HAPPINESS AS A REMEDY – INTRODUCTION

Happiness can indeed be spoken of as a remedy. Mysterious functions take place in our bodies, which are responsible for equally mysterious and inexplicable effects. No less puzzling is the interaction between the mind and the nervous system. In what a wonderful and simple way the central nervous system executes the orders of the mind! Millions of muscle fibres work like obedient little horses, harnessed and driven by millions of reins and guided by our will, the driver. To this wonder-system of divine design we owe the movement and rhythm of life.

How differently the sympathetic nervous system works! Unguid-ed by the cerebrum and uninfluenced by the will, it performs those functions that could not possibly be maintained and attended to by our conscious minds. The circulation and digestion, as well as all the organs involved in these processes, are regulated by the autonomous nerves on which our physical and mental well-being depends. Although the will has no power over them they can nevertheless be influenced by our imaginative faculties, by our feelings and emotions. Joy will get hold of the hidden switches of the sympathetic nerves, and release cramps and flood away congestions in the liver, the kidneys and the pancreas. Even the heart cannot escape the positive influence of joy and happiness.

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BASIC RULES – THE ELECTRIC FIELD (IMPORTANT HEALTH FACTORS)

The place we live in is very important to our health in these modern times. For many, though not all of us, where we live depends largely upon our own personal decision, whereas we may not be in a position to influence other important health factors. For instance, we are more or less left to accept the levels of air and water pollution and the frightening increase of radioactivity

in the atmosphere without being able to do anything about it.

Since we have to eat contaminated food and inhale polluted air, the accruing influences progressively weaken our bodies, to our detriment. Taking care that the house or apartment we live in is as healthy as possible is therefore a sensible and well-founded decision.

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MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS – POISONS THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO ELIMINATE (SYMPTOMATIC TREATMENT)

We have not forgotten the disastrous results when a large number of women took the thalidomide drug, in good faith, during the 1960s. It seems that only after hundreds, or even thousands, of people have suffered from taking such drugs, the real danger is discovered. Experience has shown that no one knows the long-term effects of any strong chemical medicine. No chemist, experienced physician or pharmacologist can predict the effects with any degree of certainty. Granted, laboratory and animal experiments do give a limited idea of the general effects in each case and this may help in the specific or symptomatic treatment of a certain disease. However, how is the drug to be judged and what is to be done when suddenly deformity, sterility, and neural and genetic damage is observed, as was the case with thalidomide? If legal proceedings are taken, will it not be difficult even for a very alert and observant doctor to prove his point? What is more, he will have to think very carefully about whether he dare take on a mighty chemical or pharmaceutical company and sue them successfully.

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WHOLE WHEAT AND OTHER CEREALS – BUCKWHEAT {FAGOPYRUM ESCULENTUM) (INTRODUCTION)

If you travelled down to Pusciavo during the war you could have seen in the districts adjoining the Italian border many fields sown with buckwheat, a crop which is almost unknown to this day in other areas. Our fellow citizens in the south were smarter than we in the north when it came to looking after themselves. There was a government requisition order on wheat flour, but buckwheat, a wild cereal, was exempt. So the farmers started to grow buckwheat, which was known to be highly nutritious and wholesome.

Buckwheat is satisfied even with poor and sandy soil and has a short growing period. In fact, the crop matures within three months and for this reason it is cultivated in northern climates where the seasons are short, as in Siberia. The plant attains a height of half a metre (1 Vi—2 feet) and has reddish white flowers which provide a good supply of nectar for the bees. American buckwheat honey is known far and wide.

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VITAMINS – OVERCOMING PROTEIN DEFICIENCY (INTRODUCTION)

Lactovegetarians will not find it easy to prevent protein deficiency if they travel in countries where there is little dairy farming. In fact, a vegetarian may have difficulty even in our temperate regions in obtaining his eighteen amino acids every day in the food available to him, yet they are essential building blocks for the protein in his body.

Millet was the staple diet of our forefathers; together with milk and meat it provided the necessary protein. Later, potatoes were added as a valuable source of protein, and in more recent times, soya beans. Soya has proved to be an excellent vegetable protein, and was responsible for saving millions of Chinese from starvation when overpopulation made the production of sufficient animal protein impossible.

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