Those who can enjoy looking at the good fortune of others without feeling envious have passed their first big test, which will ensure them happiness and peace throughout their lives. Possessions always mean responsibility but there are many things we can relish without such cares. Our walks can be taken not only for the healthy exercise they give but also for the joy of seeing the beauty of the flowers, the distant mountains, the fine woods and rich fields. We need not consider the fact that the cool, blue lake and the rushing stream do not belong to us. We can rejoice in the graceful gambols of someone else’s young animals without fearing that, by some mischance, we might lose them. We can enjoy all these things so much better than their owner, because ownership is a heavy burden that demands work and care. Many who strive for it with envy or jealousy in their hearts perhaps could not enjoy such a burden successfully. So, if you wish to enjoy beauty to the full, do not let envy and jealousy encroach upon your joy in appreciating the possessions of others.
*1253/28/1*
There is also another thing which needs to be protected in the interest of health. It is our right to breathe good, unpolluted air, is it not? Clean air is necessary for life, and the sanitary measures taken everywhere should definitely embrace this important requirement. Appropriate laws should be made and enforced. For is it not still possible for anyone to pollute the air without anything being done about it? We all know that air is just as important as water. So if industry is not allowed to poison the water, it goes without saying that the many factory chimneys should not be permitted to belch out their fumes into the atmosphere without any consideration for the well-being of the human race.
Think of those people who have built their homes and picked the spot carefully so as to enjoy it, only to find that in time the increasing traffic brings an endless stream of cars and lorries passing right outside their front doors, forcing them to inhale stinking exhaust fumes instead of clean and healthy air. Since the motorways have already been built, it is imperative that remedial measures be sought and taken in order to protect the health of people who now live near them but did not choose to do so. If every motor car had to be fitted with an exhaust emission control device, the costs of installation would certainly not ruin us economically, but would improve our environment.
*1184/28/1*
The call for pesticides that do not harm our own health or that of our children is more urgent than ever before. If it is really impossible to fight pests without some kind of poison, then we should at least employ plant poisons that are easily eliminated, neutralised and made ineffective. When I was in South America I came to know of certain roots that were used as an insecticide. They had hardly been discovered when the industry replaced them by synthetic chemicals. Systematic research, I am sure, would no doubt find ways of using tobacco extract, products made from derris (of the Artemisia family), and various tropical plants. Such products could be used without disturbing the biological balance in nature or harming our health. It is possible that plant pesticides may be considerably more expensive than chemical products, but it is only right that people’s health should come before financial considerations.
*1115/28/1*
Raw potato juice has proved its worth in the treatment of arthritis and it is also a fine remedy for stomach ulcers. Patients are advised to drink the juice of a medium-sized potato (about one-third of a glass) before breakfast on an empty stomach. The ulcers usually disappear within 3-6 weeks. If a little fresh carrot juice is added to the potato juice the taste will be improved, making it easier to take. If the patient is unable to prepare his own juice because of lack of time, he can take the lacto-fermented juice sold in health food stores.
Raw potato juice, together with centaury, is a splendid help in neutralising excess acid in the stomach, which is generally the cause of heartburn. The simplest way to do this is to add fresh centaury drops to the potato juice. It has not yet been discovered whether the remedial effect is attributable to the solanin content (about 0.002 per cent) or to the alkaline mineral salts.
An interesting letter informed us recently that Solanosan, together with Petasites, helped a stomach and liver patient to find relief from pain, providing restful sleep, an improved appetite and weight gain. Solanosan complex is made from the potato plant, which can have a poisonous effect, but the remedy is in homoeopathic potency and therefore efficacious in treating the indicated illnesses. Large amounts of Solanin, however, can cause poisoning and even endanger one’s life.
*1045/28/1*
All things considered, what does this account emphasise? It is good to serve a dish of raw food before the main meal, but be careful to stick to one variety of food. Before a vegetable meal eat raw vegetables, never fruit, and before a meal composed of sweet dishes, you may eat fruit. Dr Bircher-Benner’s theory may apply to healthy people whose organs function properly, but if there is a tendency to dysfunction of one or more organs, especially the liver and pancreas, the consumption of fruit and vegetables as part of the same meal can encourage further disturbances.
A urinalysis disclosed that the writer of the above letter had trouble with her liver and pancreas, and it was no doubt for this reason that she suffered from flatulence when she ate fruit and vegetables at the same meal. Where the liver and pancreas are working efficiently, the digestive juices are able to break down fruit and Dr Bircher-Benner’s theory would be correct. It would then do no harm to eat fruit before a vegetable meal. However, if the organic mechanism is impaired, the enzymes will clearly be unable to digest the fruit acids, resulting in a reaction between the fruit acids and the alkaline vegetable components. The unpleasant consequences are excessive fermentation and flatulence.
*975/28/1*