it is
in excess of the normal! or organic acids formed as
a result of feimentation of the undigested or partly
digested food

In most oa:-.es, a complete emptying of the
stomach may net be necessary, nor even desirable.
It is the hast portion coming out of the stomach
which irritates the throat most. When relief can be
obtained by partial vomiting, why should one
unnecessarily irritate one's throat. The major
portion of irritating liquids will come off in the
beginning; the solids will be last to come out.
But for relieving distress it is enough if a greater
part of the irritating fluids are removed. The solids
which remain will, ordinarily, be digested easily
afterwards.

* Ferinen tation starts in the stomach only under very
abnormal conditions, when the food stays too long in the
stomach. Such a condition will be produced when

(1) Starch and protein foods are mixed,

(2) Food is eaten before the stomach is not empty, that is,

whon the previous meal has not yet passed out of the
stomach, or

1 3) Snacks are' eaten in-between meals.

The reason is simple enough. Firstly the presence of too
much of starch along with protein will interfere with protien
digestion in the stomach, in tho stomach, starch is not digested,
and if it is present by itself, it will pass off very quickly from the
stomach But if protein is present along with, the starch also
has to stay in the stomach for an unduly long time. Hence there
may be fermentation. Again, when anything is eaten when the
stomach contains partly digested food—food which has already
stayed in the sioxnacti for a few hours—the digestion cf both will
be disturbed; a good part * f the partly digested food also will
have to stay in the stomach till the newly eaten food is digested.
The net result is thar the food which was eaten first stays in the
stomach for over 12 hours Naturally there is fermentation*
If one avoids eating when the stomach is not empty ninety
percent of the causes of fermentation will be p***dicated

7

50

For emptying the stomach a stomach pump is
not needed. Vomiling can be induced easily
without any mskumeni:.

Emetics are also not desirable. Drink plenty ol
water, preferably warm, till the stomach is comp¬
letely full and no more water can be taken in.
Squatting is the.best posture for vomiting, because
there is maximum pressure on the abdomen both
due to bending at the hips and to the pressing of
the thighs. Sit down with feet on the ground,
knees drawn up and hams (buttocks) close to, or
almost touching the heels. Crouch forward.
Introduce the middle- and fore-fingers as far into
throat as possible and pass them up and down,
thus tickling the throat. The contents of the stomach
will automatically come out.

The first portions of liquid, which come out will
contain much of water which has been drunk and
hence irritation may not be much But in later
portions the concentration of acid will be greater
and irritation will be much. Hence it is better to
drink more water a second time, before vomiting
out the last portions.

Immediately after vomiting, and also in the
middle of it, (if the vomiting becomes painful and
takes more than a few minutes) wash yoirr hand,
dip it in cold water and rub the abdomen gently.
This rubbing should be done from above downwards'
and also from left to right, and may be done either
by oneself by an attendant.

In most cases, distress in the upper abdomen
will pease within a few minutes after vomiting ; in
some cases where it does not cease completely, it
will be lessened considerably- If distress continues
even after vomiting, apply a , fairly : tight, coO ling
a&dtpminalyret bandageandgQ to bed*.

Occasionally, the act of vomiting may itself
lead to a feeling of weakness. But this weakness
will pass off if the person rests in bed for some time.
A spinal bath combined with a hot water foot bath,
and, if necessary, with blanket covering, for not
more than 20 minutes will oe very helpful. After
the bath, wipe yourself dry ana go to bed.

After vomiting, sip from time to time small
quantities cf plain water,, hot or cold, whichever is
relished As a rule, no food, liquid or solid, should
be eaten for at least 12 hours after vomiting. The
best course is to fast for 24 hours on water only.

[A word of warning here will not be out of place,
in view of certain instances which have come to
my personal notice. A patient who was suffering
from severe stomach trouble was taught to vomit.
He learnt it easily, and was surprised to find in this
procedure, a very simple way of. getting free from
any sort of pain due to indigestion. He formed the
wrong notion that he could go on eating as he liked
and escape the consequences of such licentiousness
by vomiting afterwards. But one cannot have the
cake and eat it too. Nature cannot be fooled so
easily. Vomiting is movement of the food in a direc¬
tion which is reverse of the normal. If one vomits
too oftert the normal peristaltic activiry will be im¬
paired and the digestive apparatus will be 'weakened.
Those who suffer from what is termed nervous
dyspepsia, should be particularly careful. The
sensible course is to order one's life in such a way
so that the need for such a measure will not arise.

However if precautions mentioned earlier are
observed, and if it is not overdone, vomiting does
no harm. On the contrary, it does good. Personally,

I am careful about what I eat. But occasionally, it
does happen that I commit some mistake either

52

because of weakness of the will oi due to some
environmental disadvantages. Even then, I do not
get any trouble unless the same mistake is repeated
two or three times. But, if there is the slightest
feeling of uneasiness, I shall empty my stomach
immediately by vomiting. However such occasions
occur only once in several months.]

Vomiting is the opposite of peristalsis—the
normal movement of food along the alimentary
Canal—and hence the stomach needs rest after that.
Fasting is the only means of giving rest to the
stomach.

The benefit derived from the fast is greatest if
the bowels are also kept clean. If natural bowel
motion is absent, or if it is inadequate, the use of
the enema is necessary. The enema as it is used by
allopaths is positively injurious,- especially, if it be
taken frequently. It is a pity that most professional
Naturopaths too should be ignorant of the rational,
non-violent use of the'enema. Instructions will be
set forth briefly in a later section; fuller information
can be had in Practical Nature-Cure.

After the fast, the following plan or some other
one, along the same lines, should be followed :—

I

9 a.m. Breaking the fast with a glass of one of
the following:—

1. Diluted Fruit juice* (Orange, Mosumbi,
sweet lemon)

2. Vegetable soup (leafy vegetables pre¬
ferably)

3. Tender cocoanut water.

.* Soma pa-fiente, may not like fruit Juice which is evelTsUghtly
sour. The other two alternatives will be more suitable in sUch
- cases.,After they are well, these persons also will .begin to like
-fruits like orange. '

53

1 p.m* Cooked Vegetables. (To be conserva¬
tively cooked. No spices. Salt alone to
be added.)

7 p.m. 1 glass of milk (8 oz)

and 3 medium-sized, fully ripe bananas,
or an enquivalent quantity of any other
fruit.

If need be, the same programme may be followed
for two or three days subsequently. By this time, if
the acute indigestion had no background of chronic
(long-standing) ill-healh, the patient will be quite
fit and digestion will be normal. He -may then
change over to one or other of the two programmes
out-lined below : (It should be clearly understood
that there is no rigidity about the diet plans which
have been suggested. If the patient has understood
the principles of Vital Economy and Positive Diet,
as taught by Sri K. Lakshraana Sarma, he can easily
evolve a plan of his own which will suit his bodily
condition, environment and financial means.* )

II

Up to 10 or 11 a.m. Nothing except water.

11a.m. Meal consisting of rotis (or rice) and
cooked vegetables, (A. small spoonful of
butter, and a cup of curd may also be
t^ken.)

7 p.m. A glass of milk

2 to 4 oz. of dried fruits (one kind only.)
Some fresh fruits (one kind only.)

III

ALTERNATIVE PLAN

9 a.m. A glass of buttermilk with 1 oz. of the
raw juice of vegetables_added to it.

* Those who have work at office or school daring the day
should make a slight modification in the plans suggested. They
should take the lighter meal duiing the day and the more
substantial one at night,

54

lpm. Meal of rotis (or rice),, vegetables and
curd or buttermilk.

8 p.m. A glass of buttermilk and raw vegetables
(the vegetables may be taken whole or
made into a salad.)

After following the above mentioned plan for
a day or two, the patient may go back to the normal
diet. This course will suffice to cure all stomach
troubles which are not chronic.

WATER-CURE METHODS

At the time of its birth, Nature-Cure was little
more than water-cure. Perhaps because of this,
Nature-Cure is popularly understood as a system of
baths and packs. But actually water-cure is only
a part ot Nature-Cure. Water-Cure methods are
most efficient in the case of young people—the
younger they are, the quicker the result—and in
acute disease. In the case of older people and in
chronic and destructive disease, water-cure will not
produce much good.

Even in acute cases, fasting gets the first place;
baths and packs are only next in importance. Some
extremists there are, who would totally dispense
with water-cure, relying only on fasting and dieting,,
The disease can be radically cured that way also,
I do not deny that. But it cannot be denied that
baths and packs and enemas do help to calm down
the distressing symptoms, and are an invaluable
aid in purifying the body. To give only a few
examples: The Coma bath is an ideal one tor
brining the patient back to his senses; the cold
spinal bath is an excellent tonic for the nervous
system and improves blood circulation; the hip

3D

bath invariably sacceeds in removing the heat from
the abdominal area ; the stimulating wet pack brings
out she heat which is latent in any part of the body;
the abdominal wet pack, or earth pack removes
congestion in the abdominal area, soothes the
nerves and alleviates pain.

Many peocle think that Water-Cure applications
aim. ar removing heat only. This is a mistake.
Where there is high fever or intense heat in some
par ci 'he body (accompanied by pain, irriiation or
a burning sensation’i, due to congestion or in
flammatory changes, the main purpose of Water-
Cure is to remove heat. Otherwise Water-Cure
only aims at a redistribution of heat. In fact, it is
possible to warm up the whole body or a part of it,
by means of cold water applications only.

In Water-Cure applications, as in all other
measures of Nature-Cure, it is not the water which
cures. Cure is only the result of the vital response
to the use of water. In mild cold water applications
this vital response is seen in the warming of the
whole or part ot the body. Where such response is
lacking, hot water applications, or hot water
applications followed by cold water applications
are more suitable.

Some simple Water-Cure measures are described
below : It should be acknowledged that many of
them have been adapted from Sri K. Lakshmana
Sarma's Practical Nature-Cure.

The Cooling Abdominal Wet Bandage: Pro¬
perly applied, this is a tonic of great value in serious
acute troubles and also in chronic or obstinate
cases of all kinds It is specially valuable in all
kinds of digestive disorders, chronic constipation.

56

loose motions/ cases of so-called nervous debility,
and all those in which there is obstinate heat in
the interior abdominal organs. But when there is no
acute discomfort which needs to be relieved
immediately, and in the case of persons with low
vitality, and particularly, in the cooler hours of the
day, the stimulating wet pack will be more
suitable.

The abdominal wet bandage is a broad bandage
of wet cloth worn round the abdomen. The cloth
used shouldl be soft, thick and capable of absorbing
water easily. Cloth washed with soap will not
satisfy the last condition and hence unsuitable for
our purpose. The cloth may be folded two or three
times so that its width is 9 " and thickness about \. n
Drench the cloth in water, wrap it round the
abdomen and pin it up as shown in the figure.

If the patient is weak and feels chill, cover the
wet pack with a coarse woollen wrapper so that the
pack may get warm with the internal heat, while'
the water slowly evaporates and escapes through
the meshes of the wrapper. Oil cloth, rubber
cloth, or plastic sheet should not be used in the
place of wool, for obvious reasons. If the person is
robust, and the season hot, the outer woolen
covering may be dispensed with.

The bandage may be memoved when an itching
sensation arises or after 3 to 6 hours. A short'
spinal bath, or the abdominal wet message, will be
a good finish for this treatment-

No case can be considered hopeless until this
has been tried long enough. Where the lungs are,'
diseased or malformed, this bandage should.
alternate with stimulating wet bandages for the;
neck and chest-

Because the abdominal bandage can be worn
for many hours at a time, and is exceedingly mild in
its action, it is considerably more effective in
chronic cases than the cooling baths which can be
taken only for a short time.

The Abdominal Earth Pack: This is a broad
pack of wet earth or loamy clay over the abdomen,
This is applied undSr the same conditions as the
abdominal wet bandage, but is more effective than
the latter. If a woollen covering is needed, cover
the earth pack with a thin, wet cloth and^ put the
woollen covering over the cloth.

Earth to be used for this purpose should be the
purest available. Ant-hill (white ants) earth is found
to be very suitable for this purpose. Where this is
not available use earth taken from high ground,
since that in low levels is likely to be unclean.
All coarse sand and stones should be removed frbm
the earth before using it. Loamy clay—that is, earth
composed of equal parts of fine clay and fine sand
is the best.

Other directions are the same as those given
for the abdominal wet bandage.

The Stimulating Wet Bandage: This is
especially suited for patients with lowered vitality,
where there is need to bring out the heat from the
interior. Within about ten minutes after its
application, the pack should get warm. That is the
test of its success. A single layer of wet cloth
(soft cloth capable of absorbing water easily), 6 to 9
inches in width, worn round the abdomen and
covered over with wool or flannel will be sufficient
for this purpose. If this pack succeeds in bringing

©

5S

heat, to the surface of the abdomen, it may ho
removed/ a cooling abdominal wet bandage put in its
place, and kept up for as lone as it is pleasant to keep
it. Generally however/ the stimulating wet bandage
for the abdomen is applied in ihe early morning
and kept up for about 2 to 3 hours. It is not
necessary that the patient should remain in bed.
He may, if he is weak.

Dip the cloth in cold water, wring out the water
somewhat, wrap it round the abdomen and pin it
up. Cover this with one or two layers of wool
or flannel. If the patient feels chill, he may lie in
bed , and cover himself up to the neck with
a blanket.

Within ten or twenty minutes, the compress
should become warm. This is ascertained by
placing one's fingers between the cloth and skin,
when warmth will be felt. If there is no warmth
the pack has been a cooling one instead of being
a stimulating one. But these is no cause for alarm.
Remove the bandage and give the abdomen dry
friction rubbing with the palm for about two
minutes. Next time put the bandage when the day
is warmer, use thinner cloth, or wring it out fully.

Hot Fomentation {Wet) for the Abdorhen : This
is good for relieving any kind of distress in the
abdomenal region. Get ready two clean Turkish
towels, a piece of tough cloth which will not absorb
water easily, and a basin of hot water (just too hot for
touch.) Fold the towels so that they are just large
enough to cover the abdominal area. Dip one of,
them in hot water, wrap it up with the tough cloth,
and wring out the water. Spread the folded, hot
towel over the patient's abdomen and keep gently
pressing with the harjds, Tn the meanwhile the

59

other towel should get ready,, so that by the time
the first one becomes cold, the second may take it
place. The fomentation may be continued till relief
is obtained, Ihnish with a cold pack for the abdomen
for about ten minutes.

AHomcLe Hci a:id Cold Applications: Where
the pair, is ss 1 . ere. alternate hot fomentations and
cc vitl bring quick relief- The relative

—'. XA a. . A V, — ^ — —* «. •' , ^3 h - .. B A d vary with the condition
cf the patient. For robust patients, the cold one
may be applied for a longer time (say 5 minutes)
than the hot cue isay 5 minutes) for weak patients,
the hoi fomentation should be applied for a longer
period.

CHRONIC INDIGESTION

When indigestion becomes chronic, it is given
the more respectable name of dyspepsia. Dyspep¬
sia is at the root of all other chronic or destructive
disease conditions. It is only natural therefore that
this should be the commonest disease.

"At bottom." writes Sri K. Lakshmana Sarma
in his Practical Nature-Cure, "every chronic and
even every destructive .disease, such as tuberculosis,
is dyspepsia of some degree." Though the medical
profession does not admit this, many medica.
writers have made the observation that dyspepsie
is always present in all chronic or destructive
ailments like, tuberculosis of the lungs, diseases
of the heart, liver, kidneys etc., diabetes, asthma.

it is therefore natural that dyspeptics should
show, or develop during the course of their treat¬
ment, symptoms of some other disease. Nd special
treatment is necessary in such cases, excepi
perhaps, for some local water-cure applications foi
giving immediate relief; for the Nature-Cure treat¬
ment for all chronic disease is the same as fo*

60

dyspepsia. The remarkable success of such
a procedure should be sufficient proof of the fact
that dyspepsia is at the root of all chronic disease.

Some typical illustrative cases have been given
below, not to serve as a guide in the treatment,
but only to show that a natural cure, however
crude and defective, must suceed where the best
medical skill can do only harm in the wrong run.
The cases have been carefully chosen so as to be of
a varied nature. Some of them have already
passed into history. Bui the main point to be
noted is that the patients came to Nature in a des¬
perate mood. In the last three cases, particularly,
allopathy had been given a full trial for several
years but the condition only worsened. Nature-
Cure and aiopathy are irreconcilably hostile to each
other; hence a patient who has been heavily
drugged allopathically is infinitely more difficult to
cure than one who has not been so treated. Inspite
of these handicaps, Nature-Cure has remarkably
succeeded in these cases.

OBSTINATE PAIN IN THE STOMACH

In ancient Home, there was a famous man
named Cicero. ' His nephew. Agricola, was suffer¬
ing for many yeas from an intolerable pain in the
stomach, which was due to an obstinate indigestion;
all the medicines, which he had so far tried, had
proved useless. He at last made up his mind to end
his suffering by fasting to death. He chose this
way to death, because be thought he would thus
punish his stomach, which he believed to be the
cause of his miseries. It never occurred to him
that he was himself the offender, and that the
injured party was the stomach. This fact however,
was borne out by the result of the fast. The fast
WSs exactly what his stomach was wanting all the

61

time; only he never knew ii till then. The result
was that not he, but his disease died, leaving him
alive and well. By fasting he gave the stomach,
that long-suffering and much-misunderstood organ,
all the rest that it needed; Nature did the rest, and
he was cured.

A CASE OF GASTRIC ULCER

(Gastric ulcer is generally common among
anaemic women. Because ulcers appear only in
those parts of the alimentary canal which come into
contact with gastric juice, it has been stated in
medical text books that the formation of ulcers is
due to the action of hydrochloric acid in gastric
juice. At this rate there is nothing to prevent
gastric juice from digesting and dissolving ihe
stomach itself; protein is the main constituent of
stomach walls and gastric juice can digest protein.
The fact is that so long as every part of the stomach
retains its tone and vitality, gastric juice can have
no action. The human stomach can digest the
the stomachs of other animals, if they are killed
and eaten. Cannibals do digest the stomachs of
other men whom they kill and eat But one's own
stomach is not digested. Why? The secret is that
a stomach which is alive, a stomach which has
a rich supply of blood, cannot be acted on by
gastric juice When the stomach does not get its
needed supply of blood, it walls lose their vitality
and tone, and it is then that gastric juice acts
on them, leading to formation of ulcers. That is
why ulcers in the stomach are associated with
an anaemic condition of the blood. Whether loss
. of vitality and degeneration is associated with
a bacillus is not of importance to one who under¬
stands the Natuie-Cure view of the role of bacilli
in the causation ot disease.)

62

Once there came into the hands ot American,
allopathic doctor, a patient whoso stomach was
" very badNeither food, nor water, nor medicine
would stay in it for an hour; it was ah vomitted
soon. Another patient, who was suffering in
a similar way, was ir: the hands of another doctor
at the same time; this latter doctor was a blind and
stupid follower of the orthodox way, whereas Dr.
Dewey was open minded, and was capable of
unlearning what is false, and of understanding and
accepting what is new, even though it,be new.

It seemed to Dr Dewey that in this case Nature
was loudly calling out that she did not want
medicines, nor food. So he stopped both food
and medicine, and contented himself with watching
the case; the patient was spared the agonies of
vomiting the unwanted food and drugs. After
many days the patient craved water; water was
given and retained. In a month the stomach was
so far restored by the rest given to it by this wise
physician, that hunger returned and then such food
was given as the patient herself desired, and this
was retained and assimilated. The patient was
thus cured in a month, with very little suffering. *

The other patient, who was in the hands cf the
blind allopath, had to suffer terribly for three
months and then died. She would' surefy have had
a far better chance with Dewey as her doctor.

A CASE OF GASTRIC ULCER WITH A
BACKGROUND OF SEVERE ANAEMIA

This again like the previous one was an acute
phase with a chronic background. The patient wa:
my mother who was treated by my father., The
case has been recorded in my father's " Goristi
pation and Dyspepsia."

The trouble
months of the b-
very serious ; be
which ceased or
ihe course or e: '
became very se¬
al! over end b

.ised to cores punctually within six
tb oi a child. The first time it eras
: e \~e.~ ere at icq after eating.

!y after hie food was vomited ; ir
;•,? 'vseh5 ihe stars of -the patient
r.3 ; rhcrc- was a general swelling
-•cciessness was apparent on the

s;:ir.. Ac inis .-arcs ire disease wen suppressed by
ir f ur.e of ar ai.ctramic :rhh;e containing bismuth
3=I:cyla:e and other poisons (.sedatives; It was
ever, anticipated that the disease would return, and
so a copy of the prescription was obtained and
preserved. The patient recovered for ihe time
being/ but her health was distinctly lowered and
she remained an invalid for long after. There was
no trouble after the birth of the second child, who
died within eight days. Thereafter the disease
appeared regularly after each confinement, until
the year 1913. On the earlier occasions the same
mixture was employed; later a patent medicine
known as Hewlett's mixture was used. Each time
the disease was more quickly suppressed, with
a still further lowering of health, so that life became
a regular martyrdom. After the birth of the fifth
child, there were two spells of the disease; the first
of these oame in 1912, and was suppressed as before.
At this stage, the patient began taking hip baths
regularly in the afternoons, but there was no change
in the diet. Probably as a result of this, the disease
which was not cured, but only suppressed, was
again brought out. The state of the patient, at this
stage, was very alarming; she became pale, her
cheeks, belly, hands and feet became swollen with
fluid. But it was resolved that she would be
radically cured this time by natural methods.
Steam-baths every alternate day, and hip baths
twice a day were given; the diet was cut down to

64

plainly cooked vegetables and rice/ and there was
only one meal a day; sauces and other appetising
foods were excluded. The swellings subsided;
unnatural craving for appetising food became less;
but food was ngt vomitted. In the course of
a month/ the appetite and digestion became normal.
It will be noted that the danger to life was averted
as soon as the right treatment was begun. She
lived for thirty-four years after this cure, and gave
birth to two more children, without getting a return
of the disease.

Comment: The main point to be noted here is
that the diet was reduced to one meal a day, of rice
and unspiced, sattvic vegetables only. Such an
unappetising food will be relished only when there
is hunger. The most important point in the
treatment of a dyspeptic is that hungerless eating
should be carefully avoided. It would have been
better if the treatment had begun with a short fast
of two or three days. A programe similar to the one
detailed below will be suitable in a case like this
which was an acute phase of dyspepsia with
a chronic background of ill-health.

Fast completely on the first day, taking water
(warm or cold as desired) only. At the beginning
of the treatment have two enemas, one "warm and
the other cold. A third cold water enema may be
taken before retiring to bed in the night. In th,e
early morning apply a stimulating wet-bandage; in'
the afternoon a cooling wet-bandage. Break the
fast next day with a glass of tender cocoanut
water, diluted fruit juice (1:1), or vegetable soup.
Cocoanut water has. been found to be ideal for
digestive disorders; .it may be taken about four to
five times in the day. The bowles should always be
kept clean, if necessary, by the use of an enema or

65

two. TLa same pl-an may be continued on the third
and fourth days also. On the fifth day some cooked
vegetables, a cup of milk (or a glass of buttermilk)
and some bananas may be included (see pp. 52—3).
An alternative procedure will be as follows :

8 a.m. Tender cocoanut water.

11 a.m. The tender kernel of two or three tender
cocoanuts and some ripe tomatoes (£ lb.)

3 p.m. Tender cocoanut water.

7 p.m. S oz. of milk (fresh, raw cow's milk) and
3 medium-sized bananas, or an equivalent
quantity of Papaya.

The above mentioned plan is specially suited to
dyspeptics because of its simplicity. This plan or
some thing similar to this is generally prescribed to
dyspeptics in Sanaa's Naturopathic Sanatorium
Pudukkottai, once they have passed the acute phase.
After following such a plan for about a week, the
patient may, (if the improvement in his condition
warrants it) change over to a diet, the same as, or
similar to the one suggested on page 53 (II) or (III).

In all cases of anaemic indigestion, sun-baths
should not be omitted. In winter the best time for
sun-baths is between 9 and 11a.m.; in summer
between 8 and 10 a.m. Tie a wet bandage round
the head; keep the head in the shade and expose
the rest of the body to the sun, under the covering
of a green leaf. This bath may be given every
alternate day; in the initial stages, the bath may
not exceed a duration of ten minutes; but later the
the period of exposure may be gradually increased,
in about ten days, to half an hour or forty-five
minutes. Sun-bath under green leaf covering has
an additionahadvantage in that it is a mild substitute
for a steam bath.

A CASE OF DUODENAL ULCER

The case under reference was treated in
Sarma's Naturopathic Sanatorium, Pudukkottai.
The patient was aged 55 years and the disease was
a long-standing one; twelve years of allopathic
bungling had reduced him to a state of despair. In
the early stages/ severe pain would be felt some
time after eating; the pain would be relieved by
more eating. Allopathic doctors who treated him
diagnosed it as a case of duodenal ulcer- A course
of milk-diet gave him only temporary relief. At the
time he was admitted into my father's Sanatorium/
he was complaining of severe pain in the stomach
almost all the time; often he suffered from severe
head ache. The treatment lasted six weeks/ by
which time no trace of the disease was left- Apart
from local, Water-Cure applications to relieve pain,
the main part of the treatment, especially In the
initial stages, was a diet of cocoanut water. For the
first ten days he took nothing but the water of
tender cecoanuts, (the tender kernel was not taken)
about six glasses in a day. Afterwards for a few
days he was eating besides, the tender kernel of
two cocoanuts in the evening. Later he changed
over to a diet of tender cocoanuts, ripe tomatoes,
green leafy vegetables, a small glass of milk and
bananas.

, The point to be noted here is that the diet was
increased only after the condition of the patient
improved.

NEURASTHENIA

In all cases of chronic indigestion, or dyspepsia,
the brain and the 'nervous- system of the whole
body is abnormal in some degree; this abnormality
ife mainly due to the poisoning effect of the toxins
formed as a result of indigestion and gohstlpatibh<

67

and may partly also be due to malnutrition arising
trom indigestion. Neither food nor medicine can
restore vital vigour to these vital organs. That is why
allopathy woefully fails in all cases of dyspepsia.

There is one medicine which can restore vital
vigour to the nerves and that is Life itself. Life is
not something which can be bought in the market
in beautifully sealed bottles; it is in us. All we can
do is to remove the impediments which prevent
Life from doing its work ; we can cleanse the body ;
we can also shut out all channels of vital waste and
economise Life. Indeed Nature-Cure aims at doing
only these things and no more. Vital Economy
and Positive Diet, these two things sum up the
whole of Nature-Cure.

But when dyspepsia is treated medically to the
very end, the nervous affection becomes serious,
and then the disease is given the high-sounding
name. Neurasthenia■ An honest medical authority
defined neurasthenia as follows : When a patient
comes to you with a long tale of woe, and after
examining him thoroughly, you find there is noth¬
ing wrong with any of his organs, particularly ,
then you can say he is suffering from neurasthenia.

Probably because they do not want to face the
fact that neurasthenia is, more often than not, the
result of medical bungling in the treatment of
dyspepsia, medical men try to make it out that
neurasthenia is not a disease of the body, but of the
mind. In a case reported by my father in his Cons¬
tipation and Dyspepsia , a neurasthenic patient
under medical treatment "took generous rations
of highly nourishing foods, but this had no effect
upon his disease, and when he complained of this
went of improvement, he was told that as his

68

weight had increased he must have been cured and
that he was only imagining disease/' Imaginary
indeed! If the patient gets " a feeling of sudden
stiffness" and becomes " unable to walk when
passing along the road," is it an imaginary disease?
The heavy eating has clogged the nerves and other
tissues to such an extent, that the muscles of loco¬
motion suddenly fail sometimes. This is not the
way to cure diseases of the digestive organs.

It is nonsense to say that dyspepsia and neuras¬
thenia are imaginary disease, and advise the patient
to imagine himself healthy, as a means of getting
well. " The honest doctor is one who freely con¬
fesses that these disease conditions are beyond the
power of medical science to cure, or even to relieve,
without, in the end, making the patient worse than
ever before."

A TYPICAL CASE OF NEURASTHENIA

The. patient in this case was my father, treated
by himself. He began life with a heavy inheritance
of the seeds of disease; constipation, piles, fistula
of the anus, dyspepsia and their kin were among
the best known ailments in the family. The up¬
bringing was, as my father himself puts it,, anything
but right. It is not necessary here to trace the
whole history of his progress in ill-health, because
he has given it in detail in his " Practical Nature-
Cure." I shall content myself with describing {in
his own words) the state of his body and mind at
the time he sought refuge in Nature in the year 19.12
(he was then aged thirty-three ) and his health ward
progress under Nature-Cure.

" The nerves and skin had by this time completely
Jgst all powers of adjustment to the climate; sunimer

69

and 'vinter were alike trying; very heavy woollen
clothing had to be worn nearly all through the year,
the feet had to be encased in two pairs of thick
woollen socks inside the shoes. Almost every year
there was a chronic cough which lasted till summer.
This interfered very greatly with sleep, as the
coughing fit usually began about bed-time and went
on till about three in the morning.

" But the worst part of the trouble was intangible,
being wholly mental; spells of melancholy and
despair were very frequent and each spell lasted
long; sleep would often be cut short by nightmares
or fearsome dreams; thoughts of suicide were haunt¬
ing the mind; it was felt that at any time a suicidal
mania might arise and overpower the mind; hence
the sufferer had to give a wide berth to wells in
lonely spaces and to railway lines when trains might
be coining. The memory was weakened; the
power of attention was also declining; it was next
to impossible to listen to clients' accounts of their
law cases, or two think coherently in the course of
business. The author (Sri K. Lakshman ) had nouri¬
shed the hope of winning fame as an author from
his boyhood—a hope, which had been encouraged
by many circumstances; but the rising tide of
dyspepsia soon quenched it utterely. There was
only one hope—from death, the friend of the hope¬
lessly afflicted; to retire to a lonely place outside
the town, and sit there, meditating on death and
the after-life, was a pleasant occupation.

" The doctors said that there was no disease
and that it was all imaginary; but that was because
they did not know the right means of cure; they
were foolish enough to say' that the sufferer had
only to imagine himself cured in order to be quite
healthy. Perhaps they got this notion fom Emile
Coue, the advocate of auto-suggestion.

70

" In the beginning of IS 13 the message of Louis
Kuhne was again preached to the author, and this
time it was accepted, though without hope ; a copy
of Kuhne's book was purchased and gone through.
The book proved to be a revelation.

" The author (Sri K. Lakshman) thoroughly
enjoyed the reading of Kuhne's book; it shed
light on many of the dark places of medical science,
and explained why the author had failed to find
a cure so long. But the enjoyment was purely
impersonal. The reason was that in that book
there was no message of hope for the author
himself; Kuhne made it plain that when the foreign
matter was deposited chiefly on the back side—so
as to involve the nervous system and if the encum¬
brance had passed on to the third stage—the stage
of emaciation—there is no hope of cure; at the
most there can be some alleviation. This was
exactly the author's (Sri K. Lakshman's) condition.

"But by this time the author had ceased to
cate for life ; it was not necessary for him to hope
for cure, in order to accept the new system. It
was clear now to the author that allopathy is an evil
thing, to be renounced, at once. Other systems
such as exercise, breathing and auto-suggestion
had been tried, and found to be useless Dr imprac¬
ticable ; but while life should last,, some palliative
treatment would be craved, and for this purpose
Kuhne's diet-and-bath-system was the best possible.
There was the hope however that life might be
prolonged so as to enable the author to verify the
teachings of Kuhne,—so that his gospel of health
might be carried to other sufferers. So the authoi
took a .vow renouncing allopathy, and resigning his
pase utterly to -Nature, without hope, and yet
Vrjthout fear.

71

" The principal meal of the day was taken at
about 10 a.m. ; this was a mistake ; for after the
meal the author had to go to his work at Court ;
but it did not do any great harm because there was
little work to be got through at Court except occa¬
sionally : when this happened, the author sometimes
varied the plan, postponing the meal till after his
return from Court. The meal generally comprised
rice and conservatively cooked vegetables mixed
and eaten as one course: sauces, pickles and butter¬
milk were, for many years, given up entirely; the
vegetables too were taken almost plain, that is, with
only a little salt. The morning coffee was renounced;
but in its place a cup of raw milk was taken without
sugar; this too was given up on reading Dr. Dewey's
book on the No-Breakfast-Plan. Once a six days' fast
was gone through ; but afterwards there was no
fasting except during actual illness or prostration.

" Kuhne's baths were at first taken more or less
regularly; there were two baths a day; Kuhne's size-
bath was found to be unpleasant, because both
hands had to be in the cold water all the time, and
the cirulation of the blood was too weak for a quick
recovery. In course of time the author devised the
Spinal Bath, the Piece-meal Cold Bath and other
new methods. The use of enemas was also adopted
and boldly experimented with, these experiments
led to the discovery of the non-violent, the tonic and
the combined enemas. Once in treating a patient,
the wet cloth cooling application was discovered.
Another time an onset of cough at bed-time led to
the invention of the thrgat-cooling device which is
the surest method of temporarily relieving cough,
however Violent. Experiments in hot baths were
fearlessly made; there was, in those days a great
craving for warm baths, and this craving was res¬
pected, notwithstanding grave warnings culled from

72

books and sent by a kind friend ; it was found that
there is rpore good than harm in hot baths and that
it is possible to escape the harm.

" Curative crises such as fevers, eczema, boils,
dysentry and the like occured from time to time ;
but Kuhne's teaching on this point—the inevitable¬
ness and goodness of acute crises—was so well
assimilated that they caused no fear, nor any incli¬
nation to go back to the doctors. In six months the
author was thoroughly convinced of the utter sound¬
ness of Nature-Cure and the utter badness of
allopathy.

" The gains in health were slow in coming;
often it seemed that the vital powers were exhausted ;
but a few days' rest and fasting were enough to
dispel the weakness and restore health. Journeys
by rail from end to end of the country became
possible. Besides, the greatest extremes of climate
and weather became tolerable. The cold air of the
open became a well-beloved friend; it became
impossible to breathe the tainted air in houses.

" On many occasions, but at great intervals,
the health seemed to breakdown utterly but was
more or less guickly restored by low dieting, sun¬
baths and other baths. On one occasion,^ however,
the breakdown was very severe. To get over it the
author began to subsist on water of tender cOcoanuts
alone and continued this plan for a fortnight. After¬
wards he changed to a diet of raw milk and ripe
bananas. He continued on this plan for six months
intending thereby to allow the constitution to
recuperate. The result was, for many years after¬
wards there were no breakdowns of health.

, " The most remarkable thing however was the
return of the lost faculties of mind-"

TREATING THE CHRONIC

Chronic disease does r.ot develop all of
a sudden ; Its development is a slow process, being
the result cf '/ears of wrong living- (Of course
I make due allowance for the fact, that if medical
.people make up their minds they, can make you
a confirmed chronic within a week by heavy
drugging/' A disease which develops slowly cannot
be eradicated in a day ; it will take atleast a frac¬
tion. of the time it took to develop. It may be a
matter of a few months ; it may even be a few years.
In some cases a complete cure may be out of
Question; vitality might have been so far lowered
that very little may be left for effecting a cure, or
the disease might have led to some structural weak¬
nesses which can only be partially made up. My
father's case was one such. He has not been
cured completely. But almost all the time he gets
on as though the disease has been completely
.eradicated. At the age of seventy he is infinitely
more alert and active, both physically and mentally,
than he was thirty-five years ago under the benign
care of doctors and drugs. Once in several years,
.She gets a relapse of his old complaints in some
,fbrm or other, when he fasts or takes to a very Ipw
.diet, and the trouble subsides within a few days, or
. weeks. The fact is that his inherited and accumula¬
ted load of filth is too heavy to be throwp. out in
.one effort. So Life makes a series'of such efforts,

. with a sufficient interval in-between to allow for
recuperation. Yes, he has surrendered ' himself,
entirely, to Nature; he obeys Her dictates, and She
looks to the rest. He is not alone in this self¬
surrender ; there are thousands like him all the
world over; there sire hundreds iri> this country and
also abroad who have come to this way either
10

74

through personal contact with him, or through his
writings. Not one of them has had an occasion
to regret having taken such a step.

I said, the cure will be a slow process. But the
healthward progress starts, the moment the right
treatment is adopted. Because, say, the cure takes
about a month or two, that is no cause for
running away from Nature-Cure; for Nature-Cure is
inevitable; it is the only way there is. If health was
lost through drugging and wrong living, it can be
got back only through druglessness and right
living. After all what is Nature-Cure but right living
and druglessness ?

I said, right living is the only cure there is.
But that alone is not enough. One must also make
amends for the past wrong living. If he had
over-eaten in the past, he must now fast for a few
days, or atleast for a few hours every day. If he had
been eating only disease-causing food, he must
eschew them completely and take only health-giving,
cleansing foods.

DIET FOR CHRONICS.

Foods may be divided into two classes'—primary
and secondary. Primary foods both nourish the
body and cleanse it j they are necessary both for
the preservation of health and eradication of
disease; as such they are necessary for all people,
both healthy and sick. Vegetables and fruits come
under this class. For some time at least, sick people
should be not alone vegetarians, but vegetablarians.

All grains are secondary foods; they are meant
only for the healthy. So, so long as he has not
reached a fair degree of health, a patient's diet
should consist exclusively, or almost exclusively of

75

vegetables and fruits/ to the more or less complete
exclusion of grains.

Foody if it is cooked, should be in such form as
to necessitate chewing; that is, it should not be
watery. The habit of washing down every mouthful
of food with water or some other drink is very bad.
Food must be cooked with as little water as possible;
it must be moistened with saliva in the mouth and
not with water

The habit of eating several dishes in the same
meal should be given up, because it leads to
over-eating. Every meal should consist of one dish
only. Rice and vegetables or rotis and vegetables,
will be considered as one dish.

Dyspeptics should not eat more than one
substantial meal in a day. This meal also should
be taken at such time as to allow for sufficient rest
afterwards. One substantial meal (of, say, rice and
vegetables, or rotis and vegetables), one light meal
(of, say, fruits, or vegetables, or fruits and milk,) and
one drink (of, say, fruit juice, tender cocoanut water,
or butter milk) —this should be the rule for all
dyspeptics even after they are cured.

VITAL ECONOMY

*

The body is the machine; food is the material
of which the machine is made, and also the fuel;
Life is the operator of this machine. Without the
operator the machine cannot work; without Life the
body cannot function. Life is something apart from
the material. We cannot sustain it; we can only
conserve or economise it. Vital Economy is the
economising of vitality or Life.

Food is necessary, no doubt, but it must not be
forgotten that food is also a tax on one’s vitality.

76

There are occasions when it will be wise to avoid
eating.

We can economise our vitality by avoiding
hungerless eating/ because hungerless eating is the
greatest tax ,oa our vitality. But this raises the
question, what is hunger ?

HUNGER

Hunger is the most misunderstood and the
most misrepresented phenomenon of physiology."
It is a matter of ■ common sense that hunger should
be a healthy sign ; a sign indicating the readiness
of Life to undertake the hard task of digestion cannot
be anything but a healthy one. But from descrip¬
tions of it given in standard books on physiology and
.medicine, one gathers the impression that hunger
is a condition df disease. It has been described as
a gnawing .sensation or a feeling of compression in
the* stomach. It is generally associated witE
a sense of weakness or fatigue. All these are
symptoms of disease, but certainly not of hunger.

The first point that one should bear in mind
about hunger is that it is not something felt in
a particular organ of the body, namely, the
stomach; it is not a localised sensation ; it is felt all
over the body.

The popular notion that hunger is characterised
by fatigue and fainting is sheer nonsense. Those
who have been really hungry know that it is a - very
pleasant sensation due, as ibis, to a full glow of Life;

Hunger,'ids, not ravenous appetite. A really
hungry man should,be cool, and never in any great
hurry to eat anything. - . .

■ People dread hungerthey are taught to avoid
hunger as they wouild do the plague. Such idioms as

".keeping the wolf from the door," give us an-idea
of the extent of popular misunderstanding on this
subject. Hunger is something to be welcomed. It
was a man who knew true hunger that wrote, "The
secret of always being healthy, holy and happy is to
be a little hungry most of the time." (E. Purinton.)

Let alone the allopathic and popular misunder¬
standing of hunger; so far there has been only one
text book on Nature-Cure which gives the right idea
of this important phenomenon of life.* After read¬
ing this book, a Tamil' pandit pointed out to its
author that this view, of hunger was in agreement
yrith what was given in the Holy Kural of the Tamils
as also in a commentary of the same by the ancient
author, Parimelalagar (ufilSuisoip&ir)

Lightness of body, an alert brain, a cheerful
countenance, a readiness to do work, and a desire
to eat simple, unappetising food—these are .the
correct symptoms of hunger-

Sleep gives only the strength to do work, but
not hunger, because work is the physiological justi¬
fication for eating. " By the sweat of thy brow,
thou shalt eat," says the bible.

Hunger is driven away by hard work which
leads to fatigue;. it ia also driven away by any kind,
of emotional excitement. Excessive exposure to
the hot sun is . known to kill hunger. Under such
circumstances, what one needs is rest, both fox the
body and mind, and not food. A spinal bath, or
a plunge in the cool waters of a river or tank will
revive hunger.

Before hunger is felt, digestion in the stomach
should be completed and stomach should get empty.

* Practical Natuj'eaCure, by Sri Sarma

78

It is now that the eliminative labours of life com¬
mence and proceed vigorously. Before hunger
cculd be felt, elimination should be complete, and
the body should be light. The bowels should there,
fore b^xept clean in anticipation of hunger.

There are thus several stages in the maturing
of hunger :—

1. Emptying of the stomach, indicated by the

•escape of a clean wind from the stomach,

through the mouth;

2. Clearance of the bowels;

3. A feeling of lightness of the body and an

inclination to do work;

4. Physical activity which gives a keener edge

to hunger when it is felt;

5. Rest:

6. Bath;

7. Feeling of mature hunger.

THE FOUR KINDS OF ERUCTATIONS

There are four kinds of eructations through the
mouth which we should learn to distinguish from
one another- The first one is the clean wind or
a series of clean winds which one g6ts in the
morning after getting up from bed- This is a sign
of the stomach having become empty. Dyspeptics
rarely get this more than once in a day. That is why
we advise them to take to the one-meal plan. Healthy
adults get it not oftener than twice a day, once in
the morning and again in the evening. That is why
we say that healthy adults should not eat more than
two meals in a day. When the stomach is not
empty, there can be no hunger; when there is no
hunger, there is no justification for eating.

79

The second eructation is known as the
‘ stomach 's veto.' It is had when one has eaten
just enough. At this stage, the stomach instead ot
expanding further, drives off some air inside and
makes room for the in-coming food. This wind,
unlike the first one mentioned above, is not odour¬
less, but carries with it the smell of the food being
eaten.

The third kind of eructation is the ' reminescent
wind." One gets this after one has eaten- If the
meal was as light as it should be, there may be no
such wind, or if at all, just one or two. But, after
a heavy meal, there will be a series of such winds.
As the name itself implies, these winds remind one
of the food eaten, that is, they carry with them its
odour. But it must be clearly understood that
' reminescent winds ' are by no means an indication
of indigestion ; they just indicate that the meal has
been heavy.

The fourth kind of eructation is the ' sour wind’
It is not a happy expression, but I have no other
word for it. This wind, which is a symptom of
indigestion and consequent flatulence, carries with
it a sour taste and also a foul smell. There may also
be acid risings in the throat; the wind may bring
along with it some acrid liquid. Sourness may be
due to fermentation, or due to excessive secretion
of acid from the stomach walls. In some extreme
cases where food has stagnated for more than a day
the smell may resemble the odour of the gutter, in
which case it should be due to putrefaction of
proteins.

The Gita describes the act of eating as a sacred
rite. The idea is that one should bestow as much
attention to it as a religious-minded individual is
expected to bestow on an act of sacrifice to God,

If only we bear in mind this teaching of the Gita
and avoid hungerless eating, there would be no
caiise for indigestion.

IMPORTANT RULES OF EATING

1. Eat only when you are hungry.

2. Never eat when you are tired or emotionally
upset; postphone your meal, till the condition
is changed.

3. If you take a solid meal at night, do not eat
anything in the morning, but observe the
•ho-breakfast plan.

4. If you have to be at work during day, do not.
eat the principal meal before, but after the work is
over, as else the meal will not be digested.

5. Do not eat when the mouth is dry; you are
„not hungry then.

6. Let the food foe as dry as possible.

7. Do not eat hastily; chew every morsel of
food, before swallowing.

8. Stop eating when you get the ' stomach's
veto'; you will then feel that you could take a little
more. If you overstep this mark, though there may
foe no heaviness immediately after the meal, it will
jfoe felt after about two hours. Space must always
f be left for the movements of the stomach, and also ;
for drinking some water, when needful.

9. In one meal there should be only one course
or one dish. If you eat grains, let there be only one
.kind of grain. Even in vegetables and fruits it is 1
-.better to restrict oneself to one kind only ; different
kinds of thorn may be eaten at different times.

81

10. Let not your food be highly seasoned with
salty chillies and sour articles like tamarind/ so as
to be appetising and thus inducing over-eaiting,
let your food be un-stimulating to ihe sense of taste
as Kuhne says.

11. Avoid the following articles: spices and
condiments/ stimulants like tea and coffee, fried
foods, preserved foods, biscuits (market), pepper¬
mints and chocolates. Eat very sparingly and that
too only occasionally of high protein foods, like
pulses and grams.

12. Eat only one substantial meal in the day; the
other, if eaten, should be a light one even if you are
hungry for it; it should be light both in quantity
and quality.

A GENERAL LINE OF TREATMENT FOR
THE CHRONIC

As has been pointed out already, there are two
phases of chronic indigestion:

1. Acute phase.

2. Chronic phase.

The two phases generally appear alternately till the
disease is radically cured. The acute phase will not
continue for more than a few days; rarely it may
last for a few weeks. A single, uninterrupted
chronic phase may last for a few weeks, months or
even years. The treatment will vary according to
the phase of the disease.

In the acute phase the disease will be patent
and severe; in the chronic phase it will be latent
and mild. In the acute phase digestion may come
to a standstill or become very weak; in the chronic,
phase digestion will go to completion if the individual
observes the rules of eating enumerated earlier.
As the disease is being cured, the chronic phase
will become longer and milder—often so mild that.

82

for all practical purposes/ the disease may be
considered to have been cured completely.

Treatment in the acute phase should begin with
a fast or at least an approach to a fast for a period
of three days to a week. Tender cocoanut water/
diluted fruit juice, or thin vegetable soup taken
about .two to four times in a day will constitute
an approach to a fast. After the fast, pass on to
an exclusive diet of vegetables and/or fruits for
another week or so. As the condition improves,
slowly increase the ration and come to the one-
substantial-meal-a-day plan and stick to it till the
disease is cured, or till another acute phase of the
disease comes up, when again, you must resort to
a fast. This time the fast may be of a shorter
duration, say, one to three days.

If the disease is in the chronic phase, start on
the one-substantial-meal-a-day plan and stick to it
till you are cured or till an acute phase comes up.

I do not advise a long fast for anybody. Apart
from the fact that a long fast needs the attendance
of an expert, it is questionable whether a long fast
will do good to all chronic sufferers; it may even
do harm to some.

The kind of fast which will do immense good to
all people, both healthy and sick, is th e Instalmental
Fast. The instalmental fast, is a series of short fasts
with longer intervals of reformed dieting along lines
indicated earlier. This instalmental fast is of two
lands:

1. Fasting for a few hours every day;

2. Fasting for a few days every month.

Of these'two, the first is the more important, and is
provided for in the reformed dieting itself. . The
second one will be very helpful in hastening the
cure.

83

During a fast/ keep your bowels clean by means
of an enema or two. The benefit of the fast is then
greater than otherwise. Keep cheerful. Take to
meditation, if you are so inclined. Do not exert
yourself; but conserve your vitality for the task at
hand, namely cleansing of the body. Be careful in
breaking the fast. Do not rush to make up for what
you have not eaten so far. I have already explained
how to break a fast. If the fast is a one-day one
-you must take one day to come to your normal food,
that is you must take normal food only the day after.

OTHER AIDS TO TREATMENT.

(!) SELF-MASSAGE*

Though everyone knows that massage does
-some good, few are aware that quite good results
■can be obtained with Self-Massage. The stomach
is a deep-seated organ in the abdominal cavity and
hence it will not be possible to influence it through
self-massage. But, as either constipation, or its
opposite, a too relaxed condition of the bowels,
nearly always accompanies indigestion, intelligently
applied Self-massage of the abdomen does yield
good results. Obviously, if we car. help the small
and large intestines to do their work more
thoroughly and well, then we can at the same time
greatly help the digestive system generally.

The self-massage movements given below are
-quite easy to learn and perform. They should all
be done whilst lying on your back, with knees well-
drawn up towards your body, bladder emptied and
the body quite limp and relaxed. All sudden digs,
.jerky movements and the like should be avoided.
Try and get a smooth, even, yet deep and searching
action over the whole of the abdomen.

* Adapted from Milton Powell's " How to Cure Indigestion
<md Stomach Troubles "

84

1. Lay the palm of your right hand over your
right groin. Now whilst exerting firm pressure,
bring it upwards as far as the lower ribs on your
right side; then continue the stroke across the naval
to the left lower ribs, and then down into your left
groin. That is one complete circular stroke. You
are now in a position to begin a second, similar
stroking movement. Repeat 20 to 30 times. The
stroking should not be a mere glide over the skin.
Sufficient pressure should be used to influence the
organs deep under the skin, i.e., the abdominal
muscles and the large intestines.

2. With your two fists knead up and down the
central part of your abdomen. Press each fist well
in, alternately, not together. Steady, not sudden,
pressure should be applied. This movement is not
unlike the kneading of dough.

3. Clench your right fist, not too tightly.
Pointing the bent fingers inwards you, place them
in the right groin. Now with a sort of continuous
" cork-screw" movement work your bent fingers
deeply into the right groin and move your hand
slowly upwards as far as the lower right ribs ; then
across the naval to the left side, then down into the
left groin. This movement [like (1) above] follows
the course of the ascending, transverse and
descending colon. Reference to the anatomical
^diagram will soon familiarise you with the course
indicated.

4. Over the pit of the stomach (just immediately
above the naval) give 20 to 30 gentle pats with your
flat hands, alternately,

. Finish .with a few more circular strokinds
;{*»&. in (1).,

SARVANGA ASANA

HALASANA-Final Stag©

HALASANA - Stage I

HALASANA - Stage 1

PASCHIMOTTANASANA

mujangasana

DHANURASANA

EXERCISE AS AID

Some yogic asanas are illustrated below, which
will be an invaluable aid in restoring the tone of the
abdominal muscles and thus improving digestion
and will also to some extent relieve constipation.
It should not be supposed that these exercises or
any other systems of exercise will, by themselves,
have great value except in the case of young people
and in the very initial stages of indigestion. But
even in such cases there is a snare. INDIGESTION
OR ANY OTHER KIND OF BODILY OR MENTAL
INDISPOSITION IS THE EFFECT OF SOME
MISTAKES. ANY KIND OF REMEDY WHICH
DOES NOT INVOLVE A CORRECTION OF THESE
MISTAKES 'IS NO REMEDY AT ALL. ANY RELIEF
OBTAINED BY SUCH MEASURES' WILL ONLY"
BE TEMPORARY; INDEED, THE FACT THAT
SOME TEMPORARY RELIEF IS OBTAINED,
MAKES THE POSITION WORSE, BECAUSE THE
SUFFERER WILL FAIL TO TAKE NOTE OF
HIS MISTAKES AND WILL NOT CORRECT
HIMSELF.

In so far as lack of exercise itself may be one of
the contributory causes of indigestion, exercise
should form part of Nature-Cure. *

Yogasanas are of value to a sufferer from
digestive disorders only as part of a comprehensive
Nature-Cure treatment, which in essence is only
making amends for past sins and reforming one's
ways of life.

SARVA.NGA ASANA

Lie flat on the ground, legs stretched without
bending at the knees, feet also stretched, and arms
on the ground with’ the palms facing, the ground.

80

Now raise the legs slowly and steadily/ without any
jerky movement, the palms firmly pressing against
the ground; the legs should be kept fully stretched
and the head should not be raised from the ground.
Then raise the hip, and then the spine slowly.
(It is very important that there should be no jerky
movements in doing either this asana or any of the
succeeding ones.) Support the back with the hands
as shown in the picture, and bring the trunk and
legs to a vertical position. Remain steady in this
position for a few minutes, or as long as you can
without much strain, and come back to the starting
point steadily and slowly, passing through in the
reverse order through all the stages described
above. Relax yourself completely * and get ready
for the next pose.

. HALASANA

This is the plough pose. The intial stages are
the same as for the Sarvanga Asana, but instead of
keeping the legs vertical you take them backward
beyond the head and touch the ground with the
toes. The arms may be either kept stretched or
interlocked round the head. All movements should
be slow end steady; no jerks. The return to the
starting position should also be slow and steady.
Relax fully at the end as before.

PASCHIMOTTAN ASANA
lie flat pn the back with arms stretched out
behfnd the head, and .legs straight. Rise slowly,
the head and arms being raised together simulta¬
neously; the legs should not be raised, nor should
the knees be bent. Bend forward, slowly, catch
the toes with the hands, dip the head in between
the arms and try to touch the knees with ;the hose.

. * The relaxation pose is calle4 Sav«s?na. Here -ail tfce

muec&M ore.fuUy , v 1 , /' |

87

Stay for a minute and come back to the starting
position slowly and relax.

In this asana or in any of the succeeding or preceding
asanas , it may not be possible for the novice to attam the
findl pose even with considerable strain* Don't use force,
nor seek the help of an assistant to apply pressure and
make you bend . Proceed as far as you can with bearable
strain . But be slow and steady * What does you good
is the effort to attain the final pose and not the final
pose itself

BHUJANGASANA

Lie fiat on your face/ legs and feet stretched
and arms bent and kept by the side of the trunk/
with palms on the ground as shown in the picture.
Raise the head and bend the spine backward till
the arms are fully stretched. Here the trunk should
be raised mainly with the strength of the spine> not
of the arms. Raise the chin till the neck is fully
stretched. Come back to the starting position
slowly and relax.

SALABHASANA

Lie flat on your face/ arms lying along the
trunk with palms pressed against the ground and
legs fully stretched. Now pressing the palms firmly
against th'e ground/ raise the legs slowly as high as
possible, without bending the knees. Keep them
up for as many seconds as possible and slowly bring
them down. Relax.

DHANURASANA

Lie flat on your face/ knees bent / and catch
hold of the feet with the hands. Raise the head
and legs also by pulling up the feet with the hands.
In the final pose the whole body is bent like a bow,
the belly alone resting on the ground. Come back
to rest slowly, and relax.

THE NEED FOR WORK

The yogic poses described above are a great
. aid in restoring the tone of the digestive organs
■and strengthening the abdominal muscles which
support the digestive organs. They may also help
in correcting deformations and displacements.
Any number of rhythmic exercises can be devised
on the basis of these yogic poses to suit patients in
different conditions.

Apart from these yogic asanaj, a certain
amount of physical work may also be necessary.
Work is the physiological justification for eating, as
the. author of Practical Nature-Cure puts it, though
it is true that an excess of physical exertion will
be a tax on one's vitality.. Before eating, one should
create the need for food by work. That is perhaps
the meaning of the biblical saying : By the nvjeat of
thy brov) thou shalt eat. When such a need for food
is not created; keen hunger fails to make its appea¬
rance and digestion weakens.

But for creating this need for food, specialised
systems of exercise are not needed. Indeed it will
be far better to engage in some kind of fruitful
activity. Productive work always brings -a sense of
satisfaction. Gardening, for instance, is an ideal
work. • Besides having the satisfaction of producing
something ’ good, • one has the unique experience
of living amidst things which live, 'grow and are
colourful, which will impart a little at least of their
liveliness and colour to one's own life. 1

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