Introduction

At various times over the years, I have committed to paper the progress we, my wife and I, have made in our pursuit of health for our family.  The object of this present effort (in 1997),  is to bring the saga up to date.  Each time I did a write up I provided a copy for each member of the family to or ignore as he/she thought fit.  I have no intention of repeating all the early details, but to make this intelligible, I will need to refer briefly to some of the key points on the journey which began approximately 45 years ago.  The younger members of our immediate family probably have a special need for this knowledge and we would be failing in our duty as parents if we did not share it with them.  Our knowledge was acquired at great cost, emotionally and financially, and it would be wicked on our part if we did not attempt to share it with them.  It would be foolish on their part if they neglected the opportunity to benefit from our experience.  Wise is the man who learns from his own mistakes; but how much wiser is he who learns from another's?
Since the subject is also of interest to some friends and acquaintances, I do it for them too as I have already been approached for copies.

 

I first learnt that what and how one eats can affect health conditions about 73 years ago.  I really only learned the lesson which was given then, very recently, for at that time the impact on me was more a matter of annoyance and regret.  My Dad had a "sweet tooth" and regularly bought a good supply of sweets to which I was allowed fairly generous access.  I used to come out in a rash of "itchy bumps" which drove me to distraction and I scratched myself raw.  The doctor who was consulted said the condition was caused by either too much sugar or too much meat.  We were not big meat eaters, so obviously the sugar was to blame.  As young as I was, with encouragement from the family, I was able to resist the temptations reasonably well; I even stopped taking sugar in tea, thus copying my mother, rather than my father.

About 45-50 years ago, my first wife "Tinker" was getting more and more ill and responded poorly to the medical treatment.  I was loaned a copy of a book by Dr. Munro titled "Man Alive You're Half Dead".  He branded all foodstuffs containing sugar and starch as "Devil's Food", and while not actually banning them, he strongly recommended separating them from protein and fat foodstuffs because of the difference in conditions as regards digestive environment.  It is beyond doubt that I benefited from the adoption of Munro's ideas, but there seemed to be little improvement as far as Tinker's condition was concerned.  Ultimately Tinker succumbed in 1945.  To this day I strongly believe that SHE DIED THAT WE MIGHT LIVE - IF WE CHOOSE TO LEARN FROM THAT TRAGEDY.

Had it not been for Rona, my wife, companion and helper from 1946, all could and probably would have been lost.  Being busy with daily activities, having a growing family, all the factors we humans encounter and have to cope with, meant that really, we learned very slowly.  While in Tasmania we acquired a goodly number of excellent naturopathic books from Melbourne where we had contact with a mail-order house supplying health foods, rare herbs, homeopathic supplies as well.  One book I need to mention is "Live Food Juices" by H E Kirschner.  On returning to South Africa, we added many books to our library.  Here I'll only mention those that deal with diet in relation to health:-

• "How To Get Well" by Paavo Airola
• Several little books by Morris Krok
• "Mucusless Healing System" by Arnold Ehret
• "Dr Atkins Diet Revolution" by R C Atkins
• "Fit for Life" by H & M Diamond
• "I Live on Fruit" by Essie Honiball

Since writing most of the text in this little work of mine, we came across  another book in which the author, and Osteopath named Giraud W Campbell expresses views very similar to those expressed in the books previously mentioned, but places emphasis in slightly different areas.  The book is titled "A Doctors Proven Cure for Arthritis".