In this way originates chronic disease, which means that the cells have become incapable of arousing themselves to acute eliminative effort in the form of inflammatory febrile reactions.

In my lectures I sometimes liken the cell thus encumbered with morbid matter and poisons to a man buried in a mine under the debris of a cave in such a manner that it is impossible for him to free himself of the earth and timbers which are pinning him down.  In such a predicament the man is unable to help himself.  His fellow workers or his friends must come to his aid and remove the obstructing masses until he can assist them and free himself.

This is a good illustration of the condition of the cells of the body in chronic disease.  They also have become unable to help themselves and need assistance until they can once more arouse themselves to self-help by means of an acute eliminative effort.

What can we do to help them?  We must endeavor in the first place to furnish the cells with the right nourishment.  We must abstain from everything that may be injurious to the body in food and drink, so as to relieve the cells of all unnecessary work.

Whatever one may think of vegetarianism as a continuous mode of living, a little consideration will make it plain that a rational vegetarian diet is the sine qua non in the cure of chronic diseases.  It builds up the blood on a normal basis, excludes all food and drink poisons and thereby gives the organism an opportunity to throw off the old accumulations of waste and morbid materials.

In chronic disease, every drop of blood and every cell of the organism is affected.  In order to produce a cure, the old tissues must be broken down and removed and new tissues built up.  The more thorough the change in diet, the greater and more rapid will be the changes for the better in cells and tissues, especially if only pure and eliminating foods are used.

For these reasons it is advisable to omit most red-blooded meat while under the natural treatment.  All animal flesh contains the morbid secretions and other waste products of the animal organism, and this means additional work for the cells already overburdened with systemic poisons.

Then we must work for elimination.  Cold water applied to the surface of the body is the most powerful stimulant to the circulation.  It actually pumps and pushes the blood through the system.  One feels the blood rushing through the arteries and veins with greater force.

The cold-water treatment makes the skin more alive and active, stirs up and accelerates the circulation throughout the system and thus promotes the elimination of systemic poisons through the skin.

This stimulating effect of cold water upon the organism has been proved by counting the number of red blood corpuscles in a drop of blood before and after the application of the cold “blitzguss.”  They were found to have doubled in number.  That does not mean that in an instant again as many red blood corpuscles had come into existence, but it does mean that before the cold “guss” one-half of them were dozing lazily in the corners.  The cold water stirred them up, forced them into the circulation, made them travel and attend to business.