Rule #10 in Dr. Ritchason’s Golden Rules of Health
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The last Golden Rule from Dr. Ritchason — Hering’s Law of Cure — is a tricky one to understand, but one that is fundamental to how healing naturally occurs.
Dr. Constantine Hering (1800-1880), the father of American homeopathy, lived in a time before the drugs of modern medicine. He observed several patterns of healing:
• Natural healing occurs from the inside out, meaning that the body works on healing the important internal organs first, pushing the dis-ease to the less critical external parts of the body (the skin and extremeties).
• Healing progresses from the top down. For example, a person with a skin rash over the whole body would more likely see relief in the upper torso first before the lower part.
• As a person becomes well through herbs/supplements/homeopathic remedies, symptoms appear and disappear in the reverse order that the person originally experienced them. In other words, as a person’s health declined, he or she might have experienced a sequence of symptoms that came and went. Then as the person gets better, he or she might experience those same symptoms, but in the reverse order.
As an herbalist, I always had a difficult time explaining these patterns to my clients, but when they “got it”, they really understood their natural healing process.
Wendy
Rule #9 in Dr. Ritchason’s Golden Rules of Health
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“Exercise regularly the rest of your life.” The 9th Golden Rule is a mantra touted by everyone, but it still is difficult for many of us to keep up with. I know that in my busy schedule (and we’re all busy), I have tried all kinds of exercise. In my thirties, I learned to dance – jazz, tap and ballet – for the very first time. It was a great stress reliever for getting through graduate school, then I turned to Jazzercise. When I was sickly (see my bio in “About Us”), exercise took a far back seat. I started walking and finally bought a treadmill – which I really like – about four months ago. Movement is critical for good health; the pump for our lymphatic system, which moves the waste material from every cell, is in our feet. Without movement, our lymph fluid stagnates, creating swelling and pain. Walking and jogging also help build our bones.
The bottom line is: find the kind of exercise that you like and stick to it. You’ll never be sorry.
Wendy
Rule #8 in Dr. Ritchason’s Golden Rules of Health
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Golden Rule 8 says, “Eat as much raw food as possible.” Basically, many of the nutrients in our fruits and vegetables, including enzymes, vitamins, phytonutrients and antioxidants, are destroyed when cooked. If food enzymes are not destroyed, they can aid our own body’s digestive enzymes so we can get more nutrition from what we eat.
There is a growing section of the pet food industry that promotes raw food including raw meat diets for our dogs and cats. A famous experiment involved raising generations of healthy cats on raw milk. When fed pasteurized milk, the cats were much less healthy. As part of my dogs’ diets (I have two rescue dogs – Sam and Petie), I feed them a raw chicken leg everyday. I heard a veterinarian speak at a natural pet conference about the importance of raw meat and raw bones for a healthy pet diet. As long as the chicken bone is raw, it won’t splinter. I wouldn’t recommend raw meat for people, but our pets have much more stomach acid than we do, which will kill all the nasty bacteria and parasites.
Wendy
Rule #4 in Dr. Ritchason’s Golden Rules of Health
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Well, I’m sorry, everyone – I was so into the later rules, I missed the 4th Golden Rule: “Have moderation in all things.” Don’t go nuts, in other words. So self-explanatory, but so true. Many times clients come to me and want desperately to be put on a severe regimen for getting well; they want a hard-core cleansing program that is very stressful on the body. This is the “heroic” mode of healing. My message to them is to be gentle on your body – feed the body the nutrition it requires (and I help people sort through all the choices and help them make the one best for them at the time). When the body is strong enough, it will undergo cleansing in its own time – generally called a “healing crisis.” So have moderation in natural healing. And every so often, if you need to “cheat” on the diet – that’s OK, too. A healthy body can handle it.
Rule #7 in Dr. Ritchason’s Golden Rules of Health
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“You must take responsibility for yourself and your health.” That is the 7th Golden Rule of Health. North Americans are pretty good at this rule. I’m 57 years old; when I was growing up, doctors made house calls and people didn’t have access to medical information, except through their physicians. This has changed with technology and the internet, and I think we have become more cynical – we don’t simply accept what we are told. Although doctors have their place, it is critical to take responsibility for your own health and the health of your family; you cannot leave it entirely up to others. I’m at the age where my friends are starting to have serious health issues, cancer etc. I notice that the ones who do the best are the ones who actively seek out different opinions, medical studies, and natural alternatives. Having been very sick, I can say that that’s what I did, and it made all the difference!
Wendy
Rule #6 in Dr. Ritchason’s Golden Rules of Health
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“Live closer to God” is Dr. Ritchason’s 6th rule of his Golden Rules of Health. I know that everyone’s spiritual journey is different, but I believe that we are more than our biochemistry, more than the sum of our parts. Medical doctors know that a strong belief system can make a difference in how quickly patients recover. This is not a religious column, so I will simply say that many religions know that living in harmony with ourselves and others is a good thing. This belief will directly affect our mental and our physical health for the better.
Wendy
Rule #5 in Dr. Ritchason’s Golden Rules of Health
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“Make peace with nature,” is the 5th rule of Dr. Ritchason’s Golden Rules of Health. People have all kinds of epiphanies. It was a major epiphany for me when I realized that I truly trusted that herbs could improve my health. For as long as people have been on this Earth, the plants have grown right beside us. It’s as though our destinies are intertwined.
Plants have always been available to provide shelter, clothing, food and our medicines. Now that most of us live in cities, we still are drawn to plants in our homes and at work. We give plants and cut flowers as presents for all kinds of occasions. Historically, Western civilization has routinely fought nature and the plants to build cities, establish and protect agriculture with pesticides and herbicides, and develop industry. Even so, the plants are still here, waiting patiently for us to rediscover the health benefits that they can provide. We think of many of these plants as “weeds” – like dandelions. Even when we are pulling them out of our lawns, they keep popping up, saying, “I’m here!! Use me!!” Dandelion is a natural diuretic that doesn’t deplete potassium levels and can also help to detoxify the body by supporting both the kidneys and the liver. The bottom line is to simply accept and make peace with nature, knowing that nature is waiting patiently to help us.
Wendy
Rule #3 in Dr. Ritchason’s Golden Rules of Health
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… is that nothing in the human body heals in less than 3 months – then add one month for every year that you have been sick. Herbs and supplements, combined with nutritious food and good water, plenty of rest and precious time provide the tools the body can use for taking care of its heath. But remember: it took time to get sick; it’s going to take some time to get better.
In this busy, hectic world, we’re not used to letting our bodies heal naturally. “Pop a pill and keep going to work” is the mantra for many of us. Some of us, of course, have to keep working to support our families. This rule is a gentle reminder to have patience with the healing process, whether you’re recovering from a cold or something more serious. On a lighter note, if you have a bad cold, stay home, pamper yourself, drink fluids and above all, rest. Both your workmates and your body will thank you.
Rule #2 in Dr. Ritchason’s Golden Rules of Health
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The second rule in Dr. Ritchason’s Golden Rules of Health is that it takes 5-7 times the normal amount of nutrition to build and repair than it does to maintain good health.
Our foods are not as nutritionally dense as they were in our grandparent’s time as a lot of the soil has been depleted of its minerals from overuse. Therefore (properly) adding herbs to your diet can help add the phytonutrients we require.
Herbs are concentrated nutrients – that’s why they have such a strong taste. Just think of kitchen herbs like oregano or sage. When clients first come to me with health issues, many times their herbal programs are more extensive than they expect. Understanding this rule, I assure them that in time the amount of herbs and supplements they’ll need will decrease down to a maintenance level as they travel on their path toward wellness.
Wendy
Rule #1 in Dr. Ritchason’s Golden Rules of Health
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… is to stop putting poisons into your body. I’m not refering to poisons in the general sense with skulls and crossbones on the label. I’m refering to foods and drinks that have little to no nutrition such as overly-processed or fried foods and drinks that are straight processed sugar and caffeine.
I tell my clients that we all know what is “good food” – fruits and vegetables that have good color, some meat (or if you’re vegetarian, a good balance of amino acids). It’s easy to get caught in a cycle of dieting where you sacrifice good nutrition for low calories and diet drinks. Choose healthier alternatives. Vitamin/mineral supplements certainly help, but cannot make up for poor food choices.
Wendy
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