RAW FOOD and HEALTH
[From the book published in 1927 by DR. ST. LOUIS A. ESTES]
AUTHOR’S PREFACE
The author’s object in writing this book is to give to the laity and those of the profession who are sufficiently interested, the benefit of his own experience in overcoming disease by natural methods of living.
The teachings herein are the outgrowth of experiments and research worked out on myself several years ago after I had been given up to die from diseases of varied character and severity which involved my entire body.
I was born and raised in the South, where the dining table groaned under the weight of rich, highly-seasoned and fried foods which were served three times a day, with hearty refreshment between these meals a regular occurrence.
I have made practical application of my teachings on myself, family and patients, and I feel, therefore, that I am qualified to expound the merits of natural methods of living for the benefit of those whose fruitless quest for health has brought them only disappointment and despair.
It is my great hope that doctors, dentists and the laity in general will find information within these pages which will be of great practical use to them in their daily life.
I do not protest against vegetarianism or fruitarianism or any other system of living, for the purpose of argument or from motives of unworthy prejudice and biased conviction. I only point out the deficiencies of all modes of living when those modes do not succeed in achieving their purpose and where they do not build strong and perfect Health.
The Divine mind has in Its infinite wisdom provided the human family with foods which are perfect in their composition and of sufficient variety and character to meet all the needs of the human body. Man, in his egotism, attempts to improve upon the product of the Creator. The result is disease and death.
Man in his original estate knew nothing of fires, cook stoves, cooked foods, calories and beat units. His strength and prowess then were greater than they have been since. Long use of cooked, highly-seasoned foods have deprived man of his natural instincts in the selection of foods. The taste buds of the tongue have become atrophied and the appetites perverted. The present-day cooked foods, demineralized, refined and devitalized, breed only pestilence and early death.
When living on Raw Foods it is not necessary to know the calories, heat units and chemical composition of foods, for the raw food diet with nuts, fruits and milk equalizes and balances itself. It is only because the foods are cooked that their power is destroyed, and it is necessary to calculate the units of heat and energy which they contain in order to combine them so as to afford the strength necessary to the body. It is an erroneous idea that certain fruits, berries and vegetables are poisonous to some individuals. These foods are not poisonous in themselves. It is the individual’s system which is poisoned, and the fruit, berry or vegetable which distresses him simply possesses the mineral element which is necessary to eliminate that poison. Hence, we find rashes, boils, eruptions, blotches and other disturbances which are only manifested when certain foods are eaten. It is far wiser to continue the use of these foods for a time and eliminate the poisons of the body than to take drugs which drive them into the system.
All diseases are originally produced in bodies which are starved - starved for food, starved for air, starved for sunshine, sleep, water, exercise and oxygen.
If mothers would confine themselves to the pure and nutritious foods, with few combinations, not exceeding two or three at a meal, we could soon produce a super race.
It is the great variety and injudicious combinations of food which cause trouble. The chemical reaction necessary to take care of the different foods produces acid which breaks down the body and causes disease.
On a diet of clean, wholesome foods, eaten in their natural live state, the system is kept free from fermentation and clogging impurities, which poison and deplete. The sensibilities become keener and more delicate, the temperament more pliable and docile, the mind more alert and receptive to new ideas, and the character, molded by these influences, becomes more noble and the soul more exalted.
We are created to render service to humanity, and this service can only be rendered in the highest degree when we have developed the Spiritual, Mental and Physical. Spiritual and Mental advancement are achieved only in proportion to the physical development.. We can develop perfect physical bodies and robust health through right living.
Let us gaze into the mirror of life, view ourselves as we should be and as we are, and with the roadway cleared before us, let us, with new courage and determination, set out to reach the great goal Health, which insures Happiness and Harmony to all who possess it..
DR. ST. LOUIS A. ESTES
http://www.arnoldsway.com/Dr_Estes.htm
