The Gerson Miracle

 https://yeshuafreedom.com/w/gk17Tgx5qr9mx9gx98fsEa

The Daily Messenger: On January 14 of 2014, I began to experience incre...

The Daily Messenger: On January 14 of 2014, I began to experience incre...: On January 14 of 2014, I began to experience increasingly painful lower abdominal stomach cramps that showered me with lacerating pains from...

RETRACING, HEALING REACTIONS, PURIFICATION REACTIONS OR FLARE-UPS

By Lawrence Wilson, MD

© August 2013, The Center For Development

WHAT ARE HEALING REACTIONS?

            Healing reactions are temporary symptoms that occur only on deep healing regimens in which the body retraces or goes back and heals old infections, wounds, injuries, or other imbalances from the past.  Many are related to eliminating toxic substances, healing chronic infections, or metabolic shifts that take place as a body heals and its vitality increases.

Other texts may refer to healing reactions as flare-ups, crises, retracing reactions, Jarisch-Herxheimer reactions, Herxheimer reactions, Lucio's Phenomena, die-off reactions, purification reactions, the reversal process, aggravations or exacerbations.

            Healing crises or reactions are an essential feature of all true and deep healing methods. They can be unpleasant and rarely are frightening.  However, they are welcome signs of healing.  If they did not occur, one knows that a healing method may offer symptomatic relief, but usually it is not as deep healing as those therapies that cause healing reactions.  Among the medical sciences that cause these reactions are chiropractic, homeopathy, some psychotherapy such as psychoanalysis, rarely herbal remedies, and nutritional balancing science.

           

Retracing is poorly understood.  Healing reactions are little understood in allopathic medical practice because they rarely occur with drug medicine approaches.  They also do not occur with most herbal, nutritional and other holistic and naturopathic approaches to health care.

As a result, most people, including doctors, are unfamiliar with them and often frightened of them.  However, anyone who undertakes nutritional balancing therapy may experience them at times, at least to some degree.  Therefore, it is excellent to understand them better.

           

Symptoms of retracing.  Most healing reactions are mild and pass quickly.  Symptoms may include almost anything.  One could experience diarrhea, constipation, aches or pains, muscle cramps, discharges, odors, rashes, headaches, irritability or fatigue.  Rarely, symptoms are more vigorous, such as a vigorous cold, flu, or even retracing an old case of pneumonia or hepatitis.

Burning pain upon urination.  For example, rarely a person reports burning pain in the urethra and bladder area upon urination.  This occurs in children, at times.  The cause is a release of an irritating toxin through the kidneys and into the urine.  The best way to handle it is usually to drink more water, and perhaps take an Epsom salt bath – but no more than 3 baths per week. 

If it continues and is annoying, reduce the supplement program and it will likely slow down the elimination and thus the pain or burning sensation will diminish.  Eventually, it will pass when the toxin is completely eliminated.

Emotional and psychological healing reactions are among the most interesting, and often the most important.  Typical symptoms include feelings of anxiety, depression, fear or anger.  However, as with the physical symptoms, almost any symptom is possible, depending upon a person’s past traumas and experiences.

At times, more intense psychological and emotional retracing occurs with nutritional balancing.  This often has to do with retracing old emotional traumas and molestation.  However, in almost all cases, the body will not undertake a healing reaction unless it can see it through to completion.  For this reason, reassurance and general supportive measures are usually all that is required during even an intense reaction.  These measures are discussed below.

RETRACING IS A TYPE OF SECONDARY CHAOS

            Retracing reactions may be described as flare-ups of secondary chaos in terms of chaos theory.  Chaos theory is  a very modern and interesting science.   The concept is that when a system is not working right, it causes chaos.  As the system is fixed or corrected, the degree of chaos diminishes.  However, at times, secondary chaos may occur. 

This is an apt description of a healing reaction.   In our biological terms, a sick body is one that is in a high state of chaos.  Nutritional balancing reduces this chaos.  However, along the way, more chaos may erupt for a while as the body heals.  This is a rough description of what occurs in a healing reaction.

RETRACING VERSUS A WORSENING OF HEALTH

            Caution: At times, reactions are not due to healing and indicate a worsening of a health condition.  This happened to this author, and it happens to many people.  One reads about retracing, and just assumes that any symptom that arises is a healing or retracing reaction. 

            It can be vitally important to know if a reaction is due to healing or a worsening of a condition.  Answering the five questions below can help one to know which is occurring.

            1. Was the person following a nutritional balancing program, including diet, rest, supplements and the proper application of the sauna?  Healing reactions occur most often when the body is given all that it needs.  If the complete program is followed fairly strictly, the reaction is likely due to healing.

            However, if a person is not following the program, or on a different regimen, then it is more likely that it is not a healing reaction.  Also, if one is terminally ill, it may not be a healing reaction.

            2. Was one feeling better before the reaction occurred?  Healing reactions require energy.  One’s energy level often increases until sufficient to initiate a reaction.  Thus, a reaction can occur and often does just when one is feeling stronger.  If one had been feeling worse, the reaction is less likely due to healing, however.

            3.  Have the symptom occurred in the past?  Often, old symptoms or conditions recur during healing reactions.  If one experienced the symptom in even the distant past, it is more likely, though not always, due to healing.

            4. Are the symptoms unusual?  Healing reactions often produce odd symptom pictures.  One might develop a sore throat or flu without fatigue.  This occurs when one is really not ill, though one may develop some features of an illness.

            5. How long have symptoms lasted?  Healing reactions usually do not last long.  They may be vigorous but end in a few hours or at most about a week.  If a reaction or flare-up lasts more than several weeks, it may be a worsening of one’s condition.

            This one is tricky, however, because a deep-seated physical or emotional problem may take weeks or months to retrace completely in a few cases.  Look to the other questions for more clarity, or do a hair analysis retest to gain more insight as to what is going on.

EMOTIONAL HEALING REACTIONS

              One can change emotionally as well as physically during sauna therapy.  Anyone undergoing a nutritional balancing healing program needs to be prepared for these emotional shifts as body chemistry improves. 

Causes of these changes are elimination of toxins that affect the brain and improvements in clarity of thought.  Other mechanisms involve returning to earlier states of body chemistry that are associated with specific emotional states or traumas, or elimination of what may be called emotional toxins.

            Emotional toxins are feelings or beliefs that block healing.  Examples are feeling unworthy, unloved, incompetent, stupid, ugly, unfit or unlovable.  Others are fears, worries, anger, resentment, guilt and others.  These can be every bit as toxic as pesticides or heavy metals.  Following is more detail regarding some of the  mechanisms of emotional healing reactions.

            Physically-linked Reactions:  Some emotional toxins are linked to physical toxins and impaired body chemistry.  An unhealthy body sends negative messages to the brain.  These may be experienced as feelings of fear, anxiety or unworthiness.

            Toxic metals can directly affect neurotransmitters and parts of the brain associated with anger, fear and other emotions.  Iron, for example, is known to settle in the amygdala, an area of the brain associated with anger. 

As physical toxins are eliminated, emotional states will change.  As health improves, the body sends positive messages to the brain.  An emotional crisis may occur as it becomes more difficult to hold on to negative feelings and beliefs.

           

Energy-related Reactions:  Though often not taught in psychology, energy is required to feel feelings, even to feel a depression.  Many times, a mineral analysis has revealed a pattern associated with depression.  The client, however, denied the feeling.  After weeks or months on a healing program, the client called and may blame me or the healing program for causing feelings of depression.

            In fact, the healing program merely enhanced the client’s energy and awareness.  The client began to feel what had previously been inaccessible or suppressed.  Once the feelings surface, they usually resolve quickly on their own.  The brain, like the body, is self-healing provided it functions correctly.

            For a psychological view of this phenomenon,  I recommend a few older psychology books, Arthur Janov’s The Primal Scream and The Primal Revolution.  Enhanced energy due to natural therapies causes the brain to function better.  Clarity of thinking, memory and awareness often improve.  This assists one to question beliefs about oneself and about the world.  More capable of understanding oneself, one lets go of false beliefs and destructive behaviors.

            Completion Reactions:  Incompletely healed traumas leave emotional residues.  Small children often cry hard when they fall down.  They ‘work through’ the trauma in ten minutes and soon are laughing as if nothing happened.   This is the proper way to handle a trauma.  If energy is low or if healing is interrupted for some other reason, a residue of the experience remains and one develops fears or other neuroses.  As energy and cognition improve, one often spontaneously heals residues of unhealed traumas.

            Decompensation Reactions:  Certain attitudes and behaviors are compensations for ill health or low energy.  As health improves, these are no longer needed and may disappear suddenly.  A surprising shift may occur, often accompanied by an insight about oneself or about the world.

            Sometimes an emotional toxin is a major stumbling block that stops the healing process until the client is willing to address it.  Psychotherapy or other healing modalities may be required.  Body work and other therapies can also be excellent to work with emotional wounds that retard healing.

            Simple adjustment reactions.  These are common and involve a simple replacement of a toxic mineral with a more physiological mineral, or the correction of a simple enzyme system of the body.  Another simple reaction or adjustment is the improvement in a glandular or organ activity.

              Spiritual reactions – reducing chaos on a larger scale.  These are discussed below.

HANDLING PHYSICAL HEALING REACTIONS

              In general, the body will not undertake a healing reaction unless it can see it through.  Most important is to support the body, allowing it to proceed with minimal interference.  At times, one may speed up a reaction so it will end sooner.  Other times, one may slow down a reaction to lessen the severity of symptoms.  Basic support for healing reactions includes:

            1. Rest lying down as much as possible.  Also, reduce stress and strain.  Conserve energy for healing.  Reduce mental as well as physical activity.  Breathing deeply and slowly is very calming for the nervous system.

              2. Eat lightly.  Digestion is an extra stress during healing reactions.  If one is very uncomfortable, it may be best to skip a meal.  One may notice that symptoms subside after eating a meal.  The meal is not making one better.  Energy must be diverted from healing to digest the meal, so symptoms temporarily diminish while one digests.

            While drinking adequate water is important during healing reactions, guzzling extra water is usually not helpful.

            3. Discontinue most nutritional supplements until a reaction passes.  Reactions will proceed without most supplements.  Some can impair the healing process.  See below for exceptions.

            4. Shorten sauna sessions.  Continuing with long sauna sessions can intensify a healing reaction.  If the liver is being overloaded with toxins, this may not be desirable.  It may be best to cease using a sauna or reduce the frequency and duration of sessions until the reaction passes.  On the other hand, for clearing an infection, healing a wound or injury or certain other conditions, continuing or even increasing sauna sessions may get it over with faster.

            In general, during a healing reaction, 10-15 minute sessions eight times per day are better than long sessions.  These are less debilitating in the midst of a healing reaction.  When reactions occur, it helps greatly to call and speak with someone familiar with sauna therapy and healing reactions.

              5. Other detoxification procedures are often helpful.  Besides more short sauna sessions, other procedures include coffee enemas, chiropractic, and foot reflexology.  Enemas are excellent and perhaps essential if one feels constipated and toxic.  Chiropractic and related therapies may also be helpful.  Be careful, however, to get references and make sure anyone you visit is completely reputable.

              6. Call someone familiar with healing reactions if one is unsure how to handle them.  Nutritional balancing is not a do-it-yourself program.  When going through a healing reaction, your judgment is usually not good.  So please contact your nutritional balancing consultant or doctor.  Do not just try to solve things yourself.  This is a hard and fast rule.

Years ago, when I had a large practice, a number of my clients went to the emergency room instead of calling me when they experienced healing reactions.  They wasted hundreds of dollars and received little or no benefit because the doctors at the hospital did not understand what was occurring, and drugs often do not work during a healing reaction.

In contrast, those that stayed in touch with me passed through healing reactions, some of which were very vigorous, without needing any medical intervention.  So please stay in touch with your practitioner, who can check with me if we are not sure what is going on.

              7. Use care in discussing healing reactions with physicians and others unfamiliar with them.  Healing symptoms can easily be misinterpreted as illness.  This is a common problem.  Unless the doctor, friend or family member understands, costly tests and toxic medication may be recommended.  Medication can complicate reactions and is rarely effective.  Reactions will usually proceed in spite of it.

GENERAL SUPPORTIVE MEASURES

            For toxic reactions in general: As toxins are mobilized and eliminated, one may experience headaches, rashes, pain, dizziness, abdominal discomfort and other symptoms. 

In addition to the general ideas above, more coffee enemas are wonderful for most detoxification reactions of this type.  In addition, adding milk thistle and dandelion root to your nutritional balancing program may help.

Nausea is usually due to congestion of the liver due to toxin removal.  More coffee enemas, up to four per day, is often helpful.  Two coffee enemas can be taken back to back in the morning, and two back to back in the afternoon.  This is a powerful combination, and this can be continued for a week or even a month or more, if needed.

In an extreme case, one can induce vomiting if extreme nausea is present.  Drink salt water first, so the stomach is not empty.  Lying down and remaining quiet for half an hour or more is often very beneficial.

SUPPORT FOR INFECTIONS

            Retracing infections is often a bit scary, as one can develop fever, rashes, dizziness and other disturbing symptoms.  However, if a person is following a nutritional balancing program, most infections, no matter how vigorous they seem, are benign and ideally should never be suppressed with drugs, high-dose vitamin C, or other remedies.   Herbs such as Echinacea, golden seal and astragalus, are okay.  At times, colloidal silver is helpful.

Always make sure that one’s temperature does not rise above about 103-104 F.  If it becomes higher, ways to lower it naturally include sponging the body with cool water, and a coffee enema or two will almost always lower a fever.  This  will have to be repeated every few hours, but that is okay.

Also, be sure you are well-hydrated when fever is present, as the body can easily become dehydrated.  Drink water, and not tea or juice, please.

Common sites of chronic infections are the sinuses, ears, eyes, throat, bronchials, lungs, intestines, kidneys and bladder.  Most people have dozens of chronic infections that commonly flare up as they are healed.  They go from chronic to acute, and are then eliminated.  This is the reverse order in which they took hold in the body.  Here are some simple and safe supportive therapies that are excellent for retracing infections.

Coffee enemas.  These are excellent to help one move through any infection or fever.  Up to four per day is fine.

            Heat. Heat activates the immune system and may disable or even kill some microorganisms.  Sauna use is excellent to help heal some chronic infections.  Do not continue if it just flares things up, which occasionally occurs.

A hot bath, perhaps with several pounds of Epsom salts in it, may also be helpful and can be repeated several days in a row, if needed.

            If using an infrared electric light sauna, expose the infected area to more infrared as this can speed healing in some cases.  Another excellent idea is to shine one or more red heat lamps on the thymus gland area, which is the middle of the chest or breast bone.  Do this for 30 minutes at a time, twice or three times daily.  This may also speed up healing.

Diet.  Eat lightly.  Drink plenty of spring water.  Chicken soup helps with some infections.  Do not eat fruit or fruit juices, as they are too yin.  Stay with the recommended diet but just eat less, especially if you are not too hungry.  Never eat a lot when sick.

Remedies. Check with your consultant about taking any of these remedies, as they will be indicated sometimes, but not others.  They include:

Limcomin. This is a product from Endomet Laboratories that contains some zinc, copper, vitamins A and C, and a little magnesium and vitamin B6.  It is designed to support the immune response, and often works extremely well.  Adults can take up to 6 tablets three times daily.  Children need less depending on their size and weight. 

Colloidal silver.  I prefer the following brands, although other may work well, too.  Arabesque, Endomet, Sovereign Silver and Live Silver.  However, other brands are sometimes very good, too.  The usual dose for a low-potency product for an adult is about 1 tablespoon three times daily, taken by itself, at least 15 minutes away from all food and all beverages before and after taking it.  It may also be applied locally by sniffing it, inhaling it or putting it on the skin or a drop in an ear, for example.

Bee propolis.  This is more convenient in tablets or capsules, but also comes in liquid form.  Follow the instructions on the bottle, since the dosages may vary.  It is very safe, so it is hard to overdo.

Zinc, vitamins A and C, echinacea and astralagus.  These are also helpful for many infections, though not all.  Warning: do not use high-dose vitamin C as a general rule.  It upsets body chemistry, lowers copper, is too yin and not needed.  Especially avoid ALL extra vitamin C if a person is a fast oxidizer or is in a four lows pattern.

Lifestyle.  Rest lying down as much as possible. 

            Any infection that persists for more than several days may not be a healing reaction.  In this case, consult a knowledgeable practitioner as infections can become serious threats to one’s health.

SUPPORT FOR OTHER COMMON RETRACING SYMPTOMS

              For Pain in the Liver or Kidney Area: For pain in the area of the liver, extra coffee enemas are often excellent.  You can also try taking extra ox bile and pancreatin (such as GB-3 by Endomet Labs) and silymarin or milk thistle tincture, preferably, up to 50 drops three times a day or up to 3 capsules three times per day of a standardized product. 

            For pain in the kidneys or ureters, drink extra water, up to one quart extra per day.  Nettles may be helpful, up to 20 drops three times/day of a standardized extract.

              For Diarrhea:  Elimination of antibiotics, metals or toxic chemicals may cause diarrhea.  Rest plenty and eat lightly.  Avoid all fruit and all sweets!

Six charcoal tablets, three times per day will help absorb toxins.  Bee propolis or grapefruit seed extract may help with some intestinal infections.

            Well-cooked garlic or 15 garlic capsules daily may be needed if one is releasing parasites.  Eat lightly of non-fibrous, non-irritating foods such as rice, other grains, chicken and cooked vegetables until diarrhea passes.  Severe diarrhea that persists requires intervention.  Otherwise one may lose vital electrolytes and become dehydrated.

              For Emotional Reactions: Emotional traumas deeply held need to be brought to consciousness to be released.  When emotions or negative thoughts arise, allow oneself to feel them without suppressing or wallowing in the feelings.  This can be difficult.  Call your consultant or one of our program support counselors, if needed. 

Doing more of the Roy Masters meditation exercise can be most helpful, as can the physical procedures such as coffee enemas, near infrared lamp sauna sessions, rubbing the feet, and the others.

Observe feelings from as neutral a viewpoint as possible.  It is very helpful to talk with someone supportive to gain added perspective.  Feelings will generally pass, washing over oneself like ocean waves.

            Vigorous exercise can slow emotional reactions.  Extra rest and sleep will help them pass more quickly.

            Many people learned well to suppress their feelings and have great difficulty expressing them.  One may become afraid of one’s own buried feelings.  These people benefit from allowing themselves to cry, scream or otherwise express that which they feel.  If this seems embarrassing, one can close the bedroom door or go sit in a car.  For several years I would cry for no apparent reason, often in crowded places.  At times I believed I was ill, but eventually the symptom passed and I found myself much happier.

            For Nervousness And Anxiety:  Elimination of stored caffeine, theophylline, diet pills or other stimulant substances can cause temporary feelings of anxiety as they are released.  These will pass without requiring supportive therapy.  Extreme fatigue or copper elimination can also cause feelings of anxiety.

            If a feeling is very intense or persistent, nutritional supplements of calcium, magnesium, zinc and ICMN (a product containing choline, inositol, methionine and niacinamide) may have a calming effect.

One may take up to 2500 mg of calcium, 1500 mg of magnesium, 100 mg of zinc and 1000 mg of choline, inositol, methionine and niacinamidein a 24-hour period.

            Resting, deep, slow breathing, calming herbs, massage, foot reflexology and other natural therapies may be helpful as well.

            For Weight Loss or Gain: During nutritional balancing programs, weight may fluctuate.  Weight gain may occur if the body retains water to buffer toxins that are being eliminated.  Weight loss may occur even in a thin person as damaged tissue is broken down.  One often will go through periods of greater tissue breakdown followed by periods of rebuilding.  Shifts in glandular activity may temporarily cause weight gain or loss.

            Most shifts in weight are not a cause for concern.  In some cases, eating more or fewer calories may assist in balancing weight during a detoxification program.  Usually, however, the nutritional balancing program needs to take its course and weight will normalize after several months to several years, depending on the toxicity of the body.

            To Slow Healing Reactions: According to Dr. Paul Eck’s research, taking lecithin granules can help slow the elimination of toxic metals and chemicals.  Do not take lecithin otherwise.  Taking aspirin, Tylenol, tranquilizers or other over the-counter remedies is never recommended.

EXTENDED HEALING REACTIONS

            While most healing reactions do not last more than a few days or a week, some will persist for a month or up to a year.  They are often deeper healing processes that cannot be resolved quickly.  These are among the most difficult reactions to handle because one can easily doubt that anything positive is occurring.

            I recently went through several of these.  For about one year, I coughed up greenish mucus from the lungs.  I also retraced intestinal infections that caused diarrhea and abdominal pain for over a year until they subsided.  I also had an odd, itchy rash on the face for over a year.

            All of these went away, but were difficult because of the length of time it took for the body to take care of them.  I tried a few remedies, but they did not work, and I knew that most remedies are not needed or helpful with a nutritional balancing program.

            I contacted those who were knowledgeable in this science, and that was most helpful, and that is what I recommend.  Eventually, the symptoms passed and I was much stronger after the purification symptoms passed.

SPIRITUAL HEALING REACTIONS

              Medical intuitive Carolyn Myss and other authors discuss spiritual healing crises, spiritual depression and even "spiritual madness".  Anything that raises the body's energy level or alters chemistry, including a nutritional balancing program, can precipitate such as crisis.

            Such a crisis may involve taking a leap of faith, letting go of old attachments, increasing self-awareness or a major shift in perspective.  Many people are ill because they are secretly full of fear, guilt, self-hatred or self-loathing.

            A healing crisis may bring this to the surface.  Such reactions often involve a phase of turmoil and confusion.  After passing through such a crisis, some physical healing usually proceeds rapidly.  For more on this topic, read a newer article on this website entitled Spiritual or Chaos-Reducing Healing Reactions Or Retracing.

SOUL RETRACING, SOUL RECOVERY OR SOUL COMPLETION

            This is another phenomenon that I have observed with retracing, in some cases.  I call it soul retracing because it is at a very deep level.  It might also be called soul completion.  In some traditions, it is called soul recovery.

            Soul completion has to do with perfecting of the inner person or soul.  All of us are born with certain “defects” or imperfections at deep levels or soul levels.  At times, and with the proper techniques, these imperfections can be cleansed, erased or completed.  It has to do with removing some toxic metals. 

Soul completion is also an aspect of what is called on this website mental or spiritual development, as are the spiritual healing reactions described above.  The difference is that soul completion is more complex and takes more time to occur than other aspects of mental development.

            Relation to soul recovery.  Soul completion is related to, and is an aspect of a science called soul recovery.   Soul recovery is a term used in the Native American Indian tradition, and in other shamanic and mystical traditions.  As they use the term, it means that one recovers parts of the soul that have been split off.  In fact, what occurs is biochemical in nature and involves replacing a toxic metal or entity with a vital or healthful mineral.  This is, in fact, the same thing that happens with nutritional balancing science and meditation with the Roy Masters exercise with modifications.  We are just describing it and causing it using biochemical,  nutritional and meditative methods. 

 

EFFECTS OF RETRACING ON FAMILY MEMBERS

            When a person moves through a healing reaction, it can be hard on other family members.  First, it can seem like the person is more ill, which is always disconcerting.  Also, the person is partially present, but at times another part of the personality is literally living in the past, reliving, redoing, and/or reframing something from the past. 

This can cause the person to be less aware of the present, and sometimes causes one to “act out” in some way because a part of the person’s mind is literally back in the past when the person was 5 or ten years old, for example, and therefore less mature and less aware.  This can be difficult on spouses, for example.  fortunately, it usually does not last too long, but it can be difficult to understand.

DISCUSSING HEALING REACTIONS

              Forewarned, most people handle healing reactions well.    One should look forward to reactions as they are evidence of deep healing.  Always call someone knowledgeable if 1) you are not sure what is going on, 2) you are concerned or worried, 3) any reaction becomes severe such as a high fever, or 4) a reaction continues for more than a few days. 

            These guidelines are sufficient to handle most healing reactions.  I have worked with over 40,000 clients.  Healing reactions can be vigorous, but rarely dangerous.  Always use common sense, however.  Rarely, medical intervention is needed, but certainly not often.  Taking medical drugs such as antibiotics and aspirin or others can prolong the reaction or even turn it into a dangerous situation.

THE DANGERS OF RETRACING

            Almost all retracing reactions are totally benign.  Some last for a few months, or can be very annoying, but most pass quickly and easily without a need for any extra interventions. 

However, once in a while they are extreme.  Here are some examples.  The first two were my clients

Case 1. Robert, age 60, had had a severe car accident 30 years before in which he temporarily became paralyzed from the neck down.  However, he seemed to recover after a few months, although his health was never very good after the accident.  After about five years on a nutritional balancing program, he began to become weak and actually lost the ability to walk normally.  He was hospitalized and doctors told him he had a neck injury that required immediate surgery.  He postponed the surgery, and began a long recovery using an infrared lamp on the area, and a careful diet and supplements.  Although he was recovering very slowly, he agreed to have neck surgery to release tension in the neck, but was progressing well before surgery as well.

Case 2. Peter, age 78, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma.  He was given 6 months to live.  He chose to follow a nutritional balancing program and began to feel better almost immediately.  He continued to feel better for about one and one-half years.  However, when he was at his best, he began to have pain in his kidneys.  This was likely a healing reaction as the body removed a lot of toxins through the kidneys.

Unfortunately, in this case Peter’s family panicked, as they believed he was having a relapse of his cancer.  They had him admitted to the hospital, where he was given a large dose of morphine, and perhaps other drugs.  Peter’s body could not handle the highly toxic dose of morphine.  He soon lapsed into a coma and died within a few days.  This is the only case I have been involved with in 30 years in which someone died during what appears to have been a healing reaction.  I believe this man was doing well and did not need to be hospitalized, where the doctors do not understand retracing and often use very toxic drugs in such cases, a very unwise practice.

Case #3.  Dr. Bernard Jensen describes a fatal healing reaction that occurred in one of his patients.  The patient was a boy with an advanced cancer with a tumor pressing on his spinal cord.  He was doing well on a corrective nutrition and lifestyle program.  However, at one point, the tumor began to either grow or swell.  This can happen as a tumor is breaking up or being absorbed by the body.  It was just enough that it impinged on the spinal cord and the body stopped breathing and died.

            These cases are important because they point out possible dangers and necessary cautions that should be observed with any healing reaction. If the patient is very ill, very weak, old or debilitated, then extreme caution must be used.  Also, while medical intervention is sometimes helpful, it can also be extremely harmful in some of these cases. 

METAPHYSICAL ASPECTS OF RETRACING

During a retracing or healing reaction, it appears that one must essentially revisit the scene of the crime, to use a crude metaphor.  There one must revisit, reframe, and redo an old insult to the body or the mind.  This could be an ailment, an injury or some other type of emotional trauma, for example.  This is needed, apparently, to heal the problem completely.  It appears that this is the only way a person can build a firm and perfect foundation for further healing.

One of the amazing aspects of retracing is that as the body’s energy or vitality level keeps increasing, the body seems to know the perfect order for retracing dozens of insults, injuries, infections and so on.  At one time it may be an old case of poison ivy that flares up, while two months later it may be an emotional trauma involving a parent or sibling. 

With nutritional balancing, the job of the practitioner and the client is to just keep balancing and supporting the body and it will automatically retrace and heal hundreds of old wounds, injuries, infections and much more by itself when the conditions are fulfilled to keep enhancing the homeostasis, vitality and nutrition of the body.  It is quite an amazing process to behold, although it can be annoying and even scary, at times.  This has something to do with a concept called Etheric Reset.

References

            One can read about healing reactions in texts on homeopathy, chiropractic and psychotherapy where they may be referred to as the catharsis.  Max Gerson, MD, in A Cancer Therapy - Results of 50 Cases, devoted an entire chapter to them.  William Frederich Koch, MD mentions them often in his excellent book, The Survival Factor in Neoplastic and Viral Diseases.  Bernard Jensen, DC, ND wrote about them in The Doctor-Patient Handbook.

Hoxsey; The Quack Who Cured Cancer

The Gerson Therapy

CANCER IS CURABLE NOW!

The Body’s Defenses

The human body is a wonderful living precision instrument, whose every part is closely connected to every other part. Each of its trillion cells has its own intelligence, function and place in the total system. It is no exaggeration to say that the body is a living miracle, whose potential is far from being fully understood. Despite the rapid development of high technology research, scientists are only just beginning to unravel the enormous complexities of life on the cellular level.

The body, left to its own devices and given the right conditions, functions in order to survive and remain in the state of homeostasis, i.e., a state of dynamic equilibrium. In this state the human organism maintains stability while adjusting to changing conditions. As soon as this stability becomes endangered, several built-in defense systems spring into action. Let us now explore these sophisticated systems in depth.

The Immune System

All through Nature, millions of living organisms prey on others. This applies to the human body, too, as it is daily exposed to attacks by germs, viruses and parasites that carry disease. Its main protector is the immune system, which has in recent times gained some recognition among the general public, mainly through advertisements offering some preparations "to strengthen the immune system." Irrespective of whether these work or not, people buy them without knowing anything about the immune system—what it consists of or even where it is located. Yet the subject deserves attention.

The immune system is not a single organ or a single gland: its parts are located all over the body. Several organs, such as the liver, the brain and the pancreas are so important that they have their own immune mechanism, the reticulo-endothelial system, which gives them extra protection. Then there is the lymphatic system, which transports excess fluid from body tissues into the bloodstream. The lymph itself is a straw-colored liquid, containing cells which fight infection. The system consists of some 700 nodes in a normal person, distributed all over the body. Unlike the bloodstream, circulated through the pumping action of the heart, the lymph is moved round the body by muscular action.

However, the main basic component of the system is located in the bone marrow, where the white blood corpuscles are formed. When they are released, they are not complete. Some wander to the thymus gland, where they are completed, and released as T-lymphocytes. Others drift to

the spleen and lymphoid tissue and mature into B-lymphocytes. All of them have the job to ingest germs, viruses, malignant cells or toxic substances, killing or otherwise neutralizing them.

As all other parts of the organism, the immune system is made up of cells that need to be nourished. They require a full complement of minerals, enzymes and vitamins in their natural form that is easily assimilated. Pills and drugs cannot cover that need—sometimes they are not absorbed at all. Here, as in the rest of the body, the need is for fresh, living, organic substances to nourish and maintain this essential life-preserving system.

The Enzyme System

Enzymes are generally poorly understood by the lay person. According to one authoritative definition, they are "complex proteins that are capable of inducing chemical changes in other substances without being changed themselves

." 1 Everything that happens in the body, from taking a breath in order to supply oxygen to the blood to digesting food, and then on to combining digested foods with oxygen in order to produce energy—hundreds of such processes require enzyme activity.

The body must build its own enzymes, since it cannot utilize the ones found in raw foods or animal products. In order to produce the hundreds needed, the organ systems require specific minerals as catalysts. (Catalysts are substances that speed up a reaction without themselves being altered.) Researchers Dixon & Webb

2 did a detailed study into how the body builds enzymes. They found that in most of the enzymes they studied, the body needed potassium as a catalyst, while sodium acted as an enzyme inhibitor, i.e., blocking substance. Other research came up with the finding that the body is unable to build enzymes from dead or processed foods. If it doesn’t receive fresh living nutrients, such as the Gerson Therapy supplies, serious difficulties will arise, particularly in patients already facing major health problems—poor digestion, poor appetite, constipation, diarrhea and painful gas. The pancreatic enzymes are not doing their job of attacking tumor tissue, the oxidizing enzymes are not producing adequate energy—to name just a few deficiencies.

The reason why enzymes, especially pancreatic ones are able to attack and destroy tumor tissue while digesting foods is this: they recognize tumor cells as ‘foreign,’ needing to be eliminated. However, the basic function of these same enzymes is to digest proteins. Since the average diet is high in animal proteins, most of the pancreatic enzymes are used for digestion, and little—if any—is available to destroy tumor tissue, allowing the latter to grow and spread.

Clearly, inadequate enzyme activity is one of the major problems sick people, especially cancer patients must contend with. The answer lies in providing them with toxin-free, i.e., fresh organic food, and speeding up their intensive detoxification by means of coffee enemas. Moreover, supplying extra doses of digestive and pancreatic enzymes is an integral part of the

Gerson protocol, alongside fresh juices with their high oxygen content.

The Hormone System

Hormones are substances produced in certain glands that release them directly into the bloodstream and are therefore called endocrine, i.e., ductless glands. Most people associate hormones specifically with sexual function, yet there are many others playing significant roles in the body, e.g. insulin, thyroxin, adrenaline and more. Hormones, especially thyroxin and adrenaline, regulate the entire metabolism.

The thyroid deserves special attention, as it is an important part of the immune system. Among its many other functions it regulates body temperature, including fever. If and when the organism is invaded by germs or viruses, the immune system responds by producing excess heat, namely fever. We must remember that most germs and viruses, and even tumor tissue, do not tolerate elevated temperatures, which healthy cells can easily bear. Hence the well functioning thyroid helps to restore health, provided it is supplied with iodine, which it needs in order to manufacture its vitally important hormone—thyroxin, Unfortunately these days iodine is in short supply. Chlorine in the water supply is able to remove it from the thyroid. Fluoride, a dangerous toxin, is even more powerful in blocking this important hormone. In addition, as a consequence of commercial farming methods, the soil contains too little iodine, thus producing iodine-deficient plant foods. In recognition of all this, the governments of many countries have made it compulsory to add iodine to ordinary table salt, on the grounds that as the public uses a great deal of salt, everybody was bound to consume some iodine with it. High salt consumption, on the other hand, is now known to be unhealthy and is, in fact, officially discouraged—resulting in a serious shortfall of iodine even in people on a good diet.

Other enzyme inhibitors include food additives such as preservatives, emulsifiers, coloring agents, artificial flavors and many other so-called food cosmetics, plus pesticides and other agricultural poisons in our food supply. Some pesticide residues have even been found to inhibit the production of male sperm. The hormone system, an important part of the body’s defenses, is itself under severe attack.

The Essential Organs

Certain organs, such as the liver, the pancreas, the lungs, the kidneys, the heart and the brain, are called ‘essential.’ And while they certainly deserve that name, one should not assume that for instance the colon is not essential! The same applies to the small intestine, the bone marrow, the spleen, even the appendix, which is part of the immune system. In fact there is nothing non-essential in the body.

In the course of healing it is therefore extremely important to deal with all the body systems. Since the liver plays a major part in healing the body, the Gerson Therapy pays particular attention to restoring its functioning as quickly and as thoroughly as possible. The liver is an amazing organ: the only one in the body that is able to regenerate and re-grow, if parts of it are removed. It is involved in most bodily processes; all physiological activities begin and end in it. Often described as an organ of detoxification, which it certainly is, the liver has many more functions—dozens, if not hundreds, which even the high technology facilities of modern medicine have not been able to define.

According to Dr. Gerson, each new generation of liver cells takes about five weeks to come into being. He assumed that it would take 12 to 15 generations of new cells to form a totally new, healthy liver. Thus he arrived at specifying a period of 18 months to fully heal and restore the liver of even advanced cancer patients and, with it, the whole organism. Unfortunately that is no longer a valid model. In the past fifty years or so, owing to deterioration of the environment and of the food supply, people have become much more seriously damaged than those whom Dr. Gerson had treated. Even more seriously a percentage of cancer patients choosing the Gerson Therapy have been pre-treated with chemotherapy, which means more damage to their systems. Therefore nowadays it takes two years, not 18 months, to recover fully; those pre-treated with chemotherapy may take even longer to detoxify and heal.

The Mineral Balance

In order to function well and keep its defenses fighting fit, the body needs a large number—some 52 or so—minerals. On the Gerson Therapy this requirement is amply fulfilled by the generous supply of fresh organic juices, made from produce grown on rich soil. However, Dr. Gerson also recognized that two minerals, sodium and potassium, were mainly involved in creating mineral imbalance in the body.

Over millennia the human body has become a ‘potassium animal,’ needing some 90% potassium vs. 10% sodium in its diet—the approximate percentage found in natural, fresh, organic vegetarian foods. Yet these days the average modern diet is far removed from these proportions; instead, it is overloaded with sodium, which the body must excrete. Excess sodium is an enzyme inhibitor, as described by Dixon & Webb

3.It has also been shown to stimulate tumor growth and produce edema, as the body ties it up with water to reduce its toxicity.To remedy this situation, Dr. Gerson introduced large amounts of potassium to the patient’s diet, in addition to the naturally potassium-rich food: up to 40 teaspoonfuls a day of a 10% solution for the first two to three weeks, in addition to the naturally potassium-rich diet. This resulted in an immediate reduction of edema, ascites, and pain. He also noticed that adding any other minerals, such as magnesium, calcium, iron etc., disturbed the patient’s mineral balance

and caused damage. His main warning was against adding calcium to the diet. Calcium, he discovered with his close friend, top biochemist Rudolf Keller, belonged to the sodium group of minerals and stimulated tumor growth.

4 Even in cases of severe bone destruction by tumor tissue, or in osteoporosis, the Gerson treatment with its high level of well-balanced minerals is capable of achieving bone restoration. In the light of all this, it is easy to see why mineral balance is an important component of the body’s defenses.

References:
1. Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, F.A.Davis Company, 19932.
Enzymes, Malcolm Dixon & Edwin C.Webb, Academic Press, Inc. N.Y.19643. Ibid.
4. Dr. Max Gerson,
A Cancer Therapy—Results of 50 Cases, P.210. Gerson Institute, San Diego, 2002