Nutrition And The Hair

Lesson 63 - Nutrition and the Hair

Introduction

Just the other day, while driving across Tucson, we were listening to the comments of Dr. Tony Grant, Ph.D., a well-known psychologist. Dr. Grant remarked that she often gets quite disturbed because medical doctors so often try to advise their patients on matters that rightfully should be referred to a trained psychologist. She went on to say that medical doctors receive little or no training in psychology and that, therefore, they are really not competent to offer advice in that very specialized discipline.

We Hygienists have that complaint, too. Medical doctors, as a group, have little or no training in nutrition. They know nothing of the real nature of disease, nor of how to activate the powerful healing forces resident within the living body. In fact, they have an untrue and totally unscientific foundation for their whole methodology.

In the treatment of diseases of the hair and scalp, we feel especially frustrated because, as a group, persons experiencing diseases in these areas are often subjected to years of senseless tinkering at great expense without any improvement in health of either the localized disorder or within the total body structure. On the other hand, when these same patients are once introduced to the principles of Natural Hygiene and begin faithfully to apply them in their own lives, they often are amazed to find healing taking place, often within a very few weeks.

All persons are much aware of how important it is to possess a fine head of healthy hair. An abundant crop of hair possessing body and sheen is a mark of health and beauty which sets members of both sexes and both the old and the young apart from the crowd. In this lesson we will learn the beauty secrets of the ages. We will learn how to care for the hair the only truly scientific way, the Hygienic way.

Structure Of The Hair

All mammals possess hair of some kind. Like the nails and the many sudoriferous (sweat) and sebaceous (oil-secreting) glands, the hair is considered to be an appendage of the skin (something which is considered a proper part of a greater whole). Some animals have smooth hair, some stiff bristle-like outgrowths; still others, pointed spines.

Individual hairs are composed chiefly of a rather horny substance, a sclero-protein, a simple protein known as keratin. The amino acids of which keratin is composed are strung together in a more or less straight line, one after another. These lines of amino acids are called polypeptides. Keratin is a fibrous protein and fibrous proteins are strong, sturdy, and tough. This same kind of protein is also found in the fingernails and toenails.

In humans the hair consists of a cylinder 1/400th inch in diameter. At the base of the cylinder, which consists of a shaft and a point, there is a “root” which is embedded in the skin in a kind of pouch-like depression called the hair follicle. Beneath this depression is the papilla, a kind of nipple which fosters the hair and builds new hair cells. The papilla might be called the “connecting link” between the hair, the blood, and the nerves which service it.

The shaft or outer part is pithy (called medullary substance). It is surrounded by a fibrous part containing pigment and this portion is, in turn, covered by a layer of epithelium scaly cells. Near the point, the pith begins to taper off to form the penetrating point of the hair shaft.

In humans the hair begins to develop in the fetal period. By the sixth month, the tiny fetus is literally covered with fine hair which is termed the lanugo. Following birth, the lanugo is rapidly shed and is replaced by hair in all the familiar places and in rather precise forms: coarse hair over the cranium and eyebrows and fine, downy-like hair over the rest of the body, the latter often being so fine as to be almost invisible to the naked eye:

At puberty certain changes are evidenced. Coarse hair begins to develop in the armpits and over the pubic or groin area in both males and females. In males the hair begins to grow more coarse over the upper lip and about the lower portion of the face and, if unshaved, quickly forms a beard.

The rate of growth of the hair varies according to age, health of the individual, and the length of the hair. When hair is cut short, for example, it can grow as much as 3/4ths of an inch and even more in a month but by the time it is 12 inches in length, its rate of growth can be reduced by as much as one-half, all other things being equal, of course.

The hair of young people grows faster than that of older people, with the fastest growth being found in women, especially from 16 to 24 years of age, this latter age being about the time when most humans are said to reach full maturity.

The type of follicle determines the identifying characteristics of the hair in different races. The black woolly hair of Blacks, Papuans, and Melanesians grows from a curved follicle which imparts a spiral twist to the hair. This kind of hair growth appears flat or tape-like when cross-sectioned and viewed microscopically.

The characteristic straight, coarse, long, and almost always black hair of the Chinese, Japanese, Eskimo, and American Indian grows from a straight follicle and this type of hair is round in cross section and possesses a plainly visible pithy center.

The hair of other group types, including those of European ancestry, is often wavy and somewhat intermediate in texture between the straight and woolly types. This latter kind of hair also grows from a straight follicle, but it is oval in cross section, this shape giving it a greater or lesser tendency to curl.

Variations in pigmentation among this last group causes the hair to exhibit a wide range of color from light blonde to various shades of red to black.

Hair grows on the human body where protection is needed. It serves to protect the head area where is housed the control center for all metabolic activity within the entire organic community. It protects the individual from the heat of the sun and from the cold of nights and frigid winters. Body hair helps to retain the heat of the body. When located in ingress passageways as, for example, in the nose and ears, the hair prevents the entrance of foreign matter into the nose, lungs, ears, and other possibly accessible parts.

The hair on the head helps to preserve the brain and nerve centers from shocks, injuries, and irritation from harmful external influences; from blows, for instance. The hair is an organ of touch. It is extremely sensitive and responds quickly to danger. Hair has been observed to stand on end from fear, anger, or when the head has been dealt a blow.

Extremes of heat are believed to induce more rapid growth of the hair than moderate temperatures. This may be due to a kind of incubating effect.

Dr. St. Louis A. Estes, in his book Raw Food and Health, gives the following analysis of hair substance:

Carbon 50%

Oxygen 20.85%

Hydrogen 6.36%

Nitrogen 17.14%

Sulphur 5%

and goes on to point out that blonde hair contains lesser amounts of carbon and hydrogen and greater amounts of oxygen and sulphur.

Brown hair, on the other hand, has more carbon and a small amount of oxygen and sulphur, interestingly enough white hair contains high quantities of calcium phosphate. In white hair the pigment ratio is reduced and the pigment replaced by tiny air bubbles.

Some Common Disorders

Disorders of the shaft or follicle can cause either of two extremes: abnormal growth of the hair or abnormal or premature falling out of the hair. The latter is often incorrectly, we believe, attributed to the aging process and should, more properly, be attributed to a failure to nourish and take care of the hair.

Sometimes fungi which imbed themselves in and around the mouth of the follicle, can give rise to a variety of hair diseases. Small crusts can form which slough off; or lesions, as in ringworm, can develop and become annoying and very itchy.

Minute insects and mites can take up residence, not only in the hair on the scalp, but also in pubic hair.

Dull or dry hair can be caused by malnutrition, but also by physical or chemical agents. Chemicals used in permanent waving, or in many shampoos and lotions, especially those which contain alcohol or free alkalies, can cause these conditions and can also give rise to itchy rashes and pimples, some even with pus. Alcohol is an offensive agent to all skin surfaces. It can penetrate the outer membranes of the cells very easily and destroy them.

When the body becomes excessively hairy, it is often, but not always a response to a need for protection from the elements. Carl H. typifies the latter. Carl loved the outdoor life. Years of playing, scantily attired, in and around the waters of the Pacific Ocean at all seasons and for hours on end had caused abnormal hair growth all over Carl’s body. The hair on his chest was fully four to six inches long and as much as two inches on his legs and thighs. Carl, now approaching sixty years of age, has so much hair on his body that he finds it most uncomfortable to stay indoors even in the cold of winter and rarely feels the need to wear any clothing except for a pair of scanty shorts. In fact, he is visibly uncomfortable if required to put on a light cotton shirt!

In a few cases excessive hair growth has been traced to a tumor on an adrenal gland or to some malfunctioning of another of the endocrine glands, specifically, the pituitary, the thyroid and/or the ovary. However, medical researchers tend to leave the problem solving there without tracing the actual cause of such malfunctioning: namely, a toxic condition of the body.

Baldness

It would appear that young men are increasingly bald. Few males seem to reach maturity without some hair loss. In fact, implants and the fitting of toupees is a growing and lucrative business and appears to be a phenomenon of our times. A normal head of hair, thick and luxurious, is indicative of a sound body. The appearance of baldness is believed to be indicative of systemic deterioration being manifested in the cranial area.

Just as clinical study of most individuals suffering from major chronic (vertical) diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and cancer, reveals a past history of evolving pathology which begins with acute afflictions characteristic of the very young and ends in progressive chronicity, so does a general decline in the appearance of the hair seem to reveal a similar developing pathology.

Among the more common signs of a progressively serious hair and scalp pathology we can include the following:

1. Persistent dryness of the hair and scalp.
2. Dandruff.
3. Scaling.
4. Tenderness to the touch in certain areas.
5. Itchiness.
6. Falling hair with increasing thinning of the hair.
7. Receding hair line.
8. Abaldspotappearingonthetopoftheheadinalimitedarea(Stedman’sMedicalDictionary lists over 20 different types of baldness according to precise location and/or its suspected origin.) Alopecia is a general term with prefix or suffix being attached for a more precise identification as, for example, alopecia liminaris frontalis, which identifies a loss of hair restricted to the hair line, a condition most commonly seen in members of the black race; or alopecia universalis, or total baldness.
9. Excessive oiliness.
10. Discoloration of the hair; streaking, etc.
11. Small bumps or concretions.

Dryness and dandruff appear to be early symptoms of more serious trouble ahead. Itching, of course, provokes excessive scratching with the possible wounding of follicles. Bad combs, brushes made of synthetic fibers, teasing of the hair, burning with caustics and chemicals—all can cause gradual and even permanent hair loss by damaging the hair roots beyond repair.

Some fifteen years ago Dr. Elizabeth’s hair was perfectly straight and very coarse. She decided to have a permanent wave. The beauty operator failed to apply a neutralizing agent to counter the chemicals used in the waving lotion. On the following day, her scalp was covered with a fiery red rash which extended into the ears and down the back of her neck. The hair itself was curled so tightly that it seemed to consist of tiny reddish gray corkscrews! Her condition became so serious that it eventually ended up in the courts with a settlement after considerable testimony offered by the attending physician to the effect that Elizabeth’s hair and scalp condition was due to the chemical action of the waving lotions.

As a result of this abuse the hair in the front part of the (head became very thin and a tiny bald spot appeared on the top of the head. It is interesting in this discussion to note, however, that hair has regrown to a remarkable extent in this area and the bald spot is no longer there due, without a doubt, to the fact that the hair cells were not permanently destroyed.

It is interesting to note, too, that during the intervening years during which time Elizabeth’s health and general vitality have grown enormously due to incorporating the principles of Natural Hygiene into our living and eating practices, her new crop of hair has changed from its former coarse, bristle-like, straight texture to a much finer texture and it is also now softly curly. Dr. Elizabeth no longer bothers patronizing expensive beauty shops except for an occasional haircut!

We have observed one other case where almost straight hair has become so much more curly and changed in texture that it has attracted the comments of friends and associates. This woman is an athletic instructor in an elementary school. She keeps her hair cut quite short since she has to take frequent showers because of the nature of her work.

After a year or so following a greatly-improved dietary intake, her hair is noticeably improved in texture and possesses a lovely natural curl.

Persons who lose their hair, however, more often than not exhibit a past history of catarrhal troubles, nervousness, diseases of other areas of the skin. Their past medical history often shows that they experienced many of the common childhood diseases; some have venereal diseases. Then there are others who may have suffered blows and bruises during childhood. For example, the cuffing of children on the side of the head may lead to baldness in later life. Many participate during the formative teen years in such physical contact sports as football where multiple blows are often sustained.

Dyes, bleaches, excessive shampooing with soaps, the application of chemical poisons in the form of salves, tonics, and various cure-alls advertised for dandruff and itchy scalp—all can be factors leading to falling out of the hair and baldness.

Certain drugs, for example, those used in chemotherapy, especially drugs containing mercury and iodine and most particularly cytoxan (cyclophosphamide) commonly used to treat lymphomas and certain types of leukemia, lead to hair loss, often to complete baldness. Many of these are capable of membrane simple diffusion or can be actively transported to cause cell death. Interestingly, too, is the fact that cytoxan and some of the other drugs also cause nausea, malfunctioning of the liver and drastic reduction in the number of leucocytes (hypoleucocytosis—the loss of white blood cells).

And yet, the vast majority of people, like little lambs following the bellweather lamb to the slaughter, just apply the most widely and glamorously advertised lotions and creams to their hair and scalp and pop all manner of poison pills like children popping “M and M’s,” and never question their effectiveness or suspect the dangers that may lie waiting in the wings.

It appears that most people who suffer from chronic diseases of the hair and scalp have been constipated for years and, more often than not, the solid-fluid ratio within the body has become deranged to the extent that their bodies lack suppleness and flexibility and the body channel routes have become clogged with abnormal amounts of solid debris accumulated through wrong living and eating habits to such an extent that the circulatory powers of the body have been greatly curtailed. Obviously, such systemic deterioration does not occur overnight. It is one that takes time; such conditions are, no doubt, like all chronic diseases, years in the making.

Normal sexual activity stimulates the flow of the sebaceous glands of the scalp. It is possible that overstimulation of these glands, however, causes them, in lime, to produce less and may exhaust the vitality of the hair itself.

Wounds, burns, and excessive heat which again accelerates the action of the sebaceous glands, can cause death of the hair cells and subsequent hair loss.

In all baldness that remains on-going, there has been death, death of the hair cell. As noted, hair cells can die from numerous causes, but all hair loss (barring, of course, loss from some milder external cause) can be traced, in the final analysis, to insufficient or total lack of circulation of the blood to the papilla which houses and feeds the root (the papilla is often called the “mother” of the hair since it is through this organ that the hair is fed).

Most overweight people show pronounced hair loss. People who eat a preponderance of cooked food rarely have healthy-looking hair and often exhibit thin straggly-looking hair. We have noted that persons who are heavy meat eaters quite often have very thin sickly-looking hair.

Overnutrition and the eating of cooked foods “inflate” the body and build toxic-laden adipose tissue.

Nutrients which should be directed to hair follicles do not arrive due to increased blood viscosity (thick blood), a condition which impedes the circulatory powers of the body. The body then stores the available nutrients wherever it can and they are usually used to build fatty tissue which is, in its turn, used to store uneliminated and ever-accumulating toxic debris. Excess fat, therefore, becomes a toxic vault and the possibility is

ever present that, under stress, this “vault” can open wide and throw its death-dealing contents into the mainstream to impede and destroy life.

A diseased scalp is an indication of the presence of impurities, toxic metabolites, in the bloodstream. The hair, like every other part of the body is nourished by the blood. Dr. Shelton points out that until the general health is such as to “guarantee to the hair adequate nutrition, through the blood, the hair cannot be improved.”

To keep the beauty of the hair throughout life, it must be protected from violence and it must also obtain adequate amounts of all nutrient factors day after day throughout life. For example, a lack of vitamin A in the diet may cause the hair to be coarse and ugly. It is believed also that a lack of some of the B vitamins or of iron, copper, and/or iodine may cause the hair to fall out and that lack of other vitamins, especially pantothenic acid; para-aminobenzoic acid, or PABA; and inositol, may cause the hair to gray prematurely.

Some forms of eczema of the scalp may be due to a lack of essential fatty acids in the diet. All three anti-gray hair vitamins can be produced in the intestinal tract by bacteria that normally, in healthy people, reside there. When the food intake is correct and well-adapted to human needs, there seems to be no deficiency in any of these vitamins.

It is interesting also to learn that experiments at the Good Housekeeping Institute (according to Gayelord Hauser) showed that factors other than vitamin presence also influenced graying of the hair as, for example, a low red blood cell count and other abnormalities in the blood. It is worthy of note here to observe that females more often than men complain of falling hair and many who do so have menstruated copiously for years, a condition demonstrated to be a result of unhygienic living and eating practices. Falling hair is a companion disorder to anemia. Copious menstruation, when prolonged, can result in severe anemia and many women thus afflicted develop gray hair very early in life.

In animal experimentation a lack of even one of the B vitamins can cause animals to lose their hair.

When the food intake is again made optimal, the hair quickly grows in and becomes luxuriant. It is interesting here to note that male animals lose their hair about twice as fast as female animals do and it has been suggested that perhaps baldness in males may have an unexplained sex linkage.

Our own research in this area with our two dogs, one a Doberman and the other a Collie, casts some doubt on this thesis. Both animals were “rescued,” one from the pound and one from a family whose children were abusing the puppy. The fur of both was in terrible condition, thin and very short and dull looking. For a time the animals were fed on ordinary dog food plus scraps obtained from a local slaughterhouse. The Collie was a sad-looking specimen. About three years ago we decided to try a vegetarian diet on the dogs. We fed them sweet fruits in the morning and a combination of cooked and raw vegetables in the late afternoon. We did give them a raw egg every other day.

The results were amazing. In a comparatively short time the Doberman had a shiny soft coat and the Collie was a raving beauty! We lost the Doberman, unfortunately, through an accidental injury, but the Collie’s coat of fur is thick, very shiny and of a beautiful tri-color.

It would appear most likely that baldheadedness in both men and women is the result of years of malnutrition, and in using the term “nutrition,” we include all phases of nutrition: absorption, assimilation, elimination, etc., as well as the feeding of appropriate food in a correct amount and manner; plus, associate influencing factors, such as the obtaining of sufficient sunlight, etc.

We have already observed that when the diet is improved in humans, new growth can often be observed but again we should point out that such growth would be possible only when the hair cells are still viable and not dead.

Many researchers suggest using isolated vitamins to stimulate the scalp and thus improve the condition of the hair and its growth. Dale Alexander comments how Dr. Herman Goodman, a leading dermatologist, recommends foods which are rich in vitamin

A, foods such as carrots. Hygienists, however, know that there are no “target” foods, that we must have the whole spectrum and that this is provided by eating a variety of foods, but eating them in suitable combinations so as to maximize availability to the biological processes of the body.

It seems that most dermatologists have little understanding of the fact that we must supply the “whole” of food, not bits and pieces. Dr. Richard W. Muller who practices in several European capitols including Paris and Vienna, recommends foods high in sulfur content but then notes that iron and calcium are also important hair components. We recently had an inquiry via the mails from an individual who had a problem related to nutrition. She said that she was sitting with a box of unopened pills and tablets bearing a total price tag of $300.00 which had been prescribed for her. These consisted of all manner of vitamin and mineral supplements. She had great doubt that dosing herself this way was the proper approach. We advised her to return the whole batch unopened and begin to eat the Hygienic way.

Certainly, impaired digestion and poor eating habits can cause all manner of body troubles including disorders of the scalp and hair; especially abnormal hair loss, eczema, carbuncles and, no doubt, complete baldness, too. Most people eat too fast and do not chew their food. In excess of 90 to 95% of the foods they do eat are cooked and even these foods are poorly chosen. It is no wonder a minimum of nutrient wealth passes through the cells of the membranes lining the intestinal canal prior to entering the bloodstream for transport to hair cells and all other body cells. The average person pays for food, he eats “food,” but the body cells fail to receive the nutrients of life in sufficient quantity and in their original symbiotic proportions to do more than sustain life and this for but a brief span!

It is little wonder that the body begins to sag and that the hair becomes lifeless and lacks suitable pigmentation, or that scalps flake and itch and that eventually the hair falls out.

We recently did a bionutritional analysis and profile for a mother and son. The results were most revealing. The mother has been a faithful follower of Natural Hygiene for almost three years now, the son a faithful follower of his peer group diet of hamburgers, french fries, and coke and, is no doubt, like the vast majority of his age group, “into” drugs and alcohol, also. While the mother’s test revealed almost all readings within optimal (not “average”) lines, the 17-year-old son’s readings were largely either above or below the optimal with a number of them registering in the “dangerous” area. While other facts may account, no doubt, for some deviations, the contrasts in these two instances can rightfully, we believe, be attributed to the differences in nutritional practices noted.

Dr. Lucien Jacques of Paris worked with 71 patients who suffered with disorders of the G.I. tract, all of whom complained of rapidly falling hair. Many of these patients also drank excessive amounts of tea, coffee, and alcoholic beverages. Simply by changing the diet of his patients, Dr. Jacques not only was able to observe better digestion in his patients, but also remarkable changes in the health of the hair, including the coloring.

White sugar, all manufactured sweets such as ice cream, pastries, candy, soft drinks, processed foods of all kinds are acid-producing and nerve-destroying. If we wish to possess a head covered with thick, shiny beautiful hair, we must pay attention to the food and drink. We must drink only the purest of water and eat of those foods to which we humans are adapted: luscious ripe sweet fruits plus limited amounts of young leafy greens and fruit vegetables (non-sweet fruits), sprouts, nuts and edible seeds.

Iron is required for a thick crop of hair. Raisins, lettuce, strawberries, apples, cherries, and many other luscious fruits are well endowed with iron.

Sulphur, an essential food element, is found abundantly in members of the cabbage family, in cucumbers, in potatoes, and figs.

Silicon for strong filaments is found in leafy varieties of green lettuce, especially in romaine; it is also present in strawberries, in cucumbers, and cherries as well as in the skins of apples and other fruits.

Healthy hair requires carbohydrates to supply carbon and hydrogen for composition and the carbon for fuel. Ripe, sweet fruits furnish the finest kind of predigested energyconserving carbohydrates to be found. This is especially true of the sweet, sweet fruits, the banana being a prime example of an almost perfect food.

Adequate protein and all the essential amino acids are found in many fruits and vegetables. The proteins found in many plant foods are biologically of optimum value.

The Law of the Minimum about which we learned earlier tells us that the absence or short supply of even a single nutrient for any extended period of time can lead to general health debilitation regardless of how well supplied we may be in all other nutrients. Tests on both animals and humans have shown that deficiencies can also reduce the hair quality and health. It would appear that there is a grand pact in nature wherein correct proportions and adequacy of all nutrients are the basic requirements of maximum health. Eating cooked foods, eating foods lacking in nutritional content, failing to chew properly, eating to excess and eating too often, the taking of isolated vitamin and mineral supplements, a lack of exercise or sunshine, long continued emotional stress exposure, indeed, a lack of any of the requisites of organic existence can lead inevitably to diminished health, and any lack of health will be reflected in a lusterless, sick-looking hair which soon starts to lose its color, to thin and fall out in ever increasing amounts. No single food factor or any combination of food factors put together by man and taken in isolation can work hair and scalp magic. The body is a unitized functioning entity. The health of the hair reflects the health status of the totality.

Many excuses are offered from time to time and by many “authorities” for thinning of the hair, for loss of color and sheen, for baldness, excuses like inherited bad genes, wearing hats which are too tight and wearing them too often, shampooing too frequently, and many others. But, these are only excuses. None are based on the known realities which define and limit the life process.

More primitive men and woman have abundant crops of hair. Whole nations of people who have lived for thousands of years on simple diets have thick healthy growths of hair. It is only “civilized” men and women who partake of poor devitalized heterogeneous messes of food in quantities far in excess of body need who suffer hair and scalp problems associated with malnutrition. It is civilized people who show meager crops of hair and damaged scalps.

Dr. Art Mollen, a Phoenix osteopathic physician and a firm believer in the benefits to be derived from regular paced jogging, does not see much prospect of extending the human life span. Pottenger’s experiments with cats at Yale showed that it takes several generations to witness the results of good eating as well as of poor eating. The goal of Hygienists should be to share their knowledge with all peoples so that, generation by generation, the human population can grow into a state of health which we presently can only envisage. Then perhaps we can prove that the Dr. Mollens of this world are wrong. As practitioners we see too many miracles resulting from following after the principles of Natural Hygiene not to believe that we can extend the life span in full health and perhaps more than double its present length.

How To Care For The Hair

The first and primary requirement for improving the condition of the hair and scalp is to cleanse the body fluids, the blood and lymph, of their toxic load, preferably by fasting or, more slowly, by the McCarter Extended Detoxification Method as detailed later in this lesson or by some similar method.

Next, it is essential to begin a new life, to adopt a new way of eating and living: begin to eat and enjoy a fruitarian diet and a lifestyle which provides for all body needs including sunshine, pure water, and so on. Especially important is the cultivation of emotional poise. Remember that constant worry, fear, anger, jealousy can turn the most beautiful hair into a drab-looking gray. It can also make it fall out.

Exercise the scalp daily by manipulating it lightly with the tips of the fingers or the palms of the hand, always in a rotary movement. Press the palms of the hands against the sides of the head and move the scalp gently so as to push it together in folds. Always work gently so as not to irritate the scalp or injure the hair follicles or place stress on delicate nerve endings.

DO wash your hair frequently. However, as a rule we do not recommend using soap or shampoos unless, for one reason or another, the hair has become extraordinarily dirty. Hereward Carrington, in his marvelous book Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition, writes as follows, “It has been repeatedly shown, moreover, that frequent washing and extreme cleanliness are as essential to the scalp as to any other part of the body—the effect of water upon the hair being beneficial and strengthening, however frequently applied, provided the hair is thoroughly dried.”

Dr. Elizabeth rinses her hair under the shower almost every other day and often every day. Mary Martin, who sang, “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair” on Broadway in Rogers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific is said to have washed her hair on stage in 1,694 consecutive performances and reportedly observed no adverse effects. Today she displays a beautiful head of hair.

Make frequent rinsing of the hair a part of your personal daintiness program. It is the simple Hygienic physical habits that add up, in time, to major health benefits. Adopt a daily routine of cleanliness and begin to reap its rewards. As Margery Wilson once wrote, “Everyone knows that youth and strength depend on water, vegetables, fruit, exercise, and a high heart and mind.” The best beauty treatment for the hair that makes real scientific sense is a combination of a lifestyle and eating regimen best suited to human wellness; in other words, full application of what is presented in this course of study. The discipline of Natural Hygiene is the only discipline that recognizes the fact that nutrition represents the sum total of ALL body processes and cannot accept any attempt to separate or isolate any part of the life process as anything other than foolishness. And, it must be emphasized that proper care of the hair and scalp, just as with the entire body, should begin with the first meal and the life routines of the first day after birth. If these be optimal and continue to be day after day and throughout life, then life itself can be no less.

Establishing The Client-Practitioner Relationship

Even though the disorder of immediate concern to the client may be limited to the skin, scalp, or hair, the knowledgeable practitioner well understands that any diseased state affecting these areas indicates an eliminative effort of some dimension. He also understands that the entire system is burdened with a degree of toxicosis which is, at present, unknown and that it is this toxic condition which must first be addressed before the disorder which has brought the client to your office and which is localized outwardly, can be controlled.

At first meeting, the client will probably have no understanding of Natural Hygiene or autointoxication. He must be led to an understanding of life’s basic requirements, the requisites of organic existence, because, upon these, full health, including that of the hair and scalp, depends. He must gradually learn that you have a plan for health that works regardless of age, sex, or income! A plan that he can carry out in his own home without the aid of pills, lotions, or doctors. A plan that will not only save him money but will provide superb health for all of life. A plan that has worked for hundreds of thousands

of persons, many just like himself, suffering from even the most horrible lesions. And, finally, that it is a plan that may require more time than he now anticipates because how well it works for him will depend on how faithfully he follows your guidance and directions.

It will, of course, be impossible to impart to every client all the knowledge the Hygienic practitioner has garnered as he has studied this course and the many lessons yet to follow, about body detoxification and how this may be achieved. However, we find that a good initial briefing of methodology usually is well received.

We recommend that, on first meeting, the client be given an understanding of the fact that as you work with him you will, in general, proceed with four specific goals in mind, all bearing directly on his present condition.

The Hygienist’s and Life’s Four-Fold Program for Superior Health!

1. To discontinue all things, habits, foods, etc., which are acknowledged by the scientific community to be harmful to the human life process; to reduce or completely remove all undue stressors.
2. Toimprovethelifestylesothatitincludesonlythosepracticeswhichareacknowledged by the scientific community to be health-promoting, such requisites of organic existence as:

• Exercise
• Pure Air
• Pure Water
• Suitable exposure to sunlight
• Sufficient rest, sleep, and relaxation
• Protection from violence
• Emotional Poise
• The “Pluses of Life,” such as friendships, love, etc.

1. To modify the diet slowly or rapidly as the individual client can adapt so that it eventually includes only those foods that are known to be biologically acceptable to humans and to instruct by means of educational materials written in lay terms so that the client will learn how to combine his foods correctly so as to maximize nutrient acceptance and utilization.
2. Todetoxifythebody;thatis,toeliminatefromthebodyanyexistingabnormalamounts of toxic metabolites (wastes) so that the fluids of the body, including the blood, will again flow free and clean, able to collect, transport, and remove all excess acid waste debris because it itself is no longer so saturated with “sludge” that it lacks the ability to transport waste matter to the eliminating depots; or because the liver and kidneys are presently so overloaded that they cannot adequately perform their normal filtering and other life-preserving duties.

Dr. Lester Breslow, dean of the School of Public Health at the University of California at Los Angeles, stated in 1975, as follows: “I firmly believe the American people are depending far too much on their doctors to stay healthy.” He went on to comment that “all of us must take more responsibility for our own health—the choices we make in our daily life with regard to certain personal habits.”

It is this concept that the Hygienic practitioner must convey to his new clients; that the client is now embarking on a wonderful adventure that will not only correct his present annoying symptoms but one that will also open countless numbers of doors and joys to him and provide a future in which he can enjoy a hitherto undreamed of new dimension of health.

We have found that having the four-fold program printed and then given to the client helps him to stay on course. We suggest to our clients that they paste the list on a bathroom mirror or perhaps, even better, on the refrigerator door or some other place where they cannot help but be reminded day by day that they have begun a new way of life, one that has untold promise.

The World Health Organization defines health as “physical, mental, social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” We can add that our goal is inner peace and really this is the ultimate goal!

Rarely are diseases of the scalp and hair life-threatening. Perhaps it is for this reason that presentation of the fourfold action plan is so important. It helps clients to understand that their present condition is remedial, not by outwardly or inwardly applied substances, but rather a condition in which the body can constructively redirect its energies and faculties to restoring high-level health. The plan teaches how to provide the tools.

The Consultation

When the client makes his first contact and requests a consultation, he should be asked to provide you with a diet profile which covers a minimum period of one week plus a personal and medical history. An office form may be mailed to him which he can fill out prior to his appointment. These may then be brought to the office for your consideration.

Inquiry

The first meeting should open with the inquiry.

This part of the consultation offers an opportunity for the client to express himself, to present his evaluation of his condition. If the lesions or other conditions are not visible, he can describe them and give his reaction both to them and to past treatments.

The client should have time to express himself, how he is feeling, to give an evaluation of himself, dietetically and perhaps otherwise. Clients have a need to relieve themselves verbally of concerns, to express emotional and other specific needs.

The first meeting is critical. It is at this time that the Hygienic practitioner must impart to the client, both by action and by deed, the fact that he empathizes with the client and also that he has a solution to offer. However, let us point out at this juncture that, while the Hygienic practitioner should listen, should empathize, and then give of his best advice, he must also learn that, once the client leaves his office, the responsibility from that point on rests with the client to put all recommendations into practice; in other words, to carry the ball. If the practitioner does not learn to do this, he will soon “burn out” emotionally.

Visual Examination

Following the inquiry comes the visual examination.

Initial visual examination can be done along gross lines, of course, during the inquiry part of this session. However, psychologically speaking, it is well to take a closer look at all affected parts and note the extent of the afflicted area or areas. Notes should be taken. These will assist the practitioner in noting progress from one meeting to the next.

We recommend that a good quality magnifying glass with a handle be used for this close examination. Notes should be made as to size of pustules, if any, the precise location of any affected areas, and the size of the area affected, not for diagnostic purposes, but rather to assist you in evaluating the on-going improvement in the condition as the client responds to Hygienic measures correctly applied. Such records are also important in the event that you are called upon to explain procedure.

Kinds of Clients

Clients who consult you regarding diseases of the hair and scalp, generally fall into two types:

1. Thosewhowillinglyandcheerfullycarryoutallsuggestionsmadebyyoubecausethey have full confidence in your advice. This group is further subdivided into two groups:

1. Thosewhohaveenduredthetormentsofitching,flaking,ortheoozingofpusandwatery secretions for so long that they have almost despaired of ever finding relief and are now willing to try even what they may consider as being bizarre and strange suggestions.
2. Thosewhohaveexplicitconfidenceinyoubecausetheyhavepreviouslywitnessedpositive results in a similar case under your supervision or have been referred to you by someone in whom they have much confidence.

2. Thosewhoseekyouradvicewithacertainamountofskepticismand/orfear.Thisgroup can also be divided into two subgroups:

1. Theelderlywhohavelongbeenaccustomedtodoingthingsinacertainway.Theseindividuals have well etched habit nerve pathways and require careful handling if success is to be achieved.
2. Personswhoconsidertheirconditionremedialbytheuseof“medicines,”eventhough they may have met with repeated failures. These individuals are still searching for a “cure.” They must be deprogrammed and reeducated in the true ways of health and healing.

Through experience one learns to evaluate the particular category in which a client belongs. Once this has been accomplished, it is possible to proceed in a planned orderly way.

Group One

All diseases are serious, of course. Milder hair and scalp disorders often represent a beginning, a foretaste of more involved pathologies that will most certainly arise if remedial steps are not instigated. The present condition, mild or serious, represents an attempt by the body to cleanse itself of a burden which is too great for the body to handle by usual eliminating procedures.

Fortunately members of this group have confidence in you and will follow your instructions. For these clients we immediately recommend a prolonged fast, the time suggested depending upon client response, emotionally and physically, to this procedure. We particularly recommend a prolonged fast in cases of psoriasis and chronic eczema and especially when these conditions have seated themselves on the scalp and are accompanied by severe itching and/or flaking. Remedial fasting will do what topical applications can never do, get at the cause of the trouble, whether it be in the constitution of the individual, in a deranged metabolic inner state, simply a state of hypersensitiveness, an injury of some kind, or the presence of imbedded fungus spores. Fasting represents do-it-yourself surgery: cutting out the cause.

According to Otto H. F. Buchinger, M.D., fasting is always the remedy of choice in cases of eczema and psoriasis and that most persons will respond favorably provided that they have not had recourse to many of such heroic treatments as the constant application of highly-irritating substances over a prolonged period of time or to radiological procedures as, for example, X rays.

Buchinger points out, and we have also observed this same fact, that quite often even following a prolonged fast, patches of eczema and psoriasis will persist, these representing “safety-valves,” to quote him, the means whereby the body leaves a way open for exudation of wastes should the need arise. These small patches serve as a reminder to the afflicted person not to relax in the ways of health.

We are reminded of one client whose face and scalp were covered with psoriatic patches before fasting. After several short fasts, the scalp entirely cleared but a minute patch remained behind each car. This particular person enjoyed golfing and meeting with friends after a match at the “19th hole” to talk about common subjects of interest and to

have a beer. Invariably, a day or so later, these patches would enlarge, a silent reminder that obtaining health represents a commitment to a lifetime of correct living.

Most clients who experience the flaking of psoriasis or the extreme itching of eczematous conditions are more than willing to listen to accounts of the benefits that may accrue to them should they decide to undertake an extended fast. However, there are exceptions.

Years ago a close friend who was afflicted with psoriasis came to visit us for a few weeks. Whenever she combed and brushed her hair, the flakes would fly in all directions. Her condition was so bad that we finally resorted to covering the furniture with sheets which we then periodically took outside for a good shaking. We were compelled to vacuum the floor in her bedroom every morning.

For over forty years this woman has tried every “remedy” on the market and every poison that hundreds of medical “authorities” have prescribed. She has tried kinds of diets: with and without fat, with and without salt, she has tried high-protein and low-protein diets, high carbohydrate and low-carbohydrate diets. She has constently refused to fast. She still has her psoriasis.

Her scalp still sloughs off the sick and wounded cells, do the many patches that cover various parts of her body. In spite of all her futile attempts to find “relief,” she still retains faith in “medicines.” She still believes that medical “science” will be able to provide the magic “cure.” She still refuses to try the one positive step which has been demonstrated in hundreds of cases to be capable of permitting the body to heal the hurt—the simple fast. Contrast this experience with that of John given in Lesson 61!

Clients should be instructed in the merits of the fast an be encouraged to convince themselves of its possible benefits by reading the literature on the subject. If the practitioner himself is qualified to supervise a fast and has the facilities to house fasting clients, he may properly do so. Otherwise, he should encourage his clients to go to an institution where the fast can be professionally supervised by an experienced practitioner and where the client can be isolated from the concerned but unfortunately often uninformed and discouraging comments of relatives and friends.

We presently have a man who is very seriously afflicted with a painful inflammatory condition. He has been placed on a very restricted diet and instructed to take short fasts. He has no family and is dependent upon the services of a paid housekeeper. This woman who weighs well over 200 pounds and is herself under the care of a physician for innumerable ailments, rants and raves at her employer because she is “worried” about his loss of weight and the fact that he is depressed so much of the time! He has finally given in to her, but only temporarily. He has given her notice to leave and in her place has hired someone else. Within a few weeks he expects to make a new beginning under happier circumstances.

However, not all persons have this man’s determination. Many unfortunately succumb to the wishes of their misguided relatives and friends and lose their one chance to find a higher plateau of health.

When Money Is a Matter of Concern

In instances where the client is willing to fast but is, for the moment at least, financially embarassed, it is often possible for the practicing Hygienist to advance credit for a specified time with a contract being signed for future payment of a specified sum; or supervision of the fast can be undertaken in exchange for services rendered by the client to the practitioner as, for example, typing, addressing envelopes for mailings, yard work, serving in some useful capacity at meetings and lectures, etc. Contracts can work out especially well with those clients who have hair and scalp disorders and especially when visible lesions are present. Photographs of the same may be taken at the onset of the fast and/or other services. When all lesions disappear, payment is due. Such contracts, it goes without saying, are best drawn up by an attorney.

The Fast and Apheresis

The medical community is more and more coming 10 accept the fact that a toxic condition of the body can cause multitudinous numbers of diverse conditions according to individual tendencies as they may occur in any one person due to his peculiar collection of weak and strong parts, these varying by the very nature of human differentiation. This is why apheresis, the mechanical cleansing of the blood, is being given serious attention by the AMA and insurance companies who can visualize a veritable bonanza if the practice becomes widely accepted.

Apheresis admittedly does “not cure disease, it simply treats the symptoms of illness, and it hasn’t been around long enough for scientists to determine how effective it really is,” this according to an article by Edward Edelson in the October 1982, issue of Science Magazine.

In apheresis a technician taps into the patient’s vein, and “blood flows into a machine where the spinning components settle into bands: the heavy red cells first, then the white cells, then the platelets that help blood to clot, and finally the plasma and all the valuable proteins it contains.” Components suspected of “harboring the damaging substances associated with the patient’s illness are discarded and, in the case of plasma, often replaced with an equal amount of saline solution. The rest of the blood is then returned to the body,” supposedly now in a pristine state.

The technique has been used with varying success in such diseases as macroglobulinemia, a condition in which certain plasma components have an unusually high molecular weight, for example, as much as 1,000,000 compared to water with a molecular weight of only 18; multiple myeloma, aplastic anemia, systemic lupus erythematosis, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and myasthenia gravis, to name a few. There have been successes and failures, as well as a few deaths primarily because technicians do not as yet know just what to remove and what to put back! In spite of its acknowledged drawbacks, momentum seems to be accelerating for its use even though a series of “treatments” can cost as much as $32,000.00, and even more, depending upon the number of “treatments” judged necessary in any particular instance.

We are inclined to suggest fasting as a much simpler procedure, one more in keeping with systemic reality, to say nothing of its relative cheapness and the exactitude of the process, carried out as it is under the watchful and precise guidance of the body’s own intelligence, every move being dictated by the body’s primary concern for perfect performance on the part of all cells and systems. Unlike manmade machines, the human body does not make errors. We make errors in eating and living and in so doing we may place impediments in the road of perfect performance but the inner workings of the body, the control mechanisms, always turn in a precise and perfect performance.

While medical science waits for controlled experiments to give a stamp of approval to this new medical marvel, fasting has already received its accolades from millions of humans throughout all of history and in all cultures and by other lesser animals who have also benefitted by the cleansing it enables the body to realize. It is little wonder that fasting is so universally recognized as being the almost perfect “cure.” However, let us point out here that its benefits accrue best to those persons who are emotionally and mentally prepared and willing to fast. The results to be observed even in severe disorders of the hair and scalp are often no less than spectacular.

Following the First Fast

If the first fast has been extended for a minimum of ten days, the client should, after the initial recovery period, be immediately placed on the fruitarian diet. This is the ideal time for him to adopt a physiologically sound way of eating, the perfect diet, because his system has been cleansed of its former burden of toxic metabolic debris. He should

be advised that this is the way humans are intended to eat and that he should follow the fruitarian, diet for a lifetime of health and superb wellness.

Less severe diseases of the scalp and hair will often respond to shorter fasts, often with the scalp becoming quite clean within a matter of three to five days. However, should these persons be immediately placed on the fruitarian diet, it is possible for them to suffer healing crises as the morbid debris, now placed in a state of flux by the short fast, continues to try to find its way to the exit points.

When such healing crises occur, clients often become discouraged because they find that the terrible itching, flaking, falling out of the hair, etc., all seem to intensify instead of improving, as expected: At this early stage in their education in the principles of Natural Hygiene, they fail to understand that this is an entirely normal happening, one that is fully in accord with responsive healing.

With those clients who elect to fast initially for just a few days, it is often advisable to follow the first fast by introducing a planned graduated program, one adjusted to individual differences, especially those of an emotional kind. We suggest the McCarter Extended Detoxification Plan which follows. Such a program may be continued until such time as complete healing has taken place; it may be speeded up or slowed down as circumstances warrant.

The clearing of the scalp and absence of all annoying symptoms will indicate that the toxic load has once again fallen within the toleration level with the usual channels being able to cope successfully with their elimination chores. At this time the client may be encouraged to begin the fruitarian diet. If symptoms should again present themselves too violently, it may be necessary to reduce the fruit intake and place more emphasis on vegetables. Regardless, with improved nutrition, cleanliness, etc., the client will be inspired to continue his Hygienic ways because he will feel and look better than he did at the first meeting.

How Exercise Helps to Nourish the Scalp and Hair

Have you ever noted the beautiful skin and hair of very active, hard-working, healthy people? This is because, when we exercise, the blood rushes to the surface of the skin causing it to lake in more oxygen and available nutrients and, in return, give off more of the body’s morbific waste metabolites.

Also, exercise makes us warm. In fact, the temperature of the skin may rise from 86 to 90 and even up to 94 while we are engaged in a really vigorous workout. In Lesson 61 it was shown that one function of the skin is to dissipate heat. The blood acts somewhat as a coolant. The more heat is to be dispersed, the more blood is called up to the skin carrying with it valuable nutrients.

Dr. Albert M. Kligman, professor of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine says that “the thickness of the skin—the rate at which collagen is synthesized—is probably temperature dependent. So exercise actually may replenish the skin in some way.” Hygienists know that nutrients are required for all body synthesis.

According to an article in Today’s Living of December 1982, Dr. James White, exercise physiologist and coordinator of physical fitness at the University of California in San Diego, says that a study in Finland showed that their daily exercise had beneficial effects on the skin of middle-aged athletes.

“Actual snips of skin from these athletes were found to be denser, stronger, and thicker than skin from sendentary people the same age. The elasticity of the skin was also much better preserved in the athletes.”

We have often observed great improvement in the texture of the hair of clients and in its more abundant growth after relatively short periods of Hygienically correct living and eating. When the body has ample supplies of all required nutrients, healing and replenishment follow. Exercise increases fluid transport of nutrients.

One of our clients, after beginning a greatly improved dietary regimen, found that he began to develop small lumps in several places on his scalp. We suggested he increase his exercise periods and also to include more aerobic exercises. He did so and, within six months, the lumps disappeared. No other changes were made. We believe that the more consistent influx of nutrients to cells and removal of wastes accomplished by consistent and vigorous exercise periods has much to do with improving the condition of the scalp and the texture of the hair. The fruitarian diet, of course, has been shown to provide all the nutrients required by humans for maximum health.

Group Two

In the practical arena of dealing with individuals long accustomed to following after demographically programmed and controlled masses, the new Hygienist will often find many who will seek his services with mental and emotional reservations. Many will have been given false impressions of fasting and relate it to starving. Many of these individuals will have reached their present sorry state after years of medical dependency and mismanagement but, nevertheless, they are literally afraid to undertake a fast and should they try would only do so with great trepidation and fear, a condition which could lead to emotional disturbances which, in turn, could negate the benefits which might accrue to the fasting client if s/he were only better prepared for the experience. In such cases, a more extended approach should be thoughtfully considered and, in many cases, adopted. Such a slower method will accomplish its purpose, detoxification, the cleansing of the body fluids, albeit more slowly. The McCarter Extended Detoxification Regimen represents such a method.

The McCarter Extended Detoxification Regimen

As the name implies, the McCarter Extended Detoxification Regimen is a procedural method which we have found so valuable in leading emotionally hesitant, the more skeptical of our clients, and others who may, for one reason or another, be unable to undertake a fast at this time, on a step-by-step planned program for a body cleansing, but at a slower rate, that we include it for the student’s consideration. The regimen may be used to good advantage in all diseased states, as well as with clients who may suffer from skin, hair, and/or scalp disorders. It is especially applicable to new practitioners but useful to all.

This extended action plan tends to lead the client by gradual habits of their past to a Hygienically-correct dietary and living regimen, one intended for immediate remedial purposes but also for lifetime maintenance. In its final stages it provides the client with a state of health previously unknown. It goes without saying that total freedom is achieved from whatever distressing condition presently troubles him and eventually from all diseases of any consequence.

The extended regimen makes important health-promoting changes, but makes them slowly. By so doing, the client’s body can accommodate itself in gentle steps to new ways of eating and living without the client having to experience many of the perhaps

disconcerting and even painful, and, to some, discouraging symptoms which are sometimes manifested during a prolonged fast or when changes are made too rapidly.

The elderly and the more timid among your clients will appreciate your concern in this area and will, more often than not, willingly accept the simple changes where they might become frightened and even totally estranged from you by symptoms which might arise with too rapid elimination, losing thereby perhaps their one chance of ever again regaining their health. This bleak prospect is unacceptable to us.

For example, we have one male client in his late seventies who has had an annoying eczema almost all of his adult life. He has taken course after course under our guidance and has attended lecture after lecture. He attends every potluck we have and freely speaks of the benefits of Natural Hygiene. He is now free of his former ailment.

But, let this man partake too freely of some food, especially grapefruit, he almost always begins to experience an annoying twinge somewhere, not unusual in persons who have lived incorrectly, Hygienically speaking, all their lives. At such limes, he usually telephones Dr. Elizabeth with panic in his voice to inquire “why am I having this pain?” He is truly frightened by these experiences. At such times, Dr. Elizabeth must explain again how toxins may remain hidden for years, even after several prolonged fasts, and how they can make their presence known even years after the main ailment has been corrected and that the very presence of a symptom shows increased vitality and body power, that the healing going on within is ongoing.

After such assurance, our client remains content—until the next time! In spite of his advanced years, this man’s whole body has grown in health. His hair is thick and luxuriant, his skin smooth as a baby’s, and his moustache glory to behold! Our satisfaction lies in knowing that by following the extended detoxification regimen this gentleman looks better now than most men twenty or more years younger than he, even though he did not take his first timid steps into Hygienic living and eating until he was well over 70 years of age!

Beginners at practice frequently become discouraged because they tend to lose clients who become disenchanted for one reason or another with whatever program has been devised for them. For example, they may find a recommended food unfamiliar to them and attribute whatever symptoms that may arise to the fact that this food “disagrees with them.”

When carefully studied and modified to meet individual differences, the McCarter Extended Detoxification Regimen tends to lessen client loss chiefly because it reduces the number of healing crises experienced and the few experienced are generally less severe.

With too rapid change, on the other hand, the more timid will question why symptoms occur and why they often appear to be getting worse when, in fact, the very symptoms they are experiencing are proof that the new way of eating and living is actually producing curative changes which will prove beneficial in the long run. But, they do not understand this and thus fail to keep their next appointment.

However, once people are persuaded that the easy ways, the painless “remedies,” will not solve their problem, then and only then will they consider a long-term program such as we are presently suggesting. You see, most people are content to look on the outside for solutions and do not want to accept responsibility for their present dilemma. Most belong to the “Discounters of Society.” Some will insist that no such problem as you may present to them exists as, for example, that they have been eating poor food and must improve their dietary program. Some will say, “Yes, that may be true, but the problem isn’t as important as you say it is!”

A splendid example of this last named group is a young girl, age 17, who was brought to us suffering from acne, scoliosis, and a host of other ailments including thin drab-looking hair. Privately, she admitted to “bombing out” on cocaine and other drugs; to excessive sexual indulgence; to using alcoholic beverages; and to the use of the customary teenage diet of sweets, hamburgers, soft drinks, and french fries. Her blood test,

on bionutritional analysis, revealed several problem areas of considerable importance. When confronted with these results, she refused to admit that any major problem existed because she “was no different from anyone else!” She refused to accept any negative messages.

Sad to say this same attitude exists with most of our young people. We are told that two-thirds of our high school students try using illicit drugs and that, indeed, the U.S. has the highest use among this age group than any of the nations of the civilized world!

Other discounters will be so discouraged by repeated previous failures that they will admit the problem, the disease, willingly enough but they will, at the same time, believe that you can’t help them to solve it because it is unsolvable! Only the more intelligent will recognize that, indeed, the problem exists, that it is vitally important to find solution of the same, that the principles of Natural Hygiene make sense and are fully in accord with all known facts of life and, finally, that only the full application of the same in their own lives will provide the best chance to solve the existing problem even though all other methods and “remedies” may have hitherto failed.

How to Proceed

Phase One

In Phase One the diet remains basically the same with no major changes being suggested. However, certain harmful accessory dietary practices are brought to the client’s attention and the suggestion made that these may properly be eliminated or the amounts used reduced. These are determined by the practitioner following study of the client’s past eating habits.

Obviously, there are multitudinous numbers of possible habitual dietary indiscretions and harmful practices which should be avoided and it would be impossible to list all of them. The practitioner must use his knowledge and good judgment in selecting for first consideration those he considers most critical.

Among the harmful practices which most commonly appear on our diet profiles, we find the following: Drinking beverages with and in-between meals: such beverages as soft drinks, coffee, tea, cocoa, canned chemicalized juices, etc. Some of these drinks contain harmful alkaloids, caffeine, sugar, and other chemicals capable of tissue erosion.

Others lack nutritive substance. To illustrate how some juice products presently marketed are concocted we include a quotation from Science 82 Magazine for October 1982 (official publication of The American Association for the Advancement of Science), relative to a product sold by a leading supermarket chain: “Orange juice” on the label means that what’s inside is supposed to be pure and unadulterated. Federal standards are clear on the subject.

“But that’s not always the case. Consumers unknowingly pay for a product that’s often been stretched with a variety of substances from corn or beet sugar to spices to add coloring to spent pulp. Added to pure juice, these adulterants usually aren’t harmful, and the resulting drink can be sold—but not as orange juice.”

Natural Hygienists would disagree that such products are not harmful if only in that they are substituted for more nourishing foods. Persons in the business of manufacturing fake orange juice used to dilute their product with water, then add extra sugar and citric acid to give their product the taste of citrus fruits. But it seemed that it was fairly easy to detect the diluted product and the fact that it contained sucrose.

In late years it seems that these purveyors of fake orange juice have turned to beet sugar and pulpwash, both somewhat harder to detect. Beet sugar is cheap and when a bad freeze in Florida pushes up the price of oranges, these manufacturers simply take the washed and spent solids left after oranges are squeezed and use these—the pulpwash, as it is called in the trade. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has seized hundreds of thousands of barrels, cans, and jars of juice made chiefly from pulpwash, extra sugars,

and turmeric, a rather pungent spice which just happens to impart the color of orange! It seems that it is difficult to make a positive identification of the pulp and sugars contained in real orange juice, namely fructose and glucose. Since the product tastes remarkably like real orange juice, the public—to save a few cents—buys it because it tastes good, little realizing that when they use this product, they shortchange their own bodies. There are, no doubt, many such products in common use. In fact, we received a long distance call a few days ago from a beginning student of Natural Hygiene who is about to enter a marathon run asking if it would be “all right” for him to use a product quite frequently used by athletes to impart quick energy. Since it is made almost entirely from chemicals, we told him to “read the label!”’

Another harmful dietary practice is the drinking of alcoholic beverages including beer, wine, straight and mixed drinks of all kinds.

Smoking, chewing, sniffing of tobacco and/or other substances of similar nature are known to have a health-destroying effect as, for example, the practice of sniffing glue.

Overeating, probably the most common error of our times, and also, the most harmful.

Using food enhancers such as condiments and spices, especially salt, pepper, sugar, mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, but also including other less familiar substances, both singly and in combinations, is both unnecessary and unhealthful.

Using packaged processed cereals and bread and products made from wheat and/or other grains is harmful.

The inclusion of flesh meats and/or products derived from animals in the daily food intake, often at every meal, is detrimental to our health.

Using cooked foods, especially fried, barbecued, and boiled, are harmful, and so on.

It is in his initial choice of items to be eliminated that the Hygienic practitioner can alienate the “timid” client, even though the practices selected as being erroneous may have directly contributed to his present scalp and/or hair disorder. For this reason it may be best to make the initial changes minor in kind, gradually encouraging your client to make further constructive changes as he goes along. We are often able to avoid upsetting an emotionally unsure client by assuring him/her that even small changes (which, by the way, may appear major to him/her!) will be curative in kind.

We find, for the most part, that many clients who approach us with hair and scalp disorders (and often, too, with other skin problems) have little understanding of the fact that the immediate problem is simply a reflection of a greater problem, a general systemic toxemia. He will reach this understanding, of course, with careful guidance and education by you in the ways of health. Many clients appear somewhat uneasy about deserting established medical procedure and with such, we proceed with simple changes.

A client who has been accustomed to drinking two or more cups of coffee with every meal understands that this can be harmful and might be a causative agent for whatever ailment now troubles him. With such a person, we might suggest that, for the next two weeks, he reduce his coffee drinking to one cup at the noon and evening meals and permit him his usual two or more cups in the morning to “get him going.” In so doing, he will be reducing his coffee intake (or whatever other beverage he is accustomed to drinking) by one-third, a substantial improvement but not one that, might overwhelm him by the appearance of that “all-gone” feeling so often characteristic of the withdrawal from coffee addiction. It goes without saying that clients who are coffee addicts should be made aware of the dangers to health involved in the use of this drug.

Also, if a client has been accustomed to taking two teaspoonsful of sugar with his coffee or tea, he should be advised to reduce his intake by one-half, to one teaspoon per serving, a reduction of fifty percent. If accustomed to having a soft drink as a mid-meal snack, we advise the substitution of a diluted fruit juice of good quality and freshly made if possible; or that he eat a piece of fresh fruit in place of the drink.

Initial changes in lifestyle

Again, the changes which can be advised initially with regard to the lifestyle can be many in kind and number. Among the first that we always recommend are the following:

1. Frequentbathingofaffectedparts.Aneasywaytowashthehairandscalpissimplyto get under the shower and let the tepid water run through and over the hair. When the scalp is irritated, the fingers should not “dig into” the scalp. A simple striking with the tips of the fingers is sufficient accompanied by a gentle lifting of the hair by running the fingers through it. No soap, medicated or otherwise, should be used. By following this procedure, the natural oils and waxes will be retained but liquid acid wastes will be removed. The hair should be allowed to dry naturally and, depending on the condition of the scalp, it may then be gently combed or brushed with a natural-bristle brush.
2. Sunbathing,theamountoftimedesignatedforthispurposetodependonpastsunexposure, the texture of the skin, etc.

We find that these few simple changes in the dietary and lifestyle habits of a client are well accepted by him, both emotionally and physically. These are positive health promoting steps which will not overwhelm the beginning Hygienist and ones which he will recognize as being conducive to better health. Now he is paying you to tell him so and to show him how he can adapt to these changes. We find that most clients are overwhelmed at the simplicity of your advice and cheerfully agree to follow the instructions given. We always advise our clients, however, that this is only the first step and that other instructions will be forthcoming at our next meeting. We recommend that, at this first meeting, whenever possible, that front and side views of the client be photographed for comparison at future meetings. We instruct the client to return for his next appointment in two weeks at which time he will be expected to make a verbal report on how well he has complied with your recommendations.

Phase Two

The client should make his report. Irritated areas should be examined and further changes now suggested, either orally or, preferably in typewritten form. Changes to be suggested might be as follows:

1. Nofurtherreductioninbeverageorsugarintakeatthistime.However,theclientisnow instructed to drink his beverage of choice15 to 30 minutes prior to his eating and to refrain from drinking even water during the meal or directly after eating. The physiological reasons for this restriction should, of course, be carefully explained.
2. The client should perhaps be instructed at this meeting to eliminate table salt from his diet. The client may be helped to overcome this pernicious habit by suggesting that he substitute Vegebase or some similar product for table salt. However, he should be advised that using substitutes is not to be recommended and that total abstinence from all food enhancers would be a commendable procedure to follow at this time so as to permit recovery of normal taste sensations as well as to prevent further membrane, kidney, and cellular damage.
3. If, according to his diet profile, the client has been accustomed to taking two or more slices of bread with his meals, he should now be restricted to not more than one slice. Most persons find it extremely difficult to eliminate all bread immediately. They seem to crave it. Hygienists know that breads are not only acid-forming but that they also present certain digestive problems. Incomplete digestion of the starch in bread leads to certain fermentative processes which produce alcohol in the system, a fact which possibly explains why it is sometimes harder for the novice Hygienist to give up the bread-eating habit than the use of meat! Unbeknownst to him, he has actually become a victim of vicarious alcoholism! Nervous people are, almost without exception, heavy bread eaters.

1. Introducedistilledwater.Theclientshouldbeinstructedtousedistilledwaterfordrinking and cooking purposes in place of tap water. He should be informed that he will not be drinking as much water as formerly because he will now be receiving a greater amount of the purest kind of water as contained in uncooked, fresh fruits and vegetables.
2. Changethecustomarybreakfasttooneoffreshfruitaccompaniedbylettuceand/orcelery. At first, it may be better accepted by your client if this meal is a rather substantial one. It will tend to eliminate that “empty” feeling that so often comes on the initial changeover from the popular cereal or bacon and egg breakfast. Remember that clients with hair and skin disorders rarely attribute their condition to malfeeding or to a malfunctioning digestive system, but rather to some unknown “allergy.” Therefore, while we certainly must make certain constructive changes as early as possible, it is often advisable to continue the “hearty breakfast” for the time being until the body can accommodate itself to the changes in progress, these being healing in kind.

Individual appetites will, at this point, determine just how much food may be desired. We suggest that the first fruit breakfasts be patterned somewhat as follows:

1. Breakfast No. One Two bananas, very ripe 10-12 dates 1 apple or pear Lettuce and/or celeryy
2. Breakfast No. Two Two oranges peeled and segmented 1/2 grapefruit, peeled and seg. Lettuce and/or celery, 1/2 avocado
3. Breakfast No. Three 1/2 pound grapes 2 pears Lettuce and/or celery
4. Breakfast No. Four Large dish of fresh or soaked apricots Dish of berries Lettuce and/or celery
5. Breakfast No. Five One or two apples served with date sauce made by blending a few pitted dates with distilled water
6. Breakfast No. Six Fruits in season as, for example: 2 peaches 10-12 dates Lettuce and/or celery
7. Breakfast No. Seven 1 whole papaya 2 nectarines

Lettuce and/or celery

Other suggestions: Berry compote served with peach “cream” made by blending peaches and dates (or peaches and banana) in the blender; raw applesauce made by blending apples and raisins (or dates) with celery; or pear sauce made similarly.

This is the proper time to introduce correct food and fruit combining. We suggest that you use the charts supplied in this course. No other dietary changes are required at this time.

6. When practiceable, a simple exercise program should be presented. It should be well within the present capacity of the client to perform. We suggest walking plus, perhaps, simple stretching and flexibility exercises as an excellent first step toward improved physical development.

All previous changes are to be continued. The client should be provided with a typewritten list of his new program and should be instructed to keep a diary of his new breakfasts and also of how much time he has allotted to exercising and the kind of exercise done.

The client is handed an appointment card which specifies the time and date of his next appointment, this to be in four weeks.

Phase Three

With most clients who have consulted you with rather minor hair, skin and/or scalp disorders, it is now possible to make changes somewhat faster. A minimum of six weeks has passed during which time he has become more attuned emotionally to change and perhaps even physically in that he has begun to see some improvement in his overall condition. Therefore, all previous instructions are to be continued and the following new changes introduced as individual differences indicate and/or allow:

1. Luncheons - In the conventional way of eating, luncheons more often than not consist of soup and a sandwich or of a hamburger, french fries, and a “coke.” It is time now to introduce the salad plus, perhaps, a simple vegetable broth or soup. A list of possible salads should be given to your client since, with many of them, the salad world is unexplored territory. For salad suggestions, we refer to our book The Exciting World of Healthful Cookery which has over two hundred salads to choose from, both vegetable and fruit.
2. Thoseclientswhoformerlydrankalcoholicbeveragesshouldnowbeinstructedregarding the harmful effects of such indulgence. They are either to refrain entirely from any further indulgence (preferable) or to reduce by at least one-half the number of drinks consumed. If the client is accustomed to mixed drinks, he should be encouraged to switch to drinks with a lesser alcoholic content, such as wine and beer. It should be made absolutely clear to the client that by making this suggestion that you are in no way giving your approval to the use of alcohol in any form and that further use by him will only retard and even prevent full recovery.
3. Clientswhohavebeenaccustomedtousingnicotineinanyofitsformsshouldbesimilarly instructed either to reduce or to forego future use. From experience we can say that the easiest and best way to stop this pernicious habit is simply to stop!
4. Thenumberofcupsofcoffee,tea,orotherbeverageshouldnowbereducedtonomore than three cups per day taken 15 to 30 minutes before the meal with total elimination of the habit now being suggested.
5. Twomeatmealsperweekshouldnowbeeliminated.Ifnecessary,theclientmaybepermitted either cottage cheese or eggs in their place. The practitioner should specify the exact day for elimination of meat as, for example, on Friday and Tuesday. Otherwise, certain reluctant clients have a tendency to postpone their meatless days. Where clients are open to total elimination on these two days, they may elect to substitute a baked potato or baked brown rice.

6. Request that your client keep a Diet Diary for the next four weeks. Keeping the diary will help him to adhere more closely to your suggestions since he knows that he will be expected to present the diary to you. A sample report form may be xeroxed and given to the client for this purpose. These forms may be kept on file for distribution.

The alert student will have noted that within a 10-week period, that the client, if he has followed your instructions precisely, will have accomplished the following constructive changes:

1. Reduced his coffee or other beverage intake by 50% or more.
2. Eliminated all fried food.
3. Eliminatedallpackagedcerealsandthetraditionalhamandegg,baconandegg,cereal, or pancake breakfast in favor of fresh fruits served usually, with lettuce and/or celery.
4. Has eliminated most condiments and especially salt from his diet.
5. Has drastically reduced or eliminated entirely all alcoholic beverage intake.
6. Has reduced or totally eliminated his former nicotine dependence.
7. Hasconsistentlyreducedhisproteinintakeandincreasedhisconsumptionofsimple carbohydrates in the form of sweet fruits.
8. Has increased his consumption of raw foods to approximately 50% or more of his total nutritive package where, prior to his first meeting with you, if his diet was typical of the average American, it probably amounted to less than 4%.
9. Decreasedhisconsumptionoffleshfoodbyatleastone-thirdbecausehenolongerhas any flesh foods at either breakfast or luncheon and has omitted it from two dinners per week. He has either substituted eggs or cottage cheese or potatoes or baked rice for these two meatless meals.

This has been a period of change during which lime the client’s body was required to accommodate itself to new practices. The new exercise program has caused more stagnant lazy transport fluids to enter into the mainstream of activity for cleansing by the liver and kidney-filtering mechanisms.

Restorative changes have been silently going on as a result of the improved nutritional intake. These have usually proceeded slowly and quietly, rarely violently. The client has not been emotionally disturbed by rapid elimination of wastes, a process which might and often does intensify already existing symptoms and/or new ones, often to the client’s dismay.

Sometimes, of course, even this carefully phased program can lead to minor unsettling symptoms in which case, and especially with nervous clients, it may be well to reassess your client’s emotional poise and decide whether to back off and resume an earlier phase or to extend this third phase for another month.

Detached appraisal is often necessary with clients who have diseases of the hair, scalp, and/or skin simply because rarely are these afflictions life threatening. It is difficult sometimes to impart to your client the knowledge you have regarding the methodology of body detoxification. We suggest that with difficult clients that they be given a printout of the procedural method being employed.

Phase Four

By this time your client should have noted considerable improvement, not only in his overall wellness, but also in the condition for which he sought your help, assuming, of course, that he has faithfully followed all instructions.

Consequently, he will, more often than not, enthusiastically welcome further instructions. If improvement has been slow it may be best to continue Phase Three for another four-week period. Phase Four changes could proceed as follows:

1. The 24-hour fast, usually a major step for most persons. We have found that most clients will adapt well to this short fast if they are instructed to refrain from eating starting after the evening meal of Day One and then not eating again until the evening of Day Two; as follows:
2. Day One - Eat breakfast, luncheon, and evening meals.
3. Day Two - Breakfast - none Luncheon – none
4. Dinner - A light vegetable salad with nuts; or a simple subacid fruit salad served with 1/2 medium avocado. Throughout the fasting day, distilled water may be used to quench thirst, as needed.
5. Intakeoffleshmeatsisnowreducedtothreetimesperweek.Bakedpotato,bakedbrown rice, nuts, or sunflower seeds may be used in place of the meat. One or two steamed vegetables may be added to this meal, if desired.
6. This is the perfect time to introduce the subject of correct food combining. The client should be given a food-combining chart for his home use. If you hold regular public classes on nutrition, your client should now be encouraged to enroll in these. The client should now formulate his own meals using the food-combining chart.
7. Introduceaerobicexerciseswhenpossible.Wesuggesttoourownclientsthattheyeither purchase some good country western music records or turn on their radios to a station which features music with a good “beat.” We tell them to encourage other members of the family to join them in free-style movement dancing. This is fun and contributes positively to increased family support. If clients live alone, they should be encouraged to join a Jazzercise class at the “Y” or elsewhere.

The client is again requested to keep a food and exercise diary. Since he is now formulating his own meals, it is important that he present it to you, at the next meeting, for your constructive criticism and suggestions. The intervening period will have been a learning period for him and it is always interesting to see how each client has fared. The client should return for his next appointment in four weeks, or sooner, as circumstances may warrant.

Phase Five

By the time the Phase Five Consultation arrives, some three or four months will have passed. If your client has faithfully followed instructions, he will have accomplished the following steps in his four-fold action plan:

1. Totallyeliminatedorsubstantiallyreducedallmajorhealth-destroyinghabits,including but not limited to: nicotine and alcohol use.
2. Adoptedmanyhealth-promotingwaysofeatingandlivingalthoughhemaynothavebecome emotionally or physically fully adapted to them. His mind may tell him that what you suggest in the way of change is sound, that it is scientifically correct but, since his habits have become firmly etched due to the passage of years, they are therefore difficult to modify and/or correct. The practitioner should always be aware of the fact that habit is “a formidable adversary.” The Hygienic practitioner should, therefore, be patient but also firm and consistent in his instructions. He must be kind and always encouraging.
3. The client’s dietary intake is now approaching an intake of 80% raw food.
4. Yourclientshouldbeconsistentlyexercisingaerobicallyforfromfivetofifteenminutes per day and, if he is on target, he should also be walking every day, depending, of course, upon individual capabilities.

At the Phase Five meeting the practitioner should, as the first order of business, examine the food diary for errors and shortcomings, if any. Improvement in condition should be noted in the client’s record.

The 36-hour fast may now be introduced and the client instructed to proceed with this longer fast once during this phase, as follows:

• Day One - Eat breakfast, luncheon, and the evening meal.
• Day Two - Nothing is to be eaten on this day. Distilled water may be used as required to quench thirst.
• Day Three - The client now eats a breakfast which consists of a single fruit, prefer- ably a subacid fruit as, for example, two or three peaches or pears. Luncheon - a fruit salad consisting of either subacid, acid or sweet fruits.
• Dinner - a vegetable salad with nuts, if desired.

All other previous suggestions are to be incorporated in the client’s regimen for the next four weeks with steady reductions being made in all remaining harmful practices. For example, all meat eating should now be discontinued with cottage cheese, sunflower seeds, or nuts used as substitutes. The use of cottage cheese should be restricted to no more than one meal per week. (Cottage cheese is not a good food and therefore the client is best persuaded to eat nuts or seeds.)

All coffee and tea should now be totally eliminated with no beverages permitted during or immediately after the meal. Distilled water may be taken 15 to 30 minutes prior to a meal but only if required to quench thirst. The client should have noted by this time a lessening of need for liquids.

A food and exercise diary should again be kept and the client should be advised to return, this time, in six weeks.

Phase Six

The client’s diary should be reviewed. A visual examination may be made and improvements noted. The assessment of condition should be made cooperatively by both the client and the practitioner. All improvements should be emphasized and, if not known to the client, they should be pointed out to him. Small changes for the better may not be noted by the client on a day-by-day basis but they will be observed by the practitioner at the end of extended intervals. A six-week interval may possibly have greatly enhanced the client’s condition. All improvements should, of course, be duly recorded in the client’s file.

Phase Six is often graduation time! The fruitarian diet should now be introduced. A complete set of suggested menus for a period to encompass at least three weeks should be presented to the client. All cooked food should now be eliminated with a 100% raw food diet adopted.

When possible, the exercise regimen should be expanded to include aerobic, stretching, and flexibility and resistance exercises. We test clients on various weights, starting with five pounds, and suggest that he either purchase whatever weight is most suitable for his present capacity or that he enroll in a physical fitness gym program. We often present clients with a typed list of possible exercises or ask him to purchase a suitable book on exercises.

The weekly 24-hour fast is to be continued with two 36-hour lasts also undertaken in place of two 24-hour fasts as, for example:

• Week One - 24-hour fast starting Friday evening after dinner.
• Week Two - A 36-hour fast starting after dinner on Friday night and continuing until Sunday morning breakfast.
• Week Three - A 24-hour fast as above in Week One. Week Four - A 24-hour fast.
• Week Five - A 36-hour fast as in Week Two.
• Week Six - A 24-hour fast.

Most clients will respond favorably to the above regimen. If not, they are requested to return in four weeks having had three 24-hour fasts and ONE 36-hour fast. Most will give their new way of eating and exercising and perhaps the whole fasting schedule a fair trial. If not, then they must continue with Phase Five for another four weeks.

Phase Six should extend for a period of six weeks at which time the condition and response of the client must be carefully evaluated. If all has gone well and if the client has made a satisfactory adjustment to his new way of life, both emotionally and physically, then he should at the discretion of the practitioner, be advised to continue his program as before and to return in three months. When clients feel comfortable on the fruitarian diet, we then have them “check in” with us at three-month intervals, at which time a record of progress, any shortcomings, regressions, symptoms, etc., are recorded.

We find it interesting that many will have fasted for five to seven days. A few will have gone on a prolonged fast at a spa. Some will feel they have made so much progress that they no longer require your services and elect to try to proceed on their own. To others, the practitioner assumes the father or mother role and the regular visit becomes an anchor to hold on to. Regardless, all clients are encouraged to attend lectures, classes, parties, especially potlucks so that they can be reinforced in their new way of life by meeting with other persons of like interest.

We have made no mention other than in passing of the taking of prescribed and over the-counter drugs, or of vitamin and mineral supplements. These have all been well discussed in other lessons. However, we constantly encourage our clients to discontinue the use of all drugs. By the time a client adopts the fruitarian diet, he has usually come to understand that he is now receiving hundreds of times more nutrients than formerly. He will also be witnessing in his improved condition the fruits of natural living and eating and will, of himself, realize that he has no further need of chemical crutches. In fact, most will be completely convinced1 of the merits of their new way of life and Will willingly and enthusiastically refer their relatives and friends to you because you are now “their doctor!”

Case Study—Marie

Marie, a woman aged 39 at her first visit, was troubled with severe itching of the scalp. A rash covered the surface and extended behind the ears and, down the back of the neck and across both shoulders. This condition existed for some time. Numerous prescribed products had been applied with no lessening of symptoms; in fact, they seemed to worsen.

Because of an allied condition (multiple sclerosis), and also for other reasons, it was thought best to put Marie on the Extended Detoxification Plan. It was followed pretty much as detailed in this lesson. No medications were prescribed but Marie was instructed to rinse her hair and scalp with tepid water several times a day and to begin exercising with the assistance of her husband. In this early stage, Marie had a tendency to fall easily.

Marie adapted to the simple changes. A year has passed. The scalp has cleared as have the neck and upper back. She has had other remarkable improvements. She no longer has a tendency to fall. Her hair is much more luxurious. Her energy flow is so great that she now cares for her family and does all her own housework where she once had difficulty crawling out of bed in the morning. She goes every other day now to the spa for a workout. Marie has no doubts that she will eventually recover totally from the multiple sclerosis. It is interesting that from this one success we have had at least 10 other clients referred to us. Throughout the whole year Marie experienced no undue healing crises that might have discouraged her from continuing on with her new way of living. She is now a fruitarian.

The one outstanding drawback to using the Extended Detoxification Plan, that of discouragement because of slow improvement, has been previously pointed out by Mike Benton in Lesson 21. However, we have often found it a useful procedure and especially so with the elderly, the neurotic and in cases where finances prove to be a major consideration. To illustrate:

Case Study—Ellen

Ellen’s story illustrates how it is sometimes advisable to combine techniques when working with certain clients. Ellen was much concerned about the possibility of her becoming completely bald. At only 42, her hair was very skimpy and just seemed to hang lifeless on her head—what there was of it! There were other problems, too, such as a tendency to sweat profusely. During the night, she had to get up at least once to change her night, clothes and often, too, the bedding. She had lumps behind both knees which made walking difficult.

There were other problems too which told us that Ellen’s body was saturated with toxic debris. It was obvious that Ellen should be referred to a Hygienic institution at once for fasting but we soon realized that this was impossible. In the first place, Ellen was the neurotic type, high-strung and nervous; and, in the second place, she had spent so much money on medical treatments, on drugs, and all manner of vitamin and mineral supplements, as well as on various kinds of “courses” to, as she phrased it, “get her head on straight,” that she just couldn’t afford to spend any more money.

So, for a whole year, we resorted to the Extended Detoxification Plan. Gradually, we, introduced Ellen to Hygienic principles and, little by little, she improved both her eating and her living habits. It wasn’t long before she was fasting one day a week and soon as long as three days at a time. Her improvement, while not dramatic, was steady. She became less jumpy for one thing and gradually the night sweating lessened and finally became a matter of history.

Then, the time came when Ellen was ready both financially and mentally to go for a prolonged fast. The first time she fasted for 14 days and then spent another 10 days recuperating. She lost considerable weight and had a difficult time during this first fast, experiencing stomach cramps, chills, nausea, and extreme weakness. In six months, however, she again repaired to an institution and fasted for a similar period. This time, she did not lose so much weight and experienced no unpleasant symptoms other than a coated tongue, bad breath, and a few minor chills.

After three years Ellen has greatly improved. Her hair is much thicker and has luster and sheen to it. Her complexion is beautiful. The lumps behind her knees have long since gone. She is still somewhat neurotic but even this condition has improved. Ellen still checks in about every three months for counseling and is proud of the fact that she has made a new life for herself. She still has her own very private goal: to become the perfect woman, one sound in body and in mind. With her determination, we are sure she will make it.

Questions & Answers

I have a breaking out on my scalp and behind my ears. At times it is so itchy that I have to wear gloves to restrain myself from scratching my scalp and making the condition worse. My doctor has prescribed one medication after another but nothing seems to do any good. He said he’s going to refer me to a specialist if it doesn’t respond to treatment soon. What would you advise me to do?

By this time you should know that externally applied medications will not help your condition. Your system is so saturated with toxins that it has taken this extraordinary route to relieve itself of its burden. You need to fast. Your body will then take over and cleanse itself. You should be rid of your trouble in a very short time, perhaps even in a week.

I’m only 19 and already I’m getting bald. What can I do?

The medical community correlates balding with aging. At only 19 years of age you have obviously just begun your life. Another theory associates balding with inheritance, that one’s genes foretell that a person will become bald. Personally, we don’t buy this. One thing that makes us hold that balding is related to the overall wellness of a person is that balding has increased in about the same way as man’s dietary habits have deteriorated. It will probably take several generations to restore to human males their birthright—a heavy head of beautiful hair—but I am confident it can be done by improving the health of each new generation. As for you, fast, get the accumulated metabolic wastes out of your system, turn over a new leaf, as they say, and live hygienically. If the hair cells are dead, you probably can’t revive them, but surely you can prevent further loss.

My hair is thick enough but it is dull and lifeless-looking. It just hangs. Do you have any suggestions?

Again we come back to the unity of the body. How is your energy flow? I’m willing to hazard a guess that you probably drink “Cokes” or coffee or tea several times a day to keep going. I see you nodding your head. You, too, need to fast and then to begin eating a human diet, not swallowing messes of chemicals. There is a beautiful black mare in the pasture below us. Her coat glistens in the sun and she runs with great speed around the pasture, her nostrils flaring and every muscle showing its strength. This is a race horse and I can bet my bottom dollar that Bob, the owner, doesn’t feed that horse on lollipops and swill. It gets the finest kind of horse food. You need to feed yourself people food, to get out of doors and walk, to make friends and begin to learn about life and what it takes to live in health. If you’ll do this, your body will take care of your hair and it will truly become your crowning glory.

I’m 67 years of age. As you can see, my hair is thin and it’s almost white. I guess, at my age, about all I can do is to buy a wig and wear it, do you agree?

No way! Dr. Vetrano once noted that many women with wigs can see improvement in their hair’s condition, since they are no longer always fussing with it, putting on creams and lotions, teasing, curling and perming it, etc. I would advise you to fast perhaps initially for 24 hours every week, to learn how to combine your food properly, to adopt the hygienic way of eating, to rinse your hair frequently and just let it alone. We ourselves have observed how our hair has darkened. Twenty years ago my hair was a dirty yellow white. As you can see it is now a rather darkish gray and no one can say that I don’t have a thick head of hair, can they?

My hair smells sour. In fact, sometimes it smells so bad that my husband complains about it. What would cause this?

One of the first things we do when clients come to us with scalp or hair problems is to smell the hair. A foul, sour odor is indicative of a foul, sour body. Your fluids are filled with acid wastes. You need to fast for an extended time; if possible, until the return of hunger. I would advise you to consider going to a spa as soon as possible to undertake a fast. That should end your sour hair problem for good if, thereafter, you adopt a more Hygienic way of living and eating.

Article #1: Baldness by Dr. Herbert M. Shelton

Baldness is far more common in men than in women, but it is estimated that there are more than five hundred thousand baldheaded women in the United States, the condition being far more prevalent than is commonly realized. Worse yet, the condition is apparently increasing. Among women who are not bald and who do not become so, the hair is often thin and short, lacking in both vigor and lustre. To compensate for such defects, women buy and wear hair pieces—switches, wigs, braids, chignons, pony tails, clusters, figure eights, etc. Although there is nothing half so becoming to the female face as thick, beautiful hair, fine, luxurious hair is a rarity. Doubtless most men would be astounded to know that many of the tastily arranged tresses worn by the women they see on the streets or that they go out with, originally grew on the head of another. As some wit has said:

“The golden hair that Gallus wears

Is hers—who would have thought it?

She swears ‘tis hers! and true she swears,

For I know where she bought it.”

Medical men talk learnedly about “normal male baldness” and regard it as due to

heredity, old age, and an excess of male hormones. The “remedy” is philosophy. There is no way to prevent it. Women will continue to resort to wigs and switches, for they cannot prevent it either. Works on beauty often provide their readers with “remedies” for baldness, although no such remedy is known to man. Hair tonics will neither prevent the development of baldness nor restore hair once it has been lost. Massaging the scalp, pulling the hair, the use of vacuum cups and ultraviolet rays do not save nor do they restore the hair.

In the days when beards were in style it was not uncommon to see luxuriant beards and bald heads. Even today, (Note—published in 1958) men who have bald heads are not bald-faced. Every man would prefer to lose the hair on his face, thus removing the necessity for the daily shave, than to lose that of his head. But no means of saving the hair of the head has yet been found. No means will be found until the genuine causes of baldness are discovered. No preparation will grow hair. Hair tonics and hair foods are frauds.

What, then, is the answer? Shall we accept the hypothesis of the “bad gene” that is alleged to be responsible for baldness; is baldness hereditary? Is the case against baldness and premature graying as hopeless as this indicates?” I doubt the existence of “bad genes” of all kinds. Howard T. Behrman, M.D., a leading medical dermatologist, and author of a five-hundred page medical textbook (1952) on the scalp, says that “there is an evolutionary tendency in the human race to grow less hair—women as well as men.

In 200 years, perhaps more—it may be high fashion in both sexes to have no hair.” He declares that “hair is only a vestigial ornament that no longer serves a real purpose. It used to have a protective function. But once we moved out of the trees we no longer needed it.” While thus exposing his ignorance and posing as a prophet, this loose tongued member of the Homo Sapiens stood up on his hind legs and relieved himself of the following bit of cerebral excrement about the future of man: “The eventual human being, man and woman, will have no hair, a longer head, large abdomen and short arms and legs.”

Returning to Lamark and the inheritance of acquired characters and re-asserting the outmoded nonsense of use-heredity, he backs up his prediction that man will evolve into a caricature of his present self by saying: “It’s what you’d expect as man becomes more of an indoor animal, sitting on his rear more and spending more time pushing buttons.” This is the “easy method” of solving problems. It is that of the arm-chair philosopher, not that of the scientist who would approach the problem directly instead of deducing an explanation from a pet hypothesis. When the cause of the loss of hair is finally discovered, and it will be, it will be found that pathology and not evolution is at the bottom of the loss. Hereditary baldness will go out the window where a lot of other “hereditary diseases” went when their causes were discovered.

Behrman sees the increasing baldness among women today as an evolutionary change, aggravated, he thinks, by lack of proper care. He says that “women who have a tendency to baldness often find it increased after childbirth, because of a temporary loss of female hormones. Treatment with female hormones may bring back the hair, but not

necessarily.” His thesis is that female hormones grow scalp hair and hinder body hair, while male hormones work just the opposite; they are supposed to be responsible for the growth of body hair and loss of head hair. Strange, if this is so, that head hair in the male is most abundant in youth, when the sex functions are at their highest, and absent after middle life, when the functions of the male sex glands are commonly less efficient. At any rate, the use of hormones to grow hair did not prove satisfactory.

Behrman says of women and their hair, that “they don’t brush it vigorously, or wash it as frequently as they did in the old days. Now they dye it, weave it, bleach it—and let it fall into a set pattern. They are afraid to disturb it until their next trip to the beauty parlor.” Besides being a gross exaggeration, this view of the need for washing and brushing the hair disregards the fact that washing and brushing the hair is not done among many savage tribes amongst whom baldness is unknown. Important as are these elements of hair care, their lack is not the cause of baldness. Waving, dying, and bleaching may help to produce baldness.

Brushing the hair, although it does cleanse the hair and distribute the oil through it, will not save the hair nor cause it to grow. The solution of our hair problems must be sought in some other and more fundamental direction Perhaps diet may hold a large part of the solution, but certainly not all of it.

Article #2: Your Probing Mind By Dr. Vivian V. Vetrano

Will Fasting Make Your Hair and Nails Grow?

Both hair, and nails grow well during a fast. Many times people who had brittle nails happily discover that while fasting they become more pliable and less easily broken. Long fasting, in those having disproportionate reserves, may cause the hair follicle to involute while fasting and about a month to two months after the fast these experience a great falling-out of hair. This often frightens them and they think that they are becoming bald. Fasting does not produce baldness. Their hair begins to grow again until they have as many as they had before. It is common physiological process for hair follicles to involute; the hair falls out and subsequently grows again. When a hair reaches its normal potential length, then the follicle shuts down the manufacture of hair for a while and the hair falls out. For the follicles to do so all at once is a conservative process. The same thing happens during acute diseases accompanied with prolonged high fever. The body is conserving its nutritive stores for more important functions.

If this occurs after a fast, no special preparations or dietary changes are necessary unless one has been eating wrongly. Continue eating the Hygienic diet, especially concentrating on eating the nuts and salads, and the hair follicles will begin again to manufacture hair as they normally do. No diet can compare to a diet of nuts, fruits, and green vegetables for luxuriant growth of hair.

Are There Any Safe Shampoos? Is Water Alone Sufficient For Washing One’s Hair?

Yes. water alone is sufficient for keeping one’s hair clean. In a polluted city, you may have to wash your hair three or four times a week but plain water will suffice. Shampoos have been indicted for causing baldness, excessive oiliness, and excessive dryness of the scalp and hair.

Many women feel that their hair is dirty if they don’t use a shampoo of some kind. When I first learned of the effects of shampoos and soaps, I was also fearful that my hair would be dirty without them.

However, once you get used to the new feeling of your hair with its natural oils in it, then you begin to like that feeling better than the flyaway unmanageable

hair just after shampooing. Actually, when using water alone plus regular brushing, your hair is much cleaner than when using shampoos. Besides being able to wash it more than once or twice a week, you learn a whole new way of caring for your hair that makes it more beautiful, healthier and cleaner.

To wash your hair without shampoo, scrub the scalp with your fingertips under running water (the shower is best) for about ten minutes. Towel dry it or blow dry it. After it is dry, brush it with a natural bristle brush. The brushing will remove all the loosened dirt and exfoliated scalp tissues while at the same time it distributes the oils evenly throughout the hair. Your hair will shine beautifully and be very manageable. Those with excessively oily hair may wash their hair daily without shampoos without harming it, whereas using shampoos two to three times weekly is extremely hazardous.

When I comb my hair I pull out about one fourth of a comb of hair. Is this normal or abnormal?

It is quite normal for some hair to fall out when being combed. Hair grows to its potential length, then the hair follicles involute, that is, cease to produce hair for a while, and the hair shaft falls out. Then the hair follicle begins growing a new hair in its place. This is normal. It is abnormal when hair falls out daily by the brushful. This occurs occasionally after long febrile conditions, and in some people after a long fast. In each case the hair grows back.

Just how harmful is the repeated use of chlorinated swimming pools?

Chlorine gas was the gas used in World War I that was so deadly to the Allied soldiers. In hot weather when evaporation occurs, you can smell the chlorine vapors around a pool, which means that you are breathing some chlorine gas. Chlorine is a protoplasmic poison and is damaging to the skin, eyes, hair and mucous membranes. The chlorinated water may accidently be swallowed and contribute to internal toxemia. If all you have to swim in is a chlorinated swimming pool, make your dips infrequent and stay in the water for no more than ten to fifteen minutes and try not to swallow the water. Don’t open your eyes under the water without goggles.

Any amount of chlorine in drinking water is harmful but when more than the prescribed amount is put in, it has been known to cause epidemics of diarrhea. Small amounts can do the same thing in extremely sensitive people, and may even cause colitis. Many so-called allergic symptoms result from the use of chlorinated drinking water. Hives and asthma have disappeared almost overnight in some people when they ceased drinking chlorinated water.. Colitis has spontaneously cleared up in many people when they quit drinking chlorinated water. Chlorine has been shown to destroy Vitamins A, B, C, E, and one essential amino acid that is especially important in young children, called tryptophan.

When you add swimming pool water to all the other sources of inorganic chlorine in modern life, it amounts to a pretty high dosage and an increased frequency of disease.

Article #3: Cutaneous Medicine

As quoted by Dr. Vetrano in Dr. Shelton’s Review, June, 1979. Other comments by Dr. Vetrano.

Substances can pass through a hair follicle, when they can’t get through other areas of the skin. Soaps, chemicals, and harsh rubbing makes this occur easily. You can demonstrate absorption through a hair follicle by just placing a five percent aqueous so-

lution of histamine or norepinephrine on the hairy forearm. Very soon you will see little blanched bumps around the hair follicles, called wheals, with the hair standing on end. “Washing the skin first with soap and water, or prior defatting with ether or chloroform, somewhat enhances penetrability of the above agents from aqueous solution.”

The reason we so often have bad reactions to deodorants, especially while fasting is probably because they are rubbed into a hairy region, such as the axilla; also because the axillary skin is weakened by shaving and soap and water washing. Shaving weakens the skin’s protective ability by loosening and disrupting the stratum corneum (for definition see Lesson 61), or the layer of the horn, and soaps wash away our protective oils and other secretions.

Actually there are only two ways that substances can enter the skin. One is by passing directly through the epidermis, the transepidermal route. Certain substances can get into the body via this route but not many. The other way that substances get through the skin is through the orifices of the hair follicles as I have shown. This is the pilosebaceous route. More substances get into the body through the follicular holes than can pass through the skin itself. This is why you are always cautioned, when using permanent wave solutions or hair dyes, to make a test curl first, because applying chemicals to hair regions can be hazardous to your health. If there were no hair follicles the skin would be even more impermeable than it is presently.

...“By entering the follicular orifices, substances can bypass the epidermal barrier altogether. If miscible or soluble in fat, they can seep down into the sebaceous duct and pass through the sebaceous gland, fanning out from here into the dermis. The pilosebaceous route is the chief means of transit through the skin. Penetration is, therefore, best in densely hairy areas. Conversely, absence of follicles in atrophic or senile skin lowers permeability.”

Article #4: The Body Beautiful by Max Warmbrand, N.D., D.O.

If you are concerned with your physical appearance., it is important to know that it is only through intelligent living that you can mold a beautiful body and a charming personality.

The sheen of your hair, the smoothness of your skin, unblemished teeth, sparkling eyes, shapely ankles, a buoyant, youthful step—how easily they can be attained when you follow a healthful way of life.

Blotchy aging skin, tired eyes, coarse stringy hair, premature aging, and the weary step are not the inevitable marks of passing years; they are the deteriorating effects of wrong food, bad habits, emotional excesses, abuses of one sort or another.

You can be a charming, vivacious, radiant, and vital person at 70, or dull, bloated, worn out, and depleted at 30. It all depends on how alert you are to the needs of your body and how well you go about taking care of yourself.

The first step toward attaining the body beautiful is to turn to a good wholesome diet. The most valuable foods to help melt away fat or increase weight, smooth out wrinkles, beautify the skin, put life and lustre in the eyes and hair, are the raw fruits and the raw vegetables. These foods should be number one on your diet list.

Excerpted from The Encyclopedia of Natural Health

Article #5: The Hair by J.J. Tilden, M.D.

The various pastes, or liquids, on the market for removing hairs are made of arsenic, or calcium sulphate or barium salts, or quick-lime (unslaked lime), or some combination of same.

They remove the hairs by burning them off. No depilatory gets into the roots to prevent more hair coming.

The electric needle is often used to remove hairs by destroying the roots, but it is a dangerous procedure at its best, for every point that the needle enters must leave a scar. It is a painful operation and leaves many regrets for the operator as well as for the patient.

There is another method of hair-removing that is not fully understood by the public. As it is the public that furnishes the patients, or victims, for any system of treatment or mistreatment, the public should be informed.

This “newer system” is known under many fancy names, but it has for its remover a form of electrical energy or “ray” that destroys the tissues gradually. Many repeat treatments have to be taken, when slowly the hairs wither and dry up and fall off.

As I have had several of these unfortunate victims to treat, I must give a word of warning, for this “unknown-ray” system leaves the skin, so it gradually dries and takes on the appearance of a “raisin skin.” (The ray is a form of X-ray.)

In London, England, the authorities have forbidden the use of this “unknown ray” for hair removing. One of the London medical officials claims that cancers are appearing on the faces of many who have had this “unknown ray” system of hair-removing used.

When used under the arms, the “unknown ray” often makes cripples by destroying the blood vessels and withering the nerves.

Other tissues must be destroyed to destroy a hair root.

Article #6: Hygiene of Beauty by Tosca Mariani

If a child, or anyone for that matter, has dandruff, it is generally because they are on too high a refined carbohydrate diet—too many sweets, too many sugars. It is first necessary to get them off the denatured sugars and high carbohydrate diet to clear up the condition. Let them eat more fresh fruits, less dried fruits, more fresh vegetables and the proper nuts for the protein. They will gradually cease having dandruff. Now, what you can do while you have this condition, is to wash your hair with plain water, because the soaps and shampoos that are said to eliminate dandruff only cause more dandruff. All that’s needed is to wash it daily. If the dandruff is very, very bad, wash the head daily and brush with a boar bristle brush. Push the brush in deeply, and then scrub in that spot. Then brush it out. In other areas, just brush out the dandruff. You can get all the dandruff out that way.

A man’s hair can be washed just like a woman’s hair, and brushed with a boar bristle brush. You can find brushes for males, as you can for females, that are made out of boar bristles. Men can keep their hair nice without using a lot of hair oils or hair preparations. You really don’t need them. In fact they aren’t too popular any more with most men. Just wash the hair in plain water, let it dry then brush your hair vigorously.

Hair is fed from within, not from without. Whether you get Protein 21 shampoo or any of the other protein preparations, they do not feed the hair, because these cells are nourished by blood only. Hair cells, which are part of the outer layer of the skin, harden in the process of growth. After they are hardened they no longer receive nutrition. They are dead cells. They are kept pliable and soft by the oil secreted by the oil glands. Hair automatically is lost. Every person has a growing span or a particular length or potential length which the hair may reach before the follicle turns under to take a short rest. A hair follicle will turn under every so often and this involution is a natural process.

There are some things that can occasion premature turning under of the hair follicle and a loss of hair. This is malnutrition and some severe febrile diseases such as typhoid fever, scarlet fever, malaria, etc., and sometimes after a very long fast. This is because the body begins to conserve its reserves and ceases to secrete a lot of oils. The skin becomes a little drier while fasting, and it ceases to grow the hair follicle. They involute or turn under and a month after your fast they may fall out. A new follicle will replace it. This kind of hair loss is only temporary and all of the hair does not fall out. Only some of the follicles involute and you are not completely bald. You are just thin haired for a

while. The hair will begin to grow after it has involuted for a while, and you will have a head of beautiful new hair. In some people, believe it or not, their hair has grown back curly instead of straight. Some people think that curly hair is the normal, and straight hair is a loss or an abnormality, but this is a debatable issue.

People almost always want to know what causes graying. When a hair becomes gray, it is because the pigment-producing cells in the follicles have ceased to function and as a general rule, this is an aging process from which there is no return. In some cases, people may turn gray very early, and their hair color has been known to return. This is unusual, and is due to a great fright or some extreme emotional upheaval. These types have been known to regrow the natural color.

It should always be remembered that the care of every part of the body comes from within. It is your total way of life that makes these parts beautiful. Whether it’s your skin, or your hair, or your eyes or your teeth, they are all nourished from within. You need sunshine, you need exercise, rest, proper diet and emotional poise, in other words, you need all the requisites of normal physiology. These things are just as “necessary for various parts of the body as they are for your general health. When your general health is good, then nine times out of ten, your hair and your skin will be normal. They will be fed properly because they are fed by the bloodstream. All of the cells use about the same nutriments.

There’s not any special nutriment for hair, or special nutriment for teeth, and so forth, but protein is essential in your diet; that is protein supplied from within, not applied on the surface.

From The Review, June 1975