Principles of Natural Health Care

The Greek physician Hippocrates, who attended both human and animal patients and is regarded as the one of the founders of the art of medicine, regarded nutrition as central to the successful prevention and treatment of disease.

His dictum was that, without good nutrition, there can be no good health.

This approach continued down the ages, until, in the twentieth century, the science of medicine and nutrition became polarised.

The most obvious illustration of the link between nutrition and medicine is the one provided by the immune system. Poor nutrition leads to a weakening of the immune system which provides protection against the thousands of potentially harmful organisms which challenge all individuals every day. Modern medical science is only just beginning to re-examine this link.

1)Good health is the natural state of the body, but nutrition must be optimal for this to prevail.

2) The body will tend towards homeostasis or self healing which will take place if there are no barriers to prevent this.

3) Disease symptoms are sign that there is something wrong at a deeper level.

4) Chronic illness is the result of failure or suppression of the healing process.

5) Modern medicines usually suppress the symptoms, which can return if the cause of the problem is not removed.

6) Diseases are the result of a number of factors all of which must be addressed in order to affect a cure. Nutrition is one of the first areas to address.

Veterinary surgeons and others responsible for the health of animals who practice holistic methods are taught this philosophy as a first principle. This flies in the face of conventional modern medicine which sees diseases almost as a random event, with nutrition being one of the last things to consider, if at all.